What Does 1 Chronicles 17:22 Mean in the King James?
For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, LORD, becamest their God.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The act translated “make” carries the sense of giving and placing: Israel’s identity begins as belonging bestowed by God.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks of belonging as a gift God gives: Israel is God’s own people, and the LORD is their God. The relationship is reciprocal and enduring; Israel’s place begins in God’s action, not in self-creation.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that Israel has to make itself God’s people: the verse locates that act in God’s giving.
THE ROOT
וַתִּתֵּן
vattitten
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
give, set, place
Under the action rendered “make” is וַתִּתֵּן (vattitten, “you gave, placed”), from נתן (natan, “give, set, place”). The related מַתָּנָה (mattanah, “gift”) carries the same seed into a thing received; the verse presents Israel’s identity as belonging given into place.
ALSO GROWS
vattitten: you gave, set, placed
וַתִּתֵּן
This is the verb behind “make”; it presents Israel’s identity as something given into place.
mattanah: gift, present
מַתָּנָה
The noun carries the same root into something received, echoing Israel’s given belonging.
THE PATTERN
God’s covenant is expressed as mutual belonging: a people are God’s, and God is their God.
And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.THE THREAD
And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.Ezekiel uses נָתַתִּי (natatti, “I gave”), a form of נתן (natan, “give, set, place”), then joins that gift to the same “my people / your God” bond. The shared root makes gift and belonging echo: what God gives places the people in relationship.
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