What Does 1 Chronicles 22:13 Mean in the King James?

Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

1 Chronicles 22:13 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The verse joins flourishing to guarded attention that becomes action, with courage holding steady beside it.

THE MEANING

Your flourishing is tied here to keeping instruction and carrying it into action. Strength and courage stand alongside that practice, even as dread and dismay press in.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie that courage means never encountering fear is undone: the verse names dread and dismay while still calling for steadiness.

THE ROOT

תַּשְׂכִּיל

taskil

GROWS FROM

שׂכל

To understand, act wisely, or proceed with insight.

The word translated “prosper” also carries the sense of acting with understanding. The verse links flourishing with keeping instruction in practice, so prosperity includes a way of moving through life wisely.

ALSO GROWS

sekel: Understanding, insight

שֵׂכֶל

This branch shows the discernment carried within the idea of prospering.

maskil: One who understands or acts wisely

מַשְׂכִּיל

It connects flourishing with the kind of attention that informs action.

תִּשְׁמֹר

tishmor

GROWS FROM

שמר

To keep, guard, or watch over.

“takest heed” in this verse is tishmor. Taking heed is pictured as guarding something closely, then doing what it asks. The root joins attention with protection: instruction is kept present by being carried into action.

ALSO GROWS

shomer: A keeper or guardian

שֹׁמֵר

This branch makes the watchful quality of taking heed visible.

mishmeret: A charge or guard duty

מִשְׁמֶרֶת

It shows keeping as an ongoing responsibility, not a passing glance.

וֶאֱמָץ

ve’emats

GROWS FROM

אמץ

To be firm or resolute.

“good courage” in this verse is ve’emats. Courage here carries the sense of becoming firm. It stands beside guarded attention and wise action as steadiness in the face of dread and dismay.

ALSO GROWS

omets: Courage, resolve

אֹמֶץ

This noun makes explicit the resolve named by the command.

amits: Strong, mighty

אֲמִיץ

This branch links courage with firmness of strength.

THE PATTERN

Flourishing takes shape as instruction is kept, understood, and carried into action.

Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

Deuteronomy 29:9 · KJVThe verse directly joins keeping and doing the covenant words with prospering.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psalm 1:3 · KJVThe tree’s fruitfulness pictures flourishing as a sustained way of life rather than a single outcome.

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

James 1:22 · KJVThe verse shows that instruction reaches its purpose when hearing becomes action.

THE THREAD

Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

Joshua 1:7 · KJV

Joshua uses the same root, ⁨שׂכל⁩ (sakal), for “prosper,” and places it beside the same call to courage and careful action. The shared wording lets you see flourishing as insight put into practice while staying the course.

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