What Does 1 Chronicles 22:5 Mean in the King James?
And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.
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 Hebrew word for “son,” בֵּן (ben), echoes “build,” בָּנָה (banah), placing Solomon inside the very work David prepares.
THE MEANING
A work can exceed the strength or lifespan of the person who begins it: one prepares what another completes. The house carries a name and splendor beyond the reach of a single builder. The work is already meaningful while its final form remains ahead.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the belief that a work unfinished within one lifetime is wasted: preparation itself belongs to the work.
THE ROOT
לִבְנוֹת
livnot
GROWS FROM
בנה
Build; form or raise a structure.
“builded” in this verse is livnot. The verb for building echoes בֵּן (ben, “son”) through the shared ב־נ consonants; Hebrew also associates a son with building or continuing a household. Solomon is not only the young person who will finish the house: the language places the son within the image of the building itself.
ALSO GROWS
ben: Son; a member of a family or household.
בֵּן
Its consonants echo בנה (banah, “build”), linking the son with the household that a house contains and continues.
binyan: Building; structure.
בִּנְיָן
This noun comes from the same root and names the structure taking shape in the verse.
אֲכִינָּה
akinnah
GROWS FROM
כון
Be firm, establish, or set in place.
“make preparation” in this verse is akinnah. The verb translated “prepare” comes from a root that also carries the sense of establishing or making firm. The abundance laid down is not the finished house; it is what sets the future work in place.
ALSO GROWS
nakhon: Firm, established, or prepared.
נָכוֹן
It shows how the root’s sense of readiness grows from being made firm.
makon: A fixed place or dwelling.
מָכוֹן
The root connects preparation with setting a place where something can stand.
תִּפְאֶרֶת
tif'eret
GROWS FROM
פאר
Adorn or beautify; make splendid.
The word rendered “glory” here is תִּפְאֶרֶת (tif’eret, “splendor” or “beauty”), rather than כָּבוֹד (kavod, “weight”). Beside שֵׁם (shem, “name” or “nature”), it presents the house as carrying an identity that becomes visible in its splendor.
ALSO GROWS
pa'ar: To beautify, adorn, or make splendid.
פָּאַר
This verb shows that the verse’s “glory” belongs to the language of visible beauty.
pe'er: Adornment or ornament; a headdress.
פְּאֵר
This related noun makes the root’s sense of splendor concrete: something that adorns and is seen.
THE PATTERN
A work prepared for God takes human hands, while its skill and lasting substance come from God.
A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.THE THREAD
A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.The verb translated “build” here and in the Psalm comes from בנה (banah, “build”). The shared root holds David’s abundant preparation together with the Psalm’s claim that the house’s true stability rests in the LORD who builds.
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