What Does 1 Chronicles 29:19 Mean in the King James?
And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.
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 prayer asks Solomon, whose name shares the root of shalom, to receive a shalem heart, a heart made whole.
THE MEANING
This prayer asks that Solomon receive a heart whole in its relation to God’s instruction. That wholeness takes shape in guarding and doing what is given, and in building the house for which provision has already been made. The pattern speaks now: what is whole in you takes form in what you guard, practice, and build.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a “perfect heart” means a flawless record: the word points to wholeness and integrity, expressed in guarding and doing.
THE ROOT
שָׁלֵם
shalem
GROWS FROM
שׁ־ל־ם
sh-l-m
To be complete, whole, or intact.
The heart requested is whole and intact; the word carries the sense of completeness that English “perfect” can obscure. The same root appears in shalom and in Solomon’s name, Shelomoh, joining the prayer’s request to the nature carried in his name.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness; peace.
שָׁלוֹם
This familiar word shares the root, showing that the heart’s shalem quality is kin to shalom’s wholeness.
Shelomoh: Solomon; a name formed from the sh-l-m root and associated with wholeness and peace.
שְׁלֹמֹה
The prayer asks wholeness for the one whose name carries that same root.
shillem: To make good, repay, or recompense.
שִׁלֵּם
This branch also carries the root’s sense of bringing something to completion.
לִשְׁמֹר
lishmor
GROWS FROM
שׁ־מ־ר
sh-m-r
To keep watch, guard, or preserve.
Here “keep” carries the image of watchful guarding. The heart’s wholeness takes shape as the commandments, testimonies, and statutes are held in care and then put into practice.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: A guard or watchman.
שֹׁמֵר
The watchman image makes “keep” an active, attentive relation to the instruction named in the verse.
mishmeret: A charge, duty, or guard assignment.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch shows that what is guarded is entrusted for care, not merely remembered.
THE PATTERN
A whole heart shows itself by holding to what is given and carrying it into action.
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.If ye love me, keep my commandments.THE THREAD
Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.This verse uses the same shalem wording for a perfect heart and joins it directly to walking in God’s statutes and keeping his commandments. It makes the root’s meaning concrete: wholeness of heart is expressed in how a person walks and guards what is given.
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