What Does 1 Chronicles 29:25 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.
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 LORD first makes Solomon great in Israel’s sight, then places royal majesty upon him: his stature is received, not self-made.
THE MEANING
As you read now, Solomon’s stature becomes a picture of greatness received: the LORD makes him great in the sight of Israel and gives him splendor beyond every earlier king there. His distinction has a source outside himself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that visible greatness must be self-made: Solomon’s enlargement and royal majesty both come from the LORD.
THE ROOT
וַיְגַדֵּל
waygaddēl
GROWS FROM
גדל
To grow or become great; in this form, to make great.
“magnified” in this verse is waygaddēl. The root holds making great together with growth. One of its branches is מִגְדָּל (migdal), a tower: what grows great becomes visible, matching the verse’s emphasis on Solomon’s stature before all Israel.
ALSO GROWS
gadol: Great, large
גָּדוֹל
The same root names the greatness the LORD brings about in Solomon.
gedullah: Greatness, majesty
גְּדֻלָּה
This noun makes explicit the quality the verse says the LORD gives Solomon.
migdal: Tower
מִגְדָּל
A tower makes height visible, echoing Solomon’s greatness in the sight of all Israel.
וַיִּתֵּן
wayyittēn
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, set, or place.
“bestowed” in this verse is wayyittēn. The verse describes royal majesty as something the LORD gives and places upon Solomon. The root’s sense of placing makes the image concrete: this splendor rests on him as a gift, rather than arising from him alone.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place
נָתַן
This is the root verb behind the LORD’s act of bestowing majesty.
mattanah: Gift
מַתָּנָה
The related word makes clear the gift-like character of what is placed upon Solomon.
THE PATTERN
Stature and authority are raised or set in place by God, rather than secured by human rank alone.
The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.THE THREAD
And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.The LORD’s “gave” here and “bestowed” in Chronicles come from the same Hebrew root, נתן (natan), meaning give, set, or place. One verse names wisdom and the other royal majesty as things Solomon receives from the LORD.
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