What Does 1 Kings 12:21 Mean in the King James?
And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
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 verse’s “bring the kingdom again” names a turning back of kingship, while Jerusalem, the name of wholeness, becomes the mustering point for doing it by force.
THE MEANING
A threatened claim gathers people around one ruler, and restoration takes the form of an army. The disputed realm is treated as something to return to one person’s control, even though the gathering is staged in Jerusalem, whose name carries wholeness. The verse holds the ache of division beside the violence of a forced return.
THE ROOT
לְהָשִׁיב
lehashiv
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
To return, turn back, or bring back.
“bring the kingdom again” in this verse is lehashiv. The verb rendered “bring … again” comes from the root for returning. The verse’s restoration is a turning back of kingship, a return pursued here through military force.
ALSO GROWS
shav: Returned; turned back.
שָׁב
This form shows the root’s basic movement: something or someone turns back.
meshiv: One who brings back or restores.
מֵשִׁיב
This related form makes clear that restoration carries the sense of returning something.
הַמְּלוּכָה
hammelukhah
GROWS FROM
מֶלֶךְ
melekh
King; rule or reign.
The word for kingdom belongs to the same word-family as king and reign. What is being brought back is not only territory but the rule attached to Rehoboam.
ALSO GROWS
melekh: King.
מֶלֶךְ
The kingdom is tied to the person whose authority is meant to be restored.
malakh: To reign.
מָלַךְ
This verb shows the active rule contained within the idea of kingship.
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Yerushalayim
GROWS FROM
שָׁלֵם
shalem
Whole, complete; wholeness.
“Jerusalem” in this verse is Yerushalayim. Yerushalayim carries shalom, wholeness, with the dual ending: two wholenesses. The name creates a sharp tension here: the place bearing wholeness is where an army gathers to return divided rule by force.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness.
שָׁלוֹם
This branch brings the name’s resonance into view beside the divided kingdom.
shalem: Whole or complete.
שָׁלֵם
The root’s sense of completeness sharpens the gap between the wholeness desired and the violent means gathered here.
THE PATTERN
When authority or order is contested, people gather behind a claim and conflict becomes a means of asserting power.
Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.Then said the king to Amasa, Assemble me the men of Judah within three days, and be thou here present.The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.THE THREAD
Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the word of the LORD.The planned “fight” in 12:21 and the prohibited “fight” in 12:24 share לָחַם (lacham, to fight), tracing the movement from mobilization to restraint. The proposed return of kingship gives way to each person going home, making the next verse the clearest measure of what this gathering is meant to become.
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