What Does 1 Kings 14:31 Mean in the King James?
And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.
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 hides succession inside a place-word: Abijam reigns “beneath, in place of” Rehoboam, so the throne is occupied only for a time.
THE MEANING
Your encounter with authority has a boundary: the one who holds it is mortal, while another receives the place after him. Lineage and rule continue through names and heirs, but they do not make one holder permanent.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A ruler does not possess the throne permanently; death and succession are named together, so authority passes beyond the person who holds it.
THE ROOT
תַּחְתָּיו
taḥtāw
GROWS FROM
תחת
Under or beneath; by extension, in the place of.
“in his stead” in this verse is taḥtāw. The Hebrew phrase is spatial: “under him,” while the same root can mean “in place of.” Succession is expressed as taking the position another leaves, so a reign’s ending and continuation fit into one phrase.
ALSO GROWS
taḥat: Under, beneath.
תַּחַת
This spatial sense reveals the image inside “in his stead”: the successor occupies a position below or after the former ruler.
taḥtāw: Under him; in his place.
תַּחְתָּיו
This is the form used for Abijam’s succession, describing him as occupying Rehoboam’s place.
רְחַבְעָם
Reḥavʿam
GROWS FROM
רחב
To be wide, become spacious, or enlarge.
“Rehoboam” in this verse is Reḥavʿam. The name combines the widening root with the word for “people,” carrying the sense “the people is enlarged.” That spacious name stands beside the verse’s limit: the bearer’s reign ends, and its place passes to another.
ALSO GROWS
merḥav: A broad place or open space.
מֶרְחָב
This noun shows the root’s sense of spaciousness as a place one can enter.
hirḥiv: He widened or enlarged.
הִרְחִיב
This verbal form makes widening an action, echoing the enlargement carried in the king’s name.
נַעֲמָה
Naʿămāh
GROWS FROM
נעם
Pleasantness, agreeableness, or delight.
“Naamah” in this verse is Naʿămāh. Her name grows from the language of pleasantness, so the verse preserves a quality in the mother’s name, not only her ancestry. That human detail stands beside the king’s burial and succession.
ALSO GROWS
noʿam: Pleasantness or delight.
נֹעַם
This noun makes clear the quality carried in Naamah’s name.
naʿim: Pleasant or agreeable.
נָעִים
This adjective shows the same root describing a pleasing quality.
THE PATTERN
A human life ends, but each generation receives a place shaped by what came before.
And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:THE THREAD
And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.Genesis uses the same Hebrew root, תחת, in the phrase “instead of Abel.” There it marks a child after Abel is killed; here it marks a son taking the throne after his father dies, making the word itself carry both loss and succession.
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