What Does 1 Kings 15:14 Mean in the King James?
But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.
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
Wholeness here is not the same thing as a finished landscape.
THE MEANING
Your heart can be whole in its orientation toward the LORD even while some high places remain standing. The verse holds that inward wholeness together with what is still unremoved around it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the assumption that an unfinished outward change automatically means the heart itself is divided from the LORD.
THE ROOT
שָׁלֵם
shalem
GROWS FROM
שלם
To be whole, complete, or sound.
The English “perfect” can sound like flawless performance; שָׁלֵם (shalem) points to wholeness and soundness. Its branches include shalom, wholeness, and shillem, to repay or complete what is due, giving the word a sense of integrity rather than untouched surroundings.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being
שָׁלוֹם
This familiar branch shows that the same root behind Asa’s “perfect” heart also names wholeness.
shillem: To repay, recompense, or complete what is due
שִׁלֵּם
This verb connects wholeness with something brought to completion, illuminating how the heart can be described as whole while the surrounding work remains unfinished.
THE PATTERN
A whole heart is marked by its unified direction toward God, even when the surrounding picture is not yet complete.
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.THE THREAD
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.The Hebrew behind “perfect” is shalem, the same root used here for a heart “perfect toward” God. That echo makes the wholeness relational: the heart is whole in its orientation toward God, while the verse can still name what remains unreformed around it.
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