What Does 2 Chronicles 10:6 Mean in the King James?
And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people?
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
A reply is a word returned to the people, shaped first by counsel from those who stood before Solomon, whose name carries the root of wholeness.
THE MEANING
Your answer to others takes shape through the counsel you receive before speaking. The voices you consult carry the imprint of what they have stood before; here, Solomon’s name carries the root of shalom, wholeness. The verse holds open the moment between hearing people and returning a word to them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a worthy answer must come from you alone and at once; here, the reply begins in counsel.
THE ROOT
לְהָשִׁיב
lehashiv
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
sh-w-b
to turn, return, or bring back
English lets “answer” sound like a fresh utterance; the Hebrew verb says “return.” The word moves back toward the people after being shaped through counsel, so the reply belongs to a relationship, not only to the speaker’s moment of decision.
ALSO GROWS
lashuv: to return, to turn back
לָשׁוּב
This form makes the return movement explicit in “return answer.”
yeshovev: he restores, brings back
יְשׁוֹבֵב
Psalm 23:3 uses this form for restoring the living soul; the same root can describe both a word returned and a life brought back.
וַיִּוָּעַץ
vayyiwwaʿets
GROWS FROM
יָעַץ
y-ʿ-ts
to advise, counsel, or deliberate
“took counsel” in this verse is vayyiwwaʿets. The verb for consulting and the words for advice and adviser share one seed. Counsel here arrives through seasoned voices sought before a word is returned to the people.
ALSO GROWS
ʿetsah: counsel, advice
עֵצָה
The noun names the guidance Rehoboam seeks before answering.
yōʿēts: adviser, counselor
יוֹעֵץ
This branch names the person who gives counsel, making the human voices part of the same root family.
שְׁלֹמֹה
Shelomoh
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
sh-l-m
to be whole, complete, or sound
The elders are identified by the one they stood before: Solomon’s name is tied to the root of wholeness. Their counsel carries a lineage named for wholeness, not merely the weight of their years.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: wholeness, well-being
שָׁלוֹם
This familiar branch makes the wholeness carried in Solomon’s name audible.
shalem: whole, complete
שָׁלֵם
This branch shows the root’s sense of completeness beneath the name.
THE PATTERN
A response to others takes shape through hearing and counsel before the word is returned.
Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:THE THREAD
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.The Hebrew verb translated “return” here and “restoreth” in the psalm grow from שׁוּב, the same root of turning back and bringing back. The shared root opens Rehoboam’s intended reply as a return movement: a word shaped by counsel can be given back to the people.
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