What Does 2 Chronicles 11:6 Mean in the King James?
He built even Beth-lehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,
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 same Hebrew verb names the building of a town here and the forming of a woman in Genesis, so “built” reaches beyond walls.
THE MEANING
What is built takes a lasting form. Bethlehem (בֵּית לֶחֶם, Bet Lechem, “house of bread”) carries nourishment in its name, bringing building and provision together in this line.
THE ROOT
וַיִּבֶן
vayiven
GROWS FROM
בנה
בנה (banah) means to build or establish.
“built” in this verse is vayiven. The same root בנה (banah, “to build”) appears in Genesis 2:22, where the KJV says God “made” the woman. Hebrew uses the language of building for both a town and a person.
ALSO GROWS
banah: to build, construct
בָּנָה
This is the verb behind “built” in the verse.
boneh: builder; one who builds
בּוֹנֶה
It names the one carrying out the same building action.
mivneh: structure, building
מִבְנֶה
The action takes lasting form, as it does in the towns named here.
THE PATTERN
Building gives lasting form to what can shelter and sustain life.
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:THE THREAD
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.Both verses use וַיִּבֶן (vayiven, “built”) from the root בנה (banah, “to build”). The KJV renders it “made” in Genesis, revealing the shared language of building for a person and a town.
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