What Does 2 Chronicles 12:4 Mean in the King James?
And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem.
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 capture reaches from Judah’s fortified edges to Yerushalayim (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, Yerushalayim, “two wholenesses”): even the city named for wholeness is entered by the snare.
THE MEANING
When force breaks through defenses, it presses toward the center; the outer boundary does not guarantee the wholeness within. The verse holds this movement plainly: Judah’s fortified cities are captured, and Jerusalem is reached.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a strong boundary makes everything within untouchable.
THE ROOT
וַיִּלְכֹּד
wayyilkod
GROWS FROM
לכד
To capture, catch, or seize.
The verb behind “took” is לָכַד (lākad, capture or catch), and its branch מַלְכֹּדֶת (malkōdet, snare) shows capture as a net closing around what it takes. The advance reaches יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim, “two wholenesses”), so the city’s name does not place it beyond the reach of the breach.
ALSO GROWS
malkōdet: Snare, trap.
מַלְכֹּדֶת
This branch makes the capture more than possession: it carries the image of a snare closing around its target.
nilkadta: You are caught, you are captured.
נִלְכַּדְתָּ
The same root can describe the one taken by force, as in Proverbs 6:2, joining the capture of cities with being caught in a snare.
THE PATTERN
Fortified boundaries do not guarantee that a threat will stop before it reaches the center.
A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,THE THREAD
Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.The word translated “taken” here is נִלְכַּדְתָּ (nilkadta, “you are caught”), from the same root לכד (l-k-d) as “took” in the verse. One root describes cities captured by force and a person caught in a snare.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us