What Does 2 Chronicles 13:21 Mean in the King James?
But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.
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 Hebrew for “waxed mighty” is reflexive, Abijah strengthens himself, and the verse measures that strength by the scale of the household and descendants that follow.
THE MEANING
Strength here becomes visible in an enlarged household and a line of descendants: Abijah strengthens himself, takes fourteen wives, and fathers thirty-eight children. The verse places his growing might beside what he brings forth, while leaving his motive unstated.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתְחַזֵּק
wayyitchazzeq
GROWS FROM
חזק
To be strong, strengthen, or hold firm.
“waxed mighty” in this verse is wayyitchazzeq. וַיִּתְחַזֵּק (wayyitchazzeq, “he strengthened himself”) is a reflexive form of חזק (chazaq, “be strong”), describing Abijah as gathering strength rather than simply possessing a fixed quality. The same root can mean to strengthen or make firm, and here that force takes visible form in a household and a continuing line of descendants.
ALSO GROWS
chizzeq: Make strong or firm.
חִזֵּק
This form shows that the root’s strength can be imparted, while Abijah’s form describes strength gathered in himself.
chizqu: A plural command to be strong or firm.
חִזְקוּ
The shared root links Abijah’s self-strengthening with strength as a state that can be called forth in others.
וַיּוֹלֶד
wayyoled
GROWS FROM
ילד
To bear, give birth, or beget.
וַיּוֹלֶד (wayyoled, “he begat”) comes from ילד (yalad, “bear or bring forth”), a root that reaches beyond the act of fathering into the idea of generations. The verse’s count therefore marks not only what Abijah brings forth, but a line that continues beyond him.
ALSO GROWS
yeled: A child or young one.
יֶלֶד
The children named in the verse are the direct continuation of the bringing-forth expressed by this root.
toledot: Generations, lineage, or what comes forth.
תּוֹלְדוֹת
This branch opens the root from individual births into the continuing line they form.
THE PATTERN
Strength is a living capacity that grows and carries life forward.
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.THE THREAD
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.“Waxed mighty” and “Be strong” share חזק (chazaq, “be strong or firm”). In Abijah’s verse the root describes him strengthening himself; here it names a strength grounded in the assurance of God’s presence.
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