What Does 2 Chronicles 14:14 Mean in the King James?
And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them.
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 LORD’s awe falls on the people before the cities are struck, and the verse holds that dread beside the violence and plunder that follow.
THE MEANING
The verse presents the LORD’s awe as a dread that comes upon whole cities and accompanies a violent reversal of power. The victors strike and strip those cities; the passage names what they take as abundant spoil.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that fear is only an inward feeling: here it comes upon whole cities and precedes their defeat.
THE ROOT
פַּחַד
pachad
GROWS FROM
פחד
p-ḥ-d
To dread or tremble.
“fear” in this verse is pachad. The word here is pachad (פַּחַד, dread), a force pictured as coming upon the cities. The LORD’s awe is not merely an inward attitude in this verse; it overtakes a people before the attack.
ALSO GROWS
pachad: To dread, fear, or tremble.
פָּחַד
The verbal branch makes dread something that shakes a person, illuminating how fear can come upon a whole people.
miphchad: Dread or terror.
מִפְחָד
This related noun preserves the sense of fear as an overwhelming force, matching the verse’s image of dread upon the cities.
וַיָּבֹזּוּ
wayyavozzu
GROWS FROM
בזז
b-z-z
To plunder or seize as spoil.
The verb “spoiled” and the following noun “spoil” grow from the same root. Hebrew ties the act of taking to what is taken: the cities are plundered because abundant plunder is in them.
ALSO GROWS
bazaz: To plunder or seize as spoil.
בָּזַז
This is the root behind the victors’ action in the verse.
baz: Booty or spoil.
בַּז
This noun names what is seized, echoing the root of the verb and binding action to its result.
THE PATTERN
Divine dread can seize an entire community and change its ability to act.
And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.THE THREAD
This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.“Dread” here is pachad (פַּחַד), the same root used for the fear that comes upon the cities in 2 Chronicles. In both verses, dread is placed upon a people and overtakes them before the encounter unfolds.
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