What Does 2 Chronicles 18:1 Mean in the King James?

Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab.

2 Chronicles 18:1 · KJV

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

“Joined affinity” names a marriage bond that brings Ahab’s household into Jehoshaphat’s family, not merely a political understanding between two kings.

THE MEANING

The verse holds Jehoshaphat’s abundance and honor beside a bond with Ahab’s household. Marriage joins more than two individuals: it draws families into one another’s political and personal lives.

THE ROOT

וַיִּתְחַתֵּן

wayyitḥattēn

GROWS FROM

חתן

To become related by marriage, to form an affinity through marriage.

The marriage root ⁨חתן⁩ (ḥ-t-n; chathan) gives “joined affinity” a family-making dimension. Its branches name kin on both sides of the bond, showing how this alliance reaches into the households themselves.

ALSO GROWS

ḥātān: Bridegroom; a male relative by marriage.

חָתָן

This branch names one who enters the bond, making clear that the relationship is familial as well as political.

ḥōtēn: Father-in-law.

חֹתֵן

This branch shows how marriage creates a kinship relation between households, extending the bond beyond the couple.

יְהוֹשָׁפָט

Yehoshafat

GROWS FROM

שפט

To judge, govern, or render a decision.

“Jehoshaphat” in this verse is Yehoshafat. The name joins ⁨יהוה⁩ (YHWH, “the LORD”) with ⁨שפט⁩ (sh-p-ṭ; shafat, “judge”), giving it the sense “YHWH judges.” That name-nature sits beside the marriage bond: judgment is carried in the king’s name while his household joins Ahab’s.

ALSO GROWS

shāphaṭ: To judge or govern.

שָׁפַט

This verb supplies the judging action carried in Jehoshaphat’s name.

mishpāṭ: Judgment, justice, or a decision.

מִשְׁפָּט

This noun shows the root’s branch into the ordering or judgment associated with a ruler.

THE PATTERN

A marriage bond can join households and carry an alliance beyond the two people who enter it.

And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.

Genesis 34:9 · KJVThe same marriage root describes a proposed bond between households, making the family-making nature of the alliance explicit.

And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.

1 Kings 3:1 · KJVThe same root names Solomon’s marriage tie to Pharaoh’s house, joining affinity with the taking of Pharaoh’s daughter.

And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab: for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife: and he wrought that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 21:6 · KJVThe verse shows the marriage bond extending into the next generation, where Jehoram’s rule is described in relation to the house of Ahab.

THE THREAD

Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

Deuteronomy 7:3 · KJV

The same marriage root ⁨חתן⁩ (ḥ-t-n; chathan) appears here, where the wording makes a marriage bond between households explicit. It opens “joined affinity” as a tie that makes families kin, not simply an agreement between rulers.

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