What Does 2 Chronicles 18:11 Mean in the King James?
And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
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 crowd turns a desired conquest into a promise spoken in the LORD’s name, but agreement cannot make the promise true.
THE MEANING
The chorus makes the outcome sound settled: advance, succeed, and the city will be placed in the king’s hand. The scene exposes how many confident voices can make desire sound like divine certainty, even while truth contradicts them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Agreement among religious voices proves that a claim carries God’s authority.
THE ROOT
נָתַן
natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“deliver” in this verse is natan. The Hebrew verb is natan: the LORD is said to give or place the city into the king’s hand. That concrete transfer can sound like deliverance, but the verb itself does not certify whether the promise is true.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: Gift, present.
מַתָּנָה
This noun shares the root’s sense of something given or bestowed, showing the transfer beneath the English word “deliver.”
nethinim: Given ones; assigned ones.
נְתִינִים
The root can describe people placed into an assigned role; here it describes a city supposedly placed into a ruler’s hand.
הַצְלַח
hatsliach
GROWS FROM
צלח
ṣ-l-ḥ
To advance, succeed, or prosper.
“prosper” in this verse is hatsliach. The command urges forward movement with success presented as assured. Paired with natan, it makes the conquest sound like a completed sequence: advance, then receive what has been promised.
ALSO GROWS
tsalach: Advance, succeed, prosper.
צָלַח
This is the root verb behind the command to prosper; it carries movement toward success.
matsliach: One who succeeds or prospers.
מַצְלִיחַ
The related form names someone as succeeding, echoing the confident outcome the prophets announce.
THE PATTERN
A chorus that tells power what it wants can make falsehood sound like divine certainty.
And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king’s hand.The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.THE THREAD
And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.The Hebrew verb natan (נָתַן), “give” or “place,” appears in both promises of delivering something into a king’s hand. Here the same transfer formula is true; in 2 Chronicles 18, Micaiah exposes the chorus’s version as false, revealing that the wording alone does not establish the speaker’s authority.
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