What Does 2 Chronicles 18:28 Mean in the King James?

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.

2 Chronicles 18:28 · 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

The kings go up to Ramoth, whose name means “Heights,” so the destination repeats the ascent.

THE MEANING

You see two kings moving together toward a place whose name is itself a height. Ascent appears in both the verb and the destination, making direction the line’s clearest emphasis.

THE ROOT

וַיַּעַל

wayyaʿal

GROWS FROM

עלה

To ascend, rise, or go up.

“went up” in this verse is wayyaʿal. The verb marks an upward movement. Beside Ramoth, whose name also means “Heights,” it gives the line a doubled image of ascent.

ALSO GROWS

ʿōlāh: An ascending offering, often rendered “burnt offering.”

עֹלָה

This branch uses the same root for something that rises, making the root’s upward sense concrete.

maʿăleh: An ascent, uphill path, or step.

מַעֲלֶה

It carries the same root into the path or steps by which an ascent is made.

רָמֹת

Rāmōṯ

GROWS FROM

רום

To be high, rise, or be lifted up.

Ramoth means “heights,” from ⁨רום⁩ (rūm), meaning “to be high” or “rise.” The name makes the destination echo the verb: the kings ascend toward the Heights.

ALSO GROWS

rām: High or lofty.

רָם

This adjective shares the root’s sense of height and elevation.

hērīm: He raised or lifted up.

הֵרִים

This verb form shows the root describing the act of lifting something higher.

יְהוֹשָׁפָט

Yehōshāphāṭ

GROWS FROM

שפט

To judge or decide; the name means “YHWH has judged” or “YHWH judges.”

Jehoshaphat’s name carries judgment into the scene’s naming. The verse identifies him by more than his rank as Judah’s king: his name also bears the meaning “YHWH judges.”

ALSO GROWS

shāphaṭ: To judge or decide.

שָׁפַט

This verb supplies the action expressed in Jehoshaphat’s name.

mishpāṭ: Judgment or justice.

מִשְׁפָּט

This noun shows the same root naming the judgment carried in the king’s name.

THE PATTERN

In scripture, ascent directs attention to the destination a person or people are approaching.

And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

Genesis 35:1 · KJVThe command to go up to Bethel makes ascent the route toward a named place and an altar.

And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Micah 4:2 · KJVThe nations’ ascent toward the LORD’s mountain points toward the place from which teaching goes out.

And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.

Luke 19:28 · KJVThe verse marks the movement as ascent and names Jerusalem as the destination toward which it leads.

THE THREAD

And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;

Exodus 19:3 · KJV

“Went up” uses the same ⁨עלה⁩ (ʿ-l-h, “ascend”) root as the movement in this verse. Here the destination is “unto God,” making the upward motion lead directly toward whom the movement approaches.

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