What Does 2 Chronicles 18:31 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.
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 threat closes around Jehoshaphat, but help comes by turning the pursuers’ intent away from him.
THE MEANING
When danger closes around you, help can change the danger’s direction. Jehoshaphat cries out, and the pursuing force is moved to leave him; the rescue comes through a shift in their intent.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that once danger has surrounded you, the outcome is already settled; this verse leaves room for the threat itself to be redirected.
THE ROOT
וַיְסִיתֵם
wayəsîtēm
GROWS FROM
סות
sût
To incite, entice, or stir someone toward an action.
“moved them to depart” in this verse is wayəsîtēm. The word rendered “moved” also describes inciting or enticing: what shifts here is the captains’ impulse. After they circle Jehoshaphat to fight, God stirs them away from him, the threat’s direction changes.
ALSO GROWS
hēsît: Incited or provoked.
הֵסִית
This form uses the same root for stirring someone toward an action, illuminating how the captains’ intent can be moved.
yəsîtəkha: Entices you.
יְסִיתְךָ
In Deuteronomy 13:6 this form describes urging someone toward a course of action; here the movement is away from Jehoshaphat.
וַיִּזְעַק
wayyizʿaq
GROWS FROM
זעק
z-ʿ-q
To cry aloud or call urgently for help.
“cried out” in this verse is wayyizʿaq. The cry is not a quiet thought but an audible appeal from within danger. The same root appears when Israel cries out under bondage in Egypt, joining Jehoshaphat’s moment to a wider pattern of distress reaching God.
ALSO GROWS
zeʿāqāh: A cry or outcry.
זְעָקָה
The noun makes the urgent appeal itself visible, as in the cry that rises from distress.
wayyizʿāqû: They cried out.
וַיִּזְעָקוּ
This form appears in Exodus 2:23 when the Israelites cry out under bondage, echoing Jehoshaphat’s appeal from danger.
יְהוֹשָׁפָט
Yehoshāfāṭ
GROWS FROM
שפט
sh-f-ṭ
To judge, decide, or govern.
Jehoshaphat’s name means “YHWH judges.” The captains identify him as Israel’s king and target him, while his name places judgment with God rather than with their mistaken reading.
ALSO GROWS
shōfēṭ: Judge or ruler.
שֹׁפֵט
This root form names one who decides a matter, recalling the judgment embedded in Jehoshaphat’s name.
mishpāṭ: Judgment or justice.
מִשְׁפָּט
This branch names the decision or justice associated with the root, deepening the meaning carried by Jehoshaphat’s name.
THE PATTERN
A cry from danger can be met by help that interrupts the threat.
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.THE THREAD
And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.The Israelites’ “cried” and Jehoshaphat’s “cried out” share the Hebrew root זעק (z-ʿ-q), the urgent cry from distress. In both verses the cry rises from danger toward God, linking a surrounded king with a people under bondage.
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