What Does 2 Chronicles 18:5 Mean in the King James?
Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.
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
Four hundred voices can pronounce God’s promise, but their agreement does not prove that God spoke.
THE MEANING
You can hear a chorus speak with religious certainty and promise the outcome you want. Agreement gives the claim volume, but it does not establish its source. The assurance can sound settled while the question of truth remains open.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that a message becomes God’s word when enough religious authorities agree on it.
THE ROOT
הַנְּבִיאִים
hannevi'im
GROWS FROM
נבא
n-b-ʾ
To prophesy or utter an oracle.
“prophets” in this verse is hannevi'im. The root names prophetic speech, but the word itself does not certify where that speech comes from. Here, four hundred prophetic voices make the same claim; their number cannot establish its source.
ALSO GROWS
navi: One who speaks an oracle or prophetic message.
נָבִיא
The shared root keeps the focus on the message being voiced, rather than the speaker’s confidence.
nevu'ah: A prophetic utterance or message.
נְבוּאָה
The root connects the four hundred men to the message they announce, while leaving its truth to be discerned.
וְיִתְּנֶנָּה
veyittenennah
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“deliver” in this verse is veyittenennah. The promise is literally that God will give the city into the king’s hand. The root makes the claim concrete: the prophets attribute the placing of victory in the king’s possession to God.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give something or place it into someone’s possession.
נָתַן
This is the verb behind the prophets’ assurance that God will give the city to the king.
mattanah: Something given.
מַתָּנָה
The related noun casts the promised victory as something given by God, not merely an outcome the king expects.
THE PATTERN
A claim spoken in God’s name still requires discernment; collective certainty does not establish its source.
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.THE THREAD
Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee.The word translated “prophets” is הַנְּבִיאִים (hannevi’im), “the prophets,” from נבא (n-b-ʾ), “to prophesy or utter an oracle.” The next scene exposes that shared prophetic speech as carrying a lying spirit, showing that four hundred voices can repeat one message without making it true.
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