What Does 2 Chronicles 18:7 Mean in the King James?

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

2 Chronicles 18:7 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The phrase “unto me” gives away the measure: the king names prophecy evil when it refuses to speak favorably for him.

THE MEANING

A person can seek God’s counsel while already resenting the answer that will not affirm them. When the measure is whether a word is good “unto me,” an unwelcome message can be branded evil and its speaker hated. The verse lays bare the difference between wanting guidance and wanting reassurance.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A message is not false or evil merely because it does not favor me; a favorable message is not true merely because it does.

THE ROOT

טוֹב

ṭov

GROWS FROM

טוב

to be good; goodness or benefit

The king does not speak of good in the abstract: “unto me” makes personal favor his measure. The root’s range of goodness and benefit gives that phrase weight, the word is judged by what comes favorably to him.

ALSO GROWS

ṭov: good, pleasant, beneficial

טוֹב

This is the word the king says Micaiah never speaks to him, tying “good” to how the message lands for him.

ṭovah: goodness; a good thing or benefit

טוֹבָה

This form brings out the benefit implied in the king’s complaint: he wants a word that counts as good for him.

רָע

raʿ

GROWS FROM

רעע

to be bad or harmful; to do harm

This word can describe what is evil, adverse, or harmful. Set opposite to “good” and paired with “unto me,” it names the forecast as harmful to the king; that reaction alone does not establish whether the message is false.

ALSO GROWS

raʿ: bad, evil, harmful

רַע

This is the word the king applies to Micaiah’s speech, making his personal judgment explicit.

hēreaʿ: to do harm or deal badly

הֵרֵעַ

The verbal branch carries the sense of harm, showing how “evil” can name what someone experiences as adverse.

THE PATTERN

When comfort becomes the test of truth, people reject words that confront them and demand words that suit them.

Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

Isaiah 30:10 · KJVThe demand is for smooth speech over right speech, the same preference that makes unwelcome prophecy feel evil.

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Galatians 4:16 · KJVA hearer can turn the truth-teller into an enemy when truthful speech does not flatter.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

2 Timothy 4:3 · KJVWhen desire sets the standard, listeners seek voices that confirm what they already want.

THE THREAD

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Galatians 4:16 · KJV

The king treats unfavorable prophecy as grounds to hate its speaker; this verse asks whether truth itself has made the speaker an enemy. Together they expose how discomfort with a message can be mistaken for evidence against it.

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