What Does 2 Chronicles 20:1 Mean in the King James?
It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
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 battle gathers around a man whose name means “YHWH has judged,” placing the threat beside a name that carries judgment before the outcome appears.
THE MEANING
Several forces converge on you, and the verse lets that pressure remain real. Their arrival is not yet a verdict: the moment stands open before its outcome.
THE ROOT
יְהוֹשָׁפָט
Yehoshafat
GROWS FROM
שׁ־פ־ט
sh-p-ṭ
To judge, govern, or render judgment.
Jehoshaphat means “YHWH has judged.” The verse places a military threat around a name that carries judgment as part of its nature; the name keeps that meaning present without making the assault disappear.
ALSO GROWS
shōphēt: Judge
שֹׁפֵט
The name’s root also names the one who renders judgment.
mishpāṭ: Judgment, justice
מִשְׁפָּט
This branch names judgment itself, the idea carried inside Jehoshaphat’s name.
מִלְחָמָה
milḥāmāh
GROWS FROM
ל־ח־ם
l-ḥ-m
To fight or wage war.
The English noun can make battle sound like a settled event; its Hebrew root keeps the action active. The attack is underway, but this verse leaves its outcome unspoken.
ALSO GROWS
lāḥam: To fight; wage war
לָחַם
This verb shows the active contention inside the word rendered “battle.”
lōḥēm: Fighter; warrior
לֹחֵם
This form names one engaged in the fighting, keeping attention on the action rather than its result.
THE PATTERN
A threat can fill the scene before it determines the outcome.
And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.THE THREAD
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?Jehoshaphat’s name carries the same שׁ־פ־ט (sh-p-ṭ, judge) root found in “Judge” here. The shared root opens the name into a question about judgment’s nature: whether the Judge of all the earth does right.
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