What Does 2 Chronicles 20:16 Mean in the King James?

To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

2 Chronicles 20:16 · 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 “ascent” and the enemy “coming up” share one Hebrew root, making the terrain echo their movement.

THE MEANING

When this word meets you in a threatened place, it keeps the terrain in view: the route, the opposing movements, and the meeting point are named. You descend toward them as they rise along the ascent. The encounter is located at the edge of a brook and the wilderness.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It loosens the belief that an approaching threat makes the whole path unknowable: the enemy is still coming, yet the meeting place is already named.

THE ROOT

מַעֲלֵה

maʿaleh

GROWS FROM

ע־ל־ה

ʿalah

To rise, go up, ascend.

Alongside the KJV’s “cliff,” the Hebrew maʿaleh carries the sense of an ascent. The verse uses the same root again in “they come up,” so the path and the enemy’s movement echo one another.

ALSO GROWS

ʿolim: rising, coming up

עֹלִים

This is the same-root word used for the approaching group; their movement repeats the ascent named in the terrain.

ʿolah: that which rises; a burnt offering

עֹלָה

This noun preserves the root’s upward movement, as maʿaleh names the route by its ascent.

רְדוּ

redū

GROWS FROM

י־ר־ד

yarad

To descend, go down.

“go down” in this verse is redū. The command to descend stands opposite the repeated ascent of the opposing force. The verse maps both movements toward one specified meeting place.

ALSO GROWS

horid: to cause to descend, bring down

הוֹרִיד

This form shows the root can describe directed downward movement, echoing the command given here.

Yarden: Jordan; “the descender”

יַרְדֵּן

The river’s name carries the same descending motion, another way Hebrew can hold movement inside a place-name.

THE PATTERN

Guidance names a route and meeting point while danger is still approaching.

Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.

Exodus 14:2 · KJVThe route and encampment are specified while the threat of pursuit remains ahead.

And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.

2 Kings 6:10 · KJVA named location turns a warning about danger into a place the king can reach.

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

Acts 8:26 · KJVPhilip receives a direction down to a particular road and wilderness, where the encounter ahead takes place.

THE THREAD

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

2 Chronicles 20:17 · KJV

The route and meeting point in this verse lead into the next verse’s posture: stand, and see the LORD’s deliverance. Precise movement and received deliverance occupy one sequence.

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