What Does 2 Chronicles 20:5 Mean in the King James?
And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
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 man named “YHWH judges” stands within the assembly, before the court in the LORD’s house.
THE MEANING
You are shown authority standing among the gathered people and in the LORD’s house. Jehoshaphat’s name carries “YHWH judges,” placing the king beneath a judgment greater than his own.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that authority means standing above the people is undone here: the king stands within their assembly, before the LORD.
THE ROOT
קָהָל
qāhāl
GROWS FROM
קהל
q-h-l
to gather, assemble
Qāhāl names the people as an assembly, while forms of the same root describe the act of gathering. English “congregation” can sound like a fixed institution; this root keeps the people present as a gathered body before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
wayyiqqāhēl: and they assembled
וַיִּקָּהֵל
This verb form keeps the assembly as an act of gathering, matching Jehoshaphat’s place among the gathered people.
haqhel: assemble, gather together
הַקְהֵל
The same root can name both the assembled people and the call that brings them together.
יְהוֹשָׁפָט
Yehoshāphāṭ
GROWS FROM
שפט
sh-p-t
to judge, govern, render a decision
“Jehoshaphat” in this verse is Yehoshāphāṭ. The name joins the divine name with shaphat: “YHWH judges.” The nearby court sharpens that resonance, while the king’s position remains within the assembly and before the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
shōphēt: judge
שֹׁפֵט
This is the person who judges, carrying the same root found within Jehoshaphat’s name.
mishpāṭ: judgment, justice, a legal decision
מִשְׁפָּט
This branch names judgment itself, echoing the nature carried by the king’s name.
THE PATTERN
The gathered people’s encounter with God is public and shared.
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:THE THREAD
I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.The Hebrew word rendered “congregation” is qāhāl, the same word used for the assembly in this verse. Psalm 22:22 opens that assembly as a gathered people and a place where the LORD’s name is spoken.
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