What Does 2 Chronicles 20:8 Mean in the King James?

And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

2 Chronicles 20:8 · 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.

THE KEY

They build a sanctuary for God’s name, making God’s nature the center of the place where they live.

THE MEANING

A sanctuary is a place set apart for God’s name, God’s nature made the center of shared life. The verse places the sacred within an inhabited place. Its final “saying” opens into the words that follow.

THE ROOT

מִקְדָּשׁ

miqdash

GROWS FROM

קדשׁ

q-d-sh

To set apart, mark as distinct.

The sanctuary is a set-apart place within the land where people live. Because it is built “for thy name”, shem (⁨שֵׁם⁩, name as nature), it gives that nature a dwelling among them.

ALSO GROWS

qadosh: Set apart; sacred.

קָדוֹשׁ

The same root describes what is set apart, showing that the sanctuary’s character comes from its dedication.

qodesh: Set-apartness; sacredness.

קֹדֶשׁ

This noun names the quality the sanctuary embodies: a space marked out for God’s presence.

hiqdish: To set apart, dedicate.

הִקְדִּישׁ

This verb names the act that makes a place distinct for the nature it is meant to hold.

יָשְׁבוּ

yashvu

GROWS FROM

ישב

y-sh-b

To sit, remain, or dwell.

“dwelt” in this verse is yashvu. The same root holds sitting, staying, and inhabiting together. The verse connects ordinary dwelling with the sanctuary built within that same inhabited place.

ALSO GROWS

yoshev: One who sits or dwells; an inhabitant.

יֹשֵׁב

The inhabitant and the act of dwelling share the same root, tying the people’s daily presence to the place they set apart.

moshav: A dwelling place or settlement.

מוֹשָׁב

This branch makes the shared ground of the verse visible: a settlement is where people dwell, and within it they build a sanctuary.

THE PATTERN

God’s set-apart presence takes up residence among people and gives their shared life a center.

And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

Exodus 25:8 · KJVThe sanctuary’s purpose is God dwelling among people, joining a set-apart place with shared life.

That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.

1 Kings 8:29 · KJVThe house is named as the place where God’s name resides, giving prayer a shared point of orientation.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:14 · KJVThe pattern arrives in embodied form as the Word becomes flesh and dwells among people.

THE THREAD

That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.

2 Chronicles 6:20 · KJV

The same Hebrew word shem (⁨שֵׁם⁩, “name”) appears here and in 20:8. This verse describes God placing that name in the house, making the sanctuary a dwelling for God’s nature and a place toward which prayer turns.

This reading is from Selah Verse.

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