What Does 2 Chronicles 22:9 Mean in the King James?
And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom.
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
English repeats “sought,” but Hebrew distinguishes the hunt for Ahaziah from Jehoshaphat’s seeking of the LORD.
THE MEANING
You see two pursuits under one English word: Ahaziah is sought, caught, brought to Jehu, killed, and buried; Jehoshaphat is remembered for seeking the LORD with his whole heart. That seeking is named as the reason the slain son is buried, while Ahaziah’s house still cannot retain the kingdom. The burial honors the connection; it does not undo the killing or restore the house’s rule.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that honored ancestry guarantees a house’s political survival: Ahaziah is buried because of Jehoshaphat, yet his house cannot hold the kingdom.
THE ROOT
דָּרַשׁ
dāraš
GROWS FROM
דרש
To seek, inquire, or turn toward for guidance.
The first “sought”, וַיְבַקֵּשׁ (vayvaqqēsh, sought), comes from בקש (baqash, seek or request), while Jehoshaphat’s seeking is דרש (darash, seek or inquire); English makes these different motions sound alike. Jehoshaphat’s name, יְהוֹשָׁפָט (Yəhōshāfāṭ, “YHWH has judged”), also keeps YHWH at the center of the reason given for the burial.
ALSO GROWS
midrāsh: Inquiry or interpretive exposition.
מִדְרָשׁ
It shows that this root’s seeking can become sustained inquiry, not merely a search for a person.
derīshāh: Inquiry or request.
דְּרִישָׁה
It carries seeking into an active appeal or turning toward what is sought.
וַיְבַקֵּשׁ
vayvaqqēsh
GROWS FROM
בקש
To seek, desire, or request.
“sought” in this verse is vayvaqqēsh. Here baqash is the pursuit that locates a person and ends in capture, distinct from darash, the seeking of YHWH. Ahaziah’s name, אֲחַזְיָהוּ (ʾAḥazyāhū, “YHWH has grasped”), echoes the capture scene, though the verb translated “caught” is לָכַד (lāḵaḏ, catch or capture).
ALSO GROWS
baqqāshāh: A request or petition.
בַּקָּשָׁה
This branch shows the root reaching from searching into asking for what is desired.
mevuqqāsh: Sought or desired.
מְבֻקָּשׁ
It gives the other side of the pursuit: the person or thing being sought.
לַעֲצֹר
laʿaṣōr
GROWS FROM
עצר
To hold back, restrain, or retain.
Behind “keep still the kingdom” is the additional sense of holding or retaining strength in the kingship. The house cannot retain rule, even as its father’s legacy still shapes how the dead son is treated.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāṣūr: Restrained or held back.
עָצוּר
It reveals the root’s sense of power being checked or contained.
maʿaṣār: Detention or arrest.
מַעֲצָר
It carries the idea of holding someone in custody, sharpening the verse’s contrast between seizure and failed political retention.
THE PATTERN
A person’s seeking can leave a mark that shapes remembrance after life or political power ends.
Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.THE THREAD
Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.“To seek God” here is דָּרַשׁ (darash, seek or inquire), the same root used for Jehoshaphat’s seeking in 22:9. The earlier verse names that seeking as the reason Jehu’s men bury his son, even as the house loses its hold on the kingdom.
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