What Does 2 Chronicles 23:6 Mean in the King James?
But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.
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 sacred boundary divides roles without dividing responsibility: some enter to serve, and all keep the LORD’s watch.
THE MEANING
The verse holds access and responsibility together. Entry belongs to those set apart for service, while the people beyond the threshold still carry the LORD’s charge. Sacred work is not limited to the role that enters.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that only those admitted to the sacred space have a part in guarding what is sacred.
THE ROOT
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
mishmeret
GROWS FROM
שׁמר
sh-m-r
To guard, keep, watch over, or preserve.
“watch / keep” in this verse is mishmeret. The verse places יִשְׁמְרוּ (yishmeru, “they keep”) beside מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret, “charge” or “watch”); both grow from שׁמר. The people are not merely waiting outside: they are guarding the very charge named by the noun, while the priests and Levites hold the distinct work of entry.
ALSO GROWS
shamar: To guard, keep, or watch over.
שָׁמַר
The verb names the people’s active role in holding the LORD’s watch.
mishmeret: A charge, watch, or custody.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This noun makes clear that what the people keep is an entrusted responsibility.
shomer: A keeper or guardian.
שֹׁמֵר
This branch shows the identity formed by the same root: the one who keeps watch.
THE PATTERN
What is set apart for sacred service is protected through assigned watchfulness shared across the community.
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.THE THREAD
And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.Numbers uses the same keeping-root for the charge of the whole congregation. Here, too, sacred service has distinct roles while the responsibility to guard the LORD’s charge reaches beyond those who enter.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us