What Does 2 Chronicles 25:14 Mean in the King James?
Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.
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 conqueror makes the gods of the defeated stand, then bows himself before them.
THE MEANING
You can defeat what stands outside you and still carry its claim into your own life. The verse shows the shift in the body: you raise what you have captured, then lower yourself before it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that defeating or possessing something means you are free of its power; Amaziah conquers Edom, then gives Edom’s gods his bow.
THE ROOT
וַיַּעֲמִידֵם
wayyaʿămîdēm
GROWS FROM
עמד
ʿ-m-d
To stand, remain, or take a stand.
“set them up” in this verse is wayyaʿămîdēm. The Hebrew says that he caused them to stand for himself as gods. The next clause turns the scene upside down: he raises them into place, then lowers himself before them.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāmad: To stand or remain.
עָמַד
This is the root verb beneath the causative form in the verse: Amaziah makes the gods stand.
maʿămād: A standing, position, or station.
מַעֲמָד
The root can describe a position one occupies; Amaziah gives these gods a place of authority in his life.
ʿammūd: A pillar or column.
עַמּוּד
A pillar is something that stands upright, echoing the physical raising of the gods before Amaziah bows.
יִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה
yishtachaveh
GROWS FROM
שחה
sh-ḥ-h
To bow low or prostrate oneself.
“bowed down” in this verse is yishtachaveh. This verb names the embodied act of prostrating oneself. The same root can be rendered “worship” elsewhere, so the verse shows allegiance as a body lowered before its object.
ALSO GROWS
shāḥāh: To bow down or prostrate oneself.
שָׁחָה
This is the base verb underlying Amaziah’s posture before the gods.
hishtachavah: To prostrate oneself; to bow oneself down.
הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה
This form makes the person the one who bends, placing Amaziah’s own body inside the act of allegiance.
THE PATTERN
What you enthrone can master you, even when you believe you possess it.
And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?THE THREAD
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:The verb rendered “worship” here comes from שחה (shachah), “to bow down,” the same root used for Amaziah’s bowing. This verse opens the gesture as an act of allegiance: Amaziah directs his bow toward the gods he has brought home.
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