What Does 2 Chronicles 30:18 Mean in the King James?
For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim, and Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good LORD pardon every one
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 prayer asks the good LORD’s covering to meet people exactly where their ritual cleansing is incomplete.
THE MEANING
You can draw near while your outward preparation remains incomplete: this verse names people who eat the Passover without having purified themselves. The prayer asks the good LORD to cover each one, and its next line describes the person being covered as having set their heart to seek God (v. 19). The gap remains visible, while the person remains within reach of the LORD’s covering.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If I have not met every outward requirement, I have no place near God.
THE ROOT
יְכַפֵּר
yekhapper
GROWS FROM
כפר
k-p-r
Cover; make a covering.
The prayer’s word for pardon comes from the root meaning cover. The people are not described as already purified; the prayer asks the LORD to cover each one while the missed cleansing remains visible.
ALSO GROWS
kippur: Covering; covering rite.
כִּפּוּר
The branch shows pardon as a covering that meets the people’s incomplete ritual preparation.
kofer: Covering price; ransom.
כֹּפֶר
This branch carries the sense of a covering that intervenes on someone’s behalf.
הִטֶּהָרוּ
hitteharu
GROWS FROM
טהר
ṭ-h-r
Be clean; be ritually purified.
“cleansed themselves” in this verse is hitteharu. This is a different root from the prayer for pardon: purification is טהר (taher, “be clean”), while the requested covering is כפר (kaphar, “cover”). The verse keeps the incomplete purification visible and then asks for covering over each person.
ALSO GROWS
tahor: Clean; pure.
טָהוֹר
This adjective names the state the people have not reached through the prescribed purification.
tohorah: Purification; cleanness.
טָהֳרָה
This noun shows the same root describing the process or state of purification.
חִזְקִיָּהוּ
Ḥizqiyyāhû
GROWS FROM
חזק
ḥ-z-q
Be strong; strengthen; make firm.
Hezekiah’s name carries the sense “the LORD has strengthened.” As he prays for people whose ritual preparation is incomplete, his name points to the LORD as the source of strength and covering.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzaq: Be strong; grow firm.
חָזַק
This verbal form points to the strengthening carried in Hezekiah’s name.
ḥāzāq: Strong; firm.
חָזָק
This form makes the name’s strength-bearing sense visible.
THE PATTERN
A heart turned toward God remains in view even when outward purification is incomplete.
That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.THE THREAD
For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.The prayer asks the LORD to cover (כפר, kaphar, “cover”) people who have not been purified (טהר, taher, “be clean”). Leviticus places those same roots together: the priest covers the people so they may be cleansed. The pairing connects covering and purification while preserving them as distinct actions.
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