What Does 2 Chronicles 32:27 Mean in the King James?

And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;

2 Chronicles 32:27 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The verse names honor as weight and its jewels as objects of desire, tying what gives life substance to what draws the eye.

THE MEANING

Abundance in your life takes concrete forms: resources, esteem, security, beauty, and things you value. The verse places silver, gold, spices, shields, and desirable objects in one inventory, letting provision include both protection and delight. The word translated “honour” carries the sense of weight, so esteem feels substantial rather than ornamental.

THE ROOT

כָּבוֹד

kavod

GROWS FROM

כבד

k-b-d

To be heavy or weighty.

“honour” in this verse is kavod. Kavod, the Hebrew word for honor, carries the sense of weight. The verse places that weight beside gathered riches, so honor is more than praise: it has substance and standing.

ALSO GROWS

kāvēd: Heavy, weighty.

כָּבֵד

This adjective makes the physical sense inside “honour” visible.

kibbēd: To honor, treat as weighty.

כִּבֵּד

This verb shows honor as the act of giving someone or something significance.

חֶמְדָּה

ḥemdāh

GROWS FROM

חמד

ḥ-m-d

To desire, take pleasure in, or find desirable.

“pleasant jewels” in this verse is ḥemdāh. The phrase points to desirable objects: things that draw desire. The same root can describe the desired thing and the act of coveting, joining beauty and wanting without the verse itself condemning either.

ALSO GROWS

ḥāmad: To desire or covet.

חָמַד

This verb reveals the wanting contained in the idea of something desirable.

neḥmād: Desirable, delightful, pleasant.

נֶחְמָד

This form describes what attracts desire, echoing the objects in Hezekiah’s storehouses.

THE PATTERN

Scripture gives honor the language of weight: what is regarded as significant carries substance, while what is slighted is made light.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Exodus 20:12 · KJVThe command uses the ⁨כבד⁩ (k-b-d, “to be weighty”) root, presenting honor as giving parents significance.

Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

1 Samuel 2:30 · KJVThe same ⁨כבד⁩ (k-b-d, “to be weighty”) root sets honor beside being “lightly esteemed,” making the contrast in weight explicit.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

2 Corinthians 4:17 · KJVThe phrase “weight of glory” gives enduring significance the same image of weight.

THE THREAD

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Exodus 20:17 · KJV

The word behind “pleasant jewels” is ⁨חֶמְדָּה⁩ (ḥemdāh, “desirable”), from the same root as ⁨חָמַד⁩ (ḥāmad, “desire or covet”) in this command. The inventory is more than a list of valuables: its language marks them as things that draw desire.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us