What Does 2 Chronicles 33:7 Mean in the King James?

And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:

2 Chronicles 33:7 · 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 same Hebrew verb describes Manasseh placing an image in the house and God placing his name there: the conflict is over what nature occupies the sacred space.

THE MEANING

A place can bear God’s name as its nature and still be occupied by something made to rival that nature. The verse sets the two acts side by side: an image is placed in the house, and God’s nature is named as what belongs there. The tension remains wherever what fills a sacred space contradicts what it bears.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the belief that a sacred identity guarantees that whatever fills the space reflects that identity. The house bears God’s name while containing its rival.

THE ROOT

שִׂים

sim

GROWS FROM

שים

To set, place, or appoint.

“put” in this verse is sim. The Hebrew root ⁨שים⁩ (sim, to place) appears in both acts: Manasseh places the image, and God says he will place his name. That name is ⁨שֵׁם⁩ (shem, name as nature), so the verse reveals a contest over what is set within the house and what nature it carries.

ALSO GROWS

vayyasem: He placed.

וַיָּשֶׂם

This describes Manasseh setting the carved image in the house.

asim: I will place.

אָשִׂים

God’s words use the same root for setting his name in the house and Jerusalem.

THE PATTERN

A place’s identity is expressed by the presence it is appointed to hold.

But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

Deuteronomy 12:5 · KJVThe chosen place is identified by God’s name being set there.

That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.

1 Kings 8:29 · KJVThe house is a place of prayer because God’s name is present there.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16 · KJVThe image of a dwelling place reaches the reader: what dwells within is bound to what the place is.

THE THREAD

But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

Deuteronomy 12:5 · KJV

Both verses use the root ⁨שים⁩ (sim, to place) with ⁨שֵׁם⁩ (shem, name as nature). Deuteronomy names what the chosen place is appointed to hold; this verse shows an image being placed where that name belongs.

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