What Does 2 Chronicles 34:13 Mean in the King James?
Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.
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
Restoration takes a whole network of service: shoulders to carry, eyes to oversee, hands to work, records to keep, and entrances to guard.
THE MEANING
The work before you is held by distinct forms of service: some carry burdens, others oversee, do the task, keep records, administer, and guard entrances. The repair is a shared structure in which the labor that builds, orders, and protects belongs together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that service counts only when your hands visibly produce the result: carrying, overseeing, recording, administering, and guarding all belong to the work.
THE ROOT
עֲבוֹדָה
ʿavodah
GROWS FROM
עבד
ʿavad
Serve; work in service.
English can make “service” sound like a task category beside the work, but the word grows from the same root as “serve” and “servant.” Here, service is bound to actual workers and the burdens they carry: it has hands, weight, and many forms.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāvad: Serve; work.
עָבַד
The action at the center of service gives the work a human shape: someone serves by doing it.
ʿeved: Servant.
עֶבֶד
The person who serves and the service itself share a root, joining the role to the labor.
ʿavodah: Service; labor.
עֲבֹדָה
This is the word used for the work’s service, linking the whole undertaking to the act of serving.
הַסַּבָּלִים
has-sabbālîm
GROWS FROM
סבל
sāval
Bear or carry a burden.
“bearers of burdens” in this verse is has-sabbālîm. The bearers are named by the load they carry: the worker and the act of bearing share the root סבל. The same root appears when God says, “I will bear,” so carrying a burden is also a word for sustaining someone.
ALSO GROWS
sāval: Bear; carry a burden.
סָבַל
The verb describes the action behind the burden-bearers’ role.
sabbāl: Porter; burden-bearer.
סַבָּל
This names the person whose service is to carry the load.
sivlot: Burdens; loads.
סִבְלֹת
The related noun makes the weight itself part of the same word-family as the person who bears it.
שֹׁעֲרִים
shoʿarim
GROWS FROM
שער
shaʿar
Gate; entrance.
Behind “porters” is the Hebrew word for gatekeepers, from the word for “gate.” Their place in the work is at the threshold, where passage is watched and protected.
ALSO GROWS
shaʿar: Gate; entrance.
שַׁעַר
The root names the threshold the gatekeepers are responsible for.
shoʿer: Gatekeeper.
שׁוֹעֵר
This branch names the person who watches the entrance, showing that the work includes protecting access as well as carrying and building.
THE PATTERN
A shared work becomes whole through distinct roles that each hold part of its weight.
And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah the son of one of the apothecaries, and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.THE THREAD
And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.The Hebrew verb translated “I will bear” shares the root סבל (sāval, “to bear a burden”) with the burden-bearers in this verse. The same word that names their service is spoken by God as a promise to carry you.
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