What Does 2 Chronicles 5:8 Mean in the King James?
For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.
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 wings cover not only the ark but the staves that carry it: the sacred center and its means of bearing it share one shelter.
THE MEANING
The holy center of your life is not left exposed; the image places a covering over both what holds the center and what carries it. The wings extend over the ark and its staves together, so protection includes the way the sacred is borne.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The idea that only the sacred center deserves shelter, while the means that carry it can remain exposed, gives way here: the covering reaches the staves too.
THE ROOT
וַיְכַסּוּ
vaykhasu
GROWS FROM
כסה
to cover or conceal
“covered” in this verse is vaykhasu. The verb comes from the root כסה, which also forms מִכְסֶה, a covering. The covering reaches beyond the ark to its staves, enclosing both the sacred center and the means of bearing it.
ALSO GROWS
mikhseh: a covering, including a tent covering
מִכְסֶה
This noun makes tangible what the verb does: the covering extends over what is held beneath it.
mekhasseh: one who or that which covers
מְכַסֶּה
This form keeps the focus on an active covering, the work the cherubim do over both ark and staves.
כְּנָפַיִם
kenafayim
GROWS FROM
כנף
wing; an edge or extremity
The same Hebrew noun can name a wing and an outer edge or corner. Here the wings form an extended boundary over the ark and its staves, sheltering the space beneath them.
ALSO GROWS
kanaph: a wing or extremity
כָּנָף
The singular form shows that the shelter begins with the wing as an extension reaching outward.
kenaph: the edge or corner of something, as a garment
כְּנַף
The word’s sense of an edge illuminates how wings reach outward to define a protected space.
THE PATTERN
What is held sacred is covered by a shelter broad enough to include both its center and the means that carry it.
And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!THE THREAD
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.The Hebrew word for wings in this verse and in Psalm 91:4 is כָּנָף (kanaph), meaning wing and also edge or extremity. The image opens from the crafted span over the ark to shelter close enough for you to take refuge beneath.
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