What Does 2 Chronicles 6:30 Mean in the King James?
Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)
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 same God who pardons also sees the whole path and knows the heart beneath it.
THE MEANING
God hears, releases what is forgiven, and gives to each person according to the path they walk, while knowing the heart beneath it. Pardon and response belong together here; what others see never exhausts what God knows about you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that forgiveness makes the way you walk irrelevant.
THE ROOT
יָדַע
yādaʿ
GROWS FROM
ידע
To know, recognize, or perceive by encounter.
“knowest” in this verse is yādaʿ. The verse says God knows the heart, then repeats that God alone knows human hearts. This knowing reaches the inner person beyond what outward behavior can show.
ALSO GROWS
daʿat: Knowledge, knowing.
דַּעַת
This noun comes from the same root, showing that knowing is a state of awareness, not simply a conclusion drawn from appearances.
yodea: One who knows.
יוֹדֵעַ
This form names the one who knows; the verse places the heart in the sight of the one who knows it fully.
סָלַח
sālaḥ
GROWS FROM
סלח
To pardon or forgive; release from a charge.
“forgive” in this verse is sālaḥ. The word family names both pardon and being pardoned. Here release stands beside an answer given according to each person’s path, so forgiveness does not make the life unseen.
ALSO GROWS
seliḥah: Forgiveness, pardon.
סְלִיחָה
The noun names the act of pardon, making the release in this prayer explicit.
nislaḥ: Be forgiven, be pardoned.
נִסְלַח
This form shows the one receiving forgiveness within the same word family.
נָתַן
nātan
GROWS FROM
נתן
To give, set, or place.
The verb translated “render” belongs to the concrete family of giving and placing. Each person receives an answer in relation to the path they walk, with the heart known fully.
ALSO GROWS
nātan: Give, set, place.
נָתַן
This is the root verb behind the act of giving described in the verse.
mattānāh: Gift.
מַתָּנָה
This related noun carries the same root into something given, echoing the concrete sense behind “render.”
THE PATTERN
God sees the heart beneath outward conduct and answers with full knowledge of both the inner person and the path they walk.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.THE THREAD
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.Psalm 139:1 uses the same Hebrew root יָדַע (yādaʿ, know or perceive) for “known,” and joins it to “searched.” The knowing in Chronicles is thorough and personal: the inner life is already seen by the one hearing the prayer.
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