What Does 2 Chronicles 6:42 Mean in the King James?
O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.
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 prayer asks God not to turn away from the anointed, grounding that request in remembered faithful love rather than present merit.
THE MEANING
The prayer asks that God’s face remain toward the anointed one and invokes the faithful love bound to David (דָּוִד, Dāwīd, “beloved”), God’s servant. For you now, it gives the fear of being turned away words inside a relationship: the plea leans on faithful love already remembered, not a new claim of worth.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that feeling unseen means there is no relationship left to appeal to: the prayer still speaks from within a bond of service and faithful love.
THE ROOT
חַסְדֵי
chasdei
GROWS FROM
ח־ס־ד
ḥ-s-d
Faithful, loyal love that sustains a bond.
The word translated “mercies” carries the sense of faithful love, not pity alone. The plea rests on a bond already held in memory, so the anointed one’s appeal is grounded in enduring relationship.
ALSO GROWS
ḥesed: Faithful love
חֶסֶד
This is the singular form behind “mercies,” showing the verse’s appeal is rooted in loyal love.
ḥasid: A faithful or loyal one
חָסִיד
This branch describes a person marked by the same quality of faithful love invoked in the prayer.
תָּשֵׁב
tāshēv
GROWS FROM
שׁ־ו־ב
sh-w-b
Return, turn back.
“turn not away” in this verse is tāshēv. The English phrase sounds like simple withdrawal, while the Hebrew root carries the motion of turning or returning. The prayer’s image is relational orientation: the face is not to be turned away.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: Turn or return
שׁוּב
The root’s basic motion keeps the prayer focused on the direction of God’s attention.
teshuvah: Return, turning back
תְּשׁוּבָה
This noun carries the root’s motion of return, echoing the verse’s concern with turning and presence.
מְשִׁיחֶךָ
meshichekha
GROWS FROM
מ־שׁ־ח
m-sh-ḥ
Apply oil; anoint.
“anointed” in this verse is meshichekha. The title marks a person as set apart for an entrusted role. The prayer concerns the face of the one marked in this way, not an unnamed or interchangeable person.
ALSO GROWS
mashiach: The anointed one
מָשִׁיחַ
This is the title behind “thine anointed,” joining the prayer to a person marked for a role.
mishchah: Anointing oil or ointment
מִשְׁחָה
This branch names the substance used in anointing, connecting the title to the act of setting apart.
THE PATTERN
A present plea for God’s attention draws strength from faithful love remembered across generations.
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;THE THREAD
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.Isaiah names the “sure mercies of David,” using the same root ח־ס־ד (ḥ-s-d) for faithful love that Solomon invokes here. That connection grounds the plea in a durable bond, not a passing feeling of favor.
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