What Does 2 Chronicles 6:5 Mean in the King James?

Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:

2 Chronicles 6:5 · 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

Release comes before sacred address and human authority: the people are brought out before a city or ruler is chosen.

THE MEANING

The movement out of constriction comes before a city is chosen for God’s name or a person is chosen to rule. Release can be real while the place of belonging and the shape of human leadership are still unsettled. The destination follows the opening movement.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

I must first find the right spiritual place or leader before deliverance can begin.

THE ROOT

הוֹצֵאתִי

hotsēti

GROWS FROM

י־צ־א

y-ṣ-ʾ

Go out, come out, emerge; in this causative form, bring out.

“brought forth” in this verse is hotsēti. In ⁨הוֹצֵאתִי⁩ (hotsēti, “I brought out”), a causative form of ⁨יָצָא⁩ (yatsaʾ, “go out”), God is the agent of the people’s outward movement. That movement begins before a city or ruler is chosen.

ALSO GROWS

yatsaʾ: To go out or come out.

יָצָא

The verse’s causative form makes God the one bringing the people out.

motsaʾ: A going forth, exit, or source.

מוֹצָא

Deuteronomy 8:3 uses ⁨מוֹצָא⁩ (motsaʾ, “that which proceeds out”) for what comes from God’s mouth, so the same root can describe a people going out and a word going out.

בָּחַרְתִּי

baḥartî

GROWS FROM

ב־ח־ר

b-ḥ-r

Choose, select, elect.

The repeated ⁨בָּחַרְתִּי⁩ (baḥartî, “I chose”) leaves both city and ruler unselected in this verse, making them later designations rather than prerequisites for release. The phrase ⁨שְׁמִי שָׁם⁩ (shemi sham, “my name there”) echoes ⁨שֵׁם⁩ (shem, “name, nature”) with ⁨שָׁם⁩ (sham, “there”) through the consonants ⁨ש־ם⁩, a sound link, not a shared root, joining God’s nature to a place still awaiting choice.

ALSO GROWS

baḥîr: A chosen one, an elect person.

בָּחִיר

This word names a person as the result of choosing, echoing the ruler who is not yet selected here.

mivḥār: A choice or selected, choice portion.

מִבְחָר

It makes selection tangible as choosing among possibilities, the act repeated for both city and ruler.

נָגִיד

nāgîd

GROWS FROM

נ־ג־ד

n-g-d

Be in front or conspicuous; in a causative form, make known or declare.

⁨נָגִיד⁩ (nāgîd, “leader/ruler”) is related to ⁨נָגַד⁩ (nāgad, “be in front; make known”), which also gives ⁨נֶגֶד⁩ (neged, “before or opposite”) and ⁨הִגִּיד⁩ (higgid, “declare”). The leader is pictured as a visible figure before the people, and this verse does not make that human figure a condition of their release.

ALSO GROWS

neged: Before, in front of, or opposite.

נֶגֶד

It makes the spatial sense of being set before someone explicit in the word-family for a ruler.

higgid: To declare or tell.

הִגִּיד

The same root links what is made conspicuous with what is made known, adding a public-facing quality to the ruler’s role.

THE PATTERN

God’s formation of a people begins by bringing them out before establishing where and how they belong.

And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.

Deuteronomy 6:23 · KJVBeing brought out comes first, and the movement then opens into a place of belonging.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1 Peter 2:9 · KJVA people are named as chosen while they are called out of darkness into light.

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Exodus 20:2 · KJVThe speaker identifies himself through the act of bringing the people out before the words that follow.

THE THREAD

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Exodus 20:2 · KJV

The same root ⁨י־צ־א⁩ (y-ṣ-ʾ, “go out”) shapes ⁨הוֹצֵאתִי⁩ (hotsēti, “I brought out”) here and ⁨הוֹצֵאתִיךָ⁩ (hotsēʾtîkha, “I brought you out”) in Exodus. There, the speaker is named as the one who has already brought the reader out before the words that follow, echoing this verse’s order: release precedes the chosen place and ruler.

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