What Does 2 Chronicles 8:1 Mean in the King James?

And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house,

2 Chronicles 8:1 · 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.

THE KEY

The Hebrew verb translated “built” can also describe the forming of a living person, so these two houses carry more than construction: they are brought into inhabitable form.

THE MEANING

The sacred dwelling and the personal dwelling stand together in one span of work. The twenty years give their formation a long measure: both take time to become houses. The verse holds both kinds of dwelling inside the same account.

THE ROOT

וַיִּבֶן

vayyiven

GROWS FROM

בנה

b-n-h

to build, establish, or form

The root behind “built” appears in Genesis 2:22, where the KJV says God “made” a woman. This verb can describe forming a living person as well as raising a dwelling, revealing a wider sense of bringing something into form.

ALSO GROWS

binyan: building, construction

בִּנְיָן

This noun carries the same root into the act or result of building, echoing the work named in the verse.

mivneh: structure, form

מִבְנֶה

This branch names what building brings into shape, drawing attention to the houses as formed dwellings.

THE PATTERN

In Scripture, building language describes the forming of both an inhabitable dwelling and a living form.

And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Genesis 2:22 · KJVThe Hebrew verb rendered “made” comes from the same root as “built,” extending building language to the forming of a living person.

A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Psalm 127:1 · KJVThe verse places the building of a house within the question of what sustains the work.

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:

Ephesians 2:21 · KJVBuilding describes a dwelling taking shape as its parts are fitted together.

THE THREAD

And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Genesis 2:22 · KJV

The Hebrew verb translated “built” here is the same verb translated “made” in Genesis 2:22. Its use for forming a woman opens the word beyond construction: building can mean bringing a living form into being.

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