What Does 2 Kings 10:20 Mean in the King James?
And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.
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 assembly is set apart for Baal (בַּעַל, baʿal, “master/owner”), showing that sacred designation and allegiance are distinct.
THE MEANING
Jehu’s command turns allegiance into a public gathering: he calls for an assembly set apart for Baal, and the people proclaim it. The words hold together dedication, gathering, and the master at its center.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the assumption that a solemn or set-apart gathering must be devoted to God: this one is explicitly for Baal.
THE ROOT
קַדְּשׁוּ
qaddeshu
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
Set apart; dedicate as sacred.
“solemn” in this verse is qaddeshu. The word marks the assembly as set apart, but does not name who receives that dedication. The verse supplies that answer: it is for Baal.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart; sacred.
קָדוֹשׁ
It shares the language of designation, showing how the gathering is marked off from the ordinary.
qodesh: Set-apartness; a sacred thing or place.
קֹדֶשׁ
It carries the same root idea of being designated for a particular purpose.
עֲצָרָה
atsarah
GROWS FROM
עצר
ʿ-ṣ-r
Hold back, restrain, or stop.
The assembly word is linked to holding or stopping. The gathering is more than a crowd: it is a time set aside in which people are held together around a purpose.
ALSO GROWS
ʿatsar: To stop, restrain, or hold back.
עָצַר
This root sense gives the assembly the feel of a gathering that interrupts ordinary activity.
maʿatsar: Detention; a place of confinement.
מַעְצָר
It preserves the root’s sense of being held in, which illuminates the assembly as a bounded gathering.
בַּעַל
baʿal
GROWS FROM
בעל
b-ʿ-l
Own, possess, or be master; the noun can mean owner, master, or husband.
Baal’s name carries the sense of “master” or “owner.” The verse names the figure at the center of the gathering, making its allegiance explicit.
ALSO GROWS
baʿal: To own, possess, or be master over.
בָּעַל
The verb sense makes the name’s claim of mastery audible in the verse.
beʿalim: Owners, masters; husbands.
בְּעָלִים
This plural form keeps the root’s sense of ownership and mastery visible.
THE PATTERN
A public assembly takes its character from what calls it together and the purpose named for it.
And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.THE THREAD
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.Leviticus uses qodesh (קֹדֶשׁ, qodesh, “set-apartness”) and miqra (מִקְרָא, miqra, “convocation”), and its word tiqre’u (תִּקְרְאוּ, tiqre’u, “you call or proclaim”) comes from the call-root קרא (q-r-a). The same set-apart and call roots frame 2 Kings 10:20, while the named recipient shows where the gathering’s allegiance rests.
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