What Does 2 Kings 10:31 Mean in the King James?
But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.
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 verse shows how an unguarded path can leave an old pattern of missing in place.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks now to the split between allegiance and the path a life actually follows. The instruction remains unguarded while the old pattern continues; the continuing walk reveals the heart’s direction.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that one visible reform proves the whole life has changed direction.
THE ROOT
שָׁמַר
shamar
GROWS FROM
שׁ־מ־ר
sh-m-r
Keep watch over; guard.
“heed / keep” in this verse is shamar. The Hebrew verb carries the sense of guarding, so the failure is more than a lapse of attention: the instruction is left unkept. Its branches picture keeping as sustained watch over something entrusted.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: Watchman; keeper.
שֹׁמֵר
A keeper actively watches over what is in their care, sharpening the force of the instruction left unguarded.
mishmeret: Charge; watch; observance.
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
The instruction is a charge to be maintained, not a passing thought.
לָלֶכֶת
lalechet
GROWS FROM
הלך
h-l-k
Walk, go, proceed.
The root points to movement along a course, not a single step. Here the walk makes the heart’s continuing direction visible.
ALSO GROWS
holekh: One walking or going.
הוֹלֵךְ
The form keeps attention on a person moving along a way, as the verse does with Jehu’s continuing course.
mahalakh: Course; progression.
מַהֲלָךְ
This branch makes clear how a walk can name a sustained direction rather than one isolated choice.
חַטֹּאות
chatta’ot
GROWS FROM
חטא
ḥ-ṭ-ʾ
Miss; fail to reach what is aimed at.
“sins” in this verse is chatta’ot. The verse describes a pattern of missings that remains in place. The root brings the gap between the intended way and the way still being followed into view.
ALSO GROWS
ḥata: To miss; offend.
חָטָא
The verb presents the missing as an action that can continue, as it does in the verse’s description.
ḥote: One who misses or commits an offense.
חֹטֵא
This branch names the person by a continuing pattern, not by a single isolated failure.
THE PATTERN
A life’s direction is disclosed by what its heart continues to guard and follow.
Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.THE THREAD
Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.“Diligently keep” uses the same Hebrew root שָׁמַר (shamar, keep or guard) that lies beneath “took no heed.” Here keeping is sustained guarding, which makes the unguarded instruction in 2 Kings stand out against the pattern that continues.
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