What Does 2 Kings 13:23 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.
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 pictures compassion as the LORD turning toward a people and keeping them before his face while their danger remains.
THE MEANING
Your unresolved trouble is not proof that the LORD has turned away from you. Here compassion means he turns toward you because of covenant and does not cast you from his presence. The words “as yet” keep the verse honest: the danger remains, even as abandonment is withheld.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that trouble still being present means the LORD has already turned away.
THE ROOT
וַיִּפֶן
wayyifen
GROWS FROM
פנה
To turn, face, or direct oneself toward.
“had respect” in this verse is wayyifen. The verse pictures the LORD turning toward them. Its closing image says he does not cast them from before his face, holding regard and continued presence together.
ALSO GROWS
panim: Face; presence.
פָּנִים
The verse says they are not cast away from before his face, echoing the act of turning toward them.
pinnah: Corner; extremity or turning point.
פִּנָּה
The same root’s turning imagery gives the verse’s movement a direction: the LORD faces toward them rather than away.
וַיְרַחֲמֵם
wayraḥămēm
GROWS FROM
רחם
To show compassion or tender regard.
“had compassion” in this verse is wayraḥămēm. This root’s word family includes both compassion and the womb, giving the word a bodily depth. Here that tenderness appears alongside covenant and the refusal to cast the people away.
ALSO GROWS
reḥem: Womb.
רֶחֶם
This branch shows the bodily tenderness associated with the same root family as compassion.
raḥum: Compassionate; tenderly merciful.
רַחוּם
It names the compassionate quality that the verse shows through the LORD’s action toward them.
raḥamim: Compassion; tender mercies.
רַחֲמִים
This plural form keeps the verse’s compassion concrete as tender regard, not mere acknowledgment.
THE PATTERN
Covenant holds compassion and continued regard in place even while danger and unfinished repair remain.
(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;THE THREAD
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.The same Hebrew roots appear here as graciousness and compassion: חנן (ḥanan, show favor) and רחם (raḥam, show compassion). Exodus places these qualities beside the LORD’s name; 2 Kings shows them enacted as the people remain before his face.
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