What Does 2 Kings 14:17 Mean in the King James?
And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.
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
One king’s death becomes the timestamp inside another king’s continuing life.
THE MEANING
A season of your life can continue after someone else’s story ends. The verse holds both facts at once: death is real, and another life keeps unfolding.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
One person’s death does not mean every life around them stops at the same moment.
THE ROOT
וַיְחִי
wayḥî
GROWS FROM
חיה
ḥ-y-h
To live, be alive, or remain living.
The Hebrew behind “lived” belongs to the same root as the words for “living” and “life.” The verse measures life as continuing time, even while it names another person’s death.
ALSO GROWS
chai: Living; alive.
חַי
This is the adjective from the same root, bringing the verse’s “lived” into the broader language of being alive.
chayyim: Life; living.
חַיִּים
This noun shares the root and shows how the verb “lived” belongs to a family of words for life itself.
מוֹת
mot
GROWS FROM
מות
m-w-t
To die; death.
The Hebrew keeps dying and death within one root family, giving the line a clear boundary: one life ends, while another continues to be counted. The verse holds both realities in the same sentence.
ALSO GROWS
māvet: Death.
מָוֶת
This noun names the endpoint that marks the years of Amaziah’s continued life.
mēt: Dead; a dead person.
מֵת
This form from the same root describes the state reached through dying, sharpening the contrast with the one who lives on.
אֲמַצְיָהוּ
ʾĂmaṣyāhû
GROWS FROM
אמץ
ʾ-m-ṣ
To be strong or to strengthen.
Amaziah’s name is commonly understood as “YHWH strengthens,” joining the root of strength to the divine name. In this verse, that name belongs to the king whose continued years are plainly counted.
ALSO GROWS
ʾōmeṣ: Strength; courage.
אֹמֶץ
This noun from the same root makes the strength carried in Amaziah’s name audible.
ʾammīṣ: Strong; courageous.
אַמִּיץ
This adjective grows from the root and expresses the quality of strength embedded in the name.
THE PATTERN
A death can mark the timeline of another life without ending it.
And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.THE THREAD
He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.The Hebrew word for “life” here, חַיִּים (chayyim), shares the חיה root behind “lived” in 2 Kings. The psalm names life as length of days; this verse counts those days beyond another king’s death.
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