What Does 2 Kings 14:3 Mean in the King James?

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did.

2 Kings 14:3 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

A life can be right in the LORD’s sight and still follow a pattern different from David’s.

THE MEANING

This verse holds two measures together in your life: what is right in the LORD’s sight and the pattern you follow. You can be aligned in one respect while still carrying the shape of a nearer model; the two descriptions are not collapsed into one.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that doing what is right means the pattern you inherited must already match the fuller example you honor.

THE ROOT

יָשָׁר

yāšār

GROWS FROM

י־שׁ־ר

Y-Š-R

To be straight, level, or upright; hence, right.

English “right” can sound like a verdict, while yāšār carries the image of what is straight or level. The verse sets that alignment before the LORD’s eyes, then names a separate pattern of imitation: being right does not settle whose example a life follows.

ALSO GROWS

yashar: Straight, upright, right.

יָשָׁר

The conduct called right is pictured as aligned or straight, not merely given a label.

yesharim: The upright.

יְשָׁרִים

The same root describes people as upright, showing that rightness can characterize a way of being, not only a single act.

mesharim: Uprightness, fairness, or levelness.

מֵישָׁרִים

This branch keeps the image of a level course, adding the sense of rightness as an even path.

THE PATTERN

God’s measure of what is right and the human pattern a life repeats can diverge.

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 · KJVThe verse distinguishes the LORD’s way of seeing from the measure people inherit or apply.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

2 Chronicles 25:2 · KJVIt holds right conduct and inward completeness apart in a single sentence.

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1 · KJVIt shows human imitation as a pattern that can be measured against a further example.

THE THREAD

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

2 Chronicles 25:2 · KJV

This verse repeats the same wording, “right in the sight of the LORD,” then adds “but not with a perfect heart.” That added phrase opens the distinction between conduct that is right and the wholeness of the heart.

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