What Does Ezra 2:68 Mean in the King James?
And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the LORD which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place:
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
What a willing heart gives becomes a place where wholeness can stand.
THE MEANING
A willing heart turns what it carries into support for a shared dwelling. Wholeness takes visible form as the house is set up in its place.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that what is sacred can be sustained only through coercion: here, willing gifts help the house stand.
THE ROOT
הִתְנַדְּבוּ
hitnadevu
GROWS FROM
נדב
To give willingly; to volunteer.
“offered freely” in this verse is hitnadevu. The verb carries the seed of voluntary giving: what is inside the willing heart becomes a tangible gift. The house is set up through that freely given participation.
ALSO GROWS
nedavah: A freewill offering.
נְדָבָה
The offering is the outward form of the willingness named in this verse.
nadiv: Willing, generous; also noble.
נָדִיב
The same root links generosity with the character of the giver.
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Yerushalayim
GROWS FROM
שלם
To be whole, complete.
“Jerusalem” in this verse is Yerushalayim. The city’s name carries the seed of wholeness, and the verse places the rising house within that name. The willing gift gives visible form to a shared place of wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness.
שָׁלוֹם
The city’s name and the house being raised meet in the movement toward wholeness.
shalem: Whole, complete.
שָׁלֵם
This branch shows the root’s sense of wholeness as an intact condition.
THE PATTERN
When giving is voluntary, inward willingness becomes concrete provision for a shared good.
And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments.Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.THE THREAD
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.Ezra’s hitnadevu (הִתְנַדְּבוּ, offered freely) and Exodus’ “willingly” grow from נדב (nadav, to give willingly). In both verses, that unforced giving provides material for a dwelling of God.
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