What Does Zechariah 14:14 Mean in the King James?
And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
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 “wealth” gathered at Jerusalem is chayil, strength, army, and capacity as well as treasure, so the verse gathers the nations’ power, not just their possessions.
THE MEANING
Here, Judah fights at Jerusalem while the surrounding nations’ abundance is gathered there. The gathered wealth includes the force and capacity behind the gold, silver, and garments. The place whose name carries wholeness holds conflict and amassed power in the same scene.
THE ROOT
חֵיל
ḥêl
GROWS FROM
חיל
ḥ-y-l
Strength, force, capacity; by extension, valor, an army, or wealth.
“wealth” in this verse is ḥêl. Chayil names more than stored valuables: it can also name strength, valor, and an armed host. The verse’s gold, silver, and garments are the visible measure of a power gathered from the nations.
ALSO GROWS
ḥayil: Strength, valor, capacity, or wealth.
חַיִל
This range lets “wealth” carry the force and capability of the nations alongside their material goods.
ḥêl: An army, host, or military force; a form of the same noun.
חֵיל
The same word-family can name the force behind a nation and the wealth collected from it.
יְהוּדָה
Yehudah
GROWS FROM
ידה
y-d-h
To praise, acknowledge, or give thanks.
Judah’s name carries the sense of praise, and here Judah is the actor in combat. The name’s meaning stands beside the violence without explaining it away.
ALSO GROWS
yadah: To praise, acknowledge, or give thanks.
יָדָה
This verb gives the name Judah its association with praise and acknowledgment.
todah: Thanksgiving or praise.
תּוֹדָה
This related word keeps the praise-root audible within Judah’s name.
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Yerushalayim
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
Wholeness, completeness; the word-family heard in shalom.
“Jerusalem” in this verse is Yerushalayim. Yerushalayim carries the sound of shalom, wholeness. In this verse, that name stands at the center of a scene where fighting and the gathering of the nations’ force meet.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness.
שָׁלוֹם
The city’s name carries this sound of wholeness into the verse.
shalem: Whole or complete.
שָׁלֵם
This related form makes the wholeness within the name explicit.
THE PATTERN
At Jerusalem, the force of the surrounding nations is gathered first as conflict and also appears as abundance drawn into the city.
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.THE THREAD
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.“Gather” in both verses comes from the Hebrew root אסף (asaph), to gather or collect. In verse 2, nations are gathered against Jerusalem for battle; here, the wealth of the surrounding nations is gathered there, carrying the movement from assembled threat to collected abundance.
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