1 Chronicles 16:20
in 1 Chronicles 16they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they went about from nation to nation, And from one kingdom to another people.
KJV
And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people;
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This verse in 1 Chronicles 16
Commentary
1 note on this verseThis site's exposition
but few, even a few, and strangers
on 1 Chronicles 16:19-22
Verses 19 through 22 recall Israel wandering few in number from nation to nation, protected because the LORD reproved kings for their sakes: touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Clarke reads mine anointed as the patriarchs themselves, holding a kind of royal and priestly standing under God's own protection long before any throne existed in Israel. The clause parallels Ps 105:12-15 and closes the psalm's first half, the history lesson giving way to direct praise at verse 23.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּֽתְהַלְּכוּ֙ | vaiyithalekhu | and they went about | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| מִגּ֣וֹי | migoy | from nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| גּ֔וֹי | goy | nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| וּמִמַּמְלָכָ֖ה | umimamlakhah | and from a kingdom | H4467 → | 117 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עַ֥ם | ʾam | a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אַחֵֽר׃ | ʾacher | another | H312 → | 166 times |
וַיִּֽתְהַלְּכוּ֙and they went about
vaiyithalekhuH1980 →1546 times
מִגּ֣וֹיfrom nation
migoyH1471 →561 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
גּ֔וֹיnation
goyH1471 →561 times
וּמִמַּמְלָכָ֖הand from a kingdom
umimamlakhahH4467 →117 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עַ֥םa people
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
אַחֵֽר׃another
ʾacherH312 →166 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 46:3“I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 26:5
and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 12:2
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
- Deuteronomy 26:5
Through
Genesis 46:6They also took the livestock and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt.
it leads to
- Acts 7:15
So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.
- Isaiah 52:4
For this is what the Lord GOD says: “At first My people went down to Egypt to live, then Assyria oppressed them without cause.
- Joshua 24:4
and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
- Psalms 105:23
Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
- Acts 7:15
Through
Genesis 12:10Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
it leads to
- Genesis 43:1
Now the famine was still severe in the land.
- Genesis 43:1
Through
Genesis 20:1Now Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar,
it leads to
- Genesis 26:1
Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.
- Genesis 26:1
About 1 Chronicles

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and Keil, The Books of the Chronicles.
