2 Chronicles 18:20
in 2 Chronicles 18Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ asked the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there came forth a spirit, and stood before Jehovah, and said, I will entice him. And Jehovah said unto him, Wherewith?
KJV
Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith?
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 18
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThen there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here: “Then the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will deceive him. And the Lord said, By what means? To which he answered, I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou mayest then.
This site's exposition
I saw the LORD sitting
on 2 Chronicles 18:18-22
Micaiah's second vision shows “the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right and on His left”. A spirit offers to be “a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets”. Chronicles keeps the scene nearly identical to 1 Kings 22:19-23.
This site's exposition
Then a spirit came forward
Clarke records what he calls a strange gloss in the Targum, which names this spirit as Naboth, come out from the abode of the righteous. The LORD asks by what means, and the spirit gives its plan in verse 21. The verse itself leaves the spirit unnamed.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּצֵ֣א | vaiyetze' | and it came forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| הָר֗וּחַ | haruach | the spirit | H7307 → | 378 times |
| וַֽיַּעֲמֹד֙ | vaiyaamod | and it stood | H5975 → | 521 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיֹּ֖אמֶר | vaiyomer | and it said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֲפַתֶּ֑נּוּ | ʾafattenu | I will deceive him | H6601 → | 28 times |
| וַיֹּ֧אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֛ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֵלָ֖יו | ʾelav | to it | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בַּמָּֽה׃ | bamah | <in> how? | H4100 → | 752 times |
וַיֵּצֵ֣אand it came forth
vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times
הָר֗וּחַthe spirit
haruachH7307 →378 times
וַֽיַּעֲמֹד֙and it stood
vaiyaamodH5975 →521 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרand it said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אֲפַתֶּ֑נּוּI will deceive him
ʾafattenuH6601 →28 times
וַיֹּ֧אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֛הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֵלָ֖יוto it
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
בַּמָּֽה׃<in> how?
bamahH4100 →752 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
2 Corinthians 11:3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
it leads to
- Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
- Galatians 1:6
I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
- Ephesians 4:14
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
- 1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- Colossians 2:4
I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.
- Colossians 2:8
Through
Job 1:6One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
it leads to
- Job 2:1
On another day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before Him.
- Job 38:7
while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
- Zechariah 3:1
Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
- Job 2:1
About 2 Chronicles

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Keil, The Books of the Chronicles.
