2 Chronicles 30:8
in 2 Chronicles 30Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were; but yield yourselves unto Jehovah, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever, and serve Jehovah your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.
KJV
Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 30
Commentary
5 notes on this verse): " Yield yourselves unto the Lord. Before you can come into communion with him you must come into covenant with him." Give the hand to the Lord (so the word is), that is, "Consent to take him for your God." A bargain is confirmed by giving the hand. Join yourselves to him in an everlasting covenant.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
This site's exposition
Do not be like your fathers
on 2 Chronicles 30:7-9
The letter argues from history: “Do not be like your fathers and brothers”, whose unfaithfulness made them “an object of horror, as you can see”. The call turns on the verb “return”, and it promises mercy before their captors, for “the LORD your God is gracious and merciful”.
This site's exposition
Submit to the LORD
Exodus 32:9 calls Israel a stiff-necked people at the golden calf, and the letter names that refusal as the fathers' sin. Matthew Henry notes that the Hebrew behind Submit means to give the hand, the gesture that sealed a bargain. So the call is to enter covenant with the LORD.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), which will certainly consume you if you continue stiff-necked." Lastly, "If you return to God in a way of duty, he will return to you in a way of mercy." This he begins with (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+odd-straight-quotes
Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were,....
How the passage was read
On 2 Chronicles 30:1-27On 2 Chronicles 30:1-27
The Passover held a month late
Hezekiah's great Passover is kept in the SECOND month, and that is not an irregularity he invented: the Law itself provides a one-month make-up date for those unclean or far off (Numbers 9:10–11, the “Second Passover”). Hezekiah applies the provision nationally because the priests and the people could not be ready in time. Notice the chapter's heart: many northerners ate the Passover ritually unclean, and the king prays for them, “may the good LORD pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God,” and the LORD heals the people. The feast's paperwork bends; the seeking heart is heard.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Numbers 9:10–11 (the Second-Passover provision) · Mishnah Pesachim 9:1 (the provision in the oral law)
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַתָּ֕ה | ʾatah | now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תַּקְשׁ֥וּ | takshu | you harden | H7185 → | 28 times |
| עָרְפְּכֶ֖ם | ʾarepekhem | neck your | H6203 → | 33 times |
| כַּאֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם | kaavoteikhem | like fathers your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| תְּנוּ־ | tenu- | give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| יָ֣ד | yad | a hand | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| לַיהוָ֗ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וּבֹ֤אוּ | uvou | and come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לְמִקְדָּשׁוֹ֙ | lemikdasho | to sanctuary his | H4720 → | 75 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הִקְדִּ֣ישׁ | hikdish | he has consecrated | H6942 → | 171 times |
| לְעוֹלָ֔ם | leolam | for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
| וְעִבְדוּ֙ | veivdu | and serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֔ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְיָשֹׁ֥ב | veyasho | so may it turn back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מִכֶּ֖ם | mikem | from you | ||
| חֲר֥וֹן | charon | [the] burning of | H2740 → | 41 times |
| אַפּֽוֹ׃ | ʾapo | anger his | H639 → | 276 times |
עַתָּ֕הnow
ʾatahH6258 →433 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תַּקְשׁ֥וּyou harden
takshuH7185 →28 times
עָרְפְּכֶ֖םneck your
ʾarepekhemH6203 →33 times
כַּאֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֑םlike fathers your
kaavoteikhemH1 →1212 times
תְּנוּ־give
tenu-H5414 →2011 times
יָ֣דa hand
yadH3027 →1618 times
לַיהוָ֗הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
וּבֹ֤אוּand come
uvouH935 →2568 times
לְמִקְדָּשׁוֹ֙to sanctuary his
lemikdashoH4720 →75 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הִקְדִּ֣ישׁhe has consecrated
hikdishH6942 →171 times
לְעוֹלָ֔םfor ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
וְעִבְדוּ֙and serve
veivduH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֔םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
וְיָשֹׁ֥בso may it turn back
veyashoH7725 →1056 times
מִכֶּ֖םfrom you
mikem
חֲר֥וֹן[the] burning of
charonH2740 →41 times
אַפּֽוֹ׃anger his
ʾapoH639 →276 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
Deuteronomy 10:16Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:4
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to…
- Deuteronomy 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
- Leviticus 26:41
and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,
- Colossians 2:11
In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
- Romans 2:28–29
A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
- Jeremiah 4:4
Through
Exodus 32:9The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
it leads to
- Acts 7:51
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Acts 7:51
Through
Psalms 68:31Envoys will arrive from Egypt; Cush will stretch out her hands to God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 45:14
This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge…
- Isaiah 45:14
Through
2 Chronicles 29:10Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that His fierce anger will turn away from us.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:5
They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
- Jeremiah 50:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.