2 Chronicles 30:9
in 2 Chronicles 30For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For if ye turn again unto Jehovah, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that led them captive, and shall come again into this land: for Jehovah your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.
KJV
For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 30
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd will not turn away his face from you - Well expressed by the Targum: “For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not cause his majesty to ascend up from among you, if ye will return to his fear.” The shechinah, of which the Targumist speaks, is the dwelling of the Divine Presence among men, and the visible symbol of that presence.
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
gracious and merciful
The words gracious and merciful repeat the name the LORD proclaimed in Exodus 34:6. Solomon had asked in 6:36 to 39 that captives who turned to the LORD be heard and forgiven. Clarke cites the Targum, which reads the turning away of His face as the departure of His presence.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For if ye turn again unto the Lord,....
He seems to have left them entirely to their liberty. They might go to Jerusalem to worship if they pleased; for, though he did evil, yet not like the kings of Israel that were before him, 2 Kings xvii. He saw ruin coming upon his kingdom, and, if any of his subjects would try this expedient to prevent it, they had his full permission.
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
24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בְשׁוּבְכֶ֞ם | veshuvekhem | when return you | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֲחֵיכֶ֨ם | ʾacheikhem | relatives your | H251 → | 630 times |
| וּבְנֵיכֶ֤ם | uveneikhem | and children your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לְרַחֲמִים֙ | lerachamim | to compassion<s> | H7356 → | |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| שֽׁוֹבֵיהֶ֔ם | shoeihem | captors their | H7617 → | 47 times |
| וְלָשׁ֖וּב | velashuv | and to return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לָאָ֣רֶץ | laaretz | to the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַזֹּ֑את | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| חַנּ֤וּן | chanun | [is] gracious | H2587 → | |
| וְרַחוּם֙ | verachum | and compassionate | H7349 → | |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֔ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָסִ֤יר | yasir | he will turn aside | H5493 → | 299 times |
| פָּנִים֙ | panim | face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| מִכֶּ֔ם | mikem | from you | ||
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תָּשׁ֖וּבוּ | tashuvu | you will turn back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֵלָֽיו׃ פ | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
בְשׁוּבְכֶ֞םwhen return you
veshuvekhemH7725 →1056 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֲחֵיכֶ֨םrelatives your
ʾacheikhemH251 →630 times
וּבְנֵיכֶ֤םand children your
uveneikhemH1121 →4930 times
לְרַחֲמִים֙to compassion<s>
lerachamimH7356 →
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
שֽׁוֹבֵיהֶ֔םcaptors their
shoeihemH7617 →47 times
וְלָשׁ֖וּבand to return
velashuvH7725 →1056 times
לָאָ֣רֶץto the land
laaretzH776 →2504 times
הַזֹּ֑את<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
חַנּ֤וּן[is] gracious
chanunH2587 →
וְרַחוּם֙and compassionate
verachumH7349 →
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֔םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָסִ֤ירhe will turn aside
yasirH5493 →299 times
פָּנִים֙face
panimH6440 →2123 times
מִכֶּ֔םfrom you
mikem
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
תָּשׁ֖וּבוּyou will turn back
tashuvuH7725 →1056 times
אֵלָֽיו׃ פto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 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
Isaiah 55:7Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- James 4:8–10
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Ezekiel 18:21–23
But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.
- Luke 15:10
In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
- Isaiah 44:22
Through
Micah 7:18Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:25
I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
- Ephesians 2:4–5
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
- Psalms 103:8–9
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
- Isaiah 43:25
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.