2 Chronicles 6:21
in 2 Chronicles 6Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And hearken thou to the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou from thy dwelling-place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
KJV
Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd when they shall, &c. - He asks not, that God would help them without their praying for themselves, but that God would help them, in answer to their prayers. Even Christ's intercession does not supersede, but encourage our supplications.
This site's exposition
But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth
on 2 Chronicles 6:18-21
Solomon asks, “But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth?” and answers that “Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built”. The prayer turns on its refrain, “May You hear from heaven,” which answers every petition, as at 1 Kings 8:27-30.
This site's exposition
May You hear and forgive
Hear and forgive are joined in this plea. Henry quotes the maxim removendo prohibens: the evil that forgiveness drives away, it keeps away. Wesley reads the plea as God helping Israel in answer to their own prayers, and holds that the intercession of Christ encourages such prayer.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When thou hearest forgive. Note, The forgiveness of our sins is that which makes way for all the other answers to our prayers, Removendo prohibens--The evil which it drives away it keeps away. That God would give judgment according to equity upon all the appeals that should be made to him,
But here he declares upon what inducements he undertook it, and they are such as not only justify, but magnify, the undertaking. He did it for the glory and honour of God; this was his highest and ultimate end in it. It was for the name of the Lord God of Israel (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Nearly as improper and inadmissible is the idea that a temple can contribute to enhance the glory of God, as a monument may be raised in honor of a great man.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשָׁ֨מַעְתָּ֜ | veshama'ta | and you will listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| תַּחֲנוּנֵ֤י | tachanunei | [the] supplications of | H8469 → | |
| עַבְדְּךָ֙ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וְעַמְּךָ֣ | veamekha | and people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִֽתְפַּֽלְל֖וּ | yitpalu | they will pray | H6419 → | 84 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּק֣וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הַזֶּ֑ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְ֠אַתָּה | veatah | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תִּשְׁמַ֞ע | tishma' | you will hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| מִמְּק֤וֹם | mimekom | from [the] place of | H4725 → | 401 times |
| שִׁבְתְּךָ֙ | shivtekha | dwelling you | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֖ | veshama'ta | and you will hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וְסָלָֽחְתָּ׃ | vesalacheta | and you will forgive | H5545 → | 46 times |
וְשָׁ֨מַעְתָּ֜and you will listen
veshama'taH8085 →1159 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
תַּחֲנוּנֵ֤י[the] supplications of
tachanuneiH8469 →
עַבְדְּךָ֙servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
וְעַמְּךָ֣and people your
veamekhaH5971 →1873 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יִֽתְפַּֽלְל֖וּthey will pray
yitpaluH6419 →84 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּק֣וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
הַזֶּ֑ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְ֠אַתָּהand you
veatahH859 →1094 times
תִּשְׁמַ֞עyou will hear
tishma'H8085 →1159 times
מִמְּק֤וֹםfrom [the] place of
mimekomH4725 →401 times
שִׁבְתְּךָ֙dwelling you
shivtekhaH3427 →1079 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֖and you will hear
veshama'taH8085 →1159 times
וְסָלָֽחְתָּ׃and you will forgive
vesalachetaH5545 →46 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 43:25I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
it leads to
- Hebrews 8:12
For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
- Micah 7:18–19
Who 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?
- Hebrews 10:17
Then He adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
- Jeremiah 31:34
No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I…
- Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Hebrews 8:12
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.
- 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.
- Ephesians 2:4–5
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
- Isaiah 43:25
About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.