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2 Chronicles 7:21

in 2 Chronicles 7

And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And this house, which is so high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall say, Why hath Jehovah done thus unto this land, and to this house?

KJV

And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house?

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This verse in 2 Chronicles 7

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

But if you turn away and forsake the statutes

on 2 Chronicles 7:19-22

The warning matches the promise in weight: serving other gods brings Israel uprooted “from the soil I have given them”. The exile that closes the book at 36:15-21 carries the warning out. The answer names one cause, “Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers”.

This site's exposition

a heap of rubble

The ruined house becomes a sign that strangers read. All who pass by ask why, and verse 22 supplies the answer they are given. Clarke finds the ruin astonishing, since no nation was ever so highly favored and none so severely punished.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the L ORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the L ORD , saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the L ORD .

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:91%@v3-4

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Shall be an astonishment - The manner in which these disobedient people have been destroyed is truly astonishing: no nation was ever so highly favored, and none ever so severely and signally punished.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

I shall cast from before Me according to the condition between Me and you, viz. (Lev.: 14): “But if you do not heed Me.” What does it say there? (verse 31): “And I shall make your sanctuaries desolate.”
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Chronicles 7:20:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְהַבַּ֤יִתand the house

    vehabayitH1004 →2046 times

  • הַזֶּה֙<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • הָיָ֣הit was

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • עֶלְי֔וֹןmost high

    elyonH5945 →53 times

  • לְכָל־to every

    lekholH3605 →5413 times

  • עֹבֵ֥ר[one who] passes by

    ʾoverH5674 →556 times

  • עָלָ֖יוat it

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • יִשֹּׁ֑םhe will be appalled

    yishomH8074 →

  • וְאָמַ֗רand he will say

    veamarH559 →5305 times

  • בַּמֶּ֨ה<in> how?

    bamehH4100 →752 times

  • עָשָׂ֤הdid he do

    ʾasahH6213 →2628 times

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • כָּ֔כָהthus

    kakhahH3602 →37 times

  • לָאָ֥רֶץto the land

    laaretzH776 →2504 times

  • הַזֹּ֖את<the> this

    hazotH2063 →603 times

  • וְלַבַּ֥יִתand to the house

    velabayitH1004 →2046 times

  • הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this

    hazehH2088 →1180 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

16 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 22:8–9And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’4 works1 Kings 9:8And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’4 worksJeremiah 19:8I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.3 worksJeremiah 16:10–12When you tell these people all these things, they will ask you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? What is our guilt? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’3 worksJeremiah 13:22And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.2 worksDeuteronomy 29:24–28So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’2 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 5:19And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’”2 worksJeremiah 22:28Is this man Coniah a despised and shattered pot, a jar that no one wants? Why are he and his descendants hurled out and cast into a land they do not know?2 worksJeremiah 50:13Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds.2 worksJeremiah 49:17“Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.2 works2 Chronicles 29:8Therefore, the wrath of the LORD has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, horror, and mockery, as you can see with your own eyes.2 works1 Chronicles 22:5And David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent—famous and glorious throughout all lands. Therefore I must make preparations for it.” So David made lavish preparations before his death.2 works2 Chronicles 2:9to prepare for me timber in abundance, because the temple I am building will be great and wonderful.2 worksJeremiah 51:41How Sheshach has been captured! The praise of all the earth has been seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!2 worksJeremiah 7:14therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.2 worksLamentations 2:15All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Jeremiah 13:22

    And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” It is because of the magnitude of your iniquity that your skirts have been stripped off and your body has been exposed.

    it leads to

    • Nahum 3:5

      “Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms.

    • Jeremiah 16:10–11

      When you tell these people all these things, they will ask you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? What is our guilt? What is the sin that we have…

    • Jeremiah 5:19

      And when the people ask, ‘For what offense has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ You are to tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods…

    • Jeremiah 9:2–9

      If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.

    • Lamentations 1:8

      Jerusalem has sinned greatly; therefore she has become an object of scorn. All who honored her now despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns away.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 19:8

    I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 18:16

      They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.

    • Jeremiah 49:13

      For by Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”

    • 1 Kings 9:8

      And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land…

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Chronicles

Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
2 Chronicles: the study guide →Read 2 Chronicles 7 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

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