2 Chronicles 15:2
in 2 Chronicles 15So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Jehovah is with you, while ye are with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
KJV
And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 15
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWhen we have been baptized we are told, "Behold, you are made whole; sin no more lest a worse thing happen to you." And again, "Don't you know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone profanes the temple of God, God shall destroy him." And in another place, "The Lord is with you so long as you are with him: if you forsake him, he will also forsake you."
This site's exposition
if ye seek him, he will be found of you
Verse 2 states the book's test in its own words before the narrator ever applies it to a reign: the Lord is with you, while ye be with him, and if ye seek him, he will be found of you, a clause that occurs nowhere else in Scripture. Every later seeking notice in Chronicles, Rehoboam's failure to prepare his heart to seek the Lord, Asa's own contrast at 16:12, Jehoshaphat's fast in chapter 20, Uzziah's prosperity in chapter 26, stands under the rule Azariah names here. Adam Clarke reads the verse against any doctrine of unconditional standing before God: the promise is real, and so is the warning that answers it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
We must press on and persevere in faith and virtue and in completion of heavenly and spiritual grace, that we may attain to the palm and the crown. In the book of Chronicles [we read], "The Lord is with you so long as you also are with him; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And he went out to meet Asa,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The Lord is with you, while ye be with him--You have had, in your recent signal success, a remarkable proof that God's blessing is upon you; your victory has been the reward of your faith and piety.
The Lord is with you, while ye be with him - This is the settled and eternal purpose of God; to them who seek him he will ever be found propitious, and them alone will he abandon who forsake him. In this verse the unconditional perseverance of the saints has no place: a doctrine which was first the ruin of the human race, Ye shall not die; and ever since the fall, has been the plague and disgrace of the Church of Christ.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Now there were many days for Israel without a true God until you came.
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. 5 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
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּצֵא֮ | vaiyetze' | and he went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אָסָא֒ | ʾasa' | Asa | H609 → | 57 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ל֔וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| שְׁמָע֕וּנִי | shemauni | listen to me | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אָסָ֖א | ʾasa' | O Asa | H609 → | 57 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יְהוּדָ֣ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וּבִנְיָמִ֑ן | uvinyamin | and Benjamin | H1144 → | 166 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עִמָּכֶם֙ | ʾimakhem | [is] with you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| בִּֽהְיֽוֹתְכֶ֣ם | bihyotkhem | when are you | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עִמּ֔וֹ | imo | with him | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| וְאִֽם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תִּדְרְשֻׁ֙הוּ֙ | tidreshuhu | you will seek him | H1875 → | 164 times |
| יִמָּצֵ֣א | yimatze' | he will let himself be found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| לָכֶ֔ם | lakhem | by you | ||
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תַּעַזְבֻ֖הוּ | taazvuhu | you will forsake him | H5800 → | 215 times |
| יַעֲזֹ֥ב | yaazo | he will forsake | H5800 → | 215 times |
| אֶתְכֶֽם׃ ס | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
וַיֵּצֵא֮and he went out
vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
אָסָא֒Asa
ʾasa'H609 →57 times
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
ל֔וֹto him
lo
שְׁמָע֕וּנִיlisten to me
shemauniH8085 →1159 times
אָסָ֖אO Asa
ʾasa'H609 →57 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
יְהוּדָ֣הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וּבִנְיָמִ֑ןand Benjamin
uvinyaminH1144 →166 times
יְהוָ֤הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עִמָּכֶם֙[is] with you
ʾimakhemH5973 →1050 times
בִּֽהְיֽוֹתְכֶ֣םwhen are you
bihyotkhemH1961 →3559 times
עִמּ֔וֹwith him
imoH5973 →1050 times
וְאִֽם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
תִּדְרְשֻׁ֙הוּ֙you will seek him
tidreshuhuH1875 →164 times
יִמָּצֵ֣אhe will let himself be found
yimatze'H4672 →455 times
לָכֶ֔םby you
lakhem
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
תַּעַזְבֻ֖הוּyou will forsake him
taazvuhuH5800 →215 times
יַעֲזֹ֥בhe will forsake
yaazoH5800 →215 times
אֶתְכֶֽם׃ ס<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 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
1 Chronicles 28:9As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought.…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
- Isaiah 55:6–7
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 4:8–11
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Matthew 7:7–8
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
- Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their…
- Jeremiah 29:13
Through
James 4:8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
it leads to
- Psalms 145:18
The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
- Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- Malachi 3:7
Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But…
- Psalms 145:18
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Cyprian, Treatise XI. Exhortation to Martyrdom 8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Against the Pelagians 3.1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.