2 Chronicles 16:12
in 2 Chronicles 16In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady became increasingly severe. Yet even in his illness he did not seek the LORD, but only the physicians.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And in the thirty and ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to Jehovah, but to the physicians.
KJV
And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 16
Commentary
8 notes on this verseDiseased in his feet - He had a strong and long fit of the gout; this is most likely. He sought not to the Lord - “He did not seek discipline from the face of the Lord, but from the physicians.” - Targum. Are we not taught by this to make prayer and supplication to the Lord in our afflictions, with the expectation that he will heal us when he finds us duly humbled, i.e., when the end is answered for which he sends the affliction?
This site's exposition
sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians
Asa's disease files the same charge Hanani brought a season before, sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians, and the fault the bench names is the omission, not the medicine. Wesley draws the line plainly: using physicians was Asa's duty, trusting in them for what only God supplies was his sin. Spurgeon, preaching this chapter by name, reads the king who once cried it is nothing with thee to help as ending his reign asking help of anyone but the Lord he once called on without hesitation.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Sought not - He did not humble himself before God, but put his confidence in the skill and faithfulness of his physicians. His making use of physicians was his duty, but his trusting in them, and expecting that from them, which was to be had from God only, was his sin and folly.
He had put the prophet in the stocks, and now God put him in the stocks; so his punishment answered his sin. His disease was exceedingly great; it came to the height (so some); it flew up to his head (so others), and then it was mortal. This was his affliction; but his sin was that in his disease, instead of seeking to the Lord for relief, he sought to the physicians.
How then could this be done in his thirty-sixth year, when Baasha's family was quite cut off, and Omri was upon the throne? It is generally said to be meant of the thirty-sixth year of the kingdom of Asa, namely, that of Judah, beginning from the first of Rehoboam, and so it coincides with the sixteenth of Asa's reign; but then ( ch. xv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And Asa in the thirty ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Asa's fault consisted in his trusting to such physicians, while he neglected to supplicate the aid and blessing of God. The best and holiest men have been betrayed for a time into sins, but through repentance have risen again; and as Asa is pronounced a good man (2Ch 15:17), it may be presumed that he also was restored to a better state of mind.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Yet in his disease he sought not ... - Rather, “and also in his disease he sought not.” Not only in his war with Baasha, but also when attacked by illness, Asa placed undue reliance upon the aid of man.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
until his ailment spread upward The swelling in his feet spread from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.
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
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֶּחֱלֶ֣א | vaiyechele' | and he became sick | H2456 → | |
| אָסָ֡א | ʾasa' | Asa | H609 → | 57 times |
| בִּשְׁנַת֩ | bishnat | in year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| שְׁלוֹשִׁ֨ים | sheloshim | thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| וָתֵ֤שַׁע | vatesha' | and nine | H8672 → | 58 times |
| לְמַלְכוּתוֹ֙ | lemalkhuto | of reign his | H4438 → | 91 times |
| בְּרַגְלָ֔יו | beraglav | in feet his | H7272 → | 247 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | [was] to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| לְמַ֖עְלָה | lema'lah | <to> upwards <towards> | H4605 → | 140 times |
| חָלְי֑וֹ | chalyo | sickness his | H2483 → | 24 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בְּחָלְיוֹ֙ | bechalyo | in sickness his | H2483 → | 24 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| דָרַ֣שׁ | darash | he sought | H1875 → | 164 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּ֖י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בָּרֹפְאִֽים׃ | barofeim | <in> the physicians | H7495 → | 67 times |
וַיֶּחֱלֶ֣אand he became sick
vaiyechele'H2456 →
אָסָ֡אAsa
ʾasa'H609 →57 times
בִּשְׁנַת֩in year
bishnatH8141 →877 times
שְׁלוֹשִׁ֨יםthirty
sheloshimH7970 →172 times
וָתֵ֤שַׁעand nine
vatesha'H8672 →58 times
לְמַלְכוּתוֹ֙of reign his
lemalkhutoH4438 →91 times
בְּרַגְלָ֔יוin feet his
beraglavH7272 →247 times
עַד־[was] to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
לְמַ֖עְלָה<to> upwards <towards>
lema'lahH4605 →140 times
חָלְי֑וֹsickness his
chalyoH2483 →24 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
בְּחָלְיוֹ֙in sickness his
bechalyoH2483 →24 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
דָרַ֣שׁhe sought
darashH1875 →164 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּ֖יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
בָּרֹפְאִֽים׃<in> the physicians
barofeimH7495 →67 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
2 Chronicles 16:9For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. You have acted foolishly in…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
- Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
- Jeremiah 16:17
For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.
- Proverbs 5:21
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
- Psalms 34:15
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.
- 1 Peter 3:12
Through
Jeremiah 17:5This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 118:8–9
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
- Psalms 146:3–4
Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
- Isaiah 2:22
Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- Psalms 118:8–9
About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1152, A Lesson from the Life of King Asa; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.