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2 Chronicles 32:4

in 2 Chronicles 32

Many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So there was gathered much people together, and they stopped all the fountains, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?

KJV

So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?

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This verse in 2 Chronicles 32

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

And that this is the correct meaning of the phrase is not only apparent from the force of circumstances, but is positively so declared in the Septuagint, where, moreover, it is called a 'river,' which, at least, implies a much larger stream than the Kedron, and comports well with the marginal reading, where it is said to overflow through the midst of the land.

This site's exposition

to stop the waters of the fountains

on 2 Chronicles 32:3-4

Stopping the fountains outside the city is material Kings never records; the whole episode belongs to Chronicles alone. Hezekiah works by counsel, not command, gathering princes and mighty men before the wider people join to stop the water so that an invading king should find none. The engineering here is bound up with the Gihon project verse 30 will describe, hiding the springs from Assyria while routing the flow inside the walls.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

on 2 Chronicles 32:3-4

The water had come into that which is called the old pool ( Isa. xxii. 11 ) and the upper pool ( Isa. vii. 3 ); but he gathered the waters into a new place, for the greater convenience of the city, called the lower pool, Isa. xxii.

The words behind it

20 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.

  • וַיִּקָּבְצ֣וּand they assembled

    vaiyikavetzuH6908 →127 times

  • עַם־people

    ʾam-H5971 →1873 times

  • רָ֔בnumerous

    ravH7227 →454 times

  • וַֽיִּסְתְּמוּ֙and they stopped up

    vaiyistemuH5640 →14 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הַמַּעְיָנ֔וֹתthe springs

    hama'yanotH4599 →

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • הַנַּ֛חַלthe wadi

    hanachalH5158 →141 times

  • הַשּׁוֹטֵ֥ףwhich flowed

    hashotefH7857 →

  • בְּתוֹךְ־in [the] middle of

    betokh-H8432 →418 times

  • הָאָ֖רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • לָ֤מָּה<to> why?

    lamahH4100 →752 times

  • יָב֙וֹאוּ֙will they come

    yavouH935 →2568 times

  • מַלְכֵ֣י[the] kings of

    malkheiH4428 →2525 times

  • אַשּׁ֔וּרAssyria

    ʾashurH804 →151 times

  • וּמָצְא֖וּand they will find

    umatzeuH4672 →455 times

  • מַ֥יִםwaters

    mayimH4325 →581 times

  • רַבִּֽים׃many

    rabimH7227 →454 times

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

Related verses

12 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.

2 Chronicles 32:30It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.4 works2 Kings 20:20As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, along with all his might and how he constructed the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?4 works2 Kings 18:9In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.2 works2 Chronicles 32:1After all these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, intending to conquer them for himself.2 works1 Kings 19:21So Elisha turned back from him, took his pair of oxen, and slaughtered them. With the oxen’s equipment, he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow and serve Elijah.2 works2 Kings 18:13In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.2 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 10:8“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.2 works2 Kings 19:17Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands.2 works1 Kings 3:16–17At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.2 works1 Kings 3:9Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”2 works2 Chronicles 30:14They proceeded to remove the altars in Jerusalem and to take away the incense altars and throw them into the Kidron Valley.2 works2 Kings 3:25They destroyed the cities, and each man threw stones on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up every spring and cut down every good tree. Only Kir-haraseth was left with stones in place, but men with slings surrounded it and attacked it as well.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

    1 Kings 19:21

    So Elisha turned back from him, took his pair of oxen, and slaughtered them. With the oxen’s equipment, he cooked the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set…

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 24:22

      Araunah said to David, “My lord the king may take whatever seems good and offer it up. Here are the oxen for a burnt offering and the threshing sledges and ox yokes for the…

    • Philemon 1:13

      I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel.

    • 2 Timothy 4:11

      Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is useful to me in the ministry.

    • Exodus 24:13

      So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant and went up on the mountain of God.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 32:30

    It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 1:33

      “Take my servants with you,” said the king. “Set my son Solomon on my own mule and take him down to Gihon.

  • Through

    2 Kings 18:13

    In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 36:1–22

      In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 32:1

    After all these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, intending to conquer them for himself.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 18:13–37

      In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.

  • Through

    2 Kings 18:9

    In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.

    it leads to

    • Hosea 10:14

      the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with…

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Chronicles

Solomon Receives the Queen of Sheba, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Solomon Receives the Queen of Sheba, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Chronicles: the study guide →Read 2 Chronicles 32 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Chronicles 32 →