2 Chronicles 6:28
in 2 Chronicles 6When famine or plague comes upon the land, or blight or mildew or locusts or grasshoppers, or when their enemies besiege them in their cities, whatever plague or sickness may come,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague or whatsoever sickness there be;
KJV
If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 6
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
if there be dearth in the land
on 2 Chronicles 6:28-31
The fourth petition gathers dearth, pestilence, blasting, mildew, locusts and siege into one list, the same catalogue Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 had already attached to covenant unfaithfulness, and it widens from the nation to any man who knows his own sore and his own grief. Charles Spurgeon preached this very text at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, naming the temple the center of prayer for all the children of Israel and the mercy seat beneath the cherubim the place a scattered people still turned their faces toward. The petition closes on the Lord's own knowledge of every heart, for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men, a claim Chronicles keeps from 1 Kings 8:37-40 unchanged.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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
This we may, in faith, pray for, for we are sure it shall be done. God sitteth on the throne judging right. That God would return in mercy to his people when they repented, and reformed, and sought unto him,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2637: “The Place of Prayer and Pardon” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
THE Temple was intended to be the center of prayer for all the children of Israel. Those who could do so went up to it a certain number of times every year. Others, who were too far away to go, prayed with their window open towards Jerusalem, for there was the Mercy Seat and beneath the wings of the overshadowing cherubim there dwelt that bright light of the Shekinah which was the index of the Presence of God in the midst of His people.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2637: “The Place of Prayer and Pardon” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
THE Temple was intended to be the center of prayer for all the children of Israel. Those who could do so went up to it a certain number of times every year. Others, who were too far away to go, prayed with their window open towards Jerusalem, for there was the Mercy Seat and beneath the wings of the overshadowing cherubim there dwelt that bright light of the Shekinah which was the index of the Presence of God in the midst of His people. It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that when Solomon dedicated to the Lord the Temple which he had built, his great petition was that God would hear every prayer that should be offered in that place or toward that place! He wished the Temple to always be to Israel the token that God's memorial is that He hears prayer. Solomon therefore presented a wonderfully comprehensive series of supplications in which he appears to have included all the sorrowful conditions of the nation and all the troubles that were likely to fall upon the chosen people. But this part of his prayer, which we are now to consider, seems as though it were intended to gather up anything that the suppliant might possibly have left out. We always think that we are among the great things—that we are out upon the deep seas—when we can get among the "whatevers." "Whatever burden or whatever sickness there is: then what prayer or what supplication shall be made of any man, or of all Your people Israel...then hear You from Heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive." It is a sort of miscellaneous sentence, taking up all the stragglers—the lots that are out of the catalog—those that could not be placed under any distinct head.
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רָעָ֞ב | raav | famine | H7458 → | 101 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִהְיֶ֣ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בָאָ֗רֶץ | vaaretz | in the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| דֶּ֣בֶר | dever | pestilence | H1698 → | 49 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִֽ֠הְיֶה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שִׁדָּפ֨וֹן | shidafon | blight | H7711 → | |
| וְיֵרָק֜וֹן | veyerakon | and mildew | H3420 → | |
| אַרְבֶּ֤ה | ʾarbeh | locust[s] | H697 → | |
| וְחָסִיל֙ | vechasil | and locust[s] | H2625 → | |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִהְיֶ֔ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כִּ֧י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָֽצַר־ | yatzar- | he will lay siege | H6696 → | |
| ל֛וֹ | lo | to it | ||
| אוֹיְבָ֖יו | ʾoyvav | enemies its | H341 → | 282 times |
| בְּאֶ֣רֶץ | beeretz | in [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| שְׁעָרָ֑יו | shearav | gates its | H8179 → | 374 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נֶ֖גַע | nega' | plague | H5061 → | |
| וְכָֽל־ | vekhol | and any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַחֲלָֽה׃ | machalah | sickness | H4245 → |
רָעָ֞בfamine
raavH7458 →101 times
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יִהְיֶ֣הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
בָאָ֗רֶץin the land
vaaretzH776 →2504 times
דֶּ֣בֶרpestilence
deverH1698 →49 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יִֽ֠הְיֶהit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
שִׁדָּפ֨וֹןblight
shidafonH7711 →
וְיֵרָק֜וֹןand mildew
veyerakonH3420 →
אַרְבֶּ֤הlocust[s]
ʾarbehH697 →
וְחָסִיל֙and locust[s]
vechasilH2625 →
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יִהְיֶ֔הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
כִּ֧יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
יָֽצַר־he will lay siege
yatzar-H6696 →
ל֛וֹto it
lo
אוֹיְבָ֖יוenemies its
ʾoyvavH341 →282 times
בְּאֶ֣רֶץin [the] land of
beeretzH776 →2504 times
שְׁעָרָ֑יוgates its
shearavH8179 →374 times
כָּל־any
kol-H3605 →5413 times
נֶ֖גַעplague
nega'H5061 →
וְכָֽל־and any
vekholH3605 →5413 times
מַחֲלָֽה׃sickness
machalahH4245 →
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
Joel 2:25I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
it leads to
- Zechariah 10:6
I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they will be as though I had not rejected them.…
- Joel 1:4–7
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
- Zechariah 10:6
Through
James 5:13Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.
it leads to
- Psalms 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- Jonah 2:2
saying: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me. From the belly of Sheol I called for help, and You heard my voice.
- Ephesians 5:19
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,
- Acts 16:24–25
On receiving this order, he placed them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
- Revelation 5:9–14
And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and…
- Psalms 50:15
Through
Ruth 1:1In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land…
it leads to
- Genesis 12:10
Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
- Genesis 12:10
About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2637: The Place of Prayer and Pardon; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2637: “The Place of Prayer and Pardon” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.