2 Kings 22:19
in 2 Kings 22because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before Jehovah, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith Jehovah.
KJV
Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
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This verse in 2 Kings 22
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBecause thine heart was tender - Because thou hast feared the Lord, and trembled at his word and hast wept before me, I have heard thee, so far that these evils shall not come upon the land in thy lifetime.
This site's exposition
As touching the words which thou hast heard
on 2 Kings 22:18-20
The oracle's second half turns and addresses Josiah by his own act rather than his nation's: because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord. He is promised that he shall be gathered into thy grave in peace and that his eyes shall not see the evil coming on the place, a peace that sits beside 23:29's plain report that Pharaoh-nechoh killed him in battle at Megiddo. The bench reads peace of the time rather than the manner of death, before the Babylonian captivity that dwarfed every earlier trouble, not a peaceful deathbed, and both the promise and the battle report stand as written.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
7 Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully. 8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the L ORD .
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:96%@v7-8
Because thine heart was tender,....
He received the impressions of God's word, trembled at it and yielded to it; he was exceedingly grieved for the dishonour done to God by the sins of his fathers and of his people; he was afraid of the judgments of God, which he saw coming upon Jerusalem, and earnestly deprecated them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But at the same time the king was consoled with an assurance that this season of punishment and sorrow should not be during his lifetime, on account of the faith, penitence, and pious zeal for the divine glory and worship which, in his public capacity and with his royal influence, he had displayed.
The words behind it
27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַ֠עַן | yaan | because | H3282 → | 99 times |
| רַךְ־ | rakh- | it was soft | H7401 → | |
| לְבָ֨בְךָ֜ | levavekha | heart your | H3824 → | 252 times |
| וַתִּכָּנַ֣ע׀ | vatikana' | and you humbled yourself | H3665 → | |
| מִפְּנֵ֣י | mipenei | from before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּֽשָׁמְעֲךָ֡ | beshameakha | when hearing you | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבַּרְתִּי֩ | dibarti | I had spoken | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַמָּק֨וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הַזֶּ֜ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| וְעַל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יֹשְׁבָ֗יו | yoshevav | inhabitants its | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| לִהְי֤וֹת | lihyot | to become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְשַׁמָּה֙ | leshamah | <into> a horror | H8047 → | |
| וְלִקְלָלָ֔ה | veliklalah | and <into> a curse | H7045 → | |
| וַתִּקְרַע֙ | vatikra' | and you tore | H7167 → | 63 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּגָדֶ֔יךָ | begadeikha | clothes your | H899 → | 217 times |
| וַתִּבְכֶּ֖ה | vativkeh | and you wept | H1058 → | 114 times |
| לְפָנָ֑י | lefanai | <to> before me | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וְגַ֧ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אָנֹכִ֛י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | |
| שָׁמַ֖עְתִּי | shama'ti | I have heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
יַ֠עַןbecause
yaanH3282 →99 times
רַךְ־it was soft
rakh-H7401 →
לְבָ֨בְךָ֜heart your
levavekhaH3824 →252 times
וַתִּכָּנַ֣ע׀and you humbled yourself
vatikana'H3665 →
מִפְּנֵ֣יfrom before
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּֽשָׁמְעֲךָ֡when hearing you
beshameakhaH8085 →1159 times
אֲשֶׁ֣ר[that] which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבַּרְתִּי֩I had spoken
dibartiH1696 →1141 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַמָּק֨וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
הַזֶּ֜ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
וְעַל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
יֹשְׁבָ֗יוinhabitants its
yoshevavH3427 →1079 times
לִהְי֤וֹתto become
lihyotH1961 →3559 times
לְשַׁמָּה֙<into> a horror
leshamahH8047 →
וְלִקְלָלָ֔הand <into> a curse
veliklalahH7045 →
וַתִּקְרַע֙and you tore
vatikra'H7167 →63 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּגָדֶ֔יךָclothes your
begadeikhaH899 →217 times
וַתִּבְכֶּ֖הand you wept
vativkehH1058 →114 times
לְפָנָ֑י<to> before me
lefanaiH6440 →2123 times
וְגַ֧םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
אָנֹכִ֛יI
ʾanokhiH595 →
שָׁמַ֖עְתִּיI have heard
shama'tiH8085 →1159 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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
Psalms 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 66:2
Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles…
- Luke 15:10
In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
- Mark 12:33
and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and…
- Psalms 34:18
Through
Isaiah 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 66:1–2
This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?
- Psalms 138:6
Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
- Exodus 15:11
Who among the gods is like You, O LORD? Who is like You—majestic in holiness, revered with praises, performing wonders?
- Isaiah 66:1–2
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Kings

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.
