2 Chronicles 11:14

Bible in Basic English (1941)

For the Levites gave up their living-places and their property, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons had sent them away, not letting them be priests to the Lord;

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּֽי־עָזְב֣וּ הַלְוִיִּ֗ם אֶת־מִגְרְשֵׁיהֶם֙ וַאֲחֻזָּתָ֔ם וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ לִיהוּדָ֖ה וְלִֽירוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם כִּֽי־הִזְנִיחָ֤ם יָֽרָבְעָם֙ וּבָנָ֔יו מִכַּהֵ֖ן לַיהוָֽה׃

Transliteration

For kî-'āzəḇû the ləwiyyîm ʾēt-miḡrəshêhem and ʾăḥuzzātām and wayyēləḵû to yəhūdāh and to yərūshālayim for kî-hiznîḥām yārāḇə'ām and his sons from mikkahēn to Yahweh

Grammar Details

• *kî*: conjunction - for, because
• *'āzəḇû*: qal perfect, 3rd common plural - they abandoned
• *ləwiyyîm*: noun, masculine plural - Levites
• *ʾēt*: direct object marker
• *miḡrəshêhem*: noun, masculine plural construct + 3rd masculine plural suffix - their pasture lands
• *ʾăḥuzzātām*: noun, feminine singular construct + 3rd masculine plural suffix - their possession
• *wayyēləḵû*: waw consecutive + qal imperfect, 3rd common plural - and they went
• *yəhūdāh*: proper noun, masculine singular - Judah
• *yərūshālayim*: proper noun, feminine singular - Jerusalem
• *hiznîḥām*: hiphil perfect, 3rd masculine singular + 3rd masculine plural suffix - he rejected them
• *yārāḇə'ām*: proper noun, masculine singular - Jeroboam
• *mikkahēn*: preposition + piel infinitive construct - from serving as priest
• *Yahweh*: proper noun, divine name - YHWH, the LORD

Word Meanings

• *miḡrəshêhem*: their pasture lands, their open fields, their suburbs
• *ʾăḥuzzātām*: their possession, their property, their holdings
• *hiznîḥām*: rejected them, cast them off, dismissed them
• *mikkahēn*: from serving as priest, from priestly service, from officiating

Referenced Verses

• 2 Chr 13:9 : 9 And after driving out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, have you not made priests for yourselves as the people of other lands do? so that anyone who comes to make himself priest by offering an ox or seven sheep, may be a priest of those who are no gods.
• Num 35:2-5 : 2 Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns. 3 These towns are to be their living-places, with land round them for their cattle and their food and all their beasts, 4 Stretching from the wall of the towns a distance of a thousand cubits all round. 5 The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns.
• 1 Kgs 12:28-33 : 28 So after taking thought the king made two oxen of gold; and he said to the people, You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough; see! these are your gods, O Israel, who took you out of the land of Egypt. 29 And he put one in Beth-el and the other in Dan. 30 And this became a sin in Israel; for the people went to give worship to the one at Beth-el, and to the other at Dan. 31 And he made places for worship at the high places, and made priests, who were not Levites, from among all the people. 32 And Jeroboam gave orders for a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is kept in Judah, and he went up to the altar. And in the same way, in Beth-el, he gave offerings to the oxen which he had made, placing in Beth-el the priests of the high places he had made. 33 He went up to the altar he had made in Beth-el on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the month fixed by him at his pleasure; and he gave orders for a feast for the people of Israel, and went up to the altar, and there he made the smoke of his offerings go up.
• 1 Kgs 13:33 : 33 After this Jeroboam, not turning back from his evil ways, still made priests for his altars from among all the people; he made a priest of anyone desiring it, so that there might be priests of the high places.
• 1 Chr 6:66-81 : 66 And to the families of the sons of Kohath were given towns by the Lord's decision out of the tribe of Ephraim. 67 And they gave them the town to which men might go in flight and be safe, Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim with its outskirts, and Gezer with its outskirts, 68 And Jokmeam with its outskirts, and Beth-horon with its outskirts, 69 And Aijalon with its outskirts, and Gath-rimmon with its outskirts; 70 And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its outskirts, and Bileam with its outskirts, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath. 71 To the sons of Gershom were given, out of the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its outskirts, and Ashtaroth with its outskirts; 72 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kedesh with its outskirts, and Daberath with its outskirts, 73 And Ramoth with its outskirts, and Anem with its outskirts; 74 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mashal with its outskirts, and Abdon with its outskirts, 75 And Hukok with its outskirts, and Rehob with its outskirts; 76 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its outskirts, and Hammon with its outskirts, and Kiriathaim with its outskirts. 77 To the rest of the Levites, the sons of Merari, were given, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Rimmono with its outskirts, Tabor with its outskirts; 78 And on the other side of Jordan, at Jericho, on the east side of Jordan, were given them, out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the waste land with its outskirts, and Jahzah with its outskirts, 79 And Kedemoth with its outskirts, and Mephaath with its outskirts; 80 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its outskirts, and Mahanaim with its outskirts, 81 And Heshbon with its outskirts, and Jazer with its outskirts.
• Josh 21:20-42 : 20 The rest of the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim. 21 And they gave them Shechem with its grass-lands in the hill-country of Ephraim, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Gezer with its grass-lands; 22 And Kibzaim and Beth-horon with their grass-lands, four towns. 23 And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon with their grass-lands; 24 Aijalon and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, four towns. 25 And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, two towns. 26 All the towns of the rest of the families of the children of Kohath were ten with their grass-lands. 27 And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Ashtaroth with its grass-lands, two towns. 28 And from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and Daberath with their grass-lands; 29 Jarmuth and En-gannim with their grass-lands, four towns. 30 And from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon, with their grass-lands: 31 Helkath and Rehob with their grass-lands, four towns. 32 And from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Hammoth-dor and Kartan with their grass-lands, three towns. 33 All the towns of the Gershonites with their families were thirteen with their grass-lands. 34 And to the rest of the Levites, that is, the families of the children of Merari, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah with their grass-lands; 35 Dimnah and Nahalal with their grass-lands, four towns. 36 And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and Jahaz with their grass-lands; 37 Kedemoth and Mephaath with their grass-lands, four towns. 38 And from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Mahanaim with their grass-lands; 39 Heshbon and Jazer with their grass-lands, four towns. 40 All these towns were given to the children of Merari by their families, that is, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their heritage was twelve towns. 41 All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands. 42 Every one of these towns had grass-lands round it.
• Lev 27:30-34 : 30 And every tenth part of the land, of the seed planted, or of the fruit of trees, is holy to the Lord. 31 And if a man has a desire to get back any of the tenth part which he has given, let him give a fifth more. 32 And a tenth part of the herd and of the flock, whatever goes under the rod of the valuer, will be holy to the Lord. 33 He may not make search to see if it is good or bad, or make any changes in it; and if he makes exchange of it for another, the two will be holy; he will not get them back again. 34 These are the orders which the Lord gave to Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai.
• Num 18:21-28 : 21 And to the children of Levi I have given as their heritage all the tenths offered in Israel, as payment for the work they do, the work of the Tent of meeting. 22 In future the children of Israel are not to come near the Tent of meeting, so that death may not come to them because of sin. 23 But the Levites are to do the work of the Tent of meeting, and be responsible for errors in connection with it: this is a law for ever through all your generations; and among the children of Israel they will have no heritage. 24 For the tenths which the children of Israel give as a lifted offering to the Lord I have given to the Levites as their heritage. and so I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they will have no heritage. 25 And the Lord said to Moses, 26 Say to the Levites, When you take from the children of Israel the tenth which I have given to you from them as your heritage, a tenth part of that tenth is to be offered as an offering lifted up before the Lord. 27 And this lifted offering is to be put to your credit as if it was grain from the grain-floor and wine from the vines. 28 So you are to make an offering lifted up to the Lord from all the tenths which you get from the children of Israel, giving out of it the Lord's lifted offering to Aaron the priest.