2 Chronicles 34:19

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes in distress.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיְהִי֙ כִּשְׁמֹ֣עַ הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אֵ֖ת דִּבְרֵ֣י הַתּוֹרָ֑ה וַיִּקְרַ֖ע אֶת־בְּגָדָֽיו׃

Transliteration

And wayəhî when kishmōaʿ the melek ʾēt dibrê the tôrâ, and wayyiqraʿ ʾet-his bəgādāyw.

Grammar Details

• *wa-yəhî*: conjunction + qal imperfect consecutive 3rd person masculine singular - and it came to pass
• *ki-shmōaʿ*: conjunction + qal infinitive construct - when hearing
• *ha-melek*: definite article + masculine singular noun - the king
• *ʾēt*: direct object marker
• *dibrê*: masculine plural construct - words of
• *ha-tôrâ*: definite article + feminine singular noun - the law/instruction
• *wa-yyiqraʿ*: conjunction + qal imperfect consecutive 3rd person masculine singular - and he tore
• *bəgādāyw*: masculine plural noun with 3rd person masculine singular suffix - his garments/clothes

Word Meanings

• *hāyâ*: came to pass, happened, occurred
• *shāmaʿ*: heard, listened to, understood
• *dibrê*: words, statements, commands
• *tôrâ*: law, instruction, teaching
• *qāraʿ*: tore, rent, ripped
• *bəgādîm*: garments, clothes, robes

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  And it happened, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he tore his clothes.

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  And whan the kynge herde the wordes of the lawe, he rente his clothes.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  And when the King had heard the wordes of the Lawe, he tare his clothes.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  And it fortuned, that when the king had heard the wordes of the lawe, he tare his clothes:

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  It happened, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he tore his clothes.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  And it cometh to pass, at the king's hearing the words of the law, that he rendeth his garments,

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  And the king, hearing the words of the law, took his robe in his hands, violently parting it as a sign of his grief.

• World English Bible (2000)

  It happened, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he tore his clothes.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.

Referenced Verses

• Josh 7:6 : 6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face down to the ground before the ark of the Lord, remaining there until evening. The elders of Israel did the same and put dust on their heads.
• 2 Kgs 19:1 : 1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
• 2 Kgs 22:11 : 11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.
• 2 Kgs 22:19 : 19 Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and its inhabitants—that they would become a desolation and a curse—and because you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.
• Jer 36:22-24 : 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and a firepot was burning in front of him. 23 As Jehudi read three or four columns of the scroll, the king would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the fire in the firepot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire. 24 Neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words were afraid or tore their garments in sorrow.
• Joel 2:13 : 13 Tear open your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and he relents from sending calamity.
• Rom 3:20 : 20 Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
• Rom 7:7-9 : 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity provided by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 At one time I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity provided by the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death.
• Gal 2:19 : 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ.
• Gal 3:10-13 : 10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.' 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, 'The righteous will live by faith.' 12 The law is not based on faith; instead, it says, 'The person who does these things will live by them.' 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'
• Deut 28:3-9 : 3 You will be blessed in the city, and you will be blessed in the field. 4 Blessed will be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your land, and the offspring of your livestock—including the young of your cattle and the increase of your flocks. 5 Blessed will be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 You will be blessed when you come in, and you will be blessed when you go out. 7 The LORD will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will come out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven directions. 8 The LORD will command the blessing on your storehouses and on all you set your hand to do. He will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 9 The LORD will establish you as His holy people, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. 10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that the name of the LORD is called upon you, and they will stand in awe of you. 11 The LORD will make you prosper abundantly in the fruit of your womb, in the offspring of your livestock, and in the produce of your land on the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open the heavens, His rich treasury, to give rain to your land in its season and bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. 13 The LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you will only go upwards and not downwards, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, to observe and to do them. 14 You must not turn aside from any of the words I am commanding you today, neither to the right nor to the left, to follow other gods and serve them. 15 But if you will not listen to the voice of the LORD your God and carefully follow all His commandments and statutes I am commanding you today, then all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. 16 Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the field. 17 Cursed will be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 Cursed will be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your land, the offspring of your cattle, and the increase of your flocks. 19 Cursed will you be when you come in, and cursed will you be when you go out. 20 The LORD will send curses, confusion, and rebuke in everything you undertake until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil of your deeds, by which you have forsaken Me. 21 The LORD will cause pestilence to cling to you until He has consumed you from the land that you are entering to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, fever, inflammation, scorching heat, drought, blight, and mildew, which will pursue you until you perish. 23 The heavens over your head will be like bronze, and the earth beneath you like iron. 24 The LORD will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed. 25 The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven directions. You will become a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your carcasses will be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, scabs, and an incurable itch. 28 The LORD will strike you with madness, blindness, and confusion of heart. 29 At midday, you will grope around like a blind person in the dark. You will not prosper in your ways; you will be continually oppressed and robbed, with no one to save you. 30 You will become engaged to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house, but you will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard, but you will not enjoy its fruit. 31 Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken forcibly from you and will not be returned. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will rescue them. 32 Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you watch with longing eyes all day, but you will be powerless to act. 33 A people you don’t know will eat the fruit of your land and the result of your labor. You will be oppressed and crushed continually. 34 You will go mad because of the things you see with your own eyes. 35 The LORD will strike you with painful and incurable boils on your knees and legs, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head. 36 The LORD will drive you and the king you set over yourself to a nation that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods made of wood and stone. 37 You will become an object of horror, a byword, and a taunt among all the peoples to which the LORD will drive you. 38 You will sow much seed in the field but gather little, because locusts will consume it. 39 You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink their wine or gather their grapes, for worms will eat them. 40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory, but you will not anoint yourself with oil, for your olives will drop off prematurely. 41 You will have sons and daughters, but they will not remain with you, because they will go into captivity. 42 Swarms of insects will take possession of all your trees and the produce of your land. 43 The foreigner who resides among you will rise higher and higher above you, but you will sink lower and lower. 44 He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail. 45 All these curses will come upon you, pursue you, and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and statutes that He commanded you. 46 These curses will become a sign and a wonder against you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and wholeheartedly in the time of abundance. 48 You will serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and total destitution. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand. 50 It will be a fierce and ruthless nation, showing no respect for the old and no mercy for the young. 51 They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, or fresh oil, no calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks, until they have wiped you out. 52 They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until your high fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down. They will besiege all the cities in the land the LORD your God has given you. 53 Because of the suffering your enemy inflicts upon you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of your womb—the flesh of your sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you. 54 Even the most tender and refined man among you will begrudge his brother, the wife he embraces, and the rest of his children who are still alive. 55 He will not share with any of them the flesh of his children that he is eating, because he has nothing else during the suffering and siege that your enemy will inflict on all your cities. 56 The most tender and delicate woman among you, so refined that she would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge the husband she loves, her son, and her daughter. 57 She will secretly eat her afterbirth and the children she bears during the siege and suffering that your enemy inflicts upon your cities, because she is in dire need of food. 58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law that are written in this book, and do not fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God— 59 then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues upon you and your descendants, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and enduring diseases. 60 He will bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt, which you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The LORD will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not written in this Book of the Law, until you are completely destroyed. 62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God. 63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and multiply, so it will please Him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. 64 Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known. 65 Among those nations, you will find no peace, and no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul. 66 Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be filled with fear night and day, and you will not be sure of your life. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights your eyes will see. 68 The LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, in the way I said you would never see again. There, you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.