2 Chronicles 21:13

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) 2 Chronicles 21:13 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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2 Chronicles 21:13 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/2-chronicles/21/13.

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but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute, like as the house of Ahab did, and also have slain your brothers of your father's house, who were better than yourself:
World English Bible · Public Domain
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute, like as the house of Ahab did, and also have slain your brothers of your father's house, who were better than yourself:
  • King James Version Public Domain
    But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself:
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    but you walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and he caused Judah to commit adultery and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, like the house of Ahab committed adultery, and also your brothers, the house of your father, the ones better than you, you have killed.

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

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Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute, like as the house of Ahab did, and also have slain your brothers of your father's house, who were better than yourself:
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    but you have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and have caused Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab prostituted itself. You have also killed your brothers, your father’s family, who were better than you.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    but you have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and have caused Judah and the people of Jerusalem to prostitute themselves, just as the house of Ahab prostituted itself. You have also killed your brothers, your father’s family, who were better than you.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself:
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot, like as the house of Ahab did, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, who were better than thyself:
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like as the house of Ahab did; and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself:
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Iudah and the inhabitantes of Ierusalem to go a whoring, as the house of Ahab went a whoring, and hast also slaine thy brethre of thy fathers house, which were better then thou,
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    But hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and hast made Juda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, imitating the fornication of the house of Achab, moreover also thou hast killed thy brethren, the house of thy father, better men than thyself,
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    and thou dost walk in the way of the kings of Israel, and dost cause Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit whoredom like the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also thy brethren, the house of thy father, who are better than thyself, thou hast slain;
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    and you walk in the way of the kings of Israel, and cause Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit whoredom like the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also your brothers, the house of your father, who are better than yourself, you have slain;
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    but have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to act like a prostitute, as the house of Ahab did—and because you have also killed your brothers in your father's family, men who were better than yourself—
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    but you walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and he caused Judah to commit adultery and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, like the house of Ahab committed adultery, and also your brothers, the house of your father, the ones better than you, you have killed.
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, like the fornications of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren, thy father's house who were better than thyself:
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute like Ahab’s house did, and also have slain your brothers of your father’s house, who were better than yourself,
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit idolatry, like the idolatries of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, who were better than thyself:
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    but instead you have followed the ways of the kings of Israel, and have made the people of Jerusalem unfaithful, and the people of Jerusalem as unfaithful as the family of Ahab. You have even killed your brothers, your father's family, who were better than you.
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    But have gone in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the people of Jerusalem go after false gods, as the family of Ahab did: and because you have put to death your father's sons, your brothers, who were better than yourself:
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go astray, like as the house of Ahab made Israel to go astray; and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, who were better than thyself;

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

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וַתַּזְנֶ֤ה
zânâh
H2181
“and · to commit fornication”
Conjunction + Verb, Hiphil, Sequential Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
Part of Speech
Conjunction + Verb
Stem
Hiphil
Form
Sequential Imperfect
Person
2nd Person
Gender
Masculine
Number
Singular
Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root [highly-fed and therefore wanton]

TWOT: 563

to commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot - (Qal) - to be a harlot, act as a harlot, commit fornication - to commit adultery - to be a cult prostitute - to be unfaithful (to God) (figuratively) - (Pual) to play the harlot - (Hiphil) - to cause to commit adultery - to force into prostitution - to commit fornication
  1. וַתֵּ֗לֶךְ yâlak H3212 “and · to walk” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  2. בְּדֶ֨רֶךְ֙ derek H1870 “in/at · way of” Preposition + Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Construct
  3. מַלְכֵ֣י melek H4428 “kings of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct
  4. יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל Yisrâʼêl H3478 “Israel” Noun, Proper
  5. אֶת ʼêth H853 “-” Particle, Direct Object
  6. יְהוּדָה֙ Yᵉhûwdâh H3063 “Judah” Noun, Proper
  7. וְאֶת ʼêth H853 “and · -” Conjunction + Particle, Direct Object
  8. יֹשְׁבֵ֣י yâshab H3427 “dwelling” Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct
  9. יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔ם Yᵉrûwshâlaim H3389 “Jerusalem” Noun, Proper
  10. כְּהַזְנ֖וֹת zânâh H2181 “like/as · to commit fornication” Preposition + Verb, Hiphil, Infinitive Construct
  11. בֵּ֣ית bayith H1004 “house of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  12. אַחְאָ֑ב ʼAchʼâb H256 “Ahab” Noun, Proper
  13. וְגַ֨ם gam H1571 “and · also” Conjunction + Particle, Accusative
  14. אֶת ʼêth H853 “-” Particle, Direct Object
  15. אַחֶ֧יךָ ʼâch H251 “brothers · your” Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  16. בֵית bayith H1004 “house of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  17. אָבִ֛יךָ ʼâb H1 “father · your” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  18. הַטּוֹבִ֥ים ṭôwb H2896 “the · good” Particle, Definite Article + Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
  19. מִמְּךָ֖ min H4480 “from · you” Preposition + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  20. הָרָֽגְתָּ hârag H2026 “to kill” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

21
words
17
distinct lemmas
Historical
section

Grammatical profile

  • 5 verbs
  • 10 nouns
  • 1 adjective
  • 1 preposition
  • 4 particles

Verb forms

  • וַתֵּ֗לֶךְ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • וַתַּזְנֶ֤ה Hiphil · Sequential Imperfect
  • יֹשְׁבֵ֣י Qal · Participle Active
  • כְּהַזְנ֖וֹת Hiphil · Infinitive Construct
  • הָרָֽגְתָּ Qal · Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • וַתַּזְנֶ֤ה to commit fornication H2181 ×2
  • בֵּ֣ית house H1004 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 46 words from the Hebrew and 49 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 21 Hebrew tokens and 32 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

16

Topical passages linked to 2 Chronicles 21:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • 2 Chronicles 21:4 Now when Jehoram was risen up over the kingdom of his father, and had strengthened himself, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and various also of the princes of Israel.
  • 2 Chronicles 21:11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute, and led Judah astray.
  • 1 Kings 16:30–33 Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh above all that were before him.
  • 2 Chronicles 21:6 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab as wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh.
  • Genesis 4:10–12 Yahweh said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.
  • Genesis 42:21–22 They said one to another, "We are most assuredly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn't listen. Therefore this distress has come on us."
  • Exodus 34:15 Don't make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice;
  • Deuteronomy 31:16 Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
  • Judges 9:56–57 Thus God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father, in killing his seventy brothers;
  • 1 Kings 2:31–33 The king said to him, Do as he has said, and fall on him, and bury him; that you may take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father's house.
  • 1 Kings 16:25 Omri did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and dealt wickedly above all who were before him.
  • 2 Kings 9:22 It happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? He answered, What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?
  • Isaiah 26:21 For, behold, Yahweh comes forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
  • Jeremiah 3:8–9 I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, didn't fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.
  • Habakkuk 2:12 Woe to him who builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity!
  • 1 John 3:12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 2 Chronicles 21:13 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַתֵּ֗לֶךְ בְּדֶ֨רֶךְ֙ מַלְכֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וַתַּזְנֶ֤ה אֶת יְהוּדָה֙ וְאֶת יֹשְׁבֵ֣י יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔ם כְּהַזְנ֖וֹת בֵּ֣ית אַחְאָ֑ב וְגַ֨ם אֶת אַחֶ֧יךָ בֵית אָבִ֛יךָ הַטּוֹבִ֥ים מִמְּךָ֖ הָרָֽגְתָּ

but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute, like as the house of Ahab did, and also have slain your brothers of your father's house, who were better than yourself:

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Chronicles 21:13 Septuagint · lemma form

καί πορεύομαι ἐν ὁδός βασιλεύς ἰσραήλ καί ἐκπορνεύω ὁ ἰούδας καί ὁ καταοἰκέω ἐν ἰερουσαλήμ ὡς ἐκπορνεύω οἶκος αχααβ καί ὁ ἀδελφός σύ υἱός ὁ πατήρ σύ ὁ ἀγαθός ὑπέρ σύ ἀποκτείνω

but have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and have caused Juda and the dwellers in Jerusalem to go a-whoring, as the house of Achaab caused Israel to go a-whoring, and you have slain your brethren, the sons of your father, who were better than yourself;

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on 2 Chronicles 21:13 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

2Ch 21:13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, [which were] better than thyself:

Ver. 13. And hast also slain thy brethren.] This Jehoram would not hear of by word of mouth: he is told of it therefore by a letter.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

2Ch 21:13. Which were better than thyself — More innocent, righteous, and godly. This seems to intimate that they were pious persons, who abhorred idolatry. And, if so, his sin was the more heinous in cutting them off, as proceeding from enmity to God, as well as to them.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem . . . like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab--that is, introduced the superstitions and vices of Phœnician idolatry (see on Deu 13:6-14). On this account, as well as for his unnatural cruelties, divine vengeance was denounced against him, which was soon after executed exactly as the prophet had foretold. A series of overwhelming calamities befell this wicked king; for in addition to the revolts already mentioned, two neighboring tribes (see Ch2 17:11) made hostile incursions on the southern and western portions of his kingdom. His country was ravaged, his capital taken, his palace plundered, his wives carried off, and all his children slain except the youngest. He himself was seized with an incurable dysentery, which, after subjecting him to the most painful suffering for the unusual period of two years, carried him off, a monument of the divine judgment. To complete his degradation, his death was unlamented, his burial unhonored by his subjects. This custom, similar to what obtained in Egypt, seems to have crept in among the Hebrews, of giving funeral honors to their kings, or withholding them, according to the good or bad characters of their reign.

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 22

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) And hast made . . . to go a whoring—i.e., “caused to commit fornication” (2Ch_21:11). Like to the whoredoms, infinitive of the same verb; as the house of Ahah causeth them to commit fornication. This verb, zânâh, occurred in 1Ch_5:25, but the writer does not use it again.

Hast slain thy brethren.—2Ch_21:4, supr.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

13. like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab] R.V. like as the house of Ahab did.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels,.... Which was a just retaliation to him, for having no bowels of compassion on his brethren whom he slew:

until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day; that continuing day after day, and even year after year, the space of two years, as appears from Ch2 21:19.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

More innocent, and righteous, and pious.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

See note in previous verse on Jehoram"s slaying of his brethren, and the conclusive proof this statement allows that Elijah"s letter must have been subsequent to the death of Jehoshaphat. The better thin thyself probably points to the fact that they had not fallen into idolatrous practices.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

2 Chronicles, in the Historical, opens this verse with 21 words (17 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is zânâh (“to commit fornication”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. What does “to commit fornication” (zânâh) contribute to the verse as a whole?
  2. How does 2 Chronicles 21:4, which shares this passage’s theme, read alongside this verse?
  3. What does the repetition of “to commit fornication” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
  4. The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
  5. «וַתֵּ֗לֶךְ» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  6. Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

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