2 Chronicles 9:6

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) 2 Chronicles 9:6 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 9:6 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/2-chronicles/9/6.

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However I didn't believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me: you exceed the fame that I heard.
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
    However I didn't believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me: you exceed the fame that I heard.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    But I did not believe their words until when I came, and my eyes saw. And behold, it was not told to me half of the greatness of your wisdom you have added on to the report that I heard.

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)

3 of 4 selected

Show all 18 translations

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

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    However I didn't believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me: you exceed the fame that I heard.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    But I did not believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not half of the greatness of your wisdom was told to me. You have far exceeded the report I heard.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    But I did not believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not half of the greatness of your wisdom was told to me. You have far exceeded the report I heard.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: thou exceedest the fame that I heard.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: thou exceedest the fame that I heard.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    Howbeit I beleeued not their report, vntil I came, and mine eyes had seene it: and beholde, the one halfe of thy great wisedom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    I did not believe them that told it, until I came, and my eyes had seen, and I had proved that scarce one half of thy wisdom had been told me: thou hast exceeded the same with thy virtues.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    and I have given no credence to their words, till that I have come, and mine eyes see, and lo, there hath not been declared to me the half of the abundance of thy wisdom -- thou hast added unto the report that I heard.
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    and I have given no credence to their words until I have come and my eyes see, and behold, there has not been declared to me the half of the abundance of your wisdom—you have added to the report that I heard.
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    I did not believe what I heard until I came here, and now my eyes have seen it. Not half was told me about your wisdom and wealth! You have exceeded the fame that I heard about.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    But I did not believe their words until when I came, and my eyes saw. And behold, it was not told to me half of the greatness of your wisdom you have added on to the report that I heard.
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    but I gave no credit to their words, until I came and mine eyes had seen; and behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: thou exceedest the report that I heard.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    However I didn’t believe their words until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and behold half of the greatness of your wisdom wasn’t told me. You exceed the fame that I heard!
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    Yet, I believed not their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it: and behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told to me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    But I didn't believe what they told me until I came and saw with my own eyes. In fact, I wasn't told the half of it—the extent of your wisdom far exceeds what I heard!
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    But I had no faith in what was said about you, till I came and saw for myself; and truly, word was not given me of half your great wisdom; you are much greater than they said.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me; thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

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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מַרְבִּ֣ית
marbîyth
H4768
“multitude of”
Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct
Part of Speech
Noun
Type
Common
Gender
Feminine
Number
Singular
State
Construct
Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H7235

TWOT: 2103d

increase, great number, multitude, greatness - increase - of family - increment, interest, usury - great number (of people) - greatness (of wisdom)
  1. וְלֹֽא lôʼ H3808 “and · not” Conjunction + Particle, Negative
  2. הֶאֱמַ֣נְתִּי ʼâman H539 “to confirm” Verb, Hiphil, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular
  3. לְדִבְרֵיהֶ֗ם dâbâr H1697 “to/for · words · their” Preposition + Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  4. עַ֤ד ʻad H5704 “until” Preposition
  5. אֲשֶׁר ʼăsher H834 “which” Particle, Relative
  6. בָּ֨אתִי֙ bôwʼ H935 “to enter” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular
  7. וַתִּרְאֶ֣ינָה râʼâh H7200 “and · to see” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Plural
  8. עֵינַ֔י ʻayin H5869 “eyes · my” Noun, Common, Both, Dual, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Singular
  9. וְהִנֵּה֙ hinnêh H2009 “and · behold” Conjunction + Particle, Demonstrative
  10. לֹ֣א lôʼ H3808 “not” Particle, Negative
  11. הֻגַּד nâgad H5046 “to make known” Verb, Hophal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  12. חֲצִ֖י chêtsîy H2677 “half of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  13. חָכְמָתֶ֑ךָ chokmâh H2451 “wisdom · your” Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  14. יָסַ֕פְתָּ yâçaph H3254 “to add” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular
  15. עַל ʻal H5921 “upon” Preposition
  16. הַשְּׁמוּעָ֖ה shᵉmûwʻâh H8052 “the · report” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  17. אֲשֶׁ֥ר ʼăsher H834 “which” Particle, Relative
  18. שָׁמָֽעְתִּי shâmaʻ H8085 “to hear” Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, 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 →

20
words
17
distinct lemmas
Historical
section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is מַרְבִּ֣ית multitude H4768 — appearing just 5 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

מַרְבִּ֣ית multitude H4768 occurs in 5 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 6 verbs
  • 6 nouns
  • 3 prepositions
  • 5 particles

Verb forms

  • הֶאֱמַ֣נְתִּי Hiphil · Perfect
  • בָּ֨אתִי֙ Qal · Perfect
  • וַתִּרְאֶ֣ינָה Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • הֻגַּד Hophal · Perfect
  • יָסַ֕פְתָּ Qal · Perfect
  • שָׁמָֽעְתִּי Qal · Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • וְלֹֽא not H3808 ×2
  • אֲשֶׁר which H834 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 36 words from the Hebrew and 35 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 20 Hebrew tokens and 30 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

10

Topical passages linked to 2 Chronicles 9:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • 1 Kings 4:31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations round about.
  • 1 Kings 4:34 There came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
  • 1 Kings 10:7 However I didn't believe the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me; your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard.
  • 2 Chronicles 9:5 She said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom.
  • Psalms 31:19 Oh how great is your goodness, Which you have laid up for those who fear you, Which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, Before the sons of men!
  • Song of Solomon 5:9–16 How is your beloved better than another beloved, You fairest among women? How is your beloved better than another beloved, That you do so adjure us? Beloved
  • Zechariah 9:17 For how great is his goodness, And how great is his beauty! Grain will make the young men flourish, And new wine the virgins.
  • John 20:25–29 The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."
  • 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, "Things which an eye didn't see, and an ear didn't hear, Which didn't enter into the heart of man, These God has prepared for those who love him."
  • 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.

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 9:6 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְלֹֽא הֶאֱמַ֣נְתִּי לְדִבְרֵיהֶ֗ם עַ֤ד אֲשֶׁר בָּ֨אתִי֙ וַתִּרְאֶ֣ינָה עֵינַ֔י וְהִנֵּה֙ לֹ֣א הֻגַּד לִ֔י חֲצִ֖י מַרְבִּ֣ית חָכְמָתֶ֑ךָ יָסַ֕פְתָּ עַל הַשְּׁמוּעָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׁמָֽעְתִּי

However I didn't believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me: you exceed the fame that I heard.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Chronicles 9:6 Septuagint · lemma form

καί οὐ πιστεύω ὁ λόγος ἕως ὅς ἔρχομαι καί ὁράω ὁ ὀφθαλμός ἐγώ καί ἰδού οὐ ἀποἀγγέλλω ἐγώ ἥμισυς ὁ πλῆθος ὁ σοφία σύ προςτίθημι ἐπί ὁ ἀκοή ὅς ἀκούω

Yet I believed not the reports until I came, and my eyes saw: and, behold, the half of the abundance of your wisdom was not told me: you have exceeded the report which I heard.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

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 9:6 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 9:6 Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen [it]: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: [for] thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

Ver. 6. For thou exceedest, &c.] See 1Ki 10:7.

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.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) The one half of the greatness of thy wisdom.—Kings has simply, “the half was not told me.” The chronicler has made an explanatory addition. (See 1Ch_12:29, and 2Ch_30:18, for the word marbith, “increase,” “multitude,” which occurs thrice in the Chronicles and twice elsewhere.)

Thou exceedest the fame.—Literally, Thou kast added to the report. Kings, more fully, “Thou hast added wisdom and weal to the report.”

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

6. the greatness of thy wisdom] Cp. 1Ki_10:7, “thy wisdom and prosperity.”

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.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Fame. Hebrew and Septuagint, "the fame which I had heard." (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

half of your abundant [wisdom] The many wisdoms.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

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 20 words (17 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is marbîyth (“multitude”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. How does “multitude” (marbîyth) shape what this verse is saying?
  2. How does Leviticus 25:37, which shares the word «multitude», read alongside this verse?
  3. What does the repetition of “not” (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. «הֶאֱמַ֣נְתִּי» is a Hiphil Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  6. Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

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Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

Comparing translations? Open the Compare panel on any verse page to stack up to four side by side.