Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Chronicles 14:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence: “Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Asa removes cult objects and strengthens Judah.”
Read It With
- 2 Chronicles 14:1–8
Read 2 Chronicles 14:7 with 14:1–8. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Asa's early rest is linked with removing foreign altars, commanding Judah to seek God, and building fortified cities while maintaining an army.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Asa removes cult objects and strengthens Judah,” 2 Chronicles 14:7 advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence through the wording “Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: Reform and security are presented together, yet the narrative will later test whether strength replaces trust. 2 Chronicles 13:19–22 has just established this prior movement: Abijah takes Bethel and other towns, Jeroboam never recovers strength, Abijah's household grows, and prophetic records are cited at his death. Together those details explain why “Asa removes cult objects and strengthens Judah” belongs here rather than merely following a database record.
Read 2 Chronicles 14:1–8 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Chronicles 14:1–8 forms the complete movement “Asa removes cult objects and strengthens Judah”: Asa's early rest is linked with removing foreign altars, commanding Judah to seek God, and building fortified cities while maintaining an army.
Verse 1. 1 So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.
Verse 2. 2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
Verse 3. 3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:
Verse 4. 4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.
Verse 5. 5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.
Verse 6. 6 And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.
Verse 7. 7 Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
Verse 8. 8 And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.
Follow the Context
- Asa's early rest is linked with removing foreign altars, commanding Judah to seek God, and building fortified cities while maintaining an army.
- Reform and security are presented together, yet the narrative will later test whether strength replaces trust.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
2 Chronicles 14:7 does not permit the wording “Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. Religious reform does not authorize destroying living communities, coercing belief, or equating military capacity with divine favor.
What Remains True
Reform, prayer, victory, and prosperity never remove the need to hear correction, protect dissenters, reject coercion, and respond responsibly to illness and failure. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: Asa's early rest is linked with removing foreign altars, commanding Judah to seek God, and building fortified cities while maintaining an army. In 2 Chronicles 14:7, the concrete line “Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates….” Test reform and success by truthfulness, noncoercion, protection of critics, and responsible care; do not turn victory, wealth, or illness into a formula about someone's faith. This response follows from the unit's own movement: Asa's early rest is linked with removing foreign altars, commanding Judah to seek God, and building fortified cities while maintaining an army.
Teach It Back
Explain why 2 Chronicles 14:7 interprets rest as an opportunity for walls, towers, gates, and bars. Use 14:1–8, paraphrase “Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates…,” state one source or reconstruction limit, identify one person or group power can obscure, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Chronicles 14:1–8 — Asa removes cult objects and strengthens JudahSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Chronicles 14:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Chronicles
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 14:1–8
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Full Notes: 2 Chronicles
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; STEP Bible presentation, 2019 edition; current web presentation
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
Exact location: STEP Bible NET2full, 2 Chronicles 14:1–8, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗