Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Chronicles 32:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Reports an angel cutting down Assyrian leaders and Sennacherib's later death.
Read It With
- 2 Chronicles 32:20–32:23
Reports an angel cutting down Assyrian leaders and Sennacherib's later death. Read 2 Chronicles 32:21 within 32:20–32:23. The complete unit records: Hezekiah and Isaiah pray, an angel destroys Assyrian leaders, Sennacherib returns in shame and is later killed by sons, and many bring gifts to Jerusalem and Hezekiah.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The deliverance answers imperial mockery and elevates Hezekiah, but the compressed account distinguishes theology from recoverable military mechanism. In this exact position, the line beginning “And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of…” reports an angel cutting down Assyrian leaders and Sennacherib's later death.
Follow the Context
- Hezekiah and Isaiah pray, an angel destroys Assyrian leaders, Sennacherib returns in shame and is later killed by sons, and many bring gifts to Jerusalem and Hezekiah.
- The deliverance answers imperial mockery and elevates Hezekiah, but the compressed account distinguishes theology from recoverable military mechanism.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of…”
In plain language: Reports an angel cutting down Assyrian leaders and Sennacherib's later death.
The line beginning “And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of…” reports an angel cutting down Assyrian leaders and Sennacherib's later death.
Why it matters: The wording carries a material literary, historical, temple, royal-power, violence, ethnic, illness, gender, exile, reception, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The angel report does not license miracle overclaim, celebration of mass death, or promises that prayer always removes armies, illness, or persecution.
What Remains True
Reports an angel cutting down Assyrian leaders and Sennacherib's later death. This concrete detail supports a bounded truth: Faithful memory tells the truth about worship and power together: it preserves covenant hope while naming labor, victims, institutional limits, human agency, and uncertainty.
How It Can Shape Life
- Because this verse reports an angel cutting down Assyrian leaders and Sennacherib's later death, keep it inside 32:20–32:23, compare its Samuel-Kings relationship honestly, protect affected people from coercion or stigma, and apply only the accountable principle the complete unit supports.
Teach It Back
Explain why 2 Chronicles 32:21 reports an angel cutting down Assyrian leaders and Sennacherib's later death. Use 32:20–32:23, paraphrase “And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of…,” 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 32:20–32:23 — Prayer, deliverance, and gifts reverse the siegeSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
2 Chronicles 32:21 remains within this thought-unit limit: Assyrian records do not claim Jerusalem's capture but give tribute and confinement; the reason for withdrawal and scale of loss remain disputed.
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 32:20–32:23, 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 32:20–32:23
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 32:20–32:23, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗