Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 16:21
He let no man oppress them; He rebuked kings on their behalf:
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses the community recounting God’s protection over the Israelites as they moved between nations. The declaration occurs within a liturgical response to the ark's placement, immediately following a description of their nomadic journey.
The words — The verse highlights לֹא־הִנִּ֤יחַ (lo'- hi.Ni.ach), translated as "he let no man," and וַ/יּ֥וֹכַח (va/i.Yo.khach), meaning "he rebuked." These terms frame divine intervention as both a restraint against human hostility and a direct confrontation of earthly rulers.
The thread — This pattern of God shielding His people from hostile rulers appears in Genesis 20:3, Genesis 12:17, and Genesis 31:29, where divine warnings or afflictions prevent kings from harming covenant figures. The theme continues in 1 Chronicles 16:22 with the command not to harm God's anointed ones.
Why it lands — The text states that God actively blocked oppression and confronted kings on behalf of His people. A reader must recognize that historical movement and vulnerability are met with direct divine authority, requiring trust in that protection rather than human political stability.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,
Cross-references
- Genesis 20:3 One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”
- Genesis 12:17 The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.
- Genesis 31:29 I have power to do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’
- Exodus 7:15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.
- Genesis 31:24 But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
- Genesis 31:42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”
- Exodus 9:13 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and tell him that this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.