Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 15:5
In those days there was no safety for travelers, because the residents of the lands had many conflicts.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Chronicler addresses Judah and Israel during King Asa’s religious reforms, describing the chaotic conditions that preceded the population’s return to Yahweh. The narrator establishes the historical backdrop of widespread instability that drives the people toward divine intervention.
The words — The text hinges on שָׁל֖וֹם (sha.Lom), rendered literally as peace or safety, and מְהוּמֹ֣ת (me.hu.Mot), meaning disturbances or commotion. These terms frame the absence of security as a direct result of societal conflict.
The thread — This motif of threatened movement appears in Judges 5:6, where desertion of roads reflects regional collapse, and 1 Samuel 13:6, where armies conceal themselves in caves under military pressure. Conversely, Psalms 121:8 contrasts this chaos by affirming God’s protection over all coming and going.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that human instability precedes spiritual seeking, compelling readers to pursue divine protection rather than rely on regional security. It establishes distress as the catalyst for turning back to God.
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
And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.
Cross-references
- Judges 5:6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were deserted and the travelers took the byways.
- Psalms 121:8 The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.
- 1 Samuel 13:6 Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
- Matthew 24:6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.
- Luke 21:25 There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.