Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 20:19
And the Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, shouting in a very loud voice.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — After Jehoshaphat prostrates and the people of Judah and Jerusalem worship, the Kohathite and Korahite Levites rise to praise the Lord before the army departs for the Wilderness of Tekoa.
The words — וַ/יָּקֻ֧מוּ (va/i.ya.Ku.mu) = they stood and הַ/לְוִיִּ֛ם (ha/l.vi.Yim) = the Levites establish the active subject of the clause, marking their deliberate physical posture in response to the preceding worship.
The thread — This practice continues David’s earlier organization of Levitical musicians in 1 Chronicles 15:16, 16:5, and 16:42, where specific clans are appointed to lead corporate praise with instruments and voices.
Why it lands — The text records a specific group taking physical action to elevate God’s name, requiring the reader to recognize worship as a deliberate, communal duty rather than a passive reaction.
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 the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
Cross-references
- 1 Chronicles 15:16 David also told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their relatives as singers to lift up their voices with joy, accompanied by musical instruments—harps, lyres, and cymbals.
- 1 Chronicles 16:5 Asaph was the chief, Zechariah was second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. They were to play the harps and lyres, while Asaph sounded the cymbals
- 1 Chronicles 16:42 Heman and Jeduthun had with them trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for the songs of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.
- 1 Chronicles 23:5 4,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the LORD with the instruments I have made for giving praise.”
- 1 Chronicles 25:1 Additionally, David and the commanders of the army set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy with the accompaniment of lyres, harps, and cymbals. The following is the list of the men who performed this service:
- 2 Chronicles 5:13 The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the LORD with one voice. They lifted up their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.” And the temple, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud
- Ezra 3:12 But many of the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple. Still, many others shouted joyfully.
- Nehemiah 12:42 and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the choirs sang out under the direction of Jezrahiah.
- Psalms 44:1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
- Psalms 49:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,