2 Chronicles 30:7

Do not be like your fathers and brothers who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their fathers, so that He made them an object of horror, as you can see.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — A royal courier delivers King Hezekiah’s message to the remnant of Israel and Judah, urging them to return to the LORD after the Assyrian exile. The speaker addresses the people directly, contrasting their potential response with the past failures of their ancestors.

The words — The command opens with וְ/אַל־ (ve./'al-) followed immediately by תִּֽהְי֗וּ (tih.Yu), meaning "may not you be." The verse then uses מָעֲל֔וּ (ma.'a.Lu) to describe the ancestors' unfaithful conduct against Yahweh.

The thread — The warning against ancestral rebellion echoes 2 Chronicles 29:8, where the LORD made Judah an object of horror for similar unfaithfulness. The call to return aligns with the prophetic pattern in Zechariah 1:3 and the wilderness rebellion recorded in Ezekiel 20:13.

Why it lands — The text demands a deliberate break from inherited disobedience by pointing to visible historical consequences. A reader must choose immediate submission to the LORD rather than repeating the pattern that provoked divine judgment.

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

וְאַל־ve./'al-and/ may not תִּֽהְי֗וּtih.Yuyou be כַּאֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙ka./'a.vo.tei./Khemlike/ fathers/ your וְכַ֣אֲחֵיכֶ֔םve./Kha./'a.chei./Khemand/ like/ brothers/ your אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwho מָעֲל֔וּma.'a.Luthey acted unfaithfully בַּיהוָ֖הba./Yah.wehagainst/ Yahweh אֱלֹהֵ֣י'e.lo.Hei[the] God of אֲבוֹתֵיהֶ֑ם'a.vo.tei./Hemancestors/ their וַיִּתְּנֵ֣םva/i.yi.te.Ne/mand/ he made/ them לְשַׁמָּ֔הle./sha.Mahinto/ a horror כַּאֲשֶׁ֖רka./'a.Sherjust/ as אַתֶּ֥ם'a.Temyou רֹאִֽים׃ro.'Im[are] seeing

King James Version

And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

Cross-references

2 Chronicles 29:8 Therefore, the wrath of the LORD has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, horror, and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.
Ezekiel 20:13 Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness.
Zechariah 1:3 So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’