Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 32:6
Hezekiah appointed military commanders over the people and gathered the people in the square of the city gate. Then he encouraged them, saying,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Hezekiah addresses the assembled people of Judah at the city gate square immediately after reinforcing the walls, towers, and weapon stores. He places military commanders over the populace and gathers them for a formal address.
The words — The text emphasizes וַ/יִּתֵּ֛ן (va/i.yi.Ten), literally "and he appointed," and שָׂרֵ֥י מִלְחָמ֖וֹת (sa.Rei mil.cha.Mot), literally "commanders of wars." These terms record the structural reorganization of civil defense authority.
The thread — Hezekiah's pattern of appointing leaders and encouraging the assembly reappears in 2 Chronicles 30:22 with the Levites. The assurance of divine presence against a superior force aligns with the declaration in Isaiah 40:2 that Jerusalem's forced labor is complete.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to recognize that institutional preparation and spiritual encouragement function together under leadership. It demands a plain acknowledgment that human command structures are deployed before divine intervention is invoked.
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 he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying,
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 30:22 And Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who performed skillfully before the LORD. For seven days they ate their assigned portion, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
- Isaiah 40:2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.”
- Genesis 34:3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young girl and spoke to her tenderly.
- 2 Chronicles 17:14 These are their numbers according to the houses of their fathers: From Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, and with him 300,000 mighty men of valor;
- Ezra 10:9 So within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain.
- Nehemiah 8:16 And the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate and by the Gate of Ephraim.
- 1 Chronicles 27:3 He was a descendant of Perez and chief of all the army commanders for the first month.
- Nehemiah 8:1 At that time all the people gathered together in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.