2 Chronicles 36:16

But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The narrator describes the final rebellion of Judah’s leaders and people before the Babylonian exile. After God repeatedly sent messengers and prophets out of compassion, the people collectively rejected them.

The words — מַלְעִבִים (mal'ivim) means deriding, and בּוֹזִים (bozim) means despising. These terms describe the active contempt the people directed toward God’s messengers and His spoken word.

The thread — This pattern of rejecting divine warning appears in 2 Chronicles 30:10, where people scoff at couriers, and Jeremiah 5:12, where they deny impending judgment. The New Testament echoes this dynamic in Luke 22:63, where Jesus is mocked by those holding Him.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that persistent rejection of God’s word provokes His wrath. It requires the reader to understand that divine patience has limits and that prophetic warning must be heeded before judgment becomes irreversible.

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

וַיִּֽהְי֤וּva/i.yih.Yuand/ they were מַלְעִבִים֙mal.'i.Vimderiding בְּמַלְאֲכֵ֣יbe./mal.'a.Khei<in>/ [the] messengers of הָאֱלֹהִ֔יםha./'E.lo.Him<the>/ God וּבוֹזִ֣יםu./vo.Zimand/ despising דְּבָרָ֔יוde.va.Ra/vwords/ his וּמִֽתַּעְתְּעִ֖יםu./mi.ta'.te.'Imand/ mocking בִּנְבִאָ֑יוbi/n.vi.'A/vat/ prophets/ his עַ֠ד'aduntil עֲל֧וֹתa.Lotcame up חֲמַת־cha.mat-[the] anger of יְהוָ֛הYah.wehYahweh בְּעַמּ֖וֹbe./'a.M/oon/ people/ his עַד־'ad-until לְאֵ֥יןle./'Ein<to>/ there not מַרְפֵּֽא׃mar.Pe'[was] healing

King James Version

But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 5:12 They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
2 Chronicles 30:10 And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun, but the people scorned and mocked them.
Luke 22:63 The men who were holding Jesus began to mock Him and beat Him.
Psalms 74:1 A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?
Proverbs 6:15 Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.
Jeremiah 32:3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: “Why are you prophesying like this? You claim that the LORD says, ‘Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
1 Thessalonians 4:8 Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.
Ezra 5:12 But since our fathers angered the God of heaven, He delivered them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this temple and carried away the people to Babylon.
Psalms 35:16 Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.
Proverbs 1:24 Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,