Bible Strands
2 Kings 22:19
because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its people, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ declares the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through the prophetess Huldah to the royal officials sent by King Josiah of Judah, delivering a direct response to their inquiry after the discovery of the Book of the Law.
The words — The text emphasizes רַךְ (rakh), rendered "tender," to describe Josiah’s heart, and וַתּכּנע (va.tikkana), meaning "you humbled yourself," to record his physical and spiritual posture before Yahweh upon hearing the declared judgment.
The thread — The linkage between divine withholding of disaster and royal humility appears in 1 Kings 21:29, while the broader scriptural pattern of God receiving contrition is noted in Psalms 51:17.
Why it lands — The verse requires recognizing that God’s hearing is triggered by the specific, observable acts of tearing garments, weeping, and self-abasement in response to His spoken word, not by internal sentiment alone.
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
Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
Cross-references
- Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
- 1 Kings 21:29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity during his days, but I will bring it upon his house in the days of his son.”
- Exodus 10:3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.
- Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
- 1 Samuel 24:5 Afterward, David’s conscience was stricken because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.
- Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- 1 Peter 5:5 Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Isaiah 66:5 You who tremble at His word, hear the word of the LORD: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of My name have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified that we may see your joy!’ But they will be put to shame.”
- Jeremiah 44:22 So the LORD could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this day.
- Luke 19:41 As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it