2 Kings 22:20 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Kings 22:20
Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
to gather for any purpose · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
fathers
אֲבֹתֶ֗יךָ'a.vo.Tei.kha
H1
father · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
gathered
וְנֶאֱסַפְתָּ֣ve.ne.'e.saf.Ta
H622
to gather for any purpose · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
grave
קִבְרֹתֶיךָ֮kiv.ro.tei.Cha
H6913
a sepulchre · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
peace
בְּשָׁלוֹם֒be.sha.lOm
H7965
safe · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
eyes
עֵינֶ֔יךָ'ei.Nei.kha
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
see
תִרְאֶ֣ינָהtir.'Ei.nah
H7200
to see · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
evil
הָֽרָעָ֔הha.ra.'Ah
H7451
bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
bring
מֵבִ֖יאme.Vi'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
place
הַמָּק֣וֹםha.ma.Kom
H4725
properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
brought
וַיָּשִׁ֥יבוּvai.ya.Shi.vu
H7725
to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
king
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
word
דָּבָֽרda.Var
H1697
a word · noun, common masculine singular absolute
again
שׁוּבshûwb
H7725
to turn back (hence
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 37:37 Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
Isaiah 57:1-2 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away f…
1 Chronicles 17:11 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, whic…
Genesis 25:8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.
Jeremiah 22:15-16 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well…
2 Kings 23:29-30 In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and h…
Jeremiah 22:10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country…
Deuteronomy 31:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of th…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 22:11–end
We hear no more of the repairing of the temple: no doubt that good work went on well; but the book of the law that was found in it occupies us now, and well it may. It is not laid up in the king's cabinet as a piece of antiquity, a rarity to be admired, but it is read before the king. Those put the truest honour upon their Bibles that study them and converse with them daily, feed on that bread and walk by that light. Men of honour and business must look upon an acquaintance with God's word to be their best business and honour. Now here we have,
I. The impressions which the reading of the law made upon Josiah. He rent his clothes, as one ashamed of the sin of his people and afraid of the wrat…
she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me--On being consulted, she delivered an oracular response in which judgment was blended with mercy; for it announced the impending calamities that at no distant period were to overtake the city and its inhabitants. But at the same time the king was consoled with an assurance that this season of punishment and sorrow should not be during his lifetime, on account of the faith, penitence, and pious zeal for the divine glory and worship which, in his public capacity and with his royal influence, he had displayed.
Next: 2 Kings Chapter 23
Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 22:20
Thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace - During thy life none of these calamities shall fall upon the people, and no adversary shall be permitted to disturb the peace of Judea, and thou shalt die in peace with God. But was Josiah gathered to the grave in peace? Is it not said, Kg2 23:29, that Pharaoh-nechoh slew him at Megiddo? On this we may remark, that the Assyrians and the Jews were at peace; that Josiah might feel it his duty to oppose the Egyptian king going against his friend and ally, and endeavor to prevent him from passing through his territories; and that in his endeavors to oppose him he was mortally wounded at Megiddo: but certainly was not killed there; for his servants…
How do we say that they have been advised who have died before the coming of the evils that followed their death, if after death they perceive whatever misfortunes befall the human life? Or is it that we are mistaken when we imagine that they are at rest when the restless life of the living concerns them? What is this, then, that God promised to the most devout king, Josiah, for a great reward, telling him that he would soon die in order that he might not see the evils that he was threatening to send on that place and that people? The words of God are these: "Thus says the Lord the God of Israel: My words, which you have heard and which you feared from my mouth when you heard what I said about this place and those who dwell in it, that it be forsaken and become a curse, and you rent your garments and wept in my sight, shall not come to pass, says the Lord of hosts. Behold I shall bring you to your fathers, and you shall be brought with peace, and your eyes shall not see all the evils that I bring upon this place and those who dwell in it." And Josiah, alarmed at the dire threats of God, wept and tore his garments and then was made secure by an early death from all future ills, because he would so rest in peace that he would not see those evils. The souls of the dead, then, are in a place where they do not see the things that go on and transpire in this mortal life. How, then, do they see their own graves or their own bodies, whether they are buried or lie exposed? How do they take part in the misery of the living, when either they are suffering their own evil deserts, if such they have merited, or they rest in peace, such as was promised to this Josiah? For there they undergo no evils either by enduring them themselves or by compassionate suffering for others, but they are liberated from all evils that when they lived here they endured for themselves and out of compassion for others.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Colour — The subject of colours holds an important place in the Scriptures. White occurs as the translation of various Hebrew words. It is applied to milk (Gen. 49:12), manna (Ex. 16:31), snow (Isa. 1:18),…
Huldah — Weasel, a prophetess; the wife of Shallum. She was consulted regarding the “book of the law” discovered by the high priest Hilkiah (2 Kings 22:14-20; 2 Chr. 34:22-28). She resided in that part of…
Isaiah — (Heb. Yesh’yahu, i.e., “the salvation of Jehovah”). (1.) The son of Amoz (Isa. 1:1; 2:1), who was apparently a man of humble rank. His wife was called “the prophetess” (8:3), either because she was…
Josiah — Healed by Jehovah, or Jehovah will support. The son of Amon, and his successor on the throne of Judah (2 Kings 22:1; 2 Chr. 34:1). His history is contained in 2 Kings 22, 23. He stands foremost among…
Asahiah · An officer of King Josiah — An officer of King Josiah
Death Of Saints, The · Removes from coming evil — Removes from coming evil
Huldah · Foretells the — Foretells the
Josiah · him — him
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 2 Kings 22:20
Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers,.... To his godly ancestors, to share with them in eternal life and happiness; otherwise it could be no peculiar favour to die in common, as his fathers did, and be buried in their sepulchres:
and thou shall be gathered into thy grave in peace; in a time of public peace and tranquillity; for though he was slain in battle with the king of Egypt, yet it was what he was personally concerned in, and it was not a public war between the two kingdoms, and his body was carried off by his servants, and was peaceably interred in the sepulchre of his ancestors, 2 Kings 23:29, as well as he died in spiritual peace, and entered into eternal peace, wh…
To gather to his fathers means merely to let him die, and is generally applied to a peaceful death upon a sick-bed, like the synonymous phrase, to lie with one's fathers; but it is also applied to a violent death by being slain in battle (Kg1 22:40 and Kg1 22:34), so that there is no difficulty in reconciling this comforting assurance with the slaying of Josiah in battle (Kg2 23:29). בּשׁלום, in peace, i.e., without living to witness the devastation of Jerusalem, as is evident from the words, "thine eyes will not see," etc.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Kings 22:18-20
God commended Josiah’s sorrow and humility in response to the reading of God’s word. Although God’s judgment was certain, he would withhold it until after Josiah’s death.
Rashi on 2 Kings 22:20
And you will be gathered into your grave in peace. And what is the peace?12Although Yoshiyahu was killed in a battle with Paro Necho, he is considered as having died in peace because he died while the Bnei Yisroel were living in peace, before the destruction began.—Radak "Your eyes will not see," the destruction of the Beis [Hamikdosh].13See Maseches Moed Katan 28b.
