ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Chronicles 16.22

Book: 1 Chronicles · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

20. And they went about from nation to nation, And from one kingdom to another people. 21. He suffered no man to do them wrong; Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,

22. Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones, And do my prophets no harm.

  1. Sing unto Jehovah, all the earth; Show forth his salvation from day to day. 24. Declare his glory among the nations, His marvellous works among all the peoples. (1 Chronicles 16:20-24, ASV)
WEB

20. They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people. 21. He allowed no man to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,

22. “Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!”

  1. Sing to Yahweh, all the earth! Display his salvation from day to day. 24. Declare his glory among the nations, and his marvelous works among all the peoples. (1 Chronicles 16:20-24, WEB)
KJV

20. And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people; 21. He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,

22. Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

  1. Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation. 24. Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations. (1 Chronicles 16:20-24, KJV)
YLT

20. And they go up and down, From nation unto nation, And from a kingdom unto another people. 21. He hath not suffered any to oppress them, And reproveth on their account kings:

22. Come not against Mine anointed ones, And against My prophets do not evil.

  1. Sing to Jehovah, all the earth, Proclaim from day unto day His salvation. 24. Rehearse among nations His glory, Among all the peoples His wonders. (1 Chronicles 16:20-24, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the psalm David delivered to Asaph, quoting God
  • Audience: the assembly at the bringing up of the ark
  • Location: Jerusalem, before the tent David pitched for the ark
  • Time period: events of David's reign, c. 1010-970 BC, narrated by a writer working after the return from Babylon, commonly placed c. 400 BC

Theological reading

The line belongs to the psalm of thanksgiving in verses 8-36, which corresponds to Psalm 105:1-15, Psalm 96, and Psalm 106:1 and 47-48. Here it appears in narrative setting, sung when the ark reached Jerusalem.

In context the "anointed ones" are the patriarchs, described in the preceding verses as few in number, strangers sojourning from nation to nation, whom God rebuked kings for the sake of (compare Genesis 12:17 and Genesis 20:3). The plural is important, since the verse is regularly quoted in the singular as a shield for a particular leader against criticism. Its subject is God's protection of a vulnerable wandering family against foreign kings, not the immunity of an office-holder from rebuke, and the Old Testament elsewhere records prophets rebuking anointed kings as a matter of course._

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.