2 Chronicles 16:6 (ASV)

Passage

Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 16:4 And Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-maim, and all the store-cities of Naphtali.

2 Chronicles 16:5 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building Ramah, and let his work cease.

2 Chronicles 16:6 Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

2 Chronicles 16:7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and hast not relied on Jehovah thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand.

2 Chronicles 16:8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a huge host, with chariots and horsemen exceeding many? yet, because thou didst rely on Jehovah, he delivered them into thy hand.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "king", "took", "judah", "carried", "away", "stones", "ramah", and "timber". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "king" and "took", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "And it came to pass when Baasha..." into verse 7's "And at that time Hanani the seer...", so "king" and "took" belong inside that flow. In 2 Chronicles context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "king" and "took" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.