2 Chronicles 20:8 (DBY)

Passage

And they have dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 20:6 and he said, Jehovah, God of our fathers, art not thou God in the heavens, and rulest thou not over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in thy hand there is power and might, and none can withstand thee.

2 Chronicles 20:7 Hast not thou, our God, dispossessed the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and given it for ever to the seed of Abraham, thy friend?

2 Chronicles 20:8 And they have dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

2 Chronicles 20:9 If evil come upon us, sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, and we stand before this house and before thee for thy name is in this house and cry unto thee in our distress, then thou wilt hear and save.

2 Chronicles 20:10 And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab, and those of mount Seir, amongst whom thou wouldest not let Israel go when they came out of the land of Egypt, (for they turned from them, and destroyed them not,)

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "dwelt", "therein", "built", "thee", "sanctuary", "name", and "saying". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "dwelt" and "therein", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 7's "Hast not thou our God dispossessed the..." into verse 9's "If evil come upon us sword judgment...", so "dwelt" and "therein" 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 "dwelt" and "therein" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.