For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.

2 CHRONICLES 29:6KJV
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2 Chronicles 29:6 (KJV)

What does 2 Chronicles 29:6 mean?

2 Chronicles 29:6 says that the previous generation had sinned against God by doing what was wrong in His sight, abandoning Him, and turning away from the place where He was worshiped. The verse highlights a deliberate rejection of God’s presence and commands by the ancestors of the people being addressed.

In this verse, King Hezekiah is speaking to the people of Judah at the start of his reign, explaining why the nation is in trouble. Hezekiah points out that their fathers (the earlier kings and people) broke faith with God, did evil, and turned their backs on the temple—the center of worship—showing a complete disregard for their relationship with God.

The Hebrew behind 2 Chronicles 29:6

  • "Trespassed" (מָעַל, ma‘al) means to act unfaithfully or break trust, often used for serious violations of a covenant. This word shows that the sin was not just a mistake but a betrayal of a relationship.
  • "Forsaken" (עָזַב, ‘azav) means to abandon or leave behind. The verse uses this to stress that the people didn’t just drift away from God—they actively left Him.
  • "Habitation" (מִשְׁכָּן, mishkan) refers to the dwelling place or sanctuary, specifically the temple where God’s presence was understood to dwell. Turning away from the mishkan means rejecting the very place where God met with His people.
  • "Turned their backs" (עֹרֶף, ‘oreph) literally means to turn the neck or back, a vivid picture of rejection and disrespect, as if refusing even to look at God’s dwelling.

Why 2 Chronicles 29:6 matters

  • This verse clarifies that the nation’s problems were not just political or military but rooted in a broken relationship with God, caused by deliberate choices of previous generations.
  • The language emphasizes personal responsibility and the seriousness of abandoning God, rather than just failing to keep up religious practices.
  • By naming the temple (mishkan) and describing the physical act of turning away, the verse connects spiritual unfaithfulness with visible actions, setting the stage for Hezekiah’s reforms to restore worship and renew the people’s commitment.

Where else these words appear

“backs” Hebrew H6203 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
  • Deuteronomy 31:27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?
  • Job 16:12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

“trespassed” Hebrew H4603 · used in 35 verses

  • Leviticus 5:15 If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:
  • 1 Chronicles 2:7 And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.
  • Ezra 10:10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.

“habitation” Hebrew H4908 · used in 129 verses

  • Exodus 25:9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
  • Exodus 40:17 And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.
  • Numbers 10:21 And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the other did set up the tabernacle against they came.

“away” Hebrew H5437 · used in 147 verses

  • Genesis 2:11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
  • 2 Samuel 18:30 And the king said unto him, Turn aside, and stand here. And he turned aside, and stood still.
  • Psalms 48:12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.