If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

2 CHRONICLES 7:13KJV
Know the Bible

2 Chronicles 7:13 (KJV)

What does 2 Chronicles 7:13 mean?

2 Chronicles 7:13 describes God warning that He may withhold rain, send locusts, or bring disease among His people as consequences for their actions. This verse shows that God controls natural events and can use them to get the attention of His people when they turn away from Him.

In this passage, God is speaking to Solomon after the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. God is explaining that if the Israelites stray from Him, He may use drought, locusts, or pestilence to discipline them. This sets up the next verse, where God offers hope if the people humble themselves and seek Him.

The Hebrew behind 2 Chronicles 7:13

  • שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, "heaven"): This word refers to the sky or the heavens, emphasizing that God has authority over the weather and can "shut up" the heavens to stop rain.
  • אַרְבֶּה (arbeh, "locusts"): The Hebrew word for locusts highlights a specific and devastating threat to crops, which would have been a real fear for ancient Israel.
  • דֶּבֶר (dever, "pestilence"): This word often means a widespread disease or plague, showing that God can use even sickness as a form of discipline.

Why 2 Chronicles 7:13 matters

  • 2 Chronicles 7:13 clarifies that natural disasters in Israel’s history were sometimes understood as direct responses from God, not just random events.
  • This verse sets up the context for the famous promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14, showing that God’s discipline is not the end of the story—He also offers restoration if the people repent.
  • Understanding the specific threats named (drought, locusts, pestilence) helps modern readers see how real and serious these warnings would have felt to the original audience.

Where else these words appear

“locusts” Hebrew H2284 · used in 5 verses

  • Leviticus 11:22 Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.
  • Numbers 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
  • Ecclesiastes 12:5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:

“If” Hebrew H2005 · used in 7 verses

  • Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
  • Exodus 8:26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?
  • Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

“rain” Hebrew H4306 · used in 36 verses

  • Exodus 9:33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.
  • 2 Samuel 23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
  • Job 38:28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?

“up” Hebrew H6113 · used in 45 verses

  • Genesis 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
  • 1 Kings 8:35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:
  • 2 Chronicles 20:37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.