Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageFrom the day the ark came to rest at Kiriath-jearim, twenty long years drifted by — and all Israel ached with a deep longing for Yahweh.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GFrom the day the ark settled in Kiryat-Ye'arim, the days multiplied until twenty years had passed — and all the house of Yisra'el groaned with longing after YHWH.
KJV
King James VersionAnd it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleAnd from that day a long time passed, twenty years in all, as the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim. And all the house of Israel mournfully sought the LORD.
Footnotes
The verb *vayyinnāhăm* (from the root *nāham*) is rare and visceral — it describes the sound of groaning or sighing, the kind of ache that escapes the throat involuntarily, carrying tones of mourning and urgent yearning. Most translations render it blandly as "lamented"; FOG preserves the gutturality with "groaned with longing." The twenty-year gap is theologically weighted: an entire generation has grown up under Philistine pressure with the ark sitting dormant. FOG's phrase "the days multiplied" mirrors the Hebrew idiom *vayyirbu hayyāmîm*; FOG Message renders the duration as "twenty long years drifted by" to communicate the spiritual desolation of the era.
