2 Chronicles 14:10

14:10 and Asa went out to oppose him. They deployed for battle in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.

2 Chronicles 18:20

18:20 Then a spirit¹ stepped forward and stood before the Lord. He said, ‘I will deceive him.’ The Lord asked him, ‘How?’

2 Chronicles 14:9

14:9 Zerah the Cushite marched against them with an army of 1,000,000² men and 300 chariots. He arrived at Mareshah,

2 Chronicles 16:2

16:2 Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and sent it to King Ben Hadad of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message:

2 Chronicles 19:4

Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges

19:4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem.³ He went out among the people from Beer Sheba to the hill country of Ephraim and encouraged them to follow⁴ the Lord God of their ancestors.⁵

2 Chronicles 26:6

26:6 Uzziah attacked⁶ the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He built cities in the region of Ashdod and throughout Philistine territory.⁷

2 Chronicles 15:2

15:2 He met⁸ Asa and told him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are loyal to him.⁹ If you seek him, he will respond to you,¹⁰ but if you reject him, he will reject you.

2 Chronicles 19:2

19:2 the prophet¹¹ Jehu son of Hanani confronted him;¹² he said to King Jehoshaphat, “Is it right to help the wicked and be an ally of those who oppose the Lord?¹³ Because you have done this the Lord is angry with you!¹⁴

2 Chronicles 26:15

26:15 In Jerusalem he made war machines carefully designed to shoot arrows and large stones from the towers and corners of the walls. He became very famous, for he received tremendous support and became powerful.¹⁵

2 Chronicles 28:9

28:9 Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice.¹⁶

2 Chronicles 35:20

Josiah’s Reign Ends

35:20 After Josiah had done all this for the temple,¹⁷ King Necho of Egypt marched up to do battle at Carchemish on the Euphrates River.¹⁸ Josiah marched out to oppose him.

¹tn Heb “the spirit.” The significance of the article prefixed to רוּחַ (ruakh) is uncertain, but it could contain a clue as to this spirit’s identity, especially when interpreted in light of verse 23. It is certainly possible, and probably even likely, that the article is used in a generic or dramatic sense and should be translated, “a spirit.” In the latter case it would show that this spirit was vivid and definite in the mind of Micaiah the storyteller. However, if one insists that the article indicates a well-known or universally known spirit, the following context provides a likely referent. Verse 23 tells how Zedekiah slapped Micaiah in the face and then asked sarcastically, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord (רוּחַ־יְהוָה, ruakh-yÿhvah) go when he went from me to speak to you?” When the phrase “the spirit of the Lord” refers to the divine spirit (rather than the divine breath or mind, as in Isa 40:7, 13) elsewhere, the spirit energizes an individual or group for special tasks or moves one to prophesy. This raises the possibility that the deceiving spirit of vv. 20-22 is the same as the divine spirit mentioned by Zedekiah in v. 23. This would explain why the article is used on רוּחַ (ruakh); he can be called “the spirit” because he is the well-known spirit who energizes the prophets.

¹tn Heb “a thousand thousands.”

¹map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²tn Heb “and turned them back to.”

³tn Heb “fathers.”

¹tn Heb “went out and fought.”

²tn Heb “in Ashdod and among the Philistines.”

¹tn Heb “went out before.”

²tn Heb “when you are with him.”

³tn Heb “he will allow himself to be found by you.”

¹tn Or “seer.”

²tn Heb “went out to his face.”

³tn Heb “and love those who hate the Lord?”

⁴tn Heb “and because of this upon you is anger from before the Lord.”

¹tn Heb “and his name went out to a distant place, for he did extraordinarily to be helped until he was strong.”

¹tn Heb “and you killed them with anger [that] reaches as far as heaven.”

¹tn Heb “After all this, [by] which Josiah prepared the temple.”

²tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.