2 Chronicles 20:7

20:7 Our God, you drove out ¹  the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it as a permanent possession ²  to the descendants of your friend ³  Abraham.

2 Chronicles 28:3

28:3 He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire, ⁴  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ⁵  whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.

¹ tn Heb “did you not drive out?” This is another rhetorical question which expects a positive response; see the note on the word “heaven” in the previous verse.

² tn Heb “permanently.”

³ tn Or perhaps “your covenantal partner.” See Isa 41:8.

⁴ sn This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice (NEB “burnt his sons in the fire”; NASB “burned his sons in the fire”; NIV “sacrificed his sons in the fire”; NRSV “made his sons pass through fire”). For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.

⁵ tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”