2 Chronicles 36:3

36:3 The king of Egypt prevented him from ruling in Jerusalem and imposed on the land a special tax ¹  of one hundred talents ²  of silver and a talent of gold.

2 Chronicles 24:9

24:9 An edict was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem requiring the people to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, God’s servant, imposed on Israel in the wilderness. ³ 

2 Chronicles 10:4

10:4 “Your father made us work too hard! ⁴  Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” ⁵ 

2 Chronicles 10:9

10:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ⁶ 

2 Chronicles 10:11

10:11 My father imposed heavy demands on you; I will make them even heavier. ⁷  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.’” ⁸ 

2 Chronicles 7:21

7:21 As for this temple, which was once majestic, ⁹  everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’

2 Chronicles 10:14

10:14 and followed the advice of the younger ones. He said, “My father imposed heavy demands on you; ¹⁰  I will make them even heavier. ¹¹  My father punished you with ordinary whips; I will punish you with whips that really sting your flesh.” ¹² 

2 Chronicles 24:6

24:6 So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest, ¹³  and said to him, “Why have you not made ¹⁴  the Levites collect ¹⁵  from Judah and Jerusalem the tax authorized by Moses the Lord’s servant and by the assembly of Israel at the tent containing the tablets of the law?” ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Or “a fine.”

² tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the silver was 6,730 lbs. (3,060 kg).

³ tn Heb “and they gave voice in Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the tax of Moses the servant of God upon Israel in the wilderness.”

⁵ tn Heb “made our yoke burdensome.”

⁶ tn Heb “but you, now, lighten the burdensome work of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you.” In the Hebrew text the prefixed verbal form with vav (וְנַעַבְדֶךָ, vÿna’avdekha, “and we will serve you”) following the imperative (הָקֵל, haqel, “lighten”) indicates purpose/result. The conditional sentence used in the present translation is an attempt to bring out the logical relationship between these forms.

⁷ tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”

⁹ tn Heb “and now my father placed upon you a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I [will punish you] with scorpions.” “Scorpions” might allude to some type of torture, but more likely it refers to a type of whip that inflicts an especially biting, painful wound.

¹¹ tn Heb “and this house which was high/elevated.” The statement makes little sense in this context, which predicts the desolation that judgment will bring. Some treat the clause as concessive, “Even though this temple is lofty [now].” Others, following the lead of several ancient versions, emend the text to, “this temple will become a heap of ruins.”

¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads, “I will make heavy your yoke,” but many medieval Hebrew mss and other ancient textual witnesses have, “my father made heavy your yoke.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “but I will add to your yoke.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I [will punish you] with scorpions.” “Scorpions” might allude to some type of torture, but more likely it refers to a type of whip that inflicts an especially biting, painful wound.

¹⁵ tn Heb “Jehoiada the head”; the word “priest” not in the Hebrew text but is implied.

¹⁶ tn Heb “sought.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “bring.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “the tent of testimony.”