Discovery Box2 Chronicles 20:1-11
Context20:1 Later the Moabites and Ammonites, along with some of the Meunites, 1 attacked Jehoshaphat. 20:2 Messengers 2 arrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, “A huge army is attacking you from the other side of the Dead Sea, 3 from the direction of Edom. 4 Look, they are in Hazezon Tamar (that is, En Gedi).” 20:3 Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he decided to seek the Lord’s advice. 5 He decreed that all Judah should observe a fast. 20:4 The people of Judah 6 assembled to ask for the Lord’s help; 7 they came from all the cities of Judah to ask for the Lord’s help. 8
20:5 Jehoshaphat stood before the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem 9 at the Lord’s temple, in front of the new courtyard. 20:6 He prayed: “O Lord God of our ancestors, 10 you are the God who lives in heaven 11 and rules over all the kingdoms of the nations. You possess strength and power; no one can stand against you. 20:7 Our God, you drove out 12 the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it as a permanent possession 13 to the descendants of your friend 14 Abraham. 20:8 They settled down in it and built in it a temple 15 to honor you, 16 saying, 20:9 ‘If disaster comes on us in the form of military attack, 17 judgment, plague, or famine, we will stand in front of this temple before you, for you are present in this temple. 18 We will cry out to you for help in our distress, so that you will 19 hear and deliver us.’ 20:10 Now the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir are coming! 20 When Israel came from the land of Egypt, you did not allow them to invade these lands. 21 They bypassed them and did not destroy them. 20:11 Look how they are repaying us! They come to drive us out of our allotted land which you assigned to us!
[20:1] 1 tc The Hebrew text has “Ammonites,” but they are mentioned just before this. Most translations, following some
[20:2] 2 tn Heb “they”; the implied referent (messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:2] 3 tn Heb “the Sea”; in context (“from the direction of Edom”) this must refer to the Dead Sea, which has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NEB, NLT).
[20:2] 4 tc Most Hebrew
[20:3] 5 tn Heb “and he set his face to seek the
[20:4] 6 tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the people of Judah.
[20:4] 7 tn Heb “to seek from the
[20:4] 8 tn Heb “to seek the
[20:5] 9 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[20:6] 10 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 33).
[20:6] 11 tn Heb “are you not God in heaven?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “yes,” resulting in the positive statement “you are the God who lives in heaven” employed in the translation.
[20:7] 12 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.
[20:7] 13 tn Heb “permanently.”
[20:7] 14 tn Or perhaps “your covenantal partner.” See Isa 41:8.
[20:8] 16 tn Heb “for your name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “to honor you
[20:9] 18 tn Heb “for your name is in this house.” The “name” of the
[20:9] 19 tn Or “so that you may.”
[20:10] 20 tn Heb “now, look, the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir.”
[20:10] 21 tn Heb “whom you did not allow Israel to enter when they came from the land of Egypt.”
