2 Chronicles 20:31--21:1

Jehoshaphat’s Reign Ends

20:31 Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. ¹  His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 20:32 He followed in his father Asa’s footsteps and was careful to do what the Lord approved. ²  20:33 However, the high places were not eliminated; the people were still not devoted to the God of their ancestors. ³ 

20:34 The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Annals of Jehu son of Hanani which are included in Scroll of the Kings of Israel. ⁴ 

20:35 Later King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who ⁵  did evil. 20:36 They agreed ⁶  to make large seagoing merchant ships; ⁷  they built the ships in Ezion Geber. 20:37 Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, “Because ⁸  you made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will shatter what you have made.” The ships were wrecked and unable to go to sea. ⁹ 

21:1 Jehoshaphat passed away ¹⁰  and was buried with his ancestors ¹¹  in the City of David. ¹²  His son Jehoram ¹³  replaced him as king.

[20:31]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[20:32]  ² tn Heb “he walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn from it, doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.”

[20:33]  ³ tn Heb “and still the people did not set their heart[s] on the God of their fathers.”

[20:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “the rest of the events of Jehoshaphat, the former and the latter, look, they are written in the records of Jehu son of Hanani, which are taken up in the scroll of the kings of Israel.”

[20:35]  ⁵ tn Heb “he.” The pronoun has been translated as a relative pronoun for stylistic reasons.

[20:36]  ⁶ tn Heb “he made an alliance with him.”

[20:36]  ⁷ tn Heb “make ships to go to Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish; a “Tarshish-ship” was essentially a large seagoing merchant ship.

[20:37]  ⁸ tn Heb “when.”

[20:37]  ⁹ tn Heb “to go to Tarshish.”

[21:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

[21:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 12, 19).

[21:1]  ¹² sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.

[21:1]  ¹³ tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 8:16-24 has the variant spelling “Jehoram.”