2 Chronicles 20:35--21:1

20:35 Later King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who ¹  did evil. 20:36 They agreed ²  to make large seagoing merchant ships; ³  they built the ships in Ezion Geber. 20:37 Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, “Because ⁴  you made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will shatter what you have made.” The ships were wrecked and unable to go to sea. ⁵ 

21:1 Jehoshaphat passed away ⁶  and was buried with his ancestors ⁷  in the City of David. ⁸  His son Jehoram ⁹  replaced him as king.

[20:35]  ¹ tn Heb “he.” The pronoun has been translated as a relative pronoun for stylistic reasons.

[20:36]  ² tn Heb “he made an alliance with him.”

[20:36]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “when.”

[20:37]  ⁵ tn Heb “to go to Tarshish.”

[21:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”

[21:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 12, 19).

[21:1]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn The parallel account in 2 Kgs 8:16-24 has the variant spelling “Jehoram.”