2 Chronicles 28:1-9

Ahaz’s Reign

28:1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. ¹  He did not do what pleased the Lord, in contrast to his ancestor David. ²  28:2 He followed in the footsteps of ³  the kings of Israel; he also made images of the Baals. 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. 28:4 He offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.

28:5 The Lord his God handed him over to the king of Syria. The Syrians ⁶  defeated him and deported many captives to Damascus. ⁷  He was also handed over to the king of Israel, who thoroughly defeated him. ⁸  28:6 In one day King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel killed 120,000 warriors in Judah, because they had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. ⁹  28:7 Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam, the supervisor of the palace, and Elkanah, the king’s second-in-command. 28:8 The Israelites seized from their brothers 200,000 wives, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a huge amount of plunder and took it ¹⁰  back to Samaria. ¹¹ 

28:9 Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there. He went to meet the army as they arrived in Samaria and said to them: “Look, because the Lord God of your ancestors was angry with Judah he handed them over to you. You have killed them so mercilessly that God has taken notice. ¹² 

[28:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[28:1]  ² tn Heb “and he did not do what was proper in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father.”

[28:2]  ³ tn Heb “he walked in the ways of.”

[28:3]  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.

[28:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”

[28:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Syrians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and took captive from him a great captivity and brought [them] to Damascus.”

[28:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “who struck him down with a great striking.”

[28:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 9, 25).

[28:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the loot.” The pronoun (“it”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

[28:8]  ¹¹ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[28:9]  ¹² tn Heb “and you killed them with anger [that] reaches as far as heaven.”