2 Chronicles 30:1

Hezekiah Observes the Passover

30:1 Hezekiah sent messages throughout Israel and Judah; he even wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, summoning them to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem ¹  and observe a Passover celebration for the Lord God of Israel.

2 Chronicles 11:1-23

11:1 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he summoned 180,000 skilled warriors from Judah and Benjamin ²  to attack Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. 11:2 But the Lord told Shemaiah the prophet, ³  11:3 “Say this to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah and to all the Israelites in Judah and Benjamin, 11:4 ‘The Lord says this: “Do not attack and make war with your brothers. Each of you go home, for I have caused this to happen.”’” ⁴  They obeyed the Lord and called off the attack against Jeroboam. ⁵ 

Rehoboam’s Reign

11:5 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem; ⁶  he built up these fortified cities throughout Judah: 11:6 Bethlehem, ⁷  Etam, Tekoa, 11:7 Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, 11:8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 11:9 Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, 11:10 Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron. These were the fortified cities in Judah and Benjamin. 11:11 He fortified these cities and placed officers in them, as well as storehouses of food, olive oil, and wine. 11:12 In each city there were shields and spears; he strongly fortified them. ⁸  Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.

11:13 The priests and Levites who lived throughout Israel supported him, no matter where they resided. ⁹  11:14 The Levites even left their pasturelands and their property behind and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons prohibited them from serving as the Lord’s priests. 11:15 Jeroboam ¹⁰  appointed his own priests to serve at the worship centers ¹¹  and to lead in the worship of the goat idols and calf idols he had made. ¹²  11:16 Those among all the Israelite tribes who were determined to worship the Lord God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem ¹³  to sacrifice to the Lord God of their ancestors. ¹⁴  11:17 They supported ¹⁵  the kingdom of Judah and were loyal to ¹⁶  Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years; they followed the edicts of ¹⁷  David and Solomon for three years.

11:18 Rehoboam married ¹⁸  Mahalath the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of ¹⁹  Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab. 11:19 She bore him sons named Jeush, Shemariah, and Zaham. 11:20 He later married Maacah the daughter of Absalom. She bore to him Abijah, Attai, Ziza, and Shelomith. 11:21 Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than his other wives and concubines. ²⁰  He had eighteen wives and sixty concubines; he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

11:22 Rehoboam appointed Abijah son of Maacah as the leader over his brothers, for he intended to name him his successor. ²¹  11:23 He wisely placed some of his many sons throughout the regions of Judah and Benjamin in the various fortified cities. ²²  He supplied them with abundant provisions and acquired many wives for them. ²³ 

2 Chronicles 13:1-22

Abijah’s Reign

13:1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah. 13:2 He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. ²⁴  His mother was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah. ²⁵ 

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 13:3 Abijah launched the attack with 400,000 well-trained warriors, ²⁶  while Jeroboam deployed against him 800,000 well-trained warriors. ²⁷ 

13:4 Abijah ascended Mount Zemaraim, in the Ephraimite hill country, and said: “Listen to me, Jeroboam and all Israel! 13:5 Don’t you realize that the Lord God of Israel has given David and his dynasty lasting dominion over Israel by a formal agreement? ²⁸  13:6 Jeroboam son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master. 13:7 Lawless good-for-nothing men ²⁹  gathered around him and conspired ³⁰  against Rehoboam son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was an inexperienced young man ³¹  and could not resist them. 13:8 Now you are declaring that you will resist the Lord’s rule through the Davidic dynasty. ³²  You have a huge army, ³³  and bring with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. 13:9 But you banished ³⁴  the Lord’s priests, Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods! ³⁵  13:10 But as for us, the Lord is our God and we have not rejected him. Aaron’s descendants serve as the Lord’s priests and the Levites assist them with the work. ³⁶  13:11 They offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord every morning and every evening, along with fragrant incense. They arrange the Bread of the Presence on a ritually clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. Certainly ³⁷  we are observing the Lord our God’s regulations, but you have rejected him. 13:12 Now look, God is with us as our leader. His priests are ready to blow the trumpets to signal the attack against you. ³⁸  You Israelites, don’t fight against the Lord God of your ancestors, ³⁹  for you will not win!”

13:13 Now Jeroboam had sent some men to ambush the Judahite army from behind. ⁴⁰  The main army was in front of the Judahite army; ⁴¹  the ambushers were behind it. 13:14 The men of Judah turned around and realized they were being attacked from the front and the rear. ⁴²  So they cried out for help to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets, 13:15 and the men of Judah gave ⁴³  the battle cry. As the men of Judah gave the battle cry, the Lord struck down Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 13:16 The Israelites fled from before the Judahite army, ⁴⁴  and God handed them over to the men of Judah. ⁴⁵  13:17 Abijah and his army thoroughly defeated them; ⁴⁶  500,000 well-trained Israelite men fell dead. ⁴⁷  13:18 That day ⁴⁸  the Israelites were defeated; the men of Judah prevailed because they relied on the Lord God of their ancestors.

13:19 Abijah chased Jeroboam; he seized from him these cities: Bethel ⁴⁹  and its surrounding towns, Jeshanah and its surrounding towns, and Ephron and its surrounding towns. 13:20 Jeroboam did not regain power during the reign of Abijah. ⁵⁰  The Lord struck him down and he died. 13:21 Abijah’s power grew; he had ⁵¹  fourteen wives and fathered twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

13:22 The rest of the events of Abijah’s reign, including his deeds and sayings, ⁵²  are recorded in the writings of the prophet Iddo.

[30:1]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:1]  ² tn Heb “he summoned the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men, accomplished in war.”

[11:2]  ³ tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying.”

[11:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “for his thing is from me.”

[11:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they heard the words of the Lord and returned from going against Jeroboam.”

[11:5]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:6]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[11:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “he strengthened them greatly, very much.”

[11:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel supported him from all their territory.”

[11:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jeroboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for the high places.”

[11:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and for the goats and for the calves he had made.”

[11:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and after them from all the tribes of Israel, the ones giving their heart[s] to seek the Lord God of Israel came [to] Jerusalem.”

[11:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[11:17]  ¹¹ tn Or “strengthened.”

[11:17]  ¹² tn Or “strengthened.”

[11:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “they walked in the way of.”

[11:18]  ¹² tn Heb “took for himself a wife.”

[11:18]  ¹³ tn The words “and of” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[11:21]  ¹³ sn Concubines were slave women in ancient Near Eastern societies who were the legal property of their master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with their master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).

[11:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and Rehoboam appointed for a head Abijah son of Maacah for ruler among his brothers, indeed to make him king.”

[11:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he was discerning and broke up from all his sons to all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, to all the fortified cities.”

[11:23]  ¹⁶ tn “and he asked for a multitude of wives.”

[13:2]  ¹⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[13:2]  ¹⁷ tn The parallel text in 1 Kgs 15:1 identifies his mother as “Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom” [=Absalom, 2 Chr 11:20). Although most English versions identify the mother’s father as Uriel of Gibeah, a number of English versions substitute the name “Maacah” here for the mother (e.g., NIV, NCV, CEV, NLT).

[13:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and Abijah bound [i.e., began] the battle with a force of warriors, four hundred thousand chosen men.”

[13:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and Jeroboam arranged with him [for] battle with eight hundred thousand chosen men, strong warrior[s].”

[13:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel has given kingship to David over Israel permanently, to him and to his sons [by] a covenant of salt?”

[13:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “empty men, sons of wickedness.”

[13:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “strengthened themselves.”

[13:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “a young man and tender of heart.”

[13:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the kingdom of the Lord by the hand of the sons of David.”

[13:8]  ²¹ tn Or “horde”; or “multitude.”

[13:9]  ²¹ tn In the Hebrew text this is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Did you not banish?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you did,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “But you banished.”

[13:9]  ²² tn Heb “whoever comes to fill his hand with a bull of a son of cattle, and seven rams, and he is a priest to no-gods.”

[13:10]  ²² tn Heb “and priests serving the Lord [are] the sons of Aaron and the Levites in the work.”

[13:11]  ²³ tn Or “for.”

[13:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and his priests and the trumpets of the war alarm [are ready] to sound out against you.”

[13:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 18).

[13:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and Jeroboam had caused to circle around an ambush to come from behind them.”

[13:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Judah.”

[13:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and Judah turned, and, look, to them [was] the battle in front and behind.”

[13:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “shouted out.”

[13:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Judah.”

[13:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “struck them down with a great striking down.”

[13:17]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and [the] slain from Israel fell, five hundred thousand chosen men.”

[13:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “at that time.”

[13:19]  ³¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[13:20]  ³² tn Heb “and the strength of Jeroboam was not retained again in the days of Abijah.”

[13:21]  ³³ tn Heb “lifted up for himself.”

[13:22]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and his ways and his words.”