2 Chronicles 7:20-21

7:20 then I will remove you ¹  from my land I have given you, ²  I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, ³  and I will make you ⁴  an object of mockery and ridicule ⁵  among all the nations. 7:21 As for this temple, which was once majestic, ⁶  everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’

[7:20]  ¹ tn Heb “them.” The switch from the second to the third person pronoun is rhetorically effective, for it mirrors God’s rejection of his people – he has stopped addressing them as “you” and begun addressing them as “them.” However, the switch is awkward and confusing in English, so the translation maintains the direct address style.

[7:20]  ² tn Heb “them.” See the note on “you” earlier in this verse.

[7:20]  ³ tc Instead of “I will throw away,” the parallel text in 1 Kgs 9:7 has “I will send away.” The two verbs sound very similar in Hebrew, so the discrepancy is likely due to an oral transmissional error.

[7:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “him,” which appears in context to refer to Israel (i.e., “you” in direct address). Many translations understand the direct object of the verb “make” to be the temple (NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “it”).

[7:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will make him [i.e., Israel] a proverb and a taunt,” that is, a proverbial example of destruction and an object of reproach.

[7:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “and this house which was high/elevated.” The statement makes little sense in this context, which predicts the desolation that judgment will bring. Some treat the clause as concessive, “Even though this temple is lofty [now].” Others, following the lead of several ancient versions, emend the text to, “this temple will become a heap of ruins.”