2 Chronicles 9:1

Solomon Entertains a Queen

9:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, ¹  she came to challenge ²  him ³  with difficult questions. ⁴  She arrived in Jerusalem ⁵  with a great display of pomp, ⁶  bringing with her camels carrying spices, ⁷  a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind.

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. ⁸  His mother was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah. ⁹ 

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 13:3 Abijah launched the attack with 400,000 well-trained warriors, ¹⁰  while Jeroboam deployed against him 800,000 well-trained warriors. ¹¹ 

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? ¹²  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 ¹³  gathered around him and conspired ¹⁴  against Rehoboam son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was an inexperienced young man ¹⁵  and could not resist them. 13:8 Now you are declaring that you will resist the Lord’s rule through the Davidic dynasty. ¹⁶  You have a huge army, ¹⁷  and bring with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. 13:9 But you banished ¹⁸  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! ¹⁹  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. ²⁰  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 ²¹  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. ²²  You Israelites, don’t fight against the Lord God of your ancestors, ²³  for you will not win!”

13:13 Now Jeroboam had sent some men to ambush the Judahite army from behind. ²⁴  The main army was in front of the Judahite army; ²⁵  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. ²⁶  So they cried out for help to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets, 13:15 and the men of Judah gave ²⁷  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, ²⁸  and God handed them over to the men of Judah. ²⁹  13:17 Abijah and his army thoroughly defeated them; ³⁰  500,000 well-trained Israelite men fell dead. ³¹  13:18 That day ³²  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 ³³  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. ³⁴  The Lord struck him down and he died. 13:21 Abijah’s power grew; he had ³⁵  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, ³⁶  are recorded in the writings of the prophet Iddo.

[9:1]  ¹ tn Heb “the report about Solomon.”

[9:1]  ² tn Or “test.”

[9:1]  ³ tn Heb “Solomon.” The recurrence of the proper name here is redundant in terms of contemporary English style, so the pronoun has been used in the translation instead.

[9:1]  ⁴ tn Or “riddles.”

[9:1]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “with very great strength.” The Hebrew word חַיִל (khayil, “strength”) may refer here to the size of her retinue or to the great wealth she brought with her.

[9:1]  ⁷ tn Or “balsam oil.”

[13:2]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[13:2]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and Abijah bound [i.e., began] the battle with a force of warriors, four hundred thousand chosen men.”

[13:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and Jeroboam arranged with him [for] battle with eight hundred thousand chosen men, strong warrior[s].”

[13:5]  ²² 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]  ²⁹ tn Heb “empty men, sons of wickedness.”

[13:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “strengthened themselves.”

[13:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “a young man and tender of heart.”

[13:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the kingdom of the Lord by the hand of the sons of David.”

[13:8]  ³⁷ tn Or “horde”; or “multitude.”

[13:9]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and priests serving the Lord [are] the sons of Aaron and the Levites in the work.”

[13:11]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “for.”

[13:12]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “and his priests and the trumpets of the war alarm [are ready] to sound out against you.”

[13:12]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 18).

[13:13]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “and Jeroboam had caused to circle around an ambush to come from behind them.”

[13:13]  ⁷² tn Heb “Judah.”

[13:14]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “and Judah turned, and, look, to them [was] the battle in front and behind.”

[13:15]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “shouted out.”

[13:16]  ⁹² tn Heb “Judah.”

[13:16]  ⁹³ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:17]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “struck them down with a great striking down.”

[13:17]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “and [the] slain from Israel fell, five hundred thousand chosen men.”

[13:18]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “at that time.”

[13:19]  ¹¹³ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[13:20]  ¹²⁰ tn Heb “and the strength of Jeroboam was not retained again in the days of Abijah.”

[13:21]  ¹²⁷ tn Heb “lifted up for himself.”

[13:22]  ¹³⁴ tn Heb “and his ways and his words.”