2 Tawarikh 1:1-17
Konteks1:1 Solomon son of David solidified his royal authority, 1 for 2 the Lord his God was with him and magnified him greatly.
1:2 Solomon addressed all Israel, including those who commanded units of a thousand and a hundred, the judges, and all the leaders of all Israel who were heads of families. 1:3 Solomon and the entire assembly went to the worship center 3 in Gibeon, for the tent where they met God 4 was located there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the wilderness. 1:4 (Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 1:5 But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, was in front of the Lord’s tabernacle. 6 Solomon and the entire assembly prayed to him 7 there.) 1:6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord which was at the meeting tent, and he offered up a thousand burnt sacrifices.
1:7 That night God appeared 8 to Solomon and said to him, “Tell me 9 what I should give you.” 1:8 Solomon replied to God, “You demonstrated 10 great loyalty to my father David and have made me king in his place. 1:9 Now, Lord God, may your promise 11 to my father David be realized, 12 for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth. 1:10 Now give me wisdom and discernment so 13 I can effectively lead this nation. 14 Otherwise 15 no one is able 16 to make judicial decisions for 17 this great nation of yours.” 18
1:11 God said to Solomon, “Because you desire this, 19 and did not ask for riches, wealth, and honor, or for vengeance on your enemies, 20 and because you did not ask for long life, 21 but requested wisdom and discernment so you can make judicial decisions for my people over whom I have made you king, 1:12 you are granted wisdom and discernment. 22 Furthermore I am giving you riches, wealth, and honor surpassing that of any king before or after you.” 23
1:13 Solomon left the meeting tent at the worship center in Gibeon and went to Jerusalem, where he reigned over Israel. 24
1:14 Solomon accumulated 25 chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem. 26 1:15 The king made silver and gold as plentiful 27 in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was 28 as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands. 29 1:16 Solomon acquired his horses from Egypt 30 and from Que; the king’s traders purchased them from Que. 1:17 They paid 600 silver pieces for each chariot from Egypt, and 150 silver pieces for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria. 31
2 Tawarikh 14:1-15
Konteks14:1 (13:23) 32 Abijah passed away 33 and was buried in the City of David. 34 His son Asa replaced him as king. During his reign 35 the land had rest for ten years.
14:2 (14:1) Asa did what the Lord his God desired and approved. 36 14:3 He removed the pagan altars 37 and the high places, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. 38 14:4 He ordered Judah to seek the Lord God of their ancestors 39 and to observe his law and commands. 40 14:5 He removed the high places and the incense altars from all the cities of Judah. The kingdom had rest under his rule. 41
14:6 He built fortified cities throughout Judah, for the land was at rest and there was no war during those years; the Lord gave him peace. 14:7 He said to the people of Judah: 42 “Let’s build these cities and fortify them with walls, towers, and barred gates. 43 The land remains ours because we have followed 44 the Lord our God and he has made us secure on all sides.” 45 So they built the cities 46 and prospered.
14:8 Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah, equipped with large shields and spears. He also had 280,000 men from Benjamin who carried small shields and were adept archers; they were all skilled warriors. 14:9 Zerah the Cushite marched against them with an army of 1,000,000 47 men and 300 chariots. He arrived at Mareshah, 14:10 and Asa went out to oppose him. They deployed for battle in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.
14:11 Asa prayed 48 to the Lord his God: “O Lord, there is no one but you who can help the weak when they are vastly outnumbered. 49 Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you and have marched on your behalf against this huge army. 50 O Lord our God, don’t let men prevail against you!” 51 14:12 The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, 14:13 and Asa and his army chased them as far as Gerar. The Cushites were wiped out; 52 they were shattered before the Lord and his army. The men of Judah 53 carried off a huge amount of plunder. 14:14 They defeated all the cities surrounding Gerar, for the Lord caused them to panic. 54 The men of Judah 55 looted all the cities, for they contained a huge amount of goods. 56 14:15 They also attacked the tents of the herdsmen in charge of the livestock. 57 They carried off many sheep and camels and then returned to Jerusalem. 58
2 Tawarikh 16:1-14
Konteks16:1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah, and he established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of King Asa of Judah. 59 16:2 Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and sent it to King Ben Hadad of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message: 16:3 “I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made. 60 See, I have sent you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.” 61 16:4 Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel. 62 They conquered 63 Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, 64 and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 16:5 When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying 65 Ramah and abandoned the project. 66 16:6 King Asa ordered all the men of Judah to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah. 67 He used the materials to build up 68 Geba and Mizpah.
16:7 At that time Hanani the prophet 69 visited King Asa of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 16:8 Did not the Cushites and Libyans have a huge army with chariots and a very large number of horsemen? But when you relied on the Lord, he handed them over to you! 16:9 Certainly 70 the Lord watches the whole earth carefully 71 and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him. 72 You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war. 16:10 Asa was so angry at the prophet, he put him in jail. 73 Asa also oppressed some of the people at that time.
16:11 The events of Asa’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 74 16:12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a foot disease. 75 Though his disease was severe, he did not seek the Lord, but only the doctors. 76 16:13 Asa passed away 77 in the forty-first year of his reign. 16:14 He was buried in the tomb he had carved out in the City of David. 78 They laid him to rest on a bier covered with spices and assorted mixtures of ointments. They made a huge bonfire to honor him. 79
[1:1] 1 tn Heb “and Solomon son of David strengthened himself over his kingdom.”
[1:1] 2 tn The disjunctive clause (note the vav [ו] + subject pattern) probably has a causal nuance here.
[1:3] 4 tn Heb “the tent of meeting of God.”
[1:4] 5 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:5] 6 sn The tabernacle was located in Gibeon; see 1 Chr 21:29.
[1:5] 7 tn Heb “sought [or “inquired of”] him.”
[1:7] 8 tn Or “revealed himself.”
[1:9] 12 tn Or “be firm, established.”
[1:10] 13 tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) following the imperative here indicates purpose/result.
[1:10] 14 tn Heb “so I may go out before this nation and come in.” The expression “go out…and come in” here means “to lead” (see HALOT 425 s.v. יצא qal.4).
[1:10] 15 tn Heb “for.” The word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.
[1:10] 16 tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”
[1:10] 18 tn Heb “these numerous people of yours.”
[1:11] 19 tn Heb “because this was in your heart.”
[1:11] 20 tn Heb “the life of those who hate you.”
[1:12] 22 tn Heb “wisdom and discernment are given to you.”
[1:12] 23 tn Heb “which was not so for the kings who were before you, and after you there will not be so.”
[1:13] 24 tn Heb “and Solomon came from the high place which was in Gibeon [to] Jerusalem, from before the tent of meeting, and he reigned over Israel.”
[1:14] 26 tn Heb “he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.”
[1:14] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:15] 27 tn The words “as plentiful” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[1:15] 29 tn Heb “as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah.”
[1:16] 30 sn Because Que is also mentioned, some prefer to see 1 Kgs 10:28-29 as a reference to Mutsur. Que and Mutsur were located in Cilicia or Cappadocia (in modern southern Turkey). See HALOT 625 s.v. מִצְרַיִם.
[1:17] 31 tn Heb “and they brought up and brought out from Egypt a chariot for 600 silver (pieces), and a horse for 150, and in the same way to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram by their hand they brought out.”
[14:1] 32 sn Beginning with 14:1, the verse numbers through 14:15 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 14:1 ET = 13:23 HT, 14:2 ET = 14:1 HT, 14:3 ET = 14:2 HT, etc., through 14:15 ET = 14:14 HT. Beginning with 15:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[14:1] 33 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
[14:1] 34 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
[14:1] 35 tn Heb “in his days.”
[14:2] 36 tn Heb “and Asa did the good and the right in the eyes of the
[14:3] 37 tn Heb “the altars of the foreigner.”
[14:3] 38 sn Asherah poles. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 7:5; 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
[14:4] 40 tn Heb “the law and the command.”
[14:5] 41 tn Heb “before him.”
[14:7] 42 tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the people of Judah.
[14:7] 43 tn Heb “and we will surround [them] with wall[s] and towers, doors, and bars.”
[14:7] 45 tn Heb “and he has given us rest all around.”
[14:7] 46 tn The words “the cities” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
[14:9] 47 tn Heb “a thousand thousands.”
[14:11] 48 tn Heb “called out.”
[14:11] 49 tn Heb “there is not with you to help between many with regard to [the one] without strength.”
[14:11] 50 tn Heb “and in your name we have come against this multitude.”
[14:11] 51 tn Heb “let not man retain [strength] with you.”
[14:13] 52 tn Heb “and there fell from the Cushites so that there was not to them preservation of life.”
[14:13] 53 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:14] 54 tn Heb “for the terror of the
[14:14] 55 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:14] 56 tn Heb “for great plunder was in them.”
[14:15] 57 tn Heb “and also they struck down the tents of the livestock.”
[14:15] 58 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[16:1] 59 tn Heb “and he built up Ramah so as to not permit going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.”
[16:3] 60 tn Heb “[May there be] a covenant between me and you [as there was] between my father and your father.”
[16:3] 61 tn Heb “so he will go up from upon me.”
[16:4] 62 tn Heb “and Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of the armies which belonged to him against the cities of Israel.”
[16:4] 63 tn Heb “They struck down.”
[16:4] 64 sn In the parallel passage in 1 Kgs 15:20, this city’s name appears as Abel Beth Maacah. These appear to be variant names for the same place.
[16:5] 66 tn Heb “and he caused his work to cease.”
[16:6] 67 tn Heb “and King Asa took all Judah and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its wood which Baasha had built.”
[16:6] 68 tn Heb “and he built with them.”
[16:9] 71 tn Heb “the eyes of the
[16:9] 72 tn Heb “to strengthen himself with their heart, [the one] complete toward him.”
[16:10] 73 tn Heb “and Asa was angry at the seer, and he put him [in] the house of stocks, because of his rage with him over this.”
[16:11] 74 tn Heb “Look, the events of Asa, the former and the latter, look, they are written on the scroll of the kings of Judah and Israel.”
[16:12] 75 tn Heb “became sick in his feet.”
[16:12] 76 tn Heb “unto upwards [i.e., very severe [was] his sickness, and even in his sickness he did not seek the
[16:13] 77 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers, and he died.”
[16:14] 78 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
[16:14] 79 tn Heb “and they burned for him a large fire, very great.”
