2 Tawarikh 11:16-23

11:16 Those among all the Israelite tribes who were determined to worship the Lord God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem ¹  to sacrifice to the Lord God of their ancestors. ²  11:17 They supported ³  the kingdom of Judah and were loyal to ⁴  Rehoboam son of Solomon for three years; they followed the edicts of ⁵  David and Solomon for three years.

11:18 Rehoboam married ⁶  Mahalath the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of ⁷  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. ⁸  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. ⁹  11:23 He wisely placed some of his many sons throughout the regions of Judah and Benjamin in the various fortified cities. ¹⁰  He supplied them with abundant provisions and acquired many wives for them. ¹¹ 

[11:16]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “fathers.”

[11:17]  ³ tn Or “strengthened.”

[11:17]  ⁴ tn Or “strengthened.”

[11:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “they walked in the way of.”

[11:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “took for himself a wife.”

[11:18]  ⁷ tn The words “and of” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[11:21]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “and Rehoboam appointed for a head Abijah son of Maacah for ruler among his brothers, indeed to make him king.”

[11:23]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn “and he asked for a multitude of wives.”