2 Tawarikh 16:2-9

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. ¹  See, I have sent you silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.” ²  16:4 Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel. ³  They conquered ⁴  Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, ⁵  and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 16:5 When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying ⁶  Ramah and abandoned the project. ⁷  16:6 King Asa ordered all the men of Judah to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah. ⁸  He used the materials to build up ⁹  Geba and Mizpah.

16:7 At that time Hanani the prophet ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  the Lord watches the whole earth carefully ¹²  and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him. ¹³  You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war.

2 Tawarikh 16:2

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:

1 Tawarikh 19:1-3

David’s Campaign against the Ammonites

19:1 Later King Nahash of the Ammonites died and his son succeeded him. 19:2 David said, “I will express my loyalty ¹⁴  to Hanun son of Nahash, for his father was loyal ¹⁵  to me.” So David sent messengers to express his sympathy over his father’s death. ¹⁶  When David’s servants entered Ammonite territory to visit Hanun and express the king’s sympathy, ¹⁷  19:3 the Ammonite officials said to Hanun, “Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? ¹⁸  No, his servants have come to you so they can get information and spy out the land!” ¹⁹ 

[16:3]  ¹ tn Heb “[May there be] a covenant between me and you [as there was] between my father and your father.”

[16:3]  ² tn Heb “so he will go up from upon me.”

[16:4]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “They struck down.”

[16:4]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “building.”

[16:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he caused his work to cease.”

[16:6]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he built with them.”

[16:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the seer.”

[16:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “for.”

[16:9]  ¹² tn Heb “the eyes of the Lord move quickly through all the earth.”

[16:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “to strengthen himself with their heart, [the one] complete toward him.”

[19:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “do loyalty.”

[19:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “did loyalty.”

[19:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to console him concerning his father.”

[19:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and the servants of David came to the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to console him.”

[19:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”

[19:3]  ¹⁹ tc Heb “Is it not to explore and to overturn and to spy out the land (that) his servants have come to you?” The Hebrew term לַהֲפֹךְ (lahafakh, “to overturn”) seems misplaced in the sequence. Some emend the form to לַחְפֹּר (lakhpor, “to spy out”). The sequence of three infinitives may be a conflation of alternative readings.