2 Chronicles 13

In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam's rule, Abijah became king of Judah.

1Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.

NoteSince the death of Solomon the nation had split in two: the northern tribes, called Israel, under Jeroboam, and the southern kingdom of Judah, under the family of David, with its capital at Jerusalem. Abijah is the third king of the southern kingdom, after Solomon and Rehoboam. In the books of Kings this same king is called Abijam.

2He ruled three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel, and she was from Gibeah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

2He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.

NoteGibeah was a town a few miles north of Jerusalem, in the territory of Benjamin. Elsewhere the same king's mother is named Maacah daughter of Absalom (2 Chronicles 11:20-22); the two names may reflect different sources, or 'daughter of' may mean granddaughter, a normal use of the word in Hebrew.

3Abijah went into battle with an army of brave fighters, 400,000 hand-picked men. Jeroboam lined up his army against him with 800,000 hand-picked men, all strong soldiers.

3And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour.

NoteThe Hebrew word translated 'thousand' (eleph) is also the word for a clan or a military unit of unspecified size, so the same text can be read as 400 and 800 fighting units. Ancient armies of this literal size are far beyond what the region could have fielded, and the ambiguity is in the original wording itself.

4Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, "Listen to me, Jeroboam, and all Israel.

4And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel;

NoteMount Zemaraim lay in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the border: that is, on Jeroboam's own ground. Abijah is shouting his case across to the enemy army before the fighting starts, a standard opening move in ancient battle accounts.

5Don't you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, gave the kingship over Israel to David forever, to him and to his descendants, by a covenant of salt?

5Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

NoteSalt preserved food from spoiling and was added to offerings, and eating salt together sealed an agreement. A 'covenant of salt' was therefore a stock phrase for a binding arrangement meant to last permanently, not a ritual involving salt at the moment of speaking.

6Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, who was a servant of Solomon son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master.

6Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.

NoteJeroboam had been an official under Solomon, put in charge of forced labor gangs from the northern tribes. He led the breakaway after Solomon's death and became the first king of the northern kingdom. Calling him 'a servant' is a deliberate jab: an employee who seized his employer's throne.

7Worthless, wicked men gathered around him and stood strong against Rehoboam son of Solomon, at a time when Rehoboam was young and unsure of himself and could not stand up to them.

7And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.

NoteThe King James phrase behind 'worthless, wicked men' is 'children of Belial.' Belial is not a name here but a Hebrew word meaning worthlessness or ruin; 'sons of Belial' is an idiom for scoundrels or good-for-nothings.

8And now you think you can stand up to the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David's descendants. You are a huge crowd, and you have with you the gold calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods.

8And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods.

NoteJeroboam had set up two gold calf images, one at Bethel and one at Dan, so that northerners would not travel to the temple in Jerusalem to worship. Abijah's point is that the north's whole religious system was invented by its first king.

9Didn't you drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites? And didn't you appoint your own priests, the way the peoples of other lands do? Anyone who comes with a young bull and seven rams to be set apart can become a priest of things that are not gods at all.

9Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.

NoteIn the southern system only descendants of Aaron could serve as priests, assisted by the wider tribe of Levi. Ordination involved a prescribed sacrifice (Exodus 29 specifies a young bull and two rams). Abijah's charge is that in the north the office was open to anyone who could supply the animals, a bull and seven rams, regardless of family.

10But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not abandoned him. The priests who serve the LORD are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites carry out their duties.

10But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:

Note'The sons of Aaron' are the priests proper, who handled the altar and the sanctuary; the Levites were the rest of the tribe of Levi, who did the supporting work, music, gatekeeping, transport, maintenance.

11Every morning and every evening they offer burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the LORD. They set out the rows of bread on the clean table, and every evening they light the lamps on the gold lampstand. We are doing what the LORD our God requires, but you have abandoned him.

11And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.

NoteA burnt offering was an animal burned whole on the altar, offered morning and evening as the standing daily service. The 'rows of bread' (older English: shewbread) were twelve loaves, one for each tribe, kept on a special table in the sanctuary and replaced each week. The gold lampstand was the seven-branched lamp that burned in the sanctuary through the night.

12Look, God himself is with us as our leader, and his priests are here with trumpets to sound the battle call against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, because you will not succeed."

12And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.

NoteThe trumpets are the straight silver trumpets that priests were assigned to blow when the army went to war (Numbers 10:8-9), a signal understood as calling God's attention to the battle rather than merely a bugle call to the troops.

13But Jeroboam had sent troops around behind Judah to set an ambush. So Jeroboam's main force was in front of Judah, and the hidden troops were behind them.

13But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them.

14When the men of Judah looked back, they saw that the fighting was in front of them and behind them. So they cried out to the LORD, and the priests blew the trumpets.

14And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.

15Then the men of Judah gave a shout. And as they shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel in front of Abijah and Judah.

15Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

16The people of Israel ran away from Judah, and God handed them over to Judah's power.

16And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.

17Abijah and his men struck them down and killed a great many. Five hundred thousand hand-picked men of Israel fell dead.

17And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.

18So the people of Israel were beaten down at that time, and the people of Judah won, because they leaned on the LORD, the God of their fathers.

18Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers.

19Abijah chased Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel and its villages, Jeshanah and its villages, and Ephrain and its villages.

19And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof.

20Jeroboam never regained his power while Abijah lived. The LORD struck him down, and he died.

20Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died.

NoteThe books of Kings give Jeroboam a twenty-two year reign against Abijah's three, so Jeroboam outlived him; the Hebrew here says only that the LORD struck 'him,' and the sentence has been read both as a summary of Jeroboam's eventual end and, less commonly, as referring to Abijah.

21But Abijah grew strong. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

21But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.

NoteA large number of wives and children was a standard measure of a king's standing and the strength of his household; royal marriages were normally alliances with other families or states.

22The rest of what Abijah did, and his ways and his words, are written in the record of the prophet Iddo.

22And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.

NoteThe King James word 'story' here means a written account or history, not a fictional tale. The Hebrew word is midrash, meaning a study or exposition. This book by Iddo is one of several sources the writer cites that have not survived.