2 Chronicles 13

Chapter context

What is happening in 2 Chronicles 13?

templereformprayerjudgment

2 Chronicles 13 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as the kings of Judah. Second Chronicles recounts Solomon’s temple, the Judahite kings, reform movements, the fall of Jerusalem, and Cyrus’s decree of return. Read this chapter with the wider themes of temple, reform, and prayer in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah. ² He 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. ³ And 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. ⁴ And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; ⁵ Ought 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? ⁶ Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord. ⁷ And 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. ⁸ And 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. ⁹ Have 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. ¹⁰ But 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: ¹¹ And 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. ¹² And, 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. ¹³ But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. ¹⁴ And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then 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. ¹⁶ And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand. ¹⁷ And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. ¹⁸ Thus 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. ¹⁹ And 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. ²⁰ Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died. ²¹ But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters. ²² And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.

Study helps

Glossary

Abijah Person v. 1-4, 15, 17, 19-22: Father (i. e., “possessor or worshipper”) of Jehovah. (1. ) 1 Chr. 7:8 . (2. ) 1 Chr. 2:24 . (3. ) The second son of Samuel ( 1 Sam. 8:2 ; 1 Chr. 6:28 ).
Jeroboam Person v. 1-4, 6, 8, 13, 15, 19-20: Increase of the people. (1. ) The son of Nebat ( 1 Kings 11:26-39 ), “an Ephrathite,” the first king of the ten tribes, over whom he reigned twenty-two years (B. C. 976-945).
Gibeah Place v. 2: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: south of Hebron.
Jerusalem Place v. 2: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Michaiah Person v. 2: (1. ) The queen-mother of King Abijah ( 2 Chr. 13:2 ). (See MAACAH [4]). (2. ) One of those sent out by Jehoshaphat to instruct the people in the law ( 2 Chr. 17:7 ). (3. ) 2 Kings 22:12 . (4. ) The son of Gemariah.
Uriel Person v. 2: God is my light. (1. ) A Levite of the family of Kohath ( 1 Chr. 6:24 ). (2. ) The chief of the Kohathites at the time when the ark was brought up to Jerusalem ( 1 Chr. 15:5 , 11).
Mount Zemaraim Place v. 4: (1. ) A town of Benjamin ( Josh. 18:22 ); now the ruin, rather two ruins, es-Sumrah, 4 miles north of Jericho. (2. ) A mount in the highlands of Ephraim, to the north of Jerusalem ( 2 Chr. 13:4-20 ). Modern identification: Ras et Tahuneh.
David Person v. 5-6, 8: Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam. 17:25 .
Nebat Person v. 6: Sight; aspect, the father of Jeroboam, the king of Israel ( 1 Kings 11:26 , etc. ).
Rehoboam Person v. 7: He enlarges the people, the successor of Solomon on the throne, and apparently his only son. He was the son of Naamah “the Ammonitess,” some well-known Ammonitish princess ( 1 Kings 14:21 ; 2 Chr. 12:13 ).
Candlestick Object v. 11: The lamp-stand, “candelabrum,” which Moses was commanded to make for the tabernacle, according to the pattern shown him. Its form is described in Ex.
Shewbread Object v. 11: Ex. 25:30 (R. V. marg., “presence bread”); 1 Chr. 9:32 (marg., “bread of ordering”); Num. 4:7 : called “hallowed bread” (R. V., “holy bread”) in 1 Sam. 21:1-6 .
Bethel Place v. 19: House of God. (1. ) A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz ( Gen. 28:19 ). Modern identification: Beitin.
Ephron Place v. 19: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Taybeh.
Jeshanah Place v. 19: A city of the kingdom of Israel ( 2 Chr. 13:19 ). Modern identification: Burj el Isaneh.
Iddo Person v. 22: (1. ) Timely ( 1 Chr. 6:21 ). A Gershonite Levite. (2. ) Lovely. The son of Zechariah ( 1 Chr. 27:21 ), the ruler of Manasseh in David’s time. (3. ) Timely.