2 Chronicles 1:6

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.

2 Chronicles 1:12

1:12 you are granted wisdom and discernment.¹ Furthermore I am giving you riches, wealth, and honor surpassing that of any king before or after you.”²

2 Chronicles 6:12

6:12 He stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands.

2 Chronicles 6:22

6:22 “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple,³

2 Chronicles 18:20

18:20 Then a spirit⁴ stepped forward and stood before the Lord. He said, ‘I will deceive him.’ The Lord asked him, ‘How?’

2 Chronicles 20:5

20:5 Jehoshaphat stood before the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem⁵ at the Lord’s temple, in front of the new courtyard.

2 Chronicles 20:7

20:7 Our God, you drove out⁶ the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it as a permanent possession⁷ to the descendants of your friend⁸ Abraham.

2 Chronicles 20:18

20:18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face toward the ground, and all the people of Judah⁹ and the residents of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord and worshiped him.¹⁰

2 Chronicles 25:8

25:8 Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you¹¹ before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating.”¹²

2 Chronicles 28:10

28:10 And now you are planning¹³ to enslave¹⁴ the people¹⁵ of Judah and Jerusalem. Yet are you not also guilty before the Lord your God?

2 Chronicles 29:23

29:23 Finally they brought the goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly, and they placed their hands on them.

2 Chronicles 33:12

33:12 In his pain¹⁶ Manasseh¹⁷ asked the Lord his God for mercy¹⁸ and truly¹⁹ humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.²⁰

2 Chronicles 34:18

34:18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king.

2 Chronicles 36:12

36:12 He did evil in the sight of²¹ the Lord his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, the Lord’s spokesman.

¹tn Heb “wisdom and discernment are given to you.”

²tn Heb “which was not so for the kings who were before you, and after you there will not be so.”

³tn Heb “and if the man who sins against his neighbor when one takes up against him a curse to curse him and the curse comes before your altar in this house.”

⁴tn Heb “the spirit.” The significance of the article prefixed to רוּחַ (ruakh) is uncertain, but it could contain a clue as to this spirit’s identity, especially when interpreted in light of verse 23. It is certainly possible, and probably even likely, that the article is used in a generic or dramatic sense and should be translated, “a spirit.” In the latter case it would show that this spirit was vivid and definite in the mind of Micaiah the storyteller. However, if one insists that the article indicates a well-known or universally known spirit, the following context provides a likely referent. Verse 23 tells how Zedekiah slapped Micaiah in the face and then asked sarcastically, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord (רוּחַ־יְהוָה, ruakh-yÿhvah) go when he went from me to speak to you?” When the phrase “the spirit of the Lord” refers to the divine spirit (rather than the divine breath or mind, as in Isa 40:7, 13) elsewhere, the spirit energizes an individual or group for special tasks or moves one to prophesy. This raises the possibility that the deceiving spirit of vv. 20-22 is the same as the divine spirit mentioned by Zedekiah in v. 23. This would explain why the article is used on רוּחַ (ruakh); he can be called “the spirit” because he is the well-known spirit who energizes the prophets.

⁵map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶tn Heb “did you not drive out?” This is another rhetorical question which expects a positive response; see the note on the word “heaven” in the previous verse.

⁷tn Heb “permanently.”

⁸tn Or perhaps “your covenantal partner.” See Isa 41:8.

⁹tn Heb “all Judah.” The words “you people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See the note on the word “Judah” in v. 15.

¹⁰tn Heb “to worship the Lord.”

¹¹tn Heb “cause you to stumble.”

¹²tn Heb “to cause to stumble.”

¹³tn Heb “saying.”

¹⁴tn Heb “to enslave as male servants and female servants.”

¹⁵tn Heb “sons.”

¹⁶tn Or “distress.”

¹⁷tn Heb “he”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸tn Heb “appeased the face of the Lord his God.”

¹⁹tn Or “greatly.”

²⁰tn Heb “fathers.”

²¹tn Heb “in the eyes of.”