2 Chronicles 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:

2 Chronicles 16:4

16:4 Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel. ¹  They conquered ²  Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim, ³  and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

2 Chronicles 28:3

28:3 He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire, ⁴  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ⁵  whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.

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¹ 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.”

² tn Heb “They struck down.”

³ 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.

⁴ sn This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice (NEB “burnt his sons in the fire”; NASB “burned his sons in the fire”; NIV “sacrificed his sons in the fire”; NRSV “made his sons pass through fire”). For discussion see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 266-67.

⁵ tn Heb “like the abominable practices of the nations.”