5:2 Then Solomon convened Israel’s elders – all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families – in Jerusalem, 1 so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David 2 (that is, Zion). 3
8:11 Solomon moved Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David 8 to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of King David of Israel, for the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”
12:5 Shemaiah the prophet visited Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who were assembled in Jerusalem because of Shishak. He said to them, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have rejected me, so I have rejected you and will hand you over to Shishak.’” 13
15:9 He assembled all Judah and Benjamin, as well as the settlers 30 from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had come to live with them. Many people from Israel had come there to live 31 when they saw that the Lord his God was with him.
16:7 At that time Hanani the prophet 32 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.
20:20 Early the next morning they marched out to the Desert of Tekoa. When they were ready to march, Jehoshaphat stood up and said: “Listen to me, you people of Judah 39 and residents of Jerusalem! Trust in the Lord your God and you will be safe! 40 Trust in the message of his prophets and you will win.”
24:6 So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest, 49 and said to him, “Why have you not made 50 the Levites collect 51 from Judah and Jerusalem the tax authorized by Moses the Lord’s servant and by the assembly of Israel at the tent containing the tablets of the law?” 52
This royal edict read: 69 “O Israelites, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may return 70 to you who have been spared from the kings of Assyria. 71
33:18 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the prophets 86 spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, are recorded 87 in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 33:19 The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the Lord responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself. 88
34:8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, he continued his policy of purifying the land and the temple. 89 He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city official, and Joah son of Joahaz the secretary to repair the temple of the Lord his God.
1 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
2 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
3 tn Heb “Then Solomon convened the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers belonging to the sons of Israel to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the
4 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”
5 tn Heb “guard their way by walking in my law as you have walked before me.”
6 tc The Hebrew text omits reference to the grain offerings at this point, but note that they are included both in the list in the second half of the verse (see note on “offerings” at the end of this verse) and in the parallel account in 1 Kgs 8:64. The construction וְאֶת־הַמִּנְחָה (vÿ’et-hamminkhah; vav [ו] + accusative sign + noun with article; “grain offerings”) was probably omitted accidentally by homoioarcton. Note the וְאֶת (vÿ’et) that immediately follows.
7 tn Heb “to hold the burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.” Because this is redundant, the translation employs a summary phrase: “all these offerings.”
8 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
9 tn Or “delighted in.”
10 tn Heb “as king for the
11 tn Heb “to make him stand permanently.”
12 tn Heb “to do justice and righteousness.”
13 tn Heb “also I have rejected you into the hand of Shishak.”
14 tn Heb “and the king, Rehoboam, strengthened himself in Jerusalem and ruled.”
15 tn Heb “Rehoboam.” The recurrence of the proper name here is redundant in terms of contemporary English style, so the pronoun has been used in the translation instead.
16 tn Heb “the city where the
17 tn Heb “his”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 tn In the Hebrew text this is phrased as a rhetorical question, “Did you not banish?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you did,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “But you banished.”
19 tn Heb “whoever comes to fill his hand with a bull of a son of cattle, and seven rams, and he is a priest to no-gods.”
20 tn Heb “and his priests and the trumpets of the war alarm [are ready] to sound out against you.”
21 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 18).
22 tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the people of Judah.
23 tn Heb “and we will surround [them] with wall[s] and towers, doors, and bars.”
24 tn Heb “sought.”
25 tn Heb “and he has given us rest all around.”
26 tn The words “the cities” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
27 tn Heb “went out before.”
28 tn Heb “when you are with him.”
29 tn Heb “he will allow himself to be found by you.”
30 tn Or “resident aliens.”
31 tn Heb “had fallen upon him.”
32 tn Heb “the seer.”
33 tn Heb “to seek the
34 tn Or “hate.”
35 tn Heb “all his days.”
36 tn The words “his name is” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
37 tn Heb “all Judah.” The words “you people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the people of Judah. Unlike the previous instance in v. 13 where infants, wives, and children are mentioned separately, this reference appears to include them all.
38 tn Or perhaps “don’t get discouraged.”
39 tn Heb “O Judah.” The words “you people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See the note on the word “Judah” in v. 15.
40 tn There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The Hiphil verb form הַאֲמִינוּ (ha’aminu, “trust”) and the Niphal form תֵאָמֵנוּ (te’amenu, “you will be safe”) come from the same verbal root (אָמַן, ’aman).
41 tn Heb “and you walked in the way of the kings of Israel and caused Judah and the residents of Jerusalem to commit adultery, like the house of Ahab causes to commit adultery.”
42 tn Heb “the house of your father.”
43 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
44 tn Heb “they said.”
45 tn Heb “and there was no one belonging to the house of Ahaziah to retain strength for kingship.”
46 tn Heb “ranks.”
47 tn Heb “for the priest had said, ‘Do not put her to death in the house of the
48 tn Heb “took.”
49 tn Heb “Jehoiada the head”; the word “priest” not in the Hebrew text but is implied.
50 tn Heb “sought.”
51 tn Heb “bring.”
52 tn Heb “the tent of testimony.”
53 tn Heb “as it is written in the scroll of the law of Moses which the
54 tn Heb “on account of sons.”
55 tn Heb “on account of fathers.”
56 sn This law is recorded in Deut 24:16.
57 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
58 tn Heb “Stop yourself! Why should they strike you down?”
59 tn The verb יָעַץ (ya’ats, “has decided”) is from the same root as יוֹעֵץ (yo’ets, “counselor”) in v. 16 and עֵצָה (’etsah, “advice”) later in v. 16. The wordplay highlights the appropriate nature of the divine punishment. Amaziah rejected the counsel of God’s prophet; now he would be the victim of God’s “counsel.”
60 tn Heb “angry.”
61 tn Traditionally “leprosy,” but this was probably a skin disorder of some type, not leprosy (technically known today as Hansen’s disease). See 2 Kgs 5:1.
62 tn The precise meaning of בֵּית הַחָפְשִׁית (bet hakhafshiyt, “house of [?]”) is uncertain. NASB, NIV, NRSV all have “in a separate house”; NEB has “in his own house…relieved of all duties.” For a discussion of various proposals, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 166-67.
63 sn Perhaps these terms refer metonymically to the royal court, the priests and Levites, and the people, respectively.
64 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
65 tn Heb “and they caused to stand a word to cause a voice to pass through.”
66 tn The words “summoning the people” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
67 tn Heb “because not for abundance had they done as written.”
68 tn Heb “the runners.”
69 tn Heb “and according to the command of the king, saying.”
70 tn The jussive with vav conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
71 tn Heb “to the survivors who are left to you from the palm of the kings of Assyria.”
72 tn Heb “without what is written.”
73 tn Heb “make atonement for.”
74 tn Heb “and the sons of Israel and Judah.”
75 tn Heb “heaps, heaps.” Repetition of the noun draws attention to the large number of heaps.
76 tn Heb “in addition enrolling them by males from a son of three years and upwards, to everyone who enters the house of the
77 tn Heb “and speaking against him, saying.”
78 tn Heb “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.”
79 tn Or “an angel.”
80 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sennacherib) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
81 tn Heb “and he returned with shame of face to his land.”
82 tn Heb “and some from those who went out from him, from his inward parts.”
83 tn Or “he sacrificed his sons in the fire.” This may refer to child sacrifice, though some interpret it as a less drastic cultic practice (NEB, NASV “made his sons pass through 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.
84 tn Heb “and he set up a ritual pit, along with a conjurer.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. In 1 Sam 28:7 the witch of Endor is called a בַּעֲלַת אוֹב (ba’alat ’ov, “owner of a ritual pit”). See H. Hoffner, “Second Millennium Antecedents to the Hebrew ’OñBù,” JBL 86 (1967): 385-401.
85 tn Heb “and he multiplied doing what is evil in the eyes of the
86 tn Or “seers.”
87 tn Heb “look, they are.”
88 tn Heb “and his prayer and being entreated by him, and all his sin and his unfaithfulness and the places where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself – behold, they are written on the words of his seers.”
89 tn Heb “to purify the land and the house.”
90 tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”