¹ tn Heb “because this was in your heart.”

² tn Heb “the life of those who hate you.”

³ tn Heb “many days.”

⁴ tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 26-27a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

⁵ tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

⁶ tn Heb “they.”

⁷ tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”

⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (tÿ’annem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“afflict”).

⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”

¹² tn Heb “My little one is thicker than my father’s hips.” The referent of “my little one” is not clear. The traditional view is that it refers to the little finger (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). As the following statement makes clear, Rehoboam’s point is that he is more harsh and demanding than his father.

¹³ tc The Hebrew text reads, “I will make heavy your yoke,” but many medieval Hebrew mss and other ancient textual witnesses have, “my father made heavy your yoke.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “but I will add to your yoke.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I [will punish you] with scorpions.” “Scorpions” might allude to some type of torture, but more likely it refers to a type of whip that inflicts an especially biting, painful wound.

¹⁶ 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.”

¹⁷ 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.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “and his priests and the trumpets of the war alarm [are ready] to sound out against you.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 18).

²⁰ tn Heb “called out.”

²¹ tn Heb “there is not with you to help between many with regard to [the one] without strength.”

²² tn Heb “and in your name we have come against this multitude.”

²³ tn Heb “let not man retain [strength] with you.”

²⁴ tn Heb “and look, Amariah the chief priest is over you with respect to every matter of the Lord, and Zebadiah…with respect to every matter of the king.”

²⁵ tn Heb “Be strong and act!”

²⁶ tn Heb “the deliverance of the Lord with you.”

²⁷ tn Or perhaps “don’t get discouraged.”

²⁸ 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.

²⁹ 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).

³⁰ sn The thorn bush in the allegory is Judah. Amaziah’s success had deceived him into thinking he was on the same level as the major powers in the area (symbolized by the cedar). In reality he was not capable of withstanding an attack by a real military power such as Israel (symbolized by the wild animal).

³¹ tn Heb “and you killed them with anger [that] reaches as far as heaven.”

³² tn Heb “how much less.”

³³ tn The verb is plural, suggesting that the preceding אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (’elohekhem) be translated “your gods,” rather than “your God.”

³⁴ tn Heb “Because your heart was tender.”

³⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

³⁶ tn Heb “Whoever [is] among you from all his people – may the Lord his God [be] with him so that he may go up.”