2 Tawarikh 5:11-14
Konteks5:11 The priests left the holy place. 1 All the priests who participated had consecrated themselves, no matter which division they represented. 2 5:12 All the Levites who were musicians, including Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, wore linen. They played cymbals and stringed instruments as they stood east of the altar. They were accompanied by 120 priests who blew trumpets. 5:13 The trumpeters and musicians played together, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they loudly praised the Lord, singing: 3 “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!” Then a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. 4 5:14 The priests could not carry out their duties 5 because of the cloud; the Lord’s splendor filled God’s temple.
2 Tawarikh 6:14-42
Konteks6:14 and prayed: 6 “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty 7 to your servants who obey you with sincerity. 8 6:15 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; 9 this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. 10 6:16 Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, 11 provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’ 12 6:17 Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized. 13
6:18 “God does not really live with humankind on the earth! 14 Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 6:19 But respond favorably to 15 your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer 16 the desperate prayer 17 your servant is presenting to you. 18 6:20 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. 19 May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. 20 6:21 Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place. 21 Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive. 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, 23 6:23 listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve. 24
6:24 “If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy 25 because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, 26 and pray for your help 27 before you in this temple, 6:25 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors. 28
6:26 “The time will come when 29 the skies 30 are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people 31 sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, 32 and turn away from their sin because you punish 33 them, 6:27 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly 34 you will then teach them the right way to live 35 and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. 36
6:28 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust 37 invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, 38 or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. 6:29 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, 39 as they acknowledge their intense pain 40 and spread out their hands toward this temple, 6:30 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, 41 and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives. 42 (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) 43 6:31 Then they will honor 44 you by obeying you 45 throughout their lifetimes as 46 they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.
6:32 “Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation 47 and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; 48 they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. 6:33 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. 49 Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, 50 obey 51 you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you. 52
6:34 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, 53 and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, 54 6:35 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help 55 and vindicate them. 56
6:36 “The time will come when your people 57 will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by. 6:37 When your people 58 come to their senses 59 in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray 60 , we have done evil!’ 6:38 When they return to you with all their heart and being 61 in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, 62 6:39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help, 63 vindicate them, 64 and forgive your sinful people.
6:40 “Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place. 65 6:41 Now ascend, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O Lord God, experience your deliverance! 66 May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give! 67 6:42 O Lord God, do not reject your chosen ones! 68 Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!”
2 Tawarikh 20:15-30
Konteks20:15 He said: “Pay attention, all you people of Judah, 69 residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Don’t be afraid and don’t panic 70 because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 20:16 Tomorrow march down against them as 71 they come up the Ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the ravine in front of the Desert of Jeruel. 20:17 You will not fight in this battle. Take your positions, stand, and watch the Lord deliver you, 72 O Judah and Jerusalem. Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! 73 Tomorrow march out toward them; the Lord is with you!’”
20:18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face toward the ground, and all the people of Judah 74 and the residents of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord and worshiped him. 75 20:19 Then some Levites, from the Kohathites and Korahites, got up and loudly praised the Lord God of Israel. 76
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 77 and residents of Jerusalem! Trust in the Lord your God and you will be safe! 78 Trust in the message of his prophets and you will win.” 20:21 He met 79 with the people and appointed musicians to play before the Lord and praise his majestic splendor. As they marched ahead of the warriors they said: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his loyal love endures.” 80
20:22 When they began to shout and praise, the Lord suddenly attacked 81 the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir 82 who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 20:23 The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the men from Mount Seir 83 and annihilated them. 84 When they had finished off the men 85 of Seir, they attacked and destroyed one another. 86 20:24 When the men of Judah 87 arrived at the observation post overlooking the desert and looked at 88 the huge army, they saw dead bodies on the ground; there were no survivors! 20:25 Jehoshaphat and his men 89 went to gather the plunder; they found a huge amount of supplies, clothing 90 and valuable items. They carried away everything they could. 91 There was so much plunder, it took them three days to haul it off. 92
20:26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, where 93 they praised the Lord. So that place is called the Valley of Berachah 94 to this very day. 20:27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat leading them; the Lord had given them reason to rejoice over their enemies. 20:28 They entered Jerusalem to the sound of stringed instruments and trumpets and proceeded to the temple of the Lord. 20:29 All the kingdoms of the surrounding lands were afraid of God 95 when they heard how the Lord had fought against Israel’s enemies. 20:30 Jehoshaphat’s kingdom enjoyed peace; his God made him secure on every side. 96
[5:11] 1 tn Heb “and when the priests went from the holy place.” The syntactical relationship of this temporal clause to the following context is unclear. Perhaps the thought is completed in v. 14 after a lengthy digression.
[5:11] 2 tn Heb “Indeed [or “for”] all the priests who were found consecrated themselves without guarding divisions.”
[5:13] 3 tn Heb “like one were the trumpeters and the musicians, causing one voice to be heard, praising and giving thanks to the
[5:13] 4 tn Heb “and the house was filled with a cloud, the house of the
[5:14] 5 tn Heb “were not able to stand to serve.”
[6:14] 7 tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.”
[6:14] 8 tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”
[6:15] 9 tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”
[6:15] 10 tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”
[6:16] 11 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”
[6:16] 12 tn Heb “guard their way by walking in my law as you have walked before me.”
[6:17] 13 tn Or “prove to be reliable.”
[6:18] 14 tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live with mankind on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “God does not really live with mankind on the earth.”
[6:19] 16 tn Heb “by listening to.”
[6:19] 17 tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”
[6:19] 18 tn Heb “praying before you.”
[6:20] 19 tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’”
[6:20] 20 tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”
[6:21] 21 tn Heb “listen to the requests of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”
[6:21] 22 tn Heb “hear and forgive.”
[6:22] 23 tn 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.”
[6:23] 24 tn Heb “and you, hear [from] heaven and act and judge your servants by repaying the guilty, to give his way on his head, and to declare the innocent to be innocent, to give to him according to his innocence.”
[6:24] 25 tn Or “are struck down before an enemy.”
[6:24] 26 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
[6:24] 27 tn Heb “and they pray and ask for help.”
[6:25] 28 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 38).
[6:26] 29 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.
[6:26] 30 tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[6:26] 32 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
[6:26] 33 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”).
[6:27] 34 tn The present translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense (“Certainly”). Other translation have “indeed” (NASB), “when” (NRSV), “so” (NEB), or leave the word untranslated (NIV).
[6:27] 35 tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”
[6:27] 36 tn Or “for an inheritance.”
[6:28] 37 tn Actually two Hebrew words appear here, both of which are usually (but not always) taken as referring to locusts. Perhaps different stages of growth or different varieties are in view, but this is uncertain. NEB has “locusts new-sloughed or fully grown”; NASB has “locust or grasshopper”; NIV has “locusts or grasshoppers”; NRSV has “locust, or caterpillar.”
[6:28] 38 tn Heb “in the land, his gates.”
[6:29] 39 tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”
[6:29] 40 tn Heb “which they know, each his pain and his affliction.”
[6:30] 41 tn The words “their sin” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarification.
[6:30] 42 tn Heb “and act and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 28-30a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.
[6:30] 43 tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of all the sons of mankind.”
[6:31] 45 tn Heb “by walking in your ways.”
[6:31] 46 tn Heb “all the days [in] which.”
[6:32] 47 tn Heb “your great name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “your great reputation
[6:32] 48 tn Heb “and your strong hand and your outstretched arm.”
[6:33] 49 tn Heb “and do all which the foreigner calls to [i.e., “requests of”] you.”
[6:33] 50 tn Heb “name.” See the note on “reputation” in v. 32.
[6:33] 52 tn Heb “that your name is called over this house which I built.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28.
[6:34] 53 tn Heb “When your people go out for battle against their enemies in the way which you send them.”
[6:34] 54 tn Heb “toward this city which you have chosen and the house which I built for your name.”
[6:35] 55 tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”
[6:35] 56 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
[6:36] 57 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:37] 58 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:37] 59 tn Or “stop and reflect”; Heb “bring back to their heart.”
[6:38] 62 tn Heb “your name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “your honor
[6:39] 63 tn Heb “their prayer and their requests for help.”
[6:39] 64 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
[6:40] 65 tn Heb “May your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.”
[6:41] 66 tn Heb “be clothed with deliverance.”
[6:41] 67 tn Heb “and may your loyal ones rejoice in good.”
[6:42] 68 tc Heb “do not turn away the face of your anointed ones.” Many medieval Hebrew
[20:15] 69 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.
[20:15] 70 tn Or perhaps “don’t get discouraged.”
[20:17] 72 tn Heb “the deliverance of the
[20:17] 73 tn Or perhaps “don’t get discouraged.”
[20:18] 74 tn 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.
[20:18] 75 tn Heb “to worship the
[20:19] 76 tn Heb “arose to praise the
[20:20] 77 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.
[20:20] 78 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).
[20:21] 80 tn Or “is eternal.”
[20:22] 81 tn Heb “set ambushers against.” This is probably idiomatic here for launching a surprise attack.
[20:22] 82 tn Heb “the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir.”
[20:23] 83 tn Heb “the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the residents of Mount Seir.”
[20:23] 84 tn Heb “to annihilate and to destroy.”
[20:23] 85 tn Heb “residents.”
[20:23] 86 tn Heb “they helped, each one his fellow, for destruction.” The verb עָזַר (’azar), traditionally understood as the well-attested verb meaning “to help,” is an odd fit in this context. It is possible that it is from a homonymic root, perhaps meaning to “attack.” This root is attested in Ugaritic in a nominal form meaning “young man, warrior, hero.” For a discussion of the proposed root, see HALOT 811 s.v. II עזר.
[20:24] 87 tn Heb “Judah.” The words “the men of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the men of Judah.
[20:24] 88 tn Heb “turned toward.”
[20:25] 90 tc The MT reads פְגָרִים (fÿgarim, “corpses”), but this seems odd among a list of plunder. A few medieval Hebrew
[20:25] 91 tn Heb “and they snatched away for themselves so that there was no carrying away.”
[20:25] 92 tn Heb “and they were three days looting the plunder for it was great.”
[20:26] 93 tn Heb “for there.”
[20:26] 94 sn The name Berachah, which means “blessing” in Hebrew, is derived from the verbal root “to praise [or “to bless”],” which appears earlier in the verse.
[20:29] 95 tn Heb “and the terror of God [or “a great terror”] was upon all the kingdoms of the lands.” It is uncertain if אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) should be understood as a proper name here (“God”), or taken in an idiomatic superlative sense.
