Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options

2 Chronicles 22-23
New English Translation

Ahaziah’s Reign

22 The residents of Jerusalem made his youngest son Ahaziah king in his place, for the raiding party that invaded the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons.[a] So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah. 2 Ahaziah was twenty-two[b] years old when he became king, and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother[c] was Athaliah, the granddaughter[d] of Omri. 3 He followed in the footsteps of Ahab’s dynasty,[e] for his mother gave him evil advice.[f] 4 He did evil in the sight of[g] the Lord like Ahab’s dynasty because, after his father’s death, they[h] gave him advice that led to his destruction. 5 He followed their advice and joined Ahab’s son King Joram[i] of Israel in a battle against King Hazael of Syria[j] at Ramoth Gilead in which the Syrians defeated Joram. 6 Joram[k] returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians[l] in Ramah when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. Ahaziah[m] son of King Jehoram of Judah went down to visit Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he had been wounded.[n]

7 God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall through his visit to Joram.[o] When Ahaziah[p] arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had commissioned[q] to wipe out Ahab’s family.[r] 8 While Jehu was dishing out punishment to Ahab’s family, he discovered the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s relatives who were serving Ahaziah and killed them. 9 He looked for Ahaziah, who was captured while hiding in Samaria. They brought him to Jehu and then executed him. They did give him a burial, for they reasoned,[s] “He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with his whole heart.” There was no one in Ahaziah’s family strong enough to rule in his place.[t]

Athaliah is Eliminated

10 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she was determined to destroy the entire royal line[u] of Judah.[v] 11 So Jehoshabeath,[w] the daughter of King Jehoram,[x] took Ahaziah’s son Joash and stole him away from the rest of the royal descendants who were to be executed. She hid him and his nurse in the room where the bed covers were stored. So Jehoshabeath the daughter of King Jehoram, wife of Jehoiada the priest and sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah so she could not execute him. 12 He remained in hiding in God’s temple[y] for six years while Athaliah was ruling over the land.

23 In the seventh year Jehoiada made a bold move. He made a pact[z] with the officers of the units of hundreds: Azariah son of Jehoram, Ishmael son of Jehochanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zikri. 2 They traveled throughout Judah and assembled the Levites from all the cities of Judah, as well as the Israelite family leaders.

They came to Jerusalem, 3 and the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the temple of God. Jehoiada[aa] said to them, “The king’s son will rule, just as the Lord promised David’s descendants. 4 This is what you must do. One-third of you priests and Levites who are on duty during the Sabbath will guard the doors. 5 Another third of you will be stationed at the royal palace and still another third at the Foundation Gate. All the others[ab] will stand in the courtyards of the Lord’s temple. 6 No one must enter the Lord’s temple except the priests and Levites who are on duty. They may enter because they are ceremonially pure. All the others should carry out their assigned service to the Lord. 7 The Levites must surround the king. Each of you must hold his weapon in his hand. Whoever tries to enter the temple[ac] must be killed. You must accompany the king wherever he goes.”[ad]

8 The Levites and all the men of Judah[ae] did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each of them took his men, those who were on duty during the Sabbath as well as those who were off duty on the Sabbath. Jehoiada the priest did not release his divisions from their duties. 9 Jehoiada the priest gave to the officers of the units of hundreds King David’s spears and shields[af] that were kept in God’s temple. 10 He placed the men at their posts, each holding his weapon in his hand. They lined up from the south side of the temple to the north side and stood near the altar and the temple, surrounding the king.[ag] 11 Jehoiada and his sons led out the king’s son and placed on him the crown and the royal insignia.[ah] They proclaimed him king and poured olive oil on his head.[ai] They declared, “Long live the king!”

12 When Athaliah heard the royal guard[aj] shouting and praising the king, she joined the crowd[ak] at the Lord’s temple. 13 Then she saw[al] the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and trumpeters stood beside the king and all the people of the land were celebrating and blowing trumpets, and the musicians with various instruments were leading the celebration. Athaliah tore her clothes and yelled, “Treason! Treason!”[am] 14 Jehoiada the priest sent out the officers of the units of hundreds, who were in charge of the army, and ordered them, “Bring her outside the temple to the guards.[an] Put the sword to anyone who follows her.” The priest gave this order because he had decided she should not be executed in the Lord’s temple.[ao] 15 They seized her and took her into the precincts of the royal palace through the horses’ entrance.[ap] There they executed her.

16 Jehoiada then drew up a covenant stipulating that he, all the people, and the king should be loyal to the Lord.[aq] 17 All the people went and demolished[ar] the temple of Baal. They smashed its altars and idols.[as] They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars. 18 Jehoiada then assigned the duties of the Lord’s temple to the priests, the Levites whom David had assigned to the Lord’s temple. They were responsible for offering burnt sacrifices to the Lord with joy and music, according to[at] the law of Moses and the edict of David. 19 He posted guards at the gates of the Lord’s temple, so no one who was ceremonially unclean in any way could enter. 20 He summoned[au] the officers of the units of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and he then led the king down from the Lord’s temple. They entered the royal palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the royal throne. 21 All the people of the land celebrated, for the city had rest now that they had killed Athaliah.[av]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 22:1 tn Heb “for all the older [ones] the raiding party that came with the Arabs to the camp had killed.”
  2. 2 Chronicles 22:2 tc Heb “forty-two,” but some mss of the LXX and the Syriac along with the parallel passage in 2 Kgs 8:26 read “twenty-two.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 22:2 tn Heb “The name of his mother.”
  4. 2 Chronicles 22:2 tn The Hebrew term בַּת (bat, “daughter”) can refer, as here, to a granddaughter. See HALOT 165-66 s.v. I בַּת 1.
  5. 2 Chronicles 22:3 tn Heb “and also he walked in the ways of the house of Ahab.”
  6. 2 Chronicles 22:3 tn Heb “for his mother was his adviser to do evil.”
  7. 2 Chronicles 22:4 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  8. 2 Chronicles 22:4 tn That is, the members of Ahab’s royal house.
  9. 2 Chronicles 22:5 tn Heb “Jehoram.”Jehoram and Joram are alternate spellings of the Israelite king’s name (also in vv. 6-7). The shorter form is used in these verses to avoid confusion with King Jehoram of Judah, father of Azariah.
  10. 2 Chronicles 22:5 tn Heb “Aram” (also in v. 6).
  11. 2 Chronicles 22:6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  12. 2 Chronicles 22:6 tn Heb “which they inflicted [on] him.”
  13. 2 Chronicles 22:6 tc Most Hebrew mss read “Azariah.” A few Hebrew mss, the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac read “Ahaziah” (cf. 2 Kgs 8:29).
  14. 2 Chronicles 22:6 tn Heb “because he was sick,” presumably referring to the wounds he received in the battle with the Syrians.
  15. 2 Chronicles 22:7 tn Heb “From God was the downfall of Ahaziah by going to Joram.”
  16. 2 Chronicles 22:7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  17. 2 Chronicles 22:7 tn Heb “anointed.”
  18. 2 Chronicles 22:7 tn Heb “to cut off the house of Ahab.”
  19. 2 Chronicles 22:9 tn Heb “they said.”
  20. 2 Chronicles 22:9 tn Heb “and there was no one belonging to the house of Ahaziah to retain strength for kingship.”
  21. 2 Chronicles 22:10 tn Heb “she arose and she destroyed all the royal offspring.” The verb קוּם (qum, “arise”) is here used in an auxiliary sense to indicate that she embarked on a campaign to destroy the royal offspring. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 125.
  22. 2 Chronicles 22:10 tn Heb “house of Judah.”
  23. 2 Chronicles 22:11 sn Jehoshabeath is a variant spelling of the name Jehosheba (2 Kgs 11:2).
  24. 2 Chronicles 22:11 tn Heb “the king”; the referent (King Jehoram, see later in this verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  25. 2 Chronicles 22:12 tn Heb “and he was with them in the house of God hiding.”
  26. 2 Chronicles 23:1 tn Or “covenant.”
  27. 2 Chronicles 23:3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehoiada the priest, cf. v. 8) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  28. 2 Chronicles 23:5 tn Heb “all the people.”
  29. 2 Chronicles 23:7 tn Heb “house.”
  30. 2 Chronicles 23:7 tn Heb “and be with the king when he goes in/enters and when he goes out/exits.”
  31. 2 Chronicles 23:8 tn Heb “all 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.
  32. 2 Chronicles 23:9 tn The Hebrew text lists two different types of shields here. Most translations render “the large and small shields” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV; NEB “King David’s spears, shields, and bucklers”).
  33. 2 Chronicles 23:10 tn Heb “and he stationed all the people, each with his weapon in his hand, from the south shoulder of the house to the north shoulder of the house, at the altar and at the house, near the king all around.”
  34. 2 Chronicles 23:11 tn The Hebrew word עֵדוּת (ʿedut) normally means “witness” or “testimony.” Here it probably refers to some tangible symbol of kingship, perhaps a piece of jewelry such as an amulet or neck chain (see the discussion in M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings [AB], 128). Some suggest that a document is in view, perhaps a copy of the royal protocol or of the stipulations of the Davidic covenant (see HALOT 790-91 s.v.).
  35. 2 Chronicles 23:11 tn Or “they made him king and anointed him.”
  36. 2 Chronicles 23:12 tn Heb “and Athaliah heard the sound of the people, the runners.”
  37. 2 Chronicles 23:12 tn Heb “she came to the people.”
  38. 2 Chronicles 23:13 tn Heb “and she saw, and behold.”
  39. 2 Chronicles 23:13 tn Or “Conspiracy! Conspiracy!”
  40. 2 Chronicles 23:14 tn Heb “ranks.”
  41. 2 Chronicles 23:14 tn Heb “for the priest had said, ‘Do not put her to death in the house of the Lord.’”
  42. 2 Chronicles 23:15 tn Heb “and they placed hands on her, and she went through the entrance of the gate of the horses [into] the house of the king.” Some English versions treat the phrase “gate of the horses” as the name of the gate (“the Horse Gate”; e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
  43. 2 Chronicles 23:16 tn Heb “and Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and [between] all the people and [between] the king, to become a people for the Lord.”
  44. 2 Chronicles 23:17 tn Or “tore down.”
  45. 2 Chronicles 23:17 tn Or “images.”
  46. 2 Chronicles 23:18 tn Heb “as it is written in.”
  47. 2 Chronicles 23:20 tn Heb “took.”
  48. 2 Chronicles 23:21 tn Heb “killed Athaliah with the sword.”
Next
2 Chronicles 21
2 Chronicles 24
Next
dropdown
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.