2 Chronicles 18:3-5

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 2 Chronicles 18:3 tn Heb “Like me, like you; and like your people, my people; and with you in battle.”
2. 2 Chronicles 18:4 tn The word “further” has been added on the basis that this is a second speech act. The narrator uses the title “king of Israel” to convey a sense of formality.
3. 2 Chronicles 18:4 tn Or “even today,” “right away.”
4. 2 Chronicles 18:4 tn Heb “inquire for the Lord’s message.” Jehoshaphat is requesting a prophetic oracle revealing the Lord’s will in the matter and their prospects for success. For examples of such oracles, see 2 Sam 5:19, 23-24.
5. 2 Chronicles 18:5 tn Heb “Should we go against Ramoth Gilead for war or should I refrain?”
6. 2 Chronicles 18:5 tn Though Jehoshaphat had requested an oracle from “the Lord” (יְהוָה, y^ehvah, “Yahweh”), the Israelite prophets stop short of actually using this name and substitute the title הָאֱלֹהִים (haʾelohim, “the God”). This ambiguity may explain in part Jehoshaphat’s hesitancy and caution (vv. 7-8). He seems to doubt that the 400 are genuine prophets of the Lord.