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2 Chronicles 13

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Abijah Reigns and War Begins 1–3

1
Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.
2
He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ​
3
And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, being mighty men of valour. ​

Abijah’s Appeal to Israel 4–12

4
And Abijah stood up upon mount Zemaraim, which is in mount Ephraim, and said, Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel; ​
5
Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? ​
6
Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord.
7
And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. ​
8
And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. ​
9
Have ye not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods. ​
10
But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:
11
And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.
12
And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper. ​

Divine Intervention in the Battle 13–18

13
But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them: so they were before Judah, and the ambushment was behind them. ​
14
And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. ​
15
Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. ​
16
And the children of Israel fled before Judah: and God delivered them into their hand.
17
And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. ​
18
Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD God of their fathers. ​

Abijah's Victory and Conclusion 19–22

19
And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof. ​
20
Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died. ​
21
But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives, and begat twenty and two sons, and sixteen daughters.
22
And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Chronicles 13

Verse 2

Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah — Abijah's mother is 'Maachah the daughter of Absalom' in 11:20 and 1 Kings 15:2, and Michaiah, Uriel's daughter, here. The two are taken as one woman, Absalom's granddaughter through Tamar (2 Sam 14:27). Kings calls the king 'Abijam' (1 Kings 15:1) and ends his account with 'there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam' (1 Kings 15:7).

Verse 3

four hundred thousand chosen men — The same word, bachar (picked, chosen), describes both armies: four hundred thousand of Judah and eight hundred thousand of Jeroboam, against the one hundred and eighty thousand Rehoboam mustered in 11:1. The two-to-one odds are the setting for v.15, 'God smote Jeroboam and all Israel'.

Verse 4

mount Zemaraim — Zemaraim is listed beside Bethel among the towns of Benjamin (Josh 18:22), and here it lies 'in mount Ephraim', the hill country. Abijah speaks from the height, as Jotham spoke to Shechem from the top of Gerizim (Judg 9:7), and his address to 'Jeroboam, and all Israel' runs through v.12.

Verse 5

a covenant of salt — The only other 'covenant of salt' in Scripture is Num 18:19, the priests' portion given 'for ever'. Salt was never to be lacking from an offering, 'the salt of the covenant of thy God' (Lev 2:13), so the phrase marks a covenant that does not lapse. The promise to David is in 2 Sam 7:16: 'thy throne shall be established for ever.'

Verse 7

the children of Belial — Beliyyaal is worthlessness, a name for lawless men. 'Vain men' (reqim) is 'empty' men, as in Judg 9:4, where Abimelech hired 'vain and light persons'. Rehoboam is called 'young' (na'ar) and 'tenderhearted' (literally tender of heart), words for his inexperience, as Solomon, taking the throne, called himself 'a little child' (1 Kings 3:7).

Verse 8

the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David — The phrase matches 1 Chr 28:5, where Solomon is chosen 'to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel'. Against it Abijah sets 'golden calves', which Jeroboam made 'for gods' (elohim) at Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28–29).

Verse 9

a young bullock and seven rams — 'Consecrate' is literally 'fill the hand', the Hebrew idiom for ordaining a priest (Ex 29:35). The law asked 'one young bullock, and two rams without blemish' (Ex 29:1). Under Jeroboam 'whosoever would' was consecrated one of the priests of the high places (1 Kings 13:33), and Abijah says they serve 'no gods'.

Verse 12

his priests with sounding trumpets — The trumpets are those of Num 10:8–9, to be blown by 'the sons of Aaron' when Israel goes to war. 'Captain' is rosh, head, so God himself leads Judah, and the warning follows: 'fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.'

Verse 13

an ambushment… behind them — Ma'arab is a lying in wait, the word for Joshua's ambush at Ai, 'between Bethel and Ai' (Josh 8:9). Jeroboam's men came about behind Judah, which put an army on both sides, as v.14 reports: 'the battle was before and behind.'

Verse 14

they cried unto the LORD — Tsa'aq is the cry of those in distress, as Israel's at the sea (Ex 14:10). Asa's own cry in 14:11 is qara, to call upon the LORD. With it the priests sounded the trumpets, and Num 10:9 attaches a promise to that sound: 'ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.'

Verse 15

God smote Jeroboam and all Israel — Nagaph, to strike, is the verb of the LORD's own blow. It returns in v.20, 'the LORD struck him', and in 14:12, 'the LORD smote the Ethiopians'. 'Shouted' is rua, the verb rendered 'cry alarm' in v.12, so the shout of Judah answers the trumpets of the priests.

Verse 17

five hundred thousand chosen men — Of the eight hundred thousand Jeroboam set in array (v.3), this leaves three hundred thousand. 'Slain' (chalal) is literally pierced through, and the 'great slaughter' (makkah) is a striking, from the same root as the verb 'slew'. The reason is given in v.18.

Verse 18

they relied upon the LORD — Sha'an is to lean upon. It is the verb of Asa's prayer, 'we rest on thee' (14:11), and of Hanani's later rebuke, 'because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand' (16:8). 'Brought under' is kana, the verb translated 'humbled themselves' in 12:6.

Verse 19

Bethel with the towns thereof — Bethel was where Jeroboam had set one of the golden calves (1 Kings 12:29). It is the first of three cities taken, with Jeshanah, which is named nowhere else, and Ephrain. Asa afterwards puts away idols out of 'the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim' (15:8).

Verse 20

the LORD struck him, and he died — The wording matches 1 Sam 25:38, 'the LORD smote Nabal, that he died'. Jeroboam reigned twenty-two years (1 Kings 14:20) and Asa began in his twentieth (1 Kings 15:9), so the death came after Abijah's three years had ended.

Verse 22

the story of the prophet Iddo — 'Story' is midrash, an account or study, found only here and at 24:27, 'the story of the book of the kings'. Iddo the seer also wrote 'visions' about Solomon's reign (9:29) and, with Shemaiah, about Rehoboam's (12:15). 1 Kings 15:7 points to 'the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah'.