2 Chronicles 17
The full text of 2 Chronicles 17 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Jehoshaphat his son succeeded him as king and strengthened himself against Israel.
2 He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah and put garrisons in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
3 The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals
4 but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel.
5 The LORD established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor.
6 His heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.
7 In the third year of his reign he sent his officials Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah to teach in the towns of Judah.
8 With them were certain Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah — and the priests Elishama and Jehoram.
9 They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the LORD; they went around to all the towns of Judah and taught the people.
10 The fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah, so that they did not go to war against Jehoshaphat.
11 Some Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts and silver as tribute, and the Arabs brought him flocks: seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred goats.
12 Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful; he built forts and store cities in Judah
13 and had large supplies in the towns of Judah. He also kept experienced fighting men in Jerusalem.
14 These are the military units responsible to him, listed according to their ancestral families: From Judah, commanders of units of 1,000: Adnah the commander, with 300,000 fighting men;
15 next, Jehohanan the commander, with 280,000;
16 next, Amasiah son of Zichri, who volunteered himself for the service of the LORD, with 200,000.
17 From Benjamin: Eliada, a valiant soldier, with 200,000 armed with bows and shields;
18 next, Jehozabad, with 180,000 armed for battle.
19 These were the men who served the king, besides those the king stationed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.
Translation notes (4)
- 2 Chronicles 17:3a The Masoretic Text reads darkhei David aviv, 'the ways of David his father', but several Hebrew manuscripts and the Septuagint lack the name David, yielding 'the earlier ways of his father', that is, Asa, whose reign began faithfully (2 Chronicles 14–15) but ended badly (2 Chronicles 16). Either reading holds up a founding standard from which later conduct declined.
- 2 Chronicles 17:6a Hebrew wayyigbah libbo (וַיִּגְבַּהּ לִבּוֹ), literally 'his heart was high', elsewhere describes pride (as in 2 Chronicles 26:16), but here signals courageous devotion. The removal of the high places stands in tension with 2 Chronicles 20:33, which states they were not taken away; the Chronicler may distinguish idolatrous shrines from unauthorized altars to the LORD.
- 2 Chronicles 17:9a Hebrew sefer torat YHWH, 'the Book of the Law of the LORD', identifies the written Torah as the curriculum of this teaching mission. The Chronicler does not specify its extent; whether it comprised the whole Pentateuch or a smaller legal corpus such as Deuteronomy cannot be determined from the text, though the phrase presumes an authoritative written law in Jehoshaphat's day.
- 2 Chronicles 17:14a The Hebrew word eleph, 'thousand', can also designate a military unit or clan contingent of variable size, and some scholars, notably George Mendenhall, have argued that such totals count units rather than individual soldiers. Read that way, Judah's muster is far smaller than 300,000 men, though the Masoretic Text itself simply gives the numeral.
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