2 Chronicles 14 is the fourteenth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

in the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

or of the second part of the

Books of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

. The book is compiled from older sources by an unknown person or group, designated by modern scholars as "the Chronicler", and had the final shape established in late fifth or fourth century BCE. This chapter belongs to the section focusing on the kingdom of Judah until its destruction by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar and the beginning of restoration under

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

of Persia (2 Chronicles 10 to 36). The focus of this chapter is the reign of

Asa ASA as an abbreviation or initialism may refer to: Biology and medicine * Accessible surface area of a biomolecule, accessible to a solvent * Acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin * Advanced surface ablation, refractive eye surgery * Anterior spinal ar ...

, king of Judah.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and is divided into 15 verses in Christian Bibles, but 14 verses in the Hebrew Bible with the following verse numbering comparison: This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

tradition, which includes the

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex ( he, כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא, romanized: , lit. 'Crown of Aleppo') is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the ...

(10th century), and

Codex Leningradensis The Leningrad Codex ( la, Codex Leningradensis [Leningrad Book]; he, כתב יד לנינגרד) is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colopho ...

(1008). There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

known as the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century), and

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century).

Old Testament references

*: 2 Chronicles 14 Berean Study Bible
Biblehub

Asa king of Judah (14:1–2)

The record of Asa's reign in the Chronicles (2 Chronicles 14–16) is almost three times longer than in 1 Kings (15:9–24), consisting of two distinct phases: * 34 years of fidelity * 7 years of infidelity (16:1–12). Although not free from fault (2 Chronicles 16:7, 10, 12), the evaluation of Asa is positive (verse 2), because overall "he did that which was good and right" (cf. 1 Kings 15:14).Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. '' Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible''
"2 Chronicles 14"
1871.

Verse 1

:''And Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David. Asa his son then reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet for ten years.'' * Parallel:

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologian ...

2 Chronicles 14
Accessed 28 April 2019 * "City of David" refers to the "fortress of Zion" in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem (cf. 2 Samuel 5:7).

Asa’s religious accomplishments (14:3–8)

This section deals with three themes: * (1) Asa's cultic reforms (verses 3–5); * (2) Asa's building projects verses 6–7); * (3) Asa's reinforcement of the army (verse 8). The Chronicles omits the abolition of the ''hierodules'' ("male prostitutes") and all edifices recorded in 1 Kings 15:12.

War between Asa and Zerah the Ethiopian (14:9–15)

This section records a sacral war (cf. 2 Chronicles 13:2–20), where the outnumbered army of Judah faced a strong enemy, but when they cried to God (in accordance to 2 Chronicles 6:34–35), they achieved a victory and took abundant booty (verses 12–15). The phrase "cities around Gerar" (verse 14) and the words "tents ... sheep... goats ...camels" indicate that the defeated enemy was an "Arab-Edomite tribe".

Verse 9

:''Then Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, and he came to Mareshah.''

NKJV The New King James Version (NKJV) is an English translation of the Bible. The complete NKJV Bible was published in 1982 by Thomas Nelson, now HarperCollins. The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the origin ...

*"Ethiopian": from Hebrew: ''ha-Kûshî'', "Cushite" (cf. 1 Chronicles 1:8 for "Cush"). Ellicott, C. J. (Ed.) (1905)
''Ellicott's Bible Commentary for English Readers''. 2 Chronicles 14.
London : Cassell and Company, Limited,

905-1906 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the Brahmi numerals, beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshat ...

Online version: (OCoLC) 929526708. Accessed 28 April 2019. *"Zerah the Ethiopian": has been identified with Osorchon II (hieroglyphic: ''Uasarken''), who succeeded "Shishak" (who plundered Jerusalem at the time of Rehoboam; cf. 2 ) as the king of Egypt. His army probably consisted of Edomite-Arab Nomads, because Zerah was also an Edomite name in the Hebrew Bible, whereas "Cush" is connected with "Midian" in Habakkuk 3:7, not exclusively referring to Egypt/Ethiopia. * "Mareshah" located southwest of Jerusalem, was one of the southern cities fortified by Rehoboam, becoming a center for Edomite (Idumean) slave trade according to the Zenon papyri (261–252 BCE) (cf 1 Chronicles 4:39–43; 5:10).

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

translations: *
Divrei Hayamim II - II Chronicles - Chapter 14 (Judaica Press)
in Hebrew and English translation ith Rashi's commentary">Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentaryat Chabad.org *

translations: *
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English) *
2 Chronicles Chapter 14. Bible Gateway
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