2 Chronicles 17 is the seventeenth 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 (and the next ones until chapter 20) is the reign of

Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat (; alternatively spelled Jehosaphat, Josaphat, or Yehoshafat; ; el, Ἰωσαφάτ, Iosafát; la, Josaphat), according to 1 Kings 22:41, was the son of Asa, and the fourth king of the Kingdom of Judah, in succession to his father ...

, 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 19 verses.

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 17 Berean Study Bible
Biblehub *:
Biblehub *: ; *: *: *: ; *: ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; *:

Analysis

This chapter divides into three parts: two general judgements on Jehoshaphat's rule (17:1–6, 10–19) and one report on teaching the law to the people (17:7–9). The first judgement (verses 1–6) focuses on domestic politics and religion, wheres the second (verses 10–19) concerns with foreign and military policy. Both 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles commend his reign (1 Kings 22:43–44; 2 Chronicles 16:3–4; 20:32–33), but the Chronicles provide more information not recorded in 1 Kings.

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (17:1–6)

Jehoshaphat's reign was marked with peace, especially there were no conflicts with the northern kingdom (verse 1), drawing parallel with Solomon. Despite his successes as ruler—honored and wealthy (verse 5)—Jehoshaphat remained humble and God-fearing.

Jehoshaphat’s educational plan (17:7–9)

The education of all people of Judah on the book of the law of the Lord (Deuteronomy 17:18–20; 2 Kings 22:8–13) was performed by the royal officers, Levites, and priests (in that particular order), reflecting the growing importance of the Torah teaching and the Levites as teachers in postexilic era (Ezra 7:25;

Nehemiah 8 Nehemiah 8 is the eighth chapter of the Book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, or the 18th chapter of the book of Ezra–Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, which treats the book of Ezra and the book of Nehemiah as one book. Jew ...

Verse 7

:''Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah.'' *Cross references: ; *“The third year": in Thiele's chronology is between September 867 and 866 BCE.Thiele 1951, p. 96 Jehoshaphat became coregent, while his father Asa became sick, in September 873 BCE and ruled alone as king between September 870 and April 869 BCE. *"Benhail" means "son of power"

Jehoshaphat’s military power (17:10–19)

This section contains a second summarizing description of Jehoshaphat's reign from the perspective of foreign and military policy, with all Judah and the lands around Judah were struck by fear of the Lord (verse 10) and paid tributes to the king (verse 11; cf. 2 Chronicles 27:5). The army's composition (verses 14–19) were closely linked with the construction of forts, differentiating between army divisions from Judah and Benjamin (less than Judah and equipped with light armour consisting of bows and shields).

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * Thiele, Edwin R., ''

The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings ''The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings'' (1951) is a reconstruction of the chronology of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah by Edwin R. Thiele. The book was originally his doctoral dissertation and is widely regarded as the definitive work on ...

'', (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). *

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 17 (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 17. Bible Gateway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chronicles 2 17 Second Book of Chronicles chapters">17