Chapter Thirteen

1–22. War of Abijah king of Judah with Jeroboam I of Israel.

2 Chronicles 13:1. In the eighteenth year of Jeroboam’s reign, Abijah became king over Judah. 2 Chronicles 13:2. He reigned three years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Micaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. See (1 Kgs 15:1-2) (“Commentary on the Bible”, vol. II, pp. 437–438) and (2 Chr 11:20) (compare the note to that passage, namely “Commentary on the Bible”, vol. III, p. 117).

2 Chronicles 13:2. He reigned three years in Jerusalem; his mother’s name was Micaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. 2 Chronicles 13:3. And Abijah went out to war with an army of brave men, four hundred thousand men picked for valor; and Jeroboam arrayed against him eight hundred thousand men who were also picked men and brave warriors. “Whereas in the book of Kings only a general remark is made about Abijah, that he imitated the sins of his father (1 Kgs 15:3), the books of Chronicles, in place of this general characterization, present a documentary account of the war of Abijah with Jeroboam, of his conquest of some Israelite cities, and, as is the custom, add testimony concerning the royal genealogy” (Prof. Olesnitsky, “State Chronicle of the Kings of Judah”, Proceedings of the Kiev Theological Academy, 1879, No. 8, p. 424). The historical reliability of the account in 2 Chronicles concerning the war of considerable dimensions between the king of Judah and the king of Israel is not open to doubt, especially since (1 Kgs 15:6) briefly mentions this war as well. Certain details in the 2 Chronicles account of the war raise questions. Thus, the size of both opposing forces—400,000 from Judah and 800,000 from Israel (verse 3, cf. (2 Chr 25:5-6)) and especially the number of those killed in Israel (v. 17)—500,000 (half a million!)—seem greatly exaggerated and could have arisen from scribal error, for example they could have been transferred here from (2 Sam 24:9) (the census under David) or from (2 Chr 25:5-6) (the war of Amaziah of Judah with Joash of Israel). At any rate, the Hebrew manuscript 180 in Kennicott’s collection reads fourteen thousand instead of “four hundred thousand”; correspondingly, the other numbers shown in the text could have been smaller.

2 Chronicles 13:4. And Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said: Hear me, O Jeroboam and all Israel! 2 Chronicles 13:5. Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? 2 Chronicles 13:6. Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his master. 2 Chronicles 13:7. And men, base and worthless men, gathered themselves together with him and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon; and Rehoboam was young and of tender heart and could not stand against them. 2 Chronicles 13:8. And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and you have with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made as gods for you. 2 Chronicles 13:9. Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams becomes a priest of these false gods. 2 Chronicles 13:10. But we have the Lord our God; we have not forsaken Him, and priests who serve the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties. 2 Chronicles 13:11. And they burn to the Lord every morning and every evening whole offerings and fragrant incense; and the showbread is set in order on the clean table, and the golden lampstand and its lamps are lit every evening, because we keep the ordinance of the Lord our God, but you have forsaken Him. 2 Chronicles 13:12. And behold, God is with us at our head, and His priests and the trumpets of alarm to sound the alarm against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the Lord God of your fathers, for you cannot prevail. Some commentators note the dissimilar character of Abijah’s speech in its first part (verses 5–8) and in its second (verses 9–12), in which in the first Abijah speaks as a king—descendant of David, but in the second as a zealous champion of the cult of Jehovah and all the ritual prescribed in the Law; the latter they find particularly perplexing because, according to (1 Kgs 15:3), Abijah was an impious king, not averse to turning to pagan cults. Finally, they note the unnaturalness of the speech itself of the king of Judah to the hostile army, which had the appearance of a kind of proclamation, as well as the setting of the speech from the top of a mountain. These difficulties, which have a certain measure of validity, however, do not belong to the class of inexplicable: the sacred writer could regard Abijah here as the (political) head of the Kingdom of Judah, which, in contrast to the Kingdom of Israel, which introduced the unlawful cult of calves, remained faithful to the true worship of Jehovah, which was performed in Jerusalem in Solomon’s temple. Mount Zemaraim (LXX: Σομόρων Σομαρίμ, Slavonic: “Somori”, Vulgate: Somenon) in the hills of Ephraim (verse 4) probably lay near the city of this name in the territory of Benjamin ((Josh 18:22), compare “Commentary on the Bible”, vol. II, p. 110); the mention of this mountain among the hills of Ephraim and the path by which Abijah pursued Jeroboam shows that it lay on the border between the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin (now Sumra, Onomasticon, 861), and the Israelite army was stationed to the east of it (see Prof. Gulyaev, “Historical Books”, p. 524). Covenant of salt (LXX: διαθήκη ἀλός, Vulgate: pactum salis), meaning eternal (as in Church Slavonic and Russian) appears in the Bible twice: here and in (Num 18:19) (compare (Lev 2:13)), where the eternal covenant of Jehovah with the priesthood of God’s people is spoken of (compare “Commentary on the Bible”, vol. I, p. 549). In both cases the meaning of the figurative expression can be explained from the property of salt, which preserves food from decay. Arabs even now, when making covenants with each other, confirm them by partaking of bread and salt (see Prof. Gulyaev, cited loc.). Thus “salt” served as a fitting symbol of the covenant of Jehovah with the people of Israel, whereas the general expression of this covenant was found in the sacrifice, hence the mandatory use of salt with every sacrifice (Lev 2:13). In particular, this covenant was expressed in the divinely appointed priesthood (Num 18:19) and in the theocratic royal power (2 Chr 13:5). Rehoboam is called (verse 7) “young and of tender heart” not on account of his actual youth (he was already 41 years old upon assuming the throne) (1 Kgs 14:21; 2 Chr 12:13), but on account of his inexperience in government (see “Commentary on the Bible”, vol. II, p. 424). Concerning the driving out of the priests of the Lord (verse 9) from the Kingdom of Israel, see (2 Chr 11:14-15) (compare (1 Kgs 12:31)). Regarding the appointing of new priests, Abijah reproves the Israelites not for the illegality of the method of appointing priests—the method of consecration indicated here does not differ from that indicated in (Exod 29:1-9) and (Lev 8:1-13) for the consecration of priests of the line of Aaron—but for the reason that in the ten-tribe kingdom the consecration was performed not in the name of Jehovah and those consecrated were not from the chosen line of Aaron and generally not from the tribe of Levi ((1 Kgs 12:31); compare further verse 10). In contrast to the Israelite apostasy from Jehovah, the Kingdom of Judah remained faithful to Him in its pure and complete cult and all its details: the divinely appointed priesthood, properly fulfilling its duties, the normal and continuous performance of worship according to the ordinance of Moses, according to the law of Jehovah (compare verses 11–12 with (Exod 27:21; Lev 8:35; Num 10:9; Deut 20:4)).

2 Chronicles 13:13. But Jeroboam sent an ambush around to come behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 2 Chronicles 13:14. And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was in front of them and behind them; and they cried to the Lord, and the priests blew the trumpets. 2 Chronicles 13:15. Then the men of Judah raised the war cry. And when the men of Judah raised the cry, God defeated Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 2 Chronicles 13:16. And the sons of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. 2 Chronicles 13:17. And Abijah and his people inflicted a great slaughter upon them; and five hundred thousand men of Israel fell, all slain. 2 Chronicles 13:18. Thus the men of Israel were humbled at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers. The favorable outcome of the war for the Judeans was wholly the consequence of their faithfulness to Jehovah and their unshakeable trust in Him. In the picture of victory, according to Prof. Olesnitsky (“The Old Testament Temple”, p. 424), “there is something reminiscent of the ancient chronicle of the book of Joshua (verse 15): indeed, the sound of the priests’ trumpets (verse 14; compare (Num 10:9)) and the victorious shouts of the Judean army closely recall the circumstances of the fall of Jericho (Josh 6:3-20)”.

2 Chronicles 13:19. And Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took cities from him: Bethel with its villages, and Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephron with its villages. Concerning the location of Bethel ((Gen 28:19) and others) see “Commentary on the Bible”, vol. I, p. 166 and vol. II, pp. 45 and 427. The capture by the Judeans of Bethel, the center of Jeroboam’s cult of calves (1 Kgs 12:29), was clear testimony to both warring sides of the godlessness of this cult. Jeshanah (compare 1 Sam 7:12) is a city of the tribe of Judah; now, according to the supposition of C. Hannay, Ain-Sinia, about 5 versts to the north of Beitin, the ancient Bethel. Ephron or Ephraim ((John 11:54); Onomasticon, 459 and 183) is a city of the tribe of Benjamin to the northeast of Bethel (according to Eusebius, 5 miles from Bethel and 20 from Jerusalem); now et-Tayyibeh. Together with the cities their dependent villages (from the Hebrew “daughters”) of each were taken (compare Josh 15:45).

2 Chronicles 13:22. The rest of the acts of Abijah, and his way and his words, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo. Abijah reigned less than three years (“Commentary on the Bible”, vol. II, pp. 437–438). Concerning the chronological dates of the peace and the war of King Asa with Baasha (2 Chr 15:19), see the note to (1 Kgs 15:16-22). “Commentary on the Bible”, vol. II. The events of Asa’s reign, which are told in 3 Kings (1 Kgs 15:9-24) in a few verses, in 2 Chronicles comprise three entire chapters (XIV–XVI), due to the addition of factually documentary material. * * * “It is impossible on the basis of (2 Chr 13:11), which speaks of the lighting of one lampstand, to draw the conclusion that only one of the ten lampstands was used in worship; the mention of one lampstand here is made in relation to the law of Moses, which for the period of the tabernacle prescribed the use of one lampstand, but did not forbid the multiplication of lampstands with the further development of the solemnity of worship” (Prof. A.A. Olesnitsky, “The Old Testament Temple”, p. 318).