translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET textual note

text: The Hebrew text has “Ammonites,” but they are mentioned just before this. Most translations, following some mss of the LXX, read “Meunites” (see 1 Chr 26:7 ; so NASB, NIV, NRSV).


label: NET translator note

text: Heb “they”; the implied referent (messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “the Sea”; in context (“from the direction of Edom”) this must refer to the Dead Sea, which has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NEB, NLT).


text: Most Hebrew mss read “from Aram” (i.e., Syria), but this must be a corruption of “Edom,” which is the reading of the LXX and Vulgate.


text: Heb “and he set his face to seek the Lord .”


text: The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the people of Judah.


text: Heb “to seek from the Lord .” The verb here ( בָּקַשׁ , baqash ) is different from the one translated “seek” in v. 3 ( דָּרַשׁ , darash ).


text: Heb “to seek the Lord .” The verb here ( ָָבּקַשׁ , baqash ) is different from the one translated “seek” in v. 3 ( דָּרַשׁ , darash ).


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Heb “fathers” (also in v. 33 ).


text: Heb “are you not God in heaven?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “yes,” resulting in the positive statement “you are the God who lives in heaven” employed in the translation.


text: Heb “did you not drive out?” This is another rhetorical question which expects a positive response; see the note on the word “heaven” in the previous verse.


text: Heb “permanently.”


text: Or perhaps “your covenantal partner.” See Isa 41:8 .


text: Or “sanctuary.”


text: Heb “for your name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “to honor you ” ).


text: Heb “sword.”


text: Heb “for your name is in this house.” The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name. In this case the temple is referred to as a “house” where the Lord himself can reside.


text: Or “so that you may.”


text: Heb “now, look, the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir.”


text: Heb “whom you did not allow Israel to enter when they came from the land of Egypt.”


text: Heb “for [or “indeed”] upon you are our eyes.”


text: Heb “Judah.” The words “the men of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the men of Judah.


text: Heb “all Judah.” The words “you people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the people of Judah. Unlike the previous instance in v. 13 where infants, wives, and children are mentioned separately, this reference appears to include them all.


text: Or perhaps “don’t get discouraged.”


text: Heb “look.”


text: Heb “the deliverance of the Lord with you.”


text: Heb “all Judah.” The words “you people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See the note on the word “Judah” in v. 15 .


text: Heb “to worship the Lord .”


text: Heb “arose to praise the Lord God of Israel with a very loud voice.”


text: Heb “O Judah.” The words “you people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See the note on the word “Judah” in v. 15 .


text: There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The Hiphil verb form הַאֲמִינוּ ( ha ’ aminu , “trust”) and the Niphal form תֵאָמֵנוּ ( te ’ amenu , “you will be safe”) come from the same verbal root ( אָמַן , ’ aman ).


text: Or “consulted.”


text: Or “is eternal.”


text: Heb “set ambushers against.” This is probably idiomatic here for launching a surprise attack.


text: Heb “the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir.”


text: Heb “the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the residents of Mount Seir.”


text: Heb “to annihilate and to destroy.”


text: Heb “residents.”


text: Heb “they helped, each one his fellow, for destruction.” The verb עָזַר (’ azar ), traditionally understood as the well-attested verb meaning “to help,” is an odd fit in this context. It is possible that it is from a homonymic root, perhaps meaning to “attack.” This root is attested in Ugaritic in a nominal form meaning “young man, warrior, hero.” For a discussion of the proposed root, see HALOT 811 s.v. II עזר .


text: Heb “turned toward.”


text: Or “army.”


text: The MT reads פְגָרִים ( fÿgarim , “corpses”), but this seems odd among a list of plunder. A few medieval Hebrew mss and the Vulgate read בְגָדִים ( vÿgadim , “clothing”), which fits the context much better.


text: Heb “and they snatched away for themselves so that there was no carrying away.”


text: Heb “and they were three days looting the plunder for it was great.”


text: Heb “for there.”


text: Heb “and the terror of God [or “a great terror”] was upon all the kingdoms of the lands.” It is uncertain if אֱלֹהִים (’ elohim ) should be understood as a proper name here (“God”), or taken in an idiomatic superlative sense.


text: Heb “and his God gave him rest all around.”


text: For location see Map5-B1 ; Map6-F3 ; Map7-E2 ; Map8-F2 ; Map10-B3 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .


text: Heb “he walked in the way of his father Asa and did not turn from it, doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord .”


text: Heb “and still the people did not set their heart[s] on the God of their fathers.”


text: Heb “the rest of the events of Jehoshaphat, the former and the latter, look, they are written in the records of Jehu son of Hanani, which are taken up in the scroll of the kings of Israel.”


text: Heb “he.” The pronoun has been translated as a relative pronoun for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “he made an alliance with him.”


text: Heb “make ships to go to Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish; a “Tarshish-ship” was essentially a large seagoing merchant ship.


text: Heb “when.”


text: Heb “to go to Tarshish.”