2 Chronicles 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles the Old Testament in the Christian Bible or of the second part of the Books of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible. 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 of Persia (2 Chronicles 10 to 36). The focus of this chapter is the reign of Abijah, king of Judah.
This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and is divided into 22 verses in Christian Bibles, but 23 verses in the Hebrew Bible with the following verse numbering comparison:[1]
| 14:1 | 13:23 | |
| 14:2-15 | 14:1-14 |
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B;
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The information about Abijah's reign over Judah contains no judgement (unlike the negative judgement in 1 Kings), which is otherwise only given to Jehoahaz (2 Chronicles 36:1–4), and a report of his (one and only) victory over Jeroboam (not recorded in 1 Kings), preceded by a sermon on the mount which portrays the basic relationship between the northern and southern kingdoms.
In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah.[3]
He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.
And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.[7]
This section consists of preparations for war, a lengthy speech, and the description of an actual battle between the army of Abijah (kingdom of Judah) and that of Jeroboam (northern kingdom of Israel). Abijah's army (400,000 'valiant warriors ... picked men') was only half the size of Jeroboam's (800,000 'picked mighty warriors'—a number corresponding to 2 Samuel 24:9 and David's census), suggesting that on human terms, northern Israel should be victorious. Still, Abijah made a 'stylistically and rhetorically artistic speech' (verses 5–12), calling on the people of the northern kingdom to return to the legitimate rule of the David's line (YHWH's elect), the legitimate office of priesthood in Jerusalem, and the legitimate (and pure) worship in the temple of Jerusalem, from the idolatrous worship of Jeroboam with his own priests serving that of 'no gods' (Hebrew: לא אלהים, lo elohim; cf. Hosea 8:6). The 'enumeration of Judean orthopraxis' by Abijah describes the Temple worship during the period of United Monarchy (1 Chronicles 15–16; 23–29; 2 Chronicles 2–4) with reference to the tabernacle worship at the time of Moses (Exodus 25:30-40; 29:1-9, 38-42; 30:7-10; Leviticus 24:3-9; Numbers 8:2-4; 28:3-8). The battle had the elements of tactics by the Israelites, who prepared an ambush, and the holy warfare by the Judeans, for whom the Lord acted to strike down Jeroboam's troops, enabling the Judeans to kill 500,000 chosen men of Israel (verses 16–17).
Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel:[11]
And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.[12]
. Michael D. Coogan . The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 . Coogan . Michael David . Marc Zvi . Brettler . Carol Ann . Newsom . Pheme . Perkins . Augmented 3rd . Oxford University Press . 2007 . 9780195288810 .