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Selected Verse: 2 Chronicles 15:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
2Ch 15:1	Strong Concordance	And the Spirit [07307] of God [0430] came upon Azariah [05838] the son [01121] of Oded [05752]:
	King James	And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
JUDAH MAKES A SOLEMN COVENANT WITH GOD. (Ch2 15:1-15) Azariah the son of Oded--This prophet, who is mentioned nowhere else, appears at this stage of the sacred story in the discharge of an interesting mission. He went to meet Asa, as he was returning from his victorious pursuit of the Ethiopians, and the congratulatory address here recorded was publicly made to the king in presence of his army.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

JUDAH MAKES A SOLEMN COVENANT WITH GOD. (Ch2 15:1-15)

Azariah the son of Oded--This prophet, who is mentioned nowhere else, appears at this stage of the sacred story in the discharge of an interesting mission. He went to meet Asa, as he was returning from his victorious pursuit of the Ethiopians, and the congratulatory address here recorded was publicly made to the king in presence of his army.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Oded is by some identified with Iddo, the prophet and historian of the two preceding reigns. In the Hebrew the two names differ very slightly.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The prophet Azariah's exhortation to faithful cleaving to the Lord, and the solemn renewal of the covenant. - Ch2 15:1-7. The prophet's speech. The prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, is mentioned only here. The conjecture of some of the older theologians, that עודד was the same person as עדּו (Ch2 12:15; Ch2 9:29), has no tenable foundation. Azariah went to meet the king and people returning from the war (לפני יצא, he went forth in the presence of Asa, i.e., coming before him; cf. Ch2 28:9; Ch1 12:17; Ch1 14:8). "Jahve was with you (has given you the victory), because ye were with Him (held to Him)." Hence the general lesson is drawn: If ye seek Him, He will be found of you (cf. Jer 29:13); and if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you (cf. Ch2 24:20; Ch2 12:5). To impress the people deeply with this truth, Azariah draws a powerful picture of the times when a people is forsaken by God, when peace and security in social intercourse disappear, and the terrors of civil war prevail. Opinions as to the reference intended in this portrayal of the dreadful results of defection from God have been from antiquity very much divided. Tremell. and Grot., following the Targ., take the words to refer to the condition of the kingdom of the ten tribes at that time; others think they refer to the past, either to the immediately preceding period of the kingdom of Judah, to the times of the defection under Rehoboam and Abijah, before Asa had suppressed idolatry (Syr., Arab., Raschi), or to the more distant past, the anarchic period of the judges, from Joshua's death, and that of the high priest Phinehas, until Eli and Samuel's reformation (so especially Vitringa, de synag. vet. p. 335ff.). Finally, still others (Luther, Clericus, Budd., etc.) interpret the words as prophetic, as descriptive of the future, and make them refer either to the unquiet times under the later idolatrous kings, to the times of the Assyrian or Chaldean exile (Kimchi), or to the condition of the Jews since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans up till the present day. Of these three views, the first, that which takes the reference to be to the present, i.e., the state of the kingdom of the ten tribes at that time, is decidedly erroneous; for during the first thirty years of the existence of that kingdom no such anarchic state of things existed as is portrayed in vv. 5 and 6, and still less could a return of the ten tribes to the Lord at that time be spoken of (Ch2 15:4). It is more difficult to decide between the two other main views. The grounds which Vitr., Ramb., Berth. adduce in support of the reference to the times of the judges are not convincing; for the contents and form (Ch2 15:4) do not prove that here something is asserted which has been confirmed by history, and still less is it manifest (Ch2 15:5) that past times are pointed to. Whether the statement about the return to Jahve in the times of trouble (Ch2 15:4) refers to the past or to the future, depends upon whether the past or future is spoken of in Ch2 15:3. But the unquiet condition of things portrayed in Ch2 15:5 corresponds partly to various times in the period of the judges; and if, with Vitr., we compare the general characteristics of the religious condition of the times of the judges (Jdg 2:10.), we might certainly say that Israel in those times was without אמת אלהי, as it again and again forsook Jahve and served the Baals. And moreover, several examples of the oppression of Israel portrayed in Ch2 15:5 and Ch2 15:6 may be adduced from the time of the judges. Yet the words in Ch2 15:6, even when their rhetorical character is taken into account, are too strong for the anarchic state of things during the period of the judges, and the internal struggles of that time (Jdg 12:1-6 and 2 Chron 20). And consequently, although Vitr. and Ramb. think that a reference to experiences already past, and oppressions already lived through, would have made a much deeper impression than pointing forward to future periods of oppression, yet Ramb. himself remarks, nihilominus tamen in saeculis Asae imperium antegressis vix ullum tempus post ingressum in terram Canaan et constitutam rempubl. Israel. posse ostendi, cui omnia criteria hujus orationis propheticae omni ex parte et secundum omnia pondera verbis insita conveniant. But, without doubt, the omission of any definite statement of the time in Ch2 15:3 is decisive against the exclusive reference of this speech to the past, and to the period of the judges. The verse contains no verb, so that the words may just as well refer to the past as to the future. The prophet has not stated the time definitely, because he was giving utterance to truths which have force at all times, (Note: As Ramb. therefore rightly remarks, "Vatem videri consulto abstinuisse a determinatione temporis, ut vela sensui quam amplissime panderentur, verbaque omnibus temporum periodis adplicari possent, in quibus criteria hic recensita adpareant.") and which Israel had had experience of already in the time of the judges, but would have much deeper experience of in the future. We must take the words in this general sense, and supply neither a preterite nor a future in Ch2 15:3, neither fuerant nor erunt, but must express the first clause by the present in English: "Many days are for Israel (i.e., Israel lives many days) without the true God, and without teaching priests, and without law." רבּים ימים is not accus. of time (Berth.), but the subject of the sentence; and אלה ללא is not subject - "during many days there was to the people Israel no true God" (Berth.), - but predicate, while ל expresses the condition into which anything comes, and לא forms part of the following noun: Days for Israel for having not a true God. ללא differs from בּלא, "without," just as ל differs from בּ; the latter expressing the being in a condition, the former the coming into it. On אמת אלהי, cf. Jer 10:10. אמת כּהן is not to be limited to the high priest, for it refers to the priests in general, whose office it was to teach the people law and justice (Lev 10:10; Deu 33:10). The accent is upon the predicates אמת and אמת. Israel had indeed Elohim, but not the true God, and also priests, but not priests who attended to their office, who watched over the fulfilment of the law; and so they had no תּורה, notwithstanding the book of the law composed by Moses.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The prophet Azariah's exhortation to faithful cleaving to the Lord, and the solemn renewal of the covenant. - Ch2 15:1-7. The prophet's speech. The prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, is mentioned only here. The conjecture of some of the older theologians, that עודד was the same person as עדּו (Ch2 12:15; Ch2 9:29), has no tenable foundation. Azariah went to meet the king and people returning from the war (לפני יצא, he went forth in the presence of Asa, i.e., coming before him; cf. Ch2 28:9; Ch1 12:17; Ch1 14:8). "Jahve was with you (has given you the victory), because ye were with Him (held to Him)." Hence the general lesson is drawn: If ye seek Him, He will be found of you (cf. Jer 29:13); and if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you (cf. Ch2 24:20; Ch2 12:5). To impress the people deeply with this truth, Azariah draws a powerful picture of the times when a people is forsaken by God, when peace and security in social intercourse disappear, and the terrors of civil war prevail. Opinions as to the reference intended in this portrayal of the dreadful results of defection from God have been from antiquity very much divided. Tremell. and Grot., following the Targ., take the words to refer to the condition of the kingdom of the ten tribes at that time; others think they refer to the past, either to the immediately preceding period of the kingdom of Judah, to the times of the defection under Rehoboam and Abijah, before Asa had suppressed idolatry (Syr., Arab., Raschi), or to the more distant past, the anarchic period of the judges, from Joshua's death, and that of the high priest Phinehas, until Eli and Samuel's reformation (so especially Vitringa, de synag. vet. p. 335ff.). Finally, still others (Luther, Clericus, Budd., etc.) interpret the words as prophetic, as descriptive of the future, and make them refer either to the unquiet times under the later idolatrous kings, to the times of the Assyrian or Chaldean exile (Kimchi), or to the condition of the Jews since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans up till the present day. Of these three views, the first, that which takes the reference to be to the present, i.e., the state of the kingdom of the ten tribes at that time, is decidedly erroneous; for during the first thirty years of the existence of that kingdom no such anarchic state of things existed as is portrayed in vv. 5 and 6, and still less could a return of the ten tribes to the Lord at that time be spoken of (Ch2 15:4). It is more difficult to decide between the two other main views. The grounds which Vitr., Ramb., Berth. adduce in support of the reference to the times of the judges are not convincing; for the contents and form (Ch2 15:4) do not prove that here something is asserted which has been confirmed by history, and still less is it manifest (Ch2 15:5) that past times are pointed to. Whether the statement about the return to Jahve in the times of trouble (Ch2 15:4) refers to the past or to the future, depends upon whether the past or future is spoken of in Ch2 15:3. But the unquiet condition of things portrayed in Ch2 15:5 corresponds partly to various times in the period of the judges; and if, with Vitr., we compare the general characteristics of the religious condition of the times of the judges (Jdg 2:10.), we might certainly say that Israel in those times was without אמת אלהי, as it again and again forsook Jahve and served the Baals. And moreover, several examples of the oppression of Israel portrayed in Ch2 15:5 and Ch2 15:6 may be adduced from the time of the judges. Yet the words in Ch2 15:6, even when their rhetorical character is taken into account, are too strong for the anarchic state of things during the period of the judges, and the internal struggles of that time (Jdg 12:1-6 and 2 Chron 20). And consequently, although Vitr. and Ramb. think that a reference to experiences already past, and oppressions already lived through, would have made a much deeper impression than pointing forward to future periods of oppression, yet Ramb. himself remarks, nihilominus tamen in saeculis Asae imperium antegressis vix ullum tempus post ingressum in terram Canaan et constitutam rempubl. Israel. posse ostendi, cui omnia criteria hujus orationis propheticae omni ex parte et secundum omnia pondera verbis insita conveniant. But, without doubt, the omission of any definite statement of the time in Ch2 15:3 is decisive against the exclusive reference of this speech to the past, and to the period of the judges. The verse contains no verb, so that the words may just as well refer to the past as to the future. The prophet has not stated the time definitely, because he was giving utterance to truths which have force at all times,

(Note: As Ramb. therefore rightly remarks, "Vatem videri consulto abstinuisse a determinatione temporis, ut vela sensui quam amplissime panderentur, verbaque omnibus temporum periodis adplicari possent, in quibus criteria hic recensita adpareant.")

and which Israel had had experience of already in the time of the judges, but would have much deeper experience of in the future.

We must take the words in this general sense, and supply neither a preterite nor a future in Ch2 15:3, neither fuerant nor erunt, but must express the first clause by the present in English: "Many days are for Israel (i.e., Israel lives many days) without the true God, and without teaching priests, and without law." רבּים ימים is not accus. of time (Berth.), but the subject of the sentence; and אלה ללא is not subject - "during many days there was to the people Israel no true God" (Berth.), - but predicate, while ל expresses the condition into which anything comes, and לא forms part of the following noun: Days for Israel for having not a true God. ללא differs from בּלא, "without," just as ל differs from בּ; the latter expressing the being in a condition, the former the coming into it. On אמת אלהי, cf. Jer 10:10. אמת כּהן is not to be limited to the high priest, for it refers to the priests in general, whose office it was to teach the people law and justice (Lev 10:10; Deu 33:10). The accent is upon the predicates אמת and אמת. Israel had indeed Elohim, but not the true God, and also priests, but not priests who attended to their office, who watched over the fulfilment of the law; and so they had no תּורה, notwithstanding the book of the law composed by Moses.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Spirit of God - Both to instruct him what to say, and to enable him to say it plainly and boldly.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Azariah the son of Oded - We know nothing of this prophet but what is related of him here.

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¹ And the Spirit [07307] of God [0430] came upon Azariah [05838] the son [01121] of Oded [05752]:
² And he went out [03318] to meet [06440] Asa [0609], and said [0559] unto him, Hear [08085] ye me, Asa [0609], and all Judah [03063] and Benjamin [01144]; The LORD [03068] is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek [01875] him, he will be found [04672] of you; but if ye forsake [05800] him, he will forsake [05800] you.
³ Now for a long [07227] season [03117] Israel [03478] hath been without [03808] the true [0571] God [0430], and without a teaching [03384] priest [03548], and without law [08451].
⁴ But when they in their trouble [06862] did turn [07725] unto the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478], and sought [01245] him, he was found [04672] of them.
⁵ And in those times [06256] there was no peace [07965] to him that went out [03318], nor to him that came in [0935], but great [07227] vexations [04103] were upon all the inhabitants [03427] of the countries [0776].
⁶ And nation [01471] was destroyed [03807] of nation [01471], and city [05892] of city [05892]: for God [0430] did vex [02000] them with all adversity [06869].
⁷ Be ye strong [02388] therefore, and let not your hands [03027] be weak [07503]: for your work [06468] shall be [03426] rewarded [07939].
⁸ And when Asa [0609] heard [08085] these words [01697], and the prophecy [05016] of Oded [05752] the prophet [05030], he took courage [02388], and put away [05674] the abominable idols [08251] out of all the land [0776] of Judah [03063] and Benjamin [01144], and out of the cities [05892] which he had taken [03920] from mount [02022] Ephraim [0669], and renewed [02318] the altar [04196] of the LORD [03068], that was before [06440] the porch [0197] of the LORD [03068].
⁹ And he gathered [06908] all Judah [03063] and Benjamin [01144], and the strangers [01481] with them out of Ephraim [0669] and Manasseh [04519], and out of Simeon [08095]: for they fell [05307] to him out of Israel [03478] in abundance [07230], when they saw [07200] that the LORD [03068] his God [0430] was with him.
¹⁰ So they gathered themselves together [06908] at Jerusalem [03389] in the third [07992] month [02320], in the fifteenth [02568] [06240] year [08141] of the reign [04438] of Asa [0609].
¹¹ And they offered [02076] unto the LORD [03068] the same time [03117], of the spoil [07998] which they had brought [0935], seven [07651] hundred [03967] oxen [01241] and seven [07651] thousand [0505] sheep [06629].
¹² And they entered [0935] into a covenant [01285] to seek [01875] the LORD [03068] God [0430] of their fathers [01] with all their heart [03824] and with all their soul [05315];
¹³ That whosoever would not seek [01875] the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478] should be put to death [04191], whether [04480] small [06996] or great [01419], whether man [0376] or woman [0802].
¹⁴ And they sware [07650] unto the LORD [03068] with a loud [01419] voice [06963], and with shouting [08643], and with trumpets [02689], and with cornets [07782].
¹⁵ And all Judah [03063] rejoiced [08055] at the oath [07621]: for they had sworn [07650] with all their heart [03824], and sought [01245] him with their whole desire [07522]; and he was found [04672] of them: and the LORD [03068] gave them rest [05117] round about [05439].

¹⁰ They shall teach [03384] Jacob [03290] thy judgments [04941], and Israel [03478] thy law [08451]: they shall put [07760] incense [06988] before [0639] thee, and whole burnt sacrifice [03632] upon thine altar [04196].

¹⁰ And that ye may put difference [0914] between holy [06944] and unholy [02455], and between unclean [02931] and clean [02889];

¹⁰ But the LORD [03068] is the true [0571] God [0430], he is the living [02416] God [0430], and an everlasting [05769] king [04428]: at his wrath [07110] the earth [0776] shall tremble [07493], and the nations [01471] shall not be able to abide [03557] his indignation [02195].

³ Now for a long [07227] season [03117] Israel [03478] hath been without [03808] the true [0571] God [0430], and without a teaching [03384] priest [03548], and without law [08451].

¹ And the men [0376] of Ephraim [0669] gathered themselves together [06817], and went [05674] northward [06828], and said [0559] unto Jephthah [03316], Wherefore passedst thou over [05674] to fight [03898] against the children [01121] of Ammon [05983], and didst not call [07121] us to go [03212] with thee? we will burn [08313] thine house [01004] upon thee with fire [0784].
² And Jephthah [03316] said [0559] unto them, I and my people [05971] were [01961] at great [03966] strife [0376] [07379] with the children [01121] of Ammon [05983]; and when I called [02199] you, ye delivered [03467] me not out of their hands [03027].
³ And when I saw [07200] that ye delivered [03467] me not, I put [07760] my life [05315] in my hands [03709], and passed over [05674] against the children [01121] of Ammon [05983], and the LORD [03068] delivered [05414] them into my hand [03027]: wherefore then are ye come up [05927] unto me this day [03117], to fight [03898] against me?
⁴ Then Jephthah [03316] gathered together [06908] all the men [0582] of Gilead [01568], and fought [03898] with Ephraim [0669]: and the men [0582] of Gilead [01568] smote [05221] Ephraim [0669], because they said [0559], Ye Gileadites [01568] are fugitives [06412] of Ephraim [0669] among [08432] the Ephraimites [0669], and among [08432] the Manassites [04519].
⁵ And the Gileadites [01568] took [03920] the passages [04569] of Jordan [03383] before the Ephraimites [0669]: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites [0669] which were escaped [06412] said [0559], Let me go over [05674]; that the men [0582] of Gilead [01568] said [0559] unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite [0673]? If he said [0559], Nay;
⁶ Then said [0559] they unto him, Say [0559] now Shibboleth [07641]: and he said [0559] Sibboleth [05451]: for he could not frame [03559] to pronounce [01696] it right [03559]. Then they took [0270] him, and slew [07819] him at the passages [04569] of Jordan [03383]: and there fell [05307] at that time [06256] of the Ephraimites [0669] forty [0705] and two [08147] thousand [0505].

⁶ And nation [01471] was destroyed [03807] of nation [01471], and city [05892] of city [05892]: for God [0430] did vex [02000] them with all adversity [06869].

⁵ And in those times [06256] there was no peace [07965] to him that went out [03318], nor to him that came in [0935], but great [07227] vexations [04103] were upon all the inhabitants [03427] of the countries [0776].

¹⁰ And also all that generation [01755] were gathered [0622] unto their fathers [01]: and there arose [06965] another [0312] generation [01755] after [0310] them, which knew [03045] not the LORD [03068], nor yet the works [04639] which he had done [06213] for Israel [03478].

³ Now for a long [07227] season [03117] Israel [03478] hath been without [03808] the true [0571] God [0430], and without a teaching [03384] priest [03548], and without law [08451].

⁴ But when they in their trouble [06862] did turn [07725] unto the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478], and sought [01245] him, he was found [04672] of them.

⁵ Then came [0935] Shemaiah [08098] the prophet [05030] to Rehoboam [07346], and to the princes [08269] of Judah [03063], that were gathered together [0622] to Jerusalem [03389] because [06440] of Shishak [07895], and said [0559] unto them, Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], Ye have forsaken [05800] me, and therefore have I also [0637] left [05800] you in the hand [03027] of Shishak [07895].

²⁰ And the Spirit [07307] of God [0430] came [03847] upon Zechariah [02148] the son [01121] of Jehoiada [03077] the priest [03548], which stood [05975] above the people [05971], and said [0559] unto them, Thus saith [0559] God [0430], Why transgress [05674] ye the commandments [04687] of the LORD [03068], that ye cannot prosper [06743]? because ye have forsaken [05800] the LORD [03068], he hath also forsaken [05800] you.

¹³ And ye shall seek [01245] me, and find [04672] me, when ye shall search [01875] for me with all your heart [03824].

⁸ And when the Philistines [06430] heard [08085] that David [01732] was anointed [04886] king [04428] over all Israel [03478], all the Philistines [06430] went up [05927] to seek [01245] David [01732]. And David [01732] heard [08085] of it, and went out [03318] against [06440] them.

¹⁷ And David [01732] went out [03318] to meet [06440] them, and answered [06030] and said [0559] unto them, If ye be come [0935] peaceably [07965] unto me to help [05826] me, mine heart [03824] shall be knit [03162] unto you: but if ye be come to betray [07411] me to mine enemies [06862], seeing there is no [03808] wrong [02555] in mine hands [03709], the God [0430] of our fathers [01] look [07200] thereon, and rebuke [03198] it.

⁹ But a prophet [05030] of the LORD [03068] was there, whose name [08034] was Oded [05752]: and he went out [03318] before [06440] the host [06635] that came [0935] to Samaria [08111], and said [0559] unto them, Behold, because the LORD [03068] God [0430] of your fathers [01] was wroth [02534] with Judah [03063], he hath delivered [05414] them into your hand [03027], and ye have slain [02026] them in a rage [02197] that reacheth up [05060] unto heaven [08064].

²⁹ Now the rest [07605] of the acts [01697] of Solomon [08010], first [07223] and last [0314], are they not written [03789] in the book [01697] of Nathan [05416] the prophet [05030], and in the prophecy [05016] of Ahijah [0281] the Shilonite [07888], and in the visions [02378] of Iddo [03260] the seer [02374] against Jeroboam [03379] the son [01121] of Nebat [05028]?

¹⁵ Now the acts [01697] of Rehoboam [07346], first [07223] and last [0314], are they not written [03789] in the book [01697] of Shemaiah [08098] the prophet [05030], and of Iddo [05714] the seer [02374] concerning genealogies [03187]? And there were wars [04421] between Rehoboam [07346] and Jeroboam [03379] continually [03117].