2 Chronicles 13:19
in 2 Chronicles 13Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured some cities from him: Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron, along with their villages.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephron with the towns thereof.
KJV
And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Beth–el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 13
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Jeshanah is probably identical with the “Isanas” of Josephus, where a battle took place in the war between Antigonus and Herod; but its situation cannot be fixed. For Ephrain, see Jos 18:23 note.
This site's exposition
pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him
on 2 Chronicles 13:19-20
Abijah pursues and takes border towns rather than the ten tribes themselves; JFB reads it as abandoning any wider conquest and settling for towns Jeroboam had absorbed, Bethel chief among them for its old associations reaching back to Jacob. Jeroboam never recovers strength in Abijah's short reign, and the Lord struck him, and he died; Clarke notes both rabbinic and Christian readers divided over whether Jeroboam or Abijah is meant, with the majority reading taking Jeroboam as the one struck, since he is recorded living roughly two more years past Abijah's own death at 1 Kings 14:20 and 15:9.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
What became of the golden calf there, when it came into the hands of the king of Judah, we are not told; perhaps it was removed to some place of greater safety, and at length to Samaria ( Hos. viii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Abijah abandoned his original design of attempting the subjugation of the ten tribes, contenting himself with the recovery of a few border towns, which, though lying within Judah or Benjamin, had been alienated to the new or northern kingdom. Among these was Beth-el, which, with its sacred associations, he might be strongly desirous to wrest from profanation.
Beth-el - “Beth-lehem.” - Targum. Jeshanah - We know not where these towns lay.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And Jeroboam could muster no more strength, etc., and the Lord smote him i.e., Jeroboam.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּרְדֹּ֣ף | vaiyirdof | and he pursued | H7291 → | |
| אֲבִיָּה֮ | ʾaviyah | Abijah | H29 → | 25 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֣י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| יָרָבְעָם֒ | yaraveam | Jeroboam | H3379 → | 104 times |
| וַיִּלְכֹּ֤ד | vaiyilkod | and he captured | H3920 → | 121 times |
| מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ | mimenu | from him | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| עָרִ֔ים | ʾarim | cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֵּֽית־ | beit- | Beth- | H1008 → | |
| אֵל֙ | ʾel | -el | H1008 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנוֹתֶ֔יהָ | benoteiha | daughters its | H1323 → | 588 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְשָׁנָ֖ה | yeshanah | Jeshanah | H3466 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנוֹתֶ֑יהָ | benoteiha | daughters its | H1323 → | 588 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֶפְרַ֖יִן | efron | Ephrayin | H6085 → | |
| וּבְנֹתֶֽיהָ׃ | uvenoteiha | and daughters its | H1323 → | 588 times |
וַיִּרְדֹּ֣ףand he pursued
vaiyirdofH7291 →
אֲבִיָּה֮Abijah
ʾaviyahH29 →25 times
אַחֲרֵ֣יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
יָרָבְעָם֒Jeroboam
yaraveamH3379 →104 times
וַיִּלְכֹּ֤דand he captured
vaiyilkodH3920 →121 times
מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙from him
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
עָרִ֔יםcities
ʾarimH5892 →1090 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בֵּֽית־Beth-
beit-H1008 →
אֵל֙-el
ʾelH1008 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בְּנוֹתֶ֔יהָdaughters its
benoteihaH1323 →588 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
יְשָׁנָ֖הJeshanah
yeshanahH3466 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בְּנוֹתֶ֑יהָdaughters its
benoteihaH1323 →588 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
עֶפְרַ֖יִןEphrayin
efronH6085 →
וּבְנֹתֶֽיהָ׃and daughters its
uvenoteihaH1323 →588 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 11:12Joshua captured all these kings and their cities and put them to the sword. He devoted them to destruction, as Moses the LORD’s servant had commanded.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:2
and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
- Deuteronomy 20:16–17
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
- Deuteronomy 7:2
Through
2 Chronicles 15:8When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 8:12
At that time Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD he had built in front of the portico.
- 2 Chronicles 8:12
Through
Joshua 15:9From the hilltop the border curved to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, proceeded to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then bent around toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim).
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 13:6
David and all Israel went up to Baalah of Judah (that is, Kiriath-jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the LORD, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called…
- Joshua 18:15
On the south side the border began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim and extended westward to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah.
- Judges 18:12
They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. That is why the place west of Kiriath-jearim is called Mahaneh-dan to this day.
- 1 Chronicles 13:6
Through
John 11:54As a result, Jesus no longer went about publicly among the Jews, but He withdrew to a town called Ephraim in an area near the wilderness. And He stayed there with the disciples.
it leads to
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.