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2 Chronicles 24:20

in 2 Chronicles 24

Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of Jehovah, so that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken Jehovah, he hath also forsaken you.

KJV

And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you.

This verse in 2 Chronicles 24

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Cassian

INSTITUTES 12.21 · Written before 435.

Some such thing we read of in the book of Chronicles. For Joash the king of Judah at the age of seven was summoned by Jehoiada the priest to the kingdom and by the witness of Scripture is commended for all his actions as long as the aforesaid priest lived. But hear what Scripture relates of him after Jehoiada's death and how he was puffed up with pride and given over to a most disgraceful state.

This site's exposition

Spirit of God came upon

The Spirit of God comes upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, and he stands above the people to charge them in the Lord's own words: why transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper, because you have forsaken the Lord, he has also forsaken you. He is Jehoiada's own son, so the man about to die for speaking is the child of the priest who once hid the infant Joash and crowned him. The book's own test of every reign, seek or forsake, is here spoken to the king's face rather than left to the narrator.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Cyprian

Epistle LIV.17 · Written before 258.

proposed

But if there are some who think that they can return to the Church not with prayers but with threats, or suppose that they can make a way for themselves, not with lamentation and atonements, but with terrors, let them take it for certain that against such the Church of the Lord stands closed; nor does the camp of Christ, unconquered and firm with the Lord's protection, yield to threats. The priest of God holding fast the Gospel and keeping Christ's precepts may be slain; he cannot be conquered.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Homilies on the Gospels 1.3 · Written before 735.

proposed

Zechariah was son of high priest Jehoiada, a man who was likewise very holy. They stoned Zechariah between the temple and the altar, as the Lord himself bore witness when he made mention of the blessed martyrs in the Gospel.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Nay, you find already that because you have forsaken the Lord he hath forsaken you, as he told you he would," Deut. xxix. This is the work of ministers, by the word of God, as a lamp and a light, to expose the sin of men and expound the providences of God. (2.) The barbarous treatment they gave him for his kindness and faithfulness in delivering this message to them,

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Who stood - The people were assembled in the court of the temple, which they had not quite forsook, when Zechariah stood up in some of the desks that were in the court of the priests, and plainly told them their sin, and the consequences of it.
And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest,....
3 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah - “When he saw the transgression of the king and of the people, burning incense to an idol in the house of the sanctuary of the Lord, on the day of expiation; and preventing the priests of the Lord from offering the burnt-offerings, sacrifices, daily oblations, and services, as written in the book of the law of Moses; he stood above the people, and said.” - Targum.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

With strong professions of allegiance they humbly requested that they might not be subjected to the continued necessity of frequent and expensive journeys to Jerusalem, but allowed the privilege their fathers had enjoyed of worshipping God in high places at home.
Stood above the people - Zechariah, the high priest, took up an elevated position, perhaps on the steps of the inner court, which was elevated above the outer court, where the people would be.

The words behind it

30 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְר֣וּחַand [the] spirit of

    veruachH7307378 times

  • אֱלֹהִ֗יםGod

    ʾelohimH4302601 times

  • לָֽבְשָׁה֙it clothed

    laveshahH3847110 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • זְכַרְיָה֙Zechariah

    zekharyahH214843 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H11214930 times

  • יְהוֹיָדָ֣עJehoiada

    yehoyada'H307751 times

  • הַכֹּהֵ֔ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548750 times

  • וַֽיַּעֲמֹ֖דand he stood

    vaiyaamodH5975521 times

  • מֵעַ֣ל<from> above

    mealH59215755 times

  • לָעָ֑ם<to> the people

    laamH59711873 times

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • לָהֶ֜םto them

    lahem

  • כֹּ֣ה׀thus

    kohH3541577 times

  • אָמַ֣רhe says

    ʾamarH5595305 times

  • הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים<the> God

    haelohimH4302601 times

  • לָמָה֩<to> why?

    lamahH4100752 times

  • אַתֶּ֨ם[are] you

    ʾatemH8591094 times

  • עֹבְרִ֜יםtransgressing

    ʾoerimH5674556 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • מִצְוֹ֤ת[the] commandments of

    mitzvotH4687181 times

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • וְלֹ֣אand not

    velo'H38085168 times

  • תַצְלִ֔יחוּyou will prosper

    tatzlichuH674365 times

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H35884482 times

  • עֲזַבְתֶּ֥םyou have forsaken

    ʾazavtemH5800215 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • יְהוָ֖הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • וַיַּֽעֲזֹ֥בand he has forsaken

    vaiyaazoH5800215 times

  • אֶתְכֶֽם׃<obj.> you

    ʾetkhemH85310935 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Matthew 23:35

    And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 24:20–22

      Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments…

    • Hebrews 11:4

      By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he…

    • Zechariah 1:1

      In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying:

    • Genesis 4:8

      Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

    • Revelation 18:24

      And there was found in her the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who had been slain on the earth.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 5:25

    Your iniquities have diverted these from you; your sins have deprived you of My bounty.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 59:2

      But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

    • Psalms 107:34

      and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.

    • Psalms 107:17

      Fools, in their rebellious ways, and through their iniquities, suffered affliction.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About 2 Chronicles

Solomon Receives the Queen of Sheba, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Solomon Receives the Queen of Sheba, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 1.3; Cyprian, Epistle LIV.17; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Cassian, INSTITUTES 12.21; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.