1sn Beginning with 14:1, the verse numbers through 14:15 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 14:1 ET = 13:23 HT, 14:2 ET = 14:1 HT, 14:3 ET = 14:2 HT, etc., through 14:15 ET = 14:14 HT. Beginning with 15:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
2tnHeb “lay down with his fathers.”
3sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
4tnHeb “in his days.”
5tnHeb “and Asa did the good and the right in the eyes of the Lord his God.”
6tnHeb “the altars of the foreigner.”
7snAsherah poles. A leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon was Asherah, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרִים [’asherim], as here). They were to be burned or cut down (Deut 7:5; 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
8tnHeb “fathers.”
9tnHeb “the law and the command.”
10tnHeb “before him.”
11tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the people of Judah.
12tnHeb “and we will surround [them] with wall[s] and towers, doors, and bars.”
13tnHeb “sought.”
14tnHeb “and he has given us rest all around.”
15tn The words “the cities” are supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.
16tnHeb “a thousand thousands.”
17tnHeb “called out.”
18tnHeb “there is not with you to help between many with regard to [the one] without strength.”
19tnHeb “and in your name we have come against this multitude.”
20tnHeb “let not man retain [strength] with you.”
21tnHeb “and there fell from the Cushites so that there was not to them preservation of life.”
22tnHeb “they”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
23tnHeb “for the terror of the Lord was upon them.”
24tnHeb “they”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
25tnHeb “for great plunder was in them.”
26tnHeb “and also they struck down the tents of the livestock.”
27map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.