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2 Chronicles15:1–7

The Prophecy of Azariah

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2 Chronicles 15:1–7 — The Prophecy of Azariah. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

1

Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

rū·aḥ ’ĕ·lō·hîm hā·yə·ṯāh ‘ā·lāw wa·‘ă·zar·yā·hū ben- ‘ō·w·ḏêḏ

Word by word7 · parsed
ר֥וּחַrū·aḥNow the SpiritH7307
√ rûwach — windNouncommon singular construct
rûwach: wind, breath, spirit The same noun that hovers in Genesis 1:2, which Pulpit calls the grand original of the expression. Here it is feminine singular construct and anarthrous: a possessed breath, God's own, resting on a man otherwise unknown to the record. Nothing in the word itself distinguishes prophetic seizure from the wind over the deep; the construct with ʼĕlōhîm is what makes it revelation.
אֱלֹהִֽים׃’ĕ·lō·hîmof GodH430
√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural
ʼĕlôhîym: God, gods Pulpit observes that the Chronicler writes God here where 2 Chronicles 20:14 has the LORD, and that the Spirit formulas of Judges, Samuel and Kings vary in exactly this way. The variation is worth noticing precisely because it is not theological: the Chronicler is not choosing a different power, he is quoting a stock idiom.
הָיְתָ֥הhā·yə·ṯāhcameH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person feminine singular
hâyâh: to be, come to pass A bare verb of being, feminine to match rûaḥ. Every English version has to supply a verb of motion or clothing because the Hebrew supplies none. The theological weight sits in the preposition: the spirit was upon him, an external, unpetitioned fact, not a faculty he possessed.
עָלָ֖יו‘ā·lāwuponH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPrepositionthird person masculine singular
Preposition with third person masculine singular suffix: upon him.
וַעֲזַרְיָ֙הוּ֙wa·‘ă·zar·yā·hūAzariahH5838
√ ʻĂzaryâh — Azarjah, the name of nineteen IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
ʻĂzaryâh: Yah has helped A name borne by nineteen Israelites in Scripture, and this bearer is known from nowhere else. Ellicott, JFB and K&D all say so plainly. The Chronicler's whole Asa reformation turns on a sermon from a man with no other biography, which is itself the point of verse 1: the authority is the spirit that was upon him, not the pedigree.
בֶּן־ben-sonH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine singular construct
Construct noun: son of.
עוֹדֵ֔ד‘ō·w·ḏêḏof OdedH5752
√ ʻÔwdêd — Oded, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
ʻÔwdêd: Oded Rare (three verses). Gill reports Hillerus and a Jewish tradition identifying him with Iddo, even with the man sent to rebuke Jeroboam; Geneva says the prophet was called Obed like his father, citing verse 8; the Vulgate and Alexandrian Septuagint, Pulpit notes, read simply Oded here. The apparatus below keeps this open rather than choosing.
2

So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yê·ṣê lip̄·nê ’ā·sā way·yō·mer lōw šə·mā·‘ū·nî ’ā·sā wə·ḵāl yə·hū·ḏāh ū·ḇin·yā·min Yah·weh ‘im·mā·ḵem bih·yō·wṯ·ḵem ‘im·mōw wə·’im- tiḏ·rə·šu·hū yim·mā·ṣê lā·ḵem wə·’im- ta·‘az·ḇu·hū ya·‘ă·zōḇ ’eṯ·ḵem

Word by word22 · parsed
וַיֵּצֵא֮way·yê·ṣêSo he went outH3318
√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
yâtsâʼ: to go out, come forth The prophet goes out of the city as the army comes in. Pulpit notes the reversal of roles this implies: the prophet was leader and teacher to the people, but to the prophet the Lord himself was Leader and Prompter, and the moment of new thought was given to the moment.
לִפְנֵ֣יlip̄·nêto meetH6440
√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural construct
pânîym: face, presence Literally into Asa's face. The plural noun of presence, used prepositionally, is the ordinary Hebrew for confrontation; Ellicott and K&D both cross-reference 2 Chronicles 28:9, where another prophet goes out before a returning army with worse news.
אָסָא֒’ā·sāAsaH609
√ ʼÂçâʼ — Asa, the name of a king and of a LeviteNounpropermasculine singular
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרway·yō·merand saidH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
ל֔וֹlōwto him
Prepositionthird person masculine singular
שְׁמָע֕וּנִיšə·mā·‘ū·nîListen to meH8085
√ shâmaʻ — to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etcVerbQalImperativemasculine pluralfirst person common singular
shâmaʻ: to hear intelligently, obey Qal imperative masculine plural with a first person singular suffix: hear me. The plural imperative is addressed past the king to Judah and Benjamin together, and Ellicott hears in it a deliberate echo of Abijah's "Hear ye me, Jeroboam, and all Israel" in 2 Chronicles 13:4. In this book the verb of hearing carries obedience inside it.
אָסָ֖א’ā·sāAsaH609
√ ʼÂçâʼ — Asa, the name of a king and of a LeviteNounpropermasculine singular
וְכָל־wə·ḵāland allH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
יְהוּדָ֣הyə·hū·ḏāhJudahH3063
√ Yᵉhûwdâh — Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
וּבִנְיָמִ֑ןū·ḇin·yā·minand BenjaminH1144
√ Binyâmîyn — Binjamin, youngest son of JacobConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
יְהוָ֤הYah·wehThe LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
Yᵉhôvâh: the covenant name The name is the subject of both halves of the double conditional, so everything that follows is predicated of the God who bound Himself by covenant, not of deity in general. Watch the titles move across the unit: rûaḥ ʼĕlōhîm in verse 1, the covenant name here, ʼĕlōhê ʼemeth in verse 3, YHWH ʼĕlōhê yisrāʼêl in verse 4, and bare ʼĕlōhîm as the subject of the panic in verse 6. The promise is made in the name; the confounding is done by God.
עִמָּכֶם֙‘im·mā·ḵemis with youH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionsecond person masculine plural
Preposition with second person masculine plural suffix: with you.
בִּֽהְיֽוֹתְכֶ֣םbih·yō·wṯ·ḵemwhen you areH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iPreposition-bVerbQalInfinitive constructsecond person masculine plural
hâyâh: to be (infinitive construct) A tenseless infinitive with a suffix, so that the sentence reads as a standing rule rather than a report. JFB draws the practical edge: the recent victory was the reward of their faith and piety, and continuance depends on steadfast adherence. Poole adds the sting, that they are upon their good behaviour.
עִמּ֔וֹ‘im·mōwwith HimH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionthird person masculine singular
וְאִֽם־wə·’im-IfH518
√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction
Conditional particle: if.
תִּדְרְשֻׁ֙הוּ֙tiḏ·rə·šu·hūyou seek HimH1875
√ dârash — properly, to tread or frequentVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine pluralthird person masculine singular
dârash: to tread, frequent, inquire of The verb of resorting to an oracle or a shrine. K&D reads the whole clause as the general lesson drawn from the particular victory and cross-references Jeremiah 29:13, where seeking with the whole heart is the condition of being found. Pulpit traces the original of the covenant language to Deuteronomy 4:29.
יִמָּצֵ֣אyim·mā·ṣêHe will be foundH4672
√ mâtsâʼ — properly, to come forth to, iVerbNifalImperfectthird person masculine singular
mâtsâʼ: to come forth to, be found Nifal imperfect. The passive is theologically loaded: the seeker's success is described as something God does, and the formula is, as Ellicott notes, a favourite of the Chronicler (1 Chronicles 28:9).
לָכֶ֔םlā·ḵemby you
Prepositionsecond person masculine plural
וְאִם־wə·’im-but ifH518
√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction
תַּעַזְבֻ֖הוּta·‘az·ḇu·hūyou forsake HimH5800
√ ʻâzab — to loosen, iVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine pluralthird person masculine singular
ʻâzab: to loosen, let go, forsake Qal imperfect with suffix. The same root is used of Israel's act and of God's answer in the next word, so that the sentence mirrors itself: the verb does not change, only who is its subject. Gill specifies the content: to forsake Him is to forsake "his laws and his service."
יַעֲזֹ֥בya·‘ă·zōḇHe will forsakeH5800
√ ʻâzab — to loosen, iVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine singular
ʻâzab: to forsake The identical lexeme repeated with God as subject. K&D cross-references 2 Chronicles 12:5 and 24:20, where the Chronicler uses this same reciprocity to explain national disaster. Nothing here is arbitrary wrath; it is the exact reversal of the abandonment Israel chose.
אֶתְכֶֽם׃ס’eṯ·ḵemyouH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markersecond person masculine plural
Direct object marker with second person masculine plural suffix.
3

For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a priest to instruct them, and without the law.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

rab·bîm wə·yā·mîm lə·yiś·rā·’êl lə·lō ’ĕ·meṯ ’ĕ·lō·hê ū·lə·lō kō·hên mō·w·reh ū·lə·lō ṯō·w·rāh

Word by word11 · parsed
רַבִּ֖יםrab·bîmFor manyH7227
√ rab — abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)Adjectivemasculine plural
rab: abundant, many "Many days," not "a long season." Cambridge prefers the plural "for long seasons," and Pulpit argues that the choice of days rather than years leaves the reader free to gather up short, scattered episodes of apostasy rather than one continuous era.
וְיָמִ֥יםwə·yā·mîmyearsH3117
√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Conjunctive wawNounmasculine plural
yôwm: day The measure is days, deliberately vague. The vagueness is what lets the verse be read of the judges, of Rehoboam, or of the exile, which is precisely the dispute recorded in the apparatus.
לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑לlə·yiś·rā·’êlIsraelH3478
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular
לְלֹ֣א׀lə·lōhas been withoutH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absPreposition-lAdverbNegative particle
lôʼ: not Ellicott flags the construction as unique in Scripture in this sense. Since the negation carries no tense, the whole picture of verses 3 to 6 can be read as past experience (Poole, Gill, Benson, Barnes), as the state of the northern kingdom (the Targum, Tremellius, Grotius), or as prophecy of the exile (Luther, Kimchi, Houbigant). K&D lays out all three and declines the first.
אֱמֶ֗ת’ĕ·meṯthe trueH571
√ ʼemeth — stabilityNounfeminine singular
ʼemeth: firmness, faithfulness, truth From the root of ʼāman, to be firm. In a construct chain with ʼĕlōhîm it describes a God who holds, which is the exact quality verse 2 has just made conditional in experience: the God who can be relied upon is the God they have been living without.
אֱלֹהֵ֣י’ĕ·lō·hêGodH430
√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural construct
ʼĕlôhîym: God (construct) Construct plural governing ʼemeth. Israel did not lack religion during those days; the Book of Judges is full of religion. What it lacked was the God whose word stands.
וּלְלֹ֛אū·lə·lōwithoutH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive waw, Preposition-lAdverbNegative particle
כֹּהֵ֥ןkō·hêna priestH3548
√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestNounmasculine singular
kôhên: one officiating, priest The priest appears here not as sacrificer but as teacher. Ellicott gathers the texts that make instruction the priest's charge: Leviticus 10:11, Deuteronomy 17:9, Deuteronomy 33:10, Ezekiel 44:23, Malachi 2:6 and 7. A priesthood that offers but does not teach is, by this verse's reckoning, an absence.
מוֹרֶ֖הmō·w·rehto instruct themH3384
√ yârâh — properly, to flow as water (iVerbHifilParticiplemasculine singular
yârâh: to flow, to point out, to teach (Hifil participle) The participle and tôrâh share this root, so the Hebrew phrase is nearly "a torah-ing priest." Cambridge defines his office concretely: one who gives guidance on doubtful points of morality or ritual, comparing Malachi 2:7. The loss of such a man is the loss of the law's working parts.
וּלְלֹ֥אū·lə·lōand withoutH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive waw, Preposition-lAdverbNegative particle
תוֹרָֽה׃ṯō·w·rāhthe lawH8451
√ tôwrâh — a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or PentateuchNounfeminine singular
tôwrâh: instruction, law Third and climactic member of the triad, and the root's noun. Gill glosses the condition from Judges 17:6, every man doing as he pleased, there being no king in Israel. The absence is not of legislation but of authoritative teaching: Pulpit's paraphrase is "to not have it authoritatively proclaimed, taught, ministered."
4

But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought Him, and He was found by them.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

baṣ·ṣar- lōw way·yā·šāḇ ‘al- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê yiś·rā·’êl way·ḇaq·šu·hū way·yim·mā·ṣê lā·hem

Word by word10 · parsed
בַּצַּר־baṣ·ṣar-But in their distressH6862
√ tsar — narrowPreposition-b, ArticleAdjectivemasculine singular
tsar: narrow, tight, distress The noun of constriction. Ellicott and K&D both read baṣṣar-lô as a deliberate quotation of Deuteronomy 4:30, where distress is the appointed occasion of return. Note that the cognate tsârâh closes verse 6: the whole speech is bracketed by narrowness, once as the place where Israel turns and once as the instrument God uses.
ל֔וֹlōw. . .
Prepositionthird person masculine singular
וַיָּ֙שָׁב֙way·yā·šāḇthey turnedH7725
√ shûwb — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
shûwb: to turn back The root of repentance in the prophets, and not necessarily a return to a starting point; it is a turning round. Singular here, with Israel treated as one body. Gill fills in the historical content, the cycle of captivity, crying out and deliverance "of which there are many instances in the book of Judges."
עַל־‘al-toH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
יְהוָ֖הYah·wehthe LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
Yᵉhôvâh: the covenant name They turn to the named God, not to religion, and the full phrase YHWH ʼĕlōhê yisrāʼêl is the covenant formula, which is why the turning can be answered at all. Set it against verse 3: what they were without was ʼĕlōhê ʼemeth, the God of firmness; what they return to is the same construct filled with the nation's own name.
אֱלֹהֵ֣י’ĕ·lō·hêthe GodH430
√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural construct
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לyiś·rā·’êlof IsraelH3478
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
וַיְבַקְשֻׁ֖הוּway·ḇaq·šu·hūand sought HimH1245
√ bâqash — to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer)Conjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine pluralthird person masculine singular
bâqash: to search out, seek Piel, plural, with a third person object suffix. Gill specifies the means: "by prayer and supplication." Geneva presses the pastoral point that God has his own whom he hears in tribulation, instancing Asa's own deliverance from Zerah in the preceding chapter, so that the history Azariah recites and the victory Asa has just won are the same pattern.
וַיִּמָּצֵ֥אway·yim·mā·ṣêand He was foundH4672
√ mâtsâʼ — properly, to come forth to, iConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
mâtsâʼ: to be found (Nifal) The verb of verse 2 in narrative form. That the finding is still passive, even in the report of success, is the theological hinge of the unit: Israel searched, but the text says God was found, which is to say He allowed it. K&D connects the pattern to Deuteronomy 4:29 and Isaiah 55:6.
לָהֶֽם׃lā·hemby them
Prepositionthird person masculine plural
Preposition with third person masculine plural suffix: by them.
5

In those days there was no safety for travelers, because the residents of the lands had many conflicts.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hā·hêm ū·ḇā·‘it·tîm ’ên šā·lō·wm lay·yō·w·ṣê wə·lab·bā kî yō·wō·šə·ḇê hā·’ă·rā·ṣō·wṯ ‘al kāl- rab·bō·wṯ mə·hū·mōṯ

Word by word13 · parsed
הָהֵ֔םhā·hêmIn thoseH1992
√ hêm — they (only used when emphatic)ArticlePronounthird person masculine plural
Demonstrative pronoun with article: those.
וּבָעִתִּ֣יםū·ḇā·‘it·tîmdaysH6256
√ ʻêth — time, especially (adverb with preposition) now, when, etcConjunctive waw, Preposition-b, ArticleNouncommon plural
ʻêth: time, season Ellicott ties "those times" back to the "many days" of verse 3, so that the picture of anarchy is the content of the earlier abstraction: this is what it looks like to be without God, without teacher, without teaching.
אֵ֥ין’ênthere was noH369
√ ʼayin — a non-entityAdverb
ʼayin: non-existence, there is not A particle, not a verb, and therefore tenseless. Everything the commentators dispute about whether verses 3 to 6 describe the judges, the north, or the exile rests on tenseless forms like this one, which is why the dispute cannot be settled from grammar alone.
שָׁל֖וֹםšā·lō·wmsafetyH7965
√ shâlôwm — safe, iNounmasculine singular
shâlôwm: wholeness, welfare, peace The covenant word for a life that holds together, here declared non-existent. Its negation is the exact inverse of the promise in verse 2: where God is not with them, the roads themselves are unsafe. Benson makes the domestic point, that men could not go abroad about their private business without great danger, as in the days of Shamgar (Judges 5:6).
לַיּוֹצֵ֣אlay·yō·w·ṣêfor travelersH3318
√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximPreposition-l, ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
yâtsâʼ: to go out (participle) The same root as the prophet's own going out in verse 2. There, going out was the free movement of a man sent by God; here no one can go out at all.
וְלַבָּ֑אwə·lab·bā. . .H935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
bôwʼ: to come in (participle) Paired with the preceding participle to cover all movement. The merism is the Hebrew way of saying that nothing normal could be done.
כִּ֚יkîbecauseH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
יוֹשְׁבֵ֖יyō·wō·šə·ḇêthe residentsH3427
√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural construct
הָאֲרָצֽוֹת׃hā·’ă·rā·ṣō·wṯof the landsH776
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine plural
ʼerets: land Plural with article. Cambridge and K&D agree that in the Chronicler's usage "the lands" means the districts of Israel itself, not foreign countries; Benson reads it as the parts of the land within and without Jordan. The violence is internal.
עַ֥ל‘alhadH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
כָּל־kāl-. . .H3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
רַבּ֔וֹתrab·bō·wṯmanyH7227
√ rab — abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)Adjectivefeminine plural
rab: many, great Feminine plural, agreeing with mehûmôth. K&D notes that Amos 3:9 uses the identical phrase, rabbôth mehûmôth, of the indistinguishable whirl in the Samaria of his own day.
מְהוּמֹ֣תmə·hū·mōṯconflictsH4103
√ mᵉhûwmâh — confusion or uproarNounfeminine plural
mᵉhûwmâh: confusion, uproar, panic Rare, twelve verses, and concentrated in texts of divine terror: the Philistine cities in 1 Samuel 5, the day of trouble in Isaiah 22:5, the covenant curse of Deuteronomy 28:20, the self-destroying panic of Zechariah 14:13. Its presence here is what makes verses 5 and 6 a curse recital rather than a chronicle of bad luck.
6

Nation was crushed by nation, and city by city, for God afflicted them with all kinds of adversity.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ḡō·w- wə·ḵut·tə·ṯū bə·ḡō·w wə·‘îr bə·‘îr kî- ’ĕ·lō·hîm hă·mā·mām bə·ḵāl ṣā·rāh

Word by word10 · parsed
גוֹי־ḡō·w-NationH1471
√ gôwy — a foreign nationNounmasculine singular
gôwy: nation Poole notes that while all Israel is called a nation, its several tribes and families are sometimes called nations too, citing Genesis 17:4 and Ezekiel 2:3. The lexicon's "foreign nation" is therefore the wrong end of the word here.
וְכֻתְּת֥וּwə·ḵut·tə·ṯūwas crushedH3807
√ kâthath — to bruise or violently strikeConjunctive wawVerbPielConjunctive perfectthird person common plural
kâthath: to bruise, beat small, dash in pieces The rarest and most violent verb in the unit, and in this intensive passive form, on Ellicott's reading, unique to this verse. It is the verb of beating swords into ploughshares in Isaiah 2:4, here turned on people instead of metal. Barnes points to the concrete instances, Judges 9:45 and Judges 20:33 to 48.
בְּג֖וֹיbə·ḡō·wby nationH1471
√ gôwy — a foreign nationPreposition-bNounmasculine singular
gôwy: nation (with preposition) The construction is simply nation against nation, without a passive agent. Ellicott compares the internecine language of Isaiah 19:2 and Isaiah 9:18 to 21, where kinsmen devour one another.
וְעִ֣ירwə·‘îrand cityH5892
√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine singular
בְּעִ֑ירbə·‘îrby cityH5892
√ ʻîyr — a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the widest sense (even of a mere encampment or post)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular
ʻîyr: city Feminine noun, paired with itself. Cambridge and Pulpit both read the tribal wars of Judges as preludes to the rupture of Rehoboam and Jeroboam, a house divided against itself.
כִּֽי־kî-forH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
אֱלֹהִ֥ים’ĕ·lō·hîmGodH430
√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural
ʼĕlôhîym: God The subject of the last clause, and the theological centre of the unit's darkest verse. The anarchy is not merely the consequence of apostasy; God is its agent. JFB puts it carefully: these calamities God permitted to befall them as the punishment of their apostasy. The Hebrew verb is less cautious than "permitted."
הֲמָמָ֖םhă·mā·māmafflicted themH2000
√ hâmam — properly, to put in commotionVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine plural
hâmam: to put in commotion, discomfit Qal perfect with plural object suffix. K&D defines it as the confusion God brings about in order to destroy His enemies, and cross-references Zechariah 14:13, where the same noun family describes the self-slaughtering panic of the last day. The word makes Israel, for the duration of its apostasy, indistinguishable from the enemies at the Red Sea.
בְּכָל־bə·ḵālwith all kinds ofH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
צָרָֽה׃ṣā·rāhadversityH6869
√ tsârâh — tightness (iNounfeminine singular
tsârâh: tightness, distress With kol: every kind of straitness. Ellicott compares Zechariah 14:13, "A great confusion from the Lord." Paired with baṣṣar in verse 4, the word completes a grim circuit: distress is what God sends, and distress is where Israel finds Him.
7

But as for you, be strong; do not be discouraged, for your work will be rewarded.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’at·tem ḥiz·qū wə·’al- yir·pū yə·ḏê·ḵem kî lip̄·‘ul·laṯ·ḵem yêš śā·ḵār

Word by word9 · parsed
וְאַתֶּ֣םwə·’at·temBut as for youH859
√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youConjunctive wawPronounsecond person masculine plural
ʼattâh: you (plural) The emphatic pronoun turns the whole recital of verses 3 to 6 into an address. Cambridge reads verse 7 as the resumption of the prophet's own warning after the Chronicler's historical reflection; on that reading this pronoun is the seam where the sermon starts again.
חִזְק֔וּḥiz·qūbe strongH2388
√ châzaq — to fasten uponVerbQalImperativemasculine plural
châzaq: to fasten upon, be strong Imperative plural. K&D paraphrases the command in context: proceed courageously and vigorously to keep yourselves true to the Lord, to exterminate all idolatry. JFB is honest about why the command is needed, that great resolution would be required against the opposition reform provokes. Note that the Verifier finds this same lexeme in Zechariah 14:13, where the seizing belongs to a God-sent mehûmâh rather than to covenant work: the same grip serves panic or obedience, and only the object distinguishes them.
וְאַל־wə·’al-do notH408
√ ʼal — not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative)Conjunctive wawAdverb
Negative particle of deprecation: let not.
יִרְפּ֖וּyir·pūbe discouragedH7503
√ râphâh — to slacken (in many applications, literal or figurative)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural
râphâh: to slacken, sink, drop Qal imperfect with jussive force. Ellicott glosses "droop, or hang down" and cites Zephaniah 3:16 and 2 Samuel 4:1; K&D adds Nehemiah 6:9, where the same idiom describes sabotage by discouragement. The opposite of covenant strength is not rebellion but letting go.
יְדֵיכֶ֑םyə·ḏê·ḵem. . .H3027
√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcNounfeminine dual constructsecond person masculine plural
yâd: hand Feminine dual construct with second person plural suffix. The hands are the grammatical subject of the slackening, which is why the idiom belongs to unfinished work: Ellicott identifies that work as the rooting out of idolatry.
כִּ֛יkîforH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
לִפְעֻלַּתְכֶֽם׃סlip̄·‘ul·laṯ·ḵemyour workH6468
√ pᵉʻullâh — (abstractly) workPreposition-lNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine plural
pᵉʻullâh: work, wages of work A relatively rare noun, fourteen verses, and one that already leans toward recompense. Ellicott notes that this clause's words occur at Jeremiah 31:16, and the same pair stands in Isaiah 40:10 and 62:11, where the reward is carried in the hand of the coming God. Pulpit adds Genesis 15:1 as the crown of the series, where the reward is God Himself.
יֵ֥שׁyêšwill beH3426
√ yêsh — there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be, as may suit the connection)Adverb
Particle of existence: there is.
שָׂכָ֖רśā·ḵārrewardedH7939
√ sâkâr — payment of contractNounmasculine singular
sâkâr: payment of contract, wages A wage word, not a gift word: twenty-five verses. Geneva reads the assurance as "your confidence and trust in God will not be frustrated," and Gill spells out its historical form, peace at home and success abroad. The nominal clause, with no verb, states the wage as a present fact about work still undone.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. A man with no biography and a spirit that simply was upon him — 15:1

Ellicott opens by noting that this whole section is "peculiar to the Chronicle," and Cambridge confirms there is no parallel in Kings. The sentence itself is stranger than the English shows. Hebrew fronts the man: וַעֲזַרְיָ֙הוּ֙ בֶּן־עוֹדֵ֔ד, and only then predicates ר֥וּחַ אֱלֹהִֽים of him with the plain verb of being. Pulpit presses that verb: for "came" read the literal Hebrew "was," and he sets the clause beside 2 Chronicles 20:14 ("the LORD" instead of "God") and 2 Chronicles 24:20 (the verb "clothed"), tracing the whole family of formulas back to Genesis 1:2. Ellicott glosses the event "a holy inspiration"; Gill reports that the Targum read it as the spirit of prophecy, instructing him what to say. ⚙ Those two glosses are already interpretations: the Hebrew gives an anarthrous construct, spirit of God, and a preposition, upon him. Who the man was, no one knows. Ellicott, JFB and K&D all say he is mentioned nowhere else. Barnes and Gill pass on the identification of Oded with Iddo (Gill naming Hillerus and a Jewish tradition); Ellicott grants the shared radical letters but calls the question "beyond decision"; K&D says flatly that the conjecture has no tenable foundation. Geneva, reading verse 8, thinks the prophet bore his father's name. The unit therefore opens with a textual knot and an unknown preacher, and rests everything on the spirit that was upon him.

ii. The formula with two edges — 15:2

He does not congratulate. Benson's phrase is that he came "not in order to compliment them, or congratulate their success, but to excite them to their duty." The Hebrew has him go לִפְנֵ֣י, into Asa's face; K&D renders "he went forth in the presence of Asa," comparing 2 Chronicles 28:9, where another prophet meets another returning army. Then comes the double conditional, which Ellicott identifies as "a favourite formula with the chronicler" (1 Chronicles 28:9; 2 Chronicles 12:5; 24:20). JFB reads the first clause backward into the battle just won: the victory was the reward of faith, and continuance depends on steadfast adherence. Poole says the same and adds the sting, "you are upon your good behaviour." K&D supplies the causal link the Hebrew only implies: Jahve was with you because ye were with Him. Pulpit locates the original of the language in Deuteronomy 4:29. ⚙ The grammar is more careful than any of these paraphrases. בִּֽהְיֽוֹתְכֶ֣ם is a tenseless infinitive, so the formula is a standing rule rather than a report; and יִמָּצֵ֣א is Nifal, He will be found, or will let Himself be found. The seeking is commanded and the finding is granted. Even the threat keeps that shape: ʻâzab is used of Israel's act and of God's answer without changing a letter, so that the judgment is the exact mirror of the choice.

iii. Many days without: the dispute the text will not settle — 15:3 to 15:4

Verse 3 has no verb and no tense: Pulpit's literal rendering is "And many the days to Israel to not have true God, and to not have teaching priest, and to not have Law," and Ellicott notes that the construction lĕlōʼ occurs "only here in this sense." On that tenseless foundation the whole interpretive tradition divides, and K&D catalogues it: the Targum, Tremellius and Grotius read the present state of the ten tribes; the Syriac, Arabic and Raschi the recent past of Judah; Vitringa the era of the judges; Luther, Clericus and Kimchi the future exile. K&D rejects the first as "decidedly erroneous" and inclines to the future. Among the voices here, Barnes, Benson, Poole and Gill all take it of the judges; Geneva narrows it to twelve years under Rehoboam and three under Abijah; Benson records Houbigant's future reading and prefers the past; Cambridge takes a different road altogether and assigns verses 3 to 6 to "the reflections of the Chronicler himself," resuming Azariah at verse 7. ⚙ We do not adjudicate. What the Hebrew does say is that the three absences are one absence: מוֹרֶ֖ה is a Hifil participle of yârâh and תוֹרָֽה׃ is that root's noun, so as Cambridge puts it the connexion is closer than the English suggests, a teaching priest being one who gives torah. Verse 4 then answers with Deuteronomy's own words: Ellicott reads בַּצַּר־ as "in his straits" after Deuteronomy 4:30, and K&D says the next clause is founded on Deuteronomy 4:29. Gill lists the cycle from Judges; Geneva points to Asa's own rescue from Zerah as the same pattern in the present tense.

iv. No peace to the one going out: the curse vocabulary turned inward — 15:5 to 15:6

Two verses of anarchy, built out of loan words from the covenant curses. מְהוּמֹ֣ת stands in only twelve verses of the Hebrew Bible, and Ellicott sends the reader straight to Deuteronomy 28:20, "where mehûmah is foretold as a punishment of apostacy," adding Amos 3:9 for the sense of tumults. K&D hears the same word in Amos and in Zechariah 14:13 and notes that the first half of verse 5 reappears verbatim in Zechariah 8:10 of post-exilic conditions. Benson and Poole both reach for Shamgar's roads in Judges 5:6; Cambridge and K&D agree that "the lands" are the districts of Israel itself. Verse 6 is harsher. Ellicott observes that khathath stands here in an intensive passive found "only here," and that גוֹי־ means a community of kindred, a clan, so that the picture is Ephraim against Gilead (Judges 12) and Benjamin against the tribes (Judges 20); Cambridge states it outright, "Israel is meant"; Barnes points to Judges 9:45 and 20:33 to 48; Pulpit sees in these the forecast of the rupture of Rehoboam and Jeroboam; K&D calls the tribal wars "mild preludes" of a bellum omnium contra omnes. ⚙ The verb of the last clause decides the theology of the passage: הֲמָמָ֖ם is hâmam, which K&D rightly identifies as the panic God sends on His enemies at Exodus 14:24, Joshua 10:10 and Judges 4:15. JFB says God "permitted" these calamities. The Hebrew says He worked them. Israel in apostasy is handled with the verb reserved for Egypt at the sea.

v. But you: hands that do not drop, and a wage already existing — 15:7

The sermon ends where reform begins. Ellicott insists on the adversative, "But ye, be ye strong," and identifies the work as "of rooting out idolatry"; Gill says the same, vigorous and not languid in reforming the worship of God which Asa had begun; Poole adds that this is the only method of preserving themselves from what their predecessors felt; JFB is realistic about the cost, since great resolution would be required against the opposition reform provokes. The idiom BSB drops is worth having back: יִרְפּ֖וּ יְדֵיכֶ֑ם, let not your hands slacken. Ellicott glosses it "droop, or hang down" (Zephaniah 3:16; 2 Samuel 4:1), K&D adds Nehemiah 6:9, Cambridge prefers "be slack" to "be weak." ⚙ The last clause is a verbless existence clause: yēsh sākār, there is a wage. Ellicott renders "there is indeed a reward for your work" and notes the words occur at Jeremiah 31:16; Pulpit gathers Jeremiah 31:16, Ecclesiastes 4:9 and Proverbs 11:18 and then names Genesis 15:1 "the crown of all the rest." That is the right instinct. The Hebrew does not promise that a reward will come; it says that one already is, while the work is still unfinished and the hands are still tempted to drop.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read as a whole, the speech is built on one asymmetry that the English conditionals hide. Both halves of verse 2 are conditions, but they are not the same kind of sentence. The seeking is ours, in the active Qal of dârash; the finding is God's, in the Nifal of mâtsâʼ, which the narrative of verse 4 repeats rather than replaces. Israel searched, and the text still says God was found: He allowed it. The threat, by contrast, is perfectly symmetrical, one verb ʻâzab with the subjects exchanged, so that judgment is nothing more or less than the mirror of what was chosen. Then comes the strangest move in the unit. Verse 4 says the turning happened in the narrow place, and verse 6 says God Himself made the narrowness, using the verb hâmam that once panicked Egypt at the sea. On the Chronicler's own showing, the constriction that drove Israel back is the constriction God sent. That is not a solution to the problem of how a free turning and a sovereign gift fit together; it is the shape of the problem, stated by a prophet whose name appears nowhere else and whose sermon survives in no parallel account. And the last word is not a threat but an existence clause: to your work there is a wage, stated in the present about work not yet done. Strength here is not confidence about outcomes. It is a grip (châzaq, to fasten upon) that does not let the hands drop, held because the wage already exists. The line set apart below is the tool's own sentence, offered to be tested; it is not a verse of Scripture.

The narrow place that drove them back was the narrow place He sent; and the wage exists before the work is done.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

"There is a wage for your work": the clause Azariah shares with the comfort oracles verbal / quotation: confirmed

The last clause of verse 7 pairs two nouns, פְּעֻלָּה (H6468, in 14 verses) and שָׂכָר (H7939, in 25 verses), in a verbless existence clause. The Verifier finds that same pair at Jeremiah 31:16, Isaiah 40:10 and Isaiah 62:11, and Ellicott independently notes of this clause that these are "words occurring in Jeremiah 31:16." In Jeremiah the wage is promised to Rachel's weeping; in both Isaiah passages the reward is carried in the hand of the God who comes. ⚙ We claim a real verbal link and no direction of citation: nothing in the brief establishes which text is prior, and the shared idiom may simply be common comfort vocabulary. Pulpit, gathering Jeremiah 31:16 with Proverbs 11:18 and Ecclesiastes 4:9, adds Genesis 15:1 as "the crown of all the rest," where the reward turns out to be God Himself.

Jeremiah 31:16 · Isaiah 40:10 · Isaiah 62:11

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H6468 pᵉʻullâh (in 14 vv) and H7939 sâkâr (in 25 vv), co-occurring in the same clause at all three refs; corroborated by Ellicott, who notes the words occur in Jeremiah 31:16. No direction of quotation is claimed.

Mᵉhûwmâh: a Deuteronomy curse word planted in the middle of a sermon verbal / quotation: confirmed

מְהוּמֹ֣ת (H4103, in 12 verses) is rare enough that each occurrence counts. Two of them are in Deuteronomy's own covenant sanctions: Deuteronomy 28:20, where mehûmâh is threatened on apostasy, and Deuteronomy 7:23, where God discomfits Israel's enemies with hâmam (H2000) and great mehûmâh. Verse 6 of our unit uses that second lexeme too, of Israel. Ellicott cites Deuteronomy 28:20 on this very word; K&D identifies hâmam as the verb of divinely sent panic at Exodus 14:24, Joshua 10:10 and Judges 4:15. ⚙ The inversion is the point: the vocabulary God once used against Canaan and Egypt is here turned on His own people, and Deuteronomy 28:20 had said in advance that it would be.

Deuteronomy 28:20 · Deuteronomy 7:23

basis: Verifier: shared H4103 mᵉhûwmâh (in 12 vv, rare) with both refs; Deuteronomy 7:23 additionally shares H2000 hâmam (in 14 vv), so both of the unit's panic words meet there. Ellicott cites Deuteronomy 28:20 for this lexeme. Verbal on the strength of the rare lexeme only: no citation in either direction is claimed.

The prophets keep the word: panic in Samaria, in Philistia, and at the last day verbal / quotation: confirmed

The same rare noun travels forward. Amos 3:9 sees rabbôth mehûmôth, great confusions, in the Samaria of his own day, which is the identical phrase standing in verse 5 here; Zechariah 14:13 has a great mehûmâh from the LORD, which Ellicott quotes as "A great confusion from the Lord"; and the word stands twice in one chapter of the Philistine cities that held the ark, at 1 Samuel 5:9 and 5:11. K&D names Amos 3:9 and Zechariah 14:13 in exactly this connection, and adds that the first half of our verse 5 reappears word for word in Zechariah 8:10. Ellicott independently reaches for Amos 3:9 to fix the sense as "tumults." ⚙ Taken together these give the word a consistent range: not war between armies but the collapse of ordinary trust, sent from God.

Amos 3:9 · Zechariah 14:13 · 1 Samuel 5:9 · 1 Samuel 5:11

basis: Verifier: shared H4103 mᵉhûwmâh (in 12 vv, rare) with all three refs; Zechariah 14:13 also shares H2388 châzaq (in 266 vv, too common to weigh). Named corroboration: K&D cites Amos 3:9 and Zechariah 14:13; Ellicott cites Amos 3:9. This is shared rare vocabulary, not quotation: no text here cites another.

Deuteronomy 4 underneath verses 2 and 4 structural / thematic: confirmed

Three independent commentators trace this unit's covenant language to one chapter of Deuteronomy. Pulpit says the original occasion of the language of verse 2 "is enshrined in Deuteronomy 4:29"; Ellicott renders verse 4's בַּצַּר־ as "in his straits" with Deuteronomy 4:30 attached; K&D states that baṣṣar-lô refers back to Deuteronomy 4:30 and that the expression of verse 4 "is founded upon Deuteronomy 4:29," comparing Isaiah 55:6. ⚙ We flag honestly that the Verifier returned no candidate here: the basis for this thread is the convergent judgment of named commentators plus the shared motif of seeking, distress and finding, not a computed lexeme overlap. Tiered structural for that reason, though if the commentators are right it is a quotation.

Deuteronomy 4:29 · Deuteronomy 4:30 · Isaiah 55:6

basis: No Verifier candidate; recorded basis is convergent named commentary (Pulpit on Deuteronomy 4:29; Ellicott on Deuteronomy 4:30; K&D on both, with Isaiah 55:6) plus the shared seek-distress-find pattern. Downgraded from verbal because no shared-lexeme computation supports it.

Oded, and the name that may not belong in verse 8 flagged: verify source

עוֹדֵ֔ד (H5752) stands in only three verses, so the Verifier's link to 2 Chronicles 15:8 and 2 Chronicles 28:9 is lexically real. It is also contested at the crucial point. Pulpit reports that the Vulgate and the Alexandrian Septuagint read simply Oded here, that Movers proposed reversing the names, and that Keil and Bertheau, following the Arabic, would delete "of Oded the prophet" from verse 8 as a copyist's marginal reminiscence of verse 1, while the Vatican Septuagint supports the received reading. Geneva instead concludes from verse 8 that the prophet was called Obed like his father, and Gill names the tradition identifying Oded with Iddo, which K&D rejects outright. Separately, K&D cites 2 Chronicles 28:9 as the parallel for lipnê yātsāʼ, a prophet going out before a returning army. ⚙ Flagged, not because the shared lexeme is doubtful, but because the text of the verse it links to is disputed in the versions.

2 Chronicles 15:8 · 2 Chronicles 28:9

basis: Verifier: shared H5752 ʻÔwdêd (in 3 vv, rare) with both refs, plus H609 ʼÂçâʼ and H1144 Binyâmîyn at 15:8. Flagged because Pulpit records that the Vulgate and Alexandrian LXX omit the name here and that Keil and Bertheau, following the Arabic, would delete it from 15:8; the reading, not the lexeme, is contested.

Hosea's "without": the same triad threatened again structural / thematic: confirmed

K&D asserts that Hosea 3:4 utters "with a manifest reference to 2 Chronicles 15:3 of our speech" a threat that the ten tribes will be brought into a similar condition, comparing Hosea 9:3 and 4, and pairing this with Moses' warning of dispersion among the heathen where Israel would serve gods of wood and stone (Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:36, 64). Benson and Gill both cite Hosea 3:4 as well, Benson for the future reading of verse 3 that Houbigant preferred, Gill for the view that the verse was fulfilled in the Babylonian captivity. ⚙ The motif link is solid: a people left without the institutions of access. The claim of direct reference is K&D's, not the Verifier's, and no shared lexeme was computed, so we keep the tier structural and name the source of the stronger claim.

Hosea 3:4 · Hosea 3:5

basis: No Verifier candidate; recorded basis is the shared triad of absent God, absent priesthood and absent instruction, cited as a deliberate reference by K&D and independently adduced by Benson and Gill. The directional claim (Hosea referring to this speech) is K&D's alone and is not treated here as verbal.

Nation against nation: a cross-Testament reading of the same collapse structural / thematic: confirmed

K&D carries verse 6 forward past the prophets: the bellum omnium contra omnes Azariah depicts was announced by the later prophets as the beginning of judgment on rebellious Israel and on all kingdoms hostile to God, and he names Isaiah 9:17 to 20, Zechariah 14:13 and Matthew 24:7 together; on the question of Israel's turning and being found he cites Romans 11:25. ⚙ Because these are Greek texts, no shared Strong's number can exist with the Hebrew of verse 6, and we make no verbal claim: the link is the pattern of intramural collapse read as the shape of judgment, with the Olivet saying "nation against nation" standing where gôy bᵉgôy stands here. Note that the structural fit is only partial, since Matthew speaks of birth pangs before deliverance while Azariah speaks of a state to be repented out of.

Matthew 24:7 · Romans 11:25

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so shared Strong's lexemes are impossible by definition and no verbal tier is available. Recorded basis: K&D's own citation of Matthew 24:7 alongside Isaiah 9:17-20 and Zechariah 14:13 for verse 6, and of Romans 11:25 for the turning of verse 4, plus the shared pattern of nation-against-nation collapse under judgment.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

Without a teaching priest: the office that failed and the priest who cannot ancient/widely-held

Verse 3 names the absence of כֹּהֵ֥ן מוֹרֶ֖ה, a priest who teaches. Ellicott gathers the texts that made instruction the priest's charge (Leviticus 10:11; Deuteronomy 17:9; Deuteronomy 33:10; Ezekiel 44:23; Malachi 2:6 and 7), and Cambridge defines the office as giving torah on doubtful points, citing Malachi 2:7. Gill preserves a Jewish reading of this very verse in which "without a teaching priest" is fulfilled when "the high priesthood should cease," and Gill himself inserts the cross-reference: see Hebrews 7:12. ⚙ That is the redemptive-historical hinge, and it is not our invention: the letter to the Hebrews argues from a change of priesthood to a change of law, the two absences Azariah names in one breath. Where Israel's teaching priesthood could lapse for many days, Hebrews sets a priest who continues and therefore always lives to intercede. The identification of Christ as that priest is the ancient and near-universal Christian reading; what we add is only the observation that Azariah's lament is stated in exactly the two terms Hebrews takes up, priesthood and torah.

Malachi 2:7 · Hebrews 7:12 · Hebrews 7:25

"There is a wage": the reward carried in the hand of the one who comes ancient/widely-held

The Verifier pairs verse 7's pᵉʻullâh and sâkâr with Isaiah 40:10 and Isaiah 62:11, where the coming God arrives with His recompense before Him, and with Jeremiah 31:16, where the wage answers Rachel's tears. Ellicott notes the Jeremiah link on this clause; Pulpit ends his note on it with Genesis 15:1, where the reward is God Himself. ⚙ The Apocalypse's closing promise, "my reward is with me," stands in the Isaiah tradition of the arriving God who brings the wage with Him, and reading that line as spoken by the risen Christ is the ordinary Christian reading of Revelation 22:12. Our step, and it is ours, is to let Azariah's verbless clause govern it: the wage is not said to be coming, it is said to exist now, while the hands are still tempted to drop. Paul's "your labour in the Lord is not in vain" is the same grammar of present certainty about unfinished work.

Isaiah 40:10 · Isaiah 62:11 · Revelation 22:12 · 1 Corinthians 15:58

With you while you are with Him, and the presence that reverses the condition novel

Ellicott calls the double conditional "a favourite formula with the chronicler," and the Chronicler means it as stated: the presence is real and it is conditional, which is why Poole can say "you are upon your good behaviour" and JFB can warn of "the bitter fruits of apostasy." ⚙ Our reading, offered as ours: the Gospel of Matthew opens with a name that asserts the presence without the condition, God with us, and closes with "I am with you always," said to disciples who had already forsaken Him. That is not an abolition of Azariah's sentence but its reversal at the point where the mirror broke, since the one who cries of being forsaken in Matthew 27:46 is the one who then does not forsake. We mark this novel rather than ancient: no voice in the brief draws the line, the link is cross-Testament and therefore cannot be verbal, and Henry's much broader note on seeking God with the whole heart is the nearest the sourced commentary comes.

Matthew 1:23 · Matthew 28:20 · Matthew 27:46

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. (1) No parallel. Ellicott states that this section is "peculiar to the Chronicle" and Cambridge that 2 Chronicles 15:1-15 has "no parallel in Kings." There is no second witness to Azariah's sermon, so nothing here can be checked against Samuel or Kings.

(2) The name in verse 1 and verse 8. Pulpit records that the Vulgate and the Alexandrian Septuagint read simply Oded here; that Movers proposed "Oded the son of Azariah"; that Keil and Bertheau, following the Arabic Version, would delete "of Oded the prophet" from verse 8 as a copyist's marginal echo of verse 1; and that the Vatican Septuagint supports the received reading. Geneva concludes from verse 8 that the prophet bore his father's name, Obed. Gill passes on Hillerus and a Jewish tradition identifying Oded with Iddo; Barnes notes the names differ very slightly in Hebrew; Ellicott calls the question "beyond decision"; K&D says the conjecture has no tenable foundation. We record all of this and settle none of it.

(3) The tense of verses 3 to 6 is genuinely undetermined. The Hebrew of verse 3 has no finite verb and Ellicott notes that its lĕlōʼ construction occurs "only here in this sense." K&D lists four historic readings (the ten tribes then; Judah's recent past; the era of the judges; the future exile) with their advocates, rejects the first, and inclines to the future; Barnes, Benson, Poole and Gill read the judges; Geneva reads fifteen recent years in Judah; Benson reports Houbigant's future reading and declines it. Every note above that speaks of "the days of the judges" is reporting a commentator's referent, not a datum of the text.

(4) Who is speaking in verses 3 to 6. Cambridge holds that these verses "contain the reflections of the Chronicler himself" and that Azariah's own exhortation resumes at verse 7. Pulpit entertains the related possibility that the words of verse 2 alone are "the prophecy" referred to in verse 8, then withdraws it for want of external evidence, saying "no corroborative external evidence of this conjecture, however, is forthcoming." If Cambridge is right, the speaker changes mid-unit. We have not assumed either way.

(5) A rarity claim to hold loosely. Ellicott's "only here" for khathath in verse 6 applies to the intensive passive form, and he himself notes that some manuscripts, the Septuagint and the Vulgate have the active form found elsewhere. The uniqueness therefore depends on the Masoretic pointing.

(6) Source artefacts in the brief. The [JFB] entry at verse 1 has a block of Poole-style chapter summary and the line "No text from Poole on this verse" run into it, evidently a scrape artefact; we quoted JFB only from the region clearly his and did not quote from that run-in. The [K&D] entries at verses 1 to 4 are one long capped note repeated, and [Henry] is a single chapter summary repeated at every verse rather than verse-level comment, which is why Henry is cited once and only for a general definition. We did not fetch the capped remainder of K&D.

(7) Interlinear order and note keys. The Berean interlinear indices follow the English alignment, not Hebrew word order, most visibly at verses 1, 3 and 5. Note keys here are those indices as given in the brief; the "literal" lines restore Hebrew order where it differs.

(8) Cognates are not shared lexemes. We observe that tsar (H6862) in verse 4 and tsârâh (H6869) in verse 6 are cognate, and that môreh (H3384) and tôrâh (H8451) share a root, which Cambridge states. These are ⚙ observations about roots; the Verifier records no shared Strong's number for them, and no thread is tiered verbal on that basis.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)