2 Chronicles 13 Footnotes

13:3 Because archaeologists have estimated Palestine’s population during this period as around three-hundred thousand, there have been various efforts to resolve this conflict of numbers. Some suggest the Hebrew word for “thousand,” elef, is also the name of a military unit that had less than a literal thousand, much like the Roman centurion commanded a unit of less than one hundred soldiers. Others understand the use of numbers here as hyperbolic, not intended to be taken literally, but to show the size of the victory the Lord gave to Abijah. There is one other possible explanation that few seem to entertain: that the documentary evidence of the biblical text suggests the archaeological estimate of the population at that time is in error.

13:4 The Chronicler passed over all of Abijah’s sins, described in 1Kg 15:1-8. Instead, he narrated an event where the king placed his trust in the Lord.

13:18 The Chronicler’s view of history is stated here again: success and failure are dependent upon one’s faithfulness—or lack of it—to the Lord and his law.