2 Chronicles 13:5

5 Don’t you realize that the LORD, the God of Israel, made a lasting covenant with David, giving him and his descendants the throne of Israel forever?

2 Chronicles 13:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 13:5

Ought you not to know
They did know what he afterwards says, but he would have them consider and acknowledge it:

that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for
ever;
to him and his seed, particularly to the Messiah, that should spring from him; but whether Abijah had this in view is a question, see ( 2 Samuel 7:13 2 Samuel 7:16 )

even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?
that is, a perpetual one, which was inviolable, and never to be made void; called so, because salt preserves from corruption and putrefaction, and because made use of in sacrifices offered when covenants were made; the Targum is,

``as salt waters, which never lose their saltness.''

2 Chronicles 13:5 In-Context

3 Judah, led by King Abijah, fielded 400,000 select warriors, while Jeroboam mustered 800,000 select troops from Israel.

4 When the army of Judah arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim and shouted to Jeroboam and all Israel: “Listen to me!

5 Don’t you realize that the LORD, the God of Israel, made a lasting covenant with David, giving him and his descendants the throne of Israel forever?

6 Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, a mere servant of David’s son Solomon, rebelled against his master.

7 Then a whole gang of scoundrels joined him, defying Solomon’s son Rehoboam when he was young and inexperienced and could not stand up to them.

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew a covenant of salt.