2 Chronicles 13:20

20 and Jeroboam might no more against-stand (Judah) in the days of Abijah, whom the Lord smote, and he was dead. (and Jeroboam never regained his power in the days of Abijah, and finally the Lord struck him down, and he died.)

2 Chronicles 13:20 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 13:20

Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of
Abijah
So as to bring an army into the field against him, and fight him:

and the Lord struck him;
by some Jewish writers F1, this is interpreted of Abijah; and the reason of his being stricken, they say, was because he did not destroy the calf when he took Bethel; but it is best to understand it of Jeroboam, since Abijah is afterwards said to wax mighty:

and he died;
not immediately, for he lived two years after Abijah, ( 1 Kings 14:20 ) ( 15:9 ) , but continued under a lingering disease he was smitten with, and which issued in his death.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 Bereshit Rabba, sect. 65. fol. 58. 8. Seder Olam Rabba, c. 16.

2 Chronicles 13:20 In-Context

18 And the sons of Israel were made low in that time, and the sons of Judah were comforted full greatly, for they had hoped in the Lord God of their fathers. (And the Israelites were brought low at that time, and the sons of Judah prevailed, for they had hoped in the Lord God of their fathers.)
19 And Abijah pursued Jeroboam fleeing, and took his cities, that is, Bethel and his villages, and Jeshanah with his villages, and Ephron and his villages; (And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took his cities, that is, Bethel, and its villages, and Jeshanah with its villages, and Ephron, and all its villages;)
20 and Jeroboam might no more against-stand (Judah) in the days of Abijah, whom the Lord smote, and he was dead. (and Jeroboam never regained his power in the days of Abijah, and finally the Lord struck him down, and he died.)
21 Therefore Abijah, when his empire was comforted, took fourteen wives, and he begat two and twenty sons, and sixteen daughters. (And so Abijah, when his empire was strengthened, or confirmed, took fourteen wives, and he begat twenty-two sons, and sixteen daughters.)
22 The residue of [the] words of Abijah, and of his ways and his works, be written full diligently in the book of Iddo, the prophet. (And the rest of the deeds of Abijah, his ways and his works, be very diligently written down in The Book of Iddo, the prophet.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.