Passage

2 Chronicles 10.12

Book: 2 Chronicles · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

10. And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou say unto the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger is thicker than my father's loins. 11. And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

12. So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come to me again the third day.

And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men, 14. and spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. (2 Chronicles 10:10-14, ASV)

WEB

10. The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall tell the people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter on us;’ thus you shall say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11. Now whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.’”

12. So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king asked, saying, “Come to me again the third day.”

The king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam abandoned the counsel of the old men, 14. and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” (2 Chronicles 10:10-14, WEB)

KJV

10. And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. 11. For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. ^{my father put: Heb. my father laded}

12. So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day.

And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men, 14. And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. (2 Chronicles 10:10-14, KJV)

YLT

10. And the lads who have grown up with him, speak with him, saying, 'Thus dost thou say to the people who have spoken unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, and thou, make light [somewhat] of our yoke; thus dost thou say unto them, My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father; 11. and now, my father laid on you a heavy yoke, and I, I add unto your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, and I, with scorpions.'

12. And Jeroboam cometh in, and all the people, unto Rehoboam on the third day, as the king spake, saying, 'Return unto me on the third day.'

And the king answereth them sharply, and king Rehoboam forsaketh the counsel of the aged men, 14. and speaketh unto them according to the counsel of the lads, saying, 'My father made your yoke heavy, and I, I add unto it; my father chastised you with whips, and I, with scorpions.' (2 Chronicles 10:10-14, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: The Chronicler, as narrator. The book is anonymous.
Audience: The restored community in post-exilic Judah, living as a Persian province around a rebuilt temple, being shown how the monarchy and the sanctuary they inherited came to this point.
Location: Jerusalem and post-exilic Judah. The narrated events run from Solomon's accession to the fall of the city and the decree of Cyrus.
Time period: Narrating roughly 970 to 539 BC; composed later, most commonly placed in the fifth or fourth century BC. The book is anonymous. Jewish tradition associates it with Ezra, which is tradition rather than a claim the text makes.

Theological reading

The people return on the third day exactly as the king had appointed, which the narrator notes deliberately: the fault in what follows lies with the answer and not with the assembly's conduct. The Chronicler is generally gentler toward the northern tribes than a Judahite partisan account would be. He records the schism as a real grievance over labour and taxation, and 10:15 adds that the turn of events was brought about by God to fulfil the word spoken to Jeroboam, holding human responsibility and divine purpose together without dissolving either.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

H7725 - shuv, shuv, Strong's H7725

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Jesus Was Not Dead Three Days and Three Nights Objection Defeater

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.