Passage

2 Chronicles 36.14

Book: 2 Chronicles · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

12. and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah his God; he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of Jehovah. 13. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning unto Jehovah, the God of Israel.

14. Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of Jehovah which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

And Jehovah, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place: 16. but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Jehovah arose against his people, till there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:12-16, ASV)

WEB

12. He did that which was evil in Yahweh his God’s sight. He didn’t humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from Yahweh’s mouth. 13. He also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

14. Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted Yahweh’s house which he had made holy in Jerusalem.

Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place; 16. but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:12-16, WEB)

KJV

12. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD. 13. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.

14. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: ^{by: Heb. by the hand of} ^{betimes: that is, continually and carefully} 16. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. ^{remedy: Heb. healing} (2 Chronicles 36:12-16, KJV)

YLT

12. and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah his God, he hath not been humbled before Jeremiah the prophet [speaking] from the mouth of Jehovah; 13. and also, against king Nebuchadnezzar he hath rebelled, who had caused him to swear by God, and he hardeneth his neck, and strengtheneth his heart, against turning back unto Jehovah, God of Israel.

14. Also, all the heads of the priests, and the people, having multiplied to commit a trespass according to all the abominations of the nations, and they defile the house of Jehovah that He hath sanctified in Jerusalem.

And Jehovah, God of their fathers, sendeth unto them by the hand of His messengers, rising early and sending, for He hath had pity on His people, and on His habitation, 16. and they are mocking at the messengers of God, and despising His words, and acting deceitfully with His prophets, till the going up of the fury of Jehovah against His people, till there is no healing. (2 Chronicles 36:12-16, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: narrator (the Chronicler)
Audience: the restored community in the Persian province of Yehud, rebuilding around temple and priesthood with no king of their own
Location: Jerusalem and the temple
Time period: the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah (597-586 BC), narrated by a writer working after the return from Babylon, commonly placed c. 400 BC

Theological reading

The guilt for the exile is not laid on Zedekiah alone. "All the chiefs of the priests, and the people" trespassed, and they "polluted the house of Jehovah which he had hallowed." The verb for trespass is ma'al, unfaithfulness toward what belongs to God, and it is the word the Chronicler used for Saul's sin at the start of the narrative (1 Chronicles 10:13). The history of the kingdom begins and ends with the same charge.

The pollution of the temple from within is described in detail by Ezekiel, a priest among the exiles of 597 BC. In his vision of the temple before its fall he is shown abominations in its courts, including about twenty-five men at the door of the temple "with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah... worshipping the sun toward the east" (Ezekiel 8:16). For the Chronicler's readers, a community led by priests and gathered around a rebuilt temple, the verse named the danger closest to them: the priesthood itself, not only the king, could defile the house God had hallowed.

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.

H3548 - kohen, kohen, Strong's H3548
H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068

Notes

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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.