Passage

2 Chronicles 8.3

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

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of Jehovah, and his own house, 2. that the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

3. And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it.

And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store - cities, which he built in Hamath. 5. Also he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars; (2 Chronicles 8:1-5, ASV)

WEB

At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built Yahweh’s house and his own house, 2. Solomon built the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

3. Solomon went to Hamath Zobah, and prevailed against it.

He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities, which he built in Hamath. 5. Also he built Beth Horon the upper and Beth Horon the lower, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars; (2 Chronicles 8:1-5, WEB)

KJV

And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house, 2. That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.

3. And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.

And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath. 5. Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars; (2 Chronicles 8:1-5, KJV)

YLT

And it cometh to pass, at the end of twenty years, that Solomon hath built the house of Jehovah, and his own house. 2. As to the cities that Huram hath given to Solomon, Solomon hath built them, and there he causeth the sons of Israel to dwell.

3. And Solomon goeth to Hamath-Zobah, and layeth hold upon it;

and he buildeth Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the cities of store that he hath built in Hamath. 5. And he buildeth Beth-Horon the upper, and Beth-Horon the lower, cities of defence, with walls, two-leaved doors, and bar (2 Chronicles 8:1-5, 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

Solomon goes to Hamath-zobah and prevails against it, one of the few military notices in the Chronicler's account of a reign he otherwise presents in terms of building and worship. Hamath-zobah lies far north of Israel proper, and the verse is part of a short sequence describing the fortification of store cities and the extent of Solomon's control. The Chronicler's Solomon secures and organises rather than conquers, and even this campaign is reported in a single line before the narrative returns to the temple.

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.

H2388 - chazaq, chazaq, Strong's H2388

Quoted in

Lexicon:

H2388 - chazaq

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.