So the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, “You children of Israel, turn again to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant of you that have escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
Parallel Translations
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So the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, “You children of Israel, turn again to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant of you that have escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
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So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
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So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying: 'Ye children of Israel, turn back unto the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may return to the remnant that are escaped of you out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to 2 Chronicles 30:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 51:31 One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter.
- 2 Kings 15:19 Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
- 2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria.
- Esther 8:14 So the couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment. The decree was given out in the citadel of Susa.
- Jeremiah 4:1 “If you will return, Israel,” says Yahweh, “if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you will not be removed;
- 1 Chronicles 5:26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and to the river of Gozan, to this day.
- 2 Chronicles 28:20 Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria came to him, and gave him trouble, but didn’t strengthen him.
- Job 9:25 “Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away. They see no good.
- Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely pardon.
- Isaiah 1:9 Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom. We would have been like Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 6:13 If there is a tenth left in it, that also will in turn be consumed, as a terebinth, and as an oak, whose stump remains when they are cut down; so the holy seed is its stock.”
- Lamentations 5:21 Turn us to yourself, Yahweh, and we will be turned. Renew our days as of old.
- Ezekiel 33:11 Tell them, ‘ “As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, house of Israel?” ’
- Hosea 14:1 Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin.
- Joel 2:12-14 “Yet even now,” says Yahweh, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.
- James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He will have compassion on them, and preserve them.
He will have compassion on them, and preserve them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Ch 30:6 So the posts went with the letters…
2Ch 30:6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
Ver. 6. Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord.] Hezekiah knew that the poor remnant of Israel were in great affliction: he therefore presseth them to repentance, whereby men return to God, as by sin they run from him. Afflictiones sunt lex practice {Psa 119:71} Hezekiah thought it was good striking while the iron was hot.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain To wit, Pul and Tilgath-pilneser, who had carried their…
To wit, Pul and Tilgath-pilneser, who had carried their brethren away captives, 2Ki 15:19,29; 1Ch 5:26; 2Ch 28:20.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And be not ye like your fathers, and like…
And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers,.... By worshipping the calves, and neglecting the service of God in the temple at Jerusalem; the Targum is,"which acted deceitfully with the Word of the Lord their God:"
who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see; some part of the land of Israel being already made desolate by the kings of Assyria, which was very visible.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. So the posts went] רצים ratsim, the…
Verse 6. So the posts went] רצים ratsim, the runners or couriers; persons who were usually employed to carry messages; men who were light of foot, and confidential.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 2Ch 30:6. So the posts — Hebrew, הרצים, haratsim,…
2Ch 30:6. So the posts — Hebrew, הרצים, haratsim, the runners; went with the letters — Expresses were sent throughout all the tribes of Israel, with memorials, earnestly pressing the people to take this opportunity of returning to God, from whom they had revolted. Saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord, &c. — In these letters Hezekiah discovers great concern both for the honour of God and for the welfare of the neighbouring kingdom, the prosperity of which he seems earnestly to have desired, though he not only received no toll, tribute, or custom from it, but it had often, and not long since, been vexatious to his kingdom. This was indeed rendering good for evil. And he will return to the remnant of you — You are but a remnant, narrowly escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria, (namely, Pul and Tiglath-pileser,) who have carried your brethren away captive. And therefore it concerns you to put yourselves under the protection of the God of your fathers, that you may not be quite swallowed up: and if you turn to him in the way of duty, he will turn to you in a way of mercy.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The posts went - The bearers of the letters…
The posts went - The bearers of the letters were probably the “runners” who formed a portion of the king’s body-guard (2Ki 10:25 note).
The kings of Assyria - Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser may all be referred to in this passage (compare the marginal reference and 2Ki 17:3). The passage by no means implies that the fall of Samaria and final captivity of the Israelites had as yet taken place.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Posts. Literally, "runners or couriers." H. --- King. Heb.…
Posts. Literally, "runners or couriers." H. --- King. Heb. "kings." Phul and Thelgathphalnasar. The latter had taken away some tribes, 4 K. xv. 20, 29. C.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain the posts--that is, runners, or royal messengers, who were…
the posts--that is, runners, or royal messengers, who were taken from the king's bodyguard (Ch2 23:1-2). Each, well mounted, had a certain number of miles to traverse. Having performed his course, he was relieved by another, who had to scour an equal extent of ground; so that, as the government messengers were despatched in all directions, public edicts were speedily diffused throughout the country. The proclamation of Hezekiah was followed by a verbal address from himself, piously urging the duty, and setting forth the advantages, of a return to the pure faith and institutions which God had delivered to their ancestors through Moses.
the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria--This implies that several expeditions against Israel had already been made by Assyrian invaders--by Pul (Kg2 15:19), but none of the people were then removed; at a later period by Tiglath-pileser, when it appears that numbers among the tribes east of Jordan (Ch1 5:26), and afterwards in the northern parts of Israel (Kg2 15:20), were carried into foreign exile. The invasion of Shalmaneser cannot be alluded to, as it did not take place till the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign (Kg2 17:6; Kg2 18:9-12).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. The posts — Hebrew, the runners; probably officers…
6. The posts — Hebrew, the runners; probably officers of the royal bodyguard.
The remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria — This passage by no means necessarily implies the downfall of the northern kingdom, nor does any thing in the history of this passover necessitate or require the conclusion of Keil, that it was held subsequent to the final captivity of the ten tribes; for Pul, and Tiglath-pileser, (1Ch_5:26,) and Shalmaneser, (2Ki_17:3,) had carried many Israelites into exile before the first year of Hezekiah’s reign.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. the posts] Lit. “the runners.”
6. the posts] Lit. “the runners.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) The posts.—The runners— i.e., couriers (ᾰγγαροι). The Syriac…
(6) The posts.—The runners— i.e., couriers (ᾰγγαροι). The Syriac uses the Latin word Tabellarii, “letter- carriers,” which the Arabic mistakes for “folk of Tiberias”! The soldiers of the body-guard seem to have acted as royal messengers.
From the king.—From the hand of the king.
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And according to the commandment.—The construction appears to be: they went with the letters . . . and according to the king’s order. The LXX. and Vulg. omit and, but the Syriac has it.
And he will return.—That he may return unto the survivors that are left unto you from the hand of the hings of Assyria.
Remnant.—Pĕlêtâh.—That the word really means survivors appears from comparison of the Assyrian balâtu, “to be alive;” bullŭtu, “life.”
The kings of Assyria.—See 2Ch_28:16; 2Ch_28:20. The words are a rhetorical reference to Tiglath-pileser’s invasion of the northern kingdom, and the depopulation of Galilee and Gilead. The chronicler’s language may have been influenced also by recollection of the last fatal inroad of Shalmaneser II., in the fourth year of Hezekiah (2Ki_18:9). (See 2Ki_15:29.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain So the posts (see note on ver. 1). The…
So the posts (see note on ver. 1). The remnant of you escaped of Assyria. Hezekiah had, no doubt, already made his account with the fact that the injured and crushed state of the northern kingdom might be of salutary omen for the attempt on his part to bring them to a sense of their past sins, specially perhaps of omission. Of the calamities of Israel, and their captivity in large part, and in the rest subjection by tribute to Assyria, there is clear testimony in 2Ki_15:29 2Ki_17:1-6.
Vers. 6-9.
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Four reasons for repentance.
The letters which Hezekiah sent throughout the cities and villages of Israel contained an earnest exhortation to repentance; they urged upon the inhabitants of that distressed land that, for the strongest reasons, they should return from their idolatrous ways, and worship the true and living God in his own temple. These considerations are fourfold.
I IT IS TO THE GOD OF THEIR FATHERS THEY WERE EXHORTED TO RETURN. "Children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Israel" (ver. 6). It was not to the house of a strange deity they were now invited; it was to the God of Israel to him to whom their own ancestors bowed the knee; it was to him who ever called himself by the very name they bore, in whom their illustrious father put his trust and found his heritage. Whom should they serve but that One whom Israel himself acknowledged as the Lord his God? (Gen_28:16-22) To those who have gone astray to vanities, to the pursuits of earth, to human attachments, to perishable treasures, and who have forsaken the Divine Source of all good and joy, we have to say, "Return unto the Lord God of your fathers. He to whom and to whose service we invite your return is no strange God in your house. It is he whom your father, whom your mother, has loved and served these many years; whom (it may be) they are worshipping and serving now in the upper sanctuary. It is their tones that may be recognized in our voice, if you have an ear to hear, saying, "Return unto our God, unto our Saviour, unto our heritage, unto our home.
II REBELLION MEANS NOTHING BUT RUIN. "Who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation" (ver. 7). Assuming the (more probable) theory that the country was now in the hands of the Assyrians, there was "desolation" indeed; to most of their families (and to the best of them) captivity or bereavement; to the nation, as such, utter subjection, humiliation, ruin. This was the penalty of their rebellion against Jehovah, its natural and inevitable end. (Deu_29:22-28) To those who are estranged from God we have to say," Return unto God, for distance from him is spiritual ruin.
1. It is the forfeiture of the true heritage of the human soul, the heritage ithas in the favour and the friendship of God.
2. It is the endurance of his most serious displeasure.
3. It is a spiritual bondage, the bondage of sin.
4. It is the beginning of death eternal.
III THERE IS NO DANGER OF REPULSE. "The Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him" (ver. 9). The people of this idolatrous realm might well ask whether they had not hopelessly separated themselves from Jehovah, whether their rebelliousness had not gone such lengths that mercy was not to be looked for. But Hezekiah charged them to dismiss all such fears from their minds; their repentance would meet with a gracious response from the forgiving God of their fathers. It is one of the strongest inducements we have to offer to those now spiritually estranged, that their genuine repentance, the turning of their heart toward the God of their fathers, and their seeking his mercy in Jesus Christ the Divine Saviour, is certain to be attended with his abundant mercy, and to he followed by their restitution to the favour they have lost, to the home they have left, to the blessedness they have thrown away. There is absolutely no fear of a repulse that is a moral impossibility; the unchangeable Word of the faithful God is the immovable pledge that return means reconciliation.
IV RECONCILIATION FOR THEMSELVES MEANS MERCY FOR THEIR RELATIONS. "Your brethren and your children shall find compassion," etc. (ver. 9). This was their one and only hope. If God had mercy upon Israel that was in Israel, he might, he would, recall their brethren and children from the land of their captivity; otherwise these must perish in "a strange land," in the land of the enemy. Our message to men is not unlike this; we have to say to them, "If you will consult the well-being of those in whom you are most interested and for whom you are most responsible; if you will care for the salvation of those nearest and dearest to you, of your brethren and your children; then do you live the life of the holy, do you give the best and strongest evidence that you believe in the excellency of the service of Christ, do you turn from the transient and the unsatisfying treasures of earth, and seek your heritage in the favour of the heavenly Father, in the love and the friendship of the Saviour of mankind. Therefore "yield yourselves unto God" (ver. 8); enter his sanctuary; accept the overtures of his Son; sit down at his table; take on you his Name and his vows. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 people who carry messages
couriers
people who carry messages
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all Israel and Judah
The tribe of Judah was the largest of the tribes of Israel and was in the southern part of Israel. Here the phrase "Israel and Judah" refers to the people who belonged to the southern tribes of Israel. See how you translated this in 2 Chronicles 30:1. AT: "the southern tribes of Israel" (See: Hendiadys)
turn back to Yahweh
Here "turn back to Yahweh" represents submitting to him again. AT: "submit again to Yahweh" (See: Metaphor)
so that he may turn back to the remnant of you
Here "turn back to the remnant" represents protecting the remnant again. AT: "so that he may again protect the remnant of you" (See: Metaphor)
who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria
The word "hand" often represents power or authority. Here it represents the kings' cruel authority to force people to go to other countries. AT: "who have escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
turn
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
remnant
hand
Assyria
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.