2 Chronicles 13:10

But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) We have not forsaken him.—Comp. 1Kings 15:3. “he walked in all the sins of his father,” “his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God.” But that passage is by no means incompatible with the present as some have asserted. What Abijah here states is surely true—viz.,that Judah had maintained the Levitical priesthood, and its associated worship. And the following words prove this to be his meaning: “and the priests which minister unto the Lord are the sons of Aaron; and the Levites wait upon their business,” (literally, are in the work). The work of the service of Jehovah could be duly performed by none but Levites.

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 13:10. But the Lord is our God — Hebrew, Jehovah, the only true and great God. And we have not forsaken him — We maintain his honour and worship, which you have ungratefully rejected. And he is able to protect us and give us success.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

13:1-22 Abijah overcomes Jeroboam. - Jeroboam and his people, by apostacy and idolatry, merited the severe punishment Abijah was permitted to execute upon them. It appears from the character of Abijah, 1Ki 15:3, that he was not himself truly religious, yet he encouraged himself from the religion of his people. It is common for those that deny the power of godliness, to boast of the form of it. Many that have little religion themselves, value it in others. But it was true that there were numbers of pious worshippers in Judah, and that theirs was the more righteous cause. In their distress, when danger was on every side, which way should they look for deliverance unless upward? It is an unspeakable comfort, that our way thither is always open. They cried unto the Lord. Earnest prayer is crying. To the cry of prayer they added the shout of faith, and became more than conquerors. Jeroboam escaped the sword of Abijah, but God struck him; there is no escaping his sword.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Seven rams - "A bullock and two rams" was the offering which God had required at the original consecration of the sons of Aaron Exodus 29:1; Leviticus 8:2. Jeroboam, for reasons of his own, enlarged the sacrifice, and required it at the consecration of every priest.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4-12. Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemaraim—He had entered the enemy's territory and was encamped on an eminence near Beth-el (Jos 18:22). Jeroboam's army lay at the foot of the hill, and as a pitched battle was expected, Abijah, according to the singular usage of ancient times, harangued the enemy. The speakers in such circumstances, while always extolling their own merits, poured out torrents of invective and virulent abuse upon the adversary. So did Abijah. He dwelt on the divine right of the house of David to the throne; and sinking all reference to the heaven-condemned offenses of Solomon and the divine appointment of Jeroboam, as well as the divine sanction of the separation, he upbraided Jeroboam as a usurper, and his subjects as rebels, who took advantage of the youth and inexperience of Rehoboam. Then contrasting the religious state of the two kingdoms, he drew a black picture of the impious innovations and gross idolatry introduced by Jeroboam, with his expulsion and impoverishment (2Ch 11:14) of the Levites. He dwelt with reasonable pride on the pure and regular observance of the ancient institutions of Moses in his own dominion [2Ch 13:11] and concluded with this emphatic appeal: "O children of Israel, fight ye not against Jehovah, the God of your fathers, for ye shall not prosper."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The Lord, Heb. Jehovah, the only true and great God.

We have not forsaken him; we maintain his honour and worship, which you have ungratefully rejected.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But as for us, the Lord is our God,.... The Word of the Lord, as the Targum; we know and acknowledge no other; not the calves at Dan and Bethel, nor any other idols, only the one living and true God:

and we have not forsaken him; his laws, statutes, ordinances, and worship; for though Abijah was not a religious man, yet it seems the form of religion was kept up, and temple service was observed, in his days:

and the priests which minister unto the Lord; by offering sacrifices, and burning incense:

are the sons of Aaron; and they only:

and the Levites wait upon their business; some in singing songs of praise, vocally and instrumentally, others in keeping the doors of the temple and the treasures of the house of God, and others in assisting the priests at the altar.

Geneva Study Bible

But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron] R.V. and we have priests ministering unto the LORD, the sons of Aaron.

wait upon their business] R.V. in their work (sc. ministering to the Lord as above). Part of the ideal of the Priestly Code was that the Levites should be restricted to the duty of helping the priests, and should be prevented from executing priestly functions themselves. With this ideal the Chronicler plainly sympathised, but it could not always be realised.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 10, 11. - The professions summarized in these two verses were confessedly formally true of the king and priests and nation, although Abijah and kingdom certainly did not carry a clean conscience in them (Matthew 15:8; Mark 12:33; 1 Samuel 15:22; Isaiah 1:11, 16, 19). They were, moreover, beyond a doubt really true of multitudes of individuals in the kingdom of Judah and Benjamin. And these were "the salt of the" kingdom (Matthew 5:13). They burnt... sweet incense (so our 2 Chronicles 2:4; Exodus 30:7; Revelation 8:3, 4). The pure table... the candlestick. Although ten of each of these were made, only one was used, or only one at the time (see our note on 2 Chronicles 4:8, compared with 2 Chronicles 29:18; 1 Kings 7:48). We have not forsaken him... ye have forsaken him. If all the difference that these words have it in them to express could have been put to the credit of Abijsh, what tremendous strength would have now belonged to his position and to his heart! 2 Chronicles 13:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

While, therefore, the Israelites have no-gods in their golden calves, Judah has Jahve for its God, whom it worships in His temple in the manner prescribed by Moses. "But in Jahve is our God, and we have not forsaken Him," in so far, viz., as they observed the legal Jahve-worship. So Abijah himself explains his words, "as priests serve Him the sons of Aaron (who were chosen by Jahve), and the Levites are בּמלאכת, in service," i.e., performing the service prescribed to them. As essential parts of that service of God, the offering of the daily burnt-offering and the daily incense-offering (Exodus 29:38., 2 Chronicles 30:7), the laying out of the shew-bread (Exodus 25:30; Leviticus 24:5.), the lighting of the lamps of the golden candlesticks (Exodus 25:37; Exodus 27:20.), are mentioned. In this respect they keep the יהוה משׁמרת (cf. Leviticus 8:35).