New English Translation
2 Chronicles 15:3
3For a long time Israel had no true God, or priest to instruct them, or law.
2 Chronicles 15:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
- New International Version (NIV)For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach and without the law.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law,
- New King James Version (NKJV)For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law;
Context of 2 Chronicles 15:3
1God’s Spirit came upon Azariah son of Oded. 2He met Asa and told him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin! The Lord is with you when you are loyal to him. If you seek him, he will respond to you, but if you reject him, he will reject you. For a long time Israel had no true God, or priest to instruct them, or law. 4Because of their distress, they turned back to the Lord God of Israel. They sought him and he responded to them. 5In those days no one could travel safely, for total chaos had overtaken all the people of the surrounding lands.
Read all of 2 Chronicles 152 Chronicles 15:3 word by word
וְיָמִ֥ים רַבִּ֖ים לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לְלֹ֣א׀ אֱלֹהֵ֣י אֱמֶ֗ת וּלְלֹ֛א כֹּהֵ֥ן מוֹרֶ֖ה וּלְלֹ֥א תוֹרָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Now for a longרַבrab · manyH7227
- seasonיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- withoutלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
- the trueאֱמֶת'emeth · truth: trueH571
- Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- and without a teachingיָרָהyârâh yârâ' · to showH3384
- priestכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
- and without lawתּוֹרָהtôrâh tôrâh · instructionH8451
Cross-references for 2 Chronicles 15:3
- 1 Kings 12:28After the king had consulted with his advisers, he made two golden calves. Then he said to the people, “It is too much trouble for you to go up to Jerusalem. Look, Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
- Hosea 3:4For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.
- Jeremiah 10:10The Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. When he shows his anger the earth shakes. None of the nations can stand up to his fury.
- John 17:3Now this is eternal life – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
- 1 John 5:20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us insight to know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life.
- 2 Chronicles 17:8They were accompanied by the Levites Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah, and by the priests Elishama and Jehoram.
- Leviticus 10:11and to teach the Israelites all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”
- Deuteronomy 33:10They will teach Jacob your ordinances and Israel your law; they will offer incense as a pleasant odor, and a whole offering on your altar.
- Nehemiah 8:9Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priestly scribe, and the Levites who were imparting understanding to the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping when they heard the words of the law.
- Ezekiel 44:21No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner court.
- Micah 3:11Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the Lord and say, “The Lord is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!”
- Malachi 2:7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all.
- Matthew 2:4After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
- 1 Timothy 3:2The overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher,
- Romans 2:12For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
Commentaries on 2 Chronicles 15:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Now for a long season Israel - "Israel hath followed Jeroboam, and they have not worshipped the true God. They have burnt incense to their golden calves; their priestlings [כומריא cumeraiya, their black, sooty sacrificers] have burnt perfumes with a strange worship, and have not exercised themselves in the law." - Targum. These priests could not teach, because they had not learnt; and as they had abandoned the law of the Lord, consequently they had no…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3“Israel” here is used generally for the whole people of God; and the reference is especially to the many apostasies in the days of the Judges, which were followed by repentance and deliverance.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-6The dark times, caused by not knowing God (see Hosea 3:4–5), likely refer to the period of the judges.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-63-6. Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, &c.--Some think that Azariah was referring to the sad and disastrous condition to which superstition and idolatry had brought the neighboring kingdom of Israel. His words should rather be taken in a wider sense, for it seems manifest that the prophet had his eye upon many periods in the national history, when the people were in the state described--a state of spiritual destitution and…Read the comment
Topics related to 2 Chronicles 15:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 2 Chronicles 15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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