2 Chronicles 15:3

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 Living Translation (NLT)For a long time Israel was without the true God, without a priest to teach them, and without the Law to instruct them.

Context of 2 Chronicles 15:3

1Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; 4but when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. 5And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands.

2 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 12:28Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!”
• Hosea 3:4For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim.
• Jeremiah 10:10But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.
• John 17:3And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:9For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, 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 an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
• 2 Chronicles 17:8And with them he sent Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah—the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests.
• Leviticus 10:11and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”
• Deuteronomy 33:10They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, And Israel Your law. They shall put incense before You, And a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar.
• Nehemiah 8:9And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.
• Ezekiel 44:21No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.
• Micah 3:11Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord, and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No harm can come upon us.”
• Malachi 2:7“For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
• Matthew 2:4And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
• 1 Timothy 3:2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;
• Romans 2:12For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in 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

• Backsliders
• Courage
• Instruction
• Minister, Christian
• Prayer
• Preaching
• Repentance
• Revivals
• Simeon
• Word of God

In the dictionaries

• God
• Israel
• Covenant
• Renew
• Azariah
• Catechist; Catechumen
• Famine
• Oded
• Priest

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