2 Chronicles 13:10

2Ch 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:

Ver. 10. But as for us, the Lord is our God, &c.] Summa ratio est quae pro religione facit, saith Papinian. Abijah was none of the best, and yet pretendeth to a great deal of religion, and pleadeth hard for it; though he "walked in all the sins of his father" Rehoboam. {1Ki 15:3} Hypocrites want for no fair words. Some think that Abijah, when he went forth to battle, was indifferent good; but puffed up with his great victory, he fell away. Pellican holdeth that he was ever naught: only the worship of God was by him externally maintained and magnified; wherewith because God was well pleased, it being of his own ordaining, he now took part with him.

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.

2Ch 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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:10-11 Abijah’s speech portrays him as concerned about the purity of worship at Jerusalem. The account in Kings says nothing of Abijah’s devotion (1 Kgs 15:3-4).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. The Lord is our God] We have not abandoned the Lord; and we still serve him according to his own law.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(10) We have not forsaken him.—Comp. 1Ki_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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

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.

And they burn unto the Lord, every morning and every evening, burnt sacrifices and sweet incense,.... That is, the priests; the one they did on the altar of burnt offering, and the other on the altar of incense, and both every day, morning and evening:

the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; the shewbread table, every sabbath day, when they took the old bread off, which had stood there a week:

and the candlestick of gold, with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening; these were lighted every evening, and dressed every morning; and though there were ten tables and ten candlesticks in Solomon's temple, yet only one of each was used at a time; and therefore from hence it is not to be concluded that all the rest were taken away by Shishak:

for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; observe all the rites and ceremonies, laws, and ordinances enjoined by him; the Targum is,"the charge of the Word of the Lord our God:"

but ye have forsaken him; his fear or worship, as the same paraphrase.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 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 (Mat_15:8; Mar_12:33; 1Sa_15:22; Isa_1:11, Isa_1:16, Isa_1:19) 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. (Mat_5:13) They burnt sweet incense (so 2Ch_2:4; Exo_30:7; Rev_8:3, Rev_8:4) 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 (2Ch_4:8, compared with (2Ch_29:18; 1Ki_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!

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord - Hebrew. Jehovah, the only true God. We - Maintain his worship which you have rejected.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

as for us

The word "us" refers to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah.

who are at their work

The word "work" can be translated with a verb. AT: "who are working" (See: Abstract Nouns)

the bread of the presence

The "bread of the presence" refers to twelve loaves of bread that the priests placed on a golden table in the tabernacle or temple building as a sacrifice to God and as a symbol of God's presence.

they also tend the lampstand

"they also take care of the lampstand"

for them to burn every evening

"so that the lamps burn every evening" or "and light the lamps every evening"

translationWords

forsake

burnt offering

servant

works

incense

bread

lampstand

command

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

engage in the work i.e., in their work; this one to sing, and that one to guard the gates, every man to his work, as David prepared it.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.