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2 Chronicles 21 Bible study: A lamp for David's house
Where 2 Kings says the LORD spared Judah "for David his servant’s sake" (2 Kings 8:19), 2 Chronicles says he would not destroy David's house "because of the covenant that he had made with David" (21:7). And only 2 Chronicles tells of the letter from Elijah that named what Jehoram had done (21:12-15).
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“However the LORD would not destroy David’s house, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his children always.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“2 Chronicles tells of a letter that came to King Jehoram from Elijah the prophet.”
Is that in 2 Chronicles 21, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The firstborn, and his brothers
The chapter opens with a family. Jehoram "had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat" (21:2), and the verse names six of them. "Their father gave them great gifts of silver, of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn" (21:3) (tap firstborn). Then, "when Jehoram had risen up over the kingdom of his father, and had strengthened himself, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel" (21:4) (tap strengthened and killed). The chapter tells it in that one verse and gives no reason. Elijah's letter says it back to him later, with a word about the brothers: "also have slain your brothers of your father’s house, who were better than yourself" (21:13). 2 Kings, which tells the same reign, doesn't tell of the brothers (2 Kings 8:16-24).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about 2 Chronicles 21
That was a taste
The rest of 2 Chronicles 21 is waiting in Favor
- However: because of the covenant
- Because he had forsaken the LORD
- No burning, and no one's regret
- What the letter said, and what came
- The LORD stirred up the spirit
- A lamp, and the dawn from on high
- 9 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
נִירnirsay NEER
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "lamp". Strong's: "a lamp (i.e. the burner) or light". Lamp in "as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his children always" (21:7) is this word. Strong's gives nir the same number as the usual word for a lamp, ner, but Brown-Driver-Briggs lists it as its own entry. It comes only four times in the Hebrew Bible, and each time it is a lamp for David: "that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem" (1 Kings 11:36); "Nevertheless for David’s sake, the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem" (1 Kings 15:4); "as he promised him to give to him a lamp for his children always" (2 Kings 8:19), of this same king; and here.
For your group
2 Chronicles 21 Bible study questions
- 1Elijah's letter held up "the ways of Jehoshaphat your father" (21:12). Whose faith, before you, showed you a way worth walking? What would it look like to keep walking in it this week?
- 2"However the LORD would not destroy David’s house, because of the covenant" (21:7). When have you seen God stay faithful when people, maybe you, weren't? How does that change the way you pray?
- 3The chapter ends, "He departed with no one’s regret" (21:20). What do you hope the people around you will be thankful for in your life? What is one small thing you could do toward that now?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads 2 Chronicles 21 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home