Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 13:9
But did you not drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites? And did you not make priests for yourselves as do the peoples of other lands? Now whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of things that are not gods.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Abijah addresses the northern kingdom of Israel during a military standoff, confronting Jeroboam’s religious reforms. The text records his direct accusation that the northern ruler expelled legitimate temple ministers and installed unauthorized clergy.
The words — הִדַּחְתֶּם (hidachtehem) translates to "you have driven out," and כֹהֲנֵי יְהוָה (kohanei Yahweh) means "priests of Yahweh." The phrasing explicitly names the Aaronic lineage and Levites as the displaced group.
The thread — The displacement of Levites corresponds to 2 Chronicles 11:14, while the invention of unauthorized worship aligns with the idolatry condemned in Jeremiah 2:11. The passage also recalls the ordained priesthood requirements detailed in Exodus 29:35.
Why it lands — The verse requires recognition that religious authority cannot be self-appointed or reduced to transactional rituals. It demands the reader acknowledge that legitimate worship depends on divine appointment, not human convenience.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests after the manner of the nations of other lands? so that whosoever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no gods.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 11:14 For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
- Exodus 29:35 This is what you are to do for Aaron and his sons based on all that I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them.
- Exodus 29:1 “Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish,
- Exodus 32:29 Afterward, Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for service to the LORD, since each man went against his son and his brother; so the LORD has bestowed a blessing on you this day.”
- Leviticus 8:2 “Take Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull of the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread,
- Leviticus 16:32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement. He will put on the sacred linen garments
- Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear.
- 1 Kings 12:31 Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites.
- 1 Kings 13:33 Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places.