Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 16:2
So Asa withdrew the silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he sent it with this message to Ben-hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — King Asa acts during the thirty-sixth year of his reign, when Baasha of Israel fortifies Ramah to blockade Judah. Asa removes silver and gold from the temple and royal treasuries to send to Ben-hadad of Aram in Damascus.
The words — וַ/יֹּצֵ֨א (va/i.yo.Tze') means "and he brought out," and מֵ/אֹֽצְר֛וֹת (me./'o.tze.Rot) means "from the treasuries." These terms specify the physical extraction of consecrated and royal wealth.
The thread — This diversion of sacred and palace funds appears in 2 Kings 12:18, 2 Kings 16:8, and 2 Kings 18:15. Each account records a Judahite monarch liquidating institutional assets for political survival.
Why it lands — The text records the immediate repurposing of holy and royal wealth to secure a foreign treaty. A reader must note the plain calculation that substitutes human alliance for institutional consecration.
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
Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben–hadad king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 12:18 So King Joash of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his fathers—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. So Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 16:8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria.
- 2 Kings 18:15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
- 2 Chronicles 28:21 Although Ahaz had taken a portion from the house of the LORD, from the royal palace, and from the princes and had presented it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.