Bible Strands
2 Kings 13:23
But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator explains Israel's continued existence during Jehoahaz's reign, immediately after describing Hazael's prolonged oppression. The statement functions as a theological rationale for why the northern kingdom survived despite repeated covenant failure.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיָּחָן (vayyaḥan, H2603) denotes showing favor or grace, paired with וַיְרַחֲמֵם (vayraḥamēm, H7355) for having compassion. The phrase לְמַעַן בְּרִיתוֹ (ləma‘an bərîṯô, H4616/1285) explicitly grounds this mercy in God's prior covenant commitment to the patriarchs.
The thread — This covenant-based preservation recurs in Psalm 105:8, which notes God remembers His covenant for a thousand generations, and in 2 Kings 14:27, where Yahweh's refusal to blot out Israel's name explains His deliverance. Micah 7:18 later echoes the pattern of pardoning the remnant based on divine mercy rather than human merit.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that Israel's survival depends entirely on Yahweh's unilateral commitment to His oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not on their fidelity. It establishes a historical principle that divine mercy operates independently of human performance.
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
And the Lord was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.
Cross-references
- Psalms 105:8 He remembers His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations—
- 2 Kings 14:27 and since the LORD had said that He would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.
- Micah 7:18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Exodus 2:24 So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Psalms 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- Genesis 13:16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
- Genesis 17:2 I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
- 1 Kings 8:28 Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You today.
- 2 Kings 17:18 So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained,
- 2 Kings 24:20 For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.