2 Chronicles 28
2 Chronicles 28 is the twenty-eighth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles the Old Testament in the Christian Bible or of the second part of the Books of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible. The book is compiled from older sources by an unknown person or group, designated by modern scholars as "the Chronicler", and had the final shape established in late fifth or fourth century BCE. This chapter belongs to the section focusing on the kingdom of Judah until its destruction by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar and the beginning of restoration under Cyrus the Great  of Persia (2 Chronicles 10 to 36). The focus of this chapter is the reign of Ahaz, king of Judah. Text. This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and is divided into 27 verses. Textual witnesses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Leningradensis (1008). A fragment containing a part of this chapter was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, that is, 4Q118 (4QChr; 50–25 BCE) with extant verse 27. There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in  the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; formula_1; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; formula_1; 5th century). Ahaz, king of Judah (28:1–4). Ahaz's reign was dominated by the Syro-Ephraimite war, against the kingdoms of Israel and Aram, due to Ahaz's wicked way and refusal to convert. His reign marks the unmitigated decline of the kingdom of Judah. Judah were defeated by enemies (28:5–21). A possible opportunity of Israel reunification by northern kingdom's subjugation of Judah was prevented by God's word through the prophet Oded (verses 9–11 ) and some chiefs of the Ephraimites (verses 9–11), so the army of Israel treated the captives from Judah humanely (a mirror image of 2 Chronicles 13, in which Judah and Israel have exchanged their roles). Some details of the good treatments by the people of "Samaria" in verses 9–15 are apparently underlined in the well-known story of "the Good Samaritans" in the Gospel of Luke (). While Ahaz sought and waited for Tiglath-pileser's support (not recorded in the Chronicles, the books of Kings note that later Tiglath-pileser accepted the offer, defeated Damascus, deported its citizens, and killed  king Rezin), the Edomites (verse 17) and the Philistines (verse 18) had successfully defeated Judah. Verses 20–21 emphasize that Tiglath-pileser did not really come to help, because he extorted heavy tribute from Judah. Apostasy and death of Ahaz (28:22–27). Verses 22–25 record the cultic sins of Ahaz as he worshipped for the gods of Damascus, the land that defeated him, and abandoned the worship of YHWH. This verse displays the strongest parallels with Luke 10 (Luke 10:30, 33–34).