hill country of Ephraim, as the two armies confronted one another (2 Chron. 13:3–12). In this dramatic setting the speech makes these points: • Yahweh, God of Israel, gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by “a covenant of salt”—a covenant that lasts, because salt is a preservative (v. 5).2 • You northerners suppose that you can withstand “the kingdom of Yahweh in the hands of the sons of David” because of your military might and the religious innovations of Jeroboam (v. 8).