Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 20:9

"If evil come upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before thee, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, and thou wilt hear and save." — 2 Chronicles 20:9 (ASV)

If evil comes upon us. —This is a summary of part of Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication (2 Chronicles 6:24–30). The reference to this prayer implies a confidence that it had been accepted in heaven, as the sign that followed it indicated (2 Chronicles 7:1–3).

The Syriac version reads, “When the sanctuary is among us, evil will not come upon us, nor sword, nor judgment, and so on, and we will come and stand before this house, and before You, because Your name is invoked in this house; and we will come and pray before You in this house, and You will listen to the voice of our prayer, and deliver us.”

The Hebrew seems to say, “If evil comes upon us—sword (judgment), and pestilence and famine—we will stand (that is, come forward) before this house, and before You, for Your name is in this house, and we will cry to You out of our distress, and You shall (or that You may) hear and save.”

The word translated “judgment” (shĕphôt) is not used as a noun anywhere else; and, lacking a conjunction, it spoils the symmetry of the sentence.

It is probably an ancient gloss. All the versions include it, and the Vulgate translates it as “sword of judgment.” (Compare the Syriac in 2 Chronicles 20:12, as referenced below.)