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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>2 Chronicles 20:20 Commentaries: They rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa; and when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD your God and you will be established. Put your trust in His prophets and succeed."</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/2_chronicles/20-20.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcom/2_chronicles/20-20.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="http://biblehub.com/commentaries/">Commentaries</a> > 2 Chronicles 20:20</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../2_chronicles/20-19.htm" title="2 Chronicles 20:19">◄</a> 2 Chronicles 20:20 <a href="../2_chronicles/20-21.htm" title="2 Chronicles 20:21">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/barnes/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/1_chronicles/28-9.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kad/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Keil and Delitzsch OT">KD</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kelly/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Kelly Commentary">Kelly</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/2_chronicles/20.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/2_chronicles/20.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(20) <span class= "bld">Went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa.</span>—Part of the wilderness of Jeruel (<a href="/2_chronicles/20-16.htm" title="To morrow go you down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and you shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.">2Chronicles 20:16</a>). Tekoa (<span class= "ital">Thekua</span>) is about ten miles south of Jerusalem, and commands a view over the table-land of <span class= "ital">el Husâsoh.</span><p><span class= "bld">Jehoshaphat stood.</span>—Or, <span class= "ital">came forward.</span> The king probably stood in the gate at Jerusalem.<p><span class= "bld">Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established.</span>—An affirmative way of putting the words of Isaiah to Ahaz: “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established” (<a href="/isaiah/7-9.htm" title="And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.">Isaiah 7:9</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Believe his prophets.</span>—<span class= "ital">Believe in,</span> as before, <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> put confidence in their advice and leading.<p><span class= "bld">So shall ye prosper.</span>—<span class= "ital">And prosper ye.</span> (Comp. <a href="/2_chronicles/18-11.htm" title="And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.">2Chronicles 18:11</a>.)<p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/maclaren/2_chronicles/20.htm">MacLaren's Expositions</a></div>2 Chronicles<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">HOLDING FAST AND HELD FAST<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/2_chronicles/20-20.htm" title="And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper.">2 Chronicles 20:20</a></span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> Certainly no stronger army ever went forth to victory than these Jews, who poured out of Jerusalem that morning with no weapon in all their ranks, and having for their van, not their picked men, but singers who ‘praised the beauty of holiness,’ and chanted the old hymn, ‘Give thanks unto the Lord, for His mercy endureth for ever.’ That was all that men had to do in the battle, for as the shrill song rose in the morning air ‘the Lord set liers in wait for the foe,’ and they turned their swords against one another, so that when Jehoshaphat and his troops came in sight of the enemy the battle was over and the field strewn with corpses-so great and swift is the power of devout recognition of God’s goodness and trust in His enduring mercy, even in the hour of extremest peril.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> The exhortation in our text which is Jehoshaphat’s final word to his army, has, in the original, a beauty and emphasis that are incapable of being preserved in translation. There is a play of words which cannot be reproduced in another language, though the sentiment of it may be explained. The two expressions for ‘believing’ and ‘being established’ are two varying forms of the same root-word; and although we can only imitate the original clumsily in our language, we might translate in some such way as this: ‘Hold fast by the Lord your God, and you will be held fast,’ or ‘stay yourselves on Him and you will be stable.’ These attempts at reproducing the similarity of sound between the two verbs in the two clauses of our text, rude as they are, preserve what is lost, so far as regards form, in the English translation, though that is correct as to the meaning of the command and promise. If we note this connection of the two clauses we just come to the general principle which lies here, that the true source of steadfastness in character and conduct, of victory over temptation, and of standing fast in slippery places, is simple reliance, or, to use the New Testament word, ‘faith,’ ‘Believe and ye shall be established.’ Put out your hand and clasp Him, and He puts out His hand and steadies you. But all the steadfastness and strength come from the mighty Hand that is outstretched, not from the tremulous one that grasps it.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> So, then, keeping to the words of my text, let me suggest to you the large lessons that this saying teaches us, in regard to three things, which I may put as being the object, the nature, and the issues of faith; or, in other words, to whom we are to cling, how we are to cling, and what the consequence of the clinging is.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">I. To whom we must cling.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </span>‘Stay yourselves on the Lord your God,’ Well, then, faith is not believing a number of theological articles, nor is it even accepting the truth of the Gospel as it lies in Jesus Christ, but it is accepting the Christ whom the truth of the Gospel reveals to us. And, although we have to come to Him through the word that declares what He is, and what He has done for us, the act of believing on Him is something that lies beyond the mere understanding of, or giving credence to, the message that tells us who He is and what He has done. A man may have not the ghost of a doubt or hesitation about one tittle of revealed truth, and if you were to cross-question him, could answer satisfactorily all the questions of an orthodox inquisitor, and yet there may not be one faintest flicker of faith in that man’s whole being, for all the correctness of his creed, and the comprehensiveness of it, too. Trust is more than assent. If it is a Person on whom our faith leans, then from that there follows clearly enough that the bond which binds us to Him must be something far warmer, far deeper, and far more under the control of our own will than the mere consent or assent of our brains to a set of revealed truths. ‘The Lord your God,’ and not even the Bible that tells you about Him; ‘the Lord your God,’ and not even the revealed truths that manifest Him, but Him as revealed by the truths-it is He that is the Object to which our faith clings.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> Jehoshaphat, in the same breath in which he exhorted his people to ‘believe in the Lord, that they might be established,’ also said, ‘Believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.’ The immediate reference, of course, was to the man who the day before had assured them of victory. But the wider truth suggested is, that the only way to get to God is through the word that speaks of Him, and which has come from the lips either of prophets or of the Son who has spoken more, and more sweetly and clearly, than all the prophets put together. If we are to believe God, we must believe the prophets that tell us of Him.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> And then there is another suggestion that may be made. The Object of faith proposed to Judah is not only ‘the Lord,’ but ‘the Lord <span class="ital">your</span> God.’ I do not say that there can be no faith without the ‘appropriating’ action which takes the whole Godhead for mine, but I doubt very much whether there is any. And it seems to me that to a very large extent the difference between mere nominal, formal Christians and men who really are living by the power of faith in God as revealed in Jesus Christ, lies in that one little word, ‘the Lord your God.’ That a man shall put out a grasping hand, and say, ‘I take for my own-for my very own-the universal blessing, I claim as my possession that God of the spirits of all flesh, I believe that He does stand in a real individualising relation to me, and I to Him,’ is surely of the very essence of faith. There is no presumption, but the truest wisdom and lowliness in enclosing, if I may so say, a part of this great common for ours, and putting a hedge about it, as it were, and saying, ‘That is mine.’ We shall not have understood the sweetness and the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ until we have pointed and condensed the general declaration, ‘He so loved the world,’ into the individualising and appropriating one, ‘He loved me, and gave Himself for me.’ Oh! if we could only apply that process thoroughly to all the broad glorious words and promises of Scripture, and feel that the whole incidence of them was meant to fall upon us, one by one, and that just as the sun, up in the heavens there, sends all his beams into the tiniest daisy on the grass, as if there was nothing else in the whole world, but only its little petals to be smoothed out and opened, I think our Christianity would be more real, and we should have more blessings in our hands. God in Christ and I, the only two beings in the universe, and all His fullness mine, and all my weakness supported and supplemented by Him-that is the view that we should sometimes take. We should set ourselves apart from all mankind, and claim Him as our very own, and so be filled with the fullness of God.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> This, then, is the Object of faith, a Person who is all mine and all yours too. The beam of light that falls on my eye falls on yours, and no man makes a sunbeam the smaller because he sees by it; and in like manner we may each possess the whole of God for our very own property.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">II. How we cling.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </span>The metaphor, I suppose, is more eloquent than all explanations of it. ‘Believe in the Lord’; hold fast by Him with a tight grip, continually renewed when it tends to slacken, as it surely will, and then you will be established.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> We might run out into any number of figurative illustrations. Look at that little child beginning to learn to walk, how it fastens its little dimpled hands into its mother’s apron, and so the tiny tottering feet get a kind of steadfastness into them. Look at that man lying at the door of the Temple, who never had walked since his mother’s womb, and had lain there for forty years, with his poor weak ankles all atrophied by reason of their disuse. ‘He <span class="ital">held</span> Peter and John.’ Would not his grasp be tight? Would he not clasp their hands as his only stay? He had not become accustomed to the astounding miracle of walking, nor learned to balance himself and accomplish the still more astounding feat of standing steady. So he clutched at the two Apostles and was ‘established.’ Look at that man walking by a slippery path which he does not know, holding by the hand the guide who is able to direct and keep him up. See this other in some wild storm, with an arm round a steadfast tree-stem, to keep him from being blown over the precipice, how he clings like a limpet to a rock. And that is how we are to hold on to God, with what would be despair if it were not the perfection of confidence, with the clear sense that the only thing between us and ruin is the strong Hand that we clasp.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> And what do we mean by clasping God? I mean making daily efforts to rivet our love on Him, and not to let the world, with all its delusive and cloying sweets, draw us away from Him. I mean continual and strenuous efforts to fix our <span class="ital">thoughts</span> upon Him, and not to allow the trivialities of life, or the claims of culture, or the necessities of our daily position so to absorb our minds as that thoughts of God are comparative strangers there, except, perhaps, sometimes on a Sunday, and now and then at the sleepy end, or the half-awake beginning, of a day. I mean continually repeated and strenuous efforts to cleave to Him by the submission of our <span class="ital">will</span>, letting Him ‘do what seemeth Him good,’ and not lifting ourselves up against Him, or perking our own inclinations, desires, and fancies in His face, as if we would induce Him to take them for His guides! And I mean that we should try to commit our <span class="ital">way</span> unto the Lord, ‘to rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.’ The submissive will which cleaves to God’s commandments, the waiting heart that clings to His love, the regulated thoughts that embrace His truth, and the childlike confidence that commits its path to Him-these are the elements of that steadfast adherence to the Lord which shall not be in vain.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">III. The blessed effects of this clinging to God.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </span>‘So shall ye be established.’ That follows, as a matter of course. The only way to make light things stable is to fasten them to something that is stable. And the only way to put any kind of calmness and fixedness, and yet progress-stability in the midst of progress, and progress in the midst of stability-into our lives, is by keeping firm hold of God. If we grasp His hand, then a calm serenity will be ours. In the midst of changes, sorrows, losses, disappointments, we shall not be blown about here and there by furious winds of fortune, nor will the heavy currents of the river of life sweep us away. We shall have a holdfast and a mooring. And although, like some light-ship anchored in the Channel, we may heave up and down with the waves, we shall keep in the same place, and be steadfast in the midst of mobility, and wholesomely mobile although anchored in the one spot where there is safety. As the issue of faith, of this throwing the responsibility for ourselves upon God, there will be quietness of heart, and continuance and persistence in righteousness, and steadfastness of purpose and continuity of advancement in the divine life. ‘The law of the Lord is in his heart,’ says one of the Psalms, ‘none of his steps shall slide.’ The man who walks holding God’s hand can put down a firm foot, even when he is walking in slippery places. There will be decision, and strength, and persistence of continuous advance, in a life that derives its impulse and its motive power from communion with God in Jesus Christ.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> There will be victory, not indeed after the fashion of that in this story before us. In it, of course, men had to do nothing but ‘stand still and see the salvation of God.’ That is the law for us, in regard to the initial blessings of acceptance, and forgiveness, and the communication of the divine life from above. We have to be simple recipients, and we have no co-operating share in that part of the work of our own salvation. But for the rest we have to help God. ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you.’ But none the less, ‘This is the victory that over-cometh the world, even our faith,’ and if we give heed to Jehoshaphat’s commandment, and go out to battle as his people did, with the love and trust of God in our hearts, then we shall come back as they did, laden with spoil, and shall name the place which was the field of conflict ‘the valley of blessing,’ and return to Jerusalem ‘with psalteries, and harps, and trumpets,’ and ‘God will give us rest from all our enemies round about us.’<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/benson/2_chronicles/20.htm">Benson Commentary</a></div><span class="bld"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-20.htm" title="And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper.">2 Chronicles 20:20</a></span>. <span class="ital">Believe in the Lord your God — </span>Believe God’s promise delivered to us by this prophet, and consequently all other predictions of the prophets. <span class="ital">So shall ye prosper — </span>Take heed lest by your unbelief you frustrate God’s promise.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/2_chronicles/20.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>20:20-30 Jehoshaphat exhorted his troops to firm faith in God. Faith inspires a man with true courage; nor will any thing help more to the establishing of the heart in shaking times, than a firm belief of the power, and mercy, and promise of God. In all our trust in the Lord, and our praises of him, let us especially look at his everlasting mercy to sinners through Jesus Christ. Never was an army so destroyed as that of the enemy. Thus God often makes wicked people destroy one another. And never was a victory celebrated with more solemn thanksgivings.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/2_chronicles/20.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Tekoa (<a href="/2_samuel/14-2.htm">2 Samuel 14:2</a> note) lay on the borders of the desert which skirts the highlands of Judaea toward the east. The town was built on a hill of a considerable height. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/2_chronicles/20.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>20, 21. as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood … Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem—probably in the gate of Jerusalem, the place of general rendezvous; and as the people were on the eve of setting out, he exhorted them to repose implicit trust in the Lord and His prophet, not to be timid or desponding at sight of the enemy, but to remain firm in the confident assurance of a miraculous deliverance, without their striking a single stroke.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/2_chronicles/20.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> <span class="bld">Believe his prophets, </span> i.e. God’s promise delivered to us by this prophet, and consequently all other predictions of the prophets that either have been or shall be. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">So shall ye prosper:</span> take heed, lest by your unbelief you frustrate God’s promise. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/2_chronicles/20.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>And they rose early in the morning,.... Being confident of success, animated by what the prophet said to them: <p>and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa; which, according to Jerom (u), was six miles from Bethlehem, and nine from Jerusalem, some say twelve, beyond which was nothing but a desert; it was part of the wilderness of Judah: <p>and as they went forth; out of Jerusalem, through one of the gates of it: <p>Jehoshaphat stood and said, believe in the Lord your God; in the promises he had made, particularly with respect to the victory over their present enemies; the Targum is,"in the Word of the Lord your God:" <p>so shall you be established; have courage and firmness of mind, as well as be safe and secure: <p>believe his prophets; sent by him, and that speak in his name, particularly Jahaziel, who had predicted victory to them: <p>so shall ye prosper; things will succeed to your wishes, and beyond your expectations. <p>(u) Prooem. in Amos, and Comment. in ch. i. 1. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/2_chronicles/20.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his <span class="cverse3">{m}</span> prophets, so shall ye prosper.</span><p>(m) Give credit to their words and doctrine.</div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/2_chronicles/20.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div>20–25 (no parallel in Kings). The Deliverance<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">20</span>. <span class="ital">Tekoa</span>] The modern <span class="ital">Teḳu‘a</span>, a ruin on a hill 2790 feet above the sea, about six miles south of Beth-lehem. It was an ancient place; <a href="/2_chronicles/11-6.htm" title="He built even Bethlehem, and Etam, and Tekoa,">2 Chronicles 11:6</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/2-24.htm" title="And after that Hezron was dead in Calebephratah, then Abiah Hezron's wife bore him Ashur the father of Tekoa.">1 Chronicles 2:24</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/14-2.htm" title="And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched there a wise woman, and said to her, I pray you, feign yourself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not yourself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:">2 Samuel 14:2</a>; <a href="/amos/1-1.htm" title="The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.">Amos 1:1</a>. The “wilderness of Tekoa” means that part of the “wilderness of Judah” which was near Tekoa.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">Believe … so shall you be established</span>] Heb. <span class="ital">ha’amînû … tç’âmçnû</span>. Cp. <a href="/isaiah/7-9.htm" title="And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.">Isaiah 7:9</a>, “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.” In both places there is a play on the words In the Heb.; “believe” and “be established” representing two voices of the same verb.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/2_chronicles/20.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 20.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The wilderness of Tekoa</span>. The king and people, army and prophet and Levite singers, start early for the wilderness of Tekoa, not less than ten miles' distance south of Jerusalem, and from it a waddy running to the Dead Sea. <span class="cmt_word">So shall ye be established</span>. (So <a href="/isaiah/7-9.htm">Isaiah 7:9</a>.) Jehoshaphat's own faith and zeal make him nervously anxious that his people should not fall behind him, and fall short of their duty and the grandeur of the occasion. 2 Chronicles 20:20<a name="kad" id="kad"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/kad/2_chronicles/20.htm">Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament</a></div>The fulfilment of the divine promise. - <a href="/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20</a>. On the next morning the assembled men of Judah marched, in accordance with the words of the prophet, to the wilderness of Tekoa. As they marched forth, Jehoshaphat stood, probably in the gate of Jerusalem, where those about to march forth were assembled, and called upon them to trust firmly in the Lord and His prophets (האמינוּ and תּאמנוּ, as in <a href="/isaiah/7-9.htm">Isaiah 7:9</a>). After he had thus counselled the people (אל יוּעץ, shown himself a counsellor; cf. <a href="/2_kings/6-8.htm">2 Kings 6:8</a>), he ordered them to march, not for battle, but to assure themselves of the wonderful help of the Lord. He placed singers of the Lord (ל before יהוה as a periphrasis for the genitive), singing praise in holy ornaments, in the marching forth before the army, and saying; i.e., he commanded the Levitic singers to march out before the army, singing and playing in holy ornaments (להדרת־ק, clad in holy ornaments, equals בּהדרת in <a href="/1_chronicles/16-29.htm">1 Chronicles 16:29</a>; cf. Ew. 217, a), to praise the Lord for the help He had vouchsafed. <div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../2_chronicles/20-19.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="2 Chronicles 20:19"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="2 Chronicles 20:19" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../2_chronicles/20-21.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="2 Chronicles 20:21"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="2 Chronicles 20:21" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>