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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//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;"/><title>2 Chronicles 20 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/2_chronicles/20.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><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="../cmenus/2_chronicles/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="//biblehu.com/bmcom/2_chronicles/20-1.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="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Ellicott</a> > <a href="../2_chronicles/">2 Chronicles</a></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/19.htm" title="2 Chronicles 19">◄</a> 2 Chronicles 20 <a href="../2_chronicles/21.htm" title="2 Chronicles 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="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</div><div class="chap"><span class= "bld">XX.<p>INVASION OF THE MOABITES, AMMONITES, AND MAONITES. THEIR MARVELLOUS OVERTHROW</span>—(<a href="/context/2_chronicles/20-1.htm" title="It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.">2Chronicles 20:1-30</a>).<p>The chronicler only has preserved an historic account of this great deliverance. But certain of the Psalms have been with much probability supposed to commemorate it. The contents of Psalms 46-48 harmonise well with this assumption; and they are referred by their titles to “the sons of Korah,” a fact which corresponds with the statement of <a href="/2_chronicles/20-19.htm" title="And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.">2Chronicles 20:19</a> that certain of the Korahite Levites sang praises to Jehovah on occasion of the prophecy of Jahaziel. Further, Jahaziel himself was an <span class= "ital">Asaphite</span> Levite, and it is noteworthy that Psalms 83, which is a prayer against a hostile confederacy of Edom, Amnion, Moab, and other races, is headed “A Psalm of Asaph.” It may have been composed by the prophet whose name is only recorded in this chapter.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-1.htm">2 Chronicles 20:1</a></div><div class="verse">It came to pass after this also, <i>that</i> the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them <i>other</i> beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.</div>(1) <span class= "bld">It came to pass after this also.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">And it came to pass afterwards, i.e.,</span> after the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, and Jehoshaphat’s reformation of law and religion.<p><span class= "bld">And the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites.</span>—This is an attempt to get a reasonable sense out of a corrupted text. What the Heb. says is: <span class= "ital">And the sons of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites.</span> So the Vulg., “et filii Ammon et cum eis de Ammonitis.” Transpose a single Hebrew letter, and there results the intelligible reading: <span class= "ital">And the sons of Ammon, and with them the Maonites</span> (Heb., <span class= "ital">Me’ûnîm.</span> See on <a href="/context/1_chronicles/4-41.htm" title="And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly to this day, and dwelled in their rooms: because there was pasture there for their flocks.">1Chronicles 4:41-42</a>.) The Maonites are mentioned again (<a href="/2_chronicles/26-7.htm" title="And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelled in Gurbaal, and the Mehunims.">2Chronicles 26:7</a>) in company with Arabs. They appear to have been a tribe, whose chief seat was Maon, on the eastern slopes of the chain of Mount Seir, after which they are called “sons,” or “inhabitants of Mount Seir” in <a href="/2_chronicles/20-10.htm" title="And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;">2Chronicles 20:10</a>; <a href="/context/2_chronicles/20-22.htm" title="And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.">2Chronicles 20:22-23</a>. Accordingly Josephus (<span class= "ital">Ant. ix.</span> 1, § 2) calls them a multitude of Arabs. [The LXX. reads: “And with them some of the <span class= "ital">Minaioi,”</span> a name which possibly represents the <span class= "ital">me’înîm</span> of the Heb. text of <a href="/1_chronicles/4-41.htm" title="And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly to this day, and dwelled in their rooms: because there was pasture there for their flocks.">1Chronicles 4:41</a>. Syriac, “and with them men of war;” Arabic, “brave men.” Perhaps the expression rendered <span class= "ital">and with them</span>—<span class= "ital">we’immahèm—is</span> a relic of an original reading, <span class= "ital">and the Maonites;</span> and the <span class= "ital">some of the Ammonites</span> (<span class= "ital">mēhā’ammônîm</span>) which follows, is merely a gloss on an obscure name by some transcriber].<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-2.htm">2 Chronicles 20:2</a></div><div class="verse">Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they <i>be</i> in Hazazontamar, which <i>is</i> Engedi.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">Then there came some that told.</span>—<span class= "ital">And they </span>(<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> messengers; Vulg., “nuntii”) <span class= "ital">came and told.</span><p><span class= "bld">Cometh.</span>—<span class= "ital">Is come.</span><p><span class= "bld">The Sea.</span>—The Dead Sea, east of which lay the territories of Ammon and Moab; while to the south of it, not far from Petra, was Maon.<p><span class= "bld">On this side Syria.</span>—Heb., <span class= "ital">from Aram;</span> and so LXX. and Vulg. But <span class= "ital">Edom</span> is probably the true reading—a name often confused with Aram. As the invaders marched round the southern end of the Dead Sea, they were naturally described as coming from Edom. The Syr. and Arab. have: <span class= "ital">from the other side</span> <span class= "ital">of the Red Sea.</span><p><span class= "bld">Hazazon-tamar.</span>—See <a href="/genesis/14-7.htm" title="And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelled in Hazezontamar.">Genesis 14:7</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Engedi</span> (<span class= "ital">Ain-jidy</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> midway on the western coast of the Dead Sea (see <a href="/1_samuel/23-29.htm" title="And David went up from there, and dwelled in strong holds at Engedi.">1Samuel 23:29</a>), about thirty-six miles from Jerusalem. The Syr. and Arab, have <span class= "ital">Jericho</span> for Hazazon-tamar (? <span class= "ital">meadow of palms</span>)<span class= "ital">.</span> Jericho was also called “city of palms.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-3.htm">2 Chronicles 20:3</a></div><div class="verse">And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">And Jehoshaphat.</span>—<span class= "ital">And he was afraid</span> (scil., at the news). <span class= "ital">And Jehoshaphat set his face,</span> &c. Literally, <span class= "ital">put</span> his face—a phrase used in <a href="/daniel/9-3.htm" title="And I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:">Daniel 9:3</a> (comp. <a href="/2_kings/12-18.htm" title="And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold that was found in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and in the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.">2Kings 12:18</a>), and implying <span class= "ital">resolved,</span> <span class= "ital">determined.</span><p><span class= "bld">To seek the Lord.</span>—The Hebrew construction is that of <a href="/2_chronicles/15-13.htm" title="That whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.">2Chronicles 15:13</a> (<span class= "ital">le</span> is here a sign of the accusative).<p><span class= "bld">Proclaimed a fast.</span>—An act of national self-humiliation, implying an admission of guilt, and intended to evoke the Divine pity and succour. (Comp. <a href="/judges/20-26.htm" title="Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.">Judges 20:26</a>; <a href="/context/joel/2-12.htm" title="Therefore also now, said the LORD, turn you even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:">Joel 2:12-17</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/7-6.htm" title="And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.">1Samuel 7:6</a>; <a href="/ezra/8-21.htm" title="Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.">Ezra 8:21</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-4.htm">2 Chronicles 20:4</a></div><div class="verse">And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask <i>help</i> of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">To ask.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">to seek</span> (<span class= "ital">baqqēsh,</span> a synonym of <span class= "ital">dārash.</span> <a href="/2_chronicles/20-2.htm" title="Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against you from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.">2Chronicles 20:2</a>) <span class= "ital">from Jehovah;</span> scil., <span class= "ital">help,</span> which Authorised Version rightly supplies.<p><span class= "bld">Even out of all the cities of Judah.</span>—Emphasising the fact that the gathering in the Temple represented the whole nation. Syriac and Arabic, “and even from the distant cities.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-5.htm">2 Chronicles 20:5</a></div><div class="verse">And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,</div>(5) <span class= "bld">And Jehoshaphat stood.</span>—Comp. <a href="/context/2_chronicles/6-12.htm" title="And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:">2Chronicles 6:12-13</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Judah and Jerusalem.</span>—So <a href="/2_chronicles/20-27.htm" title="Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.">2Chronicles 20:27</a>. Jerusalem is thus mentioned side by side with the country, as being by far the most important part of it. (See also the headings of Isaiah 1, 2)<p><span class= "bld">Before the new court.</span>—This name, “the New Court,” only occurs here. It probably designates the “Great” (<a href="/2_chronicles/4-9.htm" title="Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid the doors of them with brass.">2Chronicles 4:9</a>) or outer court of the Temple, in which the people assembled. Jehoshaphat stood facing the people, in front of the entrance to the Court of the Priests. Perhaps the court was called <span class= "ital">New,</span> as having been recently repaired or enlarged. Syr. and Arab., “before the new gate.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-6.htm">2 Chronicles 20:6</a></div><div class="verse">And said, O LORD God of our fathers, <i>art</i> not thou God in heaven? and rulest <i>not</i> thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand <i>is there not</i> power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?</div>(6) <span class= "bld">Art not thou God in heaven.</span>—So <a href="/context/psalms/115-2.htm" title="Why should the heathen say, Where is now their God?">Psalm 115:2-3</a>. Jehovah, the Worship of Israel, is no limited local or tribal deity, but <span class= "ital">God over all.</span> (Comp. also the first clause of the Lord’s Prayer.)<p><span class= "bld">And rulest not thou over all the kingdoms?</span>—Comp. <a href="/1_chronicles/29-12.htm" title="Both riches and honor come of you, and you reign over all; and in your hand is power and might; and in your hand it is to make great, and to give strength to all.">1Chronicles 29:12</a> (David’s prayer), “and Thou reignest (rulest) over all; and in Thine hand is power and might.” This and next sentence should be rendered affirmatively, as in that place. (Comp. also <a href="/psalms/47-8.htm" title="God reigns over the heathen: God sits on the throne of his holiness.">Psalm 47:8</a> : “God reigneth over the heathen.”)<p><span class= "bld">So that none is able to withstand thee.</span>—Vulg., “nec quisquam tibi potest resistere;” LXX., <span class= "greekheb">καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν πρὸς σὲ ἀντιστῆναι</span><span class= "ital">.</span> Literally, <span class= "ital">and there is none against thee to stand up.</span> For this construction, comp. <a href="/psalms/94-16.htm" title="Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?">Psalm 94:16</a> : “Who will <span class= "ital">stand up</span> for me <span class= "ital">with</span> (<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> against) workers of wickedness. (Comp. also <a href="/psalms/2-2.htm" title="The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,">Psalm 2:2</a>; and the last words of Asa’s Prayer, <a href="/2_chronicles/14-11.htm" title="And Asa cried to the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with you to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on you, and in your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let no man prevail against you.">2Chronicles 14:11</a>.) Syr. and Arab., “and I am standing and praying before thee.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-7.htm">2 Chronicles 20:7</a></div><div class="verse"><i>Art</i> not thou our God, <i>who</i> didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Art not thou our God?</span>—<span class= "ital">Didst not Thou, our God, drive out, &c.</span> (Comp. <a href="/joshua/23-5.htm" title="And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God has promised to you.">Joshua 23:5</a>; <a href="/joshua/23-9.htm" title="For the LORD has driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day.">Joshua 23:9</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/4-38.htm" title="To drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you are, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.">Deuteronomy 4:38</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/11-23.htm" title="Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.">Deuteronomy 11:23</a>; and for the form of appeal, Isa. Ii. 9, 10. Comp. also <a href="/context/psalms/47-3.htm" title="He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.">Psalm 47:3-4</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">And gavest it to the seed of Abraham.</span>—According to the Promise, <a href="/context/genesis/13-15.htm" title="For all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed for ever.">Genesis 13:15-16</a>; <a href="/genesis/15-18.htm" title="In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:">Genesis 15:18</a>.<p><span class= "bld">For ever.</span>—<a href="/genesis/17-8.htm" title="And I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land wherein you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.">Genesis 17:8</a>, “for an everlasting possession.”<p><span class= "bld">Thy friend.</span>—Or, <span class= "ital">lover.</span> So <a href="/isaiah/41-8.htm" title="But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.">Isaiah 41:8</a>, “seed of Abraham, my friend.” This title of Abraham is mentioned again by St. James (<a href="/james/2-23.htm" title="And the scripture was fulfilled which said, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.">James 2:23</a>). Hebron, the patriarch’s burial-place, is at this day known to the Muslim world as <span class= "ital">el-Khalil,</span> “the Friend.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-8.htm">2 Chronicles 20:8</a></div><div class="verse">And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,</div>(8) <span class= "bld">And have built thee a sanctuary therein.</span>—<span class= "ital">And built thee therein a sanctuary for thy name.</span> <span class= "ital">“</span>A sanctuary for thy name” is a single expression. (Comp. <a href="/context/2_chronicles/6-5.htm" title="Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:">2Chronicles 6:5-8</a>, “that my name might be there.”) The <span class= "ital">name</span> of Jehovah designates all that He is to Israel; His revealed character.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-9.htm">2 Chronicles 20:9</a></div><div class="verse">If, <i>when</i> evil cometh upon us, <i>as</i> the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name <i>is</i> in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.</div>(9) <span class= "bld">If when evil cometh upon us.</span>—A summary of part of Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication (<a href="/context/2_chronicles/6-24.htm" title="And if your people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; and shall return and confess your name, and pray and make supplication before you in this house;">2Chronicles 6:24-30</a>). The reference to this prayer implies a confidence that it had been accepted in heaven, as the sign that followed it indicated (<a href="/context/2_chronicles/7-1.htm" title="Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.">2Chronicles 7:1-3</a>). Syriac, “<span class= "ital">When the sanctuary is amongst us,</span> there will not come upon us evil, nor sword, nor judgment, &c., and we will come and stand before this house, and before Thee, because Thy name is invoked in this house; and we will come and pray before Thee in this house and thou wilt hearken to the voice of our prayer, and deliver us.” The Hebrew seems to say, “If there come upon us evil—sword (judgment), and pestilence and famine—we will stand (<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> come forward) before this house, and before Thee, for Thy name is in this house, and we will cry unto Thee out of our distress, and Thou shalt (or <span class= "ital">that Thou mayest</span>) hear and save.” The word rendered “judgment” (<span class= "ital">shĕphōt</span>) 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 have it; and the Vulg. renders, “sword of judgment.” (Comp. the Syriac in <a href="/2_chronicles/20-12.htm" title="O our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are on you.">2Chronicles 20:12</a>, <span class= "ital">infra.</span>)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-10.htm">2 Chronicles 20:10</a></div><div class="verse">And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;</div>(10) <span class= "bld">And</span> (the children of) <span class= "bld">mount Seir.</span>—The Maonites are here so called apparently, and thus identified as an Edomite people. (See on <a href="/2_chronicles/20-1.htm" title="It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.">2Chronicles 20:1</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade.</span>—See the respective prohibitions (<a href="/deuteronomy/2-4.htm" title="And command you the people, saying, You are to pass through the coast of your brothers the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take you good heed to yourselves therefore:">Deuteronomy 2:4</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/2-9.htm" title="And the LORD said to me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give you of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.">Deuteronomy 2:9</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/2-19.htm" title="And when you come near over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.">Deuteronomy 2:19</a>.) Comp. also (<a href="/context/numbers/20-14.htm" title="And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, Thus said your brother Israel, You know all the travail that has befallen us:">Numbers 20:14-21</a>) the king of Edom’s refusal of a passage through his territory (<a href="/judges/11-15.htm" title="And said to him, Thus said Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:">Judges 11:15</a>, <span class= "ital">seq.</span>) These tribes were recognised as the kindred of Israel, as being sons of Esau and sons of Lot. (The Syriac has “mount Gebel,” <span class= "ital">i.e., Gebāl,</span> the name of a tribe living in the northern part of mount Seir, <a href="/psalms/73-8.htm" title="They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.">Psalm 73:8</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-11.htm">2 Chronicles 20:11</a></div><div class="verse">Behold, <i>I say, how</i> they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">Behold, I say, how they reward us.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">and behold they are requiting us by coming, </span>&c. (Comp. <a href="/context/psalms/83-4.htm" title="They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.">Psalm 83:4-9</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Cast.</span>—Drive <span class= "ital">out</span> (<a href="/genesis/3-24.htm" title="So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.">Genesis 3:24</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Thy possession.</span>—The Promised Land is so called nowhere else in the Old Testament.<p><span class= "bld">Thou hast given us to inherit.</span>—<span class= "ital">Made us possess.</span> (Comp. <a href="/judges/11-24.htm" title="Will not you possess that which Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.">Judges 11:24</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-12.htm">2 Chronicles 20:12</a></div><div class="verse">O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes <i>are</i> upon thee.</div>(12) <span class= "bld">Wilt thou not judge them?</span>—<span class= "ital">Exercise judgment in them, i.e., upon them</span> (here only.) LXX., <span class= "greekheb">οὐ κρινεῖς ἐν αὐτοῖς</span><span class= "ital">.</span><p><span class= "bld">This great company.</span>—<span class= "ital">Multitude</span> (<a href="/2_chronicles/14-11.htm" title="And Asa cried to the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with you to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on you, and in your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let no man prevail against you.">2Chronicles 14:11</a>) Syriac, “for there is not in us might to stand before them: bring the sword of Thy judgment against them.”<p><span class= "bld">Neither know we.</span>—<span class= "ital">And for our part we know not what to do.</span><p><span class= "bld">But our eyes are upon thee.</span>—<span class= "ital">For our eyes are towards thee</span> (‘al=’el). We neither know nor deliberate upon a suitable plan of resistance, for our whole thought is centred upon Thee and Thine omnipotence. For the metaphor, comp. <a href="/psalms/25-15.htm" title="My eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.">Psalm 25:15</a>, “Mine eyes are ever toward (<span class= "ital">‘el</span>) Jehovah,” and <a href="/psalms/123-2.htm" title="Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait on the LORD our God, until that he have mercy on us.">Psalm 123:2</a>; <a href="/psalms/141-8.htm" title="But my eyes are to you, O GOD the Lord: in you is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.">Psalm 141:8</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-13.htm">2 Chronicles 20:13</a></div><div class="verse">And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">Stood.</span>—<span class= "ital">Were standing.</span><p><span class= "bld">Before the Lord</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> praying with their king. (Comp. the apparent reference to this assembly in <a href="/psalms/48-9.htm" title="We have thought of your loving kindness, O God, in the middle of your temple.">Psalm 48:9</a>. “We thought upon Thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of Thy Temple.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-14.htm">2 Chronicles 20:14</a></div><div class="verse">Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;</div>(14) <span class= "bld">Then upon.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">and Jahaziel . . .</span> <span class= "ital">there fell upon him the spirit,</span> &c, as in <a href="/2_chronicles/15-1.htm" title="And the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded:">2Chronicles 15:1</a>, “The spirit of courage from the Lord.” This Levitical musician is not mentioned elsewhere. His pedigree is traced back for five generations to Mattaniah, which should probably be Nethaniah, a “son of Asaph,” who was contemporary with David (<a href="/1_chronicles/25-2.htm" title="Of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of the king.">1Chronicles 25:2</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/25-12.htm" title="The fifth to Nethaniah, he, his sons, and his brothers, were twelve:">1Chronicles 25:12</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-15.htm">2 Chronicles 20:15</a></div><div class="verse">And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle <i>is</i> not yours, but God's.</div>(15) <span class= "bld">Hearken ye.</span>—So <a href="/isaiah/49-1.htm" title="Listen, O isles, to me; and listen, you people, from far; The LORD has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has he made mention of my name.">Isaiah 49:1</a>; <a href="/isaiah/51-4.htm" title="Listen to me, my people; and give ear to me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.">Isaiah 51:4</a>, &c.<p><span class= "bld">Be not afraid nor dismayed.</span>—<a href="/isaiah/51-7.htm" title="Listen to me, you that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear you not the reproach of men, neither be you afraid of their revilings.">Isaiah 51:7</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/1-21.htm" title="Behold, the LORD your God has set the land before you: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has said to you; fear not, neither be discouraged.">Deuteronomy 1:21</a>; Chron. 22:3; <a href="/2_chronicles/20-17.htm" title="You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.">2Chronicles 20:17</a>, <span class= "ital">infr.</span><p><span class= "bld">Great multitude</span>—i.e., “great company” (<a href="/2_chronicles/20-12.htm" title="O our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are on you.">2Chronicles 20:12</a>)<p><span class= "bld">The battle is not your’s, but God’s.</span>—Comp. David’s words to Goliath, “The battle is Jehovah’s” (<a href="/1_samuel/17-47.htm" title="And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.">1Samuel 17:47</a>); and the Divine title Jehovah Sabaoth, <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> Jehovah, the leader of the hosts of Israel. “It was on the battle-field that Jehovah’s presence was most clearly realised.”—Prof. Robertson Smith. (Comp. also <a href="/psalms/46-2.htm" title="Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the middle of the sea;">Psalm 46:2</a>; <a href="/psalms/46-7.htm" title="The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.">Psalm 46:7</a>; <a href="/psalms/46-9.htm" title="He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and cuts the spear in sunder; he burns the chariot in the fire.">Psalm 46:9</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-16.htm">2 Chronicles 20:16</a></div><div class="verse">To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.</div>(16) <span class= "bld">Against them.</span>—Or, <span class= "ital">unto them.</span><p><span class= "bld">They come up by the cliff of Ziz.</span>—<span class= "ital">They</span> <span class= "ital">are about ascending by the ascent of Hazziz. V</span>ulg., “ascensuri enim sunt per clivum,” &c.<p><span class= "bld">The brook.</span>—<span class= "ital">The wâdy, ravine, or water-course.</span><p><span class= "bld">The wilderness of Jeruel.</span>—The name is unknown, but comparing <a href="/2_chronicles/20-2.htm" title="Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against you from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.">2Chronicles 20:2</a>; <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>; <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.">2Chronicles 20:20</a>, it appears that the great stretch of waste, now called <span class= "ital">el Husâsah,</span> from a wady on the north side of it, is intended. The “ascent of Hazziz” would be a pass or mountain path, leading up from Engedi to this desert table-land. (With the name Hazziz, comp. Hakkoz. Perhaps Husâsah preserves a trace of it. The LXX. has <span class= "greekheb">Ασαεῖς</span> Syriac and Arabic, “the ascent of dawn,” omitting “Jeruel.”)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-17.htm">2 Chronicles 20:17</a></div><div class="verse">Ye shall not <i>need</i> to fight in this <i>battle</i>: set yourselves, stand ye <i>still</i>, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD <i>will be</i> with you.</div>(17) <span class= "bld">Ye shall not need to fight.</span>—<span class= "ital">It is not for you to fight.</span> (Comp. <a href="/1_chronicles/5-1.htm" title="Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but for as much as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.">1Chronicles 5:1</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/15-2.htm" title="Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them has the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister to him for ever.">1Chronicles 15:2</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">In this.</span>—<span class= "ital">Herein, in this instance.</span> (Comp. for the phrase, <a href="/2_chronicles/19-2.htm" title="And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Should you help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath on you from before the LORD.">2Chronicles 19:2</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Set yourselves</span> (<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> “withstand,” <a href="/2_chronicles/20-6.htm" title="And said, O LORD God of our fathers, are not you God in heaven? and rule not you over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand you?">2Chronicles 20:6</a>).—<span class= "ital">Station yourselves, take your stand.</span> Here the next verb, <span class= "ital">stand ye still,</span> seems added as an explanation, and is, perhaps, a marginal gloss. “Fear not: take your stand, and see the salvation of the Lord,” was the command of Moses to Israel at the Red Sea, just before the Great Deliverance (<a href="/exodus/14-13.htm" title="And Moses said to the people, Fear you not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom you have seen to day, you shall see them again no more for ever.">Exodus 14:13</a>). (Comp. also the words of <a href="/psalms/46-8.htm" title="Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he has made in the earth.">Psalm 46:8</a>, “Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.”)<p><span class= "bld">The Lord with you.</span>—Some explain the connection thus: “The Lord (who is) with you.” <span class= "ital">Iahveh ‘immdkhem</span> may, perhaps, be compared with <span class= "ital">‘immānû êl, “</span>with us God” (<a href="/isaiah/7-14.htm" title="Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.">Isaiah 7:14</a>; <a href="/isaiah/8-8.htm" title="And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.">Isaiah 8:8</a>); it will then be a Divine title, suited to the present emergency. But, more probably, the stop should be at <span class= "ital">the Lord;</span> and <span class= "ital">with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!</span> is an elliptic expression, meaning “He is, or will be with you,” &c, as in <a href="/2_chronicles/19-6.htm" title="And said to the judges, Take heed what you do: for you judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.">2Chronicles 19:6</a>. (Comp. the refrain of Psalms 46, “The Lord of hosts is with us! The God of Jacob is our refuge.”)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-18.htm">2 Chronicles 20:18</a></div><div class="verse">And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with <i>his</i> face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.</div>(18) <span class= "bld">Bowed his head.</span>—The king “bowed, face earthward,” and the people prostrated themselves upon their faces, both “to do worship to Jehovah.” (Comp. <a href="/leviticus/9-24.htm" title="And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed on the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.">Leviticus 9:24</a>; <a href="/joshua/5-14.htm" title="And he said, No; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said to him, What said my Lord to his servant?">Joshua 5:14</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/21-16.htm" title="And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.">1Chronicles 21:16</a>; <a href="/exodus/34-8.htm" title="And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.">Exodus 34:8</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-19.htm">2 Chronicles 20:19</a></div><div class="verse">And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.</div>(19) <span class= "bld">And the Levites.</span>—The Levites are the first to rise up, in order to break forth into a hymn of thanksgiving.<p><span class= "bld">Of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites.</span>—<span class= "ital">Sons of the Kohathites</span> specifies the clan, and <span class= "ital">sons of the Korhites</span> the <span class= "ital">house</span> of the musicians who rose up on this occasion. The Korhites were the leading division of Kohath (<a href="/1_chronicles/6-22.htm" title="The sons of Kohath; Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,">1Chronicles 6:22</a>). <span class= "ital">And</span> is explanatory; <span class= "ital">even, namely some of the sons of Korah.</span> The “sons of Korah” were a guild of Levitical minstrels of the first rank. (Comp. the headings of many psalms, <span class= "ital">e.g.,</span> 44-49, connecting them with their authorship.)<p><span class= "bld">To praise the Lord God of Israel.</span>—<a href="/1_chronicles/16-14.htm" title="He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.">1Chronicles 16:14</a> (<span class= "ital">hallel</span>)<span class= "ital">.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-20.htm">2 Chronicles 20:20</a></div><div class="verse">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>(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="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-21.htm">2 Chronicles 20:21</a></div><div class="verse">And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy <i>endureth</i> for ever.</div>(21) <span class= "bld">And when he had consulted with.</span>—Or, <span class= "ital">advised, given counsel to, warned.</span> (Comp. <a href="/2_kings/6-8.htm" title="Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.">2Kings 6:8</a>.) Vulg., “deditque consilium populo, et statuit cantores domini.”<p><span class= "bld">And that should praise the beauty of holiness.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">and men praising, in holy apparel. i.e.,</span> Levitical vestments (<a href="/1_chronicles/16-29.htm" title="Give to the LORD the glory due to his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.">1Chronicles 16:29</a>; <a href="/psalms/29-2.htm" title="Give to the LORD the glory due to his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.">Psalm 29:2</a>).<p><span class= "bld">And to say.</span>—<span class= "ital">And saying.</span><p><span class= "bld">Praise the Lord.</span>—<span class= "ital">Give thanks unto Jehovah</span> The refrain of the singers. (See on <a href="/1_chronicles/16-34.htm" title="O give thanks to the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever.">1Chronicles 16:34</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/16-41.htm" title="And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because his mercy endures for ever;">1Chronicles 16:41</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/5-13.htm" title="It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endures for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;">2Chronicles 5:13</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/7-3.htm" title="And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endures for ever.">2Chronicles 7:3</a>.) The band of Levitical minstrels were to march before the army (<span class= "ital">halûq,</span> the armed host; <a href="/joshua/6-7.htm" title="And he said to the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.">Joshua 6:7</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-22.htm">2 Chronicles 20:22</a></div><div class="verse">And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.</div>(22) <span class= "bld">And when they began.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">And at the. time when they began with shouting and praise.</span> (Comp. <a href="/deuteronomy/16-9.htm" title="Seven weeks shall you number to you: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as you begin to put the sickle to the corn.">Deuteronomy 16:9</a>, <span class= "ital">to begin with.</span>) They had now reached the neighbourhood of the enemy; and their joyful pæan was the signal for a Divine interposition. (Comp. <a href="/joshua/6-16.htm" title="And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, Shout; for the LORD has given you the city.">Joshua 6:16</a>; <a href="/joshua/6-20.htm" title="So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.">Joshua 6:20</a>, and <a href="/psalms/46-6.htm" title="The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.">Psalm 46:6</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">The Lord set ambushments.</span>—<span class= "ital">Jehovah placed liers in wait</span> (<a href="/judges/9-25.htm" title="And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.">Judges 9:25</a>). (<span class= "ital">nāthan</span> here is equivalent in meaning to <span class= "ital">sām</span> there.)<p><span class= "bld">Come against.</span>—<span class= "ital">Come into, i.e.,</span> invade (<a href="/2_chronicles/20-10.htm" title="And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;">2Chronicles 20:10</a>).<p><span class= "bld">They were smitten.</span>—Right, according to the ordinary usage. (See <a href="/1_chronicles/19-16.htm" title="And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river: and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.">1Chronicles 19:16</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/19-19.htm" title="And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and became his servants: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.">1Chronicles 19:19</a>, “put to the worse.”) This statement anticipates what follows. The ancient translators felt a difficulty here, as is evident from their versions. Thus the LXX. has, “The Lord made the sons of Ammon to war upon Moab and Mount Seir, who came out against Judah; and they were routed.” The Vulg., “The Lord turned their ambushment against themselves, viz., that of the sons of Amnion and Moab and Mount Seir, who had gone forth to fight against Judah, and they were smitten.”<p>The Syriac (and Arabic) travesty <a href="/2_chronicles/20-21.htm" title="And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers to the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endures for ever.">2Chronicles 20:21</a> and the first clause of <a href="/2_chronicles/20-22.htm" title="And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.">2Chronicles 20:22</a> thus: “And he stood in the middle of the people, and said, Come, let us give thanks unto the Lord, and let us laud the splendour of his holiness, when he goeth out before our hosts, and maketh war for us with our foes: and be saying, Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, and his goodness endureth for ever. The hills began praising, and the mountains began rejoicing.”They then continue as in <a href="/2_chronicles/20-24.htm" title="And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked to the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.">2Chronicles 20:24</a>, omitting “The Lord set ambushments . . . they were smitten.”<p>The self-destruction of the allied hordes was undoubtedly providential, but it need not have been miraculous. How was it brought about? The answer depends on the meaning of the term “liers in wait.” Were <span class= "ital">angels</span> meant, as some have thought (Ewald’s <span class= "ital">böser Geister</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> a more appropriate and less ambiguous term would have been employed to express their agency. Nor is it likely that a <span class= "ital">Judean</span> ambuscade is thus obscurely mentioned without any further reference or explanation: indeed it is evident from <a href="/2_chronicles/20-15.htm" title="And he said, Listen you, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you king Jehoshaphat, Thus said the LORD to you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.">2Chronicles 20:15</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/20-17.htm" title="You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.">2Chronicles 20:17</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/20-24.htm" title="And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked to the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.">2Chronicles 20:24</a>, that the part of the Judeans was that of mere spectators of an accomplished fact. Nor, finally, must we suppose that “the waylaying was done by a section of the confederates themselves, probably certain of the Maonites.”<p>The truth appears to be that some portion of the unwieldy and straggling host was suddenly attacked by a lurking band of Bedawi freebooters. In the providence of God the partial confusion which thus originated speedily became a universal panic. The Ammonites and Moabites instantly suspected their less civilised allies, the Maonites, of treachery, and fell upon them in a frenzy of revenge; after which, maddened by slaughter and mutual suspicion, and the memory of ancient feuds, they turned their reeking swords against each other, and the strife only ended with the self-annihilation of the allies. The occurrence is thus to some extent parallel with the self-destruction of the Midianite hordes, when thrown into confusion by the stratagem of Gideon (<a href="/judges/7-22.htm" title="And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, to Tabbath.">Judges 7:22</a>).<p>The marvellous result, marvellously predicted, was brought to pass by a perfectly natural sequence of events, just as was Elisha’s prophecy of plenty to famine-stricken Samaria, though at the time when it was uttered fulfilment seemed impossible, unless the Lord were to “make windows in heaven,” and pour down supplies from thence by a visible miracle. In neither case was the course of events foreseen by the prophet, but only their issue. (See 2 Kings 7)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-23.htm">2 Chronicles 20:23</a></div><div class="verse">For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy <i>them</i>: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.</div>(23) <span class= "bld">Stood up against.</span>—‘<span class= "ital">Amad ‘al,</span> a late usage. (So <a href="/1_chronicles/21-1.htm" title="And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.">1Chronicles 21:1</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Utterly to slay.</span>—<span class= "ital">To exterminate</span> (<span class= "ital">hacharîm</span>)<span class= "ital">, devote to destruction.</span><p><span class= "bld">Made an end of.</span>—<span class= "ital">Finished with.</span> (See on <a href="/2_chronicles/20-22.htm" title="And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.">2Chronicles 20:22</a>, “begin with,” and compare <a href="/genesis/44-12.htm" title="And he searched, and began at the oldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.">Genesis 44:12</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Every one helped</span> <span class= "bld">. . .</span> <span class= "bld">another.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">they helped, each against</span> (or, <span class= "ital">in the case of</span>)<span class= "ital"> his fellow, for destruction</span> (<span class= "ital">mashchîth,</span> <a href="/2_chronicles/22-4.htm" title="Why he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction.">2Chronicles 22:4</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/5-16.htm" title="When I shall send on them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine on you, and will break your staff of bread:">Ezekiel 5:16</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-24.htm">2 Chronicles 20:24</a></div><div class="verse">And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they <i>were</i> dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.</div>(24) <span class= "bld">And when Judah came.</span>—N<span class= "ital">ow Judah had come;</span> by the time the slaughter was complete.<p><span class= "bld">Toward the watch tower.</span>—<span class= "ital">The look-out of the desert.</span> A height overlooking 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>). The word <span class= "ital">mizpeh</span> means <span class= "ital">watch-tower</span> in <a href="/isaiah/21-8.htm" title="And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:">Isaiah 21:8</a>.<p><span class= "bld">They looked.</span>—<span class= "ital">And they looked.</span><p><span class= "bld">Behold, they were dead bodies.</span>—Comp. <a href="/2_kings/19-35.htm" title="And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.">2Kings 19:35</a>.<p><span class= "bld">None escaped.</span>—No survivors were anywhere visible. Vulg., “Porro Juda cum venisset ad speculam quae respicit solitudinem vidit procul . . . nec superesse quemquam qui necem potuisset evadere.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-25.htm">2 Chronicles 20:25</a></div><div class="verse">And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.</div>(25) <span class= "bld">When.</span>—Omit.<p><span class= "bld">They found.</span>—<span class= "ital">And found.</span><p><span class= "bld">Among them in abundance both riches.</span>—Instead of <span class= "ital">bāhèm,</span> “among them,” the LXX. reads <span class= "ital">bĕhēmâh,</span> “cattle,” which seems preferable. “And found cattle in abundance and substance” (<span class= "ital">rĕkûsh,</span> movable goods of all sorts, including flocks and herds; <a href="/genesis/12-5.htm" title="And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.">Genesis 12:5</a>).<p><span class= "bld">With the dead bodies.</span>—<span class= "ital">And corpses,</span> which they stripped of their ornaments and clothing. But <span class= "ital">bĕgādîm, “</span>clothes,” not <span class= "ital">pĕgārhn,</span> “corpses,” should be read with some MSS., and apparently the Vulg., “inter cadavera . . . vestes quoque.” The Syriac has, “and they found among them a very great spoil and property, and bridles, and horses, and vessels of desire;” the Arabic, “and he found an immense booty, and herds and splendid garments.” The LXX. has <span class= "greekheb">τκῦλα</span><span class= "ital">,</span> “spoils.”<p><span class= "bld">Precious jewels.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">vessels of desirable things, i.e.,</span>costly articles; a phrase only met with hero: LXX., well, <span class= "greekheb">σκεύη ἐπιθυμητὰ</span><span class= "ital">.</span><p><span class= "bld">Which they stripped off for themselves.</span>—Or, <span class= "ital">and they spoiled them, i.e.,</span> the enemy. (Comp. <a href="/exodus/3-22.htm" title="But every woman shall borrow of her neighbor, and of her that sojournes in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and you shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters; and you shall spoil the Egyptians.">Exodus 3:22</a>; LXX., e <span class= "greekheb">ἐσκύλευσαν ἑαυτοῖς</span><span class= "ital">.</span>)<p><span class= "bld">More than they could carry away.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">until there was no loading</span> or <span class= "ital">carrying.</span><p><span class= "bld">Gathering</span>—i.e., taking away (<span class= "ital">bôzĕzîm,</span> “plundering”). Comp. <a href="/context/judges/8-24.htm" title="And Gideon said to them, I would desire a request of you, that you would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.)">Judges 8:24-26</a> (the spoils of Midian). The amount of the spoil is explained by the circumstance that the invaders had intended to effect a permanent settlement in Judah, and so brought all their goods with them (<a href="/2_chronicles/20-11.htm" title="Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit.">2Chronicles 20:11</a>). (Comp. <a href="/psalms/83-12.htm" title="Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.">Psalm 83:12</a>.) The invasion was thus similar in character to the migrations of the barbarian hordes, which broke repeatedly over the declining Roman empire, though of course it was on a much smaller scale. Its repulse, however, has proved not less momentous in the history of mankind, than that of the Persians at Marathon, or of the Saracens at Roncesvalles. The greatness of the overthrow may be inferred from the fact that the prophet Joel makes it a type of the coming judgment of Israel’s enemies in the “Valley of Jehoshaphat”—a prophetic designation which alludes at once to the catastrophe recorded here, and to the truth that “Jehovah is judge” of all the earth (<a href="/joel/3-2.htm" title="I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.">Joel 3:2</a>; <a href="/joel/3-12.htm" title="Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.">Joel 3:12</a>; <a href="/joel/3-14.htm" title="Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.">Joel 3:14</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-26.htm">2 Chronicles 20:26</a></div><div class="verse">And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.</div>(26) <span class= "bld">Valley of Berachah</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e., blessing.</span> The place is still called <span class= "ital">Wady Beraikut,</span> a wide, open valley west of Tekoa, near the road from Hebron to Jerusalem. St. Jerome speaks of a <span class= "ital">Caphar Barucha, “</span>village of blessing,” in the same neighbourhood.<p><span class= "bld">For there . . . unto this day.</span>—A notice after the manner of the ancient historians (<a href="/genesis/11-9.htm" title="Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from there did the LORD scatter them abroad on the face of all the earth.">Genesis 11:9</a>; <a href="/genesis/28-19.htm" title="And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.">Genesis 28:19</a>; <a href="/exodus/17-7.htm" title="And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?">Exodus 17:7</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/5-20.htm" title="And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD has broken forth on my enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baalperazim.">2Samuel 5:20</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-27.htm">2 Chronicles 20:27</a></div><div class="verse">Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.</div>(27) <span class= "bld">Then.</span>—<span class= "ital">And.</span><p><span class= "bld">Every man.</span>—<span class= "ital">All the men</span> (collective).<p><span class= "bld">In the forefront of them.</span>—<span class= "ital">At their head.</span> LXX., <span class= "greekheb">ἡγούμενος αὐτῶν</span><span class= "ital">.</span><p><span class= "bld">To go again . . . with joy.</span>—They returned, as they came, in festal procession.<p><span class= "bld">The Lord had made them to rejoice.</span>—See the same phrase, <a href="/ezra/6-22.htm" title="And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.">Ezra 6:22</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/12-43.htm" title="Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.">Nehemiah 12:43</a>. (Comp. <a href="/psalms/30-2.htm" title="O LORD my God, I cried to you, and you have healed me.">Psalm 30:2</a>.) LXX., well, <span class= "greekheb">ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ μεγάλῃ</span>, <span class= "greekheb">ὅτι εὔφρανεν αὐτοὺς κύριος ἀπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτῶν</span>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-28.htm">2 Chronicles 20:28</a></div><div class="verse">And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD.</div>(28) <span class= "bld">With psalteries.</span>—So Vulg. Rather, <span class= "ital">with harps, guitars, and clarions.</span> (Comp. <a href="/context/psalms/47-5.htm" title="God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.">Psalm 47:5-6</a>, which may be supposed to commemorate this procession to the Temple.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-29.htm">2 Chronicles 20:29</a></div><div class="verse">And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of <i>those</i> countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.</div>(29) <span class= "bld">And the fear of God was.</span>—<span class= "ital">And a divine dread fell upon all the kingdoms of the countries</span> (scil.) around Judah. (See <a href="/2_chronicles/17-10.htm" title="And the fear of the LORD fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.">2Chronicles 17:10</a>, and <a href="/psalms/48-7.htm" title="You break the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.">Psalm 48:7</a>, “Fear took hold upon them there, and pain as of a woman in travail.”)<p><span class= "bld">The Lord fought.</span>—<a href="/joshua/10-14.htm" title="And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD listened to the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.">Joshua 10:14</a>; <a href="/joshua/10-42.htm" title="And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.">Joshua 10:42</a>; <a href="/psalms/46-6.htm" title="The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.">Psalm 46:6</a>. That Jehovah had fought for His people was evident from the catastrophe which had befallen their enemies. The warfare of the Divine Being was seen not <span class= "ital">apart from,</span> but <span class= "ital">in</span> a course of events, which, however natural, was almost as marvellous as a visible intervention of angelic hosts.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-30.htm">2 Chronicles 20:30</a></div><div class="verse">So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.</div>(30) <span class= "bld">So the realm of Jehoshaphat.</span>—The same is said of Asa’s kingdom (<a href="/context/2_chronicles/14-5.htm" title="Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.">2Chronicles 14:5-6</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/15-15.htm" title="And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.">2Chronicles 15:15</a>). (Comp. the similar notices in Judges of the rest which followed upon the overthrow of a national enemy, <span class= "ital">e.g.,</span> <a href="/judges/3-30.htm" title="So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.">Judges 3:30</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-31.htm">2 Chronicles 20:31</a></div><div class="verse">And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: <i>he was</i> thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name <i>was</i> Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.</div><span class= "bld">CONCLUDING NOTICES. END OF THE REIGN</span><p>(2Ch 20:31 -2Ch_21:1).<p>Comp. <a href="/context/1_kings/22-41.htm" title="And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.">1Kings 22:41-50</a>. A brief section, which constitutes the whole account of the reign of Jehoshaphat in the older narrative.<p>(31) <span class= "bld">And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah.</span>—Kings adds: “In the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.” With this omission, our verse coincides with <a href="/context/1_kings/22-41.htm" title="And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.">1Kings 22:41-42</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-32.htm">2 Chronicles 20:32</a></div><div class="verse">And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing <i>that which was</i> right in the sight of the LORD.</div>(32) <span class= "bld">And he walked in the way.</span>—Kings: <span class= "ital">“All</span> the way.”<p><span class= "bld">From it.</span>—Here the pronoun is fern., in Kings masc., as in <a href="/2_chronicles/17-3.htm" title="And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not to Baalim;">2Chronicles 17:3</a> <span class= "ital">supra.</span><p><span class= "bld">Doing.</span>—So as <span class= "ital">to do.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-33.htm">2 Chronicles 20:33</a></div><div class="verse">Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.</div>(33) <span class= "bld">For . . . hearts.</span>—<span class= "ital">And the people had not yet directed their heart.</span> This language is the chronicler’s own (see <a href="/2_chronicles/12-14.htm" title="And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.">2Chronicles 12:14</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/19-3.htm" title="Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have taken away the groves out of the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God.">2Chronicles 19:3</a>), and is substituted for the statement, “The people were still wont to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places” (Kings). They had not yet accepted the principle of <span class= "ital">the one Temple.</span><p>(33) <span class= "bld">Howbeit the high places were not taken away.</span>—This is no contradiction of <a href="/2_chronicles/17-6.htm" title="And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah.">2Chronicles 17:6</a>, “And further (or again), he took away the high places.” There the holy places of heathenism, here those of the illegal worship of Jehovah, appear to be meant.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-34.htm">2 Chronicles 20:34</a></div><div class="verse">Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they <i>are</i> written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who <i>is</i> mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.</div>(34) <span class= "bld">Now the rest of the acts.</span>—<a href="/1_kings/22-45.htm" title="Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?">1Kings 22:45</a> : “Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shewed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? “The expression <span class= "ital">how he warred</span> hints at his victory over the three allies. “As to the historical foundation of this victory there can be no doubt, after what has been noted by Hitzig on Joel, <span class= "ital">Einleit.</span> u. 4, 2; and by Ewald, <span class= "ital">Gesch. Isr. iii.</span> 510, <span class= "ital">ff.”</span> (<span class= "ital">Thenius</span>)<span class= "ital">.</span><p><span class= "bld">In the book</span> (<span class= "ital">story</span>)<span class= "ital">.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">words.</span><p><span class= "bld">Who is mentioned.</span>—<span class= "ital">Which is inscribed</span> (<span class= "ital">hā’alāh,</span> see <a href="/1_kings/9-21.htm" title="Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, on those did Solomon levy a tribute of slavery to this day.">1Kings 9:21</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/8-8.htm" title="But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.">2Chronicles 8:8</a>), or <span class= "ital">entered, in the book,</span> &c. So the Syriac, “which is written in the book of the kings of Israel.” “The words of Jehu the son of Hanani is the title of a prophetic monograph here referred to as incorporated in the “Book of the Kings of Israel.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-35.htm">2 Chronicles 20:35</a></div><div class="verse">And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:</div>(35) <span class= "bld">And after this.</span>—The chronicler has omitted the notice that “Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel” (<a href="/1_kings/22-44.htm" title="And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.">1Kings 22:44</a>), and now he omits two other short verses of the parallel account, viz., <a href="/context/1_kings/22-46.htm" title="And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.">1Kings 22:46-47</a> : “And the remnant of the sodomites, which had remained in the days of his father Asa, he consumed out of the land. There was then no king in Edom: a deputy was king.” The former omission is perfectly natural, as the <span class= "ital">Qĕdēshîm</span> were not mentioned in Asa’s reign (comp. <a href="/1_kings/15-12.htm" title="And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.">1Kings 15:12</a>); and the latter is probably due to the fact that it was the religious aspect, and not the political antecedents, of Jehoshaphat s conduct that most interested the chronicler. Hence also the didactic tone of the following verses as compared with <a href="/context/1_kings/22-48.htm" title="Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.">1Kings 22:48-49</a>. The expression, “after this,” can only mean after the overthrow of the three nations (<a href="/context/2_chronicles/20-1.htm" title="It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.">2Chronicles 20:1-30</a>). As Ahaziah began to reign in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, and reigned two years (<a href="/1_kings/22-51.htm" title="Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.">1Kings 22:51</a>), the league between them was formed in the seventeenth or eighteenth year of the king of Judah.<p><span class= "bld">Join</span> <span class= "bld">himself </span>(<span class= "ital">‘ethchabbar</span>)<span class= "ital">.</span>—An Aramaism (here only). This verse is peculiar to the chronicle.<p><span class= "bld">Who did very wickedly.</span>—He (viz., Ahaziah, the pronoun is emphatic) did very wickedly. The implied thought is: And, therefore, Jehoshaphat’s alliance was wrong. (Comp. <a href="/2_chronicles/19-2.htm" title="And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Should you help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath on you from before the LORD.">2Chronicles 19:2</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-36.htm">2 Chronicles 20:36</a></div><div class="verse">And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber.</div>(36) <span class= "bld">And he joined himself with him.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">and he joined him with himself,</span> an expression only occurring here.<p><span class= "bld">To make ships to go to Tarshish.</span>—In <a href="/context/1_kings/22-48.htm" title="Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.">1Kings 22:48-49</a>, we read: “Jehoshaphat made <span class= "ital">ships</span> (<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> a fleet) <span class= "ital">of Tarshish, to go to Ophir for gold;</span> and it went not; for the ships were broken (i.e., wrecked) in Ezion-geber. Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships; and Jehoshaphat consented not.” There is no mention of a previous alliance and partnership in the ship-building with Ahaziah. Moreover, the expression of our text, “ships to go to Tarshish,” appears to be an erroneous paraphrase of “ships of Tarshish,” or “<span class= "ital">Tarshish-men,”</span> as we might say; a phrase which really means, vessels built for long sea-voyages. According to Kings, the ships were built “to go to Ophir for gold;” in other words, to renew Solomon’s traffic with India from the port on the Red Sea.<p><span class= "bld">And</span> <span class= "bld">they made the</span> <span class= "bld">ships in Ezion-gaber.</span>—The Edomite port at the head of the Gulf of Akaba. If Tarshish means the Phoenician Tartessus in Spain, the fleet could only go thither by doubling the Cape, or crossing the Isthmus of Suez. Therefore some have supposed another Tarshish somewhere in the Persian Gulf or on the north-west coast of India. (See on <a href="/2_chronicles/9-21.htm" title="For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.">2Chronicles 9:21</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/2_chronicles/20-37.htm">2 Chronicles 20:37</a></div><div class="verse">Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.</div>(37) <span class= "bld">Then.</span><span class= "ital">—And.</span><p><span class= "bld">Eliezer the son of Dodavah.</span>—A prophet who is otherwise unknown.<p><span class= "bld">Dodavah.</span>—Heb. <span class= "ital">Dôdāvāhû.</span> (Comp. <span class= "ital">Hôdavyāhû.</span> <a href="/1_chronicles/3-24.htm" title="And the sons of Elioenai were, Hodaiah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Dalaiah, and Anani, seven.">1Chronicles 3:24</a>; LXX., <span class= "greekheb">Δωδία</span>, as if the Heb. were <span class= "ital">Dôdîyāh; V</span>ulg., “Dodau.”<p><span class= "bld">Mareshah.</span>—See <a href="/2_chronicles/11-8.htm" title="And Gath, and Mareshah, and Ziph,">2Chronicles 11:8</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Because thou hast joined thyself</span>.—Comp. Jehu the son of Hanani’s similar rebuke of Jenoshaphat for his alliance with Ahab (<a href="/2_chronicles/19-2.htm" title="And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Should you help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath on you from before the LORD.">2Chronicles 19:2</a>).<p><span class= "bld">The Lord hath broken.</span>—<span class= "ital">Shattered</span> (<span class= "ital">parac</span>)<span class= "ital">.</span> (Comp. <a href="/2_chronicles/24-7.htm" title="For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow on Baalim.">2Chronicles 24:7</a>.) The perfect is prophetic, <span class= "ital">i.e., will certainly shatter.</span><p><span class= "bld">And the ships were broken.</span>—<span class= "ital">Wrecked</span> by a gale. (Comp. <a href="/psalms/48-7.htm" title="You break the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.">Psalm 48:7</a> : “With the east wind Thou breakest ships of Tarshish.”)<p><span class= "bld">That they were not able.</span>—<span class= "ital">And kept not</span> strength <span class= "ital">to go</span> (<a href="/2_chronicles/13-20.htm" title="Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the LORD struck him, and he died.">2Chronicles 13:20</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/14-10.htm" title="Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.">2Chronicles 14:10</a>).<p>After this misadventure, Ahaziah proposed another joint expedition; but the king of Judah declined. 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