Chapter Twenty

1–28. The allied war of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites against Jehoshaphat and its fortunate outcome for him. 29–37. The duration, piety, and glory of Jehoshaphat’s reign; another ill-advised alliance with the house of Ahab and prophetic rebuke to him.

2 Chronicles 20:1. After this the Moabites and the Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for war. 2 Chronicles 20:2. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat: A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Edom; and behold, they are in Hazazon-Tamar (that is, Engedi). The campaign of Jehoshaphat described here some researchers (for example, Gesenius) identified with the account given in (2 Kgs 3) of the allied campaign of Jehoshaphat together with Joram and the king of Edom against the Moabites. But, while there are some points of similarity in both accounts, each of them has its distinctive features which do not permit identifying them. Thus here one must see an independent fact, not mentioned in the books of Kings. Its indication is found not without reason in the psalm (Ps 82) (Heb. 83), where verses (Ps 82:7-9) just as in (2 Chr 20:1), among the enemies arrayed against the people of God, Moab, Ammon, and Edom are named, as well as in the psalm (Ps 47:4-7) (Heb. 48), where also one can see indications of Jehoshaphat’s victory over allies (see N. I. Troitsky, “Psalter. Consecutive Explanation of the Slavonic Text,” Tula, 1904, pp. 226–227). The allied forces undertaking war against Jehoshaphat (v. 1) consisted of Moabites, Ammonites (v. 1), inhabitants of Seir (that is, Edomites) (vv. 10–23), and “some from the country of Moab” (v. 1). The last expression in Hebrew, in the Vulgate and Slavonic texts reads: some of the Ammonites (Heb.: Mehaammonim, Vulgata: de Ammoniis, Slav.: “from the Ammonites”), which does not give a satisfactory sense: the Ammonites have already been mentioned earlier in the same verse. The LXX renders: ἐκ τῶν Μιναίων (however, in codices 44, 74, 106, 120, 121, 134, 234: ἐκ τῶν Ἀμμανίτων). The Minaeans were called the inhabitants of the region of Maon, found in the southern part of the portion of the tribe of Judah, to the southeast of Hebron ((Josh 15:55; 1 Sam 23:25); “Explanatory Bible,” vol. II, pp. 98, 285 and 287; Onomasticon, 696). In this region there still remained descendants of the former inhabitants, who, when the opportunity arose, rebelled against the Judeans who had subjugated them. Accepting thus the correctness of the LXX reading, as well as of the Russian Synodal translation—“from the country of Moab,” the difference between them and the Hebrew-Masoretic text can be explained from the transposition of one Hebrew letter: עמק and מעק (see Prof. Gulyaev, pp. 540–541; cf. Fr. Böttcher, “New Exegetical-Critical Gleaning from the Old Testament,” 1865, p. 233). The enemies came “from beyond the sea, from Syria” (v. 2), that is, from the eastern side of the Dead Sea, where the Moabites and Ammonites dwelt. Instead of “from Syria” (Heb. me—Aram) Calmet read “from Edom” (me—Edom): such a substitution of one word for another, possible in view of the closeness of the Hebrew letters daleth and resh, makes the subsequent participation of the Edomites in the coalition clearer (vv. 10, 23). The ancient Chaldean translation, guided perhaps by this consideration, in v. 1 replaces the word Ammon with the word Edom. Hazazon-Tamar (LXX: Ἀσασὰν Θαμάρ, Slav.: “Asasan-Tamar”)—a designation found also only in (Gen 14:7), (cf. “Explanatory Bible,” vol. I, pp. 94–95)—the ancient name of a locality and city, later known by the name En-Gedi (“spring of the wild goat”; (Josh 15:62; 1 Sam 24:1)) in the so-called Wilderness of Judah, on the western shore of the Dead Sea, now Ain-Jidi (Onomasticon, 401, 143. “Explanatory Bible,” vol. II, pp. 100, 285); the ancient name Hazazon-Tamar indicated the wealth of this locality in palm trees.

2 Chronicles 20:3. Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and turned his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 2 Chronicles 20:4. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord. 2 Chronicles 20:5. And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, 2 Chronicles 20:6. and said: O Lord, God of our fathers! Are you not God in heaven? And do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In your hand is power and might, and no one is able to withstand you! 2 Chronicles 20:7. Did you not, O God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the offspring of Abraham your friend? 2 Chronicles 20:8. And they have dwelt in it and built you there a sanctuary for your name, saying: 2 Chronicles 20:9. If disaster comes upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, then we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear and save. 2 Chronicles 20:10. Now behold, the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir, whom you did not allow Israel to invade when they came from the land of Egypt, but whom they avoided and did not destroy— 2 Chronicles 20:11. behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. 2 Chronicles 20:12. O our God, will you not judge them? For we are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. 2 Chronicles 20:13. And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their sons. The account given here of a public fast instituted by Jehoshaphat in consequence of the invasion of Judah by the mentioned enemies (as a result of which God granted the Judeans a miraculous victory without battle—vv. 22–25) seems to some researchers (for example, C. P. Gramberg, “The Chronicle Examined Anew According to Its Historical Character and Its Credibility,” Halle 1823, pp. 15–17) to be unreliable and is considered an argument for the too-late origin of the books of Chronicles on the ground that supposedly in the books of Sacred Scripture written before the Captivity, mention is made only of fasts undertaken to express mourning, sorrow (e.g., (Judg 20:26; 2 Sam 12:16)), but not of fasts with the purposes and consequences indicated in (2 Chr 20:3); such “superstitious” fasts among the Hebrews allegedly became customary only in the 2nd century before Christ. But such an objection is conditioned by Protestant denial of fasting in general, as well as by deistic understanding of the relationship of God to the world and people. With an unbiased view, the biblical accounts of fasting, both those before the Captivity (for example, (Lev 16; Judg 20:26; 2 Sam 12:16; Joel 2:12) and others) and those after the Captivity, such as (2 Chr 20:3), prove to be identical in essence and meaning of the events reported: everywhere one understands fasting joined with prayer, repentance, contrition of heart, and correction of sinful life (see Rev. Prof. A. S. Tsarevsky, “The Origin and Composition of the First and Second Books of Chronicles,” Kiev, 1878, pp. 7–10). Just such a character of fasting appears in this case, v. 3–4: here the fast is joined with universal (v. 13) prayer in the temple “before the new court” (v. 5). By the latter is understood, probably, not the third court, the so-called court of women and gentiles (opinion of Cleric), concerning the existence of which in the first Jerusalem temple nothing is known, but the same outer or “external” (Ezek 10:5), otherwise “lower” (Ezek 40:19), built by Solomon and perhaps slightly renewed by Asa, in distinction from the “upper” (Jer 36:10) or “internal” (1 Kgs 6:36), that is, priestly court ((2 Chr 4:9); see Prof. Olesnitsky, “The Old Testament Temple,” p. 335; cf. “Explanatory Bible,” vol. II, p. 392). The prayer of Jehoshaphat itself (vv. 6–12), like the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple (1 Kgs 8:22-53; 2 Chr 6:12-42), with which it is in some places almost word-for-word identical (cf. v. 9 and (2 Chr 6:28)), expresses a pure biblical understanding of the relationship of God to the world and especially to the chosen people of God and true faith in the gracious providence of the Lord over his people, the founder of which Abraham was “the friend of God” v. 7, (Isa 41:8; Jas 2:23). In verse 10 there is a reference to the historical fact of the Hebrews’ passage through the land of Edom by the command of God upon their entry into Canaan ((Deut 2:4-8); “Explanatory Bible,” vol. I, p. 598).

2 Chronicles 20:14. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly; 2 Chronicles 20:15. and he said: Hear me, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: Do not fear and do not be dismayed at this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. 2 Chronicles 20:16. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley, before the Wilderness of Jeruel. 2 Chronicles 20:17. You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord, granted to you. Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you. 2 Chronicles 20:18. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord to worship the Lord. 2 Chronicles 20:19. And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord the God of Israel with a very loud voice. 2 Chronicles 20:20. And they rose early in the morning and went out to the Wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said: Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed. According to verse 14, the prophet Jahaziel descended from the line of Asaph (cf. 1 Chr 25:2), which, as is known, came from the Levites and was one of the chiefs of the choir under David (1 Chr 6:39; 2 Chr 5:12). The name of Asaph stands at the heading of 12 psalms (49, 72–82), including the already-mentioned 82nd psalm, in which, as has been said, one can see a reflection of the fact of the invasion of the allies against Jehoshaphat and his victory over them. Thus, the prophet Jahaziel, an Asaphite (a descendant of Asaph in the 4th generation (1 Chr 25:2)), could have been the composer of Psalm 82, and consequently the historical reliability of the account (2 Chr 20) is beyond all doubt. Filled with the Spirit of God (v. 14), Jahaziel declares the impending war against the Judeans to be God’s war (v. 15), accordingly, the means of struggle must be spiritual weapons of prayer (vv. 19–21). Verse 16. The location of the height of Ziz (or Hazaziz) and the Wilderness of Jeruel cannot be determined with precision. The former is indicated in the present Wadi hasasa to the southeast of Tekoa (v. 20). In any case, both localities lay on the southern border of Judah—with Edom.

2 Chronicles 20:21. After consulting with the people, he appointed singers to the Lord and praisers in holy attire, to go before the armed forces, saying: Give thanks to the Lord, for his mercy endures forever! 2 Chronicles 20:22. And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir who had come against Judah, and they were routed. 2 Chronicles 20:23. For the Ammonites and Moabites rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, destroying and annihilating them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they also destroyed one another. 2 Chronicles 20:24. And when Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness and looked out toward the multitude, behold, they were lying dead on the ground with no survivors. 2 Chronicles 20:25. And Jehoshaphat and his people came to carry away their spoils, and they found among them, in great abundance, goods, clothing, and precious jewels, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. And the plunder was so great that it took them three days to carry it away. 2 Chronicles 20:26. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, because there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. 2 Chronicles 20:27. Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at their head, returned to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. 2 Chronicles 20:28. And they came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord. The actual event fully justified the prophecy: division arose among the allied enemy forces and they destroyed themselves (cf. (Judg 7:22)); see “Explanatory Bible,” vol. II, pp. 174–175, 490). In verse 25, in the enumeration of the spoils taken by the Judeans, according to the Hebrew text the bodies (Heb. pegarim) are named. Such a juxtaposition seems strange and suggests a clerical error in the accepted Masoretic text. Indeed, in codices 80, 155, 157, 178, 270, 271, 283, 288, 300 at Kennicott and codices 554, 590, 737, 789 at Rossi instead of pegarim (bodies) is read begadim (garments) (the confusion of these two words in ancient Hebrew script was very possible due to the similarity of bet to pe and daleth to resh). The latter reading is accepted by the LXX (ἀποσκευήν), the Vulgate (vestes) and the Slavonic text (“garments”). It should be considered the original (cf. Prof. Gulyaev, p. 544). “Valley of Beracah” (Heb. emeq-berachah): (v. 25), or, according to Josephus (“Antiquities of the Jews,” vol. IX, ch. 1, 3), “valley of praise,” is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, but its trace is indicated in the present Wadi Barekut, to the south of Tekoa.

2 Chronicles 20:29. And the fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord himself had fought against the enemies of Israel. 2 Chronicles 20:30. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, and his God gave him rest on all sides. Compare (2 Chr 14:14).

2 Chronicles 20:31. So Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 2 Chronicles 20:32. And he walked in the way of his father Asa and did not depart from it, doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 20:33. Nevertheless, the high places were not removed, and the people did not yet set their hearts firmly on the God of their fathers. 2 Chronicles 20:34. The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, are written in the records of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel. 2 Chronicles 20:35. After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted wickedly. 2 Chronicles 20:36. And he joined with him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-Geber. 2 Chronicles 20:37. Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying: Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy your works. And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish. Here is given an account parallel to that contained in (1 Kgs 22:41-50) (see “Explanatory Bible,” vol. II, pp. 477–478). Only in (2 Chr 20:37) is added the prophetic rebuke of Eliezer to Jehoshaphat for the impious alliance with Ahaziah of Israel, as a consequence of which the destruction of the naval enterprise (fleet) of the allies resulted. Cf. (Ps 47:8). Concerning the Hebrew fleet see commentaries in “Explanatory Bible,” vol. II, pp. 412, 415, 416.