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. Ver. 1. _It came to pass after this also._] After Jehoshaphat's great care to reform and set all to right throughout his kingdom,... [ Continue Reading ]
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 [be] in Hazazontamar, which [is] Engedi. Ver. 2. _From beyond the sea._] The Dead Sea, which ran between Judea and Syria; and about this sea was... [ Continue Reading ]
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Ver. 3 And Jehoshaphat feared … and proclaimed a fast.] When the Turks fast it is a sure sign that they are in a bodily fear: they also cast dust upon their heads, and their hands up towards heaven... [ Continue Reading ]
And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask [help] of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. Ver. 4. _To ask help of the Lord._] Armed they came on this errand. _Ora et labora. Admota manu invocanda est Minerva,_ said the heathens. Pray and put forth yourselves... [ Continue Reading ]
And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, Ver. 5. _Before the new court._] _Omnes docti ignorant quodnam fuerit atrium illud novum,_ saith Vatablus. It is generally taken for the priest's court newly repaired, as the altar had... [ Continue Reading ]
And said, O LORD God of our fathers, [art] not thou God in heaven? and rulest [not] thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand [is there not] power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Ver. 6. _Art not thou God in heaven? &c._] The choice of fit attributes, whereby t... [ Continue Reading ]
2 Chronicles 20:7 [Art] not thou our God, [who] didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? Ver. 7. _Art not thou our God?_] God's might and his mercy are faith's Jachin and Boaz, whereon it resteth. _ And gavest... [ Continue Reading ]
And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, Ver. 8. _And have built thee a sanctuary therein._] This is to be God's faithful remembrancer, as Isaiah 62:6, marg.... [ Continue Reading ]
If, [when] evil cometh upon us, [as] the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name [is] in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. Ver. 9. _If when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, &c._] Which... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Ver. 10. _Whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade._] Deuteronomy 2:5; Deuteronomy 2:9; Deu 2:19 Numb... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, [I say, how] they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. Ver. 11. _Behold, I say, how they reward us._] See the indignity of the fact, and avenge it. To render evil for evil is brutish; but evil for good is devilish.... [ Continue Reading ]
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 [are] upon thee. Ver. 12. _For we have no might against this great company._] Pray we the same; at the hour of death especially, when beset with legi... [ Continue Reading ]
And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Ver. 13. _And all Judah stood before the Lord._] _Ex singulis familiis omnes_ All from each family. Joh 3:5 _ With their little ones, their wives, and their children._] To move pity, to excite devotion, a... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Ver. 14. _Came the Spirit of the Lord._] He was suddenly overcome by a prophetic inspiration, and moved b... [ Continue Reading ]
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 [is] not yours, but God's. Ver. 15. _And thou king Jehoshaphat._] _Regem post plebem nominat,_ h... [ Continue Reading ]
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. _Ver 16. Behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz_] Which is said to be between the wilderness of Tekoah and the wilderness of Jeruel. Ziz si... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye shall not [need] to fight in this [battle]: set yourselves, stand ye [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. Ver. 17. _Set yourselves, stand ye still._] The soldier's mo... [ Continue Reading ]
And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with [his] face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. Ver. 18. _And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground._] _Incurvasit sese in nares versus terram._ - Vat. He made very low obeisanc... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 19. _Stood up to praise the Lord._] So sure they were of the victory, that even before they had it they sang an επινοκιον, a triumphan... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 20. Belie... [ Continue Reading ]
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 [endureth] for ever. Ver. 21. _And when he had consulted with the people._] This gained him much... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 22. _And when they began to sing and to praise._] So at the siege of Mountabon, the people of God using daily humiliati... [ Continue Reading ]
For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy [them]: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. Ver. 23. _Every one helped to destroy one another._] Like so many _Terrigenae fratres... [ Continue Reading ]
And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they [were] dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. Ver. 24. _And none escaped._] _Ne ignifer quidem reliquus est factus, ut in Proverbio est._ See the like history in Judges 7:22,2... [ Continue Reading ]
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 mu... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 26. _And on the fourth day._] Whilst the mercy was yet fresh. We must hasten our praises: no part... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 27. _And Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them._] Heb., In the head of them. _a_ Among the Romans no man w... [ Continue Reading ]
And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. Ver. 28. _Unto the house of the Lord._] Not to tippling houses and wine taverns, _a_ as now-a-days the manner of some is. _ a_ _Non recta in aenopolia se contulerunt._ - _Lavat._... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of [those] countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel._ Ver. 29. _And the fear of God, &c._] The Lord cast a great terror into their minds, and so restrained them.... [ Continue Reading ]
So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about. Ver. 30. _For his God gave him rest._] "It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble his: and to them who are troubled, rest," if not afore, yet at least "when the Lord Jesus shall be re... [ Continue Reading ]
And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: [he was] thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name [was] Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. Ver. 31-33. _See Trapp on "_ 1Ki 22:41 _"_ _See Trapp on "_ 1Ki 22:42 _"_ _See Trapp on "_ 1Ki... [ Continue Reading ]
Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers. Ver. 33. _For as yet the people had not prepared their hearts._] They could not find in their hearts, though Jehoshaphat had been at much pains with them, 2Ch 19:4 to part... [ Continue Reading ]
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they [are] written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who [is] mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel. Ver. 34. _Who is mentioned,_] viz., 1 Kings 16:5. Others render it, Who was commanded to register the same in the books o... [ Continue Reading ]
And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: Ver. 35. _Did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself._] So he fell once and again into the same sin. See 1 Kings 22:44 .... [ Continue Reading ]
And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber. Ver. 36. _And he joined himself._] See 1 Kings 22:48,49 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 37. _And the ships were broken._] By tempest likely; and perh... [ Continue Reading ]