1And it happened after this that the sons of Moab and the sons of Ammon, along with others besides the Ammonites, came to battle against Jehoshaphat. 2And some came and reported to Jehoshaphat, saying, A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria; and they are in Hazazon Tamar (which is En Gedi). 3And Jehoshaphat feared, and set his face to seek Jehovah, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4So Judah gathered together to seek the face of Jehovah; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the face of Jehovah. 5And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, before the new court, 6and said: O Jehovah the God of our fathers, are You not God in Heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? 7Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the seed of Abraham Your friend forever? 8And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, 9If evil comes upon us; sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine; we will stand before this house and before Your face (for Your name is in this house), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save. 10And now, behold, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them and have not destroyed them. 11Behold, they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. 12O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You. 13Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, were standing before Jehovah. 14Then the Spirit of Jehovah came 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, in the midst of the assembly. 15And he said, Give attention, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, O King Jehoshaphat. Thus says Jehovah to you: Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. 16Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and you shall find them at the end of the valley before the wilderness of Jeruel. 17You shall not fight in this battle. Station yourselves, stand your ground and see the salvation of Jehovah for you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out before them, for Jehovah is with you. 18And Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah to prostrate themselves before Jehovah. 19And the Levites of the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites stood up to praise Jehovah the God of Israel with loud voices on high. 20So they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Listen to me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Trust in Jehovah your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper. 21And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing unto Jehovah, and who should praise the glory of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: Give thanks unto Jehovah, for His mercy is eternal. 22And when they began to cry out in songs of praise, Jehovah set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were smitten. 23For the sons of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. 24So when Judah had come to the lookout point at the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; and behold, the corpses, fallen to the earth. No one had escaped. 25And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to plunder the spoils, they found among them an abundance of property on the corpses, with precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days plundering the spoils because there was so much. 26And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, for there they blessed Jehovah; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Berachah to this day. 27Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at the head of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy; for Jehovah had made them rejoice over their enemies. 28So they came to Jerusalem, with lutes and harps and trumpets, to the house of Jehovah. 29And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that Jehovah had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30So the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around. 31So Jehoshaphat was king 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. 32And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it, to do what was right in the eyes of Jehovah. 33Nevertheless the high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not fixed their hearts to the God of their fathers. 34Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is brought up in the book of the kings of Israel. 35After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah had made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted very wickedly. 36And he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion Geber. 37But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Jehovah has broken your works. And the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 JEHOSHAPHAT, INVADED BY THE MOABITES, PROCLAIMS A FAST. (2Ch. 20:1-21)
the children of Moab . . . Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites--supposed to be rather the name of a certain people called Mohammonim or Mehunim (
2Chr 26:7), who dwelt in Mount Seir--either a branch of the old Edomite race or a separate tribe who were settled there.
2 from beyond the sea on this side Syria--Instead of "Syria," some versions read "Edom," and many able critics prefer this reading, both because the nomad tribes here mentioned were far from Syria, and because express mention is made of Mount Seir, that is, Edom. The meaning then is: this confederate horde was composed of the different tribes that inhabited the far distant regions bordering on the northern and eastern coasts of the Red Sea. Their progress was apparently by the southern point of the Dead Sea, as far as En-gedi, which, more anciently, was called Hazezon-tamar (
Gen 14:7). This is the uniform route taken by the Arabs in their marauding expeditions at the present day; and in coming round the southern end of the Dead Sea, they can penetrate along the low-lying Ghor far north, without letting their movements be known to the tribes and villages west of the mountain chain [ROBINSON]. Thus, anciently, the invading horde in Jehoshaphat's time had marched as far north as En-gedi, before intelligence of their advance was conveyed to the court. En-gedi is recognized in the modern Ainjidy and is situated at a point of the western shore, nearly equidistant from both extremities of the lake [ROBINSON].
3 Jehoshaphat . . . proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah--Alarmed by the intelligence and conscious of his total inability to repel this host of invaders, Jehoshaphat felt his only refuge was at the horns of the altar. He resolved to employ the aid of his God, and, in conformity with this resolution, he summoned all his subjects to observe a solemn fast at the sanctuary. It was customary with the Hebrew kings to proclaim fasts in perilous circumstances, either in a city, a district, or throughout the entire kingdom, according to the greatness of the emergency. On this occasion, it was a universal fast, which extended to infants (
2Chr 20:13; see also
Joel 2:15-
Joel 2:16;
Jonah 3:7).
5 Jehoshaphat stood . . . in the house of the Lord, before the new court--that is, the great or outer court (
2Chr 4:9) called the new court, probably from having been at that time enlarged or beautified.
6 And said, O Lord God of our fathers--This earnest and impressive prayer embraces every topic and argument which, as king and representative of the chosen people, he could urge. Then it concludes with an earnest appeal to the justice of God to protect those who, without provocation, were attacked and who were unable to defend themselves against overwhelming numbers.
14 Then upon Jahaziel . . . came the Spirit of the Lord--This prophet is not elsewhere mentioned, but his claim to the inspiration of a prophetic spirit was verified by the calm and distinct announcement he gave, both of the manner and the completeness of the deliverance he predicted.
16 they come up by the cliff of Ziz--This seems to have been nothing else than the present pass which leads northwards, by an ascent from En-gedi to Jerusalem, issuing a little below Tekoa. The wilderness of Jeruel was probably the large flat district adjoining the desert of Tekoa, called El-Husasah, from a wady on its northern side [ROBINSON].
18 Jehoshaphat bowed his head . . . and all Judah, &c.--This attitude was expressive of reverence to God and His Word, of confidence in His promise, and thankfulness for so extraordinary a favor.
19 the Levites . . . stood up to praise the Lord--doubtless by the king's command. Their anthem was sung with such a joyful acclaim as showed that they universally regarded the victory as already obtained.
20 as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood . . . Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem--probably in the gate of Jerusalem, the place of general rendezvous; and as the people were on the eve of setting out, he exhorted them to repose implicit trust in the Lord and His prophet, not to be timid or desponding at sight of the enemy, but to remain firm in the confident assurance of a miraculous deliverance, without their striking a single stroke.
21 he appointed singers . . . that they should praise . . . as they went out before the army--Having arranged the line of procession, he gave the signal to move forwards. The Levites led the van with their musical instruments; and singing the 136th Psalm, the people went on, not as an army marching against an enemy, but returning in joyful triumph after a victory.
22 THE OVERTHROW OF HIS ENEMIES. (
2Chr 20:22-30)
when they began to sing and to praise the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir--Some think that this was done by angels in human form, whose sudden appearance diffused an uncontrollable panic. Others entertain the more probable opinion that, in the camp of this vast horde, composed of different tribes, jealousies and animosities had sprung up, which led to widespread dissensions and fierce feuds, in which they drew the sword against each other. The consequence was, that as the mutual strife commenced when the Hebrew procession set out from Jerusalem, the work of destruction was completed before Jehoshaphat and his people arrived at the battlefield. Thus easy is it for God to make the wrath of man to praise Him, to confound the counsels of His enemies and employ their own passions in defeating the machinations they have devised for the overthrow of His Church and people.
24 when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness--Most probably the conical hill, Jebel Fereidis, or Frank Mountain, from the summit of which they obtained the first view of the scene of slaughter. Jehoshaphat and his people found the field strewed with dead bodies, so that they had not to fight at all, but rather to take possession of an immense booty, the collection of which occupied three days. On the fourth they set out on their return to Jerusalem in the same order and joyful mood as they came. The place where they mustered previous to departure was, from their public thanksgiving service, called, "The Valley of Berachah" ("benediction"), now Wady Bereikut.
31 HIS REIGN. (
2Chr 20:31-37)
Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah--(See
2Chr 24:1).
32 walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it--He was more steadfast and consistently religious (compare
2Chr 15:18).
33 the high places were not taken away--Those on which idolatry was practised were entirely destroyed (
2Chr 17:6); but those where the people, notwithstanding the erection of the temple, continued to worship the true God, prudence required to be slowly and gradually abolished, in deference to popular prejudice.
35 after this did Jehoshaphat . . . join himself with Ahaziah . . . to make ships--A combined fleet was built at Ezion-geber, the destination of which was to voyage to Tartessus, but it was wrecked. Jehoshaphat's motive for entering into this partnership was to secure a free passage through Israel, for the vessels were to be conveyed across the Isthmus of Suez, and to sail to the west of Europe from one of the ports of Palestine on the Mediterranean. Eliezer, a prophet, denounced this unholy alliance, and foretold, as divine judgment, the total wreck of the whole fleet. The consequence was, that although Jehoshaphat broke off--in obedience to the divine will--his league with Ahaziah, he formed a new scheme of a merchant fleet, and Ahaziah wished to be admitted a partner [
1Kgs 22:48]. The proposal of the Israelitish king was respectfully declined [
1Kgs 22:49]. The destination of this new fleet was to Ophir, because the Israelitish seaports were not accessible to him for the Tartessus trade; but the ships, when just off the docks, were wrecked in the rocky creek of Ezion-geber.
