2 Chronicles 20:16
Ver. 16. Tomorrow go ye down against them,.... This was the fast day, and so not proper to march out in, but on the morrow they might go out with great confidence and intrepidity; and as Jerusalem was situated on an eminence, they are directed to go down:
behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; a steep hill, so called from the flowers upon it:
and ye shall find them at the end of the brook; on the bank of Kidron, according to Beckius, which seems not likely to be meant, since they went as far as the wilderness of Tekoa, 2Ch 20:20,
before the wilderness of Jeruel; the same with that of Tekoa, or near it. 2 Chronicles 20:17Ver. 17. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle,.... Since the Lord would fight for them:set yourselves, stand ye still; present themselves they might, as if ready to engage; and keep their ground, not giving way in the least, but would have no need to strike a stroke:and see the salvation of the Lord with you; which he would work for them, see Ex 14:13,and Judah, and Jerusalem, fear not, nor be dismayed; which is repeated for the confirmation of them:tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you; to protect them, fight for them, and give them victory; the Targum is,"the Word of the Lord shall be your help.'' 2 Chronicles 20:18Ver. 18. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground,.... Not only in reverence of God, and his prophet, but as a token of his belief of what was said, and his thankfulness for it:and all Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell before the Lord, worshipping him; adoring his goodness to them, in imitation of their king. 2 Chronicles 20:19Ver. 19. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites,.... Who were of the posterity of Kohath, in the line of Korah:stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high; in high notes; they being the course in turn at this time for this service. 2 Chronicles 20:20Ver. 20. And they rose early in the morning,.... Being confident of success, animated by what the prophet said to them:and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa; which, according to Jerom {u}, was six miles from Bethlehem, and nine from Jerusalem, some say twelve, beyond which was nothing but a desert; it was part of the wilderness of Judah:and as they went forth; out of Jerusalem, through one of the gates of it:Jehoshaphat stood and said, believe in the Lord your God; in the promises he had made, particularly with respect to the victory over their present enemies; the Targum is,"in the Word of the Lord your God:''so shall you be established; have courage and firmness of mind, as well as be safe and secure:believe his prophets; sent by him, and that speak in his name, particularly Jahaziel, who had predicted victory to them:so shall ye prosper; things will succeed to your wishes, and beyond your expectations.{u} Prooem. in Amos, and Comment. in ch. i. 1. 2 Chronicles 20:21Ver. 21. And when he had consulted with the people,.... His principal officers, in what order they should march, and in what manner they should form themselves, when they met the enemy, and how they should conduct as if they were to engage:he appointed singers unto the Lord; to sing his praise, and give him glory, as if the victory was already completed, it being so sure:and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army; that is, praise God, who is glorious in holiness, whose beauty lies in his holiness, and who is holy in all his ways and works:and to say, praise the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever; with which they were to conclude their songs of praise, as David did, and whose songs they might sing; see Ps 136:1. 2 Chronicles 20:22Ver. 22. And when they began to sing and to praise,.... They sung more or less all the way they went, from the time they set out, but when they came nearer the enemy, they sung louder and louder:the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which came against Judah; some take them to be their own ambushments, which they set for the destruction of Judah; but the Lord turned them against their own confederates, mistaking them for Jews; so the Vulgate Latin version,"the Lord turned their ambushments against themselves;''or rather these were angels, who appeared in the form of the Edomites, and so fell upon the Ammonites and Moabites:and they were smitten; by them, many of them were destroyed; hence it follows, 2 Chronicles 20:23Ver. 23. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir,.... Supposing that they had acted a treacherous part by them, and took on the side of their enemies:utterly to slay and destroy them; as they did:and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir; so that there were none left of them:everyone helped to destroy one another; in their confusion mistook one another, either for Edomites or Jews, like the Midianites in the times of Gideon. 2 Chronicles 20:24Ver. 24. When Judah came towards the watch tower in the wilderness,.... Which might stand upon the hill or cliff of Ziz, for the sake of the direction of travellers, and the preservation of them from thieves and robbers:they looked unto the multitude; which they could take a view of from the top of the hill:and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped; all to a man slain, there was not one to be seen standing on his feet. 2 Chronicles 20:25Ver. 25. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil of them,.... Which was all they had to do; they had no need to fight, as they were told, the Lord had fought for them:they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies; rich garments on them, and gold and silver on them:and precious jewels, which they stripped of for themselves; with which their clothes, or some part of their bodies, were ornamented:more than they could carry away; they were so many, that they made too great a burden for them:and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much; it took up so much time to strip the bodies, to search for their money and jewels, rings, chains, and such like things of value, worn by them. 2 Chronicles 20:26Ver. 26. And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah,.... As it was afterwards called from what they did there, as follows, which was the reason of its name:for there they blessed the Lord; returned thanks to him for this wonderful appearance on their behalf, and gave him the glory of it; no doubt but they had given him praise before in some sort and manner, but now in a set, solemn, and public manner, with one heart and voice they united in ascribing honour, blessing, and glory to him:therefore the name of the same place was called the valley of Berachah unto this day; the valley of Blessing; this name it bore in the times of Ezra, the writer of this book, even after the Jews returned from the Babylonish captivity; it is thought to be the same that is called by Jerom {w} Cepharbarucha, which he speaks of as not far from Engedi, see 2Ch 20:2, others will have it to be the same with the valley of Jehoshaphat, but not so likely, that seems to be nearer Jerusalem.{w} Epitaph. Paulae. 2 Chronicles 20:27Ver. 27. Then they returned, every man of Judah and of Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy,.... There to praise the Lord in the temple, as they had done in the valley:for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies; by giving them a complete victory, and making them masters of so much wealth and riches. 2 Chronicles 20:28Ver. 28. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and trumpets,.... The three principal instruments of music used in singing the praises of God; these they played upon as they came to the city, and entered it, and passed through it:unto the house of the Lord; the temple, there to offer praise and thanksgiving again. 2 Chronicles 20:29Ver. 29. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of these countries,.... Whose armies were slain, and all other neighbouring ones; for the word these is supplied:when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel; and they were afraid to invade their land, or make war with them; nor did the Edomites dare to revolt in the times of Jehoshaphat. 2 Chronicles 20:30Ver. 30. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet,.... Both within and without; they were at peace among themselves, and none from abroad dared to molest them:for his God gave him rest round about; from all his enemies; the Targum has it, the Word of his God; and so, in the preceding verse, the Word of the Lord fought; and in 2Ch 20:28 the Word of the Lord made them rejoice. 2 Chronicles 20:31Ver. 31,32. And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah,.... Of these two verses, See Gill on "1Ki 22:42".See Gill on "1Ki 22:43". 2 Chronicles 20:32Ver. 32. See Gill on "2Ch 20:31". 2 Chronicles 20:33Ver. 33. Howbeit, the high places were not taken away,.... The high places, where idols were worshipped, were taken away, 2Ch 17:6, but not those where sacrifices were offered to the true God:for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers; to seek and serve him wholly, according to his will, to offer sacrifices to him only at Jerusalem, as the law required, De 12:5, they could not as yet be prevailed upon to relinquish the high places, built and made use of before the temple was; partly because they were nearer to some of them than that, and partly out of veneration for them, as being of a long time used. 2 Chronicles 20:34Ver. 34. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last,.... Those that were done at the beginning, and those that were done at the latter end of his reign:behold, they are written in the book of Jehu, the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel; see 1Ki 16:1, the same that reproved Jehoshaphat, 2Ch 19:2. He wrote a book of his own times, and which was so much esteemed, according to Kimchi, that it was written with, or put along with, the book of the kings of Israel, for so he interprets the phrase; but the Targum understands it of Jehu being the king's historiographer, who had the care and oversight of the diary, journal, or annals of the kings of Israel. 2 Chronicles 20:35Ver. 35. And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel,.... Meaning, not after the invasion of the Moabites, &c. and the slaughter of them, but after Jehoshaphat returned from Ramothgilead, when he was reproved by a prophet for helping the ungodly, 2Ch 19:1 so that it was a great aggravation of his folly and weakness, that after that, and quickly after that, he should join himself to a wicked prince, though not in war, but in trade; for so it must be, since Ahaziah reigned but two years, and those not complete, see 1Ki 22:51, but is here related, that Jehoshaphat's weaknesses and blemishes might be laid together:who did very wickedly; that is, Ahaziah, who walked in the ways of Ahab his father, and of Jezebel his mother, and of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, 1Ki 22:52. 2 Chronicles 20:36Ver. 36. And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish,.... Of which, See Gill on "1Ki 22:48", and though it is there said, 1Ki 22:49, that Jehoshaphat refused letting the servants of Ahaziah go with his, that was after he had been reproved for joining with him, and after the ships were broken:and they made the ships in Eziongeber; of whichSee Gill on "1Ki 9:26". 2 Chronicles 20:37Ver. 37. Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah,.... A city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:44prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah; an idolatrous prince, with whom he ought to have had no fellowship, even in civil things, it being both a countenancing him, and exposing himself and people to danger:the Lord hath broken thy works; the ships built at the joint expense of the two kings, that is, the Lord had determined to break them, and now foretold that he would; the Targum is,"the Word of the Lord hath destroyed thy works:''and the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish;See Gill on "1Ki 22:48".
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.