[ Or, when be was ro grſgu'ſe pimeif- gud inter into the
baitel,
+ Heb. i bu frmpli= cit).
tf Heb, qoynts an1 the breaſt «
late.
4 Heb. made ſick.
+ Heb. aſcended.
f Heb. boſom,
7 Heb.
came,
y Chap;
21:19,
F 2 Chr.
20; 31.
ro Abab : and partly,becauſe the War was juſt and Lawful to recover | his own Rights, which the Syrian King unjuſtly detained from him.
20 And the king of [ſrael ſaid unto Jehoſhaphar, || 1 wi diſguiſe my ſcIf z,and enter into the battel, but put thou on thy robes «. And the king of Iſrael diſguiſed himſelf, and went into the battel.
z 7, e. Put of my Imperial Habit, that the Syrians may not know |
me,& dire& their main Force againſt me;which they will aſſuredly endeavour, as knowing that this War proceedeth from me and 1s likely ro die with me:and then thou ſhalt ſee that this Man 1s a falſe Propher,and I ſhall have the Succeſs which I deſire and expe&,not- withſtanding all his Preſages, # Thy Royal Robes : which thou mayſt do without any Danger, becauſe thou art not the Object either of the Syrians Rage, or of this falſe Propheſie- ;
21 Bur the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains, that had rule over his charions b, ſaying, Fight neither with ſmall not great, ſave only with the
king of Iſrael c. |
b And the Men that fought from them, or with them, 2. e. his whole Army. Poflibly the Chariots and the whole Army were deſtributed into thirty two ſeveral parts & eachCaptain ruled thoſe Chariots and Soldiers attending upon them, which fell to his ſhare c This he ordered.either' in Policy,truly ſuppoſing this to the beſt way £2 put an end to the War: or, with Delign to take him Pri- ſoner, that thereby he might wipe out the ſtain of his own Capti- vity, and recover the Honour and Advantage which then he loſt: or rather, by the Power and Providence of God, which drſpoſc tn the Hearts of Kings as he pleaſeth ; and inclined them ro this courſe, that they might, though ignorantly, accompliſh his Word and Counſel.
2 And it came to piſs, when the captains of the |
chariots ſaw jehoſhaphar, that they ſaid, Surely it zs the
king of Iſrael. And they turned aſide d to fight againlt ,
him and Jehoſhaphat cried out e.
d They drew their Forces from their ſevera! quarters towards Tehoſhaphat- e To the Lord for Help, 2 Cor. 18. 31. ;
33 Andit came to paſs, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of 1ſrael f, and they turned back from purſuing him.
f Which they eaſily perceived ; eith-r, by the Words uttered to God or them : or, by the difference of his Shape and Countenance from that of 4hab, which probab'y many of them very well knew.
34 And a certain man drew a bow T ata venture g, and {mote the king of Iſrael between the Þ joints of the harneſs b : wherefore he ſaid unto the driver of his cha- riot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the hoſt z, for I am | wounded.
g Heb. Þ his ſimplicity, 1. e. ignorantly, without care,or ckoiſe, or any defign,or thovght of reaching Avab. Or,according to his per- fe#ion, i.e. with his perfeQt and utmoſt ſtrength; which is mentioned as the reaſ»n why it pierced through the Joynts - of his Armour. h Where the ſeveral parts of his Armour are joyned together;which poſſibly were not then joyned with ſo much art and cloſeneſs as now they are. f Our of the midſt of the Hoſt where the Heat of the Battel was, into a lafer part of the Army. See the next Verſe.
25 And the battel | increaſed & that day : and the king was ſtayed up / in his cha: iot againſt the Syrians, and died at even, and the blood'ran out of the wound, into the + midit of the chariot.
k i. e. Grew hot and violent. I Was ſupported by Cordials, or by his Servants, that by his Preſence he might encourage his Soldiers to Fight more couragioufly,and that he might fee the event of the Battel.
26 And there went a Proclamation throughout the hoſt »9,about the going down of the ſun, ſaying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country ». *
- Probably by Jehoſhaphat's Order, with the Conſent of the chief Captains of Iſ-ae/ ; and poſſiby with the permiſſion of the King of Syria, upon notice of Ahabs Death, which was the only thing at which he aimed, v- 31. » The King is dead, and the Battel end- ed : and therefore every man hath liberty to return to his own Houſe and private occaſions.
37 © So the king died, and + was brought to Sama- ria, and they buried the king in Samaria.
28 And one waſhed the chariot in the pool of Sama- ria,and the dogs licked up his blood o,and they waſhed his armour, according * unto the word of the LORD, which he ſpake p.
o Together with the Water wherewith it was mixed. p Of which ſee the Note on chap: 21.
195
39 Now the reſt of the ads of Ahab,and all that he did, and the ivory houſe q which he made, and all the Cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Iſrael ? _ 9 Heb. the houſe of the tooth or teeth, to wit, of Elephants : See chap. 10:18. Not that it was made wholly of ſolid Ivory, but becauſe the other materials were covered,or intermixed.or adorned with Ivory. Compare Amor 3: n5,
49 S0 Ahab flept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his ſon reigned in his ſtead.
41 JAnd *Jehoſhaphat the ſon of Aſa began to reign over Judah 1n the fourth year of Ahab r king of Iſrael.
I. &F # FF WU
» Who Reigned 22 Years; therefore he Reigned about 18 Years with Ahab.
42 Jehoſhaphat was thirty and five years old when he b-gan to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years s ia Jeruſalem : and his mothers name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi,
s Part, by himſelf ; and partly,with his Sons whom he took int the Fellowſhip of his Kingdom. Of which,ſee more on 2 Ms.
43 And he waiked in all the ways of Aſa his father z, he turned not aſide from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD : nevgrtheleſs,the high places
were not taken away « ; for the people offered and burnt incenſe yet in the high places.