The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 169

Dr. Jamieson quotes Brnce's 'Tmvels' to conS11lted. A thousand thoneo.nd. Whether support this view, which seoms a most im- this number be correct or not, it may be noted probable, not to say impossible, one never- tbe.t it is the largeet alleged number of e.n theless. 'fhe question e.s to the ~eople army given in the Old Testament. intended will perh11ps best be found m the Ver. 10.-The valley of Zephe.thah at solution of the question for whom the no.me ll[areahah. "At " some translate " belonging of their king stands (see following note). to," some more suitably to the exact connec- Zero.h. Hebrew o.s above. It is noteworthy tion '' near." The Hebrew here for" valley" that the four previous occurrences of this is N').. It can scarcely designate neceese.rily name-Gen. xxxvi. 13 and 1 Chron. i. 37, a "ravine." It is e. valley in the sense son of Reuel, grandson of Esau : Gen. of being a low, flat region, in which springs xxxviii. 30 and 1 Chron, ii. 6, son of Judah of water "broke out." From Numb. xxi. and Tamar; 1 Chron. iv. 24, son of Simeon; 20, the first occasion of its occUJTence, t.o 1 Chron. v. 6, 26, Hebrew text, son of Iddo, Zech. xiv. 5 it is found fifty-six times, and a Gershonite Levite-1:ihow it o.s the name of is always rendered (Authorized Version) on Israelite, or descendant of Shem. Our " valley ; " it is the word used in the cele- present Zerah is e. Cushite, or descendant of bro.ted passages, '' Though I walk through Ham. The Septuagint forms of the name the valley," etc. (Ps. xxiii. 4); and "Every e.re Zapt, Zap&., Zapls, or Zapal, Zaapat, or valley shall be exalted " (Isa.. xl. 4). The (Alexandrian) 'A,caplas. Although Professor Septuagint, however, do not render it uni- Dr. Murphy says(' Handbook: Chronicles,' p. formly; but though they render it generally 116) that "it is pie.in that Zerah was a sove- 4>d.pa!, they e.lso have 11ci..-l,, 1<oi11.as, civ11.cf,.,, rei"n of KuMh, who in the reign of Takeloth, and in some cases the simple word ..,,;), a~ut B.o. 944, invaded Egypt e.nd pene- as e.g. i11 'Y11 (-ye) 'E11V6µ. (eh. xxvili. 3; trated into Asia.," the balance of probability, xxxiii. 6), which, nevertheless, elsewhere both from the names themselves o.nd the they describe as 4>&.p~ 'Evv6µ. (Josh. xv. 8). synchronisms of history, corrobor9:ted by the The full exple.no.tion may probably be that composition of Zero.h's army (Cush1m and Lu- the word is nsed for the valley that narrowed bim, eh. xvi. 8) and some other tributary con- up to e. re.vine-like pass, or gorge, or that siderations, is that our Zerah was Uso.rken II., opened out into one of the wide wadie& of the fourth king of the twenty-second d~na.sty the country; but see Stanley's • Sinai and (or possibly Use.rken I., the second krng of Palestine,' Appendix, pp. 482, 483, new edit., the dyne.sty). The invasion of the text wo.s 1866. It is supposed that Zephathah is not probably in Asa's fourteenth year, his reign mentioned elsewhere, but see the Zephe.th thusfe.r bein~ dated B.o. 953-940 (or B.o. 933 of Judg. i. 17; and comp. Numb. =i. 3; -920 if Manasseh's be to.ken at only thirty- 1 Sam. xxx. 30, which Keil and Bertheau five instead of fifty-five years). The alleged think conclusively to be not the same. army of this Zerah was an Egyptian army, le.~gely me.de of mercenaries (compare the de- Ver. 11.-Nothing with thee; Hebrew, scription of Shiehak's army, eh. xii. 3). The "17?]!7•~. In the passage of very sim~ar present defeat of Zera~ would go far to ~x- tenor (1 Sam. xiv. 6) the exact rendenng plrlin the known decline of the Egyptian is more easily fixed, " It is nothing to the power at just this date, i.e. some twenty-five Lord,'' i.e. it makes no difference to the Lord, to thirty years after Shisho.k. At the same "to save by many or by few." Probably the time, it must be admitted that it is not pos- correcter rendering of our present Hebrew sible to identify with certainty Zemh with text would be, " It makes no difference with either Usarken. Whether he is an unknown thee to help those whose strength is great or Arabian Cushite, or an unknown African whose strength is nothing (bfltween the Oushite of Ethiopia-above-Egypt, or one of much even to the none of strength)." Keil the Usarkens, has yet to be pronounced. and Berthee.u would translate " There is llile.resha.h (see our note, eh. xi. 8). It lay none beside thee." For another instance of r.~ the "second mile" (Eusebius e.nd Jerome) the preposition followed by S, see Gen. i. 6; south of Eleutheropolis e.nd between Hebron and comp. eh. i. 13. The prayer must be (1 Me.co. v. 36; 2 Me.cc. xii. 35) e.nd ABhdod oounted II model prayer to a.~ o~pot~nt (Josephus,• Ant.,' xii. 8. § 6). The mention Deliverer. It consis~ of opemng m vocation of the vo.lley of Zepho.tha_h in the follo.~ng and the instancing of what postulates the verse will he.If identify its exact position. crowning Divine attribu~e as th~ broad foun. It is probable tho.t Dr. ~obi_n5?n (' B!bl. de.tion for argument; of mvoce.tiou repeated, Res.,' ii. 67) o.nd Toblev m his rnterestmg warmed to closer clinging by the e.ppro- • DrHte Wand.' (pp. 129, H2), have reliably prie.ting "our:." attende?. by the defining, fixed the site one Roman mile south-west of though very umverse.l petition, Kelp us; and the modern Beit-Jibrin. Me.resho.h is age.in followed by the argument of the unbending I mentioned in oh. xx. 37 and Mice.h i. 15, e.s fidelity of trusting dependence, For we rest quoted already, in references interesting to be 1 on thee, e.nd ill thy Na.me we go age.inst this  170 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [on. xrv. 1-1/i,