2 Chronicles 20

Chapter context

What is happening in 2 Chronicles 20?

templereformprayerjudgment

2 Chronicles 20 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as reforms and failures. Second Chronicles recounts Solomon’s temple, the Judahite kings, reform movements, the fall of Jerusalem, and Cyrus’s decree of return. Read this chapter with the wider themes of temple, reform, and prayer in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ 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. ² 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. ³ And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ 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. ⁵ And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, ⁶ 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? 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? ⁸ And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, ⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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; ¹¹ Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. ¹² 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. ¹³ And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. ¹⁴ 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; ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ 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. ²² 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. ²³ 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. ²⁴ 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. ²⁵ 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 much. ²⁶ 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. ²⁷ 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. ²⁸ And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about. ³¹ 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. ³² And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD. ³³ Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers. ³⁴ 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. ³⁵ And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: ³⁶ And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongaber. ³⁷ 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.

Study helps

Glossary

Ammon Place v. 1, 10, 22-23: Biblical region. Modern identification: Amman.
Jehoshaphat Person v. 1-3, 5, 15, 18, 20, 25, 27, 30-31, 34-35, 37: Jehovah-judged. (1. ) One of David’s body-guard ( 1 Chr. 11:43 ). (2. ) One of the priests who accompanied the removal of the ark to Jerusalem ( 1 Chr. 15:24 ).
Moab Place v. 1, 10, 22-23: Biblical region. Modern identification: Kerak.
Edom Place v. 2: Biblical region. Modern identification: Buseira.
Engedi Place v. 2: Biblical region. Modern identification: Ein Gedi.
Hazazon-tamar Place v. 2: Biblical region. Modern identification: Ein Gedi.
Salt Sea Place v. 2: (Heb. yam), signifies (1) “the gathering together of the waters,” the ocean ( Gen. 1:10 ); (2) a river, as the Nile ( Isa. 19:5 ), the Euphrates ( Isa. 21:1 ; Jer. 51:36 ); (3) the Red Sea. Modern identification: Dead Sea.
Jerusalem Place v. 4-5, 15, 17-18, 20, 27-28, 31: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Abraham Person v. 7: Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named ( Gen. 11:27 ) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises.
Egypt Place v. 10: The land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of which we have any record, holds a place of great significance in Scripture. Modern identification: Ain Shams.
Mount Seir Place v. 10, 22-23: Biblical mountain range. Modern identification: Jebel esh Shera.
Asaph Person v. 14: Convener, or collector. (1. ) A Levite; one of the leaders of David’s choir ( 1 Chr. 6:39 ). Psalms 50 and 73-83 inclusive are attributed to him. He is mentioned along with David as skilled in music, and a “seer”.
Benaiah Person v. 14: Built up by Jehovah. (1. ) The son of Jehoiada, chief priest ( 1 Chr. 27:5 ). He was set by David over his body-guard of Cherethites and Pelethites ( 2 Sam. 8:18 ; 1 Kings 1:32 ; 1 Chr. 18:17 ).
Jahaziel Person v. 14: Beheld by God. (1. ) The third son of Hebron ( 1 Chr. 23:19 ). (2. ) A Benjamite chief who joined David at Ziklag ( 1 Chr. 12:4 ). (3. ) A priest who accompanied the removal of the ark to Jerusalem ( 1 Chr. 16:6 ).
Levite Tribe v. 14: A descendant of the tribe of Levi ( Ex. 6:25 ; Lev. 25:32 ; Num. 35:2 ; Josh. 21:3 , 41).
Mattaniah Person v. 14: Gift of Jehovah. (1. ) A Levite, son of Heman, the chief of the ninth class of temple singers ( 1 Chr. 25:4 , 16). (2. ) A Levite who assisted in purifying the temple at the reformation under Hezekiah ( 2 Chr. 29:13 ).
Zechariah Person v. 14: Jehovah is renowned or remembered. (1. ) A prophet of Judah, the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets. Like Ezekiel, he was of priestly extraction. He describes himself (1:1) as.
Jeruel Place v. 16: Biblical region. Modern identification: Jeruel.
Ziz Place v. 16: Biblical region. Modern identification: Wadi Hasasah.
Kohathites People v. 19: The descendants of Kohath. They formed the first of the three divisions of the Levites ( Ex. 6:16 , 18; Num. 3:17 ).
Tekoa Place v. 20: Pitching of tents; fastening down, a town of Judah, about 12 miles south of Jerusalem, and visible from the city. Modern identification: Khirbet Teku’a.
Valley of Beracah Place v. 26: Blessing. (1. ) A valley not far from Engedi, where Jehoshaphat overthrew the Moabites and Ammonites ( 2 Chr. 20:26 ). It has been identified with the valley of Bereikut. (R. V., “Beracah. ”). Modern identification: Wadi el Arrub.
Azubah Person v. 31: Deserted. (1. ) The wife of Caleb ( 1 Chr. 2:18 , 19). (2. ) The daughter of Shilhi, and mother of king Jehoshaphat ( 1 Kings 22:42 ).
Asa Person v. 32: Physician, son of Abijah and grandson of Rehoboam, was the third king of Judah.
Hanani Person v. 34: God has gratified me, or is gracious. (1. ) One of the sons of Heman ( 1 Chr. 25:4 , 25). (2. ) A prophet who was sent to rebuke king Asa for entering into a league with Benhadad I., king of Syria, against Judah.
Jehu Person v. 34: Jehovah is he. (1. ) The son of Obed, and father of Azariah ( 1 Chr. 2:38 ). (2. ) One of the Benjamite slingers that joined David at Ziklag ( 1 Chr. 12:3 ).
Ezion-geber Place v. 36: The giant’s backbone (so called from the head of a mountain which runs out into the sea), an ancient city and harbour at the north-east end of the Elanitic branch of the Red Sea. Modern identification: Jezirat Faraun.
Tarshish Place v. 36-37: A Sanscrit or Aryan word, meaning “the sea coast. ” (1. ) One of the “sons” of Javan ( Gen. 10:4 ; 1 Chr. 1:7 ). (2. ) The name of a place which first comes into notice in the days of Solomon. Modern identification: Huelva.
Mareshah Place v. 37: Possession, a city in the plain of Judah ( John. 15:44 ). Here Asa defeated Zerah the Ethiopian ( 2 Chr. 14:9 , 10). It is identified with the ruin el-Mer’ash, about 1 1/2 mile south of Beit Jibrin. Modern identification: Tel Maresha.