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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
17:1-21:1 Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat's reign () probably included as co-regent with Asa during his illness (see 20:31; 2 Kings 3:1; 8:16). The Chronicler's account of his reign is much longer than that given in Kings, where Jehoshaphat plays a subordinate role to the northern kings Ahab (1 Kings 22:4-5, 29-33) and Jehoram (2 Kings 3:4-27). The Chronicler passes over the Jehoram narrative and assigns Jehoshaphat a central significance in his own right, as one who strengthens his kingdom spiritually and militarily (2 Chron. 17:1-19), organizes its system of courts (19:1-11), and demonstrates exemplary faith and leadership in the face of a terrible military threat (20:1-29). At the same time, Jehoshaphat is criticized for his alliances with the apostate northern kingdom (19:1-3; 20:37). Like his predecessors, Jehoshaphat is thus a mixture of good and bad qualities, with a preponderance of good.
17:1-6 Jehoshaphat's actions at the start of his reign are directed toward reforming the nation's religious life and strengthening its military capabilities, no doubt in view of the border conflicts with the northern kingdom that marked the previous reigns. As long as he continues in this attitude of faith in God and loyalty to the ways of David (vv. 3-6), his kingdom will enjoy security and prosperity. On later occasions, however, Jehoshaphat will be drawn into alliances through marriage or military and commercial arrangements with the northern kingdom, and all of these will lead to potentially disastrous consequences.
17:3-4 The Chronicler's characteristic theme of "seeking God" is accompanied by obedience to God's commandments. This is the first mention of the Baals in Chronicles. Under Ahab and his Tyrean wife Jezebel (contemporaries of Jehoshaphat), the northern kingdom adopted Canaanite Baal worship (1 Kings 16:31), leading to conflict with Elijah (1 Kings 19).
17:5 The Lord established the kingdom in his hand, continuing the promise made to David (see 1 Chron. 17:11). God acts in and through his people's obedience to fulfill his word.
17:7-9 In the third year of his reign. Probably the first year of his reign alone (), following a with his father (see 16:12; 20:31). Jehoshaphat's reforms were not limited to worship but also included a mission by his officials, along with a number of Levites and priests, to instruct the nation in the Law of Moses. It was God's intention from Israel's beginning that his people be thoroughly conversant with the law (see Deut. 6:6-9). Besides administering sacrifices, it was the duty of priests in particular to instruct the people in the law (see Lev. 10:11; Deut. 33:10; Jer. 18:18; Mal. 2:7). On the role of the Levites in teaching the law, see Neh. 8:7-9.
17:10-11 See 1 Chron. 14:17 and 2 Chron. 14:14. The blessings of peace with the neighboring nations, and tribute from them, are presented as a consequence of the people's faithfulness to the law. The significance of this for the Chronicler's own relatively weak and impoverished community is clear. Arabians probably refers to tribes living to the south and southwest of Judah, close to the Philistines (see 21:16-17; 26:6-7).
17:12-19 The description of Jehoshaphat's military forces looks forward to the account of his alliance with Ahab in ch. 18. Large armies are regularly a sign of God's blessing in Chronicles, but the author will show that they are no certain defense if priorities are wrong and faith is misplaced (cf. Ps. 33:16-19). The details seem to be drawn from a military census list. thousands. These may be actual numbers, or they may indicate military units (actual size uncertain); see note on 1 Chron. 12:23-37.
18:1-27 The account of Jehoshaphat's alliance with Ahab is taken with few changes from 1 Kings 22:1-40, but the additional comments in 2 Chron. 18:1-2 and in 19:1-3 give it an altogether different significance. Jehoshaphat, rather than Ahab (and the divine punishment he received for spurning the prophetic word), is the focus here. The Chronicler is concerned to show that Jehoshaphat is equally subject to the prophetic word, but that by repentance and a conscientious return to God's way, he may escape divine wrath. As with his father Asa (see 16:3), Jehoshaphat seeks an alliance with the northern kingdom that is based not on righteous grounds but on political expediency that may draw Judah into destruction. In his account of Hezekiah's reign (chs. 29-30), the Chronicler will indicate how a true and beneficial unity among the tribes of Israel can be achieved.
18:1-2 The Chronicler's introduction alludes to the marriage of Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram to Ahab's daughter Athaliah (see 21:6), some years before the battle Ahab initiated against Syria to recapture Ramoth-gilead. The statement that Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor is an indication of divine blessing on his reign and casts his alliance with Ahab into a yet more reprehensible light. The marriage between the royal houses was intended to seal peace between the kingdoms after of hostilities. Such an alliance, however, would require Jehoshaphat to "help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord" (19:2). Ahab's great feast for Jehoshaphat and his persuasive words induced (Hb. sut) or enticed him to take part in the battle (see also 1 Chron. 21:1; 2 Chron. 32:11, 15). The same Hebrew word is found in 18:31 ("God drew them away from him") as the positive counterbalance to the evil into which Ahab draws Jehoshaphat.
18:3 Ramoth-gilead was southeast of the Sea of Galilee (probably Tell Ramith, near the modern Jordanian city of Ramtha; see Deut. 4:43). The Syrians captured it during the reign of Ben-hadad (). Jehoshaphat's words indicate his commitment to the treaty with Ahab.
18:4-14 Jehoshaphat (in contrast to Ahab) is at least concerned to seek the word of the Lord concerning the advisability of the mission (vv. 4, 6, 7). Ahab's four hundred men were called prophets (cf. also note on 1 Kings 22:6-7), but they were also government officials, probably connected with the Baal and Asherah worship that Jezebel had introduced into the northern kingdom (see 1 Kings 18:19). Their words (2 Chron. 18:5, 11) and symbolic actions (v. 10; see Jer. 27:2-7) are unequivocal and exactly what Ahab wants to hear. Jehoshaphat, however, does not recognize them as prophets of Yahweh and so persists in his request (2 Chron. 18:6). Micaiah the son of Imlah is one of the authentic prophets of Yahweh (in a kingdom where they had recently been persecuted; see 1 Kings 18:4). His initial words to Ahab (2 Chron. 18:14) were apparently spoken in an ironic tone, as Ahab's reaction (v. 15) suggests.
18:9-11 sitting at the threshing floor. See note on 1 Kings 22:10-12.
18:14 Go up and triumph. See note on 1 Kings 22:15-16.
18:15-22 Ahab's insistence on hearing what Micaiah had really received from Yahweh is answered with a report of two visions. The first concerns the outcome of the battle (v. 16), while the second makes the remarkable claim that God put a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophets (vv. 18-22); see notes on 1 Sam. 16:14 and 1 Kings 22:24. The sense here is that, as a follower of false gods (see 1 Kings 16:30-33), Ahab is fittingly deceived by their spokesmen, his prophets. God's action has the nature of a test. The irony of the situation is that Ahab is told the truth (2 Chron. 18:16, 18-22) but does not recognize it as such, even though he had insisted that Micaiah tell him the truth (v. 15). His repudiation of Micaiah's message and his treatment of the prophet (v. 26) indicate his contempt for the truth.
18:23-27 Zedekiah . . . struck Micaiah on the cheek. Zedekiah had claimed to speak in the name of Yahweh (v. 10), but he shows by his violent and contemptuous conduct his scant concern for the truth. Ahab's treatment of Micaiah foreshadows Jeremiah's suffering (Jer. 37:14-16).
18:24 you shall see . . . inner chamber. See note on 1 Kings 22:25.
18:25 Amon . . . Joash. See note on 1 Kings 22:26.
18:28-34 Ahab is enticed into battle, as the spirit had promised (v. 20). His decision to disguise himself, while rather cynically directing Jehoshaphat to wear his royal robes, indicates his dominant role in the alliance and perhaps also represents a contrived attempt to evade Micaiah's word of doom. But events turn out the opposite of what Ahab intended: Jehoshaphat is delivered in battle as a consequence of his desperate prayer (v. 31b, and the Lord helped him; God drew them away from him is the Chronicler's own addition to the text; see note on vv. 1-2), while Ahab dies from an apparently random arrow (v. 33), clear evidence of God's sovereign direction of events.
18:29 I will disguise myself. See note on 1 Kings 22:30.
19:1-3 This is the Chronicler's own addition to 1 Kings 22. Jehu the son of Hanani had ministered in the days of Baasha, king of Israel (1 Kings 16:1-3). His denunciation of Jehoshaphat for his alliance with the ungodly Ahab echoes his criticism of the wicked Baasha (1 Kings 16:7). Love here denotes not emotion but the commitment to support a treaty. God's wrath is a matter of immense seriousness, yet may be averted or mitigated by repentance (see 2 Chron. 12:7; 32:25-26). Jehu's acknowledgment that some good is found in Jehoshaphat recognizes his basic commitment to seek God and looks forward to his subsequent actions of repentance and reform (19:4-11).
19:4-11 Jehoshaphat (whose name means "Yahweh judges") institutes a judicial reform that embraces both religious and civil matters. Jehoshaphat's primary concern is to appoint judges of integrity and impartiality, who are exhorted to perform their office in the fear of the Lord (vv. 7, 9).
19:4 he went out again. A continuation of the religious teaching mission described in 17:7-9, this time involving the king himself. From Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim describes the limits of Judah from south to north.
19:5-7 Jehoshaphat's action in appointing judges in the fortified cities of Judah and his words of admonition to them are inspired by the instructions in Deut. 16:18-17:13. Israel's judges must act out of a sense of sacred duty (you judge not for man but for the Lord) and must reflect Yahweh's concern for justice and impartiality.
19:8-11 These are legal reforms for Jerusalem involving certain priests, Levites, and heads of families as judges. The Jerusalem court would have supplemented the existing local courts in the land and probably dealt with the more difficult disputed cases. The presiding justices Amariah the chief priest and Zebadiah . . . the governor are responsible for the interests of the temple and the crown, respectively. The Chronicler is careful to show through Jehoshaphat's reforms that, along with inculcating personal faith and obedience to Yahweh (v. 4), the judicial system has a vital role in ensuring that the nation's life is righteous and just, so that the people do not incur guilt and wrath.
20:1-30 This is the Chronicler's own material, describing a victory over Judah's enemies in which the sovereign God alone acts for his people. In contrast to earlier battles (chs. 13; 14), Judah's part is simply to pray for God's help, trust in his word, worship him (20:18-22), and then watch thankfully while the Divine Warrior destroys the enemy. The narrative draws together a wide range of religious themes and practices, especially those centered on the temple, and also alludes to many earlier scriptural texts and themes. Jehoshaphat's faith is presented here in the most positive light (although the Chronicler will go on to show a further lapse in vv. 35-37), and the rest of the nation (conceived here as a sacred assembly) similarly acts in an exemplary way. The significance of the narrative for the Chronicler's own postexilic community seems clear: although Judah was a small and oppressed outpost of the Persian Empire, recourse to the temple in prayer and trust in the prophetic word (v. 20) was its sure defense in the most testing circumstances, including the dangers posed by its hostile neighbors (cf. Ezra 4; Nehemiah 4).
20:1-2 After this. The invasion followed Jehoshaphat's religious and judicial reforms (ch. 19), and so was not an instance of divine punishment (cf. 12:2) but rather an opportunity to exercise faith (see 32:1). The Moabites and Ammonites lived east of the Dead Sea. The Meunites are equated with the people of Mount Seir (20:10, 22, 23), on the southern border of Judah (see Deut. 2:1; 2 Chron. 26:7). Engedi lies on the midpoint of the Dead Sea's western shore. great multitude. See 13:8; 14:9; 32:7. Judah was apparently outnumbered by the coalition of enemy nations.
20:3-4 to seek the Lord. See 1 Chron. 22:19. "Seeking the Lord" was characteristic of Jehoshaphat at his best (see 2 Chron. 17:4; 18:4; 19:3). The fast was an expression of the special intensity of the people's prayer (see Judg. 20:26; Ezra 8:21-23).
20:5-12 Jehoshaphat's prayer in the house of the Lord begins by calling to mind God's universal sovereignty (v. 6), his gift of the land to Abraham's descendants (v. 7), and the sanctuary that testifies to God's promise to hear his people's prayers and save them (v. 9, a clear allusion to the circumstances envisioned in Solomon's dedicatory prayer in 6:14-42). In the juridical style of the so-called psalms of lament (see Psalms 44; 74), Jehoshaphat then complains to God against the injustice of the invaders, acknowledging that Judah is powerless against them, but steadfastly trusting God to execute judgment on them.
20:14-19 The prophecy of Jahaziel, given by the Spirit of the Lord in answer to Jehoshaphat's prayer, exhorts the people not to be afraid (see v. 3) and informs them that God and not Judah will do the fighting. The people must confront the enemy, but as prayerful spectators, not combatants. Verse 17 is based very closely on Ex. 14:13-14 ("Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord. . . . The Lord will fight for you, and you only have to be silent"), pointing to a fundamental similarity between these two miraculous deliverances. Judah's response must not be mere passivity: Tomorrow go down against them is "fighting talk," but Judah's part in this instance is not to take up arms but to exercise faith and to offer prayer and praise (see Eph. 6:10-18). The Levites' ministry of leading praise appropriately concludes the great gathering for prayer.
20:20-23 The wilderness of Tekoa lies about
20:24-30 Verse 24 calls to mind Israel's sight of the dead Egyptians in Ex. 14:30 (see note on 2 Chron. 20:14-19). Valley of Beracah. "Beracah" means "blessing." There may be a recollection of this event in the prophecy in Joel 3:2, 12 ("the Valley of Jehoshaphat"). The return to Jerusalem takes the form of a triumphal procession, which ends appropriately in the temple, where the people had first sought God's deliverance (2 Chron. 20:5). the fear of God. See 1 Chron. 14:17; 2 Chron. 14:14; 17:10; also note on Acts 9:31. God gave him rest all around. See 1 Chron. 22:9 and 2 Chron. 14:6.
20:31-34 Adapted from 1 Kings 22:41-45 (cf. note on 1 Kings 22:43-46). Some have claimed that 2 Chron. 20:33 is inconsistent with 17:6, which says that Jehoshaphat "took the high places . . . out of Judah," but both statements can be true if 17:6 refers to Jehoshaphat's official actions and 20:33 indicates that the people's commitment to Jehoshaphat's reforms was not wholehearted in every place (cf. 1 Kings 22:43). The Chronicler explains why: the people had not yet set their hearts upon the God of their fathers (2 Chron. 20:33).
20:35-37 Adapted and expanded from 1 Kings 22:48-49. Jehoshaphat repeats his error of making an alliance (this time, a commercial one) with the northern king, Ahab's son Ahaziah. The Chronicler has added the prophetic denunciation by Eliezer.
21:1-20 The Chronicler's account of Jehoram's reign is considerably expanded over the description given in 2 Kings 8:16-24. The dominant concern here, and in the accounts of his successor Ahaziah (2 Chron. 22:1-9) and the usurper Athaliah (22:10-23:21), is the disastrous influence of the house of Ahab on the Davidic dynasty and Judah. While the Chronicler's portrayal of Jehoram is unremittingly negative, he highlights God's promise to David (21:7) as the grounds for hope in the most troubled days. Again, the Chronicler's own community may take this example from history and apply it to their own circumstances.
21:1 Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers. See notes on 1 Kings 2:10 and 11:43; cf. 1 Kings 22:50.
