Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, “Don’t fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.”
Parallel Translations
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Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying, “Don’t fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.”
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Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that were with him, saying, Fight ye not with small or great, save only with the king of Israel.
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Now the king of Aram had commanded the captains of his chariots, saying: 'Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.'
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to 2 Chronicles 18:30 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 19:11 They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
- Deuteronomy 1:17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.”
- 1 Kings 20:33-34 Now the men observed diligently, and hurried to take this phrase; and they said, “Your brother Ben Hadad.” Then he said, “Go, bring him.” Then Ben Hadad came out to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. Ben Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore. You shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.” “I”, said Ahab, “will let you go with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.
- 1 Kings 20:42 He said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life will take the place of his life, and your people take the place of his people.’ ”
- 2 Chronicles 15:13 and that whoever would not seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 30. the captains of the chariots that were with…
30. the captains of the chariots that were with him] R.V. the captains of his chariots. Thirty-two in number (1 Kin.). While the rest of the Syrian army met the Israelite attack, the chariots were to act as an independent force, whose primary task should be to kill or capture Ahab. The king of Syria felt himself overmatched and thought that the only chance of victory lay in the fall of the Israelite commander. Cp. 2Ki_3:26 (the king of Moab tries to break through to the king off Edom).
Fight ye not with small or great] R.V. Fight neither with small nor great (so in 1 Kin.).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (30) That were with him.—Kings adds, “thirty and two,”…
(30) That were with him.—Kings adds, “thirty and two,” referring to what is related in 1Ki_20:16; 1Ki_20:24, a matter which the chronicler has not noticed. The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here.
With small or great.—So Kings. Our text is literally, with the small or the great.
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They compassed about him.—Or, came round against him. Kings, wrongly, “turned aside against him.” In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter.
But Jehoshaphat cried out.—Probably to bring his followers to the rescue. (1Ki_22:32 ends with these words.)
And the Lord helped him; and God moved (literally, incited, “persuaded,” 2Ch_18:1) them . . . from him.—Drove them away from him. This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself. It appears that he understood the verb “cried out” in the sense of a cry to God for help, a sense which it often bears, e.g., Psa_22:6.
How God “drove them off” is explained in the next verse. The captains discovered their mistake and retired.
This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential, and rightly so. Hebrew faith “knows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovah.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not…
Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly "commanded," but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same (hWxi). Therefore, if the place of vers. 29, 30 were inverted, what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in ver. 29 would seem more tolerable. Mean. time, Benhadad"s command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab, and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him. (1Ki_20:31-34)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.