Jehoshaphat was alarmed, and set himself to seek to Yahweh. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Judah gathered themselves together to seek help from Yahweh. They came out of all the cities of Judah to seek Yahweh.
Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in Yahweh’s house, before the new court; and he said, “Yahweh, the God of our fathers, aren’t you God in heaven? Aren’t you ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in your hand, so that no one is able to withstand you. Didn’t you, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it to the offspring of Abraham your friend forever? They lived in it, and have built you a sanctuary in it for your name, saying, ‘If evil comes on us—the sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this house, and before you (for your name is in this house), and cry to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ Now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned away from them, and didn’t destroy them; behold, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that comes against us. We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3, 7, 9, 12 This declareth what the fear of the godly is,…
This declareth what the fear of the godly is, which is as the prick to stir them to prayer, and to depend on the Lord, whereas it moveth the wicked either to seek after worldly means and policies, or else to fall into despair.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–12 2Ch 20:3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to…
2Ch 20:3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
Ver. 3 And Jehoshaphat feared … and proclaimed a fast.] When the Turks fast it is a sure sign that they are in a bodily fear: they also cast dust upon their heads, and their hands up towards heaven, when they are about to enter battle. {a} But Jehoshaphat’s fear was not only natural, of the enemy, but reverential, of God; and his fast not a moral but a religious abstinence, that he might thereby amerce the flesh, afflict the soul, and pray with more edge and earnestness.
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{a} Turk. Hist., 157.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 7, 9, 12 Jehoshaphat feared; partly from human frailty, and partly from…
Jehoshaphat feared; partly from human frailty, and partly from the remembrance of his own guilt, and the wrath of God denounced against him for it, 2Ch 19:2.
Set himself to seek the Lord: the phrase notes his settled resolution, seriousness, and earnestness in it, and the preparing and fixing his heart for it.
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Proclaimed a fast; partly in token of his humiliation and penitence for his sins, and partly to make himself and his people more fervent in their prayers.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–12 And Jehoshaphat feared,.... Exceedingly, as the Targum adds, not…
And Jehoshaphat feared,.... Exceedingly, as the Targum adds, not merely because of the number of his enemies, for he had forces enough to go forth against them, see Ch2 17:14, but chiefly because the Lord had told him that wrath was upon him from him, Ch2 19:2 and he might fear that this was the time for the execution of it:
and set himself to seek the Lord; by prayer and supplication, with all seriousness, fervour, and constancy:
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and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah; a day of humiliation and mourning for sin before the Lord; when they were ordered to abstain from bodily food and labour, that they might be fit and more at leisure for spiritual exercises.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv5, 7, 12 The house - Largely so called, in the court…
The house - Largely so called, in the court of the people, upon that brazen scaffold which Solomon had erected. New court - Before the priests court: which is called the new court, because it had lately been renewed when the altar was renewed.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 Verse 3. Jehoshaphat feared] He found that he could…
Verse 3. Jehoshaphat feared] He found that he could not possibly stand against such a numerous army, and therefore could not expect to be delivered except by the strong arm of God. To get this assistance, it was necessary to seek it; and to get such extraordinary help, they should seek it in an extraordinary way; hence he proclaimed a universal fast, and all the people came up to Jerusalem to seek the Lord.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 2Ch 20:3. Jehoshaphat feared — Partly from human frailty,…
2Ch 20:3. Jehoshaphat feared — Partly from human frailty, and partly from the remembrance of his own guilt, and the wrath of God denounced against him for it, 2Ch 19:2. And set himself to seek the Lord — The phrase denotes his settled resolution, seriousness, and earnestness in it, and the preparing and fixing of his heart for it. And proclaimed a fast — Partly in token of his humiliation and penitence for his sins, and partly to render himself and his people more fervent in their prayers.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6, 10 General fasts had been previously observed by the Israelites…
General fasts had been previously observed by the Israelites (e. g. Jdg 20:26; 1Sa 7:6); but we do not hear of any fast having been “proclaimed” by authority before this.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12 Juda. The whole kingdom was concerned. Sometimes a fast…
Juda. The whole kingdom was concerned. Sometimes a fast was proclaimed for one city, 3 K. xxi. 9., and Jonas iii. 7. C. --- They were accustomed to fast, not only to subdue the flesh, but also for other necessities. W.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 6 Jehoshaphat . . . proclaimed a fast throughout all…
Jehoshaphat . . . proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah--Alarmed by the intelligence and conscious of his total inability to repel this host of invaders, Jehoshaphat felt his only refuge was at the horns of the altar. He resolved to employ the aid of his God, and, in conformity with this resolution, he summoned all his subjects to observe a solemn fast at the sanctuary. It was customary with the Hebrew kings to proclaim fasts in perilous circumstances, either in a city, a district, or throughout the entire kingdom, according to the greatness of the emergency. On this occasion, it was a universal fast, which extended to infants (Ch2 20:13; see also Joe 2:15-16; Jon 3:7).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv5–6 5. Before the new court — This was probably…
5. Before the new court — This was probably the outer, or great court, (2Ch_4:9,) where the people were wont to assemble. It is spoken of as in the house of the Lord, because it belonged to, and so was a part of, the temple in the wider sense in which the term house of Jehovah was sometimes used. It is called the new court, either because it had recently been repaired and renovated by Asa or Jehoshaphat, or because it was a later arrangement than the inner court of the priests. The tabernacle had only one court, but Solomon or David seems to have planned this second or outer court as something new. Jehoshaphat stood before this new court, that is, at its entrance into the inner court, and there, in the presence of the congregation, offered the beautiful and appropriate prayer that follows.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 3. set himself to seek the Lord] Render, set…
3. set himself to seek the Lord] Render, set his face to seek unto the LORD.
proclaimed a fast] A fast involved the assembling of the people; 1Ki_21:9; 1Ki_21:12; Jer_36:6; Jer_36:9; Joe_2:15. Special fasts were proclaimed for war, famine, or any other calamity or serious event.
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 On vv3–12 (3) And Jehoshaphat.—And he was afraid (scil., at the…
(3) And Jehoshaphat.—And he was afraid (scil., at the news). And Jehoshaphat set his face, &c. Literally, put his face—a phrase used in Dan_9:3 (comp. 2Ki_12:18), and implying resolved, determined.
To seek the Lord.—The Hebrew construction is that of 2Ch_15:13 (le is here a sign of the accusative).
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Proclaimed a fast.—An act of national self-humiliation, implying an admission of guilt, and intended to evoke the Divine pity and succour. (Comp. Jdg_20:26; Joe_2:12-17; 1Sa_7:6; Ezr_8:21.)
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 On vv3–7 Proclaimed a fast. This is the first recorded occasion…
Proclaimed a fast. This is the first recorded occasion of a general fast by royal proclamation, and of individual fasting it is remarkable that there is no record before the time and the act of Moses (as e.g. ; Exo_34:28) after which, for individual fasting, come occasions like those of David (2Sa_12:16) and Elijah; (1Ki_19:8) for general fasting, occasions like those of Jos_7:6; Jud_1:20:26; 1Sa_7:6; and for partial fasting, by semi-royal authority, that "proclaimed" by Jezebel. (1Ki_21:9, 1Ki_21:12)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv3, 5, 12 And proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
2Ch_20:3
And proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
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Objections to fasting answered
(on the occasion of a public fast):--A fast may be defined to be a voluntary abstinence from food, as a token of our humiliation before God. Objections--
1. There may be this outward mark of repentance without any real sorrow for sin. Answer--The outward expression then becomes a mockery.
2. A public fast has the appearance of ostentation. Answer--If you alone were to keep the fast, it might aver the appearance of ostentation, but in the case of public fasting, it becomes a duty not only really to fast, but to show openly your compliance with a prescribed service, and gladly to embrace the opportunity of humbling yourselves before God.
3. If we feel repentance in our hearts, God, who sees our hearts, does not require to be informed of it by any external expression. Answer--The same may be said of prayer and also of all the means of grace which God has appointed.
4. Why should fasting in particular be selected as an external mark of humiliation. Answer--
(1) Fasting has always been the public token of humility, and this in heathen nations as well as amongst Jews and Christians.
(2) It was enjoined of God upon the Jews.
(3) It was practised by our Saviour and His disciples; and recommended by them to the world.
(4) It has all the qualities that might reasonably be expected in an external act of humiliation.
(a) It is a duty easily practised.
(b) Requiring no apparatus.
(c) Connected with no expense.
(d) Simple in its own nature.
(e) Equally adapted to all ranks, climates, and places.
(f) It involves an act of self-denial.
(g) It is an act connected with the mortification of those very appetites whence many of the sins for which we thus humble ourselves proceed.
5. Fasting may disorder a person of weak health, and thus indispose him even for the service of the day. Answer--The spirit of the Christian system, insists only on the principle, and leaves the application of it to the case and conscience of the worshipper.
6. A public command to fast is a species of compulsion, and therefore inconsistent with the notion of a voluntary act of humiliation. Answer--All that is done by the command of the Government is, to render that convenient which might otherwise be very inconvenient, and that practicable which might be otherwise impracticable.
7. It is unreasonable to expect the poor to give up a days labour, and to abridge their diet who scarcely ever enjoy a full meal. Answer--It is a voluntary sacrifice: God enjoins no man to make it who is unwilling. No man will really be a loser by serving God. (J. Venn, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v12 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
A STRANGE BATTLE
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2Ch 20:12.
A formidable combination of neighbouring nations, of which Moab and Ammon, the ancestral enemies of Judah, were the chief, was threatening Judah. Jehoshaphat, the king, was panic-stricken when he heard of the heavy war-cloud that was rolling on, ready to burst in thunder on his little kingdom. His first act was to muster the nation, not as a military levy but as suppliants, ‘to seek help of the Lord.’ The enemy was camping down by the banks of the Dead Sea, almost within striking distance of Jerusalem. It seemed a time for fighting, not for praying, but even at that critical moment, the king and the men, whom it might have appeared that plain duty called to arms, were gathered in the Temple, and, hampered by their wives and children, were praying. Would they not have done better if they had been sturdily marching through the wilderness of Judah to front their foes? Our text is the close and the climax of Jehoshaphat’s prayer, and, as the event proved, it was the most powerful weapon that could have been employed, for the rest of the chapter tells the strangest story of a campaign that was ever written. No sword was drawn. The army was marshalled, but Levites with their instruments of music, not fighters with their spears, led the van, and as ‘they began to sing and to praise,’ sudden panic laid hold on the invading force, who turned their arms against each other. So when Judah came to some rising ground, on which stood a watch-tower commanding a view over the savage grimness of ‘the wilderness,’ it saw a field of corpses, stark and stiff and silent. Three days were spent in securing the booty, and on the fourth, Jehoshaphat and his men ‘assembled themselves in the Valley of Blessing,’ and thence returned a joyous multitude praising God for the victory which had been won for them without their having struck a blow. The whole story may yield large lessons, seasonable at all times. We deal with it, rather than with the fragment of the narrative which we have taken as our text.
I. We see here the confidence of despair.
Jehoshaphat’s prayer had stayed itself on God’s self-revelation in history, and on His gift of the land to their fathers. It had pleaded that the enemy’s hostility was a poor ‘reward’ for Israel’s ancient forbearance, and now, with a burst of agony, it casts down before God, as it were, Judah’s desperate plight as outnumbered by the swarm of invaders and brought to their last shifts-’we have no might against this great company . . . neither know we what to do.’ But the very depth of despair sets them to climb to the height of trust. That is a mighty ‘But,’ which buckles into one sentence two such antitheses as confront us here. ‘We know not what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee’-blessed is the desperation which catches at God’s hand; firm is the trust which leaps from despair!
The helplessness is always a fact, though most of us manage to get along for the most part without discovering it. We are all outnumbered and overborne by the claims, duties, hindrances, sorrows, and entanglements of life. He is not the wisest of men who, facing all that life may bring and take away, all that it must bring and take away, knows no quiver of nameless fear, but jauntily professes himself ready for all that life can inflict. But there come moments in every life when the false security in which shallow souls wrap themselves ignobly is broken up, and then often a paroxysm of terror or misery grips a man, for which he has no anodyne, and his despair is as unreasonable as his security. The meaning of all circumstances that force our helplessness on us is to open to us Jehoshaphat’s refuge in his-’our eyes are upon Thee.’ We need to be driven by the crowds of foes and dangers around to look upwards. Our props are struck away that we may cling to God. The tree has its lateral branches hewed off that it may shoot up heavenward. When the valley is filled with mist and swathed in evening gloom, it is the time to lift our gaze to the peaks that glow in perpetual sunshine. Wise and happy shall we be if the sense of helplessness begets in us the energy of a desperate faith. For these two, distrust of self and glad confidence in God, are not opposites, as naked distrust and trust are, but are complementary. He does not turn his eyes to God who has not turned them on himself, and seen there nothing to which to cling, nothing on which to lean. Astronomers tell us that there are double stars revolving round one axis and forming a unity, of which the one is black and the other brilliant. Self-distrust and trust in God are thus knit together and are really one.
II. We see here the peaceful assurance of victory that attends on faith.
A flash of inspiration came to one of the Levitical singers who had, no doubt, been deeply moved and had unconsciously fitted himself for receiving it. Divinely breathed confidence illuminated his waiting spirit, and a great message of encouragement poured from his lips. His words heartened the host more than a hundred trumpets braying in their ears. How much one man who has drunk in God’s assurance of victory can do to send a thrill of his own courage through more timorous hearts! Courage is no less contagious than panic. This Levite becomes the commander of the army, and Jehoshaphat and his captains ‘bow their heads’ and accept his plan for to-morrow, hearing in his ringing accents a message from Jehovah. The instructions given and at once accepted are as unlike those of ordinary warfare as is the whole incident; for there is to be no sword drawn nor blow struck, but they are to ‘stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.’ They are told where to find the enemy and are bid to go forth in order of battle against them, and they are assured ‘that the battle is not theirs, but God’ s.’ No wonder that the message was hailed as from heaven, and put new heart into the host, or that, when the messenger’s voice ceased, his brother Levites broke into shrill praise as for a victory already won. With what calm, triumphant hearts the camp would sleep that night!
May we not take that inspired Levite’s message as one to ourselves in the midst of our many conflicts both in the outward life and in the inward? If we have truly grasped God’s hands, and are fighting for what is accordant with His will, we have a right to feel that ‘the battle is not ours but God’ s,’ and to be sure that therefore we shall conquer. Of course we are not to say to ourselves, ‘God will fight for us, and we need not strike a blow,’ Jehoshaphat’s example does not fit our case in that respect, and we may thank God that it does not. We have a better lot than to ‘stand still and see the salvation of God,’ for we are honoured by being allowed to share the stress of conflict and the glow of battle as well as in the shout of victory. But even in the struggles of outward life, and much more in those of our spiritual nature, every man who watches his own career will many a time have to recognise God’s hand, unaided by any act of his own, striking for him and giving him victory; and in the spiritual life every Christian man knows that his best moments have come from the initiation of the Spirit who ‘bloweth where He listeth.’ How often we have been surprised by God’s help; how often we have been quickened by God’s inbreathed Spirit, and have been taught that the passivity of faith draws to us greater blessings than the activity of effort! ‘They also serve who only stand and wait,’ and they also conquer who in quietness and confidence keep themselves still and let God work for them and in them. The first great blessing of trust in God is that we may be at peace on the eve of battle, and the second is that in every battle it is, in truth, not we that fight, but God who fights for and in us.
III. We learn here the best preparation for the conflict.
When the morning dawned, the array was set in order and the march begun, and a strange array it was. In the van marched the Temple singers singing words that are music to us still: ‘Give thanks unto the Lord, for His mercy endureth for ever,’ and behind them came the ranks of Judah, no doubt swelling the volume of melody, that startled the wild creatures of the wilderness, and perhaps travelled through the still morning as far as the camp of the enemy. The singers had no armour nor weapons. They were clad in ‘the beauty of holiness,’ the priestly dress, and for sword and spear they carried harps and timbrels. Our best weapons are like their equipment.
We are most likely to conquer if we lift up the voice of thanks for victory in advance, and go into the battle expecting to triumph, because we trust in God. The world’s expectation of success is too often a dream, a will-o’-the-wisp that tempts to bogs where the beguiled victim is choked, though even in the world it is often true; ‘screw your courage to the sticking point, and we’ll not fail.’ But faith, that is the expectation of success based on God’s help and inspiring to struggles for things dear to His heart, is wont to fulfil itself, and by bringing God into the fray, to secure the victory. A thankful heart not seldom brings into existence that for which it is thankful.
IV. We see here the victory and the praise for it.
The panic that laid hold on the enemy, and turned their swords against each other, was more natural in an undisciplined horde such as these irregular levies of ancient times, than it would be in a modern army. Once started, the infection would spread, so we need not wonder that by the time that Judah arrived on the field all was over. How often a like experience attends us! We quiver with apprehension of troubles that never attack us. We dread some impending battlefield, and when we reach it, Jehoshaphat’s surprise is repeated, ‘and, behold they were dead bodies, fallen to the earth.’ Delivered from foes and fears, Judah’s first impulse was to secure the booty, for they were keen after wealth, and their ‘faith’ was not very pure or elevating. But their last act was worthier, and fitly ended the strange campaign. They gathered in some wady among the grim cliffs of the wilderness of Judah, which broke the dreariness of that savage stretch of country with perhaps verdure and a brook, and there they ‘blessed the Lord.’ The chronicler gives a piece of popular etymology, in deriving the name, ‘the valley of blessing,’ from that morning’s worship. Perhaps the name was older than that, and was given from a feeling of the contrast between the waste wilderness, which in its gaunt sterility seemed an accursed land, and the glen which with its trees and stream was indeed a ‘valley of blessing.’ If so, the name would be doubly appropriate after that day’s experience. Be that as it may, here we have in vivid form the truth that all our struggles and fightings may end in a valley of blessing, which will ring with the praise of the God who fights for us. If we begin our warfare with an appeal to God, and with prayerful acknowledgment of our own impotence, we shall end it with thankful acknowledgment that we are ‘more than conquerors through Him that loved us’ and fought for us, and our choral song of praise will echo through the true Valley of Blessing, where no sound of enemies shall ever break the settled stillness, and the host of the redeemed, like that army of Judah, shall bear ‘psalteries and harps and trumpets,’ and shall need spear and sword no more at all for ever.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5, 8, 10, 12 set himself to seek
set himself to seek
This is an idiom. AT: "determined himself to seek" or "devoted himself to seek" (See: Idiom)
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to seek Yahweh
This speaks of seeking Yahweh's advice as if he were looking for Yahweh. AT: "to seek Yahweh's advice" (See: Metonymy)
He proclaimed a fast
The word "fast" can be expressed as a verb. AT: "He proclaimed that all the people should fast" (See: Abstract Nouns)
Judah gathered
This refers to the people of Judah. AT: "The people of Judah gathered" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
fear
Yahweh
preach
fast
Judah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 10 20:3-12 Jehoshaphat responded to the news of war with…
20:3-12 Jehoshaphat responded to the news of war with neighboring nations with a prayer of lament, keeping with the ideals of Solomon’s prayer (6:24-40).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.