2 Chronicles 20:1-10

Context

The Lord Gives Jehoshaphat Military Success

20:1 Later the Moabites and Ammonites, along with some of the Meunites,¹ attacked Jehoshaphat. 20:2 Messengers² arrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, “A huge army is attacking you from the other side of the Dead Sea,³ from the direction of Edom.⁴ Look, they are in Hazezon Tamar (that is, En Gedi).” 20:3 Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he decided to seek the Lord’s advice.⁵ He decreed that all Judah should observe a fast. 20:4 The people of Judah⁶ assembled to ask for the Lord’s help;⁷ they came from all the cities of Judah to ask for the Lord’s help.⁸

20:5 Jehoshaphat stood before the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem⁹ at the Lord’s temple, in front of the new courtyard. 20:6 He prayed: “O Lord God of our ancestors,¹⁰ you are the God who lives in heaven¹¹ and rules over all the kingdoms of the nations. You possess strength and power; no one can stand against you. 20:7 Our God, you drove out¹² the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it as a permanent possession¹³ to the descendants of your friend¹⁴ Abraham. 20:8 They settled down in it and built in it a temple¹⁵ to honor you,¹⁶ saying, 20:9 ‘If disaster comes on us in the form of military attack,¹⁷ judgment, plague, or famine, we will stand in front of this temple before you, for you are present in this temple.¹⁸ We will cry out to you for help in our distress, so that you will¹⁹ hear and deliver us.’ 20:10 Now the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir are coming!²⁰ When Israel came from the land of Egypt, you did not allow them to invade these lands.²¹ They bypassed them and did not destroy them.

[20:1] ¹tc The Hebrew text has “Ammonites,” but they are mentioned just before this. Most translations, following some mss of the LXX, read “Meunites” (see 1 Chr 26:7; so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[20:2] ²tn Heb “they”; the implied referent (messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:2] ³tn Heb “the Sea”; in context (“from the direction of Edom”) this must refer to the Dead Sea, which has been specified in the translation for clarity (cf. NEB, NLT).

[20:2] ⁴tc Most Hebrew mss read “from Aram” (i.e., Syria), but this must be a corruption of “Edom,” which is the reading of the LXX and Vulgate.

[20:3] ⁵tn Heb “and he set his face to seek the Lord.”

[20:4] ⁶tn The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the people of Judah.

[20:4] ⁷tn Heb “to seek from the Lord.” The verb here (בָּקַשׁ, baqash) is different from the one translated “seek” in v. 3 (דָּרַשׁ, darash).

[20:4] ⁸tn Heb “to seek the Lord.” The verb here (ָָבּקַשׁ, baqash) is different from the one translated “seek” in v. 3 (דָּרַשׁ, darash).

[20:5] ⁹map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[20:6] ¹⁰tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 33).

[20:6] ¹¹tn Heb “are you not God in heaven?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “yes,” resulting in the positive statement “you are the God who lives in heaven” employed in the translation.

[20:7] ¹²tn Heb “did you not drive out?” This is another rhetorical question which expects a positive response; see the note on the word “heaven” in the previous verse.

[20:7] ¹³tn Heb “permanently.”

[20:7] ¹⁴tn Or perhaps “your covenantal partner.” See Isa 41:8.

[20:8] ¹⁵tn Or “sanctuary.”

[20:8] ¹⁶tn Heb “for your name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “to honor you”).

[20:9] ¹⁷tn Heb “sword.”

[20:9] ¹⁸tn Heb “for your name is in this house.” The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name. In this case the temple is referred to as a “house” where the Lord himself can reside.

[20:9] ¹⁹tn Or “so that you may.”

[20:10] ²⁰tn Heb “now, look, the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir.”

[20:10] ²¹tn Heb “whom you did not allow Israel to enter when they came from the land of Egypt.”