2 Chronicles 20:22-30

20:22 When they began to shout and praise, the Lord suddenly attacked ¹  the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir ²  who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 20:23 The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the men from Mount Seir ³  and annihilated them. ⁴  When they had finished off the men ⁵  of Seir, they attacked and destroyed one another. ⁶  20:24 When the men of Judah ⁷  arrived at the observation post overlooking the desert and looked at ⁸  the huge army, they saw dead bodies on the ground; there were no survivors! 20:25 Jehoshaphat and his men ⁹  went to gather the plunder; they found a huge amount of supplies, clothing ¹⁰  and valuable items. They carried away everything they could. ¹¹  There was so much plunder, it took them three days to haul it off. ¹² 

20:26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, where ¹³  they praised the Lord. So that place is called the Valley of Berachah ¹⁴  to this very day. 20:27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat leading them; the Lord had given them reason to rejoice over their enemies. 20:28 They entered Jerusalem to the sound of stringed instruments and trumpets and proceeded to the temple of the Lord. 20:29 All the kingdoms of the surrounding lands were afraid of God ¹⁵  when they heard how the Lord had fought against Israel’s enemies. 20:30 Jehoshaphat’s kingdom enjoyed peace; his God made him secure on every side. ¹⁶ 

[20:22]  ¹ tn Heb “set ambushers against.” This is probably idiomatic here for launching a surprise attack.

[20:22]  ² tn Heb “the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir.”

[20:23]  ³ tn Heb “the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the residents of Mount Seir.”

[20:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “to annihilate and to destroy.”

[20:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “residents.”

[20:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “they helped, each one his fellow, for destruction.” The verb עָזַר (’azar), traditionally understood as the well-attested verb meaning “to help,” is an odd fit in this context. It is possible that it is from a homonymic root, perhaps meaning to “attack.” This root is attested in Ugaritic in a nominal form meaning “young man, warrior, hero.” For a discussion of the proposed root, see HALOT 811 s.v. II עזר.

[20:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “Judah.” The words “the men of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the men of Judah.

[20:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “turned toward.”

[20:25]  ⁷ tn Or “army.”

[20:25]  ⁸ tc The MT reads פְגָרִים (fÿgarim, “corpses”), but this seems odd among a list of plunder. A few medieval Hebrew mss and the Vulgate read בְגָדִים (vÿgadim, “clothing”), which fits the context much better.

[20:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they snatched away for themselves so that there was no carrying away.”

[20:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they were three days looting the plunder for it was great.”

[20:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “for there.”

[20:26]  ¹⁰ sn The name Berachah, which means “blessing” in Hebrew, is derived from the verbal root “to praise [or “to bless”],” which appears earlier in the verse.

[20:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the terror of God [or “a great terror”] was upon all the kingdoms of the lands.” It is uncertain if אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) should be understood as a proper name here (“God”), or taken in an idiomatic superlative sense.

[20:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “and his God gave him rest all around.”