2 Chronicles 20


2 Chronicles 20 is the twentieth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles the Old Testament in the Christian Bible or of the second part of the Books of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible. The book is compiled from older sources by an unknown person or group, designated by modern scholars as "the Chronicler", and had the final shape established in late fifth or fourth century BCE. This chapter belongs to the section focusing on the kingdom of Judah until its destruction by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar and the beginning of restoration under Cyrus the Great of Persia . The focus of this chapter is the reign of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and is divided into 37 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, and Codex Alexandrinus.

Old Testament references

  • : ;
  • : ;
  • :,
  • : ; ;

    Jehoshaphat Defeats Moab and Ammon (20:1–30)

This section contains the battle report of Jehoshaphat against the southeastern Transjordanian coalition of powers, but it was exclusively a sacral war as the enemies destroyed themselves and the people of Judah only came to sing and pick up the spoils of war. Informed about the invasion of a huge enemy, Jehoshaphat resorted to prayer, which was also called a 'national lament', addressing YHWH as 'O LORD, God of our ancestors' and 'the ruler of all peoples who gave the Israelites their land'. YHWH ordered Israel not to attack these Transjordanian neighbors, but as they attacked, Jehoshaphat appealed to YHWH for their expulsion from his land. Jahaziel, a Levitical singer, served as the designated priest to proclaim God's assurance of victory, as a result of faith in God, quoting both Moses and David. As previous sacral wars, 'the fear of God descends upon all the kingdoms of the countries'. Jehoshaphat, all Judeans and the citizens of Jerusalem reacted joyfully by worshipping YHWH followed by the Levites, who sang praises to God, even before the salvation happened. The entire action of God took place early in the morning, leaving no survivor among the enemy armies and the largest spoils in the entire Hebrew Bible. The war ended where it began, in the temple of Jerusalem and with music. As fear of YHWH struck not only Judah's neighboring kingdoms, but also all the kingdoms in the region, Judah was in peace as a reward for the nation's exemplary conduct.

The end of Jehoshaphat's reign (20:31–37)

Jehoshaphat second misstep happened at the end of his reign that he again worked together with another king of northern kingdom. Despite a warning given through a prophet, Jehoshaphat went on with his alliance and therefore was condemned to failure, although this did not affect the positive judgement for his reign.

Verse 31

  • Cross reference: 1 Kings 22:41–42
  • "Twenty-five years": in Thiele's chronology, Jehoshaphat became coregent in Tishrei 873 BCE, and starting to rule as a sole king between September 870 and April 869 BCE until his death between April and September 848 BCE. It is not clear whether Jehoshaphat was 35 years of age when he became coregent or when he became king; his age of death would be at 59 if the former, or at 56 if the latter.

    Verse 36

  • Cross references:
  • "Ships to go to Tarshish": is a phrase which may mean "vessels built for long sea-voyages", because according to 1 Kings, the ships were built “to go to Ophir for gold” , possibly referring to "India". This interpretation is more logical because Ezion-Geber was a port on the Red Sea for vessels sailing eastward, while Tarshish was in the west.