14 And they overcame all the towns round Gerar, because the Lord sent fear on them; and they took away their goods from the towns, for there were stores of wealth in them.
And the fear of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands round Judah, so that they made no wars against Jehoshaphat.
So they went on their journey: and the fear of God was on the towns round about, so that they made no attack on the sons of Jacob.
A sound of fear is in his ears; in time of peace destruction will come on him:
But we are able to overcome all these things and more through his love.
And his rock will come to nothing because of fear, and his chiefs will go in flight from the flag, says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his altar in Jerusalem.
Kings of armies quickly go in flight: and the women in the houses make a division of their goods.
From now on I will put the fear of you in all peoples under heaven, who, hearing of you, will be shaking with fear and grief of heart because of you.
And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their goods from them, they saw beasts in great numbers, and wealth and clothing and things of value, more than they were able to take away; all this they took for themselves, and they were three days getting it away, there was so much.
For the Lord had made the sound of carriages and horses, and the noise of a great army, come to the ears of the Aramaeans, so that they said to one another, Truly, the king of Israel has got the kings of the Hittites and of the Egyptians for a price to make an attack on us. So they got up and went in flight, in the half light, without their tents or their horses or their asses or any of their goods; they went in flight, fearing for their lives. And when those lepers came to the outer line of tents, they went into one tent, and had food and drink, and took from it silver and gold and clothing, which they put in a secret place; then they came back and went into another tent from which they took more goods, which they put away in a secret place.
And there was great fear in the tents and in the field and among all the men of the armed force, and the attackers were shaking with fear; even the earth was moved with a great shaking and there was a fear as from God.
And the spirit of the Lord came rushing on him, and he went down to Ashkelon and, attacking thirty men there, took their clothing from them, and gave it to the men who had given the answer to his hard question. Then, full of wrath, he went back to his father's house.
Now when the news came to all the kings of the Amorites on the west side of Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites living by the sea, how the Lord had made the waters of Jordan dry before the children of Israel, till they had gone across, their hearts became like water, and there was no more spirit in them, because of the children of Israel.
And they said to Joshua, Truly, the Lord has given all the land into our hands; and all the people of the land have become like water because of us.
And said to them, It is clear to me that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has come on us; For we have had news of how the Lord made the Red Sea dry before you when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, on the other side of Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you gave up to the curse. And because of this news, our hearts became like water, and there was no more spirit in any of us because of you; for the Lord your God is God in heaven on high and here on earth.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 14
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 14 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Asa's Reign - 2 Chronicles 14-16
In 1 Kings 15:9-24 it is merely recorded of Asa, that he reigned forty-one years, did that which was right as David did, removed from the land all the idols which his fathers had made, and, although the high places were not removed, was devoted to the Lord during his whole life, and laid up in the temple treasury all that had been consecrated by his father and himself. Then it is related that when Baasha marched against him, and began to fortify Ramah, he induced the Syrian king Benhadad, by sending to him the treasures of the temple and of his palace, to break faith with Baasha, and to make an inroad upon and smite the northern portion of the land; that Baasha was thereby compelled to abandon the building of Ramah, and to fall back to Tirzah, and that thereupon Asa caused the fortifications of Ramah to be pulled down, and the cities Geba and Benjamin and Mizpah to be fortified with the materials; and, finally, it is recorded that Asa in his old age became diseased in his feet, and died. The Chronicle also characterizes Asa as a pious king, who did that which was right, and removed the high places and sun-pillars in the land; but gives, as to other matters, a much more detailed account of his reign of forty-one years. It states that in the first years, as the land had rest, he built fortified cities in Judah, and had an army fit for war (2 Chronicles 14:1-7); that thereupon he marched against the Cushite Zerah, who was then advancing upon Judah with an innumerable host, prayed for help to the Lord, who then smote the Cushites, so that they fled; and that Asa pursued them to Gerar, and returned with great booty (2 Chronicles 14:8-14). Then we learn that the prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, came to meet him, who, pointing to the victory which the Lord had granted them, called upon the king and the people to remain stedfast in their fidelity to the Lord; that Asa thereupon took courage, extirpated all the still remaining idolatrous abominations from the land, and in the fifteenth year of his reign held with the people a great sacrificial feast in Jerusalem, renewed the covenant with the Lord, crushed out all the remains of former idolatry, although the high places were not destroyed, and also deposited in the temple treasury all that had been consecrated by his father and himself (2 Chron 15). Thereafter Baasha's inroad upon Judah and the alliance with Ben-hadad of Syria are narrated (2 Chronicles 16:1-6), as in the book of Kings; but it is also added that the prophet Hanani censured his seeking help from the king of Syria, and was thereupon put into the prison-house by Asa (2 Chronicles 16:7-10); and then we have an account of the end of his reign, in which several additions to the account in 1 Kings are communicated (2 Chronicles 16:11-14).
2 Chronicles 14:1-3
Asa's efforts for the abolition of idolatry and the establishment of the kingdom . - 2 Chronicles 14:1-4. The good and right in God's eyes which Asa did is further defined in 2 Chronicles 14:2-4. He abolished all the objects of the idolatrous worship. The “altars of the strangers” are altars consecrated to foreign gods; from them the בּמות , high places, are distinguished-these latter being illegal places of sacrifice connected with the worship of Jahve (see on 1 Kings 15:14). The מצּבוה are the statues or monumental columns consecrated to Baal, and אשׁרים the wooden idols, tree-trunks, or trees, which were consecrated to Astarte (see on 1 Kings 14:23 and Deuteronomy 16:21). Asa at the same time commanded the people to worship Jahve, the God of the fathers, and to follow the law.
2 Chronicles 14:4-6
He removed from all the cities of Judah the altars of the high places, and the חמּנים , sun-pillars, pillars or statues consecrated to Baal as sun-god, which were erected near or upon the altars of Baal (2 Chronicles 34:4; see on Leviticus 26:30). In consequence of this the kingdom had rest לפניו , before him, i.e., under his oversight (cf. Numbers 8:22). This ten-years' quiet (2 Chronicles 14:1) which God granted him, Asa employed in building fortresses in Judah (2 Chronicles 14:5). “We will build these cities, and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bolts.” It is not said what the cities were, but they were at any rate others than Geba and Mizpah, which he caused to be built after the war with Baasha (2 Chronicles 16:6). “The land is still before us,” i.e., open, free from enemies, so that we may freely move about, and build therein according to our pleasure. For the phraseology, cf. Genesis 13:9. The repetition of דּרשׁנוּ , 2 Chronicles 14:6, is impassioned speech. “They built and had success;” they built with effect, without meeting with any hindrances.
2 Chronicles 14:7
Asa had also a well-equipped, well-armed army. The men of Judah were armed with a large shield and lance (cf. 1 Chronicles 12:24), the Benjamites with a small shield and bow (cf. 1 Chronicles 8:40). The numbers are great; of Judah 300,000, of Benjamin 280,000 men. Since in these numbers the whole population capable of bearing arms is included, 300,000 men does not appear too large for Judah, but 280,000 is a very large number for Benjamin, and is founded probably on an overestimate.
The victory over the Cushite Zerah . - 2 Chronicles 14:8. “And there went forth against them Zerah.” אליהם for עליהם refers to Asa's warriors mentioned in 2 Chronicles 14:7. The number of the men in Judah capable of bearing arms is mentioned only to show that Asa set his hope of victory over the innumerable host of the Cushites not on the strength of his army, but on the all-powerful help of the Lord (2 Chronicles 14:10). The Cushite זרח is usually identified with the second king of the 22nd (Bubastitic) dynasty, Osorchon I; while Brugsch, hist. de l'Eg. i. p. 298, on the contrary, has raised objections, and holds Zerah to be an Ethiopian and not an Egyptian prince, who in the reign of Takeloth I, about 944 b.c., probably marched through Egypt as a conqueror (cf. G. Rösch in Herz.'s Realenc. xviii. S. 460). The statement as to Zerah's army, that it numbered 1,000,000 warriors and 300 war-chariots, rests upon a rough estimate, in which 1000 times 1000 expresses the idea of the greatest possible number. The Cushites pressed forward to Mareshah, i.e., Marissa, between Hebron and Ashdod (see on 2 Chronicles 11:8).
2 Chronicles 14:9
Thither Asa marched to meet them, and drew up his army in battle array in the valley Zephathah, near Mareshah. The valley Zephathah is not, as Robins., Pal. sub voce , thinks, to be identified with Tel es Safieh, but must lie nearer Mareshah, to the west or north-west of Marâsch.
2 Chronicles 14:10
Then he called upon the Lord his God for help. וגו עמּך אין we translate, with Berth., “None is with Thee (on עמּך , cf. 2 Chronicles 20:6; Psalms 73:25) to help between a mighty one and a weak,” i.e., no other than Thou can help in an unequal battle, i.e., help the weaker side; while the Vulg., on the contrary, after the analogy of 1 Samuel 14:6, translates, “non est apud te ulla distantia, utrum in paucis auxilieris an in pluribus;” and the older commentators (Schmidt, Ramb.) give the meaning thus: “perinde est tibi potentiori vel imbecilliori opem ferre.” But in 1 Samuel 14:16 the wording is different, so that that passage cannot be a standard for us here. “In Thy name (i.e., trusting in Thy help) are we come against this multitude” (not “have we fallen upon this multitude”). וגו יעצר אל , “Let not a mortal retain strength with Thee” ( עצר = כּח עצר , 2 Chronicles 13:20; 1 Chronicles 29:14), i.e., let not weak men accomplish anything with Thee, show Thy power or omnipotence over weak men.
2 Chronicles 14:11
God heard this prayer. Jahve drove the Cushites into flight before Asa, scil. by His mighty help.
2 Chronicles 14:12
Asa, with his people, pursued to Gerar, the old ancient Philistine city, whose ruins Rowlands has discovered in the Khirbet el Gerar, in the Wady Jorf el Gerar (the torrent of Gerar), three leagues south-south-east of Gaza (see on Genesis 20:1). “And there fell of the Cushites, so that to them was not revival,” i.e., so many that they could not make a stand and again collect themselves, ut eis vivificatio i. e. copias restaurandi ratio non esset, as older commentators, in Annott. uberior. ad h. l., have already rightly interpreted it. The words are expressions for complete defeat. Berth. translates incorrectly: “until to them was nothing living;” for לאין does not stand for לאין עד , but ל serves to subordinate the clause, “so that no one,” where in the older language אין alone would have been sufficient, as in 2 Chronicles 20:25; 1 Chronicles 22:4, cf. Ew. §315, c ; and מחיה denotes, not “a living thing,” but only “preservation of life, vivification, revival, maintenance.” For they were broken before Jahve and before His host. מחנהוּ , i.e., Asa's army is called Jahve's, because Jahve fought in and with it against the enemy. There is no reason to suppose, with some older commentators, that there is any reference to an angelic host or heavenly camp (Genesis 32:2.). And they (Asa and his people) brought back very much booty.
2 Chronicles 14:13
“They smote all the cities round about Gerar,” which, as we must conclude from this, had made common cause with the Cushites, being inhabited by Philistines; for the fear of Jahve had fallen upon them. יהוה פּחד יהוה . here, and in 2 Chronicles 17:10; 2 Chronicles 20:29, as in 1 Samuel 11:7, the fear of the omnipotence displayed by Jahve in the annihilation of the innumerable hostile army. In these cities Judah found much booty.
2 Chronicles 14:14-15
They also smote the tents of the herds of the wandering tribes of that district, and carried away many sheep and camels as booty.