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2 Chronicles 14:9 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

9 And Zerah the Ethiopian, with an army of a million, and three hundred war-carriages, came out against them to Mareshah.

Cross Reference

2 Chronicles 16:8 BBE

Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim a very great army, with war-carriages and horsemen more than might be numbered? but because your faith was in the Lord, he gave them up into your hands.

Joshua 15:44 BBE

And Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine towns with their unwalled places.

2 Chronicles 11:8 BBE

And Gath and Mareshah and Ziph

2 Chronicles 12:2-3 BBE

Now in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, because of their sin against the Lord, With twelve hundred war-carriages and sixty thousand horsemen: and the people who came with him out of Egypt were more than might be numbered: Lubim and Sukkiim and Ethiopians.

2 Kings 19:9 BBE

And when news came to him that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, had made an attack on him, he sent representatives to Hezekiah again, saying,

Isaiah 8:9-10 BBE

Have knowledge, O peoples, and be in fear; give ear, all you far-off parts of the earth: Let your designs be formed, and they will come to nothing; give your orders, and they will not be effected: for God is with us.

Ezekiel 30:5 BBE

Ethiopia and Put and Lud and all the mixed people and Libya and the children of the land of the Cherethites will all be put to death with them by the sword.

Micah 1:15 BBE

Even now will the taker of your heritage come to you, you who are living in Mareshah: the glory of Israel will come to destruction for ever.

Revelation 16:14 BBE

For they are evil spirits, working signs; who go out even to the kings of all the earth, to get them together to the war of the great day of God, the Ruler of all.

Commentary on 2 Chronicles 14 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 14

2Ch 14:1-5. Asa Destroys Idolatry.

1. In his days the land was quiet ten years—This long interval of peace was the continued effect of the great battle of Zemaraim (compare 1Ki 15:11-14).

2. Asa did that which was good and right—(compare 1Ki 15:14). Still his character and life were not free from faults (2Ch 16:7, 10, 12).

3. brake down the images—of Baal (see on 2Ch 34:4; Le 26:30).

cut down the groves—rather, "Asherim."

5. he took away … the high places—that is, those devoted to idolatrous rites.

took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images—All public objects and relics of idolatry in Jerusalem and other cities through his kingdom were destroyed; but those high places where God was worshipped under the figure of an ox, as at Beth-el, were allowed to remain (1Ki 15:14); so far the reformation was incomplete.

2Ch 14:6-8. Having Peace, He Strengthens His Kingdom with Forts and Armies.

6. he built fenced cities in Judah—(See on 1Ki 15:22).

7. while the land is yet before us—that is, while we have free and undisputed progress everywhere; no foe is near; but, as this happy time of peace may not last always and the kingdom is but small and weak, let us prepare suitable defenses in case of need. He had also an army of five hundred eighty thousand men. Judah furnished the heavily armed soldiers, and Benjamin the archers. This large number does not mean a body of professional soldiers, but all capable of bearing arms and liable to be called into service.

2Ch 14:9-15. He Overcomes Zerah, and Spoils the Ethiopians.

9. there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian—This could not have been from Ethiopia south of the cataracts of the Nile, for in the reign of Osorkon I, successor of Shishak, no foreign army would have been allowed a free passage through Egypt. Zerah must, therefore, have been chief of the Cushites, or Ethiopians of Arabia, as they were evidently a nomad horde who had a settlement of tents and cattle in the neighborhood of Gerar.

a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots—"Twenty camels employed to carry couriers upon them might have procured that number of men to meet in a short time. As Zerah was the aggressor, he had time to choose when he would summon these men and attack the enemy. Every one of these Cushite shepherds, carrying with them their own provisions of flour and water, as is their invariable custom, might have fought with Asa without eating a loaf of Zerah's bread or drinking a pint of his water" [Bruce, Travels].

10. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array … at Mareshah—one of the towns which Rehoboam fortified (2Ch 11:8), near a great southern pass in the low country of Judah (Jos 15:44). The engagement between the armies took place in a plain near the town, called "the valley of Zephathah," supposed to be the broad way coming down Beit Jibrin towards Tell Es-Safren [Robinson].

11-13. Asa cried unto the Lord his God—Strong in the confidence that the power of God was able to give the victory equally with few as with many, the pious king marched with a comparatively small force to encounter the formidable host of marauders at his southern frontier. Committing his cause to God, he engaged in the conflict—completely routed the enemy, and succeeded in obtaining, as the reward of his victory, a rich booty in treasure and cattle from the tents of this pastoral horde.