2 And Jehu H3058 the son H1121 of Hanani H2607 the seer H2374 went out H3318 to meet H6440 him, and said H559 to king H4428 Jehoshaphat, H3092 Shouldest thou help H5826 the ungodly, H7563 and love H157 them that hate H8130 the LORD? H3068 therefore H2063 is wrath H7110 upon thee from before H6440 the LORD. H3068
Do not I hate H8130 them, O LORD, H3068 that hate H8130 thee? and am not I grieved H6962 with those that rise up H8618 against thee? I hate H8130 them with perfect H8503 hatred: H8135 I count them mine enemies. H341
If G1536 there come G2064 any G1536 G5100 unto G4314 you, G5209 and G2532 bring G5342 not G3756 this G5026 doctrine, G1322 receive G2983 him G846 not G3361 into G1519 your house, G3614 neither G2532 G3361 bid G3004 him G846 God speed: G5463 For G1063 he that biddeth G3004 him G846 God speed G5463 is partaker G2841 of his G846 evil G4190 deeds. G2041
For we are consumed H3615 by thine anger, H639 and by thy wrath H2534 are we troubled. H926 Thou hast set H7896 our iniquities H5771 before thee, our secret H5956 sins in the light H3974 of thy countenance. H6440
My son, H1121 if sinners H2400 entice H6601 thee, consent H14 thou not. If they say, H559 Come H3212 with us, let us lay wait H693 for blood, H1818 let us lurk H6845 privily for the innocent H5355 without cause: H2600 Let us swallow them up H1104 alive H2416 as the grave; H7585 and whole, H8549 as those that go down H3381 into the pit: H953 We shall find H4672 all precious H3368 substance, H1952 we shall fill H4390 our houses H1004 with spoil: H7998 Cast H5307 in thy lot H1486 among H8432 us; let us all have one H259 purse: H3599 My son, H1121 walk H3212 not thou in the way H1870 with them; refrain H4513 thy foot H7272 from their path: H5410 For their feet H7272 run H7323 to evil, H7451 and make haste H4116 to shed H8210 blood. H1818 Surely in vain H2600 the net H7568 is spread H2219 in the sight H5869 of any bird. H1167 H3671 And they lay wait H693 for their own blood; H1818 they lurk privily H6845 for their own lives. H5315 So are the ways H734 of every one that is greedy H1214 of gain; H1215 which taketh away H3947 the life H5315 of the owners H1167 thereof.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 19
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 19 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 19
2Ch 19:1-4. Jehoshaphat Visits His Kingdom.
1-4. Jehoshaphat … returned to his house in peace—(See 2Ch 18:16). Not long after he had resumed the ordinary functions of royalty in Jerusalem, he was one day disturbed by an unexpected and ominous visit from a prophet of the Lord [2Ch 19:2]. This was Jehu, of whose father we read in 2Ch 16:7. He himself had been called to discharge the prophetic office in Israel. But probably for his bold rebuke to Baasha (1Ki 16:1), he had been driven by that arbitrary monarch within the territory of Judah, where we now find him with the privileged license of his order, taking the same religious supervision of Jehoshaphat's proceedings as he had formerly done of Baasha's. At the interview here described, he condemned, in the strongest terms, the king of Judah's imprudent and incongruous league with Ahab—God's open enemy (1Ki 22:2)—as an unholy alliance that would be conducive neither to the honor and comfort of his house nor to the best interests of his kingdom. He apprised Jehoshaphat that, on account of that grave offense, "wrath was upon him from before the Lord," a judgment that was inflicted soon after (see on 2Ch 20:1-37). The prophet's rebuke, however, was administered in a mingled strain of severity and mildness; for he interposed "a nevertheless" (2Ch 19:3), which implied that the threatened storm would be averted, in token of the divine approval of his public efforts for the promotion of the true religion, as well as of the sincere piety of his personal character and life.
4. he went out again through the people—This means his reappointing the commissioners of public instruction (2Ch 17:7-9), perhaps with new powers and a larger staff of assistants to overtake every part of the land. The complement of teachers required for that purpose would be easily obtained because the whole tribe of Levites was now concentrated within the kingdom of Judah.
2Ch 19:5-7. His Instructions to the Judges.
5-7. he set judges in the land—There had been judicial courts established at an early period. But Jehoshaphat was the first king who modified these institutions according to the circumstances of the now fragmentary kingdom of Judah. He fixed local courts in each of the fortified cities, these being the provincial capitals of every district (see on De 16:18).
2Ch 19:8-11. To the Priests and Levites.
8. set of the Levites … priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel—A certain number of these three classes constituted a supreme court, which sat in Jerusalem to review appellate cases from the inferior courts. It consisted of two divisions: the first of which had jurisdiction in ecclesiastical matters; the second, in civil, fiscal, and criminal cases. According to others, the two divisions of the supreme court adjudicated: the one according to the law contained in the sacred books; the other according to the law of custom and equity. As in Eastern countries at the present day, the written and unwritten law are objects of separate jurisdiction.