Chronicler's Ecclesiastical History ziel's en a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 9'If evil comes upon us, the avenging sword, pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this temple and before thee (for thy name is in this temple) and cry to thee in our affliction and thou wilt hear and save.' 10And now, behold, the Ammonites and Moabites and the inhabitants of Mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel attack, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned aside from them without destroying thema_now see how they reward us, in that they come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us as an inheritance. 120 our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no strength against this great multitude that is coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are turned to thee! 13And all Judah stood before Jehovah, with their children. 14Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son Jahaof Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, came the spirit of Jehovah in the midst of the assembly; 15and he said, Hearken, all courJudah and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem and thou King Jehoshaphat: Thus messaith Jehovah to you, ' Fear not nor be dismayed before this great multitude; sage for the battle is not yours, but God's. 16To-morrow go down against them. See they are coming up by the ascent of Ziz, and you shall find them at the end of the valley before the Wilderness of Jeruel. 17In this battle it is not your part to fight; put yourselves in array, stand still, and see the deliverance which Jehovah will accomplish for you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Fear not, nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them, for Jehovah is with you.' 18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah, worshipping Jehovah. 19Then the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise Jehovah the God of Israel, with an exceeding loud voice.b aging mirac 20 And on the following day they rose early and went forth into the Wilder- The ness of Tekoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear ulous me, O Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Jehovah your God, victory so shall you live and be established. Believe his prophets, so shall you prosper. 21And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed singers to give praise to Jehovah in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks to Jehovah; for his kindness endureth forever. 22 And as soon as they began to sing and to sing praises, Jehovah sent secret enemies against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they destroyed themselves. 23 For the Ammonites and the Moabites set themselves against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, to root out and completely destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, each helped to destroy the other. 2010 Cf. Dt. 21-19. b 2019 Here the Chronicler apparently himself introduces the Levitical singers. In the original narrative the singers seem to be first introduced in 21. © 2022 Heb., Liers-in-wait. The representation of the story leaves little doubt that angelic messengers are intended and that they stirred up the different hostile nations against each other. The great spoil Joy and prestige of the peo ple of Judah The wreck Chronicler's Ecclesiastical History 24 And when Judah came to the Watch-tower of the Wilderness and looked toward the multitude, there they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none had escaped! 25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil from them, they found cattle in abundance and personal property, d garments and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, until they could carry away no more; and they were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much. 26 And on the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed Jehovah; therefore the name of that place was called The Valley of Beracah [Blessing] to this day. 27Then they returned, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat at their head to go again with joy to Jerusalem, for Jehovah had made them rejoice over their enemies. 28 And they came to Jerusalem with harps, lyres, and trumpets to the temple of Jehovah. 29 And a fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the earth, when they heard that Jehovah had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30So the realm of Jehoshaphat enjoyed quiet, for his God gave him rest on all sides. § 111. Jehoshaphat's Disastrous Commercial Enterprises and Death, I Kgs. 2247-50, II Chr. 2035-211 Annals of Judah I Kgs. 22 47 Now there was no king in Edom. But the deputy of hosha King Jehoshaphat 48made ships of of Je phat's ships Chronicler's Ecclesiastical History II Chr. 20 35 Now later Jehosha phat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly. 36And he bound himself by a contract with him to build ships to go to Tarshish, so they made the ships in Ezion-geber. 37 But Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, Jehovah will surely tear your work in pieces. Accordingly the ships were broken, so that they were unable to go to Tarshish. d 2025 Correcting the Heb. with the aid of the Gk. • 2026 Identified with the Wadi Bereikut near Tekoa. § 111 The citation by the late prophetic editor of Kgs. from this earlier source, is supplemented in the parallel in Chr. by a brief prophetic warning added by the Chronicler or already found in his midrashic source. The descriptive epithet, Tarshish ship, was also interpreted to mean that their destination was Tarshish. 'I Kgs. 2247, 48 The current translation is untenable. The lucid translation given above is based on a slight emendation of the Heb. text. The Gk., favored by the marginal reading of the Heb., has, ship, not ships. This may well have been the original text, although the Chronicler's parallel supports the plural. Jehoram's evil § 112. Jehoram's Reign, II Kgs. 816-24, II Chr. 212-20 Late Prophetic Summary II Kgs. 8 16And in the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab king of policy Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, for he had married the daughter of Ahab, and he did that which displeased Jehovah. 19However, Jehovah would not destroy Judah for the sake of David his servant, since he had promised to give him a lamp before himg always. Sue cessful revolt of Edom and Annals of Judah 20In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and established a king over themselves. 21Then Joram passed over to Zair, and all his charLibnah iotsh with him. And he rose up by night and smote through the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots were with him, but the people fled to their tents. 22So Edom revolted from under the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time. And the other acts of Joram and all that he did are they not recorded in the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? "And Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Ahaziah his son became king in his place. Chronicler's Ecclesiastical History II Chr. 21 2Now Jehoram had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 3 And their father gave them great gifts of silver, of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah, but the kingdom he gave to Jehoram, because he was the eldest. 4Now when Jehoram had taken over the kingdom of his father and had strengthened himself he slew his brothers with the sword, together with certain of the nobles. 8In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah and established a king over themselves. Then Jehoram passed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him. And he rose up by night and smote through the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots were with him.k 10So Edom revolted from the rule of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time from his rule, because he had forsaken Jehovah, the God of his fathers. 112 To the general statements of the late prophetic editor of Kgs. the Chronicler adds certain facts in 212-4, which seem to be authentic and which are apparently derived from one of his older non-canonical sources. Vss. 5-7 are but a verbatim quotation from Kgs. The story in 11-20 is evidently a later midrash. II Kgs. 819 So Luc., Lat., Targ., and the parallel in II Chr. 217. but they were the lamp. II Kgs. 821 The Heb. is difficult and the context not complete. text has been lost, especially the account of the ambush into which the is implied in 216. Heb., for his children; Apparently some of the II Kgs. 821 Supplying, with him, from the parallel passage in Chr. con demnation Chronicler's Ecclesiastical History Elijah's 11 Moreover he made high places in the cities1 of Judah, and led the inhabletter of itants of Jerusalem into apostasy, and led Judah astray. 12Then there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of David your ancestor, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel and hast led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into apostasy, as did the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brothers of thy father's house, who were better than thyself; 14now Jehovah will smite with a great plague thy people, thy children, thy wives, and all thy possessions; 15and thou thyself shalt become very sick with a disease of thy bowels, until, because of the disease, thy bowels shall waste away day by day. Jeho ram's mis fortunes and loathsome end Ahaziah's evil 16Then Jehovah stirred up against Jehoram the Philistines and the Arabians, who live beside the Cushites, 17so that they came up against Judah, and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the royal palace, together with his son and his wives. Thus not a single son was left to him, except Jehoahaz his youngest. 18And after all this Jehovah smote him in the bowels with an incurable disease, 19so that in process of time, at the end of two years, his bowels wasted away because of his sickness, and he died in great pain. And his people made no such funeral pyre for him as they did for his fathers. 20He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. And he departed without being missed, and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchre of the kings. § 113. Ahaziah's Brief Reign, II Kgs. 825-29, 927-29, II Chr. 221-9 II Kgs. 8 25In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of policy Israel, Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and and alliance II Chr. 22 1And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place; for the hordes that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram became king of Judah. 1 II Chr. 21" So Gk. Heb., mountains. m II Chr. 211 Heb., play the harlot. So also, as in the prophets, it is used primarily in the figurative sense. Cf. Hos. 25. a II Chr. 2116 Probably the Arabian Cushites, although in the O.T. the Heb. word also designates the Ethiopians. II Chr. 2119 The Gk., two days, makes better sense and may be original. PII Chr. 2120 Heb., desired. § 113 Ahaziah's reign of probably less than one year is treated by the editor of Kgs. in the usual manner. Another editor, remembering that Jehoram reigned twelve years and Ahaziah one, and that both died at the same time by the hand of Jehu, reckoned that Åhaziah's accession must have been in the eleventh, not the twelfth (as in 825) year of Jehoram. Accordingly in 829, immediately after the account of the death of Ahaziah, he adds, in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab Ahaziah became king over Judah. The editor in 825 is probably correct, since Ahaziah's reign appears to have been limited to months and reckoned as a year only in round numbers. The source followed by the Chronicler was in part dependent upon Kgs., but regarding the manner of Ahaziah's death it preserves a variant tradition. His murder by Jehu Late Prophetic Summary he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did that which displeased Jehovah, as did the house of Ahab; for he was related by marriage to the house of Ahab. 28And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to make war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth in Gilead. But the Arameans wounded Joram. 29 Then King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. Prophetic Jehu History 8 29b And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to visit Joram the son of Ahab to Jezreel because he was sick. 9 27 And when Jehu slew Joram, Ahaziah king of Judah saw it and fled in the direction of Bethgannim. Then Jehu pursued after him with the words, Him also! Smite him in the chariot. And they smote him in the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he escaped to Megiddo and died there. 28But his servants carried him to Jerusalem and buried him there in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. Chronicler's Ecclesiastical History 2Forty-two years old was Ahaziah, when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah the granddaughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly. And he did that which displeased Jehovah, as did the house of Ahab, for they were his counsellors after the death of his father, to his destruction. 5He also followed their advice and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel, to make war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth in Gilead. But the Arameans wounded Joram. And he returned to be healed of the wounds which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to visit Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick. 7Now the destruction of Ahaziah was of God, in that he went to Joram, and after his arrival he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Jehovah had anointed to I cut off the house of Ahab. 8Now when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah, ministering to Ahaziah, and slew them. Then he sought Ahaziah. And they caught him while he was hiding in Samaria, and they brought him to Jehu and he slew him. But they buried him, for they said, He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought Jehovah with all his heart. And the house of Ahaziah had no one who had the strength necessary to rule. a II Kgs. 826 Heb., daughter, used in the sense of descendant. |