4 and commanded Judah to seek Jehovah the God of their fathers, and to practise the law and the commandment.
Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. When wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart. I will set no thing of Belial before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know evil. Whoso secretly slandereth his neighbour, him will I destroy; him that hath a high look and a proud heart will I not suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that practiseth deceit shall not dwell within my house; he that speaketh falsehoods shall not subsist in my sight. Every morning will I destroy all the wicked of the land: to cut off all workers of iniquity from the city of Jehovah.
And it came to pass, that when it began to be dark in the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut; and I commanded that they should not be opened till after the sabbath. And I set [some] of my servants at the gates, so that no burden should be brought in on the sabbath day. And the dealers and sellers of all kind of ware passed the night without Jerusalem once or twice. And I testified against them, and said to them, Why do ye pass the night before the wall? if ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth they came not on the sabbath. And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to hallow the sabbath day. Remember this also for me, my God, and spare me according to thy great loving-kindness!
joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and into an oath, to walk in the law of God, which had been given by Moses the servant of God, and to keep and do all the commandments of Jehovah our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes; and that we would not give our daughters to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons: and that if the peoples of the land brought wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we would not take it of them on the sabbath, or on [any] holy day; and that we would leave [the land uncultivated] the seventh year, and the exaction of every debt. And we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God, for the bread to be set in rows, and for the continual oblation, and for the continual burnt-offering, [for that] of the sabbaths [and] of the new moons, for the set feasts and for the holy [things], and for the sin-offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and [for] all the work of the house of our God. And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring [it] into the house of our God, according to our fathers' houses, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is written in the law; and to bring the first-fruits of our land, and the first-fruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year to the house of Jehovah, and the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the law; and to bring the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests that minister in the house of our God; and that we should bring the first-fruits of our coarse meal and our heave-offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, new wine and oil, to the priests, into the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithes of our ground to the Levites, that they, the Levites, should take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes; and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, into the chambers of the treasure-house. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the heave-offering of the corn, of the new wine and the oil, into the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the doorkeepers and the singers. And we will not forsake the house of our God.
And they made proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem; and that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be confiscated, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away. Then were all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered together at Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month; and all the people sat in the open space of the house of God, trembling because of the matter, and because of the pouring rain. And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, Ye have acted unfaithfully, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. And now make confession to Jehovah the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign wives. And the whole congregation answered and said with a loud voice, Yes, it is for us to do according to thy words.
And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand [to it]. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. And Josiah removed all the abominations out of all the countries that belonged to the children of Israel, and made to serve all that were found in Israel, -- to serve Jehovah their God: all his days they did not depart from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers.
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.