2 Tawarikh 20:18-30

20:18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face toward the ground, and all the people of Judah ¹  and the residents of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord and worshiped him. ²  20:19 Then some Levites, from the Kohathites and Korahites, got up and loudly praised the Lord God of Israel. ³ 

20:20 Early the next morning they marched out to the Desert of Tekoa. When they were ready to march, Jehoshaphat stood up and said: “Listen to me, you people of Judah ⁴  and residents of Jerusalem! Trust in the Lord your God and you will be safe! ⁵  Trust in the message of his prophets and you will win.” 20:21 He met ⁶  with the people and appointed musicians to play before the Lord and praise his majestic splendor. As they marched ahead of the warriors they said: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his loyal love endures.” ⁷ 

20:22 When they began to shout and praise, the Lord suddenly attacked ⁸  the Ammonites, Moabites, and men from Mount Seir ⁹  who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 20:23 The Ammonites and Moabites attacked the men from Mount Seir ¹⁰  and annihilated them. ¹¹  When they had finished off the men ¹²  of Seir, they attacked and destroyed one another. ¹³  20:24 When the men of Judah ¹⁴  arrived at the observation post overlooking the desert and looked at ¹⁵  the huge army, they saw dead bodies on the ground; there were no survivors! 20:25 Jehoshaphat and his men ¹⁶  went to gather the plunder; they found a huge amount of supplies, clothing ¹⁷  and valuable items. They carried away everything they could. ¹⁸  There was so much plunder, it took them three days to haul it off. ¹⁹ 

20:26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berachah, where ²⁰  they praised the Lord. So that place is called the Valley of Berachah ²¹  to this very day. 20:27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat leading them; the Lord had given them reason to rejoice over their enemies. 20:28 They entered Jerusalem to the sound of stringed instruments and trumpets and proceeded to the temple of the Lord. 20:29 All the kingdoms of the surrounding lands were afraid of God ²²  when they heard how the Lord had fought against Israel’s enemies. 20:30 Jehoshaphat’s kingdom enjoyed peace; his God made him secure on every side. ²³ 

[20:18]  ¹ tn Heb “all Judah.” The words “you people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See the note on the word “Judah” in v. 15.

[20:18]  ² tn Heb “to worship the Lord.”

[20:19]  ³ tn Heb “arose to praise the Lord God of Israel with a very loud voice.”

[20:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “O Judah.” The words “you people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See the note on the word “Judah” in v. 15.

[20:20]  ⁵ tn There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The Hiphil verb form הַאֲמִינוּ (ha’aminu, “trust”) and the Niphal form תֵאָמֵנוּ (te’amenu, “you will be safe”) come from the same verbal root (אָמַן, ’aman).

[20:21]  ⁶ tn Or “consulted.”

[20:21]  ⁷ tn Or “is eternal.”

[20:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “set ambushers against.” This is probably idiomatic here for launching a surprise attack.

[20:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir.”

[20:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the sons of Ammon and Moab stood against the residents of Mount Seir.”

[20:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to annihilate and to destroy.”

[20:23]  ¹² tn Heb “residents.”

[20:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “they helped, each one his fellow, for destruction.” The verb עָזַר (’azar), traditionally understood as the well-attested verb meaning “to help,” is an odd fit in this context. It is possible that it is from a homonymic root, perhaps meaning to “attack.” This root is attested in Ugaritic in a nominal form meaning “young man, warrior, hero.” For a discussion of the proposed root, see HALOT 811 s.v. II עזר.

[20:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Judah.” The words “the men of” are supplied in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew text uses the name “Judah” by metonymy for the men of Judah.

[20:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “turned toward.”

[20:25]  ¹⁶ tn Or “army.”

[20:25]  ¹⁷ tc The MT reads פְגָרִים (fÿgarim, “corpses”), but this seems odd among a list of plunder. A few medieval Hebrew mss and the Vulgate read בְגָדִים (vÿgadim, “clothing”), which fits the context much better.

[20:25]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and they snatched away for themselves so that there was no carrying away.”

[20:25]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and they were three days looting the plunder for it was great.”

[20:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for there.”

[20:26]  ²¹ sn The name Berachah, which means “blessing” in Hebrew, is derived from the verbal root “to praise [or “to bless”],” which appears earlier in the verse.

[20:29]  ²² tn Heb “and the terror of God [or “a great terror”] was upon all the kingdoms of the lands.” It is uncertain if אֱלֹהִים (’elohim) should be understood as a proper name here (“God”), or taken in an idiomatic superlative sense.

[20:30]  ²³ tn Heb “and his God gave him rest all around.”