And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead ,.... In the stead of Asa his father: and strengthened himself against Israel ; the ten tribes, by fortifying his cities, building castles, raising and keeping a large standing army, as the latter part of this chapter shows, and the next verse. read more
And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah ,.... A considerable number of soldiers, to defend them should they be attacked: and set garrisons in the land of Judah : on the frontiers and borders of it, to protect it: and in the cities of Ephraim ; soldiers to keep garrison there: which Asa his father had taken ; see 2 Chronicles 15:8 . read more
And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat ,.... Guiding and directing, prospering and succeeding him in all things; he had, no doubt, his gracious presence in spiritual things, as well as his powerful and directing presence in things civil; the Targum is,"the Word of the Lord was for his help;" because he walked in the first ways of his father David ; which were his best; some of his last ways not being good, as in the affair of Uriah and Bathsheba, and his numbering of the people; Jehoshaphat... read more
Jehoshaphat - and strengthened himself against Israel - The kingdoms of Israel and Judah were rivals from the beginning; sometimes one, sometimes the other, prevailed. Asa and Baasha were nearly matched; but, after Baasha's death, Israel was greatly weakened by civil contentions, and Jehoshaphat got the ascendancy. See 1 Kings 16:16-23 . read more
The cities of Ephraim - This conquest from the kingdom of Israel is referred to, 2 Chronicles 15:8 ; but when it was made we do not know. read more
The Lord was with Jehoshaphat - "The Word of the Lord was Jehoshaphat's Helper." - Targum. read more
Jehoshaphat . In 2 Chronicles 20:31 and 1 Kings 22:41 , 1 Kings 22:42 we are told that Jehoshaphat was now thirty-five years of age. He must, therefore, have been born when Asa was in the sixth year of his reign, and presumably not under sixteen years of age. His reign extended to twenty-five years, i.e. from B.C. 914 to B.C. 889. The name signifies "whom God judges," or "pleads for." Ahab is now in the fourth year of his reign, and the symptoms he manifests ( 1 Kings 16:30-33 ... read more
Spiritual fortification. Jehoshaphat did well to "strengthen himself against Israel." One that ought to be in the closest possible relationship to us but that is formally separated from us and that is likely to be jealous of our power is most to be feared by us. The avowed enemy is not so hostile as the envious rival, as the unfriendly "neighbour." And there was nothing of untrustfulness in this procedure of the king's. Had he gone to Syria as his father did ( 2 Chronicles 16:2 ) for... read more
The accession of Jehoshaphat. I. THE DATE OF HIS CORONATION . 1 . The thirty-fifth year of his age. He was thus born in the sixth year of Asa's reign ( 2 Chronicles 16:14 ), during the ten years of quiet. His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi ( 1 Kings 22:42 ). A man of mature years when he ascended the throne, he was better qualified to bear the load of responsibility his father's decease had, in God's providence, cast upon him. 2 . The fourth year of Ahab... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Chronicles 17:1-9
Here we find concerning Jehoshaphat, I. What a wise man he was. As soon as he came to the crown he strengthened himself against Israel, 2 Chron. 17:1. Ahab, an active warlike prince, had now been three years upon the throne of Israel, the vigour of his beginning falling in with the decay of Asa's conclusion. It is probable that the kingdom of Israel had, of late, got ground of the kingdom of Judah and began to grow formidable to it; so that the first thing Jehoshaphat had to do was to make his... read more