2 Chronicles 14:9-13 ASV

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:8-15

The secret and the spirit of true defence. We may learn from this narrative of unprovoked attack and triumphant defence— I. THAT OUR UPMOST PREPARATION WILL NOT SECURE US FROM ATTACK . Asa endeavoured to make his little kingdom impregnable to assault by Nevertheless, the Ethiopians came up against him with an army far stronger than his. The military and naval preparations of one country usually incite to greater preparations in another, and instead of war becoming... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:9

Zerah the Ethiopian ; Hebrew, זֶרַח הַכּוּשִׁי , the "Ethiopian," Greek and Septuagint rendering for "Cushite." In its vaguest dimensions Ethiopia, or Cush, designated Africa south of Egypt, but more concisely it meant the lands we now call Nubia, Sennaar, Kordefan, and part of Abyssinia. And these, roughly speaking, were bounded north, south, east, and west respectively by Egypt and Syene, Abyssinia, Red Sea, and Libyan Desert. When, however, Ethiopia proper is spoken of, the name... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:9-15

The remaining seven verses of this chapter are occupied with the account of the invasion of Zerah the Ethiopian, and the successful defence and reprisals of Asa. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:9-15

The human trust and prayer that herald Divine victory. Though God gives nothing for—that vanishing point—our merit, yet he constantly of old gave, now constantly gives, in connection with our own right-doings and fight-praying, in order that his freest gifts may establish a healthy reaction on our experience and on our practical conduct. In the prayer, the appeal, the trust, the simple, practical account of Ass, according to the narrative contained within the compass of the above verses,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:9-15

An alarming invasion. I. THE INVADER AND HIS ARMY . ( 2 Chronicles 14:9 .) 1 . The invader. Zerah, the Ethiopian (or Cushite), commonly identified with Osorkhon (Usarkon) I. king of Egypt, the second sovereign of the twenty-second or Bubastio dynasty (Rossellini, Wilkinson, Champollion, Lepsius, Rawlinson, Ebers); but, inasmuch as no Ethiopian appears among the monumental kings of this dynasty, a claim to be regarded as the Zerah of Scripture has been advanced in behalf... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:10

The valley of Zephathah at Mareshah . "At" some translate "belonging to," some more suitably to the exact connection "near." The Hebrew here for" valley" is גֵיא . It can scarcely designate necessarily a "ravine." It is a valley in the sense of being a low, fiat region, in which springs of water "broke out." From Numbers 21:20 , the first occasion of its occurrence, to Zechariah 14:5 it is found fifty-six times, and is always rendered (Authorized Version) "valley;" it is the word... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:11

Nothing with thee ; Hebrew, אֵין־עִמְּךָ . In the passage of very similar tenor ( 1 Samuel 14:6 ) the exact rendering is more easily fixed, "It is nothing to the Lord," i.e. it makes no difference to the Lord, "to save by many or by few." Probably the correcter rendering of our present Hebrew text would be, "It makes no difference with thee to help those whose strength is great or whose strength is nothing (between the much even to the none of strength)." Keil and Bertheau would... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:12

So the Lord smote the Ethiopians. As little as the real work was of the army of Asa, so little is said of even the mere human method by which this great victory was obtained for Asa and Judah . Again and yet again, in the following two verses, the glory is given to "the Lord." read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:13

And the Ethiopians … before his host . It is evident that these words, with the clauses they include, should be placed in brackets, and so leave "they," the subject of the verb "carried" in the last clause, to refer to its proper noun-subject, Asa and the people. Gerar . This place is mentioned as defining a full distant spot as the limit of the pursuit of the flying army. While it was nearly four hours south of Gaza, on the road to Egypt, it is calculated that it was more than twenty... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Chronicles 14:9

Zerah the Ethiopian is probably Usarken (Osorkon) II, the third king of Egypt after Shishak, according to the Egyptian monuments. Osorkon II may have been by birth an Ethiopian, for he was the son-in-law, not the son, of the preceding monarch, and reigned in right of his wife. The object of the expedition would be to bring Judaea once more under the Egyptian yoke.An host of a thousand thousand - This is the largest collected army of which we hear in Scripture; but it does not exceed the known... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:8-15

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:9

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:9-15

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:9-15

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:9-15

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:10

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:11

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:12

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Chronicles 14:13

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Chronicles 14:9

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