2 Chronicles 20:12 NLT

L. M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Chronicles 20:1-37

THREE ENEMIES AITACKING (vv.1-2) The Lord now allowed a further test of the faith of King Jehoshaphat. Armies of Moab and Ammon came against Judah, and others were added in this attack. Moab speaks of self-satisfied religion (Jeremiah 48:11), and reminds us that a smug, self-complacent attitude is a bad enemy for any of us. Let us not dare to submit to it! Ammon (meaning "peoplish") pictures the falsehood of evil doctrine, its king in David's time being named "Nahash," which means "a... read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - 2 Chronicles 20:1-37

REHOBOAM AND JEHOSHAPHAT REHOBOAM (2 Chronicles 10-12) The story of the rejected counsel of the older men and what came of it (chap. 10) is practically as in 1 Kings 12:0 , and furnishes an illustration of the relation of divine sovereignty to human free agency. The fortification of Judah’s cities against Israel (chap. 11) was dwelt upon in the earlier books, as well as the return of the priests and Levites to Jerusalem. Rehoboam’s “wise” action (2 Chronicles 11:23 ) is to be taken in the... read more

Joseph Parker

The People's Bible by Joseph Parker - 2 Chronicles 20:1-37

Evil Compacts 2Ch 20:37 THESE words were spoken concerning Jehoshaphat, who "walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord." He was a man of mature life, being thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. Notwithstanding the ripeness of his experience, and his really substantial character, he entered into a ship-building speculation with "Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - 2 Chronicles 20:5-13

This is a beautiful prayer, and both the manner of address, with the appearance of the king and his people make it striking. All Judah it is said, with their little ones, and wives and children, stood before the Lord, as if to join in the entreaty. Surely it must have had a most interesting effect. And observe the argument of the prayer. First, Jehoshaphat pleads God's sovereignty; next, God's relationship in the covenant engagements he had condescended to put himself into, as Abraham's God,... read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - 2 Chronicles 20:12

Judge and punish them, as they fight against thee? C. --- Enough. Yet we read that Josaphat had above a million soldiers; and he knew that his father had discomfited a greater army of Zara with half the forces. He thus puts us in mind that no power can stand against God's will; and he endeavours, by humility, to obtain the protection of heaven. The invading army must, however, have been very numerous, to extort these expressions from a potent king, and to have thrown his whole people into... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible - 2 Chronicles 20:1-13

1-13 In all dangers, public or personal, our first business should be to seek help from God. Hence the advantage of days for national fasting and prayer. From the first to the last of our seeking the Lord, we must approach him with humiliation for our sins, trusting only in his mercy and power. Jehoshaphat acknowledges the sovereign dominion of the Divine Providence. Lord, exert it on our behalf. Whom should we seek to, whom should we trust to for relief, but the God we have chosen and served.... read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - 2 Chronicles 20:1-13

The Threatened Invasion v. 1. It came to pass after this also, some six or seven years before the death of Jehoshaphat, that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, namely, the Meunites of Arabia Petraea, all heathen nations east, southeast, and south of the Dead Sea, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. v. 2. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - 2 Chronicles 20:1-37

d. Jehoshaphat: the Prophets Michah Son of Imlah and Jehu Son of Hanani.—Ch. 17–20 α. Jehoshaphat’s Measures for the external and Internal Defence of his Kingdom: 2 Chronicles 17:1-92 Chronicles 17:1.And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel. 2And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and placed garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which 3Asa his father had taken. And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat; for he walked... read more

Alexander MacLaren

Alexander MacLaren's Expositions of Holy Scripture - 2 Chronicles 20:12

2 Chronicles A STRANGE BATTLE 2Ch_20:12 . A formidable combination of neighbouring nations, of which Moab and Ammon, the ancestral enemies of Judah, were the chief, was threatening Judah. Jehoshaphat, the king, was panic-stricken when he heard of the heavy war-cloud that was rolling on, ready to burst in thunder on his little kingdom. His first act was to muster the nation, not as a military levy but as suppliants, ‘to seek help of the Lord.’ The enemy was camping down by the banks of the... read more

G. Campbell Morgan

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible - 2 Chronicles 20:1-37

This chapter gives us the story which perhaps reveals most graphically the simplicity and splendor of the faith of Jehoshaphat. His kingdom was threatened with powerful and terrible invasion. In his extremity he gathered his people about him, and prayed. The prayer is a powerful outpouring of his consciousness of need. He pleaded, as men ever do when in need they come before God, recalled the past evidences of the faithfulness of Jehovah, and confessing his inability to cope with the danger,... read more