KING JEHOSHAPHAT (II CHRONICLES 17:1-21:1; I KINGS 22)

King Jehoshaphat (II Chronicles 17:1-21:1; I Kings 22)

There are several personages with this name in the OT, but the most prominent one was the son of Asa who reigned as king of Judah around 900 BC. Although you will see that his actions are sometimes in keeping with a man of God, there are other times when the prophets criticize him for trying to make alliances with the ungodly Northern Kingdom. In spite of this rather mixed picture, Elisha's respect for Jehoshaphat is shown in II Kings 3:14. We will only follow the Chronicles account of his life since it is by far the most extensive.

17:3 RSV omits “David” after "father" in line with some Greek and Hebrew manuscripts.

17:6 “The matter of reformation in Israel (Judah) must have been one of long standing and persistent endeavor.” (Myers)

17:7-9 Myers notes the unusual fact that laymen are the first mentioned in those delegated to teach the Torah to the people, not the Levites. This is perhaps a foreshadowing of the “priesthood of all believers” in NT times.

17:14-18 There are an abnormally large numbers of soldiers in the lists here. If we consider, as do many scholars, that the word translated as “thousand” can also mean a military unit, then these numbers become more realistic. Another solution is to divide each number by ten.

II Chronicles 18   K.C. Way explains that Jehoshaphat was apparently a vassal king to Ahab. After the prophecy that Ahab would die in battle, Jehoshaphat is made to wear royal clothing to draw enemy fire away from Ahab. Jehoshaphat is saved when he cries out (in prayer, according to II Chronicles, but not in the I Kings 22 parallel account). Jehoshaphat is criticized by prophets twice (by Jehu in 19:2 and by Eliezer in 20:37) for making ungodly alliances with the Northern Kingdom.

18:14 Micaiah's favorable reply regarding the coming battle must have been given sarcastically since the king then warns him to tell the truth instead. By relating this event, the Chronicler “wanted to emphasize the interest in and insistence upon the orthodox religion of Yahweh by the King of Judah as opposed to the unrecognized religion of the north.” (Myers)

This is also a story demonstrating the difference between the false prophets in the pay of the government and those who speak the truth of God whatever the consequences. Perhaps this is a valuable lesson for today.

18:21-22 For more on this “lying spirit,” see my post “Does God Approve of Lying?”

19:2 This Jehu was probably the grandson of the Jehu who had earlier pronounced the doom of Baasha (cf. I Kings 16:4). (Ellison)

19:4 Jehoshaphat dwelling in Jerusalem means that he made no further trips to the Northern Kingdom, according to Ellison.

19:4-11 describes the appointment of civil judges in Judah to supplement the religious judges. Verse 8 shows how these two systems operated in Jerusalem side-by-side.

II Chronicles 20 Moberly calls this chapter “one of the OT's great paradigmatic and parabolic stories about the nature of faith.” Although God does the actual fighting, that does not mean that Judah does nothing at all “for after their earlier fasting and prayer they combine with singing and praising the Lord on the field of battle, and this kind of trusting response is clearly essential...As such, it is a witness of enduring value for the Christians today.”

II Chronicles 20:1 The Meunites may be the same as the Minaeans, traders in South Arabia. (Myers) Ellison says that they lived in Edom and apparently joined up with the Moabite invaders.

20:2 The Hebrew text has 'dm (“Edom”), which should read 'rm (“Syria”) instead. (Ellison)

20:3 Jehoshaphat was afraid “for he knew this was the expression of the divine wrath” pronounced in 19:2. (Ellison)

II Chronicles 20:3-20 concerns a military threat to Judah from the army of Edom. Jehoshaphat leads the people in prayer and fasting and is reassured by the words of a Levite who tells him, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this large army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.” Jehoshaphat tells his soldiers, “Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will have success.” Moberly draws a close parallel between this statement and that given by Isaiah to another king facing a similar challenge (see Isaiah 7:9).

A.A. Anderson notes that Psalm 44 describes the sort of situation facing the people in II Chronicles.

20:6 Howard points out that the phrase “God is...” only appears three other times in the OT, “each time in a passage that functions as a confession of faith.” The other instances are uttered by Rahab, the author of Psalm 100, and Jeremiah. In addition, the phrases “God in heaven above” and “on the earth below” are “only uttered by the most prominent of Israelites.”

20:7 This is one of two times (see Isaiah 41:8 for the other) outside of Genesis when Abraham is called God's friend.

20:13 “Their little ones / little children” may refer to their whole family, i.e. their wives and children. (Myers)

20:17 Since the invaders had accomplished what God had in mind for them to do, He now removes them from the picture.

20:20-30 Briggs suggests that Psalm 20 may have been used on this or a similar occasion.

20:20 Knight calls the phrase “They believed in Yahweh and in his servant Moses” both “challenging and disturbing.” (It also appears in Exodus 14:31) The Targum (early Jewish commentary) paraphrases it as “And they believed in the Word of Yahweh, and in the prophecy of Moses his servant” to avoid the implication that the people placed equal faith in God and Moses. Knight explains the meaning as follows: “For in the mystery of the incipient incarnational process a man, if he is himself totally committed to the Word can become an 'extension' of the Word.”

20:21 There is an uncertain meaning of the phrase rendered “the beauty of holiness” by KJV. It may mean “in holy array or attire.”

20:22-23 It is not explained how the invaders were routed. According to Myers, the enemy soldiers killed each other in the confusion, as in Judges 7:22.

20:26 Beracah means “blessing.”

20:29-30 The “fear of the LORD” falls on the neighboring lands so that Judah had a period of peace. This also happens in 17:10, the two incidents serving as an inclusio for the whole story of Jehoshaphat.

20:33 “High places” (bama) describes platforms on which idols were placed. “Until Josiah desecrated the sites (34:5), destruction meant little, for it was the site rather than the cult objects that was holy.” (Ellison) This explains the seeming contradiction with 17:6 where the high places had already been removed.

20:34 The book referred to here is not the same as the biblical I-II Kings.

20:35-37 Sasson states that “the incident shows how storms reflected God's judgment on human schemes,” as we see in Jonah 1:4-6.