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2 Chronicles 18:31

in 2 Chronicles 18

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “This is the king of Israel!” So they turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they turned about to fight against him: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and Jehovah helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.

KJV

And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.

This verse in 2 Chronicles 18

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
And the Lord helped him ... - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings. It is a pious reflection on the part of the author, who traces all deliverance to its real divine source.

This site's exposition

went up to Ramoth-gilead

on 2 Chronicles 18:28-31

Verse 31 adds a line Kings lacks: “Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him”. Barnes counts it among the Chronicler's additions, and Jehoshaphat turns to God the same way at 20:12, when he says Judah's eyes are on Him.

This site's exposition

the LORD helped him

Henry reads God drew them away as God turning the captains' hearts against their own first intention. He holds all hearts in his hand, and the captains were moved by a power they could neither see nor explain. Wesley leaves the cry open: friends, foes or God.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

God has all men's hearts in his hand, and turns them as he pleases, contrary to their own first intentions, to serve his purposes. Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others, but an invisible power moves them.

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

Cried out - He cried out, either to his friends to help, or to his enemies, to let them know, he was not the king of Israel: or to God, and not in vain; for he moved the captains to depart from him. Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others; but an invisible power moves them.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

But Jehoshaphat cried out - “Jehoshaphat cried, and the Word of the Lord brought him assistance.” - Targum.

The words behind it

21 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיְהִ֡יand it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • כִּרְאוֹת֩when saw

    kirotH7200 →1300 times

  • שָׂרֵ֨י[the] commanders of

    sareiH8269 →421 times

  • הָרֶ֜כֶבthe chariotry

    harekhevH7393 →119 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • יְהוֹשָׁפָ֗טJehoshaphat

    yehoshafatH3092 →84 times

  • וְהֵ֤מָּהand they

    vehemahH1992 →553 times

  • אָֽמְרוּ֙they said

    ʾameruH559 →5305 times

  • מֶ֣לֶךְ[is] [the] king of

    melekhH4428 →2525 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֣לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • ה֔וּאhe

    hu'H1931 →1879 times

  • וַיָּסֹ֥בּוּand they surrounded

    vaiyasobuH5437 →161 times

  • עָלָ֖יו<on> him

    ʾalavH5921 →5755 times

  • לְהִלָּחֵ֑םto fight

    lehilachemH3898 →177 times

  • וַיִּזְעַ֤קand he cried out

    vaiyizakH2199 →73 times

  • יְהֽוֹשָׁפָט֙Jehoshaphat

    yehoshafatH3092 →84 times

  • וַֽיהוָ֣הand Yahweh

    vayahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • עֲזָר֔וֹhe helped him

    azaroH5826 →81 times

  • וַיְסִיתֵ֥םand he lured them

    vaysitemH5496 →18 times

  • אֱלֹהִ֖יםGod

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃away from him

    mimenuH4480 →1188 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Nehemiah 1:11

    O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him…

    it leads to

    • Nehemiah 1:6

      let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that…

    • Nehemiah 2:8

      And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the…

    • Proverbs 21:1

      The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.

    • Nehemiah 2:1

      Now in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad…

    • Hebrews 13:18

      Pray for us; we are convinced that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

  • Through

    Psalms 118:13

    I was pushed so hard I was falling, but the LORD helped me.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 140:4

      Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked. Keep me safe from men of violence who scheme to make me stumble.

    • Psalms 86:17

      Show me a sign of Your goodness, that my enemies may see and be ashamed; for You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.

  • Through

    Psalms 46:11

    The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 33:27

      The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He drives out the enemy before you, giving the command, ‘Destroy him!’

About 2 Chronicles

Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.