2 Chronicles 14:12
in 2 Chronicles 14So the LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah, and the Cushites fled.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Jehovah smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
KJV
So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 14
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAsa prayed, and his prayer manifested great power: when Zerah the Indian [Ethiopian] went out against him with an army of one million with him, Asa then prayed, saying, "By this shall your power be known, O our God, when you finish off a vast people by means of a small people." God heard his prayer and sent his angel to rout them. Thus the vast army was defeated by the power of Asa's prayer.
This site's exposition
smote the Ethiopians before Asa
on 2 Chronicles 14:12-13
The verb belongs to the Lord, smote, ahead of any detailed account of the two armies closing, and the Ethiopians flee the way Jeroboam's Israel fled the chapter before at 2 Chronicles 13:15. Judah pursues them to Gerar, well inside Philistine country, and verse 13 twice credits the outcome to the Lord and to his host rather than to Judah's own numbers. Barnes calls the victory one of the rare occasions Judah met a great neighboring power in open field and prevailed, since Shishak, Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar were mostly resisted from behind walls, if resisted at all.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. 6 And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the L ORD had given him rest.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:96%@v5-6
So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah,.... With consternation and terror; they were thrown into a panic: and the Ethiopians fled; before them, just as Jeroboam and Israel had, as related in the preceding chapter, 2Ch 13:15.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The defeat of Zerah is one of the most remarkable events in the history of the Jews. On no other occasion did they meet in the field and overcome the forces of either of the two great monarchies between which they were placed. It was seldom that they ventured to resist, unless behind walls. Shishak, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Nebuchadnezzar, were either unopposed or only opposed in this way. On the one other occasion on which they took the field - under Josiah against Necho - their boldness issued in a most disastrous defeat 2Ch 35:20-
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Asa cried unto the Lord his God--Strong in the confidence that the power of God was able to give the victory equally with few as with many, the pious king marched with a comparatively small force to encounter the formidable host of marauders at his southern frontier.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּגֹּ֤ף | vaiyigof | and he defeated | H5062 → | 49 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכּוּשִׁ֔ים | hakushim | the Cushites | H3569 → | 26 times |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אָסָ֖א | ʾasa' | Asa | H609 → | 57 times |
| וְלִפְנֵ֣י | velifnei | and <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוּדָ֑ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וַיָּנֻ֖סוּ | vaiyanusu | and they fled | H5127 → | 159 times |
| הַכּוּשִֽׁים׃ | hakushim | the Cushites | H3569 → | 26 times |
וַיִּגֹּ֤ףand he defeated
vaiyigofH5062 →49 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַכּוּשִׁ֔יםthe Cushites
hakushimH3569 →26 times
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
אָסָ֖אAsa
ʾasa'H609 →57 times
וְלִפְנֵ֣יand <to> before
velifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוּדָ֑הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וַיָּנֻ֖סוּand they fled
vaiyanusuH5127 →159 times
הַכּוּשִֽׁים׃the Cushites
hakushimH3569 →26 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Deuteronomy 32:39See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 2:6
The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
- Hosea 6:1
Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Job 5:18
For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
- Isaiah 45:5
I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,
- Isaiah 45:22
Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- 1 Samuel 2:6
Through
1 Corinthians 9:26Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 2:5
Likewise, a competitor does not receive the crown unless he competes according to the rules.
- 2 Peter 1:10
Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,
- Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
- 2 Timothy 2:5
About 2 Chronicles
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Aphrahat the Persian Sage, DEMONSTRATION 4.8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.