2 Chronicles 17:4
in 2 Chronicles 17but he sought the God of his father and walked by His commandments rather than the practices of Israel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but sought to the God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.
KJV
But sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.
⋯
This verse in 2 Chronicles 17
Commentary
7 notes on this verseOf Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, it is written, "And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, who walked in the first ways of David, his father." From this it is clear that Jehoshaphat possessed the justice that David first possessed and that he did not commit the sins that David later committed. "He trusted not in Baalim," he says, "but in the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the sins of Israel. And the Lord established the kingdom in his hand and all Judah brought presents to Jehoshaphat.
This site's exposition
walked in the first ways of his father David
on 2 Chronicles 17:3-4
The Lord is with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and the text sets a negative beside a positive: he sought not unto Baalim, but sought to the Lord God of his father and walked in his commandments. Barnes notes that some manuscripts read simply his father without naming David, since David's earlier and later ways are nowhere else contrasted in the text, but either way the standard held up is the founding king's devotion rather than the mixed record Asa left in his own last years. This verse plants the seeking refrain that runs through the whole book at the head of the reign the rest of the chapter bears out.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
But sought to the Lord God of his fathers,.... Prayed to him, worshipped and served him: and walked in his commandments; observed and kept them, moral, ceremonial, and judicial: and not after the doings of Israel: who worshipped the golden calves at Dan and Bethel.
He worshipped the Lord God of his father and him only, prayed to him only and enquired of him only; both are included in seeking him. That he walked in God's commandments, not only worshipped the true God, but worshipped him according to his own institution, and not after the doings of Israel,
Though the king of Israel was his neighbour and ally, yet he did not learn his way. Whatever dealings he had with him in civil matters, he would not have communion with him, nor comply with him in his religion.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The doings of Israel - i. e. the especially idolatrous doings of the time - the introduction and establishment of the worship of Baal and the groves.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Being thus far removed, alike from gross idolatry and Israelitish apostasy, and adhering zealously to the requirements of the divine law, the blessing of God rested on his government. Ruling in the fear of God, and for the good of his subjects, "the Lord established the kingdom in his hand."
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
in the first ways of David, his father But not the last ways, when he sinned in the incident of Bathsheba, and when the Adversary enticed him to count Israel. This is the most accurate interpretation, but others explain “first” as meaning superior to Solomon and Rehoboam.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֠י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֵֽאלֹהֵ֤י | lelohei | <to> [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אָבִיו֙ | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| דָּרָ֔שׁ | darash | he sought | H1875 → | 164 times |
| וּבְמִצְוֹתָ֖יו | uvemitzvotav | and in commandments his | H4687 → | 181 times |
| הָלָ֑ךְ | halakh | he walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְלֹ֖א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| כְּמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה | kemaaseh | according to [the] deed[s] of | H4639 → | 236 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
כִּ֠יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֵֽאלֹהֵ֤י<to> [the] God of
leloheiH430 →2601 times
אָבִיו֙father his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
דָּרָ֔שׁhe sought
darashH1875 →164 times
וּבְמִצְוֹתָ֖יוand in commandments his
uvemitzvotavH4687 →181 times
הָלָ֑ךְhe walked
halakhH1980 →1546 times
וְלֹ֖אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
כְּמַעֲשֵׂ֥הaccording to [the] deed[s] of
kemaasehH4639 →236 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 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
Luke 1:6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
it leads to
- Genesis 7:1
Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
- Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
- Philippians 2:15
so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world
- 1 Kings 9:4
And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and uprightness, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and…
- Genesis 7:1
Through
1 Thessalonians 2:12encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:1
As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:
- 1 John 2:6
Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.
- 1 John 1:6–7
If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14
But we should always thank God for you, brothers who are loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by…
- Ephesians 4:1
About 2 Chronicles
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Against the Pelagians 2.21; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.