2 Chronicles 20:1
in 2 Chronicles 20After this, the Moabites and Ammonites, together with some of the Meunites, came to make war against Jehoshaphat.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass after this, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
KJV
It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 20
Commentary
4 notes on this verseIt came to pass after this also,.... After Jehoshaphat's return from Ramothgilead, and putting the civil and religious affairs of his people on a better footing, when he might have expected much peace and prosperity: that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon; both the descendants of Lot, see Psa 83:8, and with them other besides the Ammonites; a great company of Arabians, according to Josephus (r); or "with the Meamonites", which the Targum understands of the Idumaeans or Edomites; and so do other interpreters, and which they conclude from 2Ch 20:
This site's exposition
the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon
on 2 Chronicles 20:1-2
The coalition is family: Moab and Ammon are Lot's sons, and mount Seir joins from Esau, kindred nations Israel was forbidden to dispossess on the way up from Egypt. They come by the Dead Sea's western shore and are already at En-gedi when the report lands, a day's march from Jerusalem. The threat arrives at the door before the king hears of it.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The present Hebrew (and English) text mentions the Ammonites twice over. Hence, some adopt a different reading and translate “the children of Ammon, and with them certain of the Maonites,” etc. Compare 2Ch 20:10, note; Jdg 10:12, note; 1Ch 4:41, note.
Children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites - Here there must be a mistake; surely the Ammonites are the same as the children of Ammon. Our translators have falsified the text by inserting the words “other beside,” which have nothing properly to represent them in the Hebrew. Literally translated, the words are: “And it happened after this, the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them of the Ammonites:” and thus the Vulgate. The Syriac, which the Arabic follows, has felt the difficulty, and translated, Came together with warlike men to fight, etc. The Septuagint have given it another turn: Και μετ’ αυτων εκ των Μιναιων, And with them people of the Minaites; which were a people of Arabia Felix near the Red Sea. The Targum has ועמהון מן אדומאי Ve-immehon min Edomaey, “And with them some of the Edomites.” This is very likely to be the true reading, as we find from 2Ch 20:10, 2Ch 20:22, 2Ch 20:23, that they procured men from Mount Seir; and these were the Idumeans or Edomites. We should, in my opinion, read the text thus: The children of Moab, and the children of common, and with them some of the Edomites.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and with them, some of the Ammonites This is Amalek. Why were they called Ammonites? Because they changed their dress and their language to resemble that of the Ammonites and mingled with them, and came to wage war against Israel.
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. 3 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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֣י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אַֽחֲרֵיכֵ֡ן | ʾachareikhen | after this | H310 →H3651 → | 715 times |
| בָּ֣אוּ | bau | they came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בְנֵי־ | venei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מוֹאָב֩ | moav | Moab | H4124 → | 181 times |
| וּבְנֵ֨י | uvenei | and [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עַמּ֜וֹן | amon | Ammon | H5983 → | 106 times |
| וְעִמָּהֶ֧ם׀ | veimahem | and with them | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| מֵֽהָעַמּוֹנִ֛ים | mehaamonim | some of the Ammonites | H5984 → | 21 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְהוֹשָׁפָ֖ט | yehoshafat | Jehoshaphat | H3092 → | 84 times |
| לַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃ | lamilchamah | for <the> battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
וַיְהִ֣יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
אַֽחֲרֵיכֵ֡ןafter this
בָּ֣אוּthey came
bauH935 →2568 times
בְנֵי־[the] people of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
מוֹאָב֩Moab
moavH4124 →181 times
וּבְנֵ֨יand [the] people of
uveneiH1121 →4930 times
עַמּ֜וֹןAmmon
amonH5983 →106 times
וְעִמָּהֶ֧ם׀and with them
veimahemH5973 →1050 times
מֵֽהָעַמּוֹנִ֛יםsome of the Ammonites
mehaamonimH5984 →21 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְהוֹשָׁפָ֖טJehoshaphat
yehoshafatH3092 →84 times
לַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃for <the> battle
lamilchamahH4421 →320 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
Isaiah 16:6We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.
it leads to
- Amos 2:1
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king.
- Obadiah 1:3–4
The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
- Jeremiah 48:29–30
We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his proud arrogance and haughtiness of heart.
- Zephaniah 2:8–10
“I have heard the reproach of Moab and the insults of the Ammonites, who have taunted My people and threatened their borders.
- Jeremiah 48:26
“Make him drunk, because he has magnified himself against the LORD; so Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he will also become a laughingstock.
- Amos 2:1
Through
2 Chronicles 19:11Note that Amariah, the chief priest, will be over you in all that pertains to the LORD, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all that pertains to…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 19:8
Moreover, Jehoshaphat appointed in Jerusalem some of the Levites, priests, and heads of the Israelite families to judge on behalf of the LORD and to settle disputes. And they lived in Jerusalem.
- Psalms 18:25–26
To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
- 2 Timothy 2:1
You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
- 2 Chronicles 19:8
About 2 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil, The Books of the Chronicles.