2 Chronicles 20:1
Introduction
The Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, invade Judah, 2Chr 20:1, 2Chr 20:2. Jehoshaphat proclaims a fast, and gathers the people together to seek the Lord, 2Chr 20:3, 2Chr 20:4. His prayer to God, 2Chr 20:5-12. Great and small, male and female, seek the Lord, 2Chr 20:13. Jahaziel predicts the downfall of their enemies, 2Chr 20:14-17. The king, the Levites, and the people take courage; praise and magnify God; and go forth to meet their enemies, 2Chr 20:18-21. The enemies are confounded, and destroy each other, 2Chr 20:22-24. The men of Judah take the spoil, praise the Lord, and return with joy to Jerusalem, 2Chr 20:25-28. The fear of the Lord falls upon all their enemies round about; and the land has rest, 2Chr 20:29, 2Chr 20:30. Transactions and character of Jehoshaphat, 2Chr 20:31-34. He joins with Ahaziah, king of Israel, in building a fleet of ships to go to Tarshish, but they are wrecked at Ezion-geber, 2Chr 20:35-37. Verse 1 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 2Chr 20:10, 2Chr 20:22, 2Chr 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.
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