2 Chronicles 20:1

It 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

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.

2 CHAPTER 20 Several armies come against Judah: Jehoshaphat in his fear proclaimeth a fast, . His prayer, . Jehaziel’ s prophecy, . The enemies are overthrown, . The people return in triumph, blessing God, . His reign: his navy miscarrieth, . Other beside the Ammonites, to wit, the people that dwelt in Mount Seir, who were now confederate with them, as appears from ,22,23. Or this is the name of a peculiar people, called either Mehumin, of whom you read (and so there is only a transposition of two letters in the Hebrew word, which is not unusual in that language); or Minoceans, as the LXX. interpreters render this word; or Ammonium, or Mehaammonim, as it is in the Hebrew, (the two first letters being not prefixes, as they are commonly made, but part of the word or proper name of that people,) who, as it may seem, now dwelt in Mount Seir, being either of the old stock of the Edomites, or another nation since come in their stead or mixed with them. Others render the place thus, for (as the Hebrew vau is oft taken) with them (i.e. with the Moabites) were the Ammonites, or children of Ammon; which may be distinctly noted, either to show the largeness of the confederacy, in which not only the Moabites were engaged, who dwelt near Jehoshaphat’ s kingdom, but the Ammonites also, who lived at a greater distance from him; or to intimate that the Ammonites being possibly instigated by the Syrians, their next neighbours, were the first beginners and chief promoters of the war, and engaged both the Moabites and the inhabitants of Mount Seir in their quarrel.

2 Chronicles 20:1 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.Ver. 1. It came to pass after this also.] After Jehoshaphat’ s great care to reform and set all to right throughout his kingdom, for his further trial, and exercise of his faith, these enemies - moved with envy, doubtless, at his growing greatness, and stirred up by the Syrians, against whom he had taken part with Ahab lately - were turned loose upon him. The best are not to account it strange when they "fall into divers temptations"; but to consider of this golden chapter, wherein ( res multae et magnae continentur, saith Lavater) are contained many great matters; neither is there any chapter in this whole book whereout we may learn more. And with them other beside the Ammonites,] viz., The Syrians, and the Edomites. The Amalekites, say some of the Hebrews; as others the Hamenins. Came against Jehoshaphat to battle.] Not once giving him warning by their heralds or otherwise, but thinking to surprise him, though he was never unprovided. See 2 Chronicles 17:17-18. Id fuit contra ius gentium. It was be done against the law of the nations.

(1) It came to pass after this also.—Rather, And it came to pass afterwards, i.e., after the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, and Jehoshaphat’s reformation of law and religion. And the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites.—This is an attempt to get a reasonable sense out of a corrupted text. What the Heb. says is: And the sons of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites. So the Vulg., “et filii Ammon et cum eis de Ammonitis.” Transpose a single Hebrew letter, and there results the intelligible reading: And the sons of Ammon, and with them the Maonites (Heb., Me’ϋnξm. See on 1 Chronicles 4:41-42.) The Maonites are mentioned again (2 Chronicles 26:7) in company with Arabs. They appear to have been a tribe, whose chief seat was Maon, on the eastern slopes of the chain of Mount Seir, after which they are called “sons,” or “inhabitants of Mount Seir” in 2 Chronicles 20:10; 2 Chronicles 20:22-23. Accordingly Josephus (Ant. ix. 1, § 2) calls them a multitude of Arabs. [The LXX. reads: “And with them some of the Minaioi,” a name which possibly represents the me’ξnξm of the Heb. text of 1 Chronicles 4:41. Syriac, “and with them men of war;” Arabic, “brave men.” Perhaps the expression rendered and with them—we’immahθm—is a relic of an original reading, and the Maonites; and the some of the Ammonites (mηhβ’ammτnξm) which follows, is merely a gloss on an obscure name by some transcriber].

CHAPTER XX The Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, invade Judah, 1, 2. Jehoshaphat proclaims a fast, and gathers the people together to seek the Lord, 3, 4. His prayer to God, 5-12. Great and small, male and female, seek the Lord, 13. Jahaziel predicts the downfall of their enemies, 14-17. The king, the Levites, and the people take courage; praise and magnify God; and go forth to meet their enemies, 18-21. The enemies are confounded, and destroy each other, 22-24. The men of Judah take the spoil, praise the Lord, and return with joy to Jerusalem, 25-28. The fear of the Lord falls upon all their enemies round about; and the land has rest, 29, 30. Transactions and character of Jehoshaphat, 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, 35-37. NOTES ON CHAP. XX 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, c. The Septuagint have given it another turn: Καιμετ' αυτωνεκτωνΜιναιων, 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 2 Chronicles 20:10; 2 Chronicles 20:22-23, 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.

Ch. 2 Chronicles 20:1-4 (no parallel in Kings). The Invasion of the Moabites and their Allies For a discussion of the historical probabilities of the following account see Introduction, § 8, and G. A. Smith, Hist. Geography, pp. 272, 3.

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.

VICTORY OVER MOAB AND AMMON, 2 Chronicles 19:1-11.1. Moab, and… Ammon — These nations on the east of the Dead Sea seem to have made no attempt against the kingdom of Judah since the time of their disastrous defeat by David. Comp.