King James Version
2 Chronicles 14
15 verses with commentary
Asa's Reign in Judah
So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the land was quiet ten years.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings w...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XIV.
(1) **So Abijah slept . . . in his stead.**—Verbatim as 1Kings 15:8 (*Abijam*)*.*
**In his days the land was quiet ten years.**—Mentioned here as a result of Abijah’s great victory. “The land was quiet,” or “had rest” (Judges 3:11; Judges 5:31). The phrase is explained in 2Chronicles 14:6, “He had no war in those years.”
During this period of repose Asa strengthened the defences of his countr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. of the Levites, Ahijah--**The heading of this section is altogether strange as it stands, for it looks as if the sacred historian were going to commence a new subject different from the preceding. Besides, "Ahijah, whose name occurs after" the Levites, is not mentioned in the previous lists. It is totally unknown and is introduced abruptly without further information; and lastly, Ahijah must...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God:</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those who forsake Him face judgment. This pattern prov...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
**REIGN OF ASA** (2 Chronicles 14-16.)
(*a*) **EFFORTS TO ROOT OUT ILLEGITIMATE WORSHIPS, AND TO STRENGTHEN THE SYSTEM OF NATIONAL DEFENCES** (2Chronicles 14:2-7; comp. 1Kings 15:9-15).
(2) **That which was good and right.**—Literally, *The good and the right,* an expression defined in 2Chronicles 14:3-4. It is used of Hezekiah, 2Chronicles 31:20. See 1Kings 15:11, “And Asa did the right in the ey...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: images: Heb. statues
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those w...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those who forsake Him face judg...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **And commanded Judah to seek.**—‘*amar* with infinitive. (Comp. 1Chronicles 21:17.) The chronicler’s own style is visible in this verse.
**To seek the Lord God of their fathers.**—The same phrase recurs in 2Chronicles 15:12.
**The law and the commandment.**—Exodus 24:12, “That I may give thee the tables of stone, and *the law and the commandment* that I have written” (Deuteronomy 6:25).
**And...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. images: Heb. sun images
View commentary (2 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those who ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he built fenced cities in Judah: for the land had rest, and he had no war in those years; because the LORD had given him rest.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, whil...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **And he built fenced cities.**—See 2Chronicles 11:5; 2Chronicles 12:4; and for the expression “had given him rest,” 2Samuel 7:1.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore he said unto Judah, Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him, and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholehear...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Therefore.**—*And.*
**These cities.**—The “fenced cities” of last verse. Their names are unknown. Geba and Mizpah were fortified by Asa; but that was after the war with Baasha, which began in the twenty-sixth year of Asa (1Kings 15:33); see 2Chronicles 16:6. A general system of defence, like that of Rehoboam, who fortified as many as fifteen cities, seems to be indicated.
**Walls.**—*A* *wal...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theolo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Targets and spears.**—*Shield* (or *buckler*)* and lance.* The large shield is meant (see 2Chronicles 9:15). The same phrase is used to describe the warriors of Judah. (1Chronicles 12:24.)
**That bare shields**—i.e., the short or round shield (2Chronicles 9:16).
**Drew bows.**—(1Chronicles 8:40; 1Chronicles 12:2.) The Judæans were the *hoplites,* or heavy-armed; the Benjaminites the light-ar...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →Asa Defeats the Cushites
And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God pro...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Against them.**—Against the army described in last verse. Literally, *unto them* (Genesis 4:8; Judges 12:3).
**Zerah the Ethiopian.**—Heb., *ha-Kûshî.* (See Note on 1Chronicles 1:8 [Cush].) Zerah is identified with Osorchon II., hieroglyphic Uasarken, who succeeded Shishak as king of Egypt. The name of this king is curiously like that of Sargon, the great Assyrian conqueror of the eighth cen...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those who forsake Him fac...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Then.**—*And.*
**Against him.**—*Before him* (1Chronicles 12:17; 1Chronicles 14:8).
**In the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.**—This valley is not identified. The LXX. reads: ἐν τῇ φάραγγι κατὰ βορρᾶν Μαρισης, “in the ravine north of Mareshah.” This would involve a change of one letter in the present Hebrew. [*Çaphônah* “northward,” for *Ç’phathah*.] Syriac and Arabic, “in the wady of Mares...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. officers and judges--**The word rendered "officers" is the term which signifies scribes or secretaries, so that the Levitical class here described were magistrates, who, attended by their clerks, exercised judicial functions; there were six thousand of them (1Ch 23:4), who probably acted like their brethren on the principle of rotation, and these were divided into three classes--one (1Ch 26:...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. man: or, mortal man
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
King Asa's prayer facing overwhelming odds: 'And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.' This prayer acknowledges that God's power is independent of huma...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Lord, it is nothing to thee . . . have no power.**—Rather, *Lord, there is none beside,* or *like* literally, *along witli] thee to help between strong and powerless, i.e.,* in an unequal conflict to interpose with help for the weaker side. *Between strong and* [literally, *to] ‘powerless.* The same construction occurs Genesis 1:6, “between waters to waters.” Others assume *between* . . . *...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those who forsake Him face judgment. This...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **So the Lord smote . . . before Judah.**—(Comp. 2Chronicles 13:15-16.) Thenius remarks that the words of 1Kings 15:15, about the spoils dedicated by Asa, help to establish the chronicler’s accounts of this victory and that of Abijah.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil. destroyed: Heb. broken
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Pursued them unto Gerar.**—(Genesis 20:1.) *Kirbet-el-Gerar,* in the Wady Gerar, about eight miles S.S.E. of Gaza, on the route to Egypt (LXX. Gedor).
**And the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves.**—Literally, *And there fell of Kushites until they had no revival,* or *survival* (Ezra 9:8-9). The latter seems preferable, as a vivid hyperbole, like 2Kings 19:3...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was exceeding much spoil in them.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribut...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **And they smote all the cities round about Gerar.**—Philistine cities hostile to Judah. Perhaps they had helped Zerah.
**For the fear of the Lord came upon them.**—Or, *A divine panic had fallen upon them* (1Samuel 11:7; 2Chronicles 17:10; comp. also 1Samuel 4:7-8).
**Spoil.**—*Plunder, booty.* Heb. *bizzah,* a late word, occurring Ezekiel 29:19. The word in the last verse was *shālāl,* a cl...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.</strong><br><br>This verse is part of the narrative of Judah's kings, specifically addressing Seeking God wholeheartedly brings peace and blessing. The Chronicler's theological perspective emphasizes immediate divine retribution—kings who seek God prosper, while those who forsake...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **They smote also the tents of cattle.**—*And cattle tents* (or *encampments*)*, also they smote, i.e.,* hordes of nomad Bedawin whom they encountered in the desert about Gerar. (Comp. 1Chronicles 4:41, “smote their tents.”)
Sheep and camels in abundance.—*Sheep in abundance, and camels.* The LXX. adds, καὶ τοὺς αλιμαζονεις, apparently as the name of a tribe. Syriac and Arabic render, “And th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 27
1Ch 27:1-15. Twelve Captains for Every Month.
**1. came in and went out month by month--**Here is an account of the standing military force of Israel. A militia formed, it would seem, at the beginning of David's reign (see 1Ch 27:7) was raised in the following order: Twelve legions, corresponding to the number of tribes, were enlisted in the king's service. Each legion comprised a b...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 14
Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom.
--Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vex...
Read full commentary →