2 Chronicles 17: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Jehoshaphat becomes king of Judah after his father Asa and strengthens his position against the northern kingdom of Israel, placing troops in the fortified cities. Because he follows the God of his ancestor David rather than the Baals, his rule is secure and wealthy, and he sends officials, Levites, and priests through the towns of Judah with the Book of the Law to teach the people. The surrounding kingdoms do not attack him, Philistines and Arabs bring him gifts and livestock, and he builds forts and storage cities. The chapter closes with a list of his army commanders and the number of fighting men under each.

Claim by Claim

1. 17:1
   • Jehoshaphat, Asa's son, became king in his father's place.
   • Jehoshaphat made himself strong against Israel.
2. 17:2
   • Jehoshaphat stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah.
   • Jehoshaphat placed garrisons in the land of Judah.
   • Jehoshaphat placed garrisons in the cities of Ephraim.
   • Asa, Jehoshaphat's father, had captured those cities of Ephraim.
3. 17:3
   • The LORD was with Jehoshaphat.
   • The reason the LORD was with him was that he walked in the earlier ways of his father David.
   • Jehoshaphat did not seek the Baals.
4. 17:4
   • Jehoshaphat sought the God of his father.
   • Jehoshaphat walked in God's commandments.
   • Jehoshaphat did not act according to the practices of Israel.
5. 17:5
   • The LORD made the kingdom firm in Jehoshaphat's hand.
   • All Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat.
   • Jehoshaphat had riches in abundance.
   • Jehoshaphat had honor in abundance.
6. 17:6
   • Jehoshaphat's heart was lifted high in the ways of the LORD.
   • Jehoshaphat further removed the high places from Judah.
   • Jehoshaphat further removed the Asherah poles from Judah.
7. 17:7
   • In the third year of his reign Jehoshaphat sent out his officials.
   • The officials sent were Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah.
   • He sent them to teach in the cities of Judah.
8. 17:8
   • Levites went with the officials.
   • The Levites were Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-adonijah.
   • With them also went Elishama and Jehoram.
   • Elishama and Jehoram were priests.
9. 17:9
   • They taught in Judah.
   • They had the book of the law of the LORD with them.
   • They went around through all the cities of Judah.
   • They taught among the people.
10. 17:10
    • The dread of the LORD came upon all the kingdoms of the lands surrounding Judah.
    • Those kingdoms did not make war against Jehoshaphat.
11. 17:11
    • Some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat gifts.
    • Some of the Philistines brought silver as tribute.
    • The Arabians also brought him flocks.
    • The Arabians brought him seven thousand seven hundred rams.
    • The Arabians brought him seven thousand seven hundred male goats.
12. 17:12
    • Jehoshaphat kept growing greater and greater, to a very high degree.
    • Jehoshaphat built fortresses in Judah.
    • Jehoshaphat built store cities in Judah.
13. 17:13
    • Jehoshaphat had much work, or much stored supply, in the cities of Judah; the text can be read either way.
    • Men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem.
14. 17:14
    • What follows is their enrollment by their fathers' houses.
    • From Judah came the commanders of thousands.
    • Adnah was the commander.
    • With Adnah were three hundred thousand mighty men of valor.
15. 17:15
    • Next in rank to Adnah was Jehohanan the commander.
    • With Jehohanan were two hundred eighty thousand men.
16. 17:16
    • Next in rank was Amasiah son of Zichri.
    • Amasiah offered himself willingly to the LORD.
    • With Amasiah were two hundred thousand mighty men of valor.
17. 17:17
    • From Benjamin came Eliada, a mighty man of valor.
    • With Eliada were two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield.
18. 17:18
    • Next in rank to Eliada was Jehozabad.
    • With Jehozabad were one hundred eighty thousand men equipped for war.
19. 17:19
    • These were the men who served the king.
    • They were in addition to those the king had stationed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

17:1

Jehoshaphat inherited only the southern kingdom. After Solomon's death the nation had split in two: ten northern tribes kept the name Israel, while the south, ruled from Jerusalem by David's descendants, was called Judah. "Strengthened himself against Israel" therefore means he fortified his border against the rival Hebrew kingdom to the north, not against a foreign people.

17:2

Ephraim was the leading tribe of the northern kingdom, so its towns lay across the border. Asa, Jehoshaphat's father, had seized some of them in earlier fighting; posting garrisons there held on to that gain. A "fenced" city in the King James simply means a walled one.

17:3

David was Jehoshaphat's ancestor, several generations back, not his father; "father" in Hebrew usage covers any forebear. "The first ways" means David's earlier conduct, before the failures recorded later in his reign, though some ancient copies read simply "the ways of his father," without David's name. "Baalim" is the Hebrew plural of Baal, the Canaanite storm-and-fertility god: the plural points to the many local shrines and images of him scattered through the countryside.

17:4

Baal was the name of a god many of Judah's neighbors worshiped. They believed he sent rain and made crops grow. "Baalim" is the King James way of writing the plural, meaning the many local versions of Baal.

17:5

Bringing "presents" to a king was a formal act, not a spontaneous kindness. Subjects and lesser rulers handed over gifts or produce as a public sign that they accepted his authority; a steady flow of them was a measure of how secure a reign was.

17:6

"His heart was lifted up" elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible almost always means someone grew arrogant; here the same phrase is used approvingly, so it carries the sense of taking courage or delight in what he was doing. "High places" were open-air worship sites, usually on hilltops, where sacrifices were offered outside Jerusalem. "Groves" is the King James rendering of asherim, wooden poles or stylised trees set up beside an altar as emblems of the goddess Asherah.

17:7

"Princes" here does not mean royal sons; the word means high officials or nobles of the court. Sending civil administrators, rather than only clergy, to teach was unusual and suggests the instruction had the force of royal policy.

17:8

Levites were members of the tribe of Levi, assigned to support the temple and its worship and traditionally responsible for instructing people in the law. Priests were the narrower group descended from Aaron, who alone could offer sacrifice. The names ending in -iah contain a shortened form of the divine name, roughly "the LORD is..."

17:9

"The book of the law" was a scroll, the written collection of Moses' instructions. Copies were rare and costly, so carrying one from town to town was itself the point: most people would only ever encounter the law by hearing it read aloud.

17:10

"The fear of the LORD fell upon" them describes dread of Judah's God as a military deterrent, an idea familiar across the ancient Near East, where a nation's strength and its god's strength were spoken of together.

17:11

The Philistines occupied the coastal plain to Judah's west and had been Israel's chief rivals for generations. "Tribute silver" is a payment made by a weaker party to a stronger one, acknowledging its dominance, distinct from a gift freely given. The Arabians were nomadic herding tribes of the desert south and east, who would naturally pay in livestock rather than coin.

17:12

"Castles" in the King James means fortresses or fortified strongholds. "Cities of store" were supply depots holding grain, oil, wine and military equipment, positioned so an army could be provisioned on the march.

17:13

"Much business" sounds like commerce, but the Hebrew refers to stores of goods and works in progress, meaning large stockpiles and building projects rather than trade.

17:14

"Captains of thousands" refers to officers commanding units nominally a thousand strong. The Hebrew word for thousand, eleph, can also mean a clan or a military contingent of unspecified size, which is why the enormous totals in these verses, over a million men in all, are read by some as counts of units rather than of individuals.

17:15

A score is twenty, so fourscore is eighty and "two hundred and fourscore thousand" is 280,000.

17:16

"Willingly offered himself unto the LORD" uses the vocabulary of a freewill offering: Amasiah dedicated himself for service without being conscripted, the way a worshiper might bring a sacrifice no rule required of him.

17:17

Benjamin was the one small northern tribe that stayed with Judah when the kingdom divided; its territory bordered Jerusalem. Benjaminites had a long-standing reputation as skilled archers and slingers, which fits the bows and shields mentioned here.

17:18

"An hundred and fourscore thousand" is 180,000. Fourscore means eighty.

17:19

"Waited on the king" means served him in person, these were the standing troops stationed with him in the capital, as opposed to the men distributed among the frontier fortresses.