2 Chronicles 19: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Jehoshaphat comes home safely to Jerusalem after fighting alongside Ahab, and the seer Jehu meets him with a rebuke for helping the wicked, while still naming the good found in him. Jehoshaphat then travels among his people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, turning them back to the LORD. He appoints judges in the fortified cities of Judah and sets up a court in Jerusalem of Levites, priests, and family heads, giving both groups instructions for how to decide cases.

Claim by Claim

1. 19:1
   • Jehoshaphat was king of Judah.
   • Jehoshaphat returned to his house in Jerusalem.
   • He returned safely, in peace.
2. 19:2
   • Jehu was the son of Hanani.
   • Jehu was a seer.
   • Jehu went out to meet Jehoshaphat.
   • Jehu spoke to king Jehoshaphat.
   • Jehu asked whether Jehoshaphat should help the wicked.
   • Jehu asked whether Jehoshaphat should love those who hate the LORD.
   • Jehu said that because of this there is wrath upon Jehoshaphat from before the LORD.
3. 19:3
   • Jehu said that nevertheless good things are found in Jehoshaphat.
   • Jehu said Jehoshaphat had removed the Asherah images from the land.
   • Jehu said Jehoshaphat had set his heart to seek God.
4. 19:4
   • Jehoshaphat dwelt in Jerusalem.
   • Jehoshaphat went out again among the people, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim.
   • Jehoshaphat brought the people back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
5. 19:5
   • Jehoshaphat appointed judges in the land.
   • He appointed them in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city.
6. 19:6
   • Jehoshaphat spoke to the judges.
   • He told them to take heed what they do.
   • He said they judge not for man but for the LORD.
   • He said the LORD is with them in the matter of judgment.
7. 19:7
   • Jehoshaphat said the fear of the LORD should be upon them.
   • He told them to take care and act.
   • He said there is no injustice with the LORD their God.
   • He said there is no partiality with the LORD their God.
   • He said there is no taking of bribes with the LORD their God.
8. 19:8
   • In Jerusalem Jehoshaphat also appointed some of the Levites, some of the priests, and some of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel.
   • He appointed them for the judgment of the LORD and for disputes.
   • The text says they returned to Jerusalem; whether it means they returned there or that they dwelt there is unclear.
9. 19:9
   • Jehoshaphat charged them.
   • He told them to act in the fear of the LORD.
   • He told them to act faithfully.
   • He told them to act with a whole heart.
10. 19:10
    • He spoke of every dispute that would come to them from their brothers who dwell in their cities.
    • Such disputes concern cases between blood and blood.
    • Such disputes concern cases between law and commandment, statutes and judgments.
    • He told them to warn their brothers.
    • He said the purpose is that their brothers not become guilty before the LORD.
    • He said that otherwise wrath would come upon them and upon their brothers.
    • He told them to do this.
    • He said that if they do this they will not incur guilt.
11. 19:11
    • Amariah was the chief priest.
    • Amariah is over them in all matters of the LORD.
    • Zebadiah was the son of Ishmael.
    • Zebadiah was the ruler of the house of Judah.
    • Zebadiah is over them in all the king's matters.
    • The Levites shall serve as officers before them.
    • Jehoshaphat told them to be strong and act.
    • Jehoshaphat said, may the LORD be with the good.

Words Worth Explaining

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

19:1

In the previous chapter Jehoshaphat had joined Ahab, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, in a battle at Ramoth-gilead in which Ahab was killed and Jehoshaphat himself narrowly escaped. "Came back safely" points back to that; it is what prompts the confrontation in the next verse.

19:2

A "seer" is an older Hebrew term for a prophet, literally one who sees, a person understood to receive messages from God through visions. Jehu's father Hanani had confronted an earlier king of Judah in the same way (2 Chronicles 16). "Help wicked people" refers to Jehoshaphat's military alliance with Ahab; the marriage of his son to Ahab's family had tied the two royal houses together.

19:3

Asherah poles were wooden poles or carved wooden objects set up at places of worship, representing the goddess Asherah, a Canaanite deity. Kings of Judah are repeatedly measured by whether they removed them. "Set your heart on" is a Hebrew idiom for a fixed, deliberate intention, not a passing feeling.

19:4

Beersheba was the southernmost town of Judah and the hill country of Ephraim marked its northern edge, so the phrase is a standard way of saying "the whole kingdom, end to end." "The God of their ancestors" identifies the LORD as the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the point being a return to older practice rather than a new religion.

19:5

Walled (or fortified) cities were the towns with defensive walls, which also served as the regional administrative centers for the surrounding countryside. Placing judges in them put a court within reach of everyone.

19:6

A judge in Israel listened to people's arguments and decided who was right. There were no lawyers or juries. People brought their case straight to the judge and he ruled.

19:7

"The fear of the LORD" is a set Hebrew phrase meaning reverent awe and the sense of being answerable to God (not fright. It is used throughout the Old Testament for a serious, obedient attitude toward God. The King James "respect of persons" means favoritism) deciding a case according to who the parties are rather than the facts.

19:8

The Levites were members of the tribe of Levi, who served at the temple and also worked as teachers, record-keepers and officials; the priests were the branch of that tribe descended from Aaron. "Heads of the families" are the senior men of the extended family groups that made up each tribe, the traditional local authorities. Jerusalem functioned here as a central court for cases the local courts could not settle.

19:9

"With a perfect heart" does not mean flawless. The Hebrew word means whole or undivided, so the sense is complete loyalty with nothing held back, the opposite of a judge whose commitments are split between the law and his own interests.

19:10

"Between blood and blood" (King James) is a Hebrew legal phrase for distinguishing one kind of killing from another, deliberate murder from accidental death, for instance. The distinction mattered because it decided whether the killer could claim asylum in a city of refuge or was liable to execution. "Law, command, rule, ruling" translates a standard four-part Hebrew series covering the whole body of legal instruction; the piling up of near-synonyms is a way of saying "every kind of legal question," not four sharply separate categories. The warning is that judges who let a wrong go unaddressed share the guilt for it.

19:11

The chief priest, or high priest, was the senior religious official, in charge of temple worship and matters of religious law. The "leader of the house of Judah" held the parallel civil office under the king. Jehoshaphat is dividing the court's business into religious cases and cases arising from royal law and administration. "Officers" here translates a Hebrew word for court clerks and enforcement officials, men who kept records, summoned parties and carried out decisions.