Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 19:4

And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beer-sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.

4 11 (no parallel in Kings). Jehoshaphat’s Home Policy

4. Beer-sheba ] Cp. note on 1Ch 4:28.

brought them back ] Some further measures against idolatry seem to be meant.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Jehoshaphat, while declining to renounce the alliance with Israel (compare the 2Ki 3:7 note), was careful to show that he had no sympathy with idolatry, and was determined to keep his people, so far as he possibly could, free from it. He therefore personally set about a second reformation, passing through the whole land, from the extreme south to the extreme north 2Ch 13:19.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 4. From Beer-sheba to Mount Ephraim] Before the separation of the ten tribes, in speaking of the extent of the land it was said, From Dan to Beer-sheba; but since that event, the kingdom of Judah was bounded on the south by Beer-sheba, and on the north by the mountains of Ephraim. This shows that Jehoshaphat had gone through all his territories to examine every thing himself, to see that judgment and justice were properly administered among the people.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

He went out again; once he went by his officers, 2Ch 17:7, &c., now he went in his own person.

From Beer-sheba to Mount Ephraim, i.e. through his whole kingdom, whereof these were the two bounds.

Brought them back unto the Lord; such of them as had revolted from God to idols, he reclaimed by his good counsel and example, and by the instructions of the Levites and priests, whom doubtless now he carried with him, as he sent them before with his officers of state.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

4. he went out again through thepeopleThis means his reappointing the commissioners of publicinstruction (2Ch 17:7-9),perhaps with new powers and a larger staff of assistants to overtakeevery part of the land. The complement of teachers required for thatpurpose would be easily obtained because the whole tribe of Leviteswas now concentrated within the kingdom of Judah.

2Ch19:5-7. HISINSTRUCTIONS TO THEJUDGES.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem,…. And went out no more to Samaria, nor concerned himself about the affairs of Israel, but attended to his own:

and he went out again through the people; took a tour throughout his dominions now, in his own person, as before by his princes, with the priests and Levites:

from Beersheba to Mount Ephraim; Beersheba was the southern boundary of the land of Judah, and Mount Ephraim lay to the north, and was the northern boundary of it since the division of the kingdom:

and brought them back to the Lord God of their fathers; from idolatry to the pure worship of God, such who had relapsed since the first reformation, or had not been influenced by it.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Jehoshaphat’s further arrangements for the revival of the Jahve-worship, and the establishment of a proper administration of justice. – The first two clauses in 2Ch 19:4 are logically connected thus: When Jehoshaphat (after his return from the war) sat (dwelt) in Jerusalem, he again went forth ( are to be taken together) among the people, from Beersheba, the southern frontier (see 1Ch 21:2), to Mount Ephraim, the northern frontier of the kingdom of Judah, and brought them back to Jahve, the God of the fathers. The “ again ” ( ) can refer only to the former provision for the instruction of the people, recorded in 2Ch 17:7.; all that was effected by the commission which Jehoshaphat had sent throughout the land being regarded as his work. The instruction of the people in the law was intended to lead them back to the Lord. Jehoshaphat now again took up his work of reformation, in order to complete the work he had begun, by ordering and improving the administration of justice.

2Ch 19:5-7

He set judges in the land, in all the fenced cities of Judah; they, as larger cities, being centres of communication for their respective neighbourhoods, and so best suited to be the seats of judges. , in reference to every city, as the law (Deu 16:18) prescribed. He laid it upon the consciences of these judges to administer justice conscientiously. “Not for men are ye to judge, but for Jahve;” i.e., not on the appointment and according to the will of men, but in the name and according to the will of the Lord (cf. Pro 16:11). In the last clause of 2Ch 19:6, Jahve is to be supplied from the preceding context: “and Jahve is with you in judgment,” i.e., in giving your decisions (cf. the conclusion of 2Ch 19:11); whence this clause, of course, only serves to strengthen the foregoing, only contains the thoughts already expressed in the law, that judgment belongs to God (cf. Deu 1:17 with Exo 21:6; Exo 22:7.). Therefore the fear of the Lord should keep the judges from unrighteousness, so that they should neither allow themselves to be influenced by respect of persons, nor to be bribed by gifts, against which Deu 16:19 and Deu 1:17 also warns. is rightly paraphrased by the Vulgate, cum diligentia cuncta facite . The clause, “With God there is no respect of persons,” etc., recalls Deu 10:17.

2Ch 19:8-11

Besides this, Jehoshaphat established at Jerusalem a supreme tribunal for the decision of difficult cases, which the judges of the individual cities could not decide. 2Ch 19:8. “Moreover, in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set certain of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the chiefs of the fathers’-houses of Israel, for the judgment of the Lord, and for controversies ( ).” From this clause Berth. correctly draws the conclusion, that as in Jerusalem, so also in the fenced cities (2Ch 19:5), it was Levites, priests, and heads of the fathers’-houses who were made judges. This conclusion is not inconsistent with the fact that David appointed 6000 of the Levites to be shoterim and judges; for it does not follow from that that none but Levites were appointed judges, but only that the Levites were to perform an essential part in the administration of the law. The foundation of the judicial body in Israel was the appointment of judges chosen from the elders of the people (Exo 18:21.; Deu 1:15.) by Moses, at Jethro’s instigation, and under the divine sanction, David had no intention, by his appointment of some thousands of Levites to be officials (writers) and judges, to set aside the Mosaic arrangement; on the contrary, he thereby gave it the expansion which the advanced development of the kingdom required. For the simple relationships of the Mosaic time, the appointment of elders to be judges might have been sufficient; but when in the course of time, especially after the introduction of the kingship, the social and political relations became more complicated, it is probable that the need of appointing men with special skill in law, to co-operate with the judges chosen from among the elders, in order that justice might be administered in a right way, and in a manner corresponding to the law, made itself increasingly felt; that consequently David had felt himself called upon to appoint a greater number of Levites to this office, and that from that time forward the courts in the larger cities were composed of Levites and elders. The supreme court which Jehoshaphat set up in Jerusalem was established on a similar basis. For we have in 2Ch 19:11 , i.e., for all matters connected with religion and the worship and instead of we have , for every matter of the king, i.e., for all civil causes. The last clause, 2Ch 19:8, , cannot signify that the men called to this supreme tribunal went to Jerusalem to dwell there thenceforth (Ramb., etc.), or that the suitors went thither; for does not denote to betake oneself to a place, but to return, which cannot be said of the persons above named, since it is not said that they had left Jerusalem. With Kimchi and others, we must refer the words to the previous statement in 2Ch 19:4, , and understand them as a supplementary statement, that Jehoshaphat and those who had gone forth with him among the people returned to Jerusalem, which would have come in more fittingly at the close of 2Ch 19:7, and is to be rendered: “when they had returned to Jerusalem.” The bringing in of this remark at so late a stage of the narrative, only after the establishment of the supreme tribunal has been mentioned, is explained by supposing that the historian was induced by the essential connection between the institution of the supreme court and the arrangement of the judicatories in the provincial cities, to leave out of consideration the order of time in describing the arrangements made by Jehoshaphat.

2Ch 19:9-11

To the members of the superior tribunal also, Jehoshaphat gave orders to exercise their office in the fear of the Lord, with fidelity and with upright heart ( , corde s. animo integro , cf. 2Ch 15:17; 2Ch 16:9). , thus shall ye do; what they are to do being stated only in 2Ch 19:10. The w before is explicative, namely, and is omitted by the lxx and Vulg. as superfluous. “Every cause which comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities” (and bring causes before the superior court in the following cases): between blood and blood ( with following, as in Gen 1:6, etc.), i.e., in criminal cases of murder and manslaughter, and between law and between command, statutes, and judgments, i.e., in cases where the matter concerns the interpretation and application of the law, and its individual commands, statutes, and judgments, to particular crimes; wherever, in short, there is any doubt by what particular provision of the law the case in hand should be decided. With the apodosis commences, but it is an anacolouthon. Instead of “ye shall give them instruction therein,” we have, “ye shall teach them (those who bring the cause before you), that they incur not guilt, and an anger (i.e., God’s anger and punishment) come upon you and your brethren” (cf. 2Ch 19:2). , properly to illuminate, metaphorically to teach, with the additional idea of exhortation or warning. The word is taken from Exo 18:20, and there is construed c. accus. pers. et rei. This construction is here also the underlying one, since the object which precedes in the absolute is to be taken as accus.: thus, and as regards every cause, ye shall teach them concerning it. After the enumeration of the matters falling within the jurisdiction of this court, is repeated, and this precept is then pressed home upon the judges by the words, “that ye incur not guilt.” Thereafter (in 2Ch 19:11) Jehoshaphat nominates the spiritual and civil presidents of this tribunal: for spiritual causes the high priest Amariah, who is not the same as the Amariah mentioned after Zadok as the fifth high priest (1Ch 6:11); in civil causes Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the prince of the house of Judah, i.e., tribal prince of Judah. These shall be over you, i.e., presidents of the judges; and , writers, shall the Levites be , before you, i.e., as your assistants and servants. Jehoshaphat concludes the nomination of the judicial staff with the encouraging words, “Be strong (courageous) and do,” i.e., go to work with good heart, “and the Lord be with the good,” i.e., with him who discharges the duties of his office well.

The establishment of this superior court was in form, indeed, the commencement of a new institution; but in reality it was only the expansion or firmer organization of a court of final appeal already provided by Moses, the duties of which had been until then performed partly by the high priest, partly by the existing civil heads of the people (the judges and kings). When Moses, at Horeb, set judges over the people, he commanded them to bring to him the matters which were too difficult for them to decide, that he might settle them according to decisions obtained of God (Exo 18:26 and Exo 18:19). At a later time he ordained (Deu 17:8.) that for the future the judges in the various districts and cities should bring the more difficult cases to the Levitic priests and the judge at the place where the central sanctuary was, and let them be decided by them. In thus arranging, he presupposes that Israel would have at all times not only a high priest who might ascertain the will of God by means of the Urim and Thummim, but also a supreme director of its civil affairs at the place of the central sanctuary, who, in common with the priests, i.e., the high priest, would give decisions in cases of final appeal (see the commentary on Deu 17:8-13). On the basis of these Mosaic arrangements, Jehoshaphat set up a supreme court in Jerusalem, with the high priest and a lay president at its head, for the decision of causes which up till that time the king, either alone with the cooperation of the high priest, had decided. For further information as to this supreme court, see in my bibl. Archol. ii. S. 250f.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

2Ch 19:4

Judges Instructed – Verses 4-11

Putting his mistake behind him Jehoshaphat now resumed his moral regeneration of the land. His program reached every part of the kingdom, from Beer-sheba in the far south to Mount Ephraim, north of Benjamin, the areas taken from the northern kingdom in the successful wars of Abijah and Asa. In every city of consequence he set judges, with the reminder that the judgment they passed was to be God’s judgment, not their own. They were to judge with the fear of God in their hearts, in which case He would be with them in their sentence. They were to show no respect of person in their judgment nor take any gift, or bribe, from those arraigned.

In the city of Jerusalem Jehoshaphat established what seems to have been a system of appellate courts. It was composed of judges from among the Levites, priests, and chief men of Israel. Theirs was a court of final appeal, the ultimate judgment of the Lord, in which they were to reach their decisions with a perfect heart. The cases they hear were to be of both criminal (blood) and civil (law and commandment, etc.) nature.

The judges were also to act as a forceful deterrent to crime and violation. Included in their duties was the sounding of warning to the people concerning the penalties which would fall upon them for disobedience to the law of the Lord. It was a grave responsibility, for the Lord would judge the guilty in any event and the judge also who failed in his duties. The chief judges, next to the king himself, were the chief priest Amariah and the prince of Judah, Zebadiah. In keeping with their official obligations from the time of Moses, all the Levites were to be teachers, and from among them the judges would select their officers to serve on their staff. They were promised, “Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good.”

Some lessons: 1) God’s rebuke awaits those who promiscuously act contrary to His known will; 2) the goodness of the Lord is evident toward all who repent of their wrong and seek Him again; 3) though one may fail the Lord once he should renew his efforts to please Him thereafter; 4) judges are for the good and welfare of a land, which is godly and right; therefore they are instruments for the Lord, performing a very serious obligation.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

FURTHER PROCEEDINGS IN THE REFORM OF JUSTICE AND RELIGION.

(4) And he went out again.This refers to the former Visitation or Royal Commission for the instruction of the people in the sacred Law (2Ch. 17:7-9).

From Beer-sheba, the southern, to the hill country of Ephraim, the northern limit of his dominions.

He went out.Not necessarily in person, but by his accredited representatives.

Brought them back.Made them return (2Ch. 24:19).

Unto the Lord God of their fathers.From the worship of the Baals and the illicit cultus of Jehovah. The local worship of the God of Israel necessarily came into contact with the Canaanite service of Baal, and, apart from the fact that the luxurious festivals of the latter had a natural attraction for the sensuous Semitic nature of the Hebrews, there was a more innocent motive which tended to assimilate the two worships. The offerings and festivals of Jehovah were acts of homage in which the people consecrated to Him the good things of His bestowing. These were no longer the scanty products of pastoral life, but the rich gifts of a land of corn and wine . . . Thus, the religious feasts necessarily assumed a new and more luxurious character, and, rejoicing before Jehovah in the enjoyment of the good things of Canaan, the Israelites naturally imitated the agricultural feasts which the Canaanites celebrated before Baal. It is not, therefore, surprising that we find many indications of a gradual fusion between the two worships; that many of the great Hebrew sanctuaries are demonstrably identical with Canaanite holy places; that the autumn feast, usually known as the Feast of Tabernacles, has a close parallel in the Canaanite Vintage Feast, that Canaanite immorality tainted the worship of Jehovah; and that at length Jehovah Himself, who was addressed by His worshippers by the same general appellation of Baal or Lord which was the ordinary title of the Canaanite nature-god, was hardly distinguished by the masses who worshipped at the local shrines from the local Baalim of their Canaanite neighbours (Prof. Robertson Smith, Prophets of Israel, p. 38).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

JEHOSHAPHAT’S FURTHER REFORMS, 2Ch 19:4-11.

4. He went out again through the people The again refers to his previous reforms described in chapter 17. In spite of all his efforts to obliterate idolatry, here and there throughout the kingdom the idol images and worship on “the high places” would again and again appear. Comp. 2Ch 20:33.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

We hear of no complaint nor anger in Jehoshaphat, like that of Asa at the reproof of the prophet. But we find on the contrary, his heart setting about a greater reform in his kingdom. He abides at home at Jerusalem his capital, and goes no more to foreign wars. His going forth is only through his own kingdom, to look over the magistrates whom he had appointed to preside over the people. And what a pious charge is recorded here concerning his address to the judges. Nothing, surely, can afford a more lovely view than what is here held forth of Jehoshaphat. In every point, as a king, as a servant of the Lord, and as a friend of the people, Jehoshaphat appears illustrious indeed; and the Holy Ghost hath handed down his memory with great honor to all succeeding generations in the church.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

2Ch 19:4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.

Ver. 4. And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem. ] He made no more journeys to Samaria; as he who had escaped with his life at the fall of Blackfriars, cried out, “I will go no more to mass”; and another, “Mass is misery.” A third – nothing so wise – said, that nothing grieved him more, than that he had not died by that mischance. But see the just hand of God upon such wild wishers. This Parker – for that was his name – going over to Douay to take priestly orders the week following, was drowned in his passage. a

And he went out again through the people. ] Heb., He returned, and went out. He had reformed all places before; but in his absence, at the siege of Ramothgilead, all fell out of order again; like as when Moses was gone but forty days only to converse with God, the people had corrupted themselves, and made a golden calf. It may very well be, too, that by Jehoshaphat’s evil example, in loving those that hated the Lord, the people took heart to slight the service of God, and to hanker after idols. Jehoshaphat, therefore, the first thing he doth after his return – when once he had recovered his fright, and considered the prophet’s reproof – he setteth upon a reformation – which is optima et aptissima poenitentia, as I have before noted out of Luther – and because it shall be thoroughly done from one end of the land to the other, he goeth himself in person, to see it done.

a Fuller’s Eccles. Hist.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)