Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 18:30
Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that [were] with him, saying, Fight ye not with small or great, save only with the king of Israel.
30. the captains of the chariots that were with him ] R.V. the captains of his chariots. Thirty-two in number (1 Kin.). While the rest of the Syrian army met the Israelite attack, the chariots were to act as an independent force, whose primary task should be to kill or capture Ahab. The king of Syria felt himself overmatched and thought that the only chance of victory lay in the fall of the Israelite commander. Cp. 2Ki 3:26 (the king of Moab tries to break through to the king off Edom).
Fight ye not with small or great ] R.V. Fight neither with small nor great (so in 1 Kin.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
[See comments on 2Ch 18:2].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(30) That were with him.Kings adds, thirty and two, referring to what is related in 1Ki. 20:16; 1Ki. 20:24, a matter which the chronicler has not noticed. The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here.
With small or great.So Kings. Our text is literally, with the small or the great.
They compassed about him.Or, came round against him. Kings, wrongly, turned aside against him. In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter.
But Jehoshaphat cried out.Probably to bring his followers to the rescue. (1Ki. 22:32 ends with these words.)
And the Lord helped him; and God moved (literally, incited, persuaded, 2Ch. 18:1) them . . . from him.Drove them away from him. This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself. It appears that he understood the verb cried out in the sense of a cry to God for help, a sense which it often bears, e.g., Psa. 22:6.
How God drove them off is explained in the next verse. The captains discovered their mistake and retired.
This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential, and rightly so. Hebrew faith knows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Now, &c. Having been taken into the camp of Israel and allowed to hear what Ahab said, we are now taken into the camp of Syria to overhear what the king of Syria said. This is to enable us to understand what follows.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fight ye: 1Ki 20:33, 1Ki 20:34, 1Ki 20:42
small or great: 2Ch 15:13, Gen 19:11, Deu 1:17
Reciprocal: 1Ki 22:31 – thirty and two 1Ki 22:34 – wounded 2Ch 34:30 – great and small