2 Chronicles 14:12

And Asa, and the people that were with him, pursued them unto Gerar,.... A city of the Philistines, Gen 20:1,

and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; they were thrown into such a fright, and into so much confusion, that they could not put themselves in order, and rally again; or there fell such a vast number of them, that there were scarce any remaining alive, which seems to be the sense of the words used:

for they were destroyed before the Lord, and before his host; the army of Israel, which the Lord was, as it were, the Commander of, fought for, and led them in the pursuit, and gave them victory; or it may mean an host of angels, employed in destroying this great army; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions of Ch2 14:12 read,"the angel of the Lord smote the Ethiopians:"

and they carried away very much spoil; which they found in their camp, and with their slain; even much gold and silver, as Josephus (g) says.

(g) Ut supra, (Antiq. l. 8. c. 12.) sect. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2Ch 14:12 So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

Ver. 12. So the Lord smote the Ethiopians.] Egit in praecipitiurn, he tumbled them down headlong.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 14:12-13. So the Lord smote the Ethiopians — Smote them with terror, and an unaccountable consternation, so that they fled, and knew not why or whither. Asa and the people pursued them unto Gerar — A city of the Philistines, who probably were confederate with them in this design. They were destroyed before the Lord — For who can stand before him? And before his host — The host of Israel, called God’s host, because owned by him as his people. They carried away very much spoil — From the slain, together with the plunder of their camp.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(12) So the Lord smote . . . before Judah.—(Comp. 2Ch_13:15-16.) Thenius remarks that the words of 1Ki_15:15, about the spoils dedicated by Asa, help to establish the chronicler’s accounts of this victory and that of Abijah.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. the Lord smote] Cp. 2Ch_13:15. The use of The Name, Jehovah (translated The Lord), instead of the word “God” here and in 2Ch_14:13-14 is in favour of the suggestion that the Chronicler took this account from some earlier document.

the Ethiopians] Rather, the Cushites.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The defeat of Zerah is one of the most remarkable events in the history of the Jews. On no other occasion did they meet in the field and overcome the forces of either of the two great monarchies between which they were placed. It was seldom that they ventured to resist, unless behind walls. Shishak, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Nebuchadnezzar, were either unopposed or only opposed in this way. On the one other occasion on which they took the field - under Josiah against Necho - their boldness issued in a most disastrous defeat 2Ch 35:20-24. Now, however, under Asa, they appear to have gained a complete victory over Egypt. The results which followed were nicest striking. The Southern power could not rally from the blow, and, for above three centuries made no further effort in this direction. Assyria, growing in strength, finally, under Sargon and Sennacherib, penetrated to Egypt itself. All fear of Egypt as an aggressive power ceased; and the Israelites learned instead to lean upon the Pharaohs for support (2Ki 17:4; 2Ki 18:21; Isa 30:2-4, etc.). Friendly ties alone connected the two countries: and it was not until 609 B.C. that an Egyptian force again entered Palestine with a hostile intention.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Terrified. Hebrew and Septuagint, "struck," as he had done Jeroboam, chap. xiii. 15. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

12. The Lord smote the Ethiopians — But not without the help of Asa and his Jewish and Benjamite forces. Jehovah inspired his people with faith and their enemies with terror, thus making the former doubly strong and the latter hopelessly weak and fearful.

“Egyptian monuments,” says R. Stuart Poole, “enable us to picture the general disposition of Zerah’s army. The chariots formed the first corps, in a single or double line; behind them, massed in phalanxes, were heavy armed troops; probably on the flanks stood archers and horsemen in lighter formations. Asa, marching down a valley, must have attacked in a heavy column, for none but the most highly disciplined troops can form line from column in the face of an enemy. His spearmen of Judah would compose this column; each bank of the valley would be occupied by the Benjamite archers, like those who came to David, ‘helpers of the war, armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow.’ 2Ch_12:1-2. No doubt the Ethiopian, confident in his numbers, disdained to attack the Hebrews, or clear the heights, but waited in the broad valley or the plain. From the account of Abijah’s defeat of Jeroboam, we may suppose that the priests sounded their trumpets, and the men of Judah descended with a shout. 2Ch_13:14-15. The hills and mountains were the favourite camping places of the Hebrews, who usually rushed down upon their more numerous or better disciplined enemies in the plains and valleys.” — SMITH’S Bible Dictionary.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So the Lord smote the Ethiopians. As little as the real work was of the army of Asa, so little is said of even the mere human method by which this great victory was obtained for Asa and Judah. Again and yet again, in the following two verses, the glory is given to "the Lord."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Smote - With terror, and an unaccountable consternation.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Yahweh struck the Cushites before Asa and Judah

God enabling the army of Judah to defeat the Cushites is spoken of as if God struck the Cushites. AT: "God enabled Asa and the army of Judah to defeat the Cushites" (See: Metaphor)

So many Cushites fell that they could not recover

Possible meanings are 1) "So many Cushites died that the army could not recover" or 2) "So many Cushites died that there were none who remained alive."

So many Cushites fell

Here to "fall" is a euphemism for dying in battle. AT: "So many Cushites died" (See: Euphemism)

for they were completely destroyed before Yahweh and his army

This can be stated in active form. AT: "for Yahweh's army completely destroyed them" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

Gerar

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.