2 Chronicles 18:31

2Ch 18:31 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It [is] the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them [to depart] from him.

Ver. 31. Therefore they compassed about him.] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into; as likewise the valiant Hunniades did, at the battle of Varna, where he was worsted, and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula, for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary.

And the Lord helped him.] See 1Ki 22:32, where yet this precious passage is not; but is here added by the penman of this book, who relateth things formerly set down, but oft with usury.

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.

He cried to the Lord by acknowledging his fault in going with this wicked king to war against the word of the Lord by his Prophet, and also by desiring mercy for the same.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 31. But Jehoshaphat cried out] "Jehoshaphat cried, and the WORD of the Lord brought him assistance." - Targum.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

31. saw Jehoshaphat … to fight] Render, saw Jehoshaphat, (now they said, It is the king of Israel!) that they turned about against him to fight. The captains of the chariots obeying the orders given them made a circuit in order to reach the rear of the Israelite army where Jehoshaphat was stationed. The same fact is described in 1 Kin. by the phrase, they turned aside. The A.V. of Chronicles they compassed about him (i.e. “surrounded him”; cp. 2Ch_21:9) is a possible, but less probable, interpretation.

and God moved them to depart from him] These words anticipate 2Ch_18:32 and are not found in 1 Kin. Probably a panic fell on the Syrian charioteers when they found themselves far from the rest of the Syrian army and yet not near the king of Israel.

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.

And the Lord helped him ... - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings. It is a pious reflection on the part of the author, who traces all deliverance to its real divine source.

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

Turned. Heb. "moved them from him." They felt that he was under God’s protection; and discovered that he was not the king of Israel. H.

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).

Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel, (1Ki_22:32, 1Ki_22:33) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects, viz. the Lord helped him; and God moved them. What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain; whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers, or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees," to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought, or whether most improbably, a cry to the Lord is meant. The cry fulfilled its purpose, and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant "love them," etc., of Jehu in second verse of next chapter), he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him. The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse, as compared with seeing in this verse, is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases twOarKi), though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom,

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

Cried out - He cried out, either to his friends to help, or to his enemies, to let them know, he was not the king of Israel: or to God, and not in vain; for he moved the captains to depart from him. Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others; but an invisible power moves them.

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

That is the king of Israel

Jehoshaphat was wrongly identified as the king of Israel because Ahab had insisted that he wear kingly robes.

God turned them away from him

"God caused them to stop pursuing him"

It came about that

This phrase is used here to mark an important event in the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.

translationWords

Yahweh

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

and Jehoshaphat cried out He called to his troop and his armies to come to his aid, [using] the sign of the lion on his banner or the banner of the sons of Judah. And so is the custom when two troops engage in battle: each troop gives a name to the insignia of its division for the troop that is with it, so that if they separate from each other or if the troops mingle with one another, each troop shouts the name of its insignia, and they recognize the insignia and all gather together and become one group as originally. He did not, however, cry out to his God, as is proven from I Kings (22:32), for there it does not say, “and the Lord helped him, and God enticed them away from him,” but it is written, And it was when the officers of the chariots saw that he was not the king of Israel for they immediately recognized and understood when he cried out the insignia of his division, as was explained. As soon as they recognized him, they turned away from him in accordance with the order of the king of Aram, and it was from the Lord that they recognized him.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.