2 Chronicles 18:33

2Ch 18:33 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: therefore he said to his chariot man, Turn thine hand, that thou mayest carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.

Ver. 33. Between the joints of the harness.] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place. As when God will save a man, a book in his bosom, the money in his purse, the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust, or shot.

For I am wounded.] Heb., I am sick, or weary. Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man; but

“Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρον.”

His "sin had now found him out"; and, as stout hearted as he was, death seized him. For,

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_18:33

And a certain man drew a bow at a venture.

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words: A certain man drew a bow at a venture. We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians, but simply one of the ordinary archers. He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation. At a venture he drew his bow, or, in the words of the Revised Version, as given in the margin, In his simplicity--that is, never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart. We may be for year after year fighting the Lords battles, and seeking after some offender above other offenders, some Ahab in disguise; but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with success--we may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset, bringing a host of others in its train; but at length Gods Spirit shall guide our words to the weak place in that souls armour. Some word spoken with no special purpose, perhaps in season, perhaps out of season, shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin. But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls, the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations. When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us; probably many faces are familiar to us, but we cannot see the inmost soul; we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke. Therefore, to a great extent, our bow must be ever drawn at a venture. (J. Nepleton.)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr. Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture: I supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company, and once there meant to have his fling unfettered; so was on the eve of starting to India, in order to escape the restraint of a godly, widowed mothers influence. I pointed to him, and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying mothers heart. At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney. As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements. He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him, and did not even know his name. The same week, after the Thursday evening service, another young man wished to see me alone; wanted to know who had been telling me about him. I asked, What about him? About his fast life, and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying mothers influence? He had been very distressed ever since. I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening; he wished to see me about it, but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended. But, said he, there is one mistake you made, Mr. Spurgeon; you told the people I was going to India, and it is China I am booked for.

Gospel archery

I. The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness.

1. Indifference.

2. Pleasure.

3. Worldliness.

4. Religious formality.

II. Having these hearts for a mark, the gospel bow must be drawn. At some must be shot the arrows of--

1. Divine goodness.

2. Divine threatenings.

3. Divine love. (R. Berry.)

.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hebrew, in his simplicity, or ignorantly.

Or, between the habergeon.

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

Verse 33. A certain man drew a bow] The Targum tells us who it was. "Now, Naaman, the captain of the host of the great king of Syria, drew a bow against him, (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite, and of Micaiah the son of Imla, might be fulfilled,) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver, through the place where the coat of mail is joined." 2Kg 5:1 for this tradition.

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

(33) Drew a bow.—With the bow.

At a venture.—See margin, and comp. 2Sa_15:11, where a similar phrase occurs, which Gesenius interprets “without thought of evil design.” The LXX. εὐστόχως, “with good aim,” is a bad guess. Syriac, “innocently straight before him.” But the explanation of Rashi seems best: “without knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot at.”

And smote.—See on 2Ch_18:23.

Between the joints of the harness.—Or, breastplate. So Syriac, “between the division of his mail”; the LXX. has “in the midst of the lungs and breast:; Vulgate, “between the neck and shoulders”; both mere guesses.

That thou mayst carry (literally, bring) me out.—Kings, and bring me out.

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

33. And a certain man drew a bow] Render, But a certain man had drawn a bow. God had already brought about that which the Syrians were labouring to perform.

at a venture] Better, as mg., in his simplicity, i.e. without knowing that he was aiming at Ahab. Cp. 2Sa_15:11.

between the joints of the harness] Probably between the breastplate (or coat of mail) and the appendages to it; the wound would be in the lower part of the body.

that thou mayest carry me] R.V. and carry me (so 1 Kin.).

wounded] R.V. sore wounded (so 1 Kin., R.V.).

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.

At a venture; Hebrew, wOMtul; i.e. "in his innocence. " The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness, perfectness, simplicity, and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing, of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random), and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny. Between the joints of the harness; literally, between the joints and the harness, i.e. that part called the breastplate. The arrow went through, or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn. Ahab"s direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host, was evidently qualified, when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal. As the heat of the battle grew, and victory did not at once turn one way or the other, he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army, and, unable to stand by himself, he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed" (1Ki_22:35) in the chariot till he died in the evening. Although the spirit of Ahab, and his fidelity to his own army, kingdom, and self, cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life, yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact, that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel (ver. 35 compared with ver. 38). Note, therefore, particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance. He, no doubt, consciously omitted, and with a purpose, his own usual purpose; but light is lost, and the cross light tends rather to misleading, except for that only correct user of Scripture, which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another, and balance one part against another a thing easy to do in matters of fact, but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine. Here our eighteenth chapter closes, less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahab"s army (ver. 36 of the parallel chapter) which should fulfil the prophecy of our ver. 16, and less any mention of Ahab"s burial, of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria, of the dogs licking up of the blood there, and of his ivory house, etc. (vers. 37-40 of the parallel chapter). All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles, in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest, however charged with instruction they too might be.

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

drew his bow at random

Possible meanings are 1) he took aim to shoot a soldier without knowing that it was Ahab or 2) he drew his bow to shoot without any specific target in mind.

between the joints of his armor

This is a place where two pieces of armor meet and is susceptible to arrows and swords.

the king of Israel was held up in his chariot

This can be stated in active form. AT: "someone held the king of Israel up in his chariot" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

bow and arrow

armor

Aram

die

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 a man drew his bow An Israelite man intended to shoot at the camp of Aram, and inadvertently

and it hit The arrow [hit] the king of Israel.

between the scales and the coat of mail between the thong with which they attach the helmet on his head to the coat of mail. We cannot say that he was a heathen, because whom was he aiming at? Did not the king of Aram command, “Attack neither small nor great, except the king of Israel”? And he did not even aim at him, for it is written, “innocently.” Perforce, you must say that the archer was an Israelite who intended to shoot at the camp of Aram, and inadvertently hit the king of Israel.

and he said to the charioteer to the one who drives the chariot.

and carry me out of the camp i.e., away from these front lines, and take me to the rear lines.

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.