2 Chronicles 20:13

2Ch 20:13 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

Ver. 13. And all Judah stood before the Lord.] Ex singulis familiis omnes All from each family. {Joh 3:5}

With their little ones, their wives, and their children.] To move pity, to excite devotion, and to offer a holy violence to the Almighty. Haec enim vis grata est Deo, saith Tertullian. Such a violence is well pleasing to God.

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 20:13. All Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones — Whom they used to present before the Lord in times of great distress, to stir up themselves to more fervent prayers, their eyes being upon their harmless and tender children; and to move God to compassion, because God hath declared that he will be prevailed with by such methods as these.

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

That is, before the Ark of the Covenant.

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

(13) Stood.—Were standing.

Before the Lord—i.e., praying with their king. (Comp. the apparent reference to this assembly in Psa_48:9. “We thought upon Thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of Thy Temple.”

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

13. their little ones … and their children] Cp. 2Ch_31:18, “their little ones … and their sons and their daughters.” “Little ones” (Heb. ṭaph) seems always to mean quite small children.

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 all Judah stood before the Lord,.... Looking towards the most holy place, where the ark of his presence was, in an humble and submissive posture; waiting what would be the issue of things, what answer they should have from the Lord:

with their little ones, their wives, and their children: they and their wives, with their children, both small and grown up, which they brought with them, that as the sight of them, now in the utmost danger, might affect them, and make them the more fervent in their supplications to God, so they might hope the Lord would have pity and compassion on them, and save them.

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

Children. Even the little infants were deprived of the breasts, on such emergencies, that their cries might be more affecting. H. Joel ii. 16., and Judith iv. 8. --- The pagans of Ninive even made the cattle also fast, Jonas iii. 7. C. S. Ambrose, ser. 40. T.

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).

Whom they used to present before the Lord in times of great distress, partly to stir up themselves to more fervent and faithful prayers, that their eye, being upon their harmless and tender children, might affect their heart with a greater sense of their misery; and partly to move God to compassion, not as if he were capable of passions or changes upon such a sight, but because God hath declared himself that he will be prevailed with by such methods as these.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

If the whole narration called for one more touch, it has it in the pathetic, Brief, telling graphicness of this verse. Their little ones. The familiar Hebrew word ( f) is expressive of the quick, tripping step of the young and of women. Gesenius would regard it in this passage as designating the whole family as distinguished from the head of it, and as amplified by "wives" and "children" instanced afterward, quoting the very insufficient support of Gen_47:12. Our text occurs again in 2Ch_31:18.

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

Little ones - Whom they used to present before the Lord in times of great distress, to stir up themselves to more fervent prayers, their eyes being upon their harmless and tender children, and to move God to compassion, because God hath declared, that he will be prevailed with, by such methods as these.

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

Thus all Judah, with their king, stood praying before the Lord. They had, moreover, brought with them their little ones, their wives, and their sons, to pray for deliverance for them from the enemy; cf. Judith 4:9.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

also their infants It is customary that when troops attack a country, the infants, wives, and children flee the villages to the fortified cities.

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.