2 Chronicles 20:37

2Ch 20:37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

Ver. 37. And the ships were broken.] By tempest likely; and perhaps lying at anchor in the harbour; as it befell Charles V’s navy before the walls of Algiers, besieged by him by sea and by land, and well-nigh taken.

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_20:37

Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works.

Evil compacts

Some partnerships are inexplicable. A Church officer who has led the devotions of the Church has been known to enter into partnership with a grovelling man who never hesitated to use profane language in the warehouse; a generous supporter of good institutions has associated with a man who would have sold his own father if he could have made money by the transaction. And men have wondered who have not known how two could walk together except they were agreed, and who have gone upon the principle that light could have no communion with darkness. The principle of ill-associated partnerships works in two ways: the professing Christian finds it convenient to be able to remit all questionable work to the man who has made away with his conscience and honour, and the said man finds it very satisfactory to point to his professing partner as a proof and pledge that all is straightforward and upright. But is this as it ought to be? (J. Parker, D.D.)

An immoral fallacy

It will be said that business is business, and religion is religion, that there is a distinction between the merchant and the man. Let us admit that there remains this question: When the merchant is damned for his wicked deeds where will the man go? (J. Parker, D. D.)

Evil associations

The principle of the text--

I. Supplies a lesson for the young. What you have to settle first and foremost is, the moral basis on which you are proceeding; you must get the full consent of your judgment and heart and conscience before you give yourself up to any commercial course.

II. Is expansive enough to include the subject of marriage. We do not hesitate to lay down the broad principle that where there is incongruity of religious conviction between man and woman happiness of the deepest and purest kind is entirely out of the question.

III. Will permit an earnest word about evil companionship generally. (J. Parker, D. D.)

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

Thus God would not have his to join in society with idolaters and wicked men.

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

Verse 37. The Lord hath broken, c.] "The WORD of the Lord hath broken." - Targum. Concerning Tarshish, Ezion-geber, and Ophir, and the voyage thither, 1Kg 10:22, and at the end of that chapter, 1Kg 10:29, and on 2Ch 9:26-28. The Tarshish here is called by the Chaldee Torsos in the great sea, some place in the Mediterranean. On this subject the reader has, no doubt, already seen a great variety of opinions.

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

(37) Then.—And.

Eliezer the son of Dodavah.—A prophet who is otherwise unknown.

Dodavah.—Heb. Dôdâvâhû. (Comp. Hôdavyâhû. 1Ch_3:24; LXX., Δωδία, as if the Heb. were Dôdîyâh; Vulg., “Dodau.”

Mareshah.—See 2Ch_11:8.

Because thou hast joined thyself.—Comp. Jehu the son of Hanani’s similar rebuke of Jenoshaphat for his alliance with Ahab (2Ch_19:2).

The Lord hath broken.—Shattered (parac). (Comp. 2Ch_24:7.) The perfect is prophetic, i.e., will certainly shatter.

And the ships were broken.—Wrecked by a gale. (Comp. Psa_48:7 : “With the east wind Thou breakest ships of Tarshish.”)

That they were not able.—And kept not strength to go (2Ch_13:20; 2Ch_14:10).

After this misadventure, Ahaziah proposed another joint expedition; but the king of Judah declined. (See on 2Ch_20:36.)

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

37. Mareshah] Cp. 2Ch_11:8 (note); 2Ch_14:10.

hath broken] R.V. hath destroyed. The same Heb. word is used 1Ch_13:11 (“had broken forth,” R.V.); 2Ch_14:11 (“hath broken forth,” R.V. mg.).

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.

37. Eliezer… prophesied against Jehoshaphat — This fact is mentioned only by the chronicler, and shows that Jehoshaphat was twice censured by the prophets for his connexion with the kingdom of Israel. Compare the rebuke of Jehu in 2Ch_19:2-3. These rebukes, and the evils which resulted from his alliance with the northern kingdom, are a cloud upon the memory of Jehoshaphat, but, on the whole, the general character of his administration was, as Stanley observes, “such as to leave behind the recollection of a reign of proverbial splendour.”

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

Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah. Nothing beside is known of this prophet. For Mareshah, see 2Ch_11:8, and note there. The ships were broken; i.e. presumably by some storm. One general remark may be made upon these verses (34-37), together with vers. 45-50 of 1Ki 22., viz. that the dislocation of both manner and matter, observable in both, of them, probably betrays something out of order for whatever reason or accident, in the more original source, from which both drew, the apparently disjointed mixture of matter in the parallel being the more patent of the two.

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

and could not go - Heb. וְלֹא עָצְרוּ, lit., they did not hold in. The meaning is: The ships could not muster the strength to go, and they were broken.

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.