2 Chronicles 21:9

2Ch 21:9 Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him in, and the captains of the chariots.

Ver. 9. And smote the Edomites.] But could not subdue them. They might be more troublesome, as Carthage was to Rome, when but half destroyed, than before he meddled with them.

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.

(9) Then Jehoram went forth.—And Jehoram passed over.

With his princes.—Captains (‘im sârâv); Kings, “to Zair,” which appears to be a corruption of “to Seir.” The chronicler has substituted an intelligible for an obscure expression.

And he rose up by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him in.—Literally, and it came to pass, he rose. Brief as the notice is, it is evident that the verse relates not a victory of Jehoram’s, but his desperate escape by cutting his way through the enemy’s troops, which had surrounded him and his forces. (See on 2Ki_8:21, where it is added, “and the people fled to their tents.”) (Syriac. “And Jehoram passed over with his captains; and all his chariots with him. And it came to pass that when he rose in the night, he destroyed the Edomites, and the captains of the chariots came with him.”)

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

9. Then Jehoram went forth] R.V. Then Jehoram passed over. The Heb. root rendered “pass over” means (a) to pass over a sea or river or other landmark, (b) to pass by persons. In the latter signification it is applied (as here) to the vanguard of an army which passes by the main body in order to take the lead; cp. Jos_6:7. In this case Jehoram pushed on with the vanguard (consisting of all his chariots) leaving the “people” (2Ki_8:21), i.e. the bulk of his army to follow. A disaster ensued. Jehoram was hemmed in by the Edomites, and though he cut his way through them by a night surprise, his success came too late, for the rest of the army, thinking that the vanguard was cut off, dispersed to their homes. This last fact, which explains the failure of the campaign, is omitted by the Chronicler. 2Ki_8:21 should read, And it came to pass, though he rose by night and smote the Edomites … that the people fled to their tents.

with his princes] In 2 Kin. to Zair. Nothing is known of such a place, but some place name is to be expected here.

and the captains of the chariots] The clause is governed by the verb “compassed” (read perhaps el for eth in the Heb.).

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.

With his princes. The parallel, 2Ki_8:21, reads, "to Zair." Of any such place nothing is known, and it has been proposed to supersede the word there by "Self," which a certain amount of similarity of the Hebrew characters might countenance. Possibly by some mishap, not so readily explainable by misoccurrence of characters simply, our words, "with his princes," should stand in place of "to Zair." It must be noted that the two first clauses of the verse in the parallel become something inconsequential (which is not the ease with the reading of our text) in that it says, "The king and chariots went forth to a place, and rose up by night," etc. The dislocation is, perhaps, not serious, but our text avoids it in reading, "The king, princes, and chariots went forth, and rose up by night and smote," etc.

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

who surrounded him He smote those Edomites who surrounded him and supported him to aid him, for it was their custom that when they were victorious in war, they would seize the mighty men and bring them with them lest they join their enemies to aid the Edomites, their countrymen. In this case, he got up at night suddenly and slew them. Our Sages, however, explained “those who surrounded him” as “those near 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.