2 Chronicles 19:11

Verse 2 Chronicles 19:11. _BEHOLD, AMARIAH_] Here was a two-fold jurisdiction, _ecclesiastical_ and _civil_: in the _ecclesiastical court_, Amariah the high-priest was _supreme judge_, in the _civil court_, Zebadiah was supreme. To assist both the _Levites_ were a sort of _counsellors_. WITHOUT good and wholesome _laws_, no nation can be prosperous: and vain are the best laws if they be not _judiciously_ and _conscientiously_ administered. The things of GOD and the things of the KING should never be confounded in the administration of justice. Amariah the priest, and Zebadiah the ruler, should ever have their distinct places of jurisdiction....

In religious causes, Amariah, the high priest, was to preside over the court; in civil or criminal causes, Zebadiah was to be president. And to Levites, other than the judges, he assigned the subordinate offices about the court....

EXPOSITION The matter of this chapter is preserved for us by the writer of Chronicles alone, and is of much significance. After glancing at the moment's outward "peace" (2 Chronicles 19:1), which Jehoshaphat had on his return to Jerusalem, the narrative, leaving in deep oblivion all he must have thought and felt and may have spoken of the end of his brother-king, and of his own late private intimacy and public alliance with him, tells how he was reined up by Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer (2 Chronicles 19:2, 2 Chronicles 19:3); and thereupon how he wisely revisited his kingdom, as it were through its length and breadth, sought to "bring them back to the Lord God of their fathers

AND, BEHOLD, AMARIAH THE CHIEF PRIEST IS OVER YOU IN ALL MATTERS OF THE LORD,.... He being high priest, presided in this court in all things sacred, or which respected the worship of God; and was present to give his advice, and direct in the determination of all such matters that should come before them, according to the laws and statutes provided in such cases; though it may be he was only a common priest that was chief over them, or the president of this court: AND ZEBADIAH THE SON OF ISHMAEL, THE RULER OF THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; the prince of the tribe of Judah: FOR ALL THE KING'S MATTERS; such as related to civil government, and which were not so clearly determined by positive laws: ALSO THE LEVITES SHALL BE OFFICERS BEFORE YOU; to execute the sentences that should be passed by them: DEAL COURAGEOUSLY; fear not the faces of any, but judge righteously and faithfully: and the Lord sh

CHAPTER 19 REBUKE AND RESTORATION _ 1. The rebuke by the prophet (2 Chronicles 19:1)_ 2. Further revival and restoration (2 Chronicles 19:4) At sun-down Ahab, the King of Israel died, while his ally Jehoshaphat, saved through the mercy of God, returned to his home in peace in Jerusalem. Then Jelin, the son of Hanani, met him. Asa, the father of Jehoshaphat, had been rebuked by Hanani, and had put him in prison for it. The son of Hanani rebukes Jehoshaphat. We read no answer from the king, but his actions show that the rebuke went home to his conscience. He must have repented of the unholy alliance with the enemy of the Lord. Jehu said to him, “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.”

Jehu the prophet reproves Jehoshaphat for having allied himself with Ahab. These verses are mainly from the Chronicler, but see 1 Kings 16:1 ff. 2 CHRONICLES 19:4. This section, a kind of _midrash_ on the name Jehoshaphat (= Yahweh judgeth), is also from the Chronicler; he imagines the judicial arrangements of his own day to have been already in existence in much earlier times. The section is, in a sense, analogous to 2 Chronicles 17:7....

AMARIAH. The fifth high priest from Zadok (1 Chronicles 6:11), Jehoshaphat being the fifth king from David. ALL MATTERS OF THE LORD. Probably refers to spiritual, or ecclesiastical matters. DEAL COURAGEOUSLY. be strong, and act....

_Amariah_ Perhaps he who is mentioned 1 Chronicles 6:11 [5:37, _Heb_.]. _officers before you_ i.e. waiting to execute your instructions. _Deal courageously_ Render, BE STRONG AND WORK (as in Haggai 2:4). _shall be with the good_ R.V. BE WITH THE GOOD (a blessing rather than a promise)....

5. THE REIGN OF JEHOSHAPHAT (17-21:3) TEXT 2 Chronicles 17:1. And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel. 2. And he placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken. 3. And Jehovah was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto the Baalim, 4. but sought to the God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel. 5. Therefore Jehovah established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat tribute; and he had riches and honor in abundance. 6. And his heart was lifted up in the ways of Jehovah: and furthermore he took away the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. 7. Also in the third year of his reign he sent his pri

19:11 officers. (b-40) See Deuteronomy 1:15 ....