ASA HIS SON REIGNED - If Rehoboam was (1 Kings 12:8 note) not more than 21 years old at his accession, Asa, when he mounted the throne, must have been a mere boy, not more than 10 or 11 years of age. THE LAND WAS QUIET TEN YEARS - The great blow struck by Abijah 2 Chronicles 13:15, his alliance with... [ Continue Reading ]
IMAGES - See the margin, sun-images; and Leviticus 26:30 note.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAND IS YET BEFORE US - i. e., “unoccupied by an enemy” - “the land is open to us to go where we please.” Compare Genesis 13:9. The fortification of the strongholds would be an act of rebellion against Egypt, and it might be expected that the Egyptians would endeavor to put a stop to it.... [ Continue Reading ]
The men of Judah served as heavy-armed troops, while the Benjamites were light-armed. Their numbers accord well with those of 2 Chronicles 13:3. As the boundaries of Judah had been enlarged 2 Chronicles 13:19, and as for ten years at least there had been no war 2 Chronicles 14:1, the effective force... [ Continue Reading ]
Zerah the Ethiopian is probably Usarken (Osorkon) II, the third king of Egypt after Shishak, according to the Egyptian monuments. Osorkon II may have been by birth an Ethiopian, for he was the son-in-law, not the son, of the preceding monarch, and reigned in right of his wife. The object of the expe... [ Continue Reading ]
The “valley of Zephathah” - not elsewhere mentioned - is probably the broad Wady which opens out from Mareshah (marginal reference) in a northwesterly direction, leading into the great Philistine plain. Zerah, on the advance of Asa, drew off into the wider space of the Wady, where he could use his h... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS NOTHING ... - i. e., “Thou canst as easily help the weak as the strong.”... [ Continue Reading ]
The defeat of Zerah is one of the most remarkable events in the history of the Jews. On no other occasion did they meet in the field and overcome the forces of either of the two great monarchies between which they were placed. It was seldom that they ventured to resist, unless behind walls. Shishak,... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SMOTE ALL THE CITIES ROUND ABOUT GERAR - The Philistines of these parts had, it is probable, accompanied Zerah in his expedition.... [ Continue Reading ]