2 Chronicles 20:27

Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(27) Then.—And.

Every man.—All the men (collective).

In the forefront of them.—At their head. LXX., ἡγούμενος αὐτῶν.

To go again . . . with joy.—They returned, as they came, in festal procession.

The Lord had made them to rejoice.—See the same phrase, Ezra 6:22; Nehemiah 12:43. (Comp. Psalm 30:2.) LXX., well, ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ μεγάλῃ, ὅτι εὔφρανεν αὐτοὺς κύριος ἀπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτῶν.

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 20:27-28. Jehoshaphat in the fore-front of them — They marched all in a body, in solemn procession, and Jehoshaphat at their head, that the country, as they passed along, might join with them in their praises. To go again to Jerusalem with joy — That they might give thanks for the mercy there, where by prayer they had obtained it. Unto the house of the Lord — To renew their praises in the court of the temple, the proper and usual place for it. Praising God must not be the work of a day only; but our praises, when we have received mercy, must be often repeated, as our prayers were, when we were in pursuit of it. Every day we must bless God; as long as we live, and while we have any being, we must praise him, spending our time in that work, in which we hope to spend our eternity.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

20:20-30 Jehoshaphat exhorted his troops to firm faith in God. Faith inspires a man with true courage; nor will any thing help more to the establishing of the heart in shaking times, than a firm belief of the power, and mercy, and promise of God. In all our trust in the Lord, and our praises of him, let us especially look at his everlasting mercy to sinners through Jesus Christ. Never was an army so destroyed as that of the enemy. Thus God often makes wicked people destroy one another. And never was a victory celebrated with more solemn thanksgivings.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The valley of Berachah - Probably, the Wady Bereikut, which lies at a short distance from Tekoa toward the northwest.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

24-26. when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness—Most probably the conical hill, Jebel Fereidis, or Frank Mountain, from the summit of which they obtained the first view of the scene of slaughter. Jehoshaphat and his people found the field strewed with dead bodies, so that they had not to fight at all, but rather to take possession of an immense booty, the collection of which occupied three days. On the fourth they set out on their return to Jerusalem in the same order and joyful mood as they came. The place where they mustered previous to departure was, from their public thanksgiving service, called, "The Valley of Berachah" ("benediction"), now Wady Bereikut.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then they returned, every man of Judah and of Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy,.... There to praise the Lord in the temple, as they had done in the valley:

for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies; by giving them a complete victory, and making them masters of so much wealth and riches.

Geneva Study Bible

Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

27. with joy] Rather, with rejoicing; cp. 2 Chronicles 20:28. LXX., ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ μεγάλῃ.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 27. - The Lord had made them to rejoice. Note the extremely similar and almost identical language of Ezra 6:22 and Nehemiah 12:43, and add also to the comparison the last sentence of our ver. 29. 2 Chronicles 20:27

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

On the fourth day the men of Judah gathered themselves together, to give thanks to God the Lord for this blessing, in a valley which thence received the name בּרכה עמק (valley of blessing), and which cannot have been far from the battle-field. Thence they joyfully returned, with Jehoshaphat at their head, to Jerusalem, and went up, the Levites and priests performing solemn music, to the house of God, to render further thanks to the Lord for His wondrous help (2 Chronicles 20:27.). The ancient name בּרכה still exists in the Wady Bereikut, to the west of Tekoa, near the road which leads from Hebron to Jerusalem. "A wide, open valley, and upon its west side, on a small rising ground, are the ruins of Bereikut, which cover from three to four acres" (Robinson's New Biblical Researches, and Phys. Geogr. S. 106; cf. v. de Velde, Memoir, p. 292). Jerome makes mention of the place in Vita Paulae, where he narrates that Paula, standing in supercilio Caphar baruca, looked out thence upon the wide desert, and the former land of Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. Reland, Pal. illustr. pp. 356 and 685). There is no ground, on the other hand, for the identification of the valley of blessing with the upper part of the valley of Kidron, which, according to Joel 3:2, Joel 3:12, received the name of Valley of Jehoshaphat (see on Joel 3:2). - On 2 Chronicles 20:27, cf. Ezra 6:22; Nehemiah 12:43.