2 Chronicles 14:12

So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) So the Lord smote . . . before Judah.—(Comp. 2Chronicles 13:15-16.) Thenius remarks that the words of 1Kings 15:15, about the spoils dedicated by Asa, help to establish the chronicler’s accounts of this victory and that of Abijah.

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 14:12-13. So the Lord smote the Ethiopians — Smote them with terror, and an unaccountable consternation, so that they fled, and knew not why or whither. Asa and the people pursued them unto Gerar — A city of the Philistines, who probably were confederate with them in this design. They were destroyed before the Lord — For who can stand before him? And before his host — The host of Israel, called God’s host, because owned by him as his people. They carried away very much spoil — From the slain, together with the plunder of their camp.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:1-15 Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom. - Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vexation. Asa consulted with his people how to make a good use of the peace they enjoyed; and concluded with them that they must not be idle, nor secure. A formidable army of Ethiopians invaded Asa's kingdom. This evil came upon them, that their faith in God might be tried. Asa's prayer is short, but it is the real language of faith and expectation from God. When we go forth in God's name, we cannot but prosper, and all things work together for the good of those whom he favours.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Nebuchadnezzar, were either unopposed or only opposed in this way. On the one other occasion on which they took the field - under Josiah against Necho - their boldness issued in a most disastrous defeat 2 Chronicles 35:20-24. Now, however, under Asa, they appear to have gained a complete victory over Egypt. The results which followed were nicest striking. The Southern power could not rally from the blow, and, for above three centuries made no further effort in this direction. Assyria, growing in strength, finally, under Sargon and Sennacherib, penetrated to Egypt itself. All fear of Egypt as an aggressive power ceased; and the Israelites learned instead to lean upon the Pharaohs for support (2 Kings 17:4; 2 Kings 18:21; Isaiah 30:2-4, etc.). Friendly ties alone connected the two countries: and it was not until 609 B.C. that an Egyptian force again entered Palestine with a hostile intention.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11-13. Asa cried unto the Lord his God—Strong in the confidence that the power of God was able to give the victory equally with few as with many, the pious king marched with a comparatively small force to encounter the formidable host of marauders at his southern frontier. Committing his cause to God, he engaged in the conflict—completely routed the enemy, and succeeded in obtaining, as the reward of his victory, a rich booty in treasure and cattle from the tents of this pastoral horde.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah,.... With consternation and terror; they were thrown into a panic:

and the Ethiopians fled; before them, just as Jeroboam and Israel had, as related in the preceding chapter, 2 Chronicles 13:15.

Geneva Study Bible

So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. the Lord smote] Cp. 2 Chronicles 13:15. The use of The Name, Jehovah (translated The Lord), instead of the word “God” here and in 2 Chronicles 14:13-14 is in favour of the suggestion that the Chronicler took this account from some earlier document.

the Ethiopians] Rather, the Cushites.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. - So the Lord smote the Ethiopians. As little as the real work was of the army of Asa, so little is said of even the mere human method by which this great victory was obtained for Asa and Judah. Again and yet again, in the following two verses, the glory is given to "the Lord." 2 Chronicles 14:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Asa, with his people, pursued to Gerar, the old ancient Philistine city, whose ruins Rowlands has discovered in the Khirbet el Gerar, in the Wady Jorf el Gerar (the torrent of Gerar), three leagues south-south-east of Gaza (see on Genesis 20:1). "And there fell of the Cushites, so that to them was not revival," i.e., so many that they could not make a stand and again collect themselves, ut eis vivificatio i. e. copias restaurandi ratio non esset, as older commentators, in Annott. uberior. ad h. l., have already rightly interpreted it. The words are expressions for complete defeat. Berth. translates incorrectly: "until to them was nothing living;" for לאין does not stand for לאין עד, but ל serves to subordinate the clause, "so that no one," where in the older language אין alone would have been sufficient, as in 2 Chronicles 20:25; 1 Chronicles 22:4, cf. Ew. 315, c; and מחיה denotes, not "a living thing," but only "preservation of life, vivification, revival, maintenance." For they were broken before Jahve and before His host. מחנהוּ, i.e., Asa's army is called Jahve's, because Jahve fought in and with it against the enemy. There is no reason to suppose, with some older commentators, that there is any reference to an angelic host or heavenly camp (Genesis 32:2.). And they (Asa and his people) brought back very much booty.