Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 19

Jehoshaphat ... returned to his house in peace. —A contrast with the fate of Ahab is suggested. (Compare 2 Chronicles 18:27; 2 Chronicles 18:34; and 2 Chronicles 18:16.)

In peace. —In wholeness, soundness, i.e., unhurt.

And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer. — This refers to the seer whose father had suffered for his reproof of Asa (2 Chronicles 16:7–10), and who had himself already witnessed against Baasha, king of Israel (1 Kings 16:1–7).

To meet him. — Unto his presence (1 Chronicles 12:17; 2 Chronicles 15:2).

King. — The king. The prophets never shrank from facing the highest representatives of earthly power (Compare to 1 Kings 21:20).

Shouldest thou help. — Literally, to help the ungodly. The infinitive (as in 1 Chronicles 5:1; 1 Chronicles 9:25), that is, ought you to help?

The ungodly. — The emphatic word. (Psalms 119:158: “I beheld the transgressors with loathing.”)

Them that hate the Lord. — And haters of Jehovah do you love? (The particle le prefixed to the word for “haters” is characteristic of the Chronicler’s style.)

Therefore is wrath upon thee. — See the same phrase in 1 Chronicles 27:24. In the case of David, the Divine wrath was embodied in pestilence; what form did it take with Jehoshaphat? The following chapters seem to supply the answer. His land suffered invasion and his fleet shipwrecked; his posterity was evil and came to an evil end (2 Chronicles 20:21–22). There may also be a reference to the failure of the campaign in which Jehoshaphat had engaged, and his inglorious return to his own land.

Nevertheless.—Yet the divine wrath will not pursue you to destruction, for there are good things found in you (see 2 Chronicles 12:12; compare also 1 Kings 14:13).

You have taken away the groves.—You have consumed (or exterminated) the Ashçrahs (Deuteronomy 13:6; 2 Kings 23:24). So Asa had done (2 Chronicles 17:4). (Ashçrôth, as equivalent to Ashçrîm, recurs in 2 Chronicles 33:3 and in Judges 3:7 only.)

And have prepared.—Or, directed. The contrary was said of Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 12:14).

FURTHER PROCEEDINGS IN THE REFORM OF JUSTICE AND RELIGION.

And he went out again. — This refers to the former Visitation or Royal Commission for the instruction of the people in the sacred Law (2 Chronicles 17:7–9).

From Beer-sheba, the southern, to the hill country of Ephraim, the northern limit of his dominions.

He went out. — Not necessarily in person, but by his accredited representatives.

Brought them back. — Made them return (2 Chronicles 24:19).

To the Lord God of their fathers. — From the worship of the Baals and the illicit cultus of Jehovah. The local worship of the God of Israel “necessarily came into contact with the Canaanite service of Baal, and, apart from the fact that the luxurious festivals of the latter had a natural attraction for the sensuous Semitic nature of the Hebrews, there was a more innocent motive which tended to assimilate the two worships.

The offerings and festivals of Jehovah were acts of homage in which the people consecrated to Him the good things of His bestowing. These were no longer the scanty products of pastoral life, but the rich gifts of a land of corn and wine ... Thus, the religious feasts necessarily assumed a new and more luxurious character, and, rejoicing before Jehovah in the enjoyment of the good things of Canaan, the Israelites naturally imitated the agricultural feasts which the Canaanites celebrated before Baal.

It is not, therefore, surprising that we find many indications of a gradual fusion between the two worships; that many of the great Hebrew sanctuaries are demonstrably identical with Canaanite holy places; that the autumn feast, usually known as the Feast of Tabernacles, has a close parallel in the Canaanite Vintage Feast; that Canaanite immorality tainted the worship of Jehovah; and that finally Jehovah Himself, who was addressed by His worshippers by the same general appellation of ‘Baal’ or ‘Lord’ which was the ordinary title of the Canaanite nature-god, was hardly distinguished by the masses who worshipped at the local shrines from the local Baalim of their Canaanite neighbours” (Prof. Robertson Smith, Prophets of Israel, p. 38).

And he set. — Appointed, or stationed.

The fenced cities. —As being the chief centres of each district.

City by city. — For every city, according to the Law, Deuteronomy 16:18, in all thy gates. (Compare to 1 Chronicles 23:4; 1 Chronicles 26:29.) The judges would be Levites, and probably also priests and family chiefs, as in the case of Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 19:8).