Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 20:2

"Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea from Syria; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (the same is En-gedi)." — 2 Chronicles 20:2 (ASV)

Then some came who told. — And they (that is, messengers; Vulgate, “nuntii”) came and told.

Comes. — Is come.

The Sea. — The Dead Sea, east of which lay the territories of Ammon and Moab, while to the south of it, not far from Petra, was Maon.

On this side of Syria. — Hebrew, from Aram; and so the Septuagint and Vulgate. But Edom is probably the true reading—a name often confused with Aram. As the invaders marched around the southern end of the Dead Sea, they were naturally described as coming from Edom. The Syriac and Arabic versions have: from the other side of the Red Sea.

Hazazon-tamar. — See Genesis 14:7.

Engedi (Ain-jidy), midway on the western coast of the Dead Sea (see 1 Samuel 23:29), about thirty-six miles from Jerusalem. The Syriac and Arabic versions have Jericho for Hazazon-tamar (possibly meadow of palms). Jericho was also called “the city of palms.”