---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse 2 Chronicles 20:1. Children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites — Here there must be a mistake; surely the Ammonites are the same as"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/20"
---

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:1](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/1). ***Children of Ammon, and with them*****other*****beside the**********Ammonites*** — Here there must be a mistake; surely the *Ammonites* are the same as the *children of Ammon*. Our translators have falsified the text by inserting the words "other *beside*," which have nothing properly to represent them in the Hebrew. Literally translated, the words are: "And it happened after this, the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them of the Ammonites:" and thus the *Vulgate*. The *Syriac*, which the *Arabic* follows, has felt the difficulty, and translated, *Came together with warlike men to* *fight*, c. The *Septuagint* have given it another turn: Και μετ' αυτων εκ των Μιναιων, *And with them people of the Minaites* which were a people of Arabia Felix near the Red Sea. The *Targum* has ועמהון מן אדומאי *Ve-immehon min Edomaey*, "And with them some of the Edomites." This is very likely to be the true reading, as we find from [2 Chronicles 20:10](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/10); [2 Chronicles 20:22-23](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/22-23), that they procured men from Mount *Seir*; and these were the *Idumeans* or *Edomites*. We should, in my opinion, read the text thus: *The children of Moab, and the* *children of common, and with them some of the Edomites*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:2](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/2). ***On this side Syria*** — Instead of מארם *mearam, from Syria*, I would read with one of Kennicott's MSS. (89) מאדם *meedom, from* *Edom*, which alteration brings it to truth and does not require the change of *half a letter*, as it consists in the almost imperceptible difference between ר *resh* and ד *daleth*. We do not read of any *Syrians* in this invasion, but we know there were *Edomites*, or *inhabitants of Mount Seir*.
***Hazazon-tamar*** — "In the wood of palm trees, that is, in Engedi." - *Targum*. This is the meaning of the word, and it is probable that they lay hid here.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:3](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/3). ***Jehoshaphat feared*** — He found that he could not possibly stand against such a numerous army, and therefore could not expect to be delivered except by the strong arm of God. To get this assistance, it was necessary to *seek* it; and to get such *extraordinary* help, they should seek it in an *extraordinary way*; hence he proclaimed a *universal fast*, and all the people came up to Jerusalem to seek the Lord.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:6](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/6). ***Jehoshaphat stood*** — What an instructive sight was this! The king who proclaimed the fast was foremost to observe it, and was on this occasion the priest of the people; offering in the congregation, without *form* or any *premeditation*, one of the most sensible, pious, correct, and as to its composition one of the most elegant prayers ever offered under the Old Testament dispensation.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:7](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/7). ***Art not thou our God*** — "Hast not thou, by thy WORD, driven out." - *Targum*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:8](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/8). ***Therein for thy name*** — "For the name of thy WORD." - *Targum*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:9](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/9). ***For thy name*****is*****in this house*** — "Thy *Majesty* is in this house." Several of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., with the *Vulgate, Syriac*, and *Arabic*, add נקרא *nikra*, "is invoked;" *Thy name is invoked in this house*- here thou dwellest, and here thou art worshipped.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:11](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/11). ***They reward us*** — Six of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. add רעה *evil*: "Behold, they reward us EVIL." This is also the reading of the *Targum*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:12](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/12). ***Wilt thou not judge them*** — That is, Thou wilt inflict deserved punishment upon them.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:15](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/15). ***For the battle*****is*****not yours, but God's.*** — God will not employ you in the discomfiture of this great host; he himself will take the matter in hand, deliver you, and destroy them.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:17](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/17). ***For the Lord*****will be*****with you.*** — "The WORD of the Lord shall be your Helper." - *Targum*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:20](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/20). ***Believe in the Lord your God*** — "Believe in the WORD of the Lord your God, and believe in his law, and believe in his prophets; and ye shall prosper." Here the WORD and the revelation are most pointedly distinguished; the *Word* being used *personally*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:22](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/22). ***The Lord set ambushments*** — "The WORD of the Lord placed snares among the children of Ammon and Moab; and the inhabitants of the mountain of Gibla, who came to fight with Judah; and they were broken to pieces:" so the *Targum*.
*Houbigant* translates the place thus: "The Lord set against the children of Ammon and Moab ambushments of those who came from Mount Seir against Judah; and the children of Ammon and Moab were smitten: but they afterwards rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, and utterly destroyed them; who being destroyed, they rose up one against another, and mutually destroyed each other." This is probably the meaning of these verses. *Calmet's* version is not very different.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:25](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/25). ***Both riches with the dead bodies*** — For פגרים *peparim,* *dead bodies*, בגדים begadim, garments, is the reading of *eight* MSS. in the collections of *Kennicott* and *De Rossi*, and in several ancient editions. None of the versions have *dead bodies* except the *Chaldee*. The words might be easily mistaken for each other, as the פ *pe*, if a little faint in the under dot might easily pass for a ב *beth*; and we know that the ר *resh* and ד *daleth*, are frequently interchanged and mistaken for each other, both in *Hebrew* and *Syriac*. I believe *garments* to be the true reading; and as to the clause *which they stripped off for themselves*, it should be understood thus: *Which they seized for themselves*, &c.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:26](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/26). ***Assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah*** — "The valley of Benediction;" and so in the latter clause. - *Targum*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:27](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/27). ***Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them*** — He was their leader in all these spiritual, holy, fatiguing, and self-denying exercises. What a noble and persuasive pattern!

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:29](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/29). ***The Lord fought*** — "The WORD of the Lord made war against the enemies of Israel." - *Targum*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:33](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/33). ***The high places were not taken away*** — The idolatry, as we have seen, was universally suppressed; but some of the places where that worship had been performed were not destroyed. Some of them still remained; and these, to such a fickle people, became the means of idolatry in reigns less propitious to truth and religion.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:34](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/34). ***In the book of Jehu*** — This is totally lost, though it is evident that it was in being when the books of Chronicles were written.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:36](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/36). ***To go to Tarshish*** — "In the great sea." - *Targum*. By which expression they always meant the *Mediterranean Sea*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 20:37](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/20/37). ***The Lord hath broken, c.*** — "The WORD of the Lord hath broken." - *Targum*. Concerning *Tarshish, Ezion-geber*, and *Ophir*, and the voyage thither, [1 Kings 10:22](../../../kjv/1-kings/10/22), and at the end of that chapter, [1 Kings 10:29](../../../kjv/1-kings/10/29), and on [2 Chronicles 9:26-28](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/9/26-28). The Tarshish here is called by the Chaldee *Torsos in the great sea*, some place in the Mediterranean. On this subject the reader has, no doubt, already seen a great variety of opinions.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/20#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Clarke's Commentary -  2 Chronicles 20"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/20#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/20","name":"Clarke's Commentary -  2 Chronicles 20","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/20#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Verse 2 Chronicles 20:1. Children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites — Here there must be a mistake; surely the Ammonites are the same as","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/20#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/20"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/20#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary","name":"Clarke's Commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles","name":"2 Chronicles"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/20","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/20","name":"20"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```