2 Crônicas 17

2 Crônicas 17

Barber summarizes the blessing of the Lord upon Jehoshaphat. “(1) God protected His people by filling their enemies with fear; (2) former enemies began to bring him tribute; (3) and Jehoshaphat increased in material and numerical strength”. Walton - Archaeological evidence of a line of fortresses in the Jordan Valley and adjacent to the Dead Sea may be associated with his reign. Supply centers were meant to stockpile food and other necessities in case of siege or famine. (IVP Background Commentary - OT - page 438) 2 Chronicles 17:13 He had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and warriors, valiant men, in Jerusalem. He had large supplies in the cities: 2Ch 26:10-15 1Ch 27:25-31 MATERIAL BLESSING AND MILITARY MIGHT He had large supplies in the cities of Judah, and warriors, valiant men (gibbor), in Jerusalem - This is further evidence of the good had of the LORD on Jehoshaphat's reign. 2 Chronicles 17:14 This was their muster according to their fathers’ households: of Judah, commanders of thousands, Adnah was the commander, and with him 300,000 valiant warriors; This was their muster Ge 12:2 13:16 15:5 according to their fathers’ households: Nu 1:2,18 300,000 valiant warriors: 2Ch 11:1 13:3 14:8 26:13 Related Passages: 1 Chronicles 21:5 Joab gave the number of the census of all the people to David. And all Israel were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword; and Judah was 470,000 men who drew the sword. This was their muster according to their fathers’ households: of Judah, commanders of thousands, Adnah was the commander, and with him 300,000 valiant warriors (gibbor) - This is the first listing of considerable numbers of warriors, evidence of God's blessing of Jehoshaphat and Judah. If the numbers are simply totaled, Jehoshaphat is presented as having a standing army in Jerusalem composed of 1.16 million men, exactly twice as many as the total for Asa’s army in 2Ch 14:8 (580,000)! For more on these numbers see the two articles by J Barton Payne - The Validity of the Numbers in Chronicles, Part 1 and The Validity of the Numbers in Chronicles, Part 2. Payne states "“The claims so often repeated about impossible numbers in Chronicles simply are not true”. From a practical point Jehoshaphat's forces were very likely much more robust than King Ahab's because of the 3 year drought Israel had experience. Therefore Ahab would have been very desirous to have Jehoshaphat's 1.16 million army to shore up his own forces and in Ahab's mind would surely guarantee victory over the Arameans.