2 Chronicles 19:4

And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem,.... And went out no more to Samaria, nor concerned himself about the affairs of Israel, but attended to his own: and he went out again through the people; took a

And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers. He went out again through the people.

He went out again; once he went by his officers, , &c., now he went in his own person. From Beer-sheba to Mount Ephraim, i.e. through his whole kingdom, whereof these were the two bounds. Brought them back unto the Lord; such of them as had revolted from God to idols, he reclaimed by his good counsel and example, and by the instructions of the Levites and priests, whom doubtless now he carried with him, as he sent them before with his officers of state.

2 Chronicles 19:4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.Ver. 4. And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem.] He made no more journeys to Samaria; as he who had escaped with his life at the fall of Blackfriars, cried out, "I will go no more to mass"; and another, "Mass is misery." A third - nothing so wise - said, that nothing grieved him more, than that he had not died by that mischance. But see the just hand of God upon such wild wishers. This Parker - for that was his name - going over to Douay to take priestly orders the week following, was drowned in his passage. And he went out again through the people.] Heb., He returned, and went out. He had reformed all places before; but in his absence, at the siege of Ramothgilead, all fell out of order again; like as when Moses was gone but forty days only to converse with God, the people had corrupted themselves, and made a golden calf. It may very well be, too, that by Jehoshaphat’ s evil example, in loving those that hated the Lord, the people took heart to slight the service of God, and to hanker after idols. Jehoshaphat, therefore, the first thing he doth after his return - when once he had recovered his fright, and considered the prophet’ s reproof - he setteth upon a reformation - which is optima et aptissima poenitentia, as I have before noted out of Luther - and because it shall be thoroughly done from one end of the land to the other, he goeth himself in person, to see it done. Fuller’ s Eccles. Hist.

FURTHER IN THE REFORM OF JUSTICE AND .(4) 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). Unto 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 at length 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).

Verse 4. From Beer-sheba to Mount Ephraim] Before the separation of the ten tribes, in speaking of the extent of the land it was said, From Dan to Beer-sheba; but since that event, the kingdom of Judah was bounded on the south by Beer-sheba, and on the north by the mountains of Ephraim. This shows that Jehoshaphat had gone through all his territories to examine every thing himself, to see that judgment and justice were properly administered among the people.

4–11 (no parallel in Kings). Jehoshaphat’s Home Policy 4. Beer-sheba] Cp. note on 1 Chronicles 4:28. brought them back] Some further measures against idolatry seem to be meant.

Jehoshaphat, while declining to renounce the alliance with Israel (compare the 2 Kings 3:7 note), was careful to show that he had no sympathy with idolatry, and was determined to keep his people, so

’S FURTHER REFORMS, 2 Chronicles 19:4-11.4. He went out again through the people — The again refers to his previous reforms described in chapter 17.