Jehoshaphat

Facing a great army, Jehoshaphat did not reach for a sword. He stood in the temple and prayed. King of Judah after his father Asa, he is told mostly in 2 Chronicles: he sent Levites through the towns to teach the law and did what was right in the LORD’s sight. When Moab and Ammon came against him, a Levite answered his prayer with “the battle is not yours, but God’s”. Singers went out ahead of the army, and the enemy turned on itself. His alliances with the kings of Israel went less well. Read 2 Chronicles 20.

55 verses

2 Samuel

2 Samuel 8:16

And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;

2 Samuel 20:24

And Adoram was over the tribute: and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:

1 Kings

1 Kings 4:3

Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.

1 Kings 15:24

And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead.

1 Kings 22:41

And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

1 Kings 22:43

And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.

1 Kings 22:46

And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.

1 Kings 22:48

Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.

1 Kings 22:49

Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.

1 Kings 22:50

And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 3:10

And Solomon's son was Rehoboam, Abia his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 17:1

And Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel.

2 Chronicles 17:2

And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

2 Chronicles 17:3

And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;

2 Chronicles 17:4

But sought to the LORD God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.

2 Chronicles 17:5

Therefore the LORD stablished the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance.

2 Chronicles 17:6

And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah.

2 Chronicles 17:7

Also in the third year of his reign he sent to his princes, even to Benhail, and to Obadiah, and to Zechariah, and to Nethaneel, and to Michaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah.

2 Chronicles 17:8

And with them he sent Levites, even Shemaiah, and Nethaniah, and Zebadiah, and Asahel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehonathan, and Adonijah, and Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, priests.

2 Chronicles 17:9

And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.

2 Chronicles 20:1

It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

2 Chronicles 20:2

Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.

2 Chronicles 20:3

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

2 Chronicles 20:4

And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

2 Chronicles 20:5

And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

2 Chronicles 20:6

And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

2 Chronicles 20:7

Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?

2 Chronicles 20:8

And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying,

2 Chronicles 20:9

If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence,(for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

2 Chronicles 20:10

And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not;

2 Chronicles 20:11

Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.

2 Chronicles 20:12

O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

2 Chronicles 20:13

And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

2 Chronicles 20:14

Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;

2 Chronicles 20:15

And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

2 Chronicles 20:16

To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.

2 Chronicles 20:17

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

2 Chronicles 20:18

And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.

2 Chronicles 20:19

And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

2 Chronicles 20:20

And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

2 Chronicles 20:21

And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.

2 Chronicles 20:22

And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

2 Chronicles 20:23

For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

2 Chronicles 20:24

And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.

2 Chronicles 20:25

And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

2 Chronicles 20:26

And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.

2 Chronicles 20:27

Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

2 Chronicles 20:28

And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 20:29

And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel.

2 Chronicles 20:30

So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.

2 Chronicles 20:31

And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

2 Chronicles 20:32

And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.

Joel

Joel 3:2

I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

Joel 3:12

Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

Joel 3:14

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Jehovah-judged. (1.) One of David’s body-guard (1 Chr. 11:43).

(2.) One of the priests who accompanied the removal of the ark to Jerusalem (1 Chr. 15:24).

(3.) Son of Ahilud, “recorder” or annalist under David and Solomon (2 Sam. 8:16), a state officer of high rank, chancellor or vizier of the kingdom.

(4.) Solomon’s purveyor in Issachar (1 Kings 4:17).

(5.) The son and successor of Asa, king of Judah. After fortifying his kingdom against Israel (2 Chr. 17:1, 2), he set himself to cleanse the land of idolatry (1 Kings 22:43). In the third year of his reign he sent out priests and Levites over the land to instruct the people in the law (2 Chr. 17:7-9). He enjoyed a great measure of peace and prosperity, the blessing of God resting on the people “in their basket and their store.”

Read the full entry

The great mistake of his reign was his entering into an alliance with Ahab, the king of Israel, which involved him in much disgrace, and brought disaster on his kingdom (1 Kings 22:1-33). Escaping from the bloody battle of Ramoth-gilead, the prophet Jehu (2 Chr. 19:1-3) reproached him for the course he had been pursuing, whereupon he entered with rigour on his former course of opposition to all idolatry, and of deepening interest in the worship of God and in the righteous government of the people (2 Chr. 19:4-11).

Again he entered into an alliance with Ahaziah, the king of Israel, for the purpose of carrying on maritime commerce with Ophir. But the fleet that was then equipped at Ezion-gaber was speedily wrecked. A new fleet was fitted out without the co-operation of the king of Israel, and although it was successful, the trade was not prosecuted (2 Chr. 20:35-37; 1 Kings 22:48-49).

He subsequently joined Jehoram, king of Israel, in a war against the Moabites, who were under tribute to Israel. This war was successful. The Moabites were subdued; but the dreadful act of Mesha in offering his own son a sacrifice on the walls of Kir-haresheth in the sight of the armies of Israel filled him with horror, and he withdrew and returned to his own land (2 Kings 3:4-27).

The last most notable event of his reign was that recorded in 2 Chr. 20. The Moabites formed a great and powerful confederacy with the surrounding nations, and came against Jehoshaphat. The allied forces were encamped at Engedi. The king and his people were filled with alarm, and betook themselves to God in prayer. The king prayed in the court of the temple, “O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us.” Amid the silence that followed, the voice of Jahaziel the Levite was heard announcing that on the morrow all this great host would be overthrown. So it was, for they quarrelled among themselves, and slew one another, leaving to the people of Judah only to gather the rich spoils of the slain. This was recognized as a great deliverance wrought for them by God (B.C. 890). Soon after this Jehoshaphat died, after a reign of twenty-five years, being sixty years of age, and was succeeded by his son Jehoram (1 Kings 22:50). He had this testimony, that “he sought the Lord with all his heart” (2 Chr. 22:9). The kingdom of Judah was never more prosperous than under his reign.

(6.) The son of Nimshi, and father of Jehu, king of Israel (2 Kings 9:2, 14).

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(whom Jehovah judges.)

(1.) King of Judah, son of Asa, succeeded to the throne B.C. 914, when he was 35 years old, and reigned 25 years. His history is to be found among the events recorded in (1 Kings 15:24; 2 Kings 8:16) or in a continuous narrative in (2 Chronicles 17:1; 2 Chronicles 21:3) He was contemporary with Ahab, Ahaziah and Jehoram. He was one of the best, most pious and prosperous kings of Judah, the greatest since Solomon. At first he strengthened himself against Israel; but soon afterward the two Hebrew kings formed an alliance. In his own kingdom Jehoshaphat ever showed himself a zealous follower of the commandments of God: he tried to put down the high places and groves in which the people of Judah burnt incense, and sent the wisest Levites through the cities and towns to instruct the people in true morality and religion. Riches and honors increased around him. He received tribute from the Philistines and Arabians, and kept up a large standing army in Jerusalem. It was probably about the 16th year of his reign, B.C. 898, when he became Ahab’s ally in the great battle of Ramoth-gilead, for which he was severely reproved by Jehu. (2 Chronicles 19:2) He built at Ezion-geber, with the help of Ahaziah, a navy designed to go to Tarshish; but it was wrecked at Ezion-geber. Before the close of his reign he was engaged in two additional wars. He was miraculously delivered from a threatened attack of the people of Ammon, Moab and Seir. After this, perhaps, must be dated the war which Jehoshaphat, in conjunction with Jehoram king of Israel and the king of Edom, carried on against the rebellious king of Moab. (2 Kings 3:1) ... In his declining years the administration of affairs was placed, probably B.C. 891, in the hands of his son Jehoram.

Read the full entry

(2.) Son of Ahilud, who filled the office of recorder of annalist in the courts of David, (2 Samuel 8:16) etc., and Solomon. (1 Kings 4:3)

(3.) One of the priests in David’s time. (1 Chronicles 15:24)

(4.) Son of Paruah; one of the twelve purveyors of King Solomon. (1 Kings 4:17)

(5.) Son of Nimshi and father of King Jehu. (2 Kings 9:2,14)

Based on Nave's Topical Bible by Orville J. Nave (1896). Dictionary entries from Easton's Bible Dictionary and Smith's Bible Dictionary. Public domain. KJV scripture text, public domain.