the road which leads from Hebron to Jerusalem. “A wide, open valley, and upon its west side, on a small rising ground, are the ruins of Bereikut, which cover from three to four acres” (Robinson's New Biblical Researches, and Phys. Geogr. S. 106; cf. v. de Velde, Memoir, p. 292). Jerome makes mention of the place in Vita Paulae, where he narrates that Paula, standing in supercilio Caphar baruca, looked out thence upon the wide desert, and the former land of Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. Reland, Pal. illustr. pp. 356 and 685). There is no ground, on the other hand, for the identification of the valley of blessing with the upper part of the valley of Kidron, which, according to Joe 3:2, Joe 3:12, received the name of Valley of Jehoshaphat (see on Joe 3:2). - On 2Ch 20:27, cf. Ezr 6:22; Neh 12:43.
Verses 29-30
The fame of this victory of the Lord over the enemies of Israel caused the terror of God to be spread abroad over all the kingdoms of the surrounding lands, in consequence of which the kingdom of Judah had rest (cf. 2Ch 17:10). On the last clause of 2Ch 20:30, cf. 2Ch 15:15. This wonderful acts of the Lord is made the subject of praise to God in the Korahite Psalms, Psa 46:1, Psa 47:1, and Psa 48:1, and perhaps also in Ps 83, composed by an Asaphite, perhaps Jahaziel (see Del. Introduction to these Psalms).
Verses 31-37
Concluding notes on Jehoshaphat's reign, which are found also in 1Ki 22:41-51, where they, supplemented by some notes (1Ki 22:45, 1Ki 22:48, and 1Ki 22:49) which are wanting in the Chronicle, form the whole account of his reign. In the statements as to Jehoshaphat's age at his accession, and the length and character of his reign, both accounts agree, except that the author of the Chronicle has, instead of the stereotyped formula, “and the people still sacrificed and offered incense upon the high places,” a remark more significant of the state of affairs: “and the people had not yet determinedly turned their heart to the God of their fathers” (2Ch 20:33). The notice that Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel (1Ki 22:45) is not found in the Chronicle, because that would, as a matter of course, follow from Jehoshaphat's having joined affinity with the royal house of Ahab, and had been already sufficiently attested by the narrative in 2 Chron 18, and is so still further by the undertaking spoken of in 2Ch 20:35. For the same reason, the clause introduced in 1Ki 22:46 about the valiant acts and the wars of Jehoshaphat is omitted in the Chronicle, as these acts have been
