seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the wicked, and love them that hate the LORD? for this thing wrath is upon thee from before the LORD. 3Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast put away the Asheroth out of the land, and hast set thine heart to seek God.
4And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again among the people from Beer-sheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD, the God of their fathers. 5And he set judges in the land
overlooked 1 Kin. xvi. 1, for in 2 Chr. xvi. 7 Hanani, Jehu's father, is
mentioned rebuking Asa, Jehoshaphat's father. The two passages,
in Kin. and Chron., are not hopelessly irreconcilable, but together they
yield a very odd and improbable sequence: the son active in Baasha's
reign, the father in Asa's, and again after some 40 years the son in
Jehoshaphat's time!
and love them that hate the LORD] Cp. Ps. cxxxix. 21, 22. Actually, of course, Ahab even in this narrative appears as an adherent of Jehovah, whose prophets he consults. The phrase "them that hate the LORD" reflects the Chronicler's view of north Israel.
for this thing] Israel (in the Chronicler's eyes) being wholly and utterly bad, apostate from Jehovah, Jehoshaphat's alliance with Ahab had to be construed as a most serious sin which should meet with severe punishment.
wrath is upon thee] the impending visitation of anger comes to pass in the invasion of the Moabite and Ammonite tribes described in ch. xx. For "wrath" (Heb. ḳeṣeph) cp. 2 Kin. iii. 27, R.V. mg.
3. good things] Cp. xii. 12 (note).
the Asheroth] plur. of "Asherah"; cp. notes on xiv. 3, and xv. 16.
4—11 (no parallel in Kings). Jehoshaphat's Home Policy for
Instruction in the Law and Administration of Justice.
4—11. This section has already been discussed in connection with xvii. 7—9, where see the head-note. Cp. also the Introd. § 7, p. li.
4. Beer-sheba] Cp. note on 1 Chr. iv. 28.
brought them back] Some further measures against idolatry seem to be meant.
5. And he set judges] Cp. ver. 11 "also the Levites shall be officers"; and Deut. xvi. 18 "judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates."
In the earliest days justice was administered in Israel, as among the Bedouin of to-day, probably by all heads of families and (in difficult cases) by the one head who was distinguished above the rest for impartiality and for knowledge of tribal custom. In later days when
