So when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “He is the king of Israel!” And they turned aside to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him.
Parallel translations
- WEB When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they turned around to fight against him. But Jehoshaphat cried out, and Yahweh helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.
- KJV And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.
- BSB When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “This is the king of Israel!” So they turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him.
- NKJV So it was, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “It is the king of Israel!” Therefore they surrounded him to attack; but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God diverted them from him.
- NLT So when the Aramean chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat in his royal robes, they went after him. “There is the king of Israel!” they shouted. But Jehoshaphat called out, and the Lord saved him. God helped him by turning the attackers away from him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Syrians mistake the robed Jehoshaphat for the king of Israel, but he cries out and Yahweh delivers him.
Overview
In peril brought on by his own compromise, Jehoshaphat calls on the LORD and is rescued. God moves the attackers away, sparing the king of Judah in mercy. The verse shows that even a believer caught in folly may find grace when he cries to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- 2 Chr 13:14When Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried to Yahweh, and the priests sounded with the trumpets.
- Ps 118:13You pushed me back hard, to make me fall, but Yahweh helped me.
- Ps 94:17Unless Yahweh had been my help, my soul would have soon lived in silence.
- Neh 1:11Lord, I beg you, let your ear be attentive now to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants, who delight to fear your name; and please prosper your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cup bearer to the king.
- Ps 34:7Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
- Prov 21:1The king’s heart is in Yahweh’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires.
- Ps 46:1For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- Prov 16:7When a man’s ways please Yahweh, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
- 2 Cor 1:9–10Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,
- Ps 116:1–2I love Yahweh, because he listens to my voice, and my cries for mercy.
- Ps 46:11Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
- Exod 14:10When Pharaoh came near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh.
- Ezra 7:27Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify Yahweh’s house which is in Jerusalem;
- 2 Chr 26:7God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and the Meunim.
- 2 Chr 14:11Asa cried to Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, there is no one besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. Help us, Yahweh our God; for we rely on you, and in your name are we come against this multitude. Yahweh, you are our God. Don’t let man prevail against you.”
- Ezra 1:1Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that Yahweh’s word by Jeremiah’s mouth might be accomplished, Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
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Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 18:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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