Глава 14

1–8. (Heb. XIII, 23 - XIV, 1-7) The general character of Asa's reign: pious zeal for the purity of the cult of Jehovah; construction of fortresses and military strength of Asa. 9–15. (Heb. 8–14) The invasion of Zarai and the brilliant victory of Asa over him. 2 Chronicles 14:1. And Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead. In his days the earth rested for ten years. 2 Chronicles 14:2. And Asa did what was good and acceptable in the sight of the Lord his God: 2 Chronicles 14:3. and he rejected the altars of foreign gods and the heights, and broke the statues, and cut down the dedicated trees; 2 Chronicles 14:4. and commanded the Jews to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to fulfill [His] law and commandments; 2 Chronicles 14:5. and he abolished in all the cities of Judah the high places and the statues of the sun. And the kingdom was calm under him. 2 Chronicles 14:6. And he built fortified cities in Judea, for the land was calm, and he had no war in those years, since the Lord gave him peace. 2 Chronicles 14:7. And he said to the Jews: Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, with gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God: we have sought Him, and He has given us peace on all sides. And they began to build, and were successful. 2 Chronicles 14:8. And Asa had a military force: three hundred thousand from the tribe of Judah armed with shield and spear, and two hundred and eighty thousand from the tribe of Benjamin armed with shield and archery, brave men. The characterization of Azah's domestic politics given in these verses is generally similar, sometimes to the point of literalness, to the parallel account (1 Kings 15:9–13); compare, for example, verses 2-3 with verses 11-12 of the book of Kings. Which heights were destroyed by Asa (v. 5) and which were abandoned to them (2 Chronicles 15:17), see The Expository Bible, vol. II, p. 439. The message about the construction of new fortifications by Asa and the strengthening of the army (vv. 6-7) is not found in the 3rd book of Kings, and in the 2nd book of Chronicles it is of a documentary nature, similar to the message (2 Chron. 11: 5-11) about the state activities of Rehoboam. 2 Chronicles 14:9. And Zarai the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a thousand thousand and three hundred chariots and reached Maresha. 2 Chronicles 14:10. And Asa marched against him, and they formed up for battle in the valley of Zephat near Mareshi. 2 Chronicles 14:11. And Asa cried to the Lord his God and said: Lord! Is it not in Your power to help the strong or the powerless? Help us, O Lord our God: for we trust in You, and in Your name we have come out against this multitude. God! You are our God: let no man prevail against You. 2 Chronicles 14:12. And the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 2 Chronicles 14:13. And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell, so that they had none alive, for they were defeated before the Lord and before His army. And they collected a great abundance of spoils. 2 Chronicles 14:14. And they destroyed all the cities around Gerar, because terror from the Lord came upon them; and they plundered all the cities and carried away very much spoil from them. 2 Chronicles 14:15. Also, the shepherds' huts destroyed and stole many herds of small livestock and camels and returned to Jerusalem. Under the name “Zarai the Ethiopian”, Hebrew: Zerach Kuschi, LXX: Ζαρὲ ὁ Αἱθίοψ, Vulgata: Zara Aethiops, they usually mean Ozorkon, Pharaoh of Egypt from the XXII dynasty, successor of the famous Susakim or Shishak ( 1 Kings 14:25–26 ; 2 Chronicles 12:2–12 ). That the Cushites and Zarai were from Egypt, generally from Africa, and not from Asia, is evident from the fact that, according to (2 Chronicles 16:8), not only the Ethiopians, but the Libyans, who had many war chariots, took part in the campaign even now, as at Susakim (2 Chronicles 12:3). The fact that, according to Art. 14, when fleeing, the defeated enemies rushed through Gerar - a city on the southern border of Canaan (Gen. 20: 1, 26: 1), through which Abraham and Isaac were already heading to Egypt (cf. Onomasticon, 344). The Egyptian monuments, which preserved the news of the campaign of Shishak-Susakim, do not mention the campaign of Zarai-Ozorkon. But the very name Ozorkon (in Manetho - Ozorton or Ozortos) was read on Egyptian monuments by Egyptologists Champollion, Lepsius and others, as the name of the pharaoh of the XXII dynasty, the son of Shishak. The identification of Ozorkon and Zarai is supported not only by chronological coincidence, but also by the Libyan origin of the XXII, so-called. Bubastian, Egyptian dynasty: hence the deliberate mention in (2 Chronicles 16:8) about the Libyans 6. A decisive battle between the Jews and the enemies took place at the city of Maresh, fortified by Rehoboam (vv. 9 and 10); (cf. (2 Chronicles 11:8) and comments to this place, “The Expository Bible,” vol. III, p. 115) and ended thanks to the miraculous help of God (v. 12), cf. (2 Chronicles 13:15), the complete defeat of the Egyptians; and the Jews captured rich booty (vv. 13-15). Sephata is a valley near the city of Maresa (Vulgata: in valle Sephata, quae est juxta Maresa). LXX was read differently, instead of Hebrew. Tsefata is another word for Tsephon to the north, and was rendered: ᾿εν τῆ φάραγγι κατά Βορρᾶν Μαρησά, slav.: “in the wilds in the north of Maris.” It is possible that reading LXX - a common noun - more closely conveys the thought of the Hebrew original. In any case, the valley of Zephat is completely different from the city or Horm Zephat (Josh. 12:14; Judg. 1:17), which also lay within the tribe of Judah (Onomasticon, 445, 863; "Explanatory Bible", vol. II, pp. 76 and 154), now Sebet. Otherwise, and not without apparent thoroughness, Prof. speaks about Zarai. Gulyaeva, “Historical books”, p. 527–528. You might be interested in: