Bible Commentaries
Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible
2 Chronicles 14
2 Chronicles 14:1 to 2 Chronicles 16:14. The Reign of Asa (see notes on 1 Kings 15:8, 1 Kings 15:11-23).—Most of this section has no parallel in 1 K.
2 Chronicles 14:1-8 describes Asa's loyalty to Yahweh, his defences, and his army. For the "sun-images" in 2 Chronicles 14:5 cf. Leviticus 26:30, Isaiah 17:8; Isaiah 27:9, Ezekiel 6:4; Ezekiel 6:6; the Hebrew word is hammanim, "sun-pillars" (hamma is a poetical expression for the sun in Isaiah 24:23, Job 30:28), which were used in connexion with Phœnician Baal-worship; this worship had been imported into Palestine (see 1 Kings 16:31 ff.).
2 Chronicles 14:9-15 tells of Asa's victory over Zerah the Cushite. This piece reads like a midrash on some narrative of an actual historical occurrence (see 1 Kings 15:23, where unrecorded doings of Asa are hinted at). Whether the Chronicler was here using the source itself or a midrash on some portion of the source, or whether he himself composed this midrashic account, is an open question. The Cushites were probably a people living in Arabia (see 2 Chronicles 21:16).
2 Chronicles 14:15. tents of cattle: an improbable expression; probably, as is suggested by the LXX rendering, the text is not in order; see the Hebrew of Genesis 4:20.
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