أخبار الأيام الثاني ٢٠:٢٦

On the fourth day the men of Judah gathered themselves together, to give thanks to God the Lord for this blessing, in a valley which thence received the name בּרכה עמק (valley of blessing), and which cannot have been far from the battle-field. Thence they joyfully returned, with Jehoshaphat at their head, to Jerusalem, and went up, the Levites and priests performing solemn music, to the house of God, to render further thanks to the Lord for His wondrous help (Ch2 20:27.). The ancient name בּרכה still exists in the Wady Bereikut, to the west of Tekoa, near 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 Ch2 20:27, cf. Ezr 6:22; Neh 12:43.

We have here, I. The great danger and distress that Jehoshaphat and his kingdom were in from a foreign invasion (Ch2 20:1, Ch2 20:2). II. The pious course he took for their safety, by fasting, and praying, and seeking God (Ch2 20:3-13). III. The assurance which God, by a prophet, immediately gave them of victory (Ch2 20:14-17). IV. Their thankful believing reception of those assurances (Ch2 20:18-21). V. The defeat which God gave to their enemies thereupon (Ch2 20:22-25). VI. A solemn thanksgiving which they kept for their victory, and for a happy consequences of it (Ch2 20:26-30). VII. The conclusion of the reign of Jehoshaphat, not without some blemishes (Ch2 20:31-37).