The Book of Kings does tell us that Asa became king of Judah, and that he eliminated shrines to foreign gods. However, contrary to what we read below in Chronicles 14:3, 1 Kings: 15 says "Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life." The Book of Kings entirely omits the succeeding story about the invasion by Zerah and the great battle.
The Cushite kingdom is traditionally associated with Ethiopia, and the KJV identifies Zerah as Ethiopian, but the NIV translators don't tell us where they think he came from. It is of course inconceivable that anyone in those days would have led an army from Ethiopia to the Levant, which would have required crossing the Red Sea and then marching through the entirety of what is today Saudi Arabia and Jordan; or alternatively marching through Egypt. Look at the map, you'll see this is preposterous. So who knows where this guy actually came from, but on the other hand it is probable that nothing like this every happened. That an otherwise historically unknown king from that region could have raised an army of 1 million is absurd, but Asa's army of 580,000 is equally preposterous -- that number far exceeded the likely entire population of Judah.
Who knows why this ridiculous story pops up here. It's likely just a grossly exaggerated version of some minor conflict. Mareshah, where this battle purportedly took place, is in a sparsely inhabited area southwest of Jerusalem.
14 [a]And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years.
Asa King of Judah
2 Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles.[b] 4 He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. 5 He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. 6 He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest.
7 “Let us build up these towns,” he said to Judah, “and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.
8 Asa had an army of three hundred thousand men from Judah, equipped with large shields and with spears, and two hundred and eighty thousand from Benjamin, armed with small shields and with bows. All these were brave fighting men.
9 Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with an army of thousands upon thousands and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 Asa went out to meet him, and they took up battle positions in the Valley of Zephathah near Mareshah.
11 Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.”
12 The Lord struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, 13 and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. Such a great number of Cushites fell that they could not recover; they were crushed before the Lord and his forces. The men of Judah carried off a large amount of plunder. 14 They destroyed all the villages around Gerar, for the terror of the Lord had fallen on them. They looted all these villages, since there was much plunder there. 15 They also attacked the camps of the herders and carried off droves of sheep and goats and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 14:1 In Hebrew texts 14:1 is numbered 13:23, and 14:2-15 is numbered 14:1-14.
- 2 Chronicles 14:3 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in 2 Chronicles
No comments:
Post a Comment