Commentaria in II Paralipomenon
Chapter 14
1. And Abia slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead, in whose days the land was quiet ten years. 2. And Asa did that which was good and pleasing in the sight of his God, and he destroyed the altars of strange worship, and the high places, 3. and broke the statues, and cut down the groves: 4. and he commanded Juda to seek the Lord the God of their fathers, and to do the law, and all the commandments; 5. and he took away out of all the cities of Juda the altars and the shrines, and reigned in peace. 6. He built also fenced cities in Juda, because he was at rest, and no wars rose up in his time, the Lord giving peace. 7. And he said to Juda: Let us build these cities, and compass them with walls, and strengthen them with towers, and gates, and bars, while all things are quiet from wars; because we have sought the Lord the God of our fathers, and he hath given us peace on every side. So they built, and there was no hindrance in building. 8. And Asa had in his army, of Juda, three hundred thousand men that carried shields and spears, and of Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand shield-bearers and archers, all these most valiant men. 9. And Zara the Ethiopian came out against them with his army, ten hundred thousand, and three hundred chariots; and he came as far as Maresa. 10. And Asa went out to meet him, and set the army in array for battle in the valley of Sephata, which is near Maresa; 11. and he called upon the Lord his God, and said: Lord, there is no difference with thee, whether thou help with few, or with many; help us, O Lord our God: for in thee, and in thy name, having confidence, we are come against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God, let not man prevail against thee. 12. So the Lord terrified the Ethiopians before Asa and Juda; and the Ethiopians fled. 13. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them as far as Gerara: and the Ethiopians fell even to utter destruction, because they were crushed by the Lord, who destroyed them, and by his army fighting. And they took away much spoil, 14. and they smote all the cities round about Gerara: for a great terror had seized them all; and they plundered the cities, and carried off much prey. 15. And destroying the folds of sheep, they took away an infinite number of cattle and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.
Verse 2. King Asa destroyed the altars of strange worship (in which the Gentiles worshipped their gods and idols) and the high places.—Thou wilt say: In 3 Kings XV, 14, it is said of Asa: “The high places he took not away.” I answer: some high places were dedicated to idols, others to the true God: those Asa took away, these he did not. Again, the high places, namely the altars, images, and groves of idols, Asa took away, but not all the temples dedicated to them by Solomon; for these Josias afterwards took away, 4 Kings, chapter XXIII, verse 13.
Verse 5. And he took away, etc., the shrines—namely of Baal, Astaroth, and the other gods. In Hebrew it is Chammonim or Hammonim, which properly signifies sun-houses, that is, shrines or altars of the Sun, or of Ammon. For thence in Punic Ammon, or Jupiter Ammon, was so called, that is, the Sun, from the Hebrew chamma or hamma, the Sun, so called from heat: for chamam signifies to make warm. See what I said on Ezechiel VI, 6.
Verse 9. And Zara the Ethiopian came out (about the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa, as is gathered from the following chapter, verse 10; so Salianus) against them with his army, ten hundred thousand.—By “Ethiopian” Tornielli and others, in general, here understand Madianitis, from which the wife of Moses is said to have sprung and is called “an Ethiopian woman,” Numbers XII. Their reason is that the Ethiopians properly so called are far distant from Judea. But better Serarius, Sanchez, Salianus, and others understand true Ethiopia, which is under Egypt. For this adjoins Egypt, and therefore it is near Judea; and perhaps Zara was king of Egypt as well as of Ethiopia; and this is proved first because in chapter XVI, verse 8, these same are called Ethiopians and Libyans; they were therefore truly Ethiopians, who are in Africa and Libya, not Madianites, who are in Asia. Secondly, because Asa in this battle recovered from the enemies all the spoils which Sesac king of Egypt had carried off from Judea twenty-six years before under Roboam. Therefore these enemies were Egyptians, and the Ethiopians their neighbours. Whence the Septuagint at the end of chapter XIV call them Altmazones, or as others will have it, Amazons, whom Theodoret here teaches to be from Libya, book III.
Verse 13. And the Ethiopians fell even to utter destruction, because they were crushed by the Lord, who destroyed them, and by his army (the army of king Asa, or of God, namely the army of Angels) fighting—Asa and Juda calling on God and the holy Angels.