{"id":5011,"date":"2024-01-17T16:32:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T15:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.versebyversebible.cz\/?p=5011"},"modified":"2024-06-29T08:52:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T06:52:00","slug":"2-letopisu-kapitola-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versebyversebible.hiseo.cz\/en\/2-letopisu\/2-letopisu-kapitola-17\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Chronicles \u2013 Chapter 17 (Jehoshaphat)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1 After him, his son Jehoshaphat became king. He acted valiantly in Israel.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The son of Aes knew the workings of government and possessed the necessary expertise. He had a clear idea of what a good king should do and was not afraid to put it into practice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The King\u2019s aim must not be populism \u2013 his actions are not (and never will be) intended to please everyone; his aim is not to curry favour, but to govern well.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In this respect, the position of those currently in power is far more difficult \u2013 good governance is almost always unpopular, and voters usually punish good leaders at the next election. This is a major weakness of democracy, that is, government by the people. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It truly takes courage not to be swayed by public opinion and to do what is right.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2 He stationed troops in all the fortified towns of Judah and posted garrisons throughout the territory of Judah, as well as in the towns of Ephraim which his father Asa had conquered.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He had no intention of losing those territorial gains again. He secured them. He supported and built up the army. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because&nbsp;<sup>(<\/sup>he followed in the footsteps of his father David<sup>)<\/sup>&nbsp;and did not consult the Baals,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>n.: original; <\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>[meant, of course, in the broader sense;&nbsp;<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>n~: He lived as his father David had done at the beginning of his reign<\/em>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He sought the Lord, came to know the Lord, and obeyed the Lord. He evidently had a \u2018Davidic\u2019 personal relationship with God.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Lord \u2018heeds\u2019 this sort of approach.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At least \u00c1sa succeeded in bringing up his son without any \u2018buts\u2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>4 Yet he sought the God of his fathers and lived according to his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He was not interested in the opinion of the Baals, but in God\u2019s opinion. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>And once he had discovered it, he adhered to it. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In this respect, it differed greatly from the Northern Kingdom, where no one was still seeking the Lord.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>5 The Lord established the kingdom in his hands, and all the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honour.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>God rewarded his servant with a successful reign. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It seems the people also held their king in high regard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>6 When she&nbsp;<sup>(<\/sup>gained greater courage in following the Lord\u2019s ways,<sup>)<\/sup>&nbsp;He also removed the high places and the sacred pillars from Judah.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>h.: his heart was lifted up \u2026 (here in a positive sense \u2013 in contrast to Jer 13:15, etc.); <\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It takes some time to develop a relationship with God. Walking with God is something one needs to practise. You don\u2019t become a spiritual superman straight away. Experience is irreplaceable in this area too.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is likely that, as well as developing and strengthening his relationship with God, the king also needed to work on consolidating his royal power. Once he was sufficiently confident that he could overcome the resistance to religious reform (there will always be people who do not wish to follow God), he set about eradicating idolatry. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It seems that making pilgrimages to sacred sites was also fairly common amongst the Judeans. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We can picture this popular \u2018piety\u2019 \u2013 or rather idolatry \u2013 as, for example, religious pilgrimages to images of the Virgin Mary or the saints. These festivals were introduced on a massive scale by the Jesuits during the recatholisation of the Czech lands following the Battle of White Mountain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>7 In the third year of his reign, he sent his officials Ben-ha\u00efl, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micah to teach in the towns of Judah. 8 With them\u00a0<em>were<\/em>\u00a0the Levites Shemaiah, Nethanel, Zebadiah, Asael, Shemiramoth, Jonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah, Levites, and with them the priests Elishama and Joram. 9 They taught in Judah and\u00a0<em>should have<\/em>\u00a0They carried with them the Book of the Law of the Lord. They went from town to town throughout Judah, teaching the people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Information about God needs to be \u2018brought to the people\u2019. When people know God\u2019s word, it will subsequently do its work by itself (it will not return empty-handed). <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is important not to limit the teaching of the Scriptures to the elite or a select group, but to include all believers. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In certain historical periods, it was the case that <strong>A Czech peasant woman knows the Bible better than an Italian prelate<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>That was also the reason why, for a long time, the Roman Catholic Church sought to prevent ordinary believers from accessing the Bible, for example by banning translations into national languages. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>That is why Jehoshaphat arranged for \u2018seminars\u2019 on God\u2019s Law to be held throughout the land.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The following people took part in the series of seminars:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>5 princes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>9 Levites<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2 priests<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>10 Fear\u00a0<em>it<\/em>\u00a0The Lord\u2019s wrath fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands which\u00a0<em>were<\/em>\u00a0around Judah, and did not fight against Jehoshaphat.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>n.: so their inhabitants did not fight<\/em>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Well-known<strong> \u2018the rule of priorities\u2019 from the Sermon on the Mount<\/strong> (Matthew 6:33: \u2018But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you\u2019) proved true once again.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jehoshaphat sought God for his people, and God ensured their external security.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>11 <em>Some<\/em>\u00a0The Pelishites brought tribute and a load of silver to Jehoshaphat. The Arabs, too, brought him tribute: seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred goats.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Certainly not of their own free will, but under duress. If they wanted to maintain \u2018peace\u2019 with the powerful King Jehoshaphat and, where necessary, ensure their protection, they had to pay taxes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>12 Jehoshaphat\u00a0<sup>(<\/sup>he continued to grow very wealthy,<sup>)<\/sup>\u00a0So he built fortresses and towns in Judea\u00a0<em>for<\/em>\u00a0storehouses. 13 He had large stores in the towns of Judah and warriors in Jerusalem,\u00a0<sup>(<\/sup>brave heroes.<sup>)<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He used his wealth wisely to strengthen the kingdom.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He did not neglect the army.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>14 This\u00a0<em>were<\/em>\u00a0their numbers according to their fathers\u2019 houses: from Judah, the commanders\u00a0<em>of<\/em>\u00a0thousands: Commander Adna and, with him, three hundred thousand valiant heroes;<\/strong> <strong>15 Next to him was the commander Jehohanan, with one hundred and eighty thousand men; 16 next to him was Amasiah, son of Zikri, a volunteer of the Lord, with two hundred thousand valiant warriors; 17 from Benjamin, the valiant warrior Eljad, with two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield; 18 next to him was Jozabad, with one hundred and eighty thousand armed soldiers. 19 These served the king, in addition to those whom the king had stationed in the fortified towns throughout Judah.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Regardless of the exact figure for the \u2018thousands\u2019 (there were 1,060,000 soldiers in total \u2013 Judah could hardly have had an army of a million at that time), it was certainly a formidable force.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Commanders <strong> Adna, Johanan, Amaziah, Eljada and Jozabad <\/strong>were <strong>valiant heroes<\/strong>, that is, men in their rightful places \u2013 were held in high regard by their men. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who is <strong>A volunteer for the Lord<\/strong> We do not know for certain. (According to Ellicott, this may be an allusion to some noble act of self-sacrifice which was recorded in greater detail in the source from which the chronicler drew this brief account.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He may not have been one of the men subject to conscription \u2013 and yet he joined the army and rose through the ranks to become a commander.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Benjaminites specialised in archers and shield-bearers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1 Po&nbsp;n\u011bm se stal kr\u00e1lem jeho syn J\u00f3\u0161afat. Po\u010d\u00ednal si v Izraeli zmu\u017eile. 2 Do v\u0161ech opevn\u011bn\u00fdch judsk\u00fdch m\u011bst um\u00edstil vojsko a um\u00edstil pos\u00e1dky&nbsp;na judsk\u00e9m \u00fazem\u00ed i v efrajimsk\u00fdch m\u011bstech, kter\u00e1 dobyl jeho otec \u00c1sa. 3 Hospodin byl&nbsp;s J\u00f3\u0161afatem, proto\u017ee&nbsp;(chodil po prvn\u00edch&nbsp;cest\u00e1ch sv\u00e9ho otce&nbsp;Davida)&nbsp;a nedotazoval se baal\u016f, 4 ale dotazoval&nbsp;se \/ hledal Boha sv\u00fdch otc\u016f [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2-letopisu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyversebible.hiseo.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyversebible.hiseo.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyversebible.hiseo.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyversebible.hiseo.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyversebible.hiseo.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/versebyversebible.hiseo.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyversebible.hiseo.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyversebible.hiseo.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyversebible.hiseo.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}