Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/290

226 thousand, and three hundred chariots; and he came unto Mareshah. Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

also R.V.) are mentioned as neighbours (2 Chr. xxi. 16). It is therefore highly probable that the leader of the inroad was an Arabian (Sabean) and not an Ethiopian. (Cp. S. A. Cook in Expos. June, 1906, p. 541, against Petrie, ''Hist. of Egypt.) Zerah perhaps represents Dhirrīh (Zirrīh''), a title (meaning "the magnificent") of several of the oldest princes of Saba. The tradition may therefore be brought into connection with the many indications in Chron. of Arabian incursions on the southern borders of Judah. Mareshah, where the battle was fought (ver. 9), was one of the ancient seats of the Calebites from which they were driven northwards (cp. 1 Chr. ii.). Those who prefer to regard Cushite as = Ethiopian—see 1 Chr. i. 8—and Zerah as an Egyptian king, have to suppose that "Ethiopian" is applied to him loosely and somewhat ignorantly; and further, as no king of Egypt is so named, that Zerah must denote Osorkon I or II, or perhaps be the name of a general of Osorkon. From xvi. 8 (see the note on Lubim) it would seem probable that the Chronicler believed Zerah's host to be an Egyptian force.

a thousand thousand] An inroad of the "children of the East" was formidable from sheer weight of numbers. We may gather from xvi. 8 that the original assailants were joined by other hordes as they drew near the border of Judah. The number a thousand thousand is probably meant to signify that the host was too great to number; it is, of course, not to be taken literally.

three hundred chariots] The chariots, though comparatively few, are mentioned, (1) perhaps because Asa himself had none, (2) perhaps also because they represent an Egyptian contingent. This suggestion receives support from xvi. 8, where the Lubim (cp. xii. 3) are associated with the Cushites in the invasion. The cowardly foreign policy of Egypt may have led her on this occasion to defend her own borders from the barbarian hordes by encouraging them to invade her neighbour's territories.

The reading three hundred is supported by the LXX. and is probably right. The reading of the Pesh., "thirty thousand," and the wording of xvi. 8, "with exceeding many chariots and horsemen," seem like a retouching of the narrative to make the number of the chariots and horsemen correspond with the number of the whole host.

Mareshah] See note on xi. 8.

10. in the valley] Probably the valley in which Beit-Jibrin now stands, one of several valleys giving access from the Shephelah into central Judah (G. A. Smith, Hist. Geography, pp. 230—233). In such a place a large force might easily be discomfited by a few resolute men (cp. 2 Sam. xvii. 9, 10).

of Zephathah at Mareshah] Render with LXX., north of Mareshah (reading Ṣaphonah for Zephathah). No valley or town called "Zephathah" is known.