Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/291

Rh And Asa cried unto the his God, and said, Lord, there is none beside thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength: help us, O our God; for we rely on thee, and in thy name are we come against this multitude. O, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. So the smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and there fell of the Ethiopians so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the, and before his host; and they carried away very much booty. And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for the fear of the came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was much spoil in them. They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep in abundance and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.

12. the smote] Cp. xiii. 15. The use of The Name, Jehovah (translated ), instead of the general word "God" here and in verses 13, 14 is in favour of the view that the Chronicler took this account from some earlier document, perhaps a midrashic history of Judah (Introd. § 5, p. xxxvi).

the Ethiopians] Rather, the Cushites.

13. Gerar] Identified with Jerār, ruins three hours south of Gaza; cp. 1 Chr. iv. 39 (read "Gerar," LXX. ),

so many that they could not recover themselves] Or perhaps, as mg., so that none remained alive.

very much booty] The phrase used belongs to a style earlier than that of the Chronicler. Cp. note on ver. 9 (against them),

14. the fear of the ] The Chroniclers own phrase is "the fear of God" (xx. 29).

much spoil] Again we miss a favourite expression of the Chronicler: "exceeding (lārōbh) much spoil."

15. the tents of cattle] These words are so strange an expression that it is probable the text is corrupt. If so, the original reading is unknown, for the LXX. has the same reading as the Heb. It adds a proper name, evidently intended as the name of an Arabian tribe, but this addition appears to be a gloss derived from a reading of the LXX. in xxii. 1.