2 Chronicles 17:2

And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
placed	וַיִּ֨תֶּן vai.Yi.ten-	H5414	to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
forces	חַ֔יִל Cha.yil	H2428	probably a force · noun, common masculine singular absolute
fenced	הַבְּצֻר֑וֹת ha.be.tzu.Rot	H1219	to gather grapes · definite article + adjective, feminine plural absolute
cities	עָרֵ֥י 'a.Rei	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common masculine plural construct
Judah	יְהוּדָ֖ה ye.hu.Dah	H3063	Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
set	וַיִּתֵּ֤ן vai.yi.Ten	H5414	to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
garrisons	נְצִיבִים֙ ne.tzi.Vim	H5333	something stationary · noun, common masculine plural absolute
land	בְּאֶ֣רֶץ be.'E.retz	H776	the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Judah	יְהוּדָ֔ה ye.hu.Dah	H3063	Jehudah (or Judah) · proper noun, a place name
cities	וּבְעָרֵ֣י u.ve.'a.Rei	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Ephraim	אֶפְרַ֔יִם 'ef.Ra.yim	H669	Ephrajim · proper noun, a man's name
Asa	אָסָ֥א 'a.Sa'	H609	Asa · proper noun, a man's name
father	אָבִֽיו 'a.Viv	H1	father · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
taken	לָכַ֖ד la.Khad	H3920	to catch (in a net · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

2 Chronicles 15:8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land…
2 Chronicles 11:5 And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah.
2 Chronicles 11:11-12 And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 17:1-9

Here we find concerning Jehoshaphat, I. What a wise man he was. As soon as he came to the crown he strengthened himself against Israel, Ch2 17:1. Ahab, an active warlike prince, had now been three years upon the throne of Israel, the vigour of his beginning falling in with the decay of Asa's conclusion. It is probable that the kingdom of Israel had, of late, got ground of the kingdom of Judah and began to grow formidable to it; so that the first thing Jehoshaphat had to do was to make his part good on that side, and to check the growing greatness of the king of Israel, which he did so effectually, and without bloodshed, that Ahab soon courted his alliance, so far was he from giving him any d…

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Adam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 17:2

The cities of Ephraim - This conquest from the kingdom of Israel is referred to, Ch2 15:8; but when it was made we do not know.

John Gill on 2 Chronicles 17:2

And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah,.... A considerable number of soldiers, to defend them should they be attacked: and set garrisons in the land of Judah: on the frontiers and borders of it, to protect it: and in the cities of Ephraim; soldiers to keep garrison there: which Asa his father had taken; see 2 Chronicles 15:8.

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Chronicles 17:1

Including a two-year co-regency with his father, Asa, Jehoshaphat reigned from 872 to 848 BC. • The last years of Asa’s reign were characterized by conflicts and oppression, so Jehoshaphat needed to consolidate power within Judah to restore peace and stability. Israel had been an enemy during Asa’s days, but Jehoshaphat soon entered into an alliance with Ahab (18:1-2).

Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).

Dictionary and topics

Garrison — (1.) Heb. matstsab, a station; a place where one stands (1 Sam. 14:12); a military or fortified post (1 Sam. 13:23; 14:1, 4, 6, etc.). (2.) Heb. netsib, a prefect, superintendent; hence a military…
Jehoshaphat — Jehovah-judged. (1.) One of David’s body-guard (1 Chr. 11:43). (2.) One of the priests who accompanied the removal of the ark to Jerusalem (1 Chr. 15:24). (3.) Son of Ahilud, “recorder” or annalist…
Judah, Kingdom of — When the disruption took place at Shechem, at first only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David. But very soon after the tribe of Benjamin joined the tribe of Judah, and Jerusalem became the…
Cities · Fortified — Fortified
Jehoshaphat · .Strengthens himself against Israel — .Strengthens himself against Israel

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).