2 Chronicles 25:7 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Chronicles 25:7
But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the LORD is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim.
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
man
וְאִ֣ישׁve.'Ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
God
הָאֱלֹהִ֗יםha.'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
saying
לֵאמֹ֔רle.Mor
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
king
הַמֶּ֕לֶךְha.Me.lekh
H4428
a king · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
army
צְבָ֣אtze.Va'
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common masculine singular construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
go
יָבֹ֥אya.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָה֙Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
children
בְּנֵ֥יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Ephraim
אֶפְרָֽיִם'ef.Ra.yim
H669
Ephrajim · proper noun, a man's name
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 19:2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that…
2 Samuel 12:1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other po…
1 Kings 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy g…
1 Kings 13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
2 Chronicles 13:12 And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel,…
Isaiah 28:1-3 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys o…
Hosea 5:13-15 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you…
Hosea 9:13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 25:1-13
Here is, I. The general character of Amaziah: He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, worshipped the true God, kept the temple service a going, and countenanced religion in his kingdom; but he did not do it with a perfect heart (Ch2 25:2), that is, he was not a man of serious piety or devotion himself, nor had he any zeal for the exercises of religion. He was no enemy to it, but a cool and indifferent friend. Such is the character of too many in this Laodicean age: they do that which is good, but not with the heart, not with a perfect heart.
II. A necessary piece of justice which he did upon the traitors that murdered his father: he put them to death, Ch2 25:3. Though we should…
there came a man of God--sent to dissuade Amaziah from the course he was following, on the ground that "the Lord is not with Israel." This statement was perfectly intelligible to the king. But the historian, writing long after, thought it might require explanation, and therefore added the comment, "with all the children of Ephraim." Idolatry had long been the prevailing religion in that kingdom, and Ephraim its headquarters. As to the other part of the prophet's advice (Ch2 25:8), considerable obscurity hangs over it, as the text stands; and hence some able critics have suggested the insertion of "not" in the middle clause, so that the verse will be thus: "But if thou wilt go [alone], do, be…
The Lord is not with Israel - "The Word of the Lord is not the helper of the Israelites, nor of the kingdom of the tribe of Ephraim." - Targum.
John Gill on 2 Chronicles 25:7
But there came a man of God to him,.... Who the Jews say (f) was the brother of the king, Amos, the father of Isaiah, but without foundation:
saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; to war against Edom; meaning the 100,000 men he had hired, and suggesting that to have them with him would not be to his advantage, but his detriment, for the following reason:
for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit:
with all the children of Ephraim; they being idolaters, worshippers of the calves; and as they had forsaken the Lord, he had forsaken them; therefore no help could be expected from them; the Targum is,"the Word of the Lord is not their help.''
(f) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 20. Shalsh…
The Church Fathers
For the Almighty sets in motion even in the innermost hearts of people the movement of their will, so that he does through their agency whatsoever he wishes to perform through them—even he who knows not how to will anything in unrighteousness. What, again, is the purport of that which the man of God said to King Amaziah: "Let not the army of Israel go with you; for the Lord is not with Israel, even with all the children of Ephraim: for if you shall think to obtain with these, the Lord shall put you to flight before your enemies: for God has power either to strengthen or to put to flight"? Now, how does the power of God help some in war by giving them confidence and put others to flight by injecting fear into them, except it be that he who has made all things according to his own will, in heaven and on earth, also works in human hearts? We read also what Joash, king of Israel, said when he sent a message to Amaziah, king of Judah, who wanted to fight with him. After certain other words, he added, "Now stay at home; why do you challenge me to your hurt, that you should fall, you and Judah with you?" Then the Scripture has added this sequel: "But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might be delivered into their hands, because they sought after the gods of Edom." Behold, now, how God, wishing to punish the sin of idolatry, wrought this in this man's heart, with whom he was indeed justly angry, not to listen to sound advice but to despise it and go to the battle in which he with his army was routed.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Amaziah — Strengthened by Jehovah. (1.) A Levite, son of Hilkiah, of the descendants of Ethan the Merarite (1 Chr. 6:45). (2.) The son and successor of Joash, and eighth king of the separate kingdom of Judah…
Amoz — Strong, the father of the prophet Isaiah (2 Kings 19:2, 20; 20:1; Isa. 1:1; 2:1). As to his personal history little is positively known. He is supposed by some to have been the “man of God” spoken of…
Joktheel — Subdued by God. (1.) A city of Judah near Lachish (Josh. 15, 38). Perhaps the ruin Kutlaneh, south of Gezer. (2.) Amaziah, king of Judah, undertook a great expedition against Edom (2 Chr. 25:5-10),…
Salt, Valley of — A place where it is said David smote the Syrians (2 Sam. 8:13). This valley (the’ Arabah) is between Judah and Edom on the south of the Dead Sea. Hence some interpreters would insert the words, “and…
Kings · Who reigned over Judah: Amaziah — Who reigned over Judah: Amaziah
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).
The phrase a man of God was a way to refer to a prophet (as in Deut 33:1; 1 Sam 2:27; 9:6-10; 1 Kgs 13:1-31). • The kingdom of Israel was politically foreign and spiritually apostate. Relying on Israel’s troops for military strength would bring spiritual compromise and God’s opposition.
Rashi on 2 Chronicles 25:7
for God is not with Israel, all the sons of Ephraim because Jeroboam was of the tribe of Ephraim, and he was the first to cause Israel to sin. And in every generation thereafter he remained a stumbling block for them, for they worshipped the golden calves of Jeroboam.
