1. in peace] i.e. in safety. LXX. (B) omitted the phrase.
²And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the wicked, and love them that hate the Lord? for this thing wrath is upon thee from before the Lord.
2. Jehu the son of Hanani] He must have been an old man at this time, for he had prophesied against Baasha (1 Kings xvi. 1), since whose reign two kings had ruled in Israel, viz., Omri (12 years) and Ahab (22 years). It appears, however, as if the Chronicler ignored or overlooked 1 Kings xvi. 1, for in 2 Chronicles xvi. 7 Hanani, Jehu’s father, is mentioned rebuking Asa, Jehoshaphat’s father. The two passages, in Kings and Chronicles, are not hopelessly irreconcilable, but together they yield a very odd and improbable sequence: the son active in Baasha’s reign, the father in Asa’s, and again after some 40 years the son in Jehoshaphat’s time!
and love them that hate the Lord] Compare Psalms cxxxix. 21, 22. Actually, of course, Ahab even in this narrative appears as an adherent of Jehovah, whose prophets he consults. The phrase “them that hate the Lord” reflects the Chronicler’s view of north Israel.
for this thing] Israel (in the Chronicler’s eyes) being wholly and utterly bad, apostate from Jehovah, Jehoshaphat’s alliance with Ahab had to be construed as a most serious sin which should meet with severe punishment.
wrath is upon thee] the impending visitation of anger comes to pass in the invasion of the Moabite and Ammonite tribes described in chapter xx. For “wrath” (Hebrew ḳeṣeph) compare 2 Kings iii. 27, Revised Version margin.
³Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast put away the Asheroth out of the land, and hast set thine heart to seek God.
3. good things] Compare xii. 12 (note).
the Asheroth] plural of “Asherah”; compare notes on xiv. 3, and xv. 16.
4–11 (no parallel in Kings).
Jehoshaphat’s Home Policy for Instruction in the Law and Administration of Justice.