⁷And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Meunim.
7. against the Philistines, and against the Arabians] “Conditions in the comparatively small and half-desert land of Judah depended essentially on its relations with the Edomite and Arabian tribes on the south-east and with the Philistines on the west”: note how this comes out in the traditions of the period as narrated in Chronicles Jehoshaphat dominated both Philistines and Arabians (Edomites) (xvii. 11); but Libnah (near Lachish) and Edom revolted successfully against his son Jehoram (xxi. 10). After the reigns of Ahaziah and Joash, Amaziah found himself able to assail Edom and gained a great victory (xxv. 11, 12). Later in his reign Amaziah suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Joash of Israel, and it is reasonable to suppose that Edom would seize the opportunity to reassert its independence, though Chronicles is silent on the point. It is therefore in harmony with the sequence of events as narrated by the Chronicler, when in the present verse (compare verse 2) we are told that Amaziah’s successor, Uzziah, reestablished the Judean power over Edom, and that later, against Ahaz, Edom and the Philistine cities gained the upper hand (xxviii. 17, 18).
Gur-baal] An unidentified place; a “Gur” is mentioned in 2 Kings ix. 27. A slight correction of the Hebrew would give “in Gerar (compare Genesis xx. 1) and against the Meunim.”
Meunim] compare xx. 1 (note).
⁸And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he waxed exceeding strong.
8. gave gifts] i.e. tribute. Compare 1 Chronicles xviii. 2 (note).
⁹Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.
9. towers in Jerusalem, etc.] The Chronicler is evidently fond of recording such traditions; compare xxxii. 30, xxxiii. 14; and the Introduction § 7, p. [xlviii].
the corner gate] At the north-west corner of the walls. Compare xxv. 23 (note).
the valley gate] Nehemiah ii. 13, iii. 13. Probably near the south-west corner of the walls.