2 Chronicles 20:13

And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) Stood.—Were standing.

Before the Lord—i.e., praying with their king. (Comp. the apparent reference to this assembly in Psalm 48:9. “We thought upon Thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of Thy Temple.”

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 20:13. All Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones — Whom they used to present before the Lord in times of great distress, to stir up themselves to more fervent prayers, their eyes being upon their harmless and tender children; and to move God to compassion, because God hath declared that he will be prevailed with by such methods as these.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

20:1-13 In all dangers, public or personal, our first business should be to seek help from God. Hence the advantage of days for national fasting and prayer. From the first to the last of our seeking the Lord, we must approach him with humiliation for our sins, trusting only in his mercy and power. Jehoshaphat acknowledges the sovereign dominion of the Divine Providence. Lord, exert it on our behalf. Whom should we seek to, whom should we trust to for relief, but the God we have chosen and served. Those that use what they have for God, may comfortably hope he will secure it to them. Every true believer is a son of Abraham, a friend of God; with such the everlasting covenant is established, to such every promise belongs. We are assured of God's love, by his dwelling in human nature in the person of the Saviour. Jehoshaphat mentions the temple, as a token of God's favourable presence. He pleads the injustice of his enemies. We may well appeal to God against those that render us evil for good. Though he had a great army, he said, We have no might without thee; we rely upon thee.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Maonites of 2 Chronicles 20:1 are here, and in 2 Chronicles 20:22-23, called the "children" or inhabitants "of mount Seir." Hence, we may gather that they were a tribe of Edomites, the inhabitants, probably of a city Maon (now Ma'an) on the eastern side of the Wady el-Arabah.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6-12. And said, O Lord God of our fathers—This earnest and impressive prayer embraces every topic and argument which, as king and representative of the chosen people, he could urge. Then it concludes with an earnest appeal to the justice of God to protect those who, without provocation, were attacked and who were unable to defend themselves against overwhelming numbers.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Whom they used to present before the Lord in times of great distress, partly to stir up themselves to more fervent and faithful prayers, that their eye, being upon their harmless and tender children, might affect their heart with a greater sense of their misery; and partly to move God to compassion, not as if he were capable of passions or changes upon such a sight, but because God hath declared himself that he will be prevailed with by such methods as these.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And all Judah stood before the Lord,.... Looking towards the most holy place, where the ark of his presence was, in an humble and submissive posture; waiting what would be the issue of things, what answer they should have from the Lord:

with their little ones, their wives, and their children: they and their wives, with their children, both small and grown up, which they brought with them, that as the sight of them, now in the utmost danger, might affect them, and make them the more fervent in their supplications to God, so they might hope the Lord would have pity and compassion on them, and save them.

Geneva Study Bible

And all Judah stood {h} before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

(h) That is, before the ark of the covenant.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. their little ones … and their children] Cp. 2 Chronicles 31:18, “their little ones … and their sons and their daughters.” “Little ones” (Heb. ṭaph) seems always to mean quite small children.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - If the whole narration called for one more touch, it has it in the pathetic, Brief, telling graphicness of this verse. Their little ones. The familiar Hebrew word (טַפָם) is expressive of the quick, tripping step of the young and of women. Gesenius would regard it in this passage as designating the whole family as distinguished from the head of it, and as amplified by "wives" and "children" instanced afterward, quoting the very insufficient support of Genesis 47:12. Our text occurs again in 2 Chronicles 31:18. 2 Chronicles 20:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Thus all Judah, with their king, stood praying before the Lord. They had, moreover, brought with them their little ones, their wives, and their sons, to pray for deliverance for them from the enemy; cf. Judith 4:9.