Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The prophet Jehu rebukes Jehoshaphat for having made an alliance with the impious Ahab; therefore Jehoshaphat increases his zeal for divine worship, and admonishes the judges about maintaining justice, and the Priests and Levites about piously instructing the people.
Vulgate Text: 2 Paralipomenon 19:1-11
1. And Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned to his house in peace in Jerusalem. 2. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said: Do you help the ungodly, and are you joined in friendship with those who hate the Lord? And therefore indeed you deserved the wrath of the Lord; 3. but good works have been found in you, because you removed the groves from the land of Judah and prepared your heart to seek the Lord God of your fathers. 4. So Jehoshaphat dwelt in Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to Mount Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord God of their fathers. 5. He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah in every place, 6. and charging the judges he said: Take heed what you do, for you exercise judgment not for man but for the Lord; and whatever you judge will redound upon you. 7. Let the fear of the Lord be with you, and do all things with diligence; for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor desire for gifts. 8. In Jerusalem also Jehoshaphat appointed Levites and priests and heads of families from Israel, to judge the judgment and cause of the Lord for its inhabitants. 9. And he charged them, saying: Thus shall you act in the fear of the Lord faithfully, and with a perfect heart. 10. Every cause that comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether between kindred and kindred, wherever there is a question about the law, about a commandment, about ceremonies, about statutes, show them, that they may not sin against the Lord, and lest wrath come upon you and upon your brethren: thus acting, you will not sin. 11. And Amariah the priest and your pontiff shall preside in those matters that pertain to God; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, who is ruler in the house of Judah, shall be over those works that pertain to the king's office; and you have the Levites as teachers before you. Be strong and act diligently, and the Lord will be with you in good things.
Verse 2: You Help the Ungodly
2. YOU HELP THE UNGODLY AND ARE JOINED IN FRIENDSHIP WITH THOSE WHO HATE THE LORD — and by marriage alliance, giving the daughter of the impious Ahab, namely Athaliah, as wife to your son Jehoram. For it is unworthy that we make friends of those who are God's enemies and of whom God is the enemy; unless necessity or great advantage compels it, it is equally dangerous, as the outcome showed. For Athaliah perverted Jehoram and the Jews. Whence David, in Psalm 138 (139):21, professes himself the enemy of God's enemies: "Did I not hate those who hate You, Lord, and was I not consumed with anger at Your enemies? With a perfect hatred I hated them, and they became my enemies." Wherefore God adds through the prophet Jehu:
AND THEREFORE INDEED YOU DESERVED THE WRATH (that is, a severe chastisement and punishment) OF THE LORD; BUT GOOD WORKS HAVE BEEN FOUND IN YOU — namely of piety and zeal in overthrowing idolatry and in defending and promoting God's worship, on account of which God pardons you all guilt as well as all punishment.
Verse 6: You Exercise Judgment for the Lord
6. FOR YOU EXERCISE JUDGMENT NOT FOR MAN BUT FOR THE LORD — that is to say, you are vicars not so much of me as of God; by God, namely through me, you have been appointed judges of His people, that you may judge them justly and holily; therefore He Himself will exact from you a strict accounting for justice rendered or neglected, and will reward or punish according to your merits. Let princes and judges think of this and ponder it frequently: namely, that they exercise God's judgment, and therefore let them judge before God as truly and sincerely as God Himself would judge, and as He Himself will show them that they ought to have judged on the day of judgment. He who thinks this does not allow himself to be turned from the right path of justice either by favor, or by friendship, or by gifts, or by threats. For as he adds:
FOR THERE IS NO INIQUITY WITH THE LORD OUR GOD — that is, as the Septuagint says, injustice; in Hebrew avlah, that is, perversity, or the perversion and overthrow of justice, so as to show partiality or accept bribes, as follows. So Vatablus.