So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of Dawud1; and Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet ten years. 2Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of YAHWEH2 his God: 3for he took away the foreign altars, and the high places, and broke down the pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, 4and commanded Judah to seek YAHWEH, the God of their fathers, and to do the Taurat3 and the commandment. 5Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun-images: and the kingdom was quiet before him. 6He built fortified cities in Judah; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because YAHWEH had given him rest. 7For he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities, and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars; the land is yet before us, because we have sought YAHWEH our God; we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.
8Asa had an army that bore shields and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Binyamin4, that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred eighty thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.
9There came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an army of a million troops, and three hundred chariots; and he came to Mareshah. 10Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11Asa cried to YAHWEH his God, and said, “YAHWEH, there is none besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength: help us, YAHWEH our God; for we rely on you, and in your Name are we come against this multitude. YAHWEH, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you.”
12So YAHWEH struck the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. 13Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar: and there fell of the Ethiopians so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before YAHWEH, and before his army; and they carried away very much booty. 14They struck the cities surrounding Gerar; for the fear of YAHWEH came on them: and they plundered all the cities; for there was much spoil in them. 15They also struck the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep in abundance, and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.
- 14:1 Dawud, this Arabic name is derived from David (Hebrew) and means “Beloved.” ↩︎
- 14:2 YAHWEH, God’s personal Name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15: ‘God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”’ ↩︎
- 14:4 Taurat, this Arabic term is derived from the Hebrew word Torah, which means “instruction” or “teaching.” Depending on context, Taurat can refer to,
1. The whole Hebrew Bible contained here under the title Taurat, equivalent to what Jews today call Tanakh, and what Christians call the Old Testament.
2. The revelation given to Prophet Musa, that is, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Pentateuch. Pentateuch is a Greek word meaning “five books” and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These five books are attributed to Prophet Musa himself. This is the traditional and most common meaning given to Taurat or Torah.
3. The Law of Musa found within the Pentateuch, with its hundreds of rules and regulations covering many aspects of daily life for the people of Israel. The most famous of these laws are the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20.
4. Taurat can also refer to divine instruction and teaching in general without reference to a particular book of the Hebrew Bible. ↩︎ - 14:8 Binyamin, or Benjamin, derived from the Hebrew name Benyamin, meaning “Son of the right hand.” ↩︎