2 Chronicles 20

The third group of Judah’s enemies is a mystery. Verse 23 suggests they lived in the long north-south mountain range known as Mount Seir, in the traditional land of Edom. That’s where Jacob’s twin brother Esau settled. Some ancient manuscripts identify the people as the Meunim, which some scholars associate with the town of Maon, about a dozen miles southeast of the Edom town of Petra. But some ancient copies of the book call these mystery people the Ammonites, which some scholars say makes no sense: Moab, Ammon, and the people of Ammon. Why repeat “Ammon,” is what scholars wonder.

The Hebrew uses an alternate name for the hidden oasis surrounded by cliffs, located on Judah’s side of the Dead Sea: Hazazon-tamar. David and his men hid from King Saul at En-gedi (1 Samuel 23:29).

Location of Ziz is uncertain. Leading contender is a trail from Tekoa down to En-gedi. Along the trail are ruins of sites that date back to the Iron Age, when these Bible stories reportedly took place.

Jeruel Desert’s location is unknown.

Putting musicians on the frontline might seem like a bad idea because even if everyone on the line could hit a high C, that’s not going to explode anyone’s head. But it could surprise, frighten, and confuse the enemy. Drummers in the Civil War, like battlefield musicians throughout the ages, were used to terrify the enemy, embolden their own soldiers, and provide a steady cadence for the march or for loading and firing weapons such as slings and arrows.

This is a song the people have sung before: 1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 106:1.

There’s no clue who conducted the ambush. One guess is Judah. Another is that the Chronicles writer wanted to imply a heavenly attack force, warriors from the great beyond.

In Hebrew, it’s the valley of Beracah, a word that can mean: blessing, praise, or thanks.

This is a lost book apparently filled with more details about the Israelite kings. Some scholars say they consider this and the History of Judah’s Kings lost books of the Bible.

This is not what the writer of 1 Kings 22 says. That writer says Jehoshaphat rejected the offer of Ahaziah. Some scholars theorize that both versions of the story may be true. Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah may have built a fleet of ships that never made it out to sea. First Kings 22 says they sank in the port where they were built, presumably from a storm. As the theory goes, Ahaziah recommended building a replacement fleet of ships, but that Jehoshaphat turned him down because of the warning he got from the prophet Eliezer.

Location of Tarshish is unknown. But wherever it was, it was west of the Jewish homeland of Israel. Scholars often guess that it was a city in Spain or somewhere else at the opposite end of the Mediterranean Sea from the Jewish homeland. Some say it was a Phoenician colony called Tartessus, in Spain. Phoenicians were native to what is now Lebanon, but their merchant ships sailed through the Mediterranean Sea.

A ruin called Tel Maresha is in the foothills of the Judean Hills, about 25 miles or 40 kilometers southeast of Jerusalem.