5i8 VISIONS AND PROPHECIES OF ZECHARIAH
and the multitude of Philistines at Michmash " melted away " before Jonathan and his armour-bearer. 1
But the historical instance of the self-destruction of the enemies of God s people by means of such a " confusion " or panic sent by the Lord, to which the prophet seems specially to allude as an illustration of what will overtake the confederated anti-Christian hosts in the future, is that recorded in 2 Chron. xx., when, in answer to the prayer of Jehoshaphet, the hosts of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were gathered against Judah, suddenly fell on one another. " And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set Hers in wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah ; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them : and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another."
The first clause of the I4th verse has been rendered by some, " And Judah also shall fight against Jerusalem" but there is no justification for it in grammar, and it is altogether contrary to the context: 2 literally, " And Judah also " which stands here for the whole remnant of the people " shall fight at (or in ) Jerusalem" It indicates the third weapon which (in addition to the " plague " and the " tumult ") will be used by God for the destruction ol
1 Judg. vii. 22 ; I Sam. xiii. 16-20.
2 The Targum has the mistranslation "against," and so also the Vulgate ; but the Septuagint and the Syriac render properly "at" or "in." Luther, Calvin, Ewald, etc., follow the Vulgate ; but Koehler, Hengstenberg, Keil, Von Orelli, Pusey, Dr. Wright, and almost all competent modern Hebrew scholars, translate "in "or "at Jerusalem." After the verb cn^>j (fight) the preposition 3 (be) is often used in a local sense, especially when used in relation to places. The very same idiom as in this passage in Zech. xiv. 14 (3 cn^p) is found in Judg. v. 19, where it certainly means "fought in Taanach," and Ex. v. 8. Then came Amaleh and fought with Israel, OT?~)3 "in " or "at "(certainly not "against") Rephidim, and so in other places. The English Revised Version is very incon sistent ; for whereas it renders "against" in Zech. xiv. 14, it has translated the same proposition " at " or "in " in the other passages just quoted, and in other places. It is properly rendered "at Jerusalem" in the "American Standard Edition."
