And next him was Jehozabad, and with him an hundred and fourscore thousand ready prepared for the war.

2 CHRONICLES 17:18KJV
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2 Chronicles 17:18 (KJV)

What does 2 Chronicles 17:18 mean?

2 Chronicles 17:18 records Jehozabad as one of the commanders serving King Jehoshaphat. The verse counts 180,000 men under Jehozabad and describes them as prepared for war. The number is part of an account of the king’s military strength.

“Next him” places Jehozabad after the commander named in verse 17. The narrator presents Jehozabad’s men as a distinct group within the king’s forces.

The Hebrew behind 2 Chronicles 17:18

  • “prepared” — חָלַץ (ḥālaṣ): The word can carry the sense of being equipped or armed. Here it adds a picture of men fitted out for military service.
  • “war” — צָבָא (ṣābāʾ): The word can refer to an army or military service as well as warfare. Together with “prepared,” it describes the men in terms of their readiness for military duty.

Why 2 Chronicles 17:18 matters

  • Jehozabad’s number belongs to a larger list of commanders, not to the whole army by itself. The passage gives separate figures for the men under each leader.
  • The list also distinguishes these men from troops stationed in fortified cities. Verse 19 says the listed commanders served the king besides those he had placed throughout Judah.

Where else these words appear

“Jehozabad” Hebrew H3075 · used in 4 verses

  • 2 Kings 12:21 For Jozachar the son of Shimeath, and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him, and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
  • 1 Chronicles 26:4 Moreover the sons of Obededom were, Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethaneel the fifth,
  • 2 Chronicles 24:26 And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.

“fourscore” Hebrew H8084 · used in 37 verses

  • Genesis 5:25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:
  • 2 Samuel 19:35 I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?
  • 2 Chronicles 11:1 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.

“prepared” Hebrew H2502 · used in 44 verses

  • Leviticus 14:40 Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city:
  • Joshua 4:13 About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.
  • Psalms 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.