11And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, Lord, [1]there is none [2]beside thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength: help us, O LORD our God; for we rely on thee, and in thy name are we come against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. 12So the LORD smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. 13And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and there fell of the Ethiopians [3]so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were [4]destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much booty. 14And they smote all the cities round about Gerar; for [5]the fear of the LORD came upon them: and they spoiled all the cities; for there was much spoil in them. 15They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep in abundance and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.
12. the LORD smote] Cp. xiii. 15. The use of The Name, Jehovah (translated The Lord), instead of the general word "God" here and in verses 13, 14 is in favour of the view that the Chronicler took this account from some earlier document, perhaps a midrashic history of Judah (Introd. § 5, p. xxxvi).
the Ethiopians] Rather, the Cushites.
13. Gerar] Identified with Jerār, ruins three hours south of Gaza; cp. 1 Chr. iv. 39 (read "Gerar," LXX. Γέραρα),
so many that they could not recover themselves] Or perhaps, as mg., so that none remained alive.
very much booty] The phrase used belongs to a style earlier than that of the Chronicler. Cp. note on ver. 9 (against them),
14. the fear of the LORD] The Chroniclers own phrase is "the fear of God" (xx. 29).
much spoil] Again we miss a favourite expression of the Chronicler: "exceeding (lārōbh) much spoil."
15. the tents of cattle] These words are so strange an expression that it is probable the text is corrupt. If so, the original reading is unknown, for the LXX. has the same reading as the Heb. It adds a proper name, evidently intended as the name of an Arabian tribe, but this addition appears to be a gloss derived from a reading of the LXX. in xxii. 1.
