Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 19:4
Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and once again he went out among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jehoshaphat acts following a prophetic assessment that acknowledges his removal of Asherah poles and his renewed pursuit of God. He operates from Jerusalem while traveling through Judah and Ephraim to address the populace.
The words — The Hebrew verbs וַיֵּשֶׁב (va.yeshev, "he dwelt") and וַיָּשָׁב (va.yashov, "he returned/turned back") bookend his circuit. The phrase מִבְּאֵר שֶׁבַע (mi'Be'er Sheva, "from Beersheba") establishes the southern boundary of his pastoral route.
The thread — The call to return to the LORD mirrors Samuel’s directive in 1 Samuel 7:3 to remove foreign gods and seek God wholeheartedly. The motif of turning hearts back to God aligns with the prophetic mission outlined in Luke 1:17.
Why it lands — The text requires active, geographic engagement to reverse spiritual decline, moving from established centers to peripheral communities. It demands that religious reform be demonstrated through direct movement and instruction rather than administrative decree alone.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beer–sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers.
Cross-references
- Luke 1:17 And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
- 1 Samuel 7:3 Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
- 2 Chronicles 15:8 When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage and removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.
- 2 Chronicles 29:10 Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that His fierce anger will turn away from us.
- Malachi 4:6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
- Genesis 21:33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.
- Joshua 17:15 Joshua answered them, “If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”
- Judges 19:1 Now in those days, when there was no king in Israel, a Levite who lived in the remote hill country of Ephraim took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
- Judges 20:1 Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.
- 1 Samuel 7:15 So Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.