Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 20:23
The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction. And when they had finished off the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The chronicler records the immediate aftermath of Judah’s worship when God diverts the invading alliance of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir into mutual destruction. The narrative captures the moment the allied armies turn on each other after the Lord’s ambush is deployed.
The words — The verb וַֽיַּעַמְדוּ (va.ya.'am.du) literally translates to “and they stood up” or “rose up,” marking the sudden mobilization of the Ammonites and Moabites. The phrase בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן וּמוֹאָב (be.Nei a.Mon u.mo.'Av) identifies these groups specifically as the people of Ammon and Moab.
The thread — This motif of God turning hostile forces against one another mirrors the ambush in Judges 7:22 and the battlefield confusion in 1 Samuel 14:20. The specific targeting of Mount Seir also connects to the ancestral inheritance of Esau in Genesis 36:8.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that divine judgment can execute itself through human conflict without human agency. It demands a sober recognition that deliverance operates independently of military strategy or human strength.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Judges 7:22 And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
- 1 Samuel 14:20 Then Saul and all his troops assembled and marched to the battle, and they found the Philistines in total confusion, with each man wielding the sword against his neighbor.
- Genesis 36:8 So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.
- Joshua 24:4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
- Ezekiel 35:2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it,
- Genesis 14:6 and the Horites in the area of Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is near the desert.
- Deuteronomy 2:5 Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.