Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 21:16
Then the LORD stirred against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and Arabs who lived near the Cushites.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text records God acting against King Jehoram of Judah immediately after pronouncing a prophetic disease upon him. This divine intervention initiates the historical judgment detailed in the surrounding verses.
The words — וַ/יָּ֨עַר (va/i.Ya.'ar) translates literally as "and he stirred up," while ר֤וּחַ (Ru.ach) means "spirit." The verse states God stirred the spirit of hostile groups against the king.
The thread — This pattern of God raising foreign adversaries appears in 2 Chronicles 17:11, where Philistines and Arabs brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and in 1 Kings 11:14 and 1 Kings 11:23, where the LORD raises specific opponents against Solomon.
Why it lands — The text states God directly instigated military action against Jehoram through neighboring nations. It requires the reader to observe that historical conflict is presented as a direct execution of divine judgment.
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
Moreover the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, that were near the Ethiopians:
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 17:11 Some Philistines also brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat, and the Arabs brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats from their flocks.
- 1 Kings 11:14 Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.
- 1 Kings 11:23 And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah,
- 2 Chronicles 22:1 Then the people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, the youngest son of Jehoram, king in his place, since the raiders who had come into the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
- 1 Samuel 26:19 Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it, may they be cursed in the presence of the LORD! For today they have driven me away from sharing in the inheritance of the LORD, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’
- 2 Samuel 24:1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
- 1 Kings 11:11 Then the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.
- 2 Chronicles 26:7 God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs living in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites.
- Ezra 1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows: