7), but Asa treats him as if he
were one of his own subjects, handles him severely, and shuts him
in prison. By this he hastens and increases his punishment,
under which he falls in the forty-first year of his reign.
Jehoshaphat, the pious king, according to 1Kings xxii., took part
in the expedition of the godless Ahab of Israel against the
Damascenes. Chronicles cannot allow this to pass unrebuked,
and accordingly when the king returns in peace, the same Hanani
announces his punishment, albeit a gracious one (2Chronicles xix.
I-3). And gracious indeed it is; the Moabites and Ammonites
invade the land, but Jehoshaphat without any effort on his part
wins a glorious victory, and inexhaustible plunder (xx. 1 seq.).
One cannot blame him, therefore, for once more entering into an
alliance with Ahab's successor for a naval expedition to be
undertaken in common, which is to sail from a port of the Red Sea,
probably round Africa, to Tarshish (Spain, 2Chronicles ix. 21).
But this time he is punished more seriously as Eliezer the son of
Dodavah had prophesied, the ships are wrecked. Compare on the
other hand 1Kings xxii.
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