2 Kings 8:21

21 Jehoram responded by taking his army of chariots to Zair. Edom surrounded him, but in the middle of the night he and his charioteers broke through the lines and hit Edom hard. But his infantry deserted him.

2 Kings 8:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 8:21

So Joram went over to Zair
A city in Edom, the same with the Zaara of Ptolemy ^F9; some take it to be the same with Seir, the mountain or country of that name:

and all the chariots with him;
all the chariots of war he had:

and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about;
who came out of their cities in great numbers, and surrounded him, he having entered into their country in an hostile way, to subdue them:

and the captains of the chariots:
which belonged to the Edomites; those he smote, ( 2 Chronicles 21:9 )

and the people fled into their tents;
the army being routed.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Geograph. l. 5. c. 17.

2 Kings 8:21 In-Context

19 But despite that, because of his servant David, God was not ready to destroy Judah. He had, after all, promised to keep a lamp burning through David's descendants.

20 During Jehoram's reign, Edom revolted against Judah's rule and set up their own king.

21 Jehoram responded by taking his army of chariots to Zair. Edom surrounded him, but in the middle of the night he and his charioteers broke through the lines and hit Edom hard. But his infantry deserted him.

22 Edom continues in revolt against Judah right up to the present. Even little Libnah revolted at that time.

23 The rest of the life and times of Jehoram, the record of his rule, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.