2 Chronicles 20:22

22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.

2 Chronicles 20:22 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 20:22

And when they began to sing and to praise
They sung more or less all the way they went, from the time they set out, but when they came nearer the enemy, they sung louder and louder: the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount
Seir, which came against Judah;
some take them to be their own ambushments, which they set for the destruction of Judah; but the Lord turned them against their own confederates, mistaking them for Jews; so the Vulgate Latin version,

``the Lord turned their ambushments against themselves;''
or rather these were angels, who appeared in the form of the Edomites, and so fell upon the Ammonites and Moabites: and they were smitten;
by them, many of them were destroyed; hence it follows,

2 Chronicles 20:22 In-Context

20 They rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God and you will be established; believe his prophets."
21 When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy splendor, as they went before the army, saying, "Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever."
22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.
23 For the Ammonites and Moab attacked the inhabitants of Mount Seir, destroying them utterly; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.
24 When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; they were corpses lying on the ground; no one had escaped.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.