“When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude. There were corpses lying on the ground. No one had escaped. When King Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the booty from them, they found livestock in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They spent three days taking the booty, because of its abundance. On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed Yahweh. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day. Then all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, with King Jehoshaphat at their head, returned to Jerusalem with joy. Yahweh had enabled them to rejoice over their enemies. They came to Jerusalem, with harps, lyres, and trumpets, to the house of Yahweh. The fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that Yahweh had fought against the enemies of Israel. The realm of King Jehoshaphat was quiet. God gave him rest all around.”
When Judah and its king arrived at the spot where they would do battle with their enemies, they were surprised to see that they were all dead, with bodies all over the place. No one was alive. This was a strange massacre since everyone killed everyone else with no survivors. Thus King Jehoshaphat and his people gathered up all the booty for 3 days. There were livestock, goods, and clothing. After 3 days they could not take any more. On the 4th day they praised Yahweh in the Valley of Beracah. Some have speculated that this was on the road from Hebron to Jerusalem near Tekoa. Therefore they did not have to go far to return home with all their goodies. Moab and Ammon were defeated. When all the other countries heard that Yahweh had defeated the enemies of Judah, they too were in fear of Judah. Thus there was rest all around King Jehoshaphat. So ends the King Jehoshaphat story of this biblical writer.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 