Synopsis of the Chapter
Asa the son succeeds Abijah, and having cut down idolatry and been strengthened by God, he routs Zerah king of the Ethiopians with a million soldiers.
Verse 2: Asa Overthrew the Altars ¶
2. KING ASA OVERTHREW THE ALTARS OF FOREIGN WORSHIP AND THE HIGH PLACES. — You will say: In 3 Kings XV, 14, it is said of Asa: "He did not remove the high places." I answer that some high places were dedicated to idols, others to the true God: Asa removed the former, not the latter.
Verse 5: He Removed the Shrines ¶
5. AND HE REMOVED THE SHRINES — namely of Baal, Ashtoreth, and the other gods. In Hebrew it is Chammanim or Hammonim, which properly means sun-shrines, that is, temples or altars of the Sun, or of Ammon.
Verse 9: Zerah the Ethiopian ¶
9. AND THERE CAME OUT AGAINST THEM ZERAH THE ETHIOPIAN WITH HIS ARMY OF A MILLION MEN. — Serarius, Sanchez, Salianus, and others understand the true Ethiopia, which is below Egypt. For this borders on Egypt, and is therefore near to Judea; and perhaps Zerah was king of Egypt as well as of Ethiopia.
Verse 13: The Ethiopians Fell to Utter Destruction ¶
13. AND THE ETHIOPIANS FELL EVEN TO UTTER DESTRUCTION, BECAUSE THEY WERE CRUSHED WHEN THE LORD STRUCK THEM, AND HIS ARMY (that is, the army of King Asa, or of God, namely the army of Angels) WAS FIGHTING — invoking God and the holy Angels on behalf of Asa and Judah.