Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 Chronicles 20:16 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 16. 16To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence: “To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Jahaziel declares the battle belongs to God.”
Read It With
- 2 Chronicles 20:13–19
Read 2 Chronicles 20:16 with 20:13–19. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: The Spirit comes upon the Levite Jahaziel, who tells the assembly not to fear, directs them where to stand, and promises deliverance; king and people bow while Levites praise loudly.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Jahaziel declares the battle belongs to God,” 2 Chronicles 20:16 advances the thought unit through its next action, speech, or consequence through the wording “To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: The oracle answers confessed powerlessness through a named temple singer rather than a military commander. 2 Chronicles 20:1–12 has just established this prior movement: A coalition approaches, Jehoshaphat fears, proclaims a fast, and leads Judah—including wives and children—in recalling temple prayer and confessing powerlessness while waiting on God. Together those details explain why “Jahaziel declares the battle belongs to God” belongs here rather than merely following a database record.
Read 2 Chronicles 20:13–19 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Chronicles 20:13–19 forms the complete movement “Jahaziel declares the battle belongs to God”: The Spirit comes upon the Levite Jahaziel, who tells the assembly not to fear, directs them where to stand, and promises deliverance; king and people bow while Levites praise loudly.
Verse 13. 13 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
Verse 14. 14 Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation;
Verse 15. 15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Verse 16. 16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
Verse 17. 17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
Verse 18. 18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
Verse 19. 19 And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
What Remains True
Teaching, courts, alliances, prophecy, fear, prayer, conflict, and deliverance must be judged together; visible success does not turn every decision into divine approval. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: The Spirit comes upon the Levite Jahaziel, who tells the assembly not to fear, directs them where to stand, and promises deliverance; king and people bow while Levites praise loudly. In 2 Chronicles 20:16, the concrete line “To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye….” Build courts, teaching, alliances, crisis plans, and public communication that can hear dissent, admit uncertainty, protect affected people, and combine prayer with accountable action. This response follows from the unit's own movement: The Spirit comes upon the Levite Jahaziel, who tells the assembly not to fear, directs them where to stand, and promises deliverance; king and people bow while Levites praise loudly.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Chronicles 20:13–19 — Jahaziel declares the battle belongs to GodSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Chronicles 20:13–19, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Chronicles
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 20:13–19
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Full Notes: 2 Chronicles
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; STEP Bible presentation, 2019 edition; current web presentation
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
Exact location: STEP Bible NET2full, 2 Chronicles 20:13–19, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗