Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Chronicles 20:37 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 37. 37Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition: “Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Jehoshaphat's good path and failed ships close his reign.”
Read It With
- 2 Chronicles 20:31–37
Read 2 Chronicles 20:37 with 20:31–37. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Jehoshaphat receives a positive but incomplete evaluation, his alliance with Ahaziah produces ships for Tarshish, and Eliezer announces their destruction because of that partnership.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Jehoshaphat's good path and failed ships close his reign,” 2 Chronicles 20:37 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: The ending repeats the book's warning that reform and prior deliverance do not remove the need for discernment in later alliances. 2 Chronicles 20:27–30 has just established this prior movement: Jehoshaphat leads Judah back to Jerusalem with instruments and joy, surrounding kingdoms fear after hearing of the battle, and the realm rests. Together those details explain why “Jehoshaphat's good path and failed ships close his reign” belongs here rather than merely following a database record.
Read 2 Chronicles 20:31–37 together
Why these verses belong together: 2 Chronicles 20:31–37 forms the complete movement “Jehoshaphat's good path and failed ships close his reign”: Jehoshaphat receives a positive but incomplete evaluation, his alliance with Ahaziah produces ships for Tarshish, and Eliezer announces their destruction because of that partnership.
Verse 31. 31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.
Verse 32. 32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.
Verse 33. 33 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.
Verse 34. 34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.
Verse 35. 35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:
Verse 36. 36 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.
Verse 37. 37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
Follow the Context
- Jehoshaphat receives a positive but incomplete evaluation, his alliance with Ahaziah produces ships for Tarshish, and Eliezer announces their destruction because of that partnership.
- The ending repeats the book's warning that reform and prior deliverance do not remove the need for discernment in later alliances.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
2 Chronicles 20:37 does not permit the wording “Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. A failed venture does not prove every business partner wicked or every loss direct punishment; the narrative judges this specific alliance.
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: Jehoshaphat receives a positive but incomplete evaluation, his alliance with Ahaziah produces ships for Tarshish, and Eliezer announces their destruction because of that partnership. In 2 Chronicles 20:37, the concrete line “Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with….” 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: Jehoshaphat receives a positive but incomplete evaluation, his alliance with Ahaziah produces ships for Tarshish, and Eliezer announces their destruction because of that partnership.
Teach It Back
Explain why 2 Chronicles 20:37 ends the reign with Eliezer's rebuke and the fleet's destruction. Use 20:31–37, paraphrase “Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with…,” state one source or reconstruction limit, identify one person or group power can obscure, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Chronicles 20:31–37 — Jehoshaphat's good path and failed ships close his reignSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Kings and Chronicles differ about the fleet and alliance sequence; neither account should be forced into a seamless logbook.
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 20:31–37, 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 20:31–37
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 20:31–37, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗