Valley of Zephathah

Biblical Account

The Valley of Zephathah is a place name found in 2 Chronicles 14:9–15. When Zerah the Cushite (KJV "Zerah the Ethiopian") invaded Judah as far as Mareshah with an army of a million men and three hundred chariots, King Asa of Judah went out against him, "and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah" (2 Chronicles 14:10).

Before the battle Asa offered a prayer that begins, "LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power" (2 Chronicles 14:11). The text reports that the LORD smote the Cushites and that Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar and carried away a great deal of spoil (2 Chronicles 14:12–15). There follows the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, who exhorts Asa to seek God (2 Chronicles 15:1–7). This war does not appear in the account of Asa in 1 Kings (1 Kings 15) and is recorded only in 2 Chronicles.

Background

Mareshah was a town in the Shephelah, the low hill country of southwestern Judah lying between the highlands and the coastal plain. Because it stood on a route leading up from the coast into the hill country of Judah, it was an important point for repelling invading armies. The Valley of Zephathah appears to have been a valley near Mareshah, but scholars disagree about which modern valley it corresponds to.

The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) is reported to render this verse not as a proper place name but as "the valley north of Mareshah." As a result, there is also debate about how the place name in the Hebrew text should be read.

Significance in Scripture

Chronicles portrays this event as an example of a king who trusted in God and was victorious even against a great army. Later in his reign, when Asa sought help from the king of Aram, Hanani the seer reminded him of his victory over the great armies of the Ethiopians and the Lubims and rebuked him for not relying on the LORD (2 Chronicles 16:7–9). The victory in the Valley of Zephathah thus serves as a point of reference contrasting Asa's early years, when he relied on God, with his later years, when he relied on human help. The place name does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Points of Debate

• The identity of Zerah: The text calls him only "the Cushite." Some scholars regard him as a king of Egypt or a commander serving under him, while others see him as the leader of a group living south of Judah. There is no consensus.
• The question of numbers: Some interpreters take the "million men" literally, while others read the phrase as an expression for a very large army or as a term denoting military units.
• Distinguishing the text from later elaborations: The biblical text gives no detailed description of the valley's terrain or of how the battle unfolded. Such descriptions are the conjectures of later scholars.