2 Chronicles 20:24 (ASV)

Passage

And when Judah came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked upon the multitude; and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were none that escaped.

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 20:22 And when they began to sing and to praise, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, that were come against Judah; and they were smitten.

2 Chronicles 20:23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

2 Chronicles 20:24 And when Judah came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked upon the multitude; and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were none that escaped.

2 Chronicles 20:25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.

2 Chronicles 20:26 And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed Jehovah: therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah unto this day.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "judah", "came", "watch-tower", "wilderness", "looked", "upon", "multitude", and "behold". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "judah" and "came", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 23's "For the children of Ammon and Moab..." into verse 25's "And when Jehoshaphat and his people came...", so "judah" and "came" belong inside that flow. In 2 Chronicles context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "judah" and "came" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.