2 Chronicles 20:3 (ASV)

Passage

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto Jehovah; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 20:1 And it came to pass after this, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them some of the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

2 Chronicles 20:2 Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea from Syria; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (the same is En-gedi).

2 Chronicles 20:3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto Jehovah; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

2 Chronicles 20:4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to seek [help] of Jehovah: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek Jehovah.

2 Chronicles 20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of Jehovah, before the new court;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jehoshaphat", "feared", "himself", "seek", "jehovah", "proclaimed", "fast", and "throughout". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jehoshaphat" and "feared", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat..." into verse 4's "And Judah gathered themselves together to seek...", so "jehoshaphat" and "feared" 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 "jehoshaphat" and "feared" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.