2 Chronicles 20:3 (DBY)

Passage

And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek Jehovah, and proclaimed a fast throughout 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 certain of the Maonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

2 Chronicles 20:2 And they came and told Jehoshaphat saying, A great multitude is come against thee from beyond the sea, from Syria; and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is Engedi.

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

2 Chronicles 20:4 And Judah gathered themselves together to ask [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 congregation 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 "And they came and told Jehoshaphat saying..." into verse 4's "And Judah gathered themselves together to ask...", 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.