2 Chronicles 20:4 (GNV)

Passage

And Iudah gathered them selues together to aske counsel of the Lord: they came euen out of all the cities of Iudah to inquire of the Lord,

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 20:2 Then there came that tolde Iehoshaphat, saying, There commeth a great multitude against thee from beyonde the Sea, out of Aram: and beholde, they bee in Hazzon Tamar, which is En-gedi.

2 Chronicles 20:3 And Iehoshaphat feared, and set him selfe to seeke the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Iudah.

2 Chronicles 20:4 And Iudah gathered them selues together to aske counsel of the Lord: they came euen out of all the cities of Iudah to inquire of the Lord,

2 Chronicles 20:5 And Iehoshaphat stoode in the Congregation of Iudah and Ierusalem in the house of the Lord before the new court,

2 Chronicles 20:6 And saide, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heauen? and reignest not thou on all the kingdomes of the heathen? and in thine hande is power and might, and none is able to withstand thee.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "iudah", "gathered", "selues", "together", "aske", "counsel", "lord", and "came". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "iudah" and "gathered", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And Iehoshaphat feared and set him selfe..." into verse 5's "And Iehoshaphat stoode in the Congregation of...", so "iudah" and "gathered" 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 "iudah" and "gathered" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.