(4) And commanded Judah to seek.--'amar with infinitive. (Comp. 1Chronicles 21:17.) The chronicler's own style is visible in this verse.

To seek the Lord God of their fathers.--The same phrase recurs in 2Chronicles 15:12.

The law and the commandment.--Exodus 24:12, "That I may give thee the tables of stone, and the law and the commandment that I have written" (Deuteronomy 6:25).

And the images.--Hammanim. (Comp. the word hammah, "sun.") Pillars or statues to the sun-god, standing before or upon the altars of Baal, are intended (see Leviticus 26:30; Isaiah 17:8; 2Chronicles 34:4.) Comp. the Phenician deity Baal-hamman.

The kingdom was quiet before him.--Enjoyed peace under his oversight. Compare the use of the word "before," in Numbers 8:22; Psalm 72:5 ("before the moon").

Verse 4. - And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers. What an indication lies couched in this word "commanded" (confirmatory of the spirit of what is said above, in our previous verse-note) of the moral efforts of Asa, and that the efforts on which he may have largely relied for "taking away the high places" were moral efforts, rather than those of physical force.

14:1-15 Asa's piety, He strengthens his kingdom. - Asa aimed at pleasing God, and studied to approve himself to him. Happy those that walk by this rule, not to do that which is right in their own eyes, or in the eye of the world, but which is so in God's sight. We find by experience that it is good to seek the Lord; it gives us rest; while we pursue the world, we meet with nothing but vexation. Asa consulted with his people how to make a good use of the peace they enjoyed; and concluded with them that they must not be idle, nor secure. A formidable army of Ethiopians invaded Asa's kingdom. This evil came upon them, that their faith in God might be tried. Asa's prayer is short, but it is the real language of faith and expectation from God. When we go forth in God's name, we cannot but prosper, and all things work together for the good of those whom he favours.And commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers,.... To pray to him, and him only, and attend his worship and service; this he did by a public edict:

and to do the law and the commandment: to observe all the laws of God, moral, ceremonial, and civil.