Then the men of Judah gave a shout. — The same verb (hâria‘) occurred in 2 Chronicles 13:12, in the sense of sounding an alarm with the “trumpets of alarm” (t’rû‘ah.) Here our version gives the right sense. Immediately after the priests had blown a blast upon the trumpets, the warriors raised a shout or war- cry. (Comp. Judges 7:18-20).
God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. — The wild panic which seized the host of Israel, when they heard the shout of their foes, is thus forcibly described. The same phrase is used in Judges 20:35, and again by the chronicler (2 Chronicles 14:12). (Comp. the Vulg., “perterruit Deus Jeroboam et omnem Israel.” Syriac, “the Lord routed,” &c.)