Against them. — Or, unto them.
They come up by the cliff of Ziz. — They are about ascending by the ascent of Hazziz. Vulg., “ascensuri enim sunt per clivum,” &c.
The brook. — The wâdy, ravine, or water-course.
The wilderness of Jeruel. — The name is unknown, but comparing 2 Chronicles 20:2; 2 Chronicles 20:16; 2 Chronicles 20:20, it appears that the great stretch of waste, now called el Husâsah, from a wady on the north side of it, is intended. The “ascent of Hazziz” would be a pass or mountain path, leading up from Engedi to this desert table-land. (With the name Hazziz, comp. Hakkoz. Perhaps Husâsah preserves a trace of it. The LXX. has Ασαεῖς Syriac and Arabic, “the ascent of dawn,” omitting “Jeruel.”)