And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

And he placed numbers of soldiers in all the fortified cities of Juda. And he put garrisons in the land of Juda, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

and putteth a force in all the fenced cities of Judah, and putteth garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had captured.

He put forces in all the walled towns of Judah, and responsible chiefs in the land of Judah and in the towns of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

And he appointed numbers of soldiers in all the cities of Judah that had been fortified with walls. And he placed garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had seized.

The cities of Ephraim - This conquest from the kingdom of Israel is referred to, 2-Chronicles 15:8; but when it was made we do not know.

And he placed forces in all the fenced cities of Judah,.... A considerable number of soldiers, to defend them should they be attacked:
and set garrisons in the land of Judah: on the frontiers and borders of it, to protect it:
and in the cities of Ephraim; soldiers to keep garrison there:
which Asa his father had taken; see 2-Chronicles 15:8.

He placed forces (חיל) in all the fenced cities of Judah, and garrisons (נציבים, military posts; cf. 1-Chronicles 11:16) in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which is father Asa had taken; cf. 2-Chronicles 15:8. God blessed these undertakings. Jahve was with him, because he walked in the ways of David his ancestor, the former ways, and sought not the Baals. The former ways of David are his ways in the earlier years of his reign, in contrast to the later years, in which his adultery with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11) and the sin of numbering the people (1 Chron 21) fall. הבּעלים are all false gods, in contrast to Jahve, the one God of Israel; and here the word designates not only the Baal-worship properly so called, but also the worship of Jahve by means of images, by which Jahve is brought down to the level of the Baals; cf. Judges 2:11. The ל before בּעלים stands, according to the later usage, as a sign of the accusative. In the last clause of 2-Chronicles 17:4, "and not after the doings of Israel" (of the ten tribes), הלך, "he walked," is to be repeated. The doing of Israel is the worship of Jahve through the images of the golden calves, which the author of the Chronicle includes in the לבּעלים דּרשׁ.