(21) So Joram went over to Zair.--No town called Zair is otherwise known. Hitzig and Ewald would read Zoar, but Zoar lay in Moab, not in Edom. (Jeremiah 48:34; Isaiah 15:5; Genesis 19:30; Genesis 19:37.) The Vulg. has Seira, and the Arabic Sa'ira, which suggest an original reading, "to Seir," the well-known mountain chain which was the headquarters of the Edomite people. Perhaps the reading of the text �?'ir?h represents a dialectic pronunciation. (Comp. the forms Yish?q and Yich?q for Isaac.)

And he rose by night.--There may be a lacuna of a few lines in the text here, or the compiler, in his desire to be brief, may have become obscure. Jehoram appears to have been hemmed in by the Edomites in the mountains, and to have attempted escape under cover of night.

Smote the Edomites which compassed him about.--Cut his way through their ranks.

And the captains of the chariots.--Part of the object of the verb "smote." Jehoram smote (cut his way through) the Edomites--that is to say, the captains of the Edomite war-chariots which hemmed him and his army in.

And the people fled into (unto) their tents.--That is to say, the army of Jehoram was glad to escape from the scene of its ill success, and made its way homeward as best it could. (Comp. for the proverbial expression, "to their tents," 1Samuel 20:1; 1Kings 8:66.) From Joel 3:19 ("Edom shall be a desolate wilderness for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land") it has been conjectured that when the Edomites revolted they massacred the Jews who had settled in the country in the time of subjection. (Comp. Genesis 27:40.)

Verse 21. - So Joram went over to Zair. Naturally, Joram did not allow Edom to become independent without an attempt to reduce it. He invaded the country in full force, taking up a position at a place called Zair, which is not otherwise known. Zair (צָעִיר) can scarcely be Zoar (צועַר), which, wherever it was, was certainly not in Edom; and it is hardly likely to be a corruption of "Seir" (צָעִיר), since the utterly unknown צעיר would scarcely be put by a copyist in the place of the well-known שׂעיר. Moreover, if Mount Seir were intended, it would probably have had the prefix הַר, as in 1 Chronicles 4:42; 2 Chronicles 20:10, 22, 23; Ezekiel 35:2, 3, 7, 15. "Seir" alone is poetical rather than historical, especially in the language of the later books of the Old Testament. And all the chariots with him; or, all his chariots (Revised Version). The article has the force of the possessive pronoun. And he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about. Josephus understands the writer to mean that Joram made his invasion by night, and smote the Edomites on all sides ('Ant. Jud.,' 9:5. § 1); but it seems better to suppose, with most modern commentators, that the meaning is the following: Soon after Joram invaded the country, he found himself surrounded and blocked in by the Edomite troops, and could only save himself by a night attack, which was so far successful that he broke through the enemy's lines and escaped; his army, however, was so alarmed at the danger it had run, that it at once dispersed and returned home. And the captains of the chariots; i.e. the captains of the Edomite chariots. They too were "smitten," having probably taken the chief part in trying to prevent the escape. And the people fled into their tents; i.e. dispersed to their homes. Compare the cry of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:16), "To your tents, O Israel!"

8:16-24 A general idea is given of Jehoram's badness. His father, no doubt, had him taught the true knowledge of the Lord, but did ill to marry him to the daughter of Ahab; no good could come of union with an idolatrous family.So Joram went over to Zair,.... A city in Edom, the same with the Zaara of Ptolemy (i); some take it to be the same with Seir, the mountain or country of that name:

and all the chariots with him; all the chariots of war he had:

and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites which compassed him about; who came out of their cities in great numbers, and surrounded him, he having entered into their country in an hostile way, to subdue them:

and the captains of the chariots: which belonged to the Edomites; those he smote, 2 Chronicles 21:9.

and the people fled into their tents; the army being routed.

(i) Geograph. l. 5. c. 17.