20:2 beyond the sea. The sea is the Dead Sea, and Engedi is on its western shore. The Moabites and Ammonites, descendants of Lot, and the Edomites, descendants of Esau, all of whom had been spared by Moses and Joshua during the conquest of the land from the Canaanites, had finally become confederates in an ungrateful attempt to destroy Israel. Their combined armies constituted a “great multitude.” This time, however, Jehoshaphat made no request for help from Israel or Syria or anyone else, relying strictly on the Lord.