Zerah

Zerah the Ethiopian led a vast army against Judah but was defeated by King Asa.

Zerah the Ethiopian (or Cushite) was a military commander who led a massive invasion force against Judah during the reign of King Asa. According to 2Chronicles 14, Zerah's army numbered over a million men and included 300 chariots. They advanced as far as Mareshah before encountering Asa's forces in the Valley of Zephathah. Asa called upon the Lord for help, and the Ethiopians were defeated and pursued as far as Gerar. The exact identity of Zerah is uncertain. Some scholars suggest he may have been Usarken II, an Egyptian pharaoh, while others propose he was an Arabian leader. Whoever he was, his defeat was a significant victory for Judah and a demonstration of God's power on behalf of His people.

An “Ethiopian,” probably Osorkon II., the successor of Shishak on the throne of Egypt. With an enormous army, the largest we read of in Scripture, he invaded the kingdom of Judah in the days of Asa (2 Chr. 14:9-15). He reached Zephathah, and there encountered the army of Asa. This is the only instance “in all the annals of Judah of a victorious encounter in the field with a first-class heathen power in full force.” The Egyptian host was utterly routed, and the Hebrews gathered “exceeding much spoil.” Three hundred years elapsed before another Egyptian army, that of Necho (B.C. 609), came up against Jerusalem.