And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him.

Ver. 17. And the king appointed.] Not without a divine overruling providence, for a just punishment of this profane prince's unbelief.

And the people trode upon him in the gate.] Whether he had been an oppressor of the people, and was therefore justly trodden to death by them, is uncertain: but that he had shamefully trodden underfoot the honour of God's power, is upon record, 2Ki 7:2 wherefore he was worthily trampled on by the hungry people, who would not be kept in by his authority. The belly hath no ears, we say; and hunger breaketh through stone walls. Such a like death Constantinus Paleologus, the last Greek emperor, suffered in the gate of Constantinople, when the Turkish army pressed into that city and took it, A.D. 1453.

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