XXVIII. THE REIGN OF AHAZ. (Comp. 2 Kings 16) PRELIMINARY NOTICES OF THE LENGTH AND CHARACTER OF THE REIGN (2 Chronicles 28:1). (1) AHAZ WAS TWENTY YEARS OLD. — The verse is identical with 2 Kings 16:2; LXX., Syriac, and Arabic, “twenty and five.” (See 2 Chronicles 29:1.) THE LORD. — Add _his Go... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MADE ALSO MOLTEN IMAGES FOR BAALIM. — _For the Baals, i.e.,_ the different aspects or avatars of the Canaanite god. This clause is _added_ by the chronicler, in explanation of the former one; “the way of the kings of Israel” was the state recognition of Baal worship, side by side with that of Je... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER HE. — “And _he_ (emphatic) burnt incense” to Moloch, the god of Ammon, for whom Solomon had built a high place (1 Kings 11:5), which was still in existence. IN THE VALLEY OF THE SON OF HINNOM. — Also called simply the valley of Hinnom (Joshua 15:8), on the west and south of Jerusalem (Josh... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WAR WITH REZIN OF SYRIA AND PEKAH OF ISRAEL; OR, THE SYRO-EPHRAITE CAMPAIGN (2 Chronicles 28:5). (Comp. 2 Kings 16:5; Isaiah 7:1.) (5) WHEREFORE (and) THE LORD HIS GOD DELIVERED HIM. — These opening words help us to understand the ground of the variations of the present account from that of 2 Ki... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR. — _And, i.e.,_ so. PEKAH... SLEW IN JUDAH AN HUNDRED... IN ONE DAY. — Details of what is generally stated in the last sentence of 2 Chronicles 28:5. The totals of slain and of captives (2 Chronicles 28:8) are both round numbers. The figures 120,000, if accurate, would show that about a third of... [ Continue Reading ]
MAASEIAH THE KING’S SON — i.e., a prince of the royal house, related to Ahaz, but not his own son; or he would have been too young to be engaged in the battle. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 18:25 : “Joash the king’s son.”) AZRIKAM THE GOVERNOR OF THE HOUSE — i.e., of the royal house, or palace. Azrikam was _... [ Continue Reading ]
OF THEIR BRETHREN. — Heightening the barbarity of the deed. So 2 Chronicles 28:11. TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND, WOMEN, SONS, AND DAUGHTERS. — See Note on 2 Chronicles 28:6. Sennacherib boasts that in the war against Hezekiah he took forty-six strong cities of Judah, and carried off 200,150 captives. The n... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PROPHET ODED PROTESTS AGAINST RETENTION OF THE JEWISH CAPTIVES, AND THEY ARE SENT HOME (2 Chronicles 28:9). (9) BUT A PROPHET OF THE LORD. — This whole section is peculiar to the chronicler. The author has told the story in his own way; and perhaps the words of the prophet and the chiefs are ma... [ Continue Reading ]
YE PURPOSE. — Literally, _Ye are saying_ or _proposing_ (2ch. 1:18). TO KEEP UNDER._ — Subdue,_ or _reduce to_ bondmen, Genesis 1:28 (_kabash_). UNTO YOU. — _Yourselves._ BUT ARE THERE NOT WITH YOU. — An abrupt question: _Are there no trespasses at all with you yourselves? i.e.,_ “Are you yoursel... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW HEAR ME THEREFORE. — _And now hearken to me_ (2 Chronicles 13:4; 2 Chronicles 15:2). The “and now” is illative, not temporal. DELIVER... AGAIN. — _Cause to return, send back._ PIERCE WRATH. — _Heat of anger, i.e.,_ hot anger. Leviticus 25:39, expressly forbids the permanent enslaving of Israel... [ Continue Reading ]
CHILDREN OF EPHRAIM. — The ten tribes, as a political whole, are often designated as “Ephraim” by the prophets of that age, _e.g.,_ Hosea and Isaiah. STOOD UP AGAINST. — The Hebrew phrase usually means _opposed;_ here _confronted_ or _came before those who were coming from the host. _... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL NOT BRING IN. — Into the city. WHEREAS WE... ALREADY. — This is at least a possible rendering. Literally, _at_ or _in the trespass of_ (against) _Jehovah_ (lying) _upon us, ye are proposing to add to our sins,_ &c. Others translate, “so that a trespass against Jehovah come upon us.” (Comp.... [ Continue Reading ]
ARMED MEN. — See 2 Chronicles 17:18. THE PRINCES, “the heads” of 2 Chronicles 28:12. THE CONGREGATION. — The assembly of the citizens at the gate of Samaria.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MEN WHICH... BY NAME. — 1 Chronicles 12:31; 1 Chronicles 16:41. Certain chiefs formally designated for the office, perhaps including those of 2 Chronicles 28:12. ALL THAT WERE NAKED. — Literally, _and all their nakednesses they clad out of the spoil_ (_ma’arummîm, “_nakednesses,” here only). (1... [ Continue Reading ]
UNDER THE PRESSURE OF NEW ENEMIES, AHAZ ASKS HELP FROM ASSYRIA, BUT RECEIVES HURT (2 Chronicles 28:17). (Comp. 2 Kings 16:7.) (16) AT THAT TIME. — Apparently after the events above narrated; how soon after we can hardly decide. THE KINGS OF ASSYRIA. — A generalised expression, as in 2 Chronicles 2... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR AGAIN. — _And moreover._ SMITTEN JUDAH. — _Smitten in Judah, i.e.,_ inflicted a defeat upon her. After their reduction by Uzziah, the Edomites had probably remained subject to Judah, until Rezin of Syria expelled the Jews from Elath (2 Kings 16:6), and restored it to them. After that event, the... [ Continue Reading ]
INVADED — i.e., “fell upon” (2 Chronicles 25:13). THE LOW COUNTRY. — _The sheph_̓̓_çlah,_ or lowland of Judah, between the hill-country and the Mediterranean. THE SOUTH. — _The Negeb,_ or southland of Judah, nearly co-extensive with the territory assigned to Simeon (2 Samuel 24:7). BETH-SHEMESH.... [ Continue Reading ]
AHAZ KING OF ISRAEL. — Most commentators see an irony in this expression. But, as has been stated before, the southern kingdom _was_ Israel in the chronicler’s idea; although that of the Ten Tribes was, politically speaking, as much more important, as the cedar of Lebanon was in comparison with the... [ Continue Reading ]
TILGATH-PILNESER (Heb., _Pilne’èser_). In 2 Kings more correctly called _Tiglath-pileser_ (_Pil’èser_). (See Note on 1 Chronicles 5:26.) According to the As syrian Eponym Canon, Tiglath-pileser II. came to the throne B.C. 745, and marched westward against Damascus and Israel, B.C. 734. The importanc... [ Continue Reading ]
TOOK AWAY A PORTION ... GAVE IT. — Rather, _For Ahaz had despoiled the house of the Lord, and the house of the king and the princes, and had given it._ (Comp. 2 Kings 16:8.) THE PRINCES — _i.e.,_ the great courtiers living in the palace, whose valuables as well as those of Ahaz were ransacked to ma... [ Continue Reading ]
AHAZ ADOPTS THE SYRIAN IDOLATRY, AND CLOSES THE TEMPLE (2 Chronicles 28:22; comp. 2 Kings 16:10). (22) IN THE TIME OF HIS DISTRESS. — _At the time when he_ (Tiglath) _oppressed him, i.e.,_ at the time when Ahaz went to Damascus to do homage to the Assyrian monarch (2 Kings 16:10), probably in reluc... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR (_and_) HE SACRIFICED UNTO THE GODS OF DAMASCUS. — The statement of this verse is peculiar to the Chronicle; and the same may be said of the next also. Both here and in the preceding account of the relations of Ahaz to Tiglath-pileser, the writer appears to have drawn upon another source than th... [ Continue Reading ]
GATHERED TOGETHER THE VESSELS. — According to some MSS. the Syriac, Arabic, Vulg., and Targum, _all_ the vessels. AND CUT IN PIECES THE VESSELS. — Literally, _trimmed_ (_qiççaç_)_, i.e.,_ cut off their metal ornaments. The same word is used in 2 Kings 16:17, where it is said, “And king Ahaz cut off... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IN EVERY SEVERAL CITY OF JUDAH HE MADE HIGH PLACES. — Comp. 2 Chronicles 28:2. AND PROVOKED TO ANGER. — Deuteronomy 32:16. Instead of this 2 Chronicles 28:18 obscurely mentions further changes which Ahaz made in the Temple, “for fear of the king of Assyria." It seems probable that the sacrilege... [ Continue Reading ]
CLOSING NOTICES (2 Chronicles 28:26. Comp. 2 Kings 16:19). (26) NOW THE REST OF HIS ACTS, AND OF ALL HIS WAYS. — The chronicler has varied the usual formula. (See chapter 25:26, 26:7, &c., and comp. 2 Kings 16:19.) BUT (_for_) THEY BROUGHT HIM NOT INTO THE SEPULCHRES OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. — Want... [ Continue Reading ]