CHAPTER XIII _Abijah begins to reign over Judah, and has war with Jeroboam,_ 1-3. _His speech from Mount Zemaraim to Jeroboam, before the_ _commencement of hostilities_, 4-12. _While thus engaged, Jeroboam despatches some troops which come_ _on the rear of Abijah's army_, 13. _Perceiving this... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:2. _HIS MOTHER'S NAME _- WAS _MICHAIAH_] See on 2 Chronicles 11:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:3. _ABIJAH SET THE BATTLE IN ARRAY_] The _numbers_ in this verse and in the seventeenth seem almost incredible. Abijah's army consisted of _four hundred thousand_ effective men; that of Jeroboam consisted of _eight hundred thousand_; and the _slain_ of Jeroboam's army were _fi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:4. _STOOD UP UPON MOUNT ZEMARAIM_] "Which was a mount of the tribe of the house of Ephraim."-_Targum_. _Jarchi_ thinks that Abijah went to the confines of the tribe of Ephraim to attack Jeroboam. It could not be _Shomeron_, the mount on which _Samaria_ was built in the days of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:5. _BY A COVENANT OF SALT?_] For ever. "For as the waters of the sea never grow _sweet_, neither shall the dominion depart from the house of David." - _Targum_. Numbers 18:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:7. _WHEN REHOBOAM WAS YOUNG AND TENDER-HEARTED_] Therefore he could not be _forty-one_ when he came to the throne; 2 Chronicles 13:3. _Children of Belial_ here signifies men of the most abandoned principles and characters; or men without consideration, education, or _brains_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:9. _A YOUNG BULLOCK AND SEVEN RAMS_] He who could provide these for his own consecration was received into the order of this spurious and wicked priesthood. Some think he who could give to Jeroboam a young bullock and seven rams, was thereby received into the priesthood; this b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:10. _THE LORD_ IS _OUR GOD_] We have not abandoned the Lord; and we still serve him according to his own law.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:12. _GOD HIMSELF IS WITH US_] Ye have _golden calves_; we have _the living and omnipotent Jehovah_. _WITH - TRUMPETS TO CRY ALARM AGAINST YOU._] This was appalling: When the priests sound their trumpets, it will be a proof that the vengeance of the Lord shall speedily descend... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:13. _BUT JEROBOAM CAUSED AN AMBUSHMENT_] While Abijah was thus employed in reproving them, Jeroboam divided his army privately, and sent a part to take Abijah in the rear; and this must have proved fatal to the Jews, had not the Lord interposed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:17. _SLAIN - FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND CHOSEN MEN._] Query, _fifty_ _thousand_? This was a great slaughter: 2 Chronicles 13:3, where all these numbers are supposed to be overcharged.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:18. _JUDAH PREVAILED, BECAUSE_] "They depended on the WORD of the God of their fathers." - _T_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:19. _BETH-EL_] "Beth-lehem." - _Targum_. _JESHANAH_] We know not where these towns lay.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:20. _THE LORD STRUCK HIM, AND HE DIED._] Who died? _Abijah_ or _Jeroboam_? Some think it was _Jeroboam_; some, that it was _Abijah_. Both _rabbins_ and _Christians_ are divided on this point; nor is it yet settled. The prevailing opinion is that _Jeroboam_ is meant, who was str... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:21. _MARRIED FOURTEEN WIVES_] Probably he made alliances with the neighbouring powers, by taking their daughters to him for _wives_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 13:22. _WRITTEN IN THE STORY_] במדרש _bemidrash_, "in the commentary;" this, as far as I recollect, is the first place where a _midrash_ or _commentary_ is mentioned. The _margin_ is right. _HIS WAYS, AND HIS SAYINGS_] The _commentary_ of the prophet Iddo is lost. What his _sayin... [ Continue Reading ]