2 Kings 21:1--25:30
twelve <08147> [A.M. 3306-3361. B.C. 698-643. was twelve.]
[Manasses. Hephzi-bah.]
did <06213> [And he did.]
horrible <08441> [after the abominations.]
high places <01116> [the high places.]
set <06965> [he reared.]
Asherah pole <0842> [a grove.]
Rather, as we have before remarked, Asherah or Astarte. So Castel defines Asherah to be {Simulacrum ligneum Astart‘ dicatum;} "A wooden image dedicated to Astarte."
Ahab <0256> [Ahab.]
bowed <07812> [and worshipped.]
built <01129> [he built.]
Jerusalem <03389> [In Jerusalem.]
two courtyards <08147 02691> [in the two courts.]
son <01121> [A.M. 3321. B.C. 683. he made.]
divination <06049> [observed times.]
conjure <0178> [familiar.]
reading He ................... did <06213> [wrought.]
put <07760> [A.M. 3306-3327. B.C. 698-677. he set.]
temple ................ temple <01004> [In this house.]
<07272> [will I make.]
carefully <08104> [only if they.]
obey <08085> [they hearkened.]
misled <08582> [seduced.]
sinned <07451> [more evil.]
In the following verses the doom of Judah and Jerusalem is passed, and it is a heavy doom. The prophets were sent in the first place to teach them the knowledge of God, to remind them of their duty, and direct them in it: if they succeeded not in that, their next work was to reprove them for their sins, and to set them in view before them, that they might repent and reform, and return to their duty: if in this they prevailed not, their next work was to foretell the judgments of God, that the terror of them might awaken to repentance those who would not be made sensible of the obligations of his love; or else that the execution of them, in their season, might be a demonstration of the divine mission of the prophets who foretold them. They were made judges to those who would not hear and receive them as teachers.--Henry.
Manasseh <04519> [Because.]
Amorites <0567> [above all.]
Judah .................. Judah <03063> [made Judah.]
bring <0935> [I am bringing.]
hear <08085> [whosoever.]
destroy <05186> [I will stretch.]
This metaphor is taken from the custom of using a line in measuring land, and in dividing portions of it among several persons. Samaria was taken, pillaged, and ruined, and its inhabitants carried into captivity: Jerusalem shall have the same measure.
<04949> [the plummet.]
wipe ....... wipes <04229> [I will wipe.]
I will empty Jerusalem of all its wealth and inhabitants, as truly as a dish turned up and wiped is emptied of its contents.
wipe ....... wipes ..... both sides <04229 06440> [wiping it, and turning it upside down. Heb. he wipeth and turneth it upon the face thereof.]
abandon <05203> [And I will.]
remaining tribe <07611> [the remnant.]
<05414> [deliver.]
time ........... day <03117> [since the day.]
Manasseh <04519> [Manasseh.]
<06310> [one end to another. Heb. mouth to mouth. beside his sin.]
rest <03499> [the rest.]
buried <06912> [A.M. 3361. B.C. 643. and was buried.]
Amon <0526> [A.M. 3361-3363. B.C. 643-641. Amon.]
twenty-two years ........... two years <08141 08147> [two years.]
father <01> [as his father.]
[A.M. 3363. B.C. 641.]
people .... land executed ........... they <0776 05221 05971> [the people of the land slew.]
Josiah <02977> [made Josiah.]
garden <01588> [in the garden.]
Josiah <02977> [Josiah.]
Josiah <02977> [A.M. 3363-3394. B.C. 641-610. Josiah.]
This prince was one of the best, if not the best, of all the Jewish kings since the time of David. He began well, continued well, and ended well.
[Josias.]
eight years old ........... years <08141 01121 08083> [eight years old.]
Bozkath <01218> [Boscath.]
This was a city in the plain country of the tribe of Judah; and is mentioned in the parallel passage along with Lachish and Eglon.
[Bozkath.]
approved ............... right <03477 03225> [right.]
<03212> [walked.]
deviate <05493> [turned.]
eighteenth <08083> [A.M. 3380. B.C. 642. in the.]
Hilkiah <02518> [Hilkiah.]
melt down <08552> [that he may.]
Ten years seem to have elapsed since the people began to present the accustomed offerings; yet no one had taken an account of them, nor were they applied to the purpose for which they were given.
melt down ... silver <03701 08552> [sum the silver.]
guards <08104> [the keepers.]
door <05592> [door. Heb. threshold.]
hand ................. pay <05414> [deliver.]
repair <02388> [to repair.]
audit <02803> [Howbeit.]
honest <0530 06213> [they dealt faithfully.]
found <04672> [I have found.]
This certainly was a genuine copy of the divine law, and probably the autograph of Moses, as it is said, in the parallel place of Chronicles, to be the book of the law of the Lord by Moses. It is not probable that this was the only copy of the law in the land, or that Josiah had never before seen the book of Moses; but the fact seems to be, that this was the original of the covenant renewed by Moses in the plains of Moab, and now being unexpectedly found, its antiquity, the occasion of its being made, the present circumstances of the people, the imperfect state in which the reformation was as yet, after all that had been done, would all concur to produce the effect here mentioned on the mind of the pious Josiah.
Shaphan <08227> [Shaphan.]
scribe <05608> [the scribe.]
melted <05413> [gathered. Heb. melted.]
Shaphan ............... Shaphan <08227> [Shaphan.]
king ................. king <04428> [the king.]
tore <07167> [that he rent.]
king .................... king's <04428> [the king.]
Ahikam <0296> [Ahikam.]
Acbor <05907> [Achbor.]
[Abdon. Michaiah. or, Micah.]
seek <01875> [enquire.]
<01419> [great.]
ancestors <01> [because our fathers.]
prophetess <05031> [prophetess.]
Tikvah <08616> [Tikvah.]
[Tikvath, Hasrah. wardrobe. Heb. garments.]
Mishneh district <04932> [college. or, second part.]
bring <0935> [Behold.]
details <01697> [all the words.]
[have foresaken.]
idols <04639> [the works.]
anger <02534> [therefore.]
extinguished <03518> [shall not be.]
king <04428> [the king.]
Say <0559> [thus shall ye.]
spirit <03824> [thine heart.]
humbled <03665> [humbled.]
appalling <08047> [a desolation.]
tore <07167> [hast rent.]
wept <01058> [wept.]
heard ............................... heard <08085> [I also have.]
allow .... die <0622> [I will gather.]
allow .... die <0622> [thou shalt.]
During thy life, none of these calamities shall fall upon thee nor thy people; no adversary shall be permitted to disturb the peace of Judea; and thou shalt at last "be gathered into thy grave in peace." Now, though it is stated that Pharaoh-Necho slew him at Megiddo, yet the Assyrians and the Jews were at peace; and though Josiah might feel it his duty to oppose the Egyptian king's going against his friend and ally, and that, in his endeavours to oppose him, he was mortally wounded at Megiddo, yet certainly he was not killed there, but was brought to Jerusalem, where he died in peace.
allow .... die <0622> [gathered.]
king <04428> [the king.]
youngest .... oldest <06996 01419> [both small and great. Heb. from small even unto great.]
read <07121> [he read.]
scroll <05612> [the book.]
stood .............................................. agreed <05975> [stood.]
renewed ... covenant ............................... covenant ............. covenant <01285 03772> [made a covenant.]
<03212> [to walk.]
commandments <04687> [his commandments.]
heart <03820> [with all their heart.]
being ................ people <05315 05971> [And all.]
priest ... high-ranking priests <04932 03548> [priests of the second order.]
These were either such as occasionally supplied the high priest's office, or those of the second course or order established by David. See the References.
<08104> [the keepers.]
bring out <03318> [to bring.]
Baal <01168> [Baal.]
Kidron <06939> [Kidron.]
[Cedron. Beth-el.]
eliminated <07673> [put down. Heb. caused to cease. the idolatrous priests.]
Heb. Chemarim.
"Foretold. Zep 1:4, 5."
constellations <04208> [planets. or, twelve signs, or constellations.]
So the Vulgate {duodecim signa,} "the twelve signs," i.e., the zodiac; which is the most probable meaning of the word {mazzaloth,} from the Arabic {manzeel,} a {caravanserai,} house, or dwelling, as being the apparent dwellings of the sun in his annual course; and the Targumists and Rabbins often employ the words {tereysar mazzalaya,} to denote the signs of the zodiac.
stars <06635> [all the host.]
Asherah pole <0842> [the grove.]
Or rather, Asherah, or Astarte.
burned <08313> [and burned.]
graveyard <06913> [the graves.]
public <01121> [the children.]
Probably the common people.
male cultic prostitutes <06945> [the sodomites.]
women <0802> [where.]
quarters .......... temple ...... shrines <01004> [hangings. Heb. houses.]
Geba <01387> [from, etc.]
The northern and southern borders of Judah.
Geba <01387> [Geba.]
Beer Sheba <0884> [Beer-sheba.]
priests <03548> [the priests.]
eat <0398> [but they did.]
Topheth <08612> [Topheth.]
[Tophet. the valley.]
son <01121> [might make.]
sun ............................ sun <08121> [the sun.]
Lord's temple <03068 01004> [house of the Lord.]
Throughout the East, the horse because of his swiftness and utility, was dedicated to the sun; and the Greeks and Romans feigned that the chariot of the sun was drawn by four horses, Pyrous, Eous, Aithon, and Phlegon: and hence also chariots were dedicated to that luminary. Jarchi says, that those who adored the sun had horses, which they mounted every morning, to go out to meet him at his rising. The kings of Judah had imitated these idolatrous customs, and kept the horses of the sun even at the entrance of the temple of the Lord!
eunuch <05631> [chamberlain. or, eunuch, or officer.]
roof <01406> [on the top.]
Manasseh <04519> [which Manasseh.]
crushed ..... threw <07323 07993> [brake them down from thence. or, ran from thence. cast.]
Mount ... Destruction <04889 02022> [the mount of corruption. that is, the mount of Olives.]
Houbigant, deriving the Hebrew {mashchith} from {mashach,} "to anoint," reads "the Mount of Olives." Jarchi, following the Chaldee, also says this was the Mount of Olives; for this is the mount {hammishchah,} of unction: but because of the idolatrous purposes for which it was used, the Scripture changed the appellation to the mount of {hammashchith,} corruption.
Solomon <08010> [Solomon.]
Astarte <06253> [Ashtoreth.]
god Chemosh <03645> [Chemosh.]
god Milcom <04445> [Milcom.]
[Malcham.]
smashed <07665> [he brake.]
sacred pillars <04676> [images. Heb. statues. the bones of men.]
altar <04196> [the altar.]
crushed <01854> [stamped.]
burned <08313> [burned.]
Jeroboam ..................... foretold <07121> [who proclaimed.]
The Septuagint and Hexaplar Syriac at Paris insert, "when Jeroboam stood by the altar at the feast. And turning about, he cast his eyes on the sepulchre of the man of God"--
grave <06913> [It is the sepulchre.]
Leave ... alone .......... left .... undisturbed <03240 04422> [alone. Heb. to escape. the bones of the prophet.]
shrines <01004> [the houses.]
cities <05892> [the cities.]
kings <04428> [the kings.]
angered <03707> [to provoke the Lord.]
sacrificed <02076> [he slew. or, he sacrificed.]
burned <08313> [burned.]
Observe <06213> [Keep.]
prescribed <03789> [as it is written.]
He ............. observed <06213> [Surely.]
kings <04428> [of the kings.]
spirits <0178> [Moreover.]
"His eighteenth year ending."
spirits <0178> [the workers.]
idols <08655> [images. or, teraphim.]
carried out <06965> [that he might.]
scroll <05612> [the book.]
king <04428> [A.M. 3363-3394. B.C. 641-610. unto him.]
<07725> [that turned.]
law <08451> [according.]
Lord's <03068> [Notwithstanding.]
<03708> [provocations. Heb. angers.]
spurn ...... spurned <05493> [I will remove.]
<06440> [out of my sight.]
live <08034> [My name.]
rest <03499> [the rest.]
[A.M. 3394. B.C. 610.]
Pharaoh Necho <06549> [Pharaoh-nechoh.]
Pharaoh-nechoh, called [Nekos,] Necos, the son of Psammiticus, by Herodotus, was now was now marching "to make war upon the Medes and Babylonians, who had dissolved the Assyrian empire," the king of the latter being the famous Nabopollasar, who had also become king of Assyria.
Euphrates <06578> [Euphrates.]
Josiah <02977 03212> [Josiah went.]
killed .... Megiddo <04191 04023> [slew him.]
Megiddo <04023> [Megiddo.]
Megiddo, called [Magdolon,] Magdolum, by Herodotus, was situated in the tribe of Manasseh, west of Jordan, in the valley of Jezreel, and not far fron Hadad-Rimmon, or Maximianopolis. This shews that Josiah reigned over the country formerly possessed by the ten tribes; and it is also probable, that Nechoh had landed his troops at or near C‘sarea of Palestine.
[Megiddon.]
[Armageddon. he had seen him.]
servants <05650> [servants.]
people <05971> [the people.]
Jehoahaz <03059> [Jehoahaz.]
[Shallum. Hamutal.]
imprisoned <0631> [put him.]
Riblah <07247> [Riblah.]
Theodoret (in Jer ch. 46,) expressly affirms that Riblah or Reblatha was in his time called Emesa. [Kome de estin he Reblatha tes nun kaloumenes Emeses.] Emesa was a city of Syria, situated on the Orontes, and, according to the Antonine Itinerary, 18 miles from Laodicea ad Libanum. It is now called Homs, or Hems, about eight hours, or twenty-four miles S.E. of Hamah or Hamath, in the road to Damascus. The present town only occupies about one quarter of the space contained within the ancient walls, which apparently date from the time of the Saracens. Here is nothing remarkable, except a Roman sepulchre, and a large castle in ruins.
Hamath <02574> [Hamath.]
ruling <04427> [that he might not reign. or, because he reigned. put, etc.]
Heb. set a mulct upon the land.
Eliakim <0471> [Eliakim.]
son <01121> [the son.]
changed <05437> [turned.]
Jehoiakim <03079> [Jehoiakim.]
"Called Jakim, Mt 1:11."
<0935> [he came.]
silver <03701> [the silver.]
tax <06186> [taxed.]
Jehoiakim <03079> [A.M. 3394-3405. B.C. 610-599. Jehoiakim.]
Rumah <07316> [Rumah.]
Josephus here reads Abuma; but he also speaks of Ruma, a village of Galilee.
did ............. done <06213> [he did.]
ancestors <01> [all that.]
During <03117> [his days.]
Nebuchadnezzar <05019> [Nebuchadnezzar.]
This prince, so famous in the writings of the prophets, was the son of Nabopollasar king of Babylon.
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
<01697> [according.]
servants <05650> [his. Heb. the hand of his.]
announced <06310> [Surely.]
rejected ... because <05493 06440> [remove them.]
sins <02403> [for the sins.]
innocent .............. forgive <05355> [for the innocent.]
stained <04390> [he filled.]
Lord <03068> [which.]
rest <03499> [the rest.]
passed away <07901> [A.M. 3405. B.C. 599. slept]
As Jehoiakim was "buried with the burial of an ass," by being "drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem," without internment, the expression "slept with his fathers," can only mean that the died, or slept the sleep of death. In the East, a body exposed during the night would be a prey to wild animals; if any of it were left till the morning, the carnivorous birds would devour it.
Jehoiachin <03078> [Jehoiachin.]
As this man reigned only three months, and was a mere vassal of the king of Babylon, his reign is scarcely reckoned; and therefore Jeremiah (ch. 31:30) says of Jehoiakim, "he shall have none to sit upon the throne of David."
king .............. king .......... king <04428> [the king.]
Brook <05158> [from the river.]
Jehoiachin <03078> [Jehoiachin.]
[Jeconiah.]
[Coniah.]
[Jechonias.]
eighteen years <08141 08083> [eighteen years.]
In the parallel place, he is said to be only eight years old; but this must be a mistake, for we find that having reigned only three months, he was carried captive to Babylon, and there had wives; and had he been of such a tender age, it could scarcely have been said that, as a king, "he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord."
time <06256> [At that time.]
<0935> [was besieged. Heb. came into siege.]
Jehoiachin <03078> [Jehoiachin.]
eunuchs <05631> [officers. or, eunuchs. took him.]
[eigth year.]
"Nebuchadnezzar's eighth year."
<03318> [he carried.]
removed <07112> [and cut.]
Solomon <08010> [which Solomon.]
Jerusalem ..... officials ..... soldiers .......... craftsmen <03389 08269 01368 02796> [all.]
That is, all the chief men, the nobles, and the artificers. Among these were 7,000 mighty men, and 1,000 craftsmen and smiths.
Jerusalem <03389> [Jerusalem.]
craftsmen <02796> [craftsmen. So]
poorest <01803> [the poorest sort.]
deported <01540> [he carried.]
eunuchs <05631> [officers. or, eunuchs.]
7,000 ..... 1,000 <0505 07651> [seven thousand.]
king <04428> [the king.]
uncle <01730> [his father's brother.]
He was son of Josiah, brother to Jehoiakim, and uncle of Jehoiachin.
<05437> [changed.]
The change of name was to shew Nebuchadnezzar's supremacy, and that Zedekiah was only his vassal or viceroy. The custom of changing names, we are assured by travellers, still exists in the East.
Zedekiah <06667> [A.M. 3405-3416. B.C. 599-588. Zedekiah.]
Hamutal <02537> [Hamutal.]
did ............ done <06213> [And he did.]
anger <0639> [through.]
Zedekiah <06667> [Zedekiah.]
ninth <08671> [A.M. 3414. B.C. 590. in the ninth.]
This according to the computation of Archbishop Usher, was on Thursday, January 30th, A.M. 3414, which was a sabbatical year; wherein they proclaimed liberty to their servants, according to the law, but soon enthralled them again. (See Jer 34:8-10.)
Nebuchadnezzar <05019> [Nebuchadnezzar.]
[Nebuchadrezzar.]
set up camp <02583> [pitched.]
ninth ...... month <08672 02320> [A.M. 3416. B.C. 588. the ninth day.]
famine <07458> [the famine.]
food <03899> [there was no.]
city ...................................... city <05892> [the city.]
This being the ninth day of the fourth month, corresponded to Wednesday, July 27.
night <03915> [fled.]
<03212> [and the king.]
caught <05381> [and overtook.]
captured <08610> [they took.]
Riblah <07247> [Riblah.]
sentence <04941 01696> [gave judgment upon him. Heb. spake judgment with him.]
executed <07819> [they slew.]
put out <05786> [and put out. Heb. and made blind.]
Thus were fulfilled the apparently contradictory prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel--that his eyes should see the king of Babylon, but Babylon he should not see, though he should die there.
bound .... bronze <0631 05178> [bound him.]
fifth month <02320 02549> [in the fifth month.]
This answered to Wednesday, August 24; and three days after he reduced the temple to ashes, and carried Judah captive; in the 11th year of Zedekiah; the 19th of Nebuchadnezzar; 424 years, 3 months, and 8 days from the foundation of the temple; 468 years from the beginning of the reign of David; 388 years from the division of the ten tribes; and 134 years from their captivity.
nineteenth <08672> [the nineteenth.]
Nebuzaradan <05018> [Nebuzar-adan.]
captain <07227> [captain. or, chief marshal.]
burned down .............. including <08313> [he burnt.]
royal <04428> [the king's.]
tore <05422> [brake.]
rest ...................... rest <03499> [the rest.]
deserted <05307> [fugitives. Heb. fallen away.]
left behind ..... poor <07604 01803> [left of the poor.]
Babylonians ..... bronze pillars .... Lord's temple ...... movable stands ..... bronze .......... bronze <05982 01004 03068 04350 05178 03778> [the.]
pillars <05982> [pillars.]
movable stands <04350> [bases.]
pots <05518> [the pots.]
golden <02091> [and such things.]
[one sea. Heb. the one sea. the brass.]
pillars ........... one ........................ pillar <05982 0259> [one pillar.]
captain <07227> [captain.]
Seraiah <08304> [Seraiah.]
Zephaniah <06846> [Zephaniah.]
priest ..... priest .... second <03548 04932> [the second priest.]
Called by the Jews, {sagan,} who officiated for the high priest in case of any temporary incapacity.
doorkeepers <05592> [door. Heb. threshold.]
eunuch <05631> [officer. or, eunuch. were in the king's presence. Heb. saw the king's face.]
official <08269> [principal. or, scribe of the captain of the host.]
<03212> [and brought.]
king <04428> [the king.]
These men were put to death as accessories to Zedekiah's rebellion; for the king of Babylon had no doubt found that they had counselled him to revolt.
Judah <03063> [So Judah.]
people <05971> [the people.]
Gedaliah <01436> [Gedaliah.]
Ahikam <0296> [Ahikam.]
officers <08269> [And when.]
Mizpah <04709> [Mizpah.]
There were several places of the name of Mizpah, or Mizpeh, and we do not certainly know which of them this was; but it is probable that it was that situated east of Jordan, in the mountains of Gilead, (Ge 31:49,) and most contiguous to Babylon; and therefore the most proper for the residence of Gedaliah.
oath <07650 0582> [sware to them.]
well <03190> [and it shall be.]
seventh <07637> [seventh.]
Ishmael <03458> [Ishmael.]
royal <04410> [royal. Heb. of the kingdom.]
thirty-seventh ............. twenty-seventh <07651> [A.M. 3442. B.C. 562. it came to pass.]
King ............. King .... Babylon .......... King <04428 0894> [king of Babylon.]
pardoned <07218 05375> [lift up the head.]
kindly ..... gave <02896 05414> [kindly to him. Heb. good things with him. the throne.]
took off <08132> [changed.]
ate <03899 0398> [he did eat bread.]
day <03117 01697> [a daily rate.]
life .... day <03117 02416> [all the days of his life.]
CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE TWO BOOKS OF KINGS. The events detailed in these books are highly interesting and important. The account of the wisdom, magnificence, and extended commerce of Solomon; the rash and impolitic conduct of Rehoboam; the disobedient prophet; the widow of Zarephath; Elijah and the prophets of Baal; Ben-hadad's pride and defeat; Elijah's assumption into heaven; Elisha's succession to his ministry, and the series of illustrious miracles he performed; the panic flight of the Syrians; the history of Ben-hadad and Hazael; and the predicted death of Ahab and Jezebel, and their children, are all pregnant with instruction, and have furnished themes for frequent dissertation. We perceive in these impressive histories the characters and qualities of men painted with the utmost fidelity, and the attributes of God displayed with great effect: we contemplate the exact accomplishment of God's promises and threatenings, the wisdom of his dispensations, and the mingled justice and mercy of his government. The particulars and circumstances are sketched out with a brief and lively description, and the imagination lingers with pleasure in filling up the striking outlines presented to our view. The authenticity of these books is attested by the prophecies they contain, which were subsequently fulfilled; by the citation of our Saviour and his Apostles; by their universal reception by the Jewish and Christian churches; and by the corresponding testimonies of profane authors and ancient sculptures.
