2 Kings 22:1--23:37
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.]
2 Kings 23:2
youngest .... oldest <06996 01419> [both small and great. Heb. from small even unto great.]
read <07121> [he read.]
scroll <05612> [the book.]
2 Kings 1:1-18
Moab <04124> [Moab.]
After ... died <0310 04194> [after the.]
lattice <07639> [a lattice.]
The flat roofs of the eastern houses are generally surrounded by a parapet wall breast high; but instead of this, some terraces are guarded with balustrades only, or latticed work. Of the same kind, probably, was the lattice, or net, as the term {shevacha} seems to import, through which Ahaziah fell into the court. This incident proves the necessity of the law for the formation of battlements for roof, (De 22:8,) which God graciously dictated from Sinai, which furnishes a beautiful example of his paternal care and goodness; for the terrace was a place where many offices of the family were performed, and business frequently transacted.
injured <02470> [was sick.]
Baal Zebub <01176> [Baal-zebub.]
[Beelzebub. god.]
survive <02421> [whether.]
angelic messenger ............ messengers <04397> [angel.]
Elijah <0452> [Elijah.]
Get <06965> [Arise.]
God .................... god <0430> [it.]
way <01980> [ye go.]
<03381> [Thou shalt, etc. Heb. The bed whither thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down from it. but shalt.]
replied .......... told ................... says <0559> [Thus saith.]
lie on <03381> [therefore.]
man <0376 04941> [What manner of man was he? Heb. What was the manner of the man?]
hairy man <01167 08181> [an hairy man.]
That is, he wore a rough garment, either made of camels' hair, as that of John Baptist, or of a skin, dressed with the hair on. Sir J. Chardin informs us, in a MS. note on this place, cited by Mr. Harmer, that the eastern dervishes and fakeers are clothed just as Elijah was, with a hairy garment, girded with a leathern girdle.
sent ... captain <07971 08269> [sent unto.]
sitting <03427> [he sat.]
Prophet <0376> [Thou man.]
prophet <0376> [If I be a man.]
fire .............. Fire <0784> [let fire.]
Or, rather, as the original literally imports, and the LXX. render, [katabesetai pyr,] fire shall come down; Elijah's words being simply declarative, and not imprecatory.
consume ............... consumed <0398> [consumed.]
king <07725> [Again.]
Prophet <0376> [O man.]
king sent <07725 07971> [he sent again.]
fell .... knees <03766 01290> [fell on. Heb. bowed.]
begged for mercy <02603> [besought.]
Prophet <0430 0376> [O man of God.]
came down <03381> [Behold.]
life <05315> [let my life.]
afraid <06440 03372> [be not afraid of him.]
sent <07971> [Forasmuch.]
Baal Zebub <01176> [Baal-zebub.]
Literally, "the lord of flies;" or, as the LXX. render, [Baal mwean theon,] Baal the fly god. See note on Ex 8:24.
[on which thou are gone up.]
In the East there is usually at the end of each chamber a little gallery, raised three or four feet above the floor, with a balustrade in front, to which they go up by a few steps: here they place their beds; an allusion to which situation is involved in this declaration of Elijah's, and frequently referred to in the Sacred Scriptures: see Ge 49:4.
Jehoram ......... Jehoram <03088> [Jehoram.]
As it is said in ch. 3:1, that he began his reign in the eighteenth of Jehoshaphat, it is supposed that Jehoshaphat admitted his son Jehoram to reign with him eight or nine years before his death. "The second year that Jehoram was Prorex, and the eighteenth of Jehoshaphat."
second <08147> [in the second.]
scroll <05612> [in the book.]
2 Kings 1:1
Moab <04124> [Moab.]
After ... died <0310 04194> [after the.]
Jeremiah 1:2
speak <01697> [the word.]
<03117> [in the days.]
Jeremiah 25:3
twenty-three ..... thirteenth <07969> [thirteenth.]
again <07925> [rising.]
