Commentary on the Holy Bible

Ter. a. — Who anomledat kingt to take rereoge, and pimheta to nicceed after him:

Vbt. 9.— Who wast takea up in a whirlwind it fire, and in a chariot of fiery horaea:

Ver. 10, — ^Who waat ordained fbr reproofs in their times, to pacify the wrath of the Lord's judgment, before it brake fimhiotofaryi and to turn the bMrt of the fother unto the •on. and to reatora the trilna of Jacob.

ver. 11. — Bleaaed are they that saw thee, and slept In love; for we shall surely live.

Blisha was not leas eminent than Elijah; the history of hia ministrv ia mora detailed than that of his master; ■ad hia miraclea are various and stupendous. In many thing* there ia a strikii^ likeness between him and our blMssd Lord I and aspeeiallv in the veiy benefioent miraelM whiob hs wroughL Of htm the same audtor gives tfiia (dianoter, tb. v. 12—14. ElMa vat JIBtd wWi h*» spirit: leAiltt ht lived, he vxu not moved wtth the pretence manjf prince; neWur could any Mng Aim into eubj^- uon, Ifoihinr eould overcome him; and qfler hit death hi* body Brapocrisd; i. a. raised a dead man to life; as we learn rrom tlu Ibllawing verse — Be did wondera in hia and at Ats^BOtt vers Ait worts morasUous/ perhaps MUBrriiiK to his last acts with Joash.

Verae 21. 7%^ tpiea a band\ They saw one of these m4Mraudinf partue; and, through fear could not wait to bury their ^ad, but threw the body into the grave of Elisba, whieh chanced then to be open; and, as soon as it touched the bones of the prophet, the man was restored to life. Diia abows that the prophet did not perform hie miracles by any power* of his oum, but hv the power of God: and ba chose to honour his servant, oy making even his Ixmee the instnunent of another miracle after hie death. This is tba Jtrot, and I believe the lael, account of a true miracle perlornMd by the bone* of a deid man; and yet on it and aueh Kite, tu whole system of niraeulous-vroriiiiig nffes ha* bean founded by die Pqiish church.

V«rae 23. And the Loan was graeioiu unto themi im ■Boifaehea i he had tendtr qfttHm fitr them, as a btufaana baa for his wife, or a &ther fbr his own children.

And had eompaeeion on them] vorm veairatAamem, bis beiPeU ysortud over them / be felt for them, he eympathirtd widi theu io «U their distrea t Thrffitn ore gers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, ^ml son of Jehu kiiig of Israel, saying, ( Cotne, let us look one another in the face.

my bmeele troubiad s I wilt aurely have merey upon kim, eaiih the Lord, Jer. xxxi. 20.

And had reaped unto them] \Dft vaiyipen^ he ^med hia face toward them; he received them again into favour; and this because of his covenant with their finthera: they must not be totally destroyed; the Messiah must ooma from themi and through them roust come tAo/ii^MwiUA ia to enlighten the OenUlea; and, therefore, he wooM not make on entire end of them.

Neither east he them from hit preaenM a* yet.] But note they are cast out from his presence; the^ have sinned against the only remedy for their souls. 'Hieysitindarkiwsa and the shadow of death: the veil is upon their face: but, if they yet turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.

Verse 25. Three times did Joash beat thsm} The particulars of these battles we have not; but ihese three victories were aecordin^ to the prediction of Elisha, ver. 19, That these victonea were very deeieive, we leam from their fruits; for Joash look from the Syrians the cities which Hazael had taken from Israel; viz, CHleac^ the possessions of Reuben, Oad, and the half tribe of Ma* Daaaeh, and the cotuoy of Basan; see ehiM>* <• 33.

Thus God aeeomplisned hii word of itHurmeR^ and bis word of mercy. Tne Syrians found them selves to be bat men, and the fsraeliles found they could do nodiing without Qod. In the dispensations of his jnstiee and mercy, Qod has ever in view, not only the comfort, support, ana salvation of his followers; Uit also the oonvietioo and salvation of his enemies: and by his judgments many of those have been awakened ont of their sleep, turned to Qod, learned righteousness, end finally become as eminent for their titeatenee, as they were before for their rcfrefffm.

NOTES ON CHAPTER XIV. mmfm Verse \. In the second year if JbasA] This second vear should be understood as reflnring to the time when nis father Jehoahaz associated him with himself in the kingdom: for he reigned two years with hie ftuhert so this second year of Joash is theitrti of his absolute and indnwndent goveramenL See Othntt.

Verse S. As soon as Ae Atngidoin was eenjfrfflsd fti U* Aand] No doubt those wicked men, JoaaAar and JUoxobad, who murdered his lather, had considerable power and influence; and, therefore, he found it dangerous to bring them to justify, till he was aasored of the loyal^ of his other officers: when this was clear, be called tfaeia to account, and pat them to death. -

Vene6. But Ote OdUrm tfOt» mitrJarsrs h» «<■» not] Here he showed hia ooiueientioim reeud fir ihs law of Hoaes; for Ood had positivelv said, Ilk* /others shall n<a be pat to death for the cMdrsn, noith^ shall As diUdrm be put to daalh fbr the faihej^; a*«ryii stall put Iff dtoA^ JUi 0Mt «fR, Dmh. xaiv. HL

9 And Jehoash the Idog of Israel sent to AoMaiah king of Judah, Mjing, * The thiatle that vjcu in LebaooD sent to the * cedar that va» in Lebanon, sayine. Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and utere passed by a wild Wast that wa« la Lebanoa, and trode aown the thistle.

10 Thou hast indeed smitten Edotn, and * thine t^eart hath lifted thee up: gUtry qf this, wad tarry *at home; for why shouldeBt thou meddle to ths hurt, that thou shooldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?

11 Bnt Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash Viag of Israel went up} land he and Amaziah Uuc of Jodah looked one another in the Am at 'Beth-idiemesh, which beUmgeth to

12 And Judah ■ was put to the worse before Israd: and they fled every man to the|r tents.

13 Aqd Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah Idas of Juddi, the eon of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah. at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, from ■tiwcate of Bphraim unto ^the corner gate, ibur mmdred etuitg:

14 And he took all ' the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LtffiD, and in the treasures of the kind's house, and hostafes, and returned to Samaria.

islf * Now the rest of the acts of acM-m Jehoash which be did, and his might, 10^.0. and how he fought with Amaziah -* king of Judah, are they not written in Uke book of the Chronicles or the kings of Israel?

16 Abd Jehoash slept with his fb* tcjS thers, and was buried in Samaria, Myi^^ with the kings of Israel \ and Jero- ^J^SS'' boam his son reigned in his stead.

17 If ' And Amaziali the eon of Joash

Tens?. HttUwuf Bdom,inthevaUty^MU\ Thu ■wu ia more cireumstaotially related in 2 Chroa. zxv. 5, Jibb. The Idnmesas bad ariaen. ia the reifn of Joram Uaff of Judah, and ihaken off the yoke of the hovue of Snid. AnaxiBh datennined to reduce them to obe- •diaaee; he therefore levied aa army of Arte hundred iMMOfUl BMO in hia OWD kiagdotn. uid hired a hundred Aounand laneiitM, M the pnoa of on* huadrtd talents. "Wbrn bs waa about to dttpart at the head of thia cumejmi army, a prophet cams to him, and ordered him to ibe laraelrtiA axmy, for Ood vaa not vith thtm.- ■uad, on ^ king of Judah e^reanng reeret for the losa M hia kundriatatmi»t ht waa aoaweref that Ou I^Mrd 4mttd git* him much more than &at. He obeyed, aent Jnh^ the iHwUloa, sad, it the bead of hia own men, •Uacked the Edomitaa in the valley of salt; slew tea Hmuand oa tba ^wt, and took ten lAotuoTid prisonera, all of vhom be precipitated from the rock, or StUih, which waa afterwatQ oailed JokAttl, a place or ci^ suppoaed 40 be the same with Petra, which gave name to Aratna Pttrmot wbwe tbare muat have bMD a great precipice; from which the place took its name of StMk, or Petra.

Verae 9. Cvmt, tet u» look one another in the Jace.] Tfaie was a real uelantioa «f war; and the ground of it im noat evident from thia eircumstanca; that the on« hundred thtueand men of Israel that bad been" diamisaed, Ihoogfa they had the aUpuIaied money, takia^ the advaBtage of Aiaaziah'e abaeoce, fell upon the citte* qf Jadal^^vm, Samaria to BOh-horonj tmd smott Aree thour aofia men, mi took muA apoii, 'i Chron. xxv. 10 — 13. AsMztahM doolit lemonaliUad widi Jeboarii, but tano purpoae i and thereSon be deelared war agatnat him.

Veras9. Jtkoa^—Mnt to Amaxiah—tayiTig] Hie meaning of tUa parable ia plain. Tht thieve that waa in Zjebaium, Amaziah, king of Judab, aent to the cedar that was in Lebamm, Jeboaah, Idng of larael, toying, Oive Ikf dmught*r, a part <d thy kingdom, to my eon to wife: to ba united lo, and ponsaert by the kings of Judah. Ajtd Aon pmaoed by a wild beatt, Jehoaah and hia enraged an^i and trodo dnm Ou AiMU, atterly diaoomfited irmwif't and bia troopa, pUagsd the temple, and brt^ dswB the walla of Jeraaalem: see veraeal2— 14. Probably Amasiah bad reqwred certain citiea of Iirael to be t» Jadah i if BO, tbia aeeounta for that part of 1^ <Wsa tty dauffttor to my eon to tof/e. It. Qlory of Ilua, and tarry at kame\ Tiuin ia awtd«l«f inaoleM dipiity in thia remonatraape of Jak I bet k has nolbuf oooeiliatory; no propoMl td >, 1^ the ^gir bis iraff had done to As king of Judah lived afler the death of Rc- Jehoash.sonof Jehoahazkingoflsrael, fifteen years.

18 And the rest of the acts of Araa-

ziah, are they not written in the a o. mt-m. book of the ChronideB of the kiiiff* of l uSA Judah?

19 Now ' they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fleid mloim. to ( Lachish; but they sent after him

20 And they hf ought him on horaea; and he was buried at Jerusalem With his &tben in the city 0^ David.

21 t And all the jpeople of Judah took ^ Aariah, which was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amazmh.

22 He built i Elath, and restored it to Jodah, after that the king riept with hia &tbers.

23 7 In the fifteenth year oC Ama- ^IJ* zi^ the son of Joash long of Judah, a. a nam Jeroboam the son of Joash kinc at i^St^Tm' Israel began to reign in Samaria^ Oftd reigned forty and one years.

24 And he didOot wAicA was evil in the ligbt of the LoBo: he departed not firom afl the omw of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

25 He restored the coast of Israel 'from the entering of Hamath unto ■ the sea oT the pfaun.

unoffending inhabitanu of Judah. "Hie ravages conmitled by the army of JFehoaah were totalhr unprovukcd, and they were beae and cowardly; they fell opon women, M men. and children, and butchered them in eokt bloe^ for all tne ^ectiee men were gone off widi their king ag^uaat the Edomitea. Tite quarrel of Amaziah waa eertaialy jtui, yet he waa put to the rout; be did nuddb l» fturf. He /eU, mod Judah ftUwiA him, nJOtatAYad aaid:-^t why waa thia 1 Why it came God; for be had brought the gods qf Seir, and eet them up la be kit goda, ana froiM<rdoim kimatif before ffim, and bmnd ineente to Aem; therefore God deHverod thrm into fiU handa of tbeir enemiea becatue &ey tougkt t^fUr Ac gada <tf Bdonu 2 Cbrtm. zxv. 14, 20. This waa the reuna why the Israelites triumi^ied.

verse 13. To^ Amaziah king ^ Judah] It iaptaiB that Amaziah afterward bad fiis tiber^; but how, erea what terma, he got ia not known, dm on ths Uknriog verse.

Verse 14. itndt ho todk—hailageal rrengm ka^airif b<ah. pledge^ from tmi drab, to jMtdge, give aeair&y, Ac for the pemrmance of some jtromtac Sec the wnuaag of this word interpreted in the nou on Qen. znrin. If. It ia likely that Amaziah gave some of the roNm or aosas of hii own feniily ea hottagea, that be might regain fait liberty; and they were to get dieir libn^ when be bad fulfilled his engagements: hut of what kind tbeae w«r w* cannot tell; nor, mdeed, bow he got hia liberty.

Verae 16. Hoie he fought wuA Amaxiah] TW only fighting betwew them waa, (be battle already mentionau; sod thu ia minutely idated in 2 Chron. xxv.

Verse 19. Tlleymade a amapiracy against kim} Km defeat by Jeboaah, and the conaequeot pilla^ng of As temple, and emptying the royal exchequer, a»d die dteinanding of Jeniaalem, had made him exeeedbigly tmf^ pular; so that, probably, the whole of the iM J^tam years of hie life were a aeries of trouble* and diatitiws.

Verae 21. T^Kk Ai^ariah] He kalaoealM Toid^ 2 Chron. xxvi. 1. The former aindfies Ou kafy ^ As Lord; the latter. Me alrengih of me Lord.

Verae 22. Be built Elath] Thia ci^ faelosgsd » An Edomitea t and waa aituatedon &e eaatem braiaik of Am Red tea, thence called the Ehmitic gu\f. Itfcad pfOfasMy ■iffered nweh in the late war; and waa now reteih by Vtziah, and biougfat entirely tmder tbe dorainioo o< Ju^Il

Terse 26. A reatorad ne oooaC AiweQ Fm fts deacription that is here givei^ it uman mat JetebssM reconquered an tbe territory Aat had beenadna fronaAa J^nffi ot Iirad^ SO ibat Jirofrom Mevarf Mt ifae kbc-

Booovdtiigtothe wordof theLoBD€tod oflBrael, which be flpake hy the hand erf* his servant

86 For the Lord • saw the afihction or Israel, that it wag very bitter: for » there was not anv shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.

27 1 And the Lord said not that he would blot oat the name of Israel from under heaven: but he saved them by the band of Jeroboam the son -ofJoash. „, „,

28 If Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and air that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how be recovered Damascus, and Hamath, ' wAuA belonged to Jndalt, ibr Israel, are they not written in the book of the Ghrom-

or the Idn^B of Israel t Vc-ff" 29 And Jeroboam slept with He AM L a & fathers, even with the kings of Israel; %jrJI35X^' and ■ Zachariah his son reigned in p"**-**- his stead.

2 SbrteenTearsoldwashewhenhe ^"^Sj beffan to reigii, and he reigned two cgjayii,

3 And he did thcU lehich vas rightin the svllt of the Lord, according to all that hw femer Amaziah had done;

4 "Save that the hi^ places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt inceoae Btill on the high places.

5 H And the Loiin ' Bmote the king, BO that he Was a leper until the day *■ '

Rc^S?' ¥N t the twenty and seventh year of ajml'olh J. Jeroboam kmg of Israel, "began ' Azariah son of Amaziah king of iwp*-» Judfth to reign.

Terae 26. 7^ Losd mu A« (Miaion ^ irroeQ It sppoan that, about this time, Israel had been Kre&tly reduced; and great calamities bad fiUlen upon all, inducriminately; even the dueated and c^frtiMr in the dungeon had die hand of God heavy upon them, and there was no fulptr; and then God sent Jonah to encoange diem, and to assure them of bettor days. He waa the first of the proj^ts, after Samatt, whose writing are preserved: yet the propikMy deliveted on this occaaioo is not eztaat: tor what is now ia ths pcopbedes of Jaoth rabtiss wholly to

Verse 28. Boa he wamdf and—retoMrtd Daina»au] We learn from 1 Chron. zviii 3—11. that David had eonquered all Syria, and put garrisons in Danuuous and other places, and laid all tha Syrians under trOmU t but tiuB yoke they hod not only shaken ofl^ but they had conquered a considerable portion of the Israelitish territory, and added it to Syra. These latter Jeroboam now recovered; and thus the places which anciently htUmgtd to Judah by David's oMiqiiest snd w«e wfionrsisd by S^a, he now eonqoereiC ana added io AnwL

Verse 29. Jtrohoam tUpt with hit Jathert] Re died a natural death; and was regularly suoceoded by his son Zadiariah, who reigniog mdly, woa, after six tiwKlh*, ■lain by ShaUum, who succeeded him, and reigned but oiu fHonih, being slain by Mmahem, who succeeded him, M>d reigned tm years over Israel. Amo*, the projtbet, Jiv^ in the reign of Jeroboami apd was accused ay Anutgiah, one of the idolatrous prieela of Beth-el, of having predicted the death of Jeroboam by the sword; but this was d aliuider; what he did predict, and which come afterward U>jMUM,maybeseeo,Amo«vii.l&— 17. The intor^gnum referred to in the ffiargja, cannot be accounted forina ■ati^iory mumer.

NOTES ON CHAI^TER XV. Verse \. In the twenty and aeventh year of Jeroboam\ Dr. Kennicoli complains louldly here, because of "the eormption in die name of this king of Judah, who is expressed hyjbur diJIereat names in this chapter: Ozriah, Oxiah, Oxrihu, and Oxihu. Our oldest Hebrew MS. relieves us here, by reading truly in verses I, 6, 7, tmy ZTzziah, where the printed text is differently cwrupted. His reading is called true — 1. Beeaute it is supported by the Slyriac and Arabic versimts in these three verses. 3. Baeiauss (he printed text itself has it so in ver. 32. sod 94, et this vary ehqWer. 3. BseotHs it is so oxpreiied house. And Jotiiam the king's son woA over the house, judging the people of the land.

6 And the rest ^ the aeU of Aza- *-^iJ^ riah, and all that he did, are they not acB»-m written in the book of the ChronKtes ^l^d^ of the kmgs of Judah?

9 And he did that which was ev3 in the eigbt of the liOKD, as his fathers had done: he a»>

10 And Shaltam the son of Jabedh Vc. m oonspired againiat faim, and demote

TTiere are insupenUe diffiodties in the ehronelogy of this place. The marginal iioie says, "Thisis dM tvmt^ ateenth year of Jeroboam's partoership is the kmgdon with his btber, who mode him coosort at his going to Am Syrian wars. It is the nxtemth year of Jei«ooaiii*B moB- •Tchy." Dr. LightfoU endeavours to reconcile diis place with chap. xiv. 16, 17, thus: " At the death of bis son and heir, Uzztah was but /our years oM, for he was bat tixteen in Jeroboam's Uoenty-eestnih year; therefore, the throne must have been empty eUoen years, and the government odminisiCTed by protecttn while Uzsiah was in his minority." Learned ntea ore not agreed ccoceming the mode « reeonciHng these difiersoees: there m probably sonte mistake in the numlert. I wuti^ tttfll the contending chronologets: —

Versa S. Be did diat irfiich was righi] It ia said^ 3 Chron. xxvL 6. that he souriit the Lord in the days of Zechariah the prophet; and Ood made hiu to prosper i he fought gainst the PftUuNnsi; brok& down the walls 6t Qaikt JabnA, nod A^idod; he prevailed over the Ara* biano and nMmnime; the Ammonitto paid hitn tribute | and his dominion extended abroad, even to the enicHng in of Egypt! that he built Unoero m Jerusalem, at dw cornergate, iaUey-gate, and turning tfte wali; he built toteert also in the duert, and digged many veiUt that he had a very strong and well legulated mttitary Joree, which be provided widi a well stoekad aromal: and coostnicled many military enj^^Rss Itf shoot orrotea and pNncet great aUmet; and tnot his &me was luiversally q>rBaa abroad.

Verse 6. Tlu homo amote the king, ao that he leaa a leper\ The reason of ihisplague is well told in the above quoted chapter, ver, 16. His oeart being elated, he went into the temple to bum incense upon the altar, Bstiiniing to himself the functions of the high priest i that the priest, with./burscore others, went in after him, to prevent him; and that while thsy were remonstrotii^ against his conduct, the Lord struck him with the Uprotg, which immediately appeared on \amforJuadi that tbw thrust him oat as an unclean person i and that he himeeu Aurried to g«f 011^ fiteling that die Lonl had sautlea bin 1 thatbe waaoUigedIo dwellin a Aouss 1« JUnuiK ttiw Ie(«a(M, iQihadqrsf bisdeaibi and that doriogibblln the aAira of it» kingdom were adminliiBndey idi son 863 I..

11 And the reel of the acts of Zaehariah, behold they are written in the book of the Chronides of the kings of Israel.

12 This was ' the word of the Lord AMfj; ot m which he spake unto Jehu, sayioff. Thy sons shall sit on the throne of — f^s- _ Israel unto the fourth generaiion.

And 80 it came to pass. *H CTO 13 IT Shallum the son of Jahesh qffiH;ii-,t- began to reign in the nine and thirtieth A^l^r'^ vearof '^Uzziah king of Judah; and.. p*^*- he reifned ' a full month in Samaria.

14 For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from ' Ttrzah, and came to Samaria^ and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew bim, and reigned io his atefid.

15 And the rest of the acts of Shallam, and his conspiracy which he made, behold ther are written id the book of the Chronicles of the kinga 4Mf Israel

16 H* Then Menahem smote * Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof f^om Tirzeih: because they opened not to him, dierefore he smote its '■the women therein that were with child he ripped up.

17 TI In the nine and thirtieth year a c of Azariah king of Judah began Me- ^SLulwr nahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned tea years in Samaria.

18 And he did ^uU vihich was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not all his dajrs from the sine of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. *k!c. m 19 IF ' the king of Assyria omjo. t came against the land: and Menahem ^tTS^ gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, v*^'^ that hia hand might be with him to ^ confirm the kingdom in his nand.

20 And Menahem i exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mi^ty men of wealth, of each man fiil}' shekels of silrer, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned bacK, and stayed not there in the land.

21 IT And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chroiddes of the kings of Israel?

Jatkam. A poet, ridiculing the conduct of those, who, without a call from aodBwi hii ehurd), throat thenuelvea into lbs prieM's office, expiewes himna thus: —

[Some go into the contrwy exlrem, and iaeftot mj— No ntid V Gon uAen mak ordofrw.] IW Uiv* iMt ■• br F*>Ba, no pnMplkD In > elMM f

WW iiv** ii^ 1^ ItrtrtSk. ^. dteito Wmtf. Taia w very •ever*; but applies to every man, who ttmugh prid^ presumption, or the desire of gain, enters into me priest ■ office, uwugh he nave the utmost authority tbat the highest eeemnasti^ officer can confer.

Tern VT. Smote him btfore At peopU] In some public assembly; he probably became very impopular.

Terse 12. TTiia was the teord ly Hu Lokd — vnio Jehu] Qod had promised to Jehu that hia boob ahould sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation: and ao it came to pua, for Jdtoahax, Jo<uh, Jeroboam, and Zathariah, sseeeeded Jehu, to whom (his promise was made. But hscause be executed the divine purpose with an imcomnanded enuity, therefore God eul hi* family Aort, aocording to hia word by Hoeea, Iwtil atenga ns Uom ^ Jexrtd uoon tht hotue <if Jemt; and I wiUcauH to csoM 0i»Uitffdomqfthe houte nfbra^ i 4. TmalS. H*rtigtudaJkUinanOi[ Henabem is sup*

2S And MeaiJiem sl^t with lus VcfiT^ fathers; and Pekahiah bis sod reigned °»"<LTT-iin his stead. u^SSt.

king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Iwael in Samaria* ami reipned two years.

24 And he did that which was evil ^-Jjjg' in the sight of the Lord: he departed ^J^^;^ not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who mcule Israel to sin.

25 BulPekahthesonofRemaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the kite's house, with Argob^md Arieh, ana with him fifty men of th« Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.

26 And the rest of the acts of Peka- '*-JSJ* hiah, and all that he did, behold, they a cig-« are written in the book of the Cfaro- TrrsiiB. nicies of the kings of Israel... y^g-

27 1[ In the two and fiftieth year of ^SmT Azariah king of Judah, ■ Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.

28 And he did that which wat evQ in the si^ 6f the Lord: he departed not frpm the sins or Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to

29 11 la the days of Pekah king of Israel "came Tiglath-pileser king of gw>J- Assyria, and took " Ijon, and AM- m-aum. beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Ke- — desh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the lajid of Naphtali, and carried them captm to Assyria.

30 1| And Hoshea the eon of Elah lc9 made a conspiracy against Pekah the 2f>^tJ^ son of Remaliah, and smote him, aod ^tSS' slew him, and f reigned in his stead,

posed to have been one of Zachariah'a generaU: hearing of the death of hia master, when be was with the trocKts st Tirzah, be hastened to Samaria, and slew the munfeitr, and had himself proclaimed in his stead: but as the peo^ of TMitah did not open their gates to bim, he uok at plaoeliy assault) aad,as the teit tells us, prastiad Ae most emel barbaridei^ even HppiRg up (hs wmur Aat wertwWtcAUdl

Verse 19. Pul the king (ff Aooyria} l%is is tbe first time we bear of Astyria autee the mjm at Ninuod, in founder, Gen. x. 21.

Dean frideaux sapposea that this Put was htho' ei the fkmoue l^rdanapabu, the son himself being called Bardanf to which, as vras frequent in those times, ifae father's name, Pul, was added, making SantoMpml; ti whidi die Greeks aod Latins made Sca^iani^Mhui sad this Pul ia supposed to bt tbe same that reigned Id veh when Jaruut preached the terrors of the Lead to tfast city.

Tliat hi* kand\ That is, his paver and {fi^CudweHrigftC be wifA Mm: in this sense is (he w«d hand frequently used &i Scripture.

Verse 21. Are they not leritttn in — the C3tnmie^\ There arc no chronicles extant in wbidi there is sny thing farther relative to this king.

Verse 26. Smote him in Samaria, in the poloee iif ^ kinf^a houee, with Argob and Arim} Who Aigcb and Arien were, we know not; some make fliem nun; soma make them etatuet. Pekafa bod Jifly Oileaditea in Ab conapiracy with him.

Verse 29. Came TtglailM>3fer} He is supposBd to have been the suooesaor of Saidaopahia: Dean Pindeaux mskss bim the nine with Arbaeet, called by JEltsa mt-

- *i aSf 32 IT In the second y«ar of Pekah the wji* v-j Bon of Renraliah of Israel began 'Jotham the son of^Uzziah kinff of _£!E5:*- Judah to reign.

33 Five and twenty years old was iT^n he when he beean to ret^, and he o(™v. i reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.

34 And he did that which was right in the •ight of the LoBD: he did * according to aD that his father Uzziah had done.

35 « Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. <> He built the higher gate of the house of the Lord. /

36 1 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and &1I that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kin^s of Judah?

aai?' 37 In * those mys the Lord be^an otr^ a-x to send against Judah'Rezin the king ^^'Sr* of Syria, and ' Pekah the son of Re-

38 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

cMuU i^K; ta> iKkHEhih Mid Mm Uh rpikor df*^ Um I'tBI t' tlx ud |gU ihu loaal in DMuiw if

JJpfcJjyi; TN the seventeenth year of Pekah the inkite X y son of Remaliah, ' Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.

^gamuM, nndbyUadter Ninu* junior; who, together with SdaU, headed the conspiracy a^inst SardanapaluM, and fixed hifl aeat at Nioeveh, the ancient residence of the Asmian kinj^; a* did Belesis, called in laa. xxxix. 1. Bala- <an, fix hiB at Babylon.

"Took QonJ Theae places belonged to IrmI; knd ■were taken by Ben-hadati, Idng of Syris, when be vm in league with Am, king of Judsh. See 1 Kings xv. 30. 'niey were regained oy Jeroboam Oie ucand i and now they are taken from Inael once more, by TtgUUk-pilaer. From 1 Chron. v. 26. we team that Pul and Ti^lalk- ■piUMiT, kings of Assyria, carried away into captivi^ (he two tnbes of Reuben wod Oad, and the half tribe of Afonaweft; all that belonged to Israel, on the other side of Jordan. Then were never restored to braeL

Tom 30. HoAea thatmi^Blah-~iath«twmtiethyear 1^.AAam] There ore many difficulties in the chronology oif this place. To reconcile die whole, Caimtt seys — " Hodiea conspired against Pekah, the taenXiitk year of the reign of this prince, which was the eighteenth alter ihebeginnineof the reigD of Jotham, king of Judah. Two years after this, that iatheyburf/t year of Ahaz, and the txoentielh of Jotham, Hoahea made himself maaler of a ^paH of the kingdom, aocording to ver.'SO. Finally, the te^/tft year of Ahaz, Hoahea nad peaceable pOBsesaion

Verse 36. iVote the reel of the aeU <ijf Jolham] These acts are distinctly stated in 2 Chron. cluip. xxvii. He built the high gate of the bouse of the Lord: and be built much on the wul of OtAel. He built dties in the mountains of Judah; and in the fhreau he built castles and towers. He overthrew the AmmOiUtes; and obliged then to give him one hundred talents oif silver, fen Inouaand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley, for three consecutive years. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigded sixteen years. These are the partieuurs which welearn from the place in Chroniclea quoted above; few of which are mentioned in this place. As to the higher gate <rf the house of the Lord, commentators are not well agreed: some think it was a gats which he then made, and which did not exist before, and is the same that is called the new gate, Jer. xxvi. 10. which is very likely.

Verse 37. In those days the Loan began to send] It was about this time that the Ass/rian war^ so ruinous to the Jews, htgui; but it was in the fallowing reigns that they arrived at their hi^est pitch of disaster to those unlniihlul and unfortunule people. However much we

2 Twenty years old «a* Ahaz when he began to reign, and reirned sixteen o-.^Jf years in Jerusalem, and aid not thai otnoL ix. a which it>tu right in the sight of the_=HLi_ Lord his God, like David bis Ikther.

3 But he walked in the way of the kmgs of Israel, yea, 'and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abomination of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the ehiktren of Israel.,

4 And he sacrificed and burnt incense m toe high places, and ' on the hills, and under every green tree.

5 11 ^ Then Rezin kingof Syria, and Vam Pekah son of Rem^iah king of Israet, gn^jg* came up to Jerusalem to war: and jmk. Aikm. they besieged Ahaz, but could not.-??^.!— overcome him.

6 At that time Rezin king of Syria • recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from ' Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.

- 7 IT So Ahaz sent messengers ( to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come tip, and save me out of the hand of the kin^ of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up gainst me.

8 And Ahaz < took the silver ana Vc.'na gold that was found in the house of the SfSi^r Lord, and lo the treasures of the king's jt^SSS house, and sent it/or a present to the

9 And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up agatnit k Damascus, and > took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

mayUame die Jews for their discAediMtce and obstinacy, yet we cannot help feeling for them under their severs afflictions. Grievously ihey have sinned j and grievously have Ihey suffered for it. And if they be still objects of God's judgments, there is revelation to baJieve that they will yet be objects of Clod's goodness. Many think the signs of the times are &vounule to this ingatberiiig: but there is no evidence among the peqile themselves that the day of their redemption is at huid.

Verse 2. T\oenttiytarB old was Ahaz\ Here is another considerable difficult in the chronology. Ahaz was but twenty years old when he began to reign, and he died aAer he had reigned sixteen years; consequently his whole age amounted only to thirty-six years. But Hezekiah his son was twenty-five years old wheo be benn to reign t aod, if this were so, then Ahaz must have been the fitmer of Hezekiah when he was but eleven years of age I Soma think that the twenty years mentioned here respect the beginning of the reign of Jotham, Euher of Ahaz: so that the passage should be thus translated, Ahaz was twenty years age whsn his father began to reign; and oooeequenUy, he vmafifly-two years old when he died, seeing Jotham reigned sixteen years; and, therefore, Hezekiah was bom when bis &tEar was seosniesn years of age. This, however, is a violent solution, and worthy of little credit It is better to return to the text as it stands, and allow that Ahaz might be only eleven or twehe yean oU when he had Hezekiah; this is not at all impossible; ai^ in the Eastern countries, we know that the jrouth of both sexes are marriageable at ten or fimfve yean of agv; and are frequently betrothed when they are bat nfns. 1 knew a woman, an East Indian, who had the second of her too first children \t4ien she was oa\yfourleen years of age, and must have had the first when between eleven ana tw^e, I hold it, ther^ore, quite a possible case that Ahaz might have had a son t»rn to him when he was but eleven or fi«/ee years old.

Verse X Made his son to pass through the fire] On this passage I beg leave to refer the reader to aiy notes on Lev. xviii. 21. xx. 2, 14. where the sobjeM is considered at large.

Verse 6. But could not overcome him] It is likehr that this was the time when Isaiah was sent to eonsOM Ahaz, see Isa. vii. l;and jmdicted the death of both Rsz^ and Pekah, his enemies.

ID ^And Kin^ Afaaz weot to Damascus to meet Tislath-piteaer king of Aeeyria, and saw an altar that uia« at Damiiscus: and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship tlitircof.

11 And Uriiah the priest built an altar according to all that King Atiaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against King Ahaz came from Damascus.

13 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and " the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.

13 And he burnt his burnt-ofiering and his meat-offering, and poured his drink-ofleriog, and sprinkled the blood of ■ hia peace-offerings ujmmj the aitar.

14 And he brought also ' the brazen altar, which 1003 before the Loud, from the forefront of the house, rroni hctivL-ii-n the altar and the bbnse of tlic Loup, und i>Lit it on tlie north side of the aUar,

15 And Kin<r Aliiiz ron^manded Urijah the priest, BJtrii-,{r, ihe j^reat altar burn Pthe mornuig luiE-iii-iUlLTiii-r, nuA the evening meatoHerine, iMtii iln.' kirtif^'a (mrnt-sacriflce, and his nteat-oiirrrin?, with ilu* biirnt-otiering of all the people of tlif lani^, EinJ ihL'ir meat-offering, and their dpiii!<-nL]i.Tiiif;n i and BprinkleuponitaU the blood of ilie liuptii-atforin!;, and all the blood of the Fflrrifii-c: fiiiJ 'Ul- ljrn.'.en altar shall be for me to inquire by.

16 Thus did Urijah the prieat, aecorditig to all that King Ahaz comman

^b":^ 17 IT " And King Ahaz cut ofl" ' the oiT^*Va bordersofthe bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down ■ the sea from off the brazen oxen that

18 And the covert for the sidibatli that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lou for

19 t Now the rest of the acts *•.^J" Ahaz which he did, arc they not writ- a c im~mt. ten in the book of the Chronicles of the

and ' was buried with his fathers, in o|[^i^>^'- tjic cit^ of David: aad Hezekiah his - - ■soa reigned in his stead..

Yerse 7. / am thy atrzant aad thy mm] I will obey the« in all things, aiid become frifrutory to tnse; onlyhelp me against ^rla and larael.

Verae 9. The king qf Atayria hearkened vnio him] It is said, 2 Chron. xxviii. 20. tliat Tiglath-pUneter distreaaed him, but alrengikejitd him not. Tlioueh he come againat the SyrianB, and took Damaicus, and Blew Rczin;

i'et be did not htip Ahaz a^inst the Philiitines, nor did he end him any forces to assist hiio against Israel; and he dietreBsed him by taking tlie royal treasures, aud ttie treasures of the temple, and did liim little service fot so great a sacrifice He heiped hint a little, hut distressed him on ihe whole.

It appears that, about this time, Pekah, kin^ of Israel, nearly mined Juaea r ii is said, 2 Chron. xxviii. 6. thai Ae xleiff one hundred Ihouaand vatianJ men in one day; and that he carried aicay captive to Samaria lico hundred thoumnd tvomen ana dtildren, and much spoil: but, at the instance of tlie prophet Oded, these were all sent beick, fed and cloih«id, Jb. 8—15.

Verse 10. Ahaswent to, Damascua] He had received so much help on the di^feat of Rezin, that he went to Damtis- Ctu to meet the kin^ of Assyria, and render him thanks.

Aiuu aent to Urija/t, the pricut, the fashion of the altar] ^liswas some idolatroiu altar, the ahape ani{ icfor/cman- Mp of which pleased Atiaz so well that he determined to have one like it at Jerusalem. For this he had no divine authority; and the compliance of Urijah was botli mean aitd sinful. That Ahaz did (his for an idolatrous purpose is evident from 2 Chron. xxviii. 21 — 25. Far he sacryiced to Ihe goHa qf Damaaeua; and he *aid. Because the goda <(f the Kings of Syria help them, 1 will sacrifice to mem, thai Ikey may help me. And he made hit^k placet to burn ineente lo otner gods in every eUy of Judah.

Verse 14. Put it on the norVi side] He secma to have intended to conform every thing in the Lord's house, as much as possible, to the idolatrous temples which he saw BX Damascus; and lo model the divine worship in ihe same way: in a word, to honour and worship the gods of Syria, and not the God of heaven. All the aJterations specified here were in ooniempt of the mie Qod. Tixn h» provoked la anger the Lord Qod kit father; 2 Chronxxviii. 2K.

Verse 16. And the covert for the sabbath] There are a great number of conjectures cooeeming this covert; or, M h k n the Hebrew, the '\a>a ntttwch the nbbath. As the word, and others deriviid from llie same root, nme years. vull 3 Aod he did thai which teas evil in tm~ the sight of the Lobd, but not aa the » kings of Israel that were before him. otrm-vy*

3 II Against him came up * Shalma- ~"* * neser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became hie servant, and " gave him ' presents.

4 Anathekingof Aesyriafoundcon- B.c^S^ Bpiracy in Hosiiea: for he had sent o^j*^^* messengers to So, king of Egypt, and ai:^. brought no present to the king of As-

Syria, as he had done year by year: therefore

signify covering, or booths, it is very likely that this means either a aort of eanopy, which was erected oo the sabbath days for the accommodation of the people came to worship, and which Ahaz took away, to discoonge them from that worahij>: or it was a caaofnr, under whia the king and his fiimily reposed themselves; aDd whicb he transported to socae other place, to accommodate the king of Assyria when lie visited him. JarxAi sufcosts that it was a sort of corerf-imy thai the kinos of Jwkk liad to the temple; and Ahaz bad it removed leet the kii^ of Assyria, gotng by that wojl and seeing the saercd W aets, sliould rovei them. If&iat way bad been open, be might have gone by it into the temple, and have seen the sacred vesseTs, end so have asked them from a mas viia was in no condiiion to refUie them, however unwillinc ht might have been to give them up. Tlie rettwvii^ of mi^ whatever it was, whether fftrtme, or canopy, or omFsrfw^ cut off the communication between the nag's houK un the temple: and the king of Assyria would not annul to go into that sacred place by that otlker pasatga u vosiA tlic priests alone had acceu.

Verse 20. Was buried with hia fathers in the alfqf David] But it is expressly declared, 2 Cbron. xxriii. 27. that he vas not buried in the semilihrea of the innga ^ larael! end this was undoubtedly inicn<kd as a raaik m degradation. His reign was disaatroua aad imoiam; ana it was disaatroua Mcause it was impiaua: be bad been a scourc-e, not a Ueaaing, to his people.' He bad ecx only made illegal aUerationa in the leanple, and in tbs mode of worship prescribed by the true Grod; but be had polluted all the cities of Judab with idolalry, and hcought ruin upon (he nation. On the whole, a vont king tkaa himaell had not as yet sat on the Jewish throne; and *et he had many advantagee; he had for eounaellor one of m fastest men ever produced in the Jewish nauon, IsAiaa e prophel: and God condescended to interpoK weewDy for nim, when grievously straitened by the kings of Jaraei and Syria; both of whom were cut off, according to the prediction of this prophet. But he wouU not lay it ut heart j and, therefore, the wrath of God fell heavily opoe him, and upon the stiff-necked and r^llims people VDon be governed. He hod sufficient warning.aoa wna witfaott excuse. He vBould sin: and, therefore, he mui aoAr. NOTES ON CHAPTER XVn. Verse 3. Sfto^manessr] This was the son aod of TiglaA-^taer. He is called Shalmam, few HflM^ X. U; and £iicffla«Kir, in Ibe book ofTbbtt, i. 2.

the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

5 IT Then 'the Itine of Assyria came B. <^ up throughout all the land, and went Otj^ TTv. up to Samaria, and besieged it three — ^~*- — years.

fcclS*" *6 ■ In the ninth year of Hoshea the A%H<Rn«Bii, king of Assyria took Samaria, and juoh^Aiw 'carried Israel away into Assyria,

■ - »and placed them m Helah and in Habor &v the river of Qozan, and in the cities of the Medea.

7 For AO it was, that the children of Israel had sinned asoinst the Lord their Gral, which had brought uiem up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

8 And ' walkedin the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, an3 of the kings of Israel, which they had made.

9 And the children of Israel did secretly fAo#e things that toere not right against the Lonn their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, ^ Arom the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

10 * And they set them up ' images and

■ groves * in every high hill, and under every green tree:

11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did t^e heathen whom the Lord lurried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger:

la For they served idols, i whereof the Lord had said unto them ^ Ye shall not do this thing.

13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and •gainst Judah, > by all the prophets, aTtd by all

■ the seers, saying, ' Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments, and my statutes, aeeoroing to all the hiw whuUi I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

14 Notwithetanding, they would not hear, but 0 hardened their necks, like to the necks of their fathers, that did not believe in the Loan their

15 And they rejected his statutes, i* and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed ^vanity, and 'became vain! and went after the heathen that were rouna about them, concerning whom the Loan had charged them, that they should ■not do Iflce

16 And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and t made them molten images, even two calves, *■ and made a grove, and worsliipped all the host of heaven, ^and served

17 ' And they caused their sona and their daughters to pass through the fire, and ■ used divination and enchantments, and ' sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Loan, to provoke him to anger.

18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left ' but the tribe of Judah only.

19 Also 'Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked ui the statutes of Israel which they made.

30 And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afilicted them, and ■'delivered them into the hand of spoflers, tmtfl he had cast them out of his sight.

21 For 'he rent Israel from tlie house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lobd, and made thttm sin a great sin.

22 For the children of Israel walked in alltb*

Vcrae 4. Pound emapiraey in H6$hta] He had endeavoored ta ibake otF tbe Amyrion yok^ by entering into a ma^with So, king of Egypt: utd, Inviag done eo, he ss—ed M Mfid tbe annual tribute to Anyria.

VoTK 6. BetU/^ it Otm mot*.] It niut have been well fortified, veil pra"ri^a«<( Mid well defended, to have held oot M long.

Vom 6. Took Samaria'l According to the propheta, Hoaea x. 4, 8. and Mieah L <. he ezerciaed ptuX emeltiee An Due miserable cinr; ripping up the women with child, dashipg vooBK ebildran ngainai the atone^ Ae. Ac

C^rritd jirati a-aay into Anyria\ What were the places to whidi the umbrtiinKte Iiraelites were oarrted, or where their ■ueoeuore are now liiuaied, have given riee to ianamerable conjecturea, diuertaiione, diaeouraei, A«. Some maintain thai they are found on the coast of Otttnea; others, in ^Muriea; the Indian tribes being the deseettdanta of those carried awny by the AaaTriona. In vol. i. of the tHpptament to Sir Wm. Jones' Works, we find a tranalauon of the HUtmy qf Iht Afghan*, by Mr. H. Vansiltart; from which it appears thai tney derive their own deseent from the Jews. On this history Sir Wm. Jones writes the following note: —

*"n)ia acoount of the Afiihans may lead to a very interesting discovery. We learn from Etdrtu, that die ten tribes, after a wandering joomey, came to a coootry called Artaret, where, we may suppose, they settled. JVow the Afgkans are said, by the best Persian historians, to be de- ■eanded from die Jewa: they have tradilioiis among them- ■elves of such a descent, and it is even assertsd that dieir fianilies are distinguished by the name of Jntith Mba; althnie^ since their conversion to the IMm, th«T itudiotuly conoeal their origin. The Pxuhioo. ot wbioh I |ym seen a diettonary^ has a manifest resemblance to the CInUaie! and a eonsidermblediatriet under dMir dominion fa called Huxarek, or Baxartt^ which might easily have been ohannd into die word used by Stdrtu. I smMigly reaommeaa an inquiry intothe litsratureand history of the A^Amm." Bvery dung oonsidored, I ihiok it by far dw moK iMrobaUe OW tha A^bau an dw daMeDdaniB of die

'''tSiub ended die kmgdom of Israel, after it had Usted two hundred and fifl^ouT yearn, from die deadi of Sotemon and the schism of Jeroboam, till the taking of Soma* ria W Shalmaneser, in the nfn« year of Homeat after which the remains of -tbe tan tribes were carried amy beyond the river Euphrates.

The rest of this chapter Is spent in vindicating the divine providence and justice: rtiowing the reason why God permitted such a desolation to fiul on a people who had been so long his peouljar children.

Versa 9. Did taerttty diose (Un^] There was moeh hiddm iniquity, and private idolatry, among them; as well as public aixl notorious crimes.

Prom t>U toaer iff tha joaiehmen to the Jmced city] That is, the idolatry was univertal; every place was made a place for some idolatrous rite, or aei oi worship > from die largeet eity to die smallest village) and from the public watchtower to the Aepherd'a coc

Verse 10. Imageg and gmsMf Images of diflerent Idoh^ and plaoea for the abominable rites of Athtaroth or Penua.

Terse 13. VM A* homo UHyUd ag^ntt /mu/] What rendered duir conduct tbe more inaxcoHible was, that the Lord had preserved among diem a suecession of profiiets, who testified against their conduct, and preached repen^ ance to tbem, and the readinssa of Goo to forf^ve, provided they would return unto him, and give up uieb idolatries.

Verse 17. SaUAMNMiPMtoilos^ AbMidoDed dimselves to tbe will of the devil ] to work all iniqui^ wift greediness.

Verse 18. Removed them out qf hit aighi] Baniriied them from the pfomised land, from the temple, and frfnn every ordinance of righteoosnesa, as wholly unworthy of any kind of good.

Notu U0hU the tribe qfJitdAmM Under diis nana all those of Benjamin, and Ittoiy and the UraMtet, whs abandoned their idohitries and joined with Judah, aneon-

83 Until the Lokd removed leraet out of his sieht, * as he YtsA said by all his servants the prophets. * So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

B. c m 24 TT « And the king of Assyria - a. XXV. a brought men from Babylon, and from rS^ s^!^ Cuthah, and from < Ava, and from. ™-3g. Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the diildren of Israel; and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

25 And so it was at the be^innin? of their dwelling' there, that they feared not tne Lord: therefore the Lord sent bons among them, which slew some of them.

26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying. The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the Giod of the land; therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.

27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, Maying, Garry thither one of the priests whom

Verie 24. The king Atryria brmtghi men from Bt^ylmi] He removed one people entirely, and aubetitut«d others in their pl&ce: snd this be did to cut off oil occasion for mutiny or inmrrection j for the people, being removed from their land, had no object worchy m' attention to contend for, and no patrimony in the land of their captivity to induce ihem to hazard any opposition to their oppresnrs.

By laonjrom BabyUm, we may understand some cities of Babylonia, then under the Assyrian empire; for, at this time, Ktbylon had a king of its own; but some parts of what was called Babylonia might liave been still under the Assyrian goreroDient.

/rom Cuthah] Thin is supposed to be the same as Cusft, the Chaldeans and Syrians changing « thin into n fau; thus they make tna Cuak; into nu CWA; and *nvK AsAur, Assyria, into -iVM Attutr. From these eame the Scy&a; and from these the Samaritans were called CuQucana, snd their language Cuthite. The origi* ^oX langtinge of this people, or at least the lan^uue they spoke wer their tetUement in Israel, is coataiaeain th« SaTiuaritan varsion of the Pentateud), printed under the Sabr^Samaritan, in vol. i. of the London Polyglott Hik ChiAa was probably the oounayin tbebadof £BUnar, first inhiUrited by CuA,

FVom Ami] "Hm Avin ware an ancient people expelled by the Caphtorim from Bdxerim, DeuL ii. 23.

Fivm Hamath\ This was Uematk, or Entath, of Syria, frequently mentioned in the Saored Wntlnn.

J^Vvm Sepharvaim] There was a citv called Syphera, mar the Eupbratesj others tbintt the Simtira, a people ■itimlad between the Cotektan* and die JllMdet, m meanb There is lauchunctrtaia^ relative to iheKplaeea: allOiat we know is, that the Assyrians carried away the Israelites into Aoyria, and placed them in cities and districts called Baldk and Hab&r, £y th» rivor Ooxan t and in At nwun-. <auu ((f the Medet, ver. 6. And it is very likely that ^ef brought some of thff inhabitants of ihon plaoea into th» cities of Israel.

TwM^ 7\eLo»DMn<K0n»aflUNij-fA<m} Hie land bdnc deprived of its iidiohitantB, wild beasu would neeesaari^ increase, even without any supernatural intervention t and this the superstitious new-comers supposed to be a plague sent upon them, beoause they did not Wow how to vonbip him who was the Ood of the land; for they diought, like other heathens, that every dtstriet liod its own tiOelary d4ity. Yet it is likely that Ood did send hone as a scourge on this bad people.

Verse 26. T%e manner of the Ood <(f th« land) MOVB m^mat, the Judgment: the way in which the Ood of the land is to be wonhipped.

Vtfse 27. Carry thither one qf the prietb] Imperfect ■a this teaching vnui it, in the end, overthrew the idolatry •f dMse peMlet so mat soon afterthe Babylonish captivity thsf wer* rand to be as free from idolatry as the Jews dMiDselv«s{ and continue so to the present luy. But they ■re now nearly anoibilated: the small remains of then is aOund at JVi^imum and Jaffii t they are about AiriyJ^mi- Uttttadnia, woinet^ uii.duldrw^ aioaimttosomitfws

ye brought from thence } and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.

28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-elt and tangbt them bow the^ should fear

29 Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the ha^ places, which the Samaritans had made, ereij nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.

30 And the men of ' Babylon made Succotbbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

31 > And the Avites madeNibhazand Tartak, and the Sepharvites "burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammeledi, the gods oT Sepharvaim.

32 So they feared the Lobs, ■ and made onto themselves of the lowest of them fH'iests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

33 " They feared the LoRo, and served their own gods, after the manner of uie nations p wb(m& they carried away from thence.

34 Unto this day they do after tbe former

hundred persons! They have a synagogue, which tbtf regularly attend every aaiibaih; and they go thither dodicd in white robes. I^e reader may fina much curious information relative to this people, in a JKnouv ««r Ij'Etat actuel dee Samariiaine, by Bana Sykeetre dm San, 8vo. Paris, 1612.

Verse 29. Everynation mad4 goda of A«ir mtnA "Riat is, they made «>da after the fo^Ion of thoee wbiok thi^ had wonhipped in their own cotintry.

Terse 30. The men tif Babylon made SueaA-baw0£l This, literaily, signifies Qie taoemadto t^Qie dstigUsn^ or young women; and most evidently rebus to tboM put lie prostitutions of voung virgins at the temple of MtlUit^ or Venue, among tne Babylonians. Sec at die end o( ifae chapter. From benoOi it is pnrtnbla that the word Venae canM the b being ehangod into^ as is frequently the easet andtheAinto«,£nioM,Kbi0c. llwnbbinsKytbUlMrcsiblemwasaA«niriAA«r(AicJtans.' tieJardu osiihe pUe&

TTie men of Cuth made NergaT] Ham is supposed to have been the so^ar orb, or light. AcctM^inc to ibe lAbins, his emblem was a cock, see at the end in the cfaaMv.

"Hie men qf Homaih made Aehima] PeihafM tb* niei {rom DVK aeham, to make atonement, or to purtfi/. Jafcfai says this was in the form of a gaat. Sea below.

Verse 31. 7^ Airifes ma£ JVJMu] This wm supposed to be the sante as the AmMe of the E^yptiaas; aad was in form partly of a do^, and partly of a man. A veqr ancient image of this kinanow lies bclore me: it is cat out of stone, about teven inches high; has ibe body, ligt, and arma, of a man; the Head aiM Jeet of A dog; the lUgfcs and lege covered with ecalee; the head crowDed with a Mara; the arm* enMsed upon the breasts, wUh ibs fiagers clendied. "Hie figure stands upright, and the belly is vcsy protuberant. See below.

And Tartak] This is supposed by some to be anotfacf name of the same idol: JarAt says it vras in the ihaft o£ an aei. Some think these were tba leprssertaiiooa H sun in his diarioti IVibhaz repreeendnglbe solar mh, wad Tartak the chariot See below.

Anammeleih] From Snah, to return, and iVd mJee, king. Probably, the MoUeh ot the Ammonites. JanM says, the first was in ihe form of a mule, the seeood in tfas form of a horee t this was probably die moon.

Verse 32. Qf the loweet nf them prieoioi On* prietf was not enough for this motley populaiioDi «nd,aa lbs prieetbood was probably neither re^edable nor hcnrtaib It was only die loweet of the people triw vouM sMV mM Ifae cmploymenL

Versed, l^ey feared thehom, and eervtdOuiTOwm. gode] They did not relinquiA their own ufolair*, tet xncorparaied the wor^p ofthe true Ood with that of itmar idols. They were qfraid of Jehovah, who had sssK ham amoo^ them; and therefore tbey ofiered him a sort of worditp that he might not thus afiUet them: bat they served other gods, £voted themselves ^/kfiswlsly to dMD^ beeansa thw wmiiip was sudb as gratified OMsr gTBssssfpasstonst and most smftdpropenrinea.

nuumerB: they fear not the Lobd, neither do Huf after Uieir statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandmant which the Loan commanded the children of Jacob^whom he named Israel;

35 With whom tbe Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, ' Ye shall not fear other gods, nor ■ bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:

36 But the Lord, who brought you up out of tbe land of Egypt with great power, and ' a ■tretched-out arm, "him shall ye fear, and him eball ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.

37 And the statutes, and the ordinances, and

Vena 36. But Lou>] Jshotah, the eupreme, aelf- •xistent, and eternal Being; Author of all being ana U/e. nU was to be the aole object of their adoration.

Who brought you up] Ilia waa a wtrong reofon why tteyabould adore Aim only: he had MMcf aem from the fasada of their enemieai and be did ii in such a way to show hia MMp 10 be irreaUtiUe { and in ludi a being they ml^t safely eonfide.

ilim Aall ye Vaar] Here ja the manna- in which he ia to be wonhippeo. Him ye aball rtvtfmee am your lawgftwrand^iMin; yeahaU rMpasfsndfceep all his oom- Boaodmenu; doing vdiat be mm eojoiiie^ and avoidii^ wbal he haa forbidden.

Sim tkaU ya icor^iji^ Before him ye riiall hovt tha hue; living m the 9pmi qf obadUnct, and performing every religtwa act in uie de^tnt humUitg.

And to him ahoU ye do Merificei Ye ahall conaider diat, aa ye have sinned, ao ye deaerve death; ye shall, thereflDre, bring vodt liting vietinu to the altar of tbe Lord, and let ttiev lif^t blood be poured out there, aa ao atmommU lor your aoola. We aee in thia verae thret im* pemm points:—!. The Mea of their worahip. 2. The raaenwoflhatworBhip. Aind, 3. The *pira and manner in which it waa to be performed: — oix. 1. In fear — 2. Hnmility— And, 3. By aaerifice.

Verse 4t. iSb do thm unto ihi* day.'i Thia muat have been written before uie Babylonian captivity; beceuae, ftfter that time, n«e of the laraelitea ever lapued into idtdairy. But this may chiefly refer to tbe AeattenM people «4m wan aeat to dwell among tbe remains of tbe ten Cribes.

Oo theae noHont, and Ae oiiJoda thotr wora&to, I praaent my readen with the fi>llowing extneta fhnn Zhdd ud JRar/dmnt:—

"VotmtW. T%4 mm qfBabjAm made Sueeoik^bmoA— We have here an account of the tdoli which ware conaeerated by tbe diSbrent oatioita, tranaptanted the king of Asayria to Samaria. It ie difficult, however, (and naa •fimdad a large field for conjecture,) to give any aftliafoctorr aoeount concerning them, "nw reader will find in SeMon, Voaaiua, and Jurieu, much upon tbe iubjecL Suceolh-benoih may be literally tranalated, The Tabernaela ^ ih» Dau^ttT9, or Yomg Women; or if Bmatk be taken as the name of a female idol, from nu to build up, proereaU AUdren. then the words will express tlie tabernacles sacred to the prodactive powers feminine. And, agreeably to this latter expodtion, the rabbins s^ that tbe emblem was a hen and ehiekena. But, however this may be, there ia oo room to doubt that theae meeotk were tabernaeteo, wherein young women enoaed tbemaelvea to prostitution, in honour of the B^ionidi goddeaa Meiitta. Herodotus {lib. L c 199.) givea tia a pameular account of thia detestable service. ''^Every young woman (says he) of tbe flountry of B^lon, must onoe in her lifs sit at the temple of Venua, {whom be afterward tells ua the Aasyriaiu eslted Mditia,) and prostitute beraelf to some stranger. Thoee who are rich, and so disdain to mingle with the «rowd, present themselvea before the temple in covered cbariota, attended by a great retinue. But tbe generality of the women ait near the temple, having crowns ujfKin dieir heada, and holding a cord, aorae ecmtuiually coming, «ihers going. See Banteh n. 43. The.oords are held by them in such a manner aa to afford a free passage •monjg the women, that the atrangers mw cbooee wh<wa they lUie. A woman who haa onoe aeated herself in thia place, must not return home till some stranger has cast inonCT into her lap, and led her fr<Hn (he temple, and deftled ber. The stranger who throws die mottey must say, ' J iorakt the goddess Helitia for thee.' The money, however amall a sum it may be, must not be refosed, beicanae it is ivpointail to aaeied uaea. Saa DmiL xziiL Ift Tbe

the law, and tbe commandmenti which- he wrote for you, * ye shall observe to do for evermore; ana ye shall not fear other gods.

38 And the covenant that I have made with you * ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.

39 But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

40 Howbeit they did not hearken, hut they did after their former manner.

41 * So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

woman muat follow the first man that olFera, and not reject faim; and afler prostitution, having now duly h<h noured the soddesi^ she is dismiaaed to ber own bouae. In Cyprus," Boda tbe hiatorian, "they have the same cuatono.^ Ttus abomination, implied by AKceA-fteneO, the men of Babylon brou|^t with them mto the ooontry of Sainariat and both tbe name of the idol Melitia, ana die execrable service performed to her honour, Aow that by Meiitta waa originally intended the nrocreative or productive power <M nature^ tbe Vaau 01 the Greeks and Romans. See the beginning ot Lucretius' first book De Renim N^aturi. BD. S^en imaginea that some tracea of the Succoth-bmodi may be found in Sioea^Veneria, the name of a city of Nunudia, not br from dte borders of Aflioa Propria. The name iteelf bears a near allusicoi to iha obaoene custom above taken notice of; and seems to have been transported from Phoenicia: nor can this well be dieputed, when we conaider that there was a temple whera women were obliged to purchase their marriage-money, by the prostitution of their bodies. See Univ. Hiat, vol. xvii^ 295. and Parkburst's Lexicon on the word "yo.

T%e men qf Cuth made Nergal — Cuth waa aprovinoo of Assyria, which, according to some^ liea upon the Arax* ia: but Others ratner diink it to be the «me with CWk, which ia said by ISoaos to be encompaased with the river Gihon { and must, thereCue, be the same with the counti^ which the Greeks.call Sunana, and which to this day » called by the inhabiianu Qmaeata. Dmr idol, NergaL ■eems to have been the sun, as the causer of the ditimal and annual revolution of the planets; far it is naturally rived firem *u n«r, tight, and ^1 gel, to renive. Hie nbbins aay that the idol was represented in the shape of a cock; and probably they tell ua tbe truth, for thia aeema a very proper emblem. Among tbe latter heathens we find the cock was sacred to Apolhk or tbe sun, (see IHerii Hienwlyph. p. 223.) " Beeauae, aava Heliodtmis, speaking 01 the lime when eocks orow, "oy a natural aenaaiiM of the sun's revdutitm to ns, they are incited to salute tbe god." jEtkiop. lib. i. And perhaps under this name^ Nergal, they meant to worship the sun, not only for the diurnal return of its light upon tbe earth, but alao for its annual return or revolution. We may observe that ibe emblem, a eoeJc, ie affecled by the latter as well as by tlia former, and is frequently crowing both day and nigbt, when the days begin to luigthen. See Calmtto Dietton* aiy under the word, and ParkhwtC* Lexieon.

The nun qf HamaA made Athimo — ^n>ere are several cities and countriea which go under the name of Bamath f but what we lake to be here meant, is that province of Syria which lies upon Ihe Orontes, wherein there was a city of the nme name; which, when Shalmaneaer bad takm, be removed the inhoUtanta from thence into Samaria. Ineir idol, AsAfoto, aignifiea the otoner, or expiotor, from BVM aaAem. Tlie word is in a Oialdea form, and seems to be the same as fcmv nntnt osAmef s&amrwn, Aa ate iSamaria, mentioned Amos viii, 14. where aiknut is rendered by the LXX. propitiation. It ie known to every one who has tbe least acquaintance with the mythology of tbe heathena, how alrongly and univueally they retained the tradititm of an atoMment or exmation for stn, altbeugfa they expected it from a Use oojeei, and wnmg manna. We find it exptewed in veiy olear terms among the Boman^ even ao late as die time of Horace, lib. L ode 2.

The answer ia, " Apolk^" tbe god of light. Some think that aa AmmotL or i^umon, in the Peman language, aignifies Aaoeen, ine Syrians might from hence denve toe nameof tbiagod; who, they suppoae, waa rqmented by a large stone pillar, terminsiing in a oonic Jff>pyiainldlay

DBi,ud w>Iki uprichlll brToK (nd, I— •. H* cndmrMn to ili^ off iba A»- tniu nte, ani iteleau Ihe lluliiuda, 1, ft abaliumw onu* op uainK KiMiiE li, ul ouTia ihc Iwpla anT ■uut eWtiiiiT. And Ihf o

111,1 utiM JiHlnti, uJ wiM* all UH iMkaadrnK*, iZ. Ilcukbli ok a iHwe toUo l>tL*cliiita (a ilniM. with ihc jpromiH thai Iw vlU pay bin tny inbiilc >h ^laaMi u UniHH: la OAipei^eiiH oTwhlcti. Shalnkartrw rxaeu E/vvf Avndr^ MtWof ud Uirly lahnisoT foUl: u> pajr wbii'h, lignlLUdi ii nblifnl to ^fc* atl lib own IRonm. and dbM bdong^nf lo ih« [em|>li*, II— IC Tht kmg iiT A_n1aaaMl>. Mviitiiuailiiiit.a piw InM a^liM Jmialcm; anJ bBgoienl, Sab^akrii. ikli'Ftian iniulunii ud btaHi>:uii"ut iman Id Hricliiah. II— 3K Iffhi.k ■ih^hia pwylw arc f rcfcUT aBktaJ at eIh Wdxb m( Jiat>-iJiaiah,3B,3T.

NOW H came to pass in the third year of Hoahea eon of Elah kins of Israel, that ■Hezekiah the eon of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

2 Twenty and five yeara olawaa he when he began to reign; apd he OLxin,& reigned twenty and nine years in Jerasatem. His mother's name also woff * Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.

3 And he did tfiat whirh ira« rieht in the eight of the LoBD, according to alt that DariA his father did.

4 If ' He removed the high placM, and waios the '* imngee, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the ■ brazen 8en>eDt that Mom* had made: for onto thoie days the children m Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it ' Nehushtan.

5 He s trusted in the LottnOodof Israelt^ao that after him was none like him among bO the kings of Jud^. nor any tliat were before bkn.

6 For he > clave to the Lord, and departed not k from following him, but kept hi» oommand* menta, which the Lord comraHided Moses.

7 And the Lord > wae with him; and he " prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he " rebelled against (he long of Assyria, and served him not.

figure^ whereby Ihey deDoted JEr«. See ParMtunt on the won! ant (uAeni, Catme^i Dietionary, and Ttnnttoti on Idf^atiy.

Verse 31. 7^ Avita made Nihhaz and T\trta}e-~lt ia unceftain who these Avitea were. The moat prt^utble opinion aaema to be thu which Orotiua has su^ested, by ob- ■erving that tliere are a people in Bactriana, mentioned by Ptolemy, under the name of Atadia, who posaibly might lie ttMM transported at thia time into Paleatine by Shalmaneaer. NtlAaa, woording to dw rabbina, had the ihape of a dog. much luce the AnvAU of the Egyptians. In PUriur Hieroglyphics, page 63. ia the figure of a Mcinoeaphaliu, a kind of epe, with a head like a dog, aCaading upon his hinder feet, and looking eamutly at the moon. Pierius dim teaches us that the teinoee^luthu waa an animal eminently sacred among the Egjrptiana, hicroglyphical of the moon, and kept in their temples lo inform them of the noon's conjunction widi the sun, at which lime this antma] is strangely afiecled, being deprived of aight, refining food, and lying siok on the ground; but, on the moon's appearance. Beaming to return thanka, and congratulate the return of light both to himself and her. See Jofmaton'a fiM. Hist de Quadruped, page lOO. This being obaerrol, 4ie in3i rubchtz (which may well be derived from nai nebek, to hark, and ran eheze, lo tee,) gives us reason to oonctude that this idol was m the ahape of a annoeopbalus, ttr a dog looking, barking, or howling at the moon. It is obvious lo common observation that aoga in general have this property; and an idol of the form just mentioned smirb to have been originally designed ts represent the power or influence of the moon on alFsublunary bodies, with which the scinooephaluses and dogs are so eminently oiTected. 'So, as we have observed upon Nergal, the influence of Ihe retaining solar lig^t waa represented by a cocAr; and the

Stnerative power of the heavens by Dagtm, a fi'^V ee Parkkunt on maj who is of opinion that Tartak pnvi is compounded of in (er, to turrij go round, and pm relek, to diain, tether; and plainly denotes the heavens, considered as confining the planets in their respective orbits, as if they were tethered. The Jews have a tradition that the emblem of thia idol was an «w; iriiich, considering die propriety of diat animal when tethered to represent this idol, is not improbable; and from diia idolatrous worship of the Saoiarilans, joined perhaps with some eoniiised account of the cherubim, seems to nave sprung that stupid story bv the hea'hens, that the Jews had en ass's head in their holy of holies, to which they paid religious worship. See Boehart, vol. ii. p. 221. Jurieu ia of toinion, that as the word Nibhax, botli in the Hebrew and Cbaldee, with a snaH variation, denotes quide, neift, rajndi and tartak, in the same languages, sientfies a wrM, dieae two idols may both together denominate the ann nMMinied on bis ear, as the fictions of the poets and die notiona of the raythologiats were wont to represent that luminary.

T/u SqiharvUM burrud Ouir eftUdren—to AdrammelaeA, and AnammeUek~-AM these Sepharvites probably came from the a'ties of the Medes, whither the Israelites were carried captive, and as Herodotus tella ua, that between Colchis, and Media, are found a people called Satpiret; in all lilcelihood they ww« the same with those here named S^AarvitM. Moloch, MUcom, and Mdech, in Ihe langnage of different natiou nil signify a king, and imply the run, which was eatiea the king qfhtavm i and, there- '»ra> die addition of I'M ader, wfaioti signifies pows^^ vatMmu, ts tha VM, and of up onmi, iriiidi imrius to rdum, to onatosr, to the other, means bo more d»n the ni^Oy, or the oracuJar Maloth. And ss the children were oftred to bim, it appears diat he waa Ihe mm wiA the Moloch of tlie Ammonites. See Vnim. BiaL and CalmeL Ur. Locke is also of opinion diat these two names were expressive oS one and the same deity. What they were, or in vrfiat form, and how woniuppad, «• have not light from antiqui^ to determine.

Verse 3. He did that which was right tn lAt wighl qf the Loan] In chap. zxiz. of the Second Book of (Hmmicles, we have an account of what this piwa king did to restore the woiahip of Ood. He ca^ised the pricM and Levites to cleanse tne holy house, which had been tiax up by his fother Ahaz, and had been polluted with &hfa of various kinds; and this cleaosiM reqaired no less than sixt6Ai days to accompltdi it As the pasaovtr, accordinc to the law, must be celebrated the y<Bir<e«iifc of Am first month, and the Leviiea could not get the temple cleansed before the aixtetnth day, he pubhshed the passover far die fourteenth of the second month; and sent Ifaraach aU Judah and Israd, to collect all the mui thai fearedOo^ that the paaaover might be cdebnued in a proper BSBMr. Ihe ooncourae was gnax, and die feast was oddMed with great magnificence. When die people returned to their respective cities and villages, they bt^an to tbnw down the idol altars, statues, images, and groves, and even to abolisli Ihe high places: the cottsequence was, dwt a spirit of piety began to revive in the land, and a gcoenl reformation took plaoe.

Verse 4. Brake in pieces tfts frrosen terpaU} TW history of dus may be aean in Numb. zxL 9: sea notes there.

We find that thia brazen serpent had become an oijut of idolatry; and, no doubt, was supposed to poaae». as a teUmn or amalei, extraordinary virtues; and that uirtass was burnt before it, which should have been bomi befaa die true Ood.

And he called it Ndmehlan] invni. Not one of As VersKmt has attempted to translate diis word. Jaidd mys, " He called it Nechnatan, duough eontnopt; which ia as much as to say, a brazen terpmt." Soroe havs supposed that the word is corapoimdea of rro tiacAaafc, w dmne, and [n.ten, a eerpent; so it signifiea, fka dipimimg terpent: and tha Torgwn states that it waa ihe pssprf^ not Hezekiah, that gave it this name, vro madtom, s^ nifies lo view, eye, attentively obserM^ to aoorvft, ta^ww oeruroXefy, d^.; and lience is used M ezpresa dfpinWi'i, au^ry. As a nottn, it signifiea frross, or ei^yptr, JMkt verdigris, and some tea animal, Amos ix. 3; seealanJok xxvi. 13. and Isa. xxviL 1. It is also freqaently nssd far a scrpenJ,- and most probably for an aninwl of the geiHB Stmia, in Oen. iii., wbere sse die notes. Hia faaa basa contested by some, ridiculed by a few, and bclie>ad by many. The objectors, because it signifies aseryl aon^ times, suppose tt must have the same significalM olsMsjpf And one, to expreos his contempt, and to rixnr (na «enaa| has said, "Did Hoses hang up an ops on a poteT* i answer, No; no more dian he han^ iip fou, win aA the oonlamptiUe questiorL But this la of a pieee vciA tha eoadnet of the people of Milan, who show yoa, to this day, the brazen seipent which Moaes hong up in dw wddmwaa, and irtiichHezdcieh broke in pieoaifiMf* ' jiM kmdrad yaws agol watchmen to the feacea city. tcSt 9 t And 'it came to pass, in the oi.xiv-a fourth year of King Hezekiah, which j55».*A5ill was the seventh year of Hoshea son orEliili king of Israel, that Shalmane-

10 And at the end of three yeara oi XIV, 1. they took it j even in the sixth year of

11 » And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them * in Halah and in Habor bu the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Meocg:

12 ' Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgrCBsed his covenant,

' €i7id all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would noc hear them, oor do theia.

^cm: 13 Now 'in the fourteenth year ^OLXvLi. of King Hezekiah did ^ Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the — fenced cities of Judah, and took them.

14 And Hezekiah king of Judah seat to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have ofi'eoded; return from me: that which thou pattest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah thr ee hundred talents of silver, and tfau^y talents of gold.

15 And Hezekiah ■ gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Loao, and in the treasures of the kind's house.

16 At thai time did Hezekiah cat off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and

from the pillare which Hezekiah king of Judah had overuud, and gave *it to the king Oi

salem. And they went up and came to Jemsalem. And when they were come up, the/ came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, « which is in the highway of the fuller's field.

18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Etrakim the son of Hilktah, which was over the household, and Shebna ihe ''scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.

19 And Rab-ehakeh said unto them, Speak ye how to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great kin^, the king of Assyria, ' What confidence w thu wherein thou trustest 7

20 Thou ' sayest, (but they are but < vain words,) ^ / Jiave counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thoa rebellest against me 1

21 1 Now, behold, thou ^ trustest upon the staff of tliis bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go mto his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

22 But ifye say unto me, We trust in the LoBD our God: is not that he, > whose hi^ places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and JerusaJem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give " pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, aikd I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thjr part to set riders upon them.

Verse 6. He trutUd in the Lobd] See the character of thiB good king — 1. He trusted in the JLord God <f Israel _2. Ue claiDe to the Jjord — 3. He was steady in his religion; ha departtd not from foUomng the Lord — 4. He ktpt uwf « eomnaniimen£i. And vnat were the coiuequeacet 1 1. The Lord was wUft him, 2. Be prospered vAiihertoeter he letni. ^

Verse 8. ^Vtwn the tow*r qf the watt^nun^ See the Muue words chap. xvii. 9. Ii Kerns a proverbial mode of expression: he reduced every liiDd of fortification; Dolhing was able to stand before him.

Vem 17. ITie king of Assyria tent liirtan, Ac] Calrnet has very jiiatly remarked, that these are not the fi^moM of persons, but of qfflcea. T^artan, pvi tartan, or tatttan, as in the parallel place in laaiab, in ihe Greek version, signifies he vhopreeitUa over the gift*, or Iribute; Chancellor of the E.i:chequer.

JiVom LaeliUh'] It B«ems as if the Assyrian troops had been vorsted before Lachish, and were oblit^ to raise the nagei from which they went and sat down before Lib- While Sennacherib was there with the Artyrian arrriy, ho heard that Tirkakatk, king of Ethiopia, had invaded the Assyriait territories. Being obtiged, therefore, to hasten in ora*r to wecour his own dominions, he sent a cODsidei^le bree, under the BfornnentionM ofiicers, againsl Jeniwilem, with a most /ear/^ii and bloodymanifimto, commanding Hezekiah to nay him U-ibule, to deliver np -his kingdom to him, and to submit, he and his people, to be carried away captives into Assyria I This mantfosto was accompanied with the vilest insufj«, and the highest blospAmte*. Ood interposed, and the evils diTMleoed sgainstodiers fell upon himself.

Bfaniflsstoe of this kind have seldom been honourable to ^e senders. The conduct of Rab-shakeh was unfortunately copied by the duke of Brunswick, commander Id chief of the allied army of the centre, in the French Revofutionjwho was then in the plains of Champa^, August Z7. 1792, at the head of ninrjj/ tJioueand men, PrusMane, ^tM^Hon^ and enUgranU, on his way to Paris; wluch, In hia maniiesto, he threatened to reduce to ashps I Hiia the cwise « the dreadful majisacres whidi immediately took place. And shortly after this time, the blast of Qod fell upon him; for, in Sept. of the' same Tear, (three weeks after issuing the manifesto,) almost all hie army was destroyed by a fatal disease, and himself obliged to retreat firom the French territories, with shame and confiision. This, and some other injudicious steps th«n t^en by the allies, were the cause of the ruin of the royal ffunily of France; and of enormities and calamities the most extensive, disgraceful, and ruinous, that ever stained the page of history. From all such revolutions God in mercy save mankind.

Conduit nf the xipper pool} The aqueduct diat I»ou|4tt the water from the upper or eaetem rttenirir, near to tu valley of Kedron, into the city. Probably they had sazed on this in order to distress the city.

TheJUUer^e j^e/iJ].The place where the washermeo etreiched out their clithes to dry.

verse 19. Called to the king'] They wished him to come out, that they might getpossession of his person.

Shelma the scrifie] The king's secretary. Joah— the recorder.] The writer of the public annate. 'Verse 19. V^at eo^fidenee it Ihie] ran pnean no ma ha-biiivAon haxxdi. The words are excessively insulting. What little, foolish, or unavailing cause qf eonfdenee is it, in wnicA thou trustett? I translate thus; because 1 consider "the word pnoan ha-bitachon, as a diminutive, intended to express (he utmost contempt far Hezekiah's Ood.

Verso 21. Tfie staff of this bruised rted] Egrpt had already been greatly oruweef and broken, througnitiie wan carried on against it by the Assyrians.

Verse 22. IFhose high places and vihose atlars Hexekiah halh taken away] This was arlliilly malicious: many of the people sacrificed to Jehovah on the high pJaccM I Hezekiah had removed them, ver. 4, because they were incentives to idolatry. Rab-shakeh insinuatea th^

Sso doing, he had olTended Jehovah, deprived the peo^ their religious rights, and he could neither expect the blessing of God, nor the co-operation of the people.

Verse 23, Ixeill deliver thee two ihousand horsu] Aanther insidt. Were I to give tl^ee two thousoTid AaiyriUi horses, thou couldst not And nders for them. How dicil canst thou think that thou shalt be able to stand against even die moUsst (KtMon ^ his troops!^

24 How then wilt thou turn away the lace of one captain of die leaet of my maBter'e servants, and put thy trust on Egypt Tor chariots and for horsemen?

25 Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it 1 The Lord said to me. Go op ainiinst this land, and destroy it.

26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Srrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews* language in the ears of the peo-

27 But Rab-ehakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? AofA he not aent me to the men which sit on the waif, that they may eat their own dung, and drink " their own piss with you?

28 If Then Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, ■aying, tiear the word of the great king, the Idng of Assyria:

29 Thus saith the king, 'Let not Hezekioh deceive you: for he sludTnot be aUe to ddiver you out of his hand:

30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying. The Lord will surely deliver ua, and this city shall not be delivered unto the hand of the king of Assyria.

31 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, >> Make ' an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his 'cistern:

32 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, ' a land of corn and wine, a land ot bread and vineyards, a land of oil-olive —d of honey, that ye may live and not die: and

Verae 26. Am I now come up teithout Uu LordJ As Bab-Askeb saw that the Jews placed the utmoat ctmfideoce in God, he wished to persuade them that by Hezekisl^s oonducl Jehovah bad departed from them, and was baoonw ally to the kine of Asayria; and, therefore, they could not expect any help from that quarter.

Verae 26. Talk not with u» in the Jeu>^ language] Tbe object of this blasphemous caitif was, to stir up the people to sedt/ion, that the city and the king mignt be delivered into his hand.

Vane in. That Ihey may eat their own Am^) 7W flKiy may be duty apprued, if dieyhoM on Ekxekian'aaide, Jenualem dialf be most ■tnilly besieged, and diey be reduced to such a state ot Jamine as to oe obliged to eat their own ezcrementa.

Terse 28. Hear ths word qf the great king— iff Assyria] "niia was all intended to cause the people to revolt firom their allanance to their king.

Terse 32. Oniil lemumdtake you (tiMyl His mu well calculated to stir up a seditious spirit Te caimot be delivered t your destruction, if ye resist, is inevitable; Sennacherib will do with ynu, as ne does with all the nations he coomiera, lead them captive into another land: but, if you wm surrender, without farther trouble, he vUl transport jrou into m land as good as your own.

Terse 34. Wlure m th* gcde qf Bamatk') Sennacherib is greater than any of the gods of the nauons. The AaByriaiw have already overthrown the gods of Hamath, ArpoiL Hena, and Ivan: therefore, Jehovah shall be like one of tbem, and shall not be able to deliver Jerusalem out of the hand of my master.

The impudent blasphemy of this speech is without panilleL Hezduah treated it as be ou«it: it was not properly asainst him, but againM theXordt therefore he refers me matter to Jehovah himself who punishes diis blasphemy in the most signal manner.

Terse 3IS. Answer him not] The blasphemy is too hareboed; Jehotah is insulted, not you: let him avenge his own quarrel. See the succeeding chapter.

Terse 37. 7%en cams EUakim—and Subna—and Joah—lo Hezekiah with their clothe* rentj It was the custom of the Hebrews, whan they heard any blasphemy, torend thnr clothes, because Ibis waa the greatest of tnnma, as It immediately affected dw Majes^ of Ood: and

33 " Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at ail his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

34 ' Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharniim, Hena, and " Ivah 7 have they deliverea Samarift out of mine hand?

35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, 'that the Lord shoidd ddirar Jerusalem out of mine hand?

36 Bat the people held thetr peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying. Answer him not.

37 Then came Eliakim the son of HiUuah, which waa over the household, and Sbebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah ■ with their clothes rent, and ton him the words of Rab-shakeh.

AND » it came to pass when King «-»TOa Hezekiah heard it. that he rent ^*»>»- his clothes, and covered himself with — ■- sackcloth, and Went into the house of the Ltmn^

2 And he sent Eliaktm, which wcr* over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to ^ Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

3 And Uiey said unto him, Thus sajlh Hexekiah. This day ia a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and 'blasphemy: for the children are ewne to

it was right that a religious people shouM have m A* utmost almorrence every insultoffered to the object ml Aat religious worship. iMse diree ambassador* lay the natter before the Idng, as God's reprMentatlset he lays it before the prepAef, as God's mJnmsr/ and hslaysittofore Ood, as me neotrfe's Mediator.

Terse 2. To baiah the prophet] Hia taoe and itSch ence were, at this time, great in Israel; and it was well known that the word of the Lord was with him. Hen both the church and the state unite in fervent smdicatfga to^ and atiflitf dependteca upon, God: aai bafcoU b»« ther sueoeedr

Terse 3. TTie Mldrtn are tome ts As MrAJ Tba Jewish state is here represented under the embkn of • woman in travait, who boa been so long in ibe panga of parturition, that her strength is now entirely uAwistg^ and her delivenuice is hopeless without a muscle. Tte image is very fine, and highly appropriate.

A similar image is emploved by Homer, wbeo be t»> presents the agomes which Agamemwn suiSen from tm wound:

Better translated by MaepherMn i but in neither wsC " So long as from the gapin; wound gushed forth, in iis warmth, the blood: but when the wound became dry: when ceased the blood (o flow amain; sharp pains pervaae the strength of Atrides. Racking psjogs giiae through hi* frame; as when the Ilylhin, who preside over KrAs, tha daughters of while anned Jiinoi fierce deakn of Mttv patns, throw all Uiebr darte on hapless women, tfwt tia^ vail with child. Such pains pmade Ibe euengih «f Atrldea." i-

4 ' It may be the Lord thy Qod will bear all the words of Rab-shakeh, ■whom the king of AMyria his master hath eent to reproach the uviog God; and will ' reprove the words whioh thvLoRB thv Qod hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are ' had.

5 So the servaota of King Ue^ekiah came to

6 T ^And Ivaiah said onto them. Thus shall ye say toyour maKter. Thue sEiith the Lord, Be not ajrau of the words which tnou hast heard, with which the ' servants of the kiitg of Assyria have blasphemed me.

7 Behold. I will send ^ a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumoor, and sfaaU return to his own land: and I will cause him to 6H 1^ the sword in his own land.

8 7 So Rab-sh^eh rebitned, and found the Kine af Aseyria warring against Libnah: for he faaaheard tnat he was departed ■ from Lachish.

9 And " when he heard say of TirhaJcab king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight andnst mee: he aent meMctager* agtiin unto Hezekiah, saying,

10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah kine of Jadah, saying, Let not thy God, "in whomutou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into tha hand of the Idog of Assyria.

1 1 Behold, thou bast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying tbera utt«4y: and shalt thou be d«ivered?

13 * Have the gods of Uie nations deUrered them which my fathers httve destroyed; lu Ckizan, and Haran, and Rezepb, and the children of f Eden which were in ThelHsar?

13 'Where u the kin<; of Hamath, and the king of Aro^, and the king of the ^7 of Se|^- arvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?

14 ^ ■ And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengern, and read it: aod Hezekiah went up into the house of the LoBi>, sad spread it before theLoBD.

13 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, ■ad flMtid, O Loan God of Israel, * which dwellest between the eherubim, ■ then art the God, even Choa alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; fhou hast made heafen and earth.

Venel TVu rmnani that an l^] Tbui^dteJnM: the i«o tribea having been «lnady cartisd away cajjtiv* by the kiog of Aa^Frio.

Verae 7. Behold I wlU tend a blast — and ha thaU htar ■ a rtotwurlThe rwnww wmi, thu Tirbakah hail bivadad AssvrM. The bla*i wa^ that which ilevr one hundred una eighty-_fiv» thtnuanaol them in one night.

C^MiM him to Jolt by the word] Alludiog to bia deaih by diebwMli of bia two aon^ at Nineveh. Se« v«r. 35—37.

Vera* 8. JUbnah—LaAMl Thc« two pkcea were not vMT diataat from ««ch other; they were in die moun.- tsins or Jiidab, aouthward of JeniMlem.

Terae 10. I^ei not thy God, in -whom Aou tnutett\ Thia letter oi nearly the aame with the apeech delivered 1^ Babibakeh. See chap, xviii. 29.

Verae 14. Spread it be/ore Iht Lord] live temple waa eoosadwod to W Owf* dwaUHg-plaet / aod that whatever waa Ifaare, wm pseuUarly uiuer hia eye. Hezekiah ■mad ihfl letter befon the Lord, aa bs wiabe^bim tp read tte blaapbeiniee apoken againat htm.

V«rae IS. TAou art tha God. dbc] Tiam art ncfi only a«d (rf lame], but Ciod also of Aaayria, and of all the nsr ^nm at the world.

V«Mm«21. Tluvir^gtiuOudaugkltrof Zioii,halKd«$' mimtd (jUi^ and /augnad MS lo scorn f Inadaughttrqf JtryMt49a*«A ahaim htr htad at tkaa.} "So truly eflfMnoptiUe is thy wwe^ and empty thy boaau, ami ihe Mtf aoqua m JuoMuen, tnww the guidanea of J«ho-

17 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and tbeir lands,

18 And have ' cast their gods into the fire; they were no gods, but * the work of men's luuide, wood aod stmie: therefore they lutve destroyed

19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beeeedi thee, save thou ns out of tus hand, 'that all -the kingdoms of the earth may know that diou «H the LoRi> God, even thou only.

20 If Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, ThnssahhtheLoRDGodoflemet, *> Thiu which thou hast prayed tomeagahwt Sennacherib kinA of Assyria * I have hearcL

31 This is the word that the Loan hath spoken cotuerniDgbim; The virgin, ''thedawhter of Zion, bath doBpised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter trif Jerusalem *hath shaken hn- head at thee.

22 Whom hast thou reproached and blaaphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted tkff voice, and lined up thine eyes on high 1 emn^ aninst the ' Holy One of Israd.

23 tBy^thvmeBsengerathoahaatreproaehed the Lord, and hast saiOt < Wkh the multitude my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the i^es of Lebanon, and will cufe down k the tall cedhr trees thcro^ and the choioa fir trees thereof: and I will enter mto tiie lodgings of his borders, and into i the forest of his CarmeL

24 I have oiggad and drunk strange waters, and with the sole my feet have I dried iqt aU die rivers <^ " besieged places.

25 ' Hast thou not heard long ago hov> • I have done it, and of ancient times tciat I have formed it? now have I brought it to pase, that 'thoa shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities tnfo ruinous heaps.

26 Therefore their inhabitants were 'of small power, they were dismayed and confoundeds they were aa the grass of the field, and at the green herb, as ■ me grass on the house-tope, and aa com blasted belore it be grown up.

27 But ( I know thy " abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

38 Because thyrageagaiastme.aDdthytumuIt is come up into mine ears, theretbre *I wiH put myhook in thy nosci and my bridle in thy lips, and I will tarn thee back * by the way by which thou earnest.

vah, diall be amply aufficient to diaoomfit all thy f[)roe% and cauae thee lo return with shaine (o thy own oountiy, where the boat dtupraceful deuh awaita thee."

When Biahop IVarburtan had publiihed bia DoetriiM of Grace, and chooe to hll foul on aome of the moat reH-

S'ouB people of the land, a young woman of the dty of loiiccatcr ejipoacd hia graeeltat ayalem in a pamphlet to which ahe atued the above worda aa a motto I

Verae 23. The taU cedar treat— Ott dutiet flr frMtl Protiably meaning the princta and moUu of the eoontiyi. '

The foTtat of hia Comiell Better in lbs menioi— the foreat and hta JruUful Jletd.

Veree 24. I have digged and drunk alrangt WittrJ\ I have conquered alratige amntrtu, in which I have digged wella for my army: or, I have gained the wealth o( atrange countriea.

Wtlh lhaaoU <ifmy ftet] BIy tr^fat^t^y bav« beea ss Dumeraaa, diet tbey alone have been aufficient to drink iq the rivers of the piaceo 1 have beaieoed.

Verae 3S. HaJ thou not Aaanf] Here JAcvall apeeksi and i^owa thia boeating king that what ha had done, w<s done bv the divina appoinlmant; and that of hia owa counae) and might he omild have done nothing. It wasbecauae God had appoiMed than to this civil oeatnietiOD that be bad overoooie them i and itwaanotthnw^Utaiil^t for God had nsde fMr teAaKtotIa nf tmatt pomr, so that ha onlv got tfa»netory ov«v men rniom Ooa had MA* ^untfa/, diamn]ftltv^ amrs^arf, vsr. SC.

99 And thk shall be nga ante thee. Ye •hall eat this year each thingi as grow of them- ■elves, and in the second year that which epringeth- of the saine; and m the third year sow ye, and reap, and idant TineyardB, aad eat the fnute

30 ' And ■ the remnant is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet aiirain take root downward^and bear fruit upward.

31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and ' they that escape out of mount Zion: ^the zeal of the Lean of aosta shall do this.

3Z TherefcH-e thus saith the Lord concernii^ the lung of Assyria, He shaU not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with a shield, nor cast a bank acainst it.

33 % the way that he came, oy the same ahidl he return, and shall not conn into this city, •aith the Loan.

34 For * I will defbnd this city, to save it for mine own sake, and ' for my servant David's sake.

35 7 And *it cameto pass that night, that the ancrel of the Lord went out, and smote is the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they v>ere all dead corpses.

36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed.

Tem2S. J aUl jnit my hook in thy no»e\ Thia seena to be sn sllusioa to the method of guuUnf^ a tn^Walo; he hsssBOrtcrf rinc putiotohia now, to wbidiaeoraor bridle fs sOacbed, W wmcfa ho can be turned to the ri^U, to th« f^otrniiMafrmA asoordiogtO'ibe plesaureof Aisdri

Vone29. T^wahallbeaw^untofAMj ToHasekiahi for to him tliii part of th« addren a made.

To AdU teU IhU ytar] Secnachenb had ravaged the.ooontry, and asMi-f fnMwaa now over, yet God diows them diat he wwild to blen the land, that what ^ould groic qf ttedf ttol year would be quits sufficient to supply the inhaliitaiiti, and prevent all jamint; and though the teamd yasr vm the tabbatieal real or Jubilee Jbr the land, in which it wM unlawfal to plough or bow; yet even then the land, by an e^Mcial Uentng of Ood, ihoald bring forth s nfficietKy for it» tnliabitaitu; and in the tldrd year they dwuld BOW and plant, Ac and have idModanc^ dkc Now Ihia wti u be a to Hezaldah, that hia deliver- SDOS had Dot been etifocMd by natural or eaeual meani: for as, witbouta miracU^ the ravaged and uncultivated bod oould not yield food for iUtnhabianisi so not vithont »»- ntttlout tnlsrincooe could the AseyrisD smy bs cot off, asdlirael aaved.

Terse 30. Uu retimant-~AaU yei again take not] At ysur corn riudl ti^ root in the amL and bring forth, and sbundsotlymuttMyitaelt ■oahaJlthe Jewiahpeqde: the "pofulation ahall be greatly increased, and the doKdsliaDs oeesiioned by the sword soon be forgotten.

Terse 31. Out llf Joruudem thaU go far^ a Koni] Dm Jewe almU be to nuiltiplted as not only to fill fyrtuaixm, hut all the adjacent country.

JMd VUy Ait mcape out qf mount Zim) Some think that ihii rnere to the going forth of the apottUe to die Gciitns wtrid, aikl coin<Hting the nstioDs by dM presduiie of the Gospel.

rofs that Jeruealem ahall not be token by the Arayrians. Be ehalt not come into thtM eUy. 2. ae ahall not be sUe to get so new as to thoot an arrow into U. 3. Re riMkll not bs able to bring an amy befcve it. 4. Nor shall be be able to raise any redoubt or mound against it. S. Not aotevenan AssjmansAMUriiaUlieseeDin tbecoun-

%t not even a foraging party dtall oome near the ei^. 'siae^ BytktiMythatieeam*} Though hie army ■hall not return, yi he ahall return to Assyna: for, becnse of his Uaqmay, ha is reserved for s more ignominious death.

Terse 35. 71kalnjg&l]l%e very night alter the blonbeinbus message hso bsan sen^ sad uiU comfortable prophecy d^vered.

The angel qf the Loan went <nU] I believe this angel or mMnengir qf the Lord was simply a euffbcating or fHUatiiu wmo; by which the Anyrian army was destroyed, as in a moment, without notM^ an^fueUm, at any i»arnfng. See the note, 1 Kings chsp. xx. ver. 3a Tims wss the pfonis^ TO. 7, fottUKT/ww Mid s BLW ivon

37 And h cametopaas, oihewBiWorAnipBf in the house of Nisroch his god, that i Adram* melech and Sharezer *■ his sons ■ smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the laad oT * Armenia. And i fiTsar-haddon im won rcifMed in his stead.

IN "those days was Hezekiah sick Vc:ia unto death. And the prophet Isaiah a ivl* the son of Amoz came to him, aad said^sTS unto hhn, Thus laith the Lobd, ■ SetI==J£- thine home m order; for thoa shalt die, and mt live.

2 Then be turned bis face to thtt wall, and prayed unto the Lohd, saymg,

3 I beseech thee, O Lobd, 'remembear now how I have f walked before thee in truth, and vtkh a peri^ h^L, apA have done tAat «tsdk is goocfin thy sight. And Hesekiah wept sf - -

him; for he had beard the rumour, that his tervilones were invaded; aad oa his way lo save his em^n, in ooo night, the whole of his amy was destrovxii widtoui soy one even seeing who had hurt than, litis is called sa angd or meetenger the Lord; that im, mfuAmg i»- medialely tent by him to execute hiajudgitneBla.

When they aroee ear^] TtM is, Sennacherih, and probably a feu> auoeiatee, who were preaerved as wawwiss and relatert oi this roost dire dUatter. Bsh J>skih, as doiibt, perished with the rest of the army.

Terse 39. Nioroth hie god] We know Dotfung ef deinr; he is nowhere else meotiaaed.

SmeU Um with the wwordl The rabbins amy, that his ■ona had learned that ba intended to Mcrifioe tmaa is dss god; and that they could only wevent this by skyiog Am.

The Mine writers add, diat he consulted hia wise mtm how it was that such miracles sbsuld be wrought for laiaelites 1 who told him that it was because of ibe lasrit (^Abiabam, who bad ofiered hia only eon lo God; bs then said, I will offer to him mv two aona; wbicfa when Aey heard, tbeyroseupandslswlura. WhaafcraWas rsssM untie a knot, nefeela neither scruple nor diffienhv (oeMiL

Terse I. Setthtmthouoelu order] It appears tea lbs text, that he wss smitten with sudi s Aaorder ss SMt terminate in desA, widioat the nirseoloas taaerpaaiiaB of Ood; andheisnow commanded to •«< Ms Aostasmanlcr, or to giei iAarge concerning hi» koaee; to diqwae of Us affairs; or, in our woids^ to make hi* willj bseasss his death was at hand.

'*'nuB sickness," ans, JanAL " look pises Arw days before the defeat of Sennseherib." Iwit it mnat bm been before this defeat, is evident: HewfciA reigned twenty-nine yean, chap, xviii. 2. Hehad rsigne^/Wr*Na years when the war with Sennacherib began, dmp. xvft 13. and he reigned jMem yean after this sicknf, ctwyi xx. 6; therefore, 14+15 = 29, the tenn of his reign. Nodusg can be clearer than this: that Resekiah had rvigned^bv <c«ii years before this thne: and that hedid Itva tbs j^fcs* Tears here promised. Hat Heaekish's sjekness hspfeasl befinre the aestruetion of SenasebsrVs amj is ssshW by the text itself: see verse 6.

Terse 3. Ibeaeedtlhoe, OLoso] HezdiabkaevAs^ although the words of Isaiah were delivered to bim ■ sa abtobae form, yet (bey were to be conditionally mdsrstood; else be could not have pf^ed to God to levcfse a purpose which he knew to be irrevocable. Bvea rhiipw sage ia a key to many pro^eeies^ and divine ikialsiaiiwsi •ee chap, zviii. of Jeremiah.

Hezekiah pleads his ufvi^tneas and holr eondoet Is las own behalf. Was it impioue to do so? No t but k t»rtainly did not savour much either olhtmiKty, or of a dtas ssBse o^Ats ami weakneet. Ifbe bad aptfnabssirC^s ntots Itsndil-Ood. IfbsdUgsodiadnrbs^wks