Exposition of the Whole Bible

like of idolatry, and @ defire to have true religion reftored. The fews fay *, that this good thing ~ in him was, that he was the means of removing nat attempt to draw his people into it and if this the watch or guards that were placed in the way to hinder the J/raelites from going up to the feaits immediately, as foon as on the throne,.he fhoulc deftroy his whole family,,as he. did, ch. XV. 29. but what? even mows fhall it be that day? yes;

even at that very time, and which will be ve:

this was faid at the latter end of Yeroboam’s ee and his fon and fucceffor reigned but-two years ere this prophecy was accomplithed. The Yargum is, ‘ who fhall cut off the houfe of Fereboam, him that is living to-day, and fhall be from hence- — forward,” of) ARE y. 15. And the Lord foall fmite Ifrael ped or by the ftream; and may fignify the fluétuating, and uncertain condition J/rael fhould be in in -future reigns, through inteitine wars, and the tranflation of the kingdom into different families 5 fo that there was continually difquietude and uneafinefs, and no fettled peace and tranquility; and be their fathers; which was’ brought about, firft by ~ Tiglath Pilefer, and then by Shalmanefer, kings i

Ajyria, that carried them captives from hence > and foail featter them beyond the rivers the river Euphrates, as the Targum or, as others, the rive Gozan, 2 Kings xvii. 6. becaufe they have ma their groves, provoking the Lord to anger 5 in whi groves they placed. idols, and worlhipped them, — which was highly provoking to the Lord, and the caufe of their difperfion. er ae ¥.16. And he foail give Ifrael up, &c.] Into the hands of their enemies: decaufe of the fins of

Feroboam who did fin, and who made ifrael to fing

by his devices and ftratagems, by his example and ediéts, and by the methods he took to prevent Tfrael from. worthipping in the manner and place y¥.17. And Feroboam’s wife arofe, PRA Es &c.] Upon this fpeech of the prophet’s to her: and came to Tirzab, where feroboam now. had his court, and where their fon now was; it was\a royal city in the time of the Canaanites, and is — commonly placed in the tribe of Mawajffeb, and was a very pleafant one, as its name fignifies, to which there is an allufion, Cané. vi. 4. fee the note on Fofp, xii. 24. and when fhe came to the threfbold. of the. door, ihe child died, juft as fhe was about to: ftep, over the threfhold of the royal palace, which féems to have been at the entering of. the city of, Tirzab, y. 12. ih | Wet8. And they buried him, &c.] Anan Boe nourable. manner, fuitable to his rank and. pedir gree: ad all Ijrael mourned for ~bim, according £9 word of the Lord, which he {pake by the,band his fervaut Abijah the prophety ¥ ‘

¥.19. And the reft of the aéis of.

rael, not in that canonical book of fcripture, fo —

Chixiviyizo—29o. Lo KINGS: 68g called, for in that there is very little account of the reign of Fercdoam but in the annals and diaries of the kings of //rael, written’ by perfons appointed for that purpofe, and out of which ig is generally thought that infpired writers, by divine direction, took what was. thought proper to be tranfmitted to future times, So with the Romans, from their very beginning, to the times of Mutius, all the events of every year were committed to writing by the order of the Pontifex Maximus, and - lay open to be read by the people in common; and thefe, as Tully" {ays, were what are called annals. ¥. 20. And the days which Feroboam reigned were 22 years, &c.| So that he out-lived Reboboam five years, and lived to the fecond year of the reign of his grandion A/a: and be flept with bis fathers; gor died as they did: and Nadab his fon reigned in bis fiead; who perhaps was younger than Adijab, whote ficknefs and death are before related. ¥. 21. Aud Rebobeam the fon of Solomcn reigned in Fudab, 8cc.] Over the two tribes of Fudab and Benjamin, when Ferebcam reigned over the other tén: Reboboam was 41 years old when be began to reign, being born one year before his father Solomon began to reign, and fo it might have been expected he would have begun his reign more wifely than he did: and be reigned 17 years in Ferufalem; not half fo long as his father and grandfather, being neither fo wife nor fo good a prince as either of them: she city which the Lord did chufe out of all the tribes of Ifrael, to put his name there; to havea temple built for him, and his worfhip carried on in ic; which was an ageravation of the fin of Rehoboam, that he fhould reign in fuch a place, and yet be guilty of the crimes he was; the three firtt years he reigned well, but afterwards forfook the law of the Lord, 2 Chron. xi. 17. and xii, 1. and bis mother’s name was Naamab an Ammonitefs, and which is obferved again, y. 31.,fhe being the in- Rrument of drawing him into idolatry, which it is very probable fhe practifed in the days of Solomon, Chy xh. 9: 2 ¥.22. And Fidab did evil in the fight of the Lord, &c.} At the end of three years, from the beginning of the reign of Rehoboam: and they provoked him to jealoufy with their fins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done; that is, with their idolatries; for they were the fins which moved the Lord to jealoufy, and provoked the eyes of his glory; in which they had outdone not the ten tribes, but their fathers, in the times of Mo/es, Fofoua, and the judges, and of their kings before their feparation, Saul, David, and Solomon: ¥. 23. For they alfo built them high places, 8c.) Which, though allowed of, or at leaft connived at, before the temple was built, and when the tabernacle was unfixed, yet afterwards unlawful; and the tribe of Fudab could have no excufe for them, who had the temple in their tribe: and images; contrary to the exprefs command of God, Exod. Xx. 4. and groves on every high bill, and under every green tree; that is, fet up idols, and temples for idols, ‘amidit groves of trees, and under all green trees; as was the cuftom of the heathens, who facrificed on the heights of hills and tops of moun- ‘tains, as was particularly the cuftom of the Perfraus, as both Herodotus ™ and Xenophon" relate;

y. 29. Now the ref of the alts of Reboboam, and a// that be did, &c.] In the courfe of his reign, that was memorable: are they not written in the - book of the chronicles of the kings of fudab? who aa and with the Gere, a people in Thrace, was a mountain they reckoned facred °..

¥. 24. And there were alfo Jodomites in the land, &c.} Such as’ were addiG@ed to unnatural! lufts between men and men, which the men of Sedow were guilty of, from: whence they had their name: Jarchi interprets the word adultery, and. fome verfions render it whore-mongers; and filthy actions of this nature, both by men and women, ufually attended idolatrous practices among the heathens; in their temples and groves fach wickednefles were privately. perpetrated: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord caft out before the children of Ifrael; the Canaanites, of whofe uncleannefies, incetts, and beftialities fee Lev. xviii. are ¥. 25. And it.came to pafs in the fifth year of king Reboboam, &c.] Two years after he and his people fell into the aboye wicked practices: that Sifoak king of Egypt came up againft Ferufalem; of whom fee xi. 40. this was fuffered as a chaftifement from the Lord, for their abominations... ¥. 26. dnd he took away the treafures of the boufe of the Lord, &c.| Which perhaps Fereboam had informed him of, and for the fake of which he came, as well as to make a diverfion in favour of Feroboam, who had contracted an intimacy with him when in. Egypt; and who might have no regard for Rehoboam, who was not a fon of Pharaob’s daughter, and fo no relation to him: thefe were the treafures which David had left to his fon Solomon, and had dedicated for the temple, even gold, filver, and veflels, which he put among the treafures of the houfe of the Lord, and perhaps added to them, ch. vil. 51. and the treafures of the king’s boufe; the riches, gold, filver, and jewels, whatever Of worth and value he had in his chefts and cabinets: be even took away all; that he could find and come at; for that there were fome left is plain from ch. xv. 18. and he took away all the foields of gold which Solomon had made; and which were put in the houfe of the foreft of Lebanon, ch. x. 16, 17. ¥.27. And king Rekoboam made in their flead brazen fhields, &c.] For the king of Egypt had fo, {tripped him of his gold, that he was not able to. replace golden ones: and committed them into the hands of the chief of the guard; or runners”, that went before the king, or attended him as his lifeguard when he went abroad: which kept the door of the king’s boufé, which kept guard night and day in their turns. ¥. 28. Andit was fo, when the king went into the houfe of the Lord, &c.\) The temple; for though he had fallen into idolatry, he had not wholly forfaken the worfhip of God in the temple, and perhaps by the late humbling providence he might be ftirred up to attend there more frequently: that the guard bare them; before him, partly for pomp and grandeur; and partly to keep in awe fuch as were inclined to mutiny and fedition: and brought them back into the guard-chamber; when the king returned, the place where the guard lodged and flept by turns, annalifts or -hiftoriographers to write for them, as the kings of J/rael had, ¥. 19. in the writing of which, efpecially with refpect to genealogies, Shem- ‘aiab the prophet, and Jddo the feer were concerned, in his fon’s time, yet there might be’ fkirmithes and) bickerings on the borders of their countries, + y¥. 31. And Reboboam flept with bis fathers, at was buried with bis fathers in the city of David, Bec.

2 Chron. xii. 15. #; Where David and Solomon were buried, ch. it, 1 y¥. 30. And there was war between Reboboam and Feroboam all their days.) For though Reboboam Ammonite did not enter into an offenfive war, and attack the children of J/rael, being diffuaded from it by Séemaiah the prophet in the name of the Lord, yet he might maintain a defenfive war; and though there were no pitched battles between them as afterwards, and xi. 43. and bis mother’s name was Naam s; which is repeated, that. it mig obferved as what was the leading ftep to his i latry, and the means of his continuing im its dbijam his fon reigned in his fiead, of whom is a further account-in the following chapter. say has oleae

CH AUPE Ry, -Uhoae abot ae: A ot: cos adore: r N this chapter we have a fhort hiftory of theja fucceffion of David's pofterity on the throne of reign of <Abijam, y. 1—8..and of A/a, ¥.|Fudab. ee g—24. both kings of Yudab; tand of the reigns of “‘Nadab the fon of Feroboam, and of Baafba, who deftroyed his family, both kings of J/rae/, y¥. y..5. Becaufe David did that which, the eyes of the Lord, &c.| With refpeé thip: and turned not ofide from any thing tb

25—34. commanded him all che days of bis life, efpecially in, matters of religion, nor even. in his moral walk,.

¥. 1. Now in the 18th year of king Fercboam Jon of Nebat, reigned Abijam over Fudab.| That is, began to reign; and by this it appears that Rehoboam was in the 18th year of his reign when died, for he and_Yerodoam began their reign at theland converfation, deliberately, ftudioufly, and, with defign: fave only in the matter, of Uriah the Hittite; the killing of him, and other fins which. hejled on to it, and were in.connection with it; Abar-; the!4ivel thinks, becaufe the affair of Bath/heba is not, fame time. mentioned, that was not reckoned to David as ary y.2. Three years reigned be in Ferufalem, &c.]} And three only; his reign was fhort, and indeed not three full years, only one whole year and part of two others; for 4/a his fon began to reign in the 20th of Feroboam, y¥. 9. fo that he reigned part of his 18th, his whole:gth, and part of his 2oth: and bis mother’s name was. Maachab, the daughter of Abifbalom, called Abfalom, 2 Chron. xi. 20, 21. generally fuppofed by the Hews to be felom the fon of David, and which may feem not improbable, fince his other two wives were of his father’s family, 2 Chron. xi. 18. Fofepbus fays fhe was the daughter of Tamar the daughter of Abjfalom, and fo his grandaughter; and which may account for her being called Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, 2 Chron. xiii. 2. fince the difference between Maachah and Michaiah is not very great; and Uriel might be the name of Tamar’s hufband; though it is moft likely that both father and daughter had two names; fhe feems to be mentioned here, to obferve that fhe was the and means of her fon’s difagreeable walk, as follows, fin; but no doubt it was, and is included here. —_.

y. 6. And there was war between Reboboam and, Fereboam all the days of his life.] Not the days of; Reboboam, though that was true, and is oblerved,” ch, xiv. 30. but all the days of Abyjam, before he~ came to the throne, and in which, when a young man, he was concerned, and which ftill continued between him and Fercboam; though fome think he» d-lis called by his father’s name, as Rehoboam is called David, ch. xii. 16. by be Site y¥. 7. Now the reft of the atts of Abijam, and all that be did, are they not written in the book of the cbronicles of the kings of. fudab? 8c.) Which feem to be written by Jddo the prophet, fee 2 Chron. xiii. 22. and there was war between Abijam and Ferodoam; and a famous pitched battle between them we read of in 2 Chrou. xiii. 3.17, 9, y.8. And Abijam flept with his fathers, 8c.) That is, died as they did» and they buried bim in the city of David; in the fepulchre of his royal an-. caufelceftors, David, Solomon, and Reboboams, and Afahis fon reigned in bis fread; who perhaps was the el-

¥. 3. And he walked in all the fins of his father, which he had done before him, &c.| Having fuch|J bad examples as both parents to copy after; it chiefly refpects idolatrous praétices, fee ch. xiv. 23. and his beart was not perfell with the Lord bis God; he did profefs the true God, and worfhipped him, but not wholly, and only, and fincerely; he worfhipped other Gods befides him: and fo his heart was not as the beart of David bis father; who was a fole and fincere worfhipper of God, never departed from him and his fervice. — y.4. Neverthelefs, for David's fake did the Lord his God give bim a lamp in Ferufalem, &c.] A| kingdom there, as the Targum, fplendid and glorious, to be continued in his pofterity: to fet up bis fon after him, in it: and to ehablifh Ferufalem, continue that in which the temple was, for the fake of which, and the worfhip of God in it, there yr..9.. And in the 20th year of Feroboam king of rael, reigned Afa over Fudab.| How this is to! be accounted for fee the note on ¥.2.. - y. 10. And 41 years reigned he in Ferufalem, &ey Being a good king, had the bleffing of a long reign, and reached, and even exceeded the yes the reigns of David and Solomon: and bis me x name was Maachab, the daughter of Abifoal a is the name of his grandmother, fee ¥. called his mother, not becaufe fhe br forth, but becaufe fhe brought him is obferved to his commendation, th was acatta by an idolatrous woman, corrupted by her as his father was.

y. 11. And Afa did that which toleyes of the Lord, as did David bi perfonal walk and converfation, in was!of the nation, and epecially in the

rites of the idol next mentioned, and the worfhip- jin the Yewi/>: chronology “, and

God, and of -religion, he and example to copy after.) ', 12. And he. took avoay the fodomites out of the land, &c.] | Which werein the times of Reboboam, ch. xiv. 24. and continued in his father’s reign’; thofe he:took away, either by driving them out of the land, or»by: putting them ‘to death according to theylaw of God, Lev.xx. 4 3:°even'as manyot them as he had knowledgeof, for fome remained, fee che xxii4.6. and removed all theiidols that bis fathers had made; or fuffered to be made; as: Salomon, Reboboam, and. Abijam, {ee ch. ‘xi, 7. and xiv.23. and xv. 3. i. ioe ¥. 13. And alfo Maachab his mother, even ber be removed from being queen, &c.} From:the kingdom, asthe Targum; from having any fhare in the government; «as the might have had during’ his minority, his‘mother being dead, as’ fome ‘conjecture; and not only took away her power and authority, butvall the enfigns of it, and perhaps forbid her the court: or he removed her from: the queen, his own wife, that fhe might not be corrupted by her; or rather, it was from. prefiding:over the ping of it: because fhe bad made an idol in.a grove: which had its name from horror and trembling; either becaufe inwas. of a terrible afpect, or injeéted time thé war’ began between them. Baajfha did no: begin his reign until the third year of A/a, y. 23. and in the firft ten years of 4/a’s reign the land was quiet and free from war, 2 Chron, xiv..1. of which there mufb be feven in the reign of Baba, who is here made mention of out of courfe, for Nedab reigned before him, y. 25, 26, 27. the reafon of which Abarbinel thinks’is, that the hiftorian having given am account of the good deeds of 4/a,. relates his failings before he proceeds to the other part of his hiftory. ¥.'17.And Baafba king of Ifrael went up againft Fudab, &c.} Which, in’ 2 Chron. xvi. yp. is faid to-be in the 36th year of A/a’s reign, or rather of his kingdom; for it can:never mean the year of his reign; -for Baafba was dead many years before that, fince‘his.reign began in the third of 4/a, and he reigned: but) twenty-four years, and therefore mutt die in the 27th of 4/2; burit is to be underftood of the. kingdom of Fudab, when it was divided from J/raek, from. that, time to this were 36 years, 17 under Reboboam, 2 under Abijam, fo that this year muft be the 16th of 4/23 thus itis calculated which is followed by many‘of the beft of our-chronologers: and built Ramab.sca city in the tribe of Benjamin, Fofh: xviii.

‘horror into its. worfhippers, ‘or brought calamities and judgments upon them: according to fome Fewi/h writers", it was'a Priapus, of an' obfcene figure; and fo. others:*, who fuppofe’' fhe _ prefided over.the-facred rites of this impure*deity, the dame with 2aal-peor; and>the heathens\uféd to terrible bil or ‘fortified: that be might not fuffer any to go out or come in to Afa king of Fudeb; that his people might not go to and from Feru/alem, ‘and ‘worfhip at the temple theres: this garrifon Jying on the borders of both kingdoms, he thought hereby to’ cut ‘off all ‘communication between them.

place Priapus:in their gardens, to fright away birds, feeithe note on Yer. xlix. 16. others take it to be Pan, from whence the word Panic, ufed for any great fright: and Afa deftroyed her idol, and burat it by the brook Kidron; and caft the afhes of ‘it into it, that none might have any profit by it, the. gold and filver on it, and in indignation to it, fee Lod. XXXII. 20. ¥. 14. But.the bigh places were not removed, &c.] That is, fuch as had been ufed for the worfhip of God, before the temple was built, which yet now fhould have been removed, fince facrifice was now only to be offered there; but he might think they were ftill lawful, or the’ people had fuch an opinion of them, that it was) difficult and dangerous to attempt to remove them; otherwife high places for idolatry were removed by him, 2 Chron. xiv. 3. 5. neverthelé[s, Afa his heart was perfec? all his days; he was fincere in. the worfhip of God, and did every thing to the beft of his knowledge and capacity for reftoring true religion, and deftroying idolatry. y¥. 15. And he brought in the things which bis father had dedicated, &c.| ‘The fpoils he had taken in war from Yeroboam, and which he had devoted to religious ufes, but lived not to perform his vows, which his fon now did for him; fo that it feems, notwithftanding the fins he fell into, he had fome regard to God and his worfhip, fee 2 Chron. xiii. 19. and the things which himfelf had dedicated; out of the fpoils taken from the Evhiopians, 2 Chron. xiv. 13, 14. thefe he brought into the i. of the Lord, filver and gold, and vefféls; of various forts. x. 16. And there was war between Afa and Baa- _fha king of Ijrael all their days.| © That is, as long as they lived together; for Baa/ba died many years before A/a, and this muft be reckoned from the y¥. 18. Then Afa took all the filver and the gold that were /eft in the treafures of the boufe of the Lordy and the treasures of the king’s houfe, &c.| What was left untaken away by Shifhbek king of Egypt, ch. xiv..26. or what he had put there dedicated by his father‘and himfelf, ¥.15. and be they either, they were not ta be taken,: efpecially the treafures of the houfe of the Lord,’ and put to prophane ufe, and particularly to fuch bad purpofes as thefe were: and delivered them into the hands of his fervants; to be difpofed of as next directed: and king Afa fent them to Benkadad the fon of Tabrimon, the fon of Hezion king of Syria, that dwelt at Damafcus y according to fome chronologers “, Hezion; the grandfather of this. Bexbadad, is the fame with Rezonz the firft king of Dama/cus, ch. xi. 23, 24. who was fucceded by Labrimon, and he by Benhadad: faying; as follows.

y. 19. There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father, 8c.) For though Hezion, if he is the fame with Rezoz, was an adveffary to J/rael in the days of Solomon, ch. Xi. 25. yet it feems his fon was not, ‘but was a confederate with the kings of Z/raeland Fudab: bebold, F have fent unto thee a prefent of filver and gold; taken out of the treafury of the temple and his own treafury: come and break thy league with Baafba king of Ifrael, that be may depart from me; it was finful in him to take the money out of the temple, to which it was dedicated; it was more fo to make ufe of it, to bribe am heathen to break his covenant and alliance with another, in order to ferve him; in which he betrayed great diftruft of the Lord, and of his power to help him; which was the more aggravated, when he had had fuch a.wonderful appearance of God for him againft the Evhiopians, fee 2 Chron. xvi. 7, 8..

ll; ey I KINGS: Chi xv.v¥. 20-340) &c.}). Committed idolatry, than which nothing iQ, - ‘a greater evil inthis fight: and walked in theway, of his father, and in bis fin wherewith be e W- |

}. 20. So Benhadad bearkened unto king Ala, and fent the captains of the hofts, which be bad, againf the cities of Ifrael, &c.] He broke off his alliance with the king of J/rae/; and as he had a ftandirg army, with proper officers, he fent them directly to take the cities of Jirael: and be Jmote ion, and Dan, and | Abel-beth-maachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the’ land of Napbtali; places which lay on the northern.

part of J/rael, the neareft to Syria. jon fome place in the tribe of Nephtali, others in Afker; it feems to be on the extreme border of the land northward, as Dan alfo was; hence the phrafe from Dan to Beerfheba, i.e. from north to fouth. Abelbeth-maachab is the fame with dbel-maim, 2 Chron. xvi. 4. which perhaps is the fame with that Abela, placed by Yerom * between Damafcus and Paneas, {uppoled to be the Eahydra of Pliny’. Cinnerath is the fame with Genefaret, a fruitful country in Galilee, from which is a fea or lake of that name, mentioned in the New Teftament, and was in the tribe of Naphbtali, the land of which was feized upon at this time.

¥. 21. And it caine to pals, when Baafba beard thereof, €9¢.] What was doing in the. northern part of his kingdom: that be left of building of Ramab; which was the thing defigned to be anfwered by this diverfion: azd dwelt in Tirzab; in the tribe of Manaffeb, nearer at hand, to- obferve and ftop the motions of the Syrian king.

¥. 22. Then king Afa made a proclamation throughout all Fudab, &c.}] Summoned men of all forts, ranks, and degrees: (mone was exempted;) the JYews* fay, not fo much as a new-married man, whom the law excufed from war the firft year, nor the difciples of the wife mén: and they took away the ftones of Ramab, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baafha bad builded; or fortified the place; thefe the men of Fudab, whom A/a fummoned, rael to. fin; in making and worthipping of golden” calves. ae y¥.27. And Baafa the fon of Abijah, of the boufe of Ijackar, &c.} A man of that tribe's, but who he was, or his father, is no where elfe faid, very pro-— him, laid a fcheme to take away his life, and feize» the kingdom: and Baafha {mote him at Gibbethon, a city.in the tribe of Dau, Fob. xix. 44. which belongeth zo rhe Philiflines; it was a city given to.

from it by Yeroboam, the Pkiliftines feized on it, or had heretofore made a conqueft of it; and Nadab was defirous of getting it out of their hands, and therefore befieged it, as follows: for Nadab and all Ifrael laid fege to Gibbethon; and whilft he was befieging it, Baa/oa took the opportunity to flay him, where his carcafe lay expofed to dogs or fowls of the air, and had no burial, as 4bijab predicted, ch. xiv. 11,13. > ¥.28. Even in the third year of Afa king of Fudab, did Baafha flay him, and reignéd in bis flead.

W hich feems to be his only or chief view in flay-— ing him, to get poffeffion of his kingdom. = ¥.29. And it came to pals when he reignéd, that be mote all the houfe of Feroboam, &c.|_ That he might have no rival, or any that could pretend. any title tothe crown: he /eft not feroboam any that breathed, until he had deftroyed bim, according to the laying of the Lord, which he fpake by bis fervant

Abyab the Shilonite; not that his intention in de- — ftroying Feroboam’s family was to fulfil that prophecy, but fo it was eventually; fee ch. xiv. 10;

¥. 30. Becaufe of the fins of Feroboam which be carried off: and king Afa built with them Geba of finned, and which be made Ifrael fin, by his provoca-

Benjamin, and Mizpah;, which were both in the tribe of Benjamin, and which he fortified, Fo. xviii. 24. 26. See Fer. xli. g. y. 23. The reft of all the aéts of Afa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chroni- ‘cles of the kings of Judah? &c.| Some of which are to be met with in the canonical book of that name, 2 Chron. xiv. and xv. and xvi. and others in the annals of the kings, out of which the cripture-account was taken: meverthele/s, in the time of his old age he was difeafed in his feet, teized with the gout, as the Yews fay *, and which was two years before his death, fee 2 Chron. xvi. 12, 13. ¥.24. And Afa flept with bis fathers, and was buried with bis fathers in the city of David bis father, &c.] In a fepulchre there he himfelf had made, and in great pomp and folemnity, being laid on a bed filled with fweet odours and fpices, prepared according to art, and which were burned for him, 2 Chron. xvi. 14. and Febofhaphat bis fon reigned in bis flead; a very pious and worthy prince.

¥. 25. And Nadab the fon of Feroboam began to reign over Ifrael, in the fecond year of Afa king of

Fudab, &c.) Before Baafha did: and reigned over J/rael two years; not two whole years; for he began in the fecond of A/a, and in the third of that king’s reign; Baafba flew him and reigned in his ttead, y. 28.

y. 26. dnd he did evil in the fight of the Lord, hoftility, fee ¥. 16. gan Baafha the fon of Abijah to reign over all Ifraek tion wherewith he provoked the Lord God of Irael.} Not that Baaj/ba deftroyed the family of Feroboam, becaufé of his fins, which did fo much mifchief to Jfrael, and were fo provoking to the Lord, from any diflike or hatred of them, for he walked in the fame, ¥. 34. but the Lord threatened this by his, prophet, and fuffered it to be done becaufe of his. abominations. ’

¥.31. Now the reft of. the ads of Nadab, and all that he did, &c.) In his fhort reign, which yet were more than here related: are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of I= rael? in which thofe of his father Feroboam were:

¥. 32. And there was war between Afa and Baafbaking of Irael all their days.] For being a wicked. man, and an idolater, A/a had no refpeét for him, though he had flain the family of Yeroboam; nor had Baajba any regard to Fudab, nor to the worthip of God at Feru/alem, fo that there was a:: underftanding between them, but frequent atts of

¥. 33. In the third year of Afa king of F lab bee in Tirzab, &c.| Which is repeated, partly too: ferve that the whole kingdom fubmicted to him though ‘an ufurper and murderer, and 20 ae. his eae where he kept his court, as alfo the'time reign, as follows: 24 years; which as both Yereboam and his fon reigned. —

¥. 34. And he did evil in the fight

2 Jarchi & Kimchi in loge, bably an officer in Nadab’s army: con/pired againfe the Levites, Fo/b. xxi. 23. and they being driven —

&c.]_ As Nadab did, whom he flew: and walked in the way of Feroboam, whofe family he deftroynot out of diflike to idolatty, but out of malice and ambition, that he flew the family of Fero- ed: and in his fin wherewith be made Tfrael to fin; boam in worlhipping the golden calves; fo that it was

HIS chapter contains a prophecy of the ruin of the family of Baafha, and an account of his death, ¥. 1—7. and of his fon’s reigning in his ftead two years, who was flain by Zimri_one of his captains, ¥. 8—14. and who reigned but feven days, ¥. 15—20. and the people being divided between Tzéni and Omri, the party for the latter prevailed, and he was made king, and reigned 12 years, ¥. 21—28. and was fucceeded by his fon bab, a very wicked prince, ¥. 29—33. and the chapter is concluded with the rebuilding of ericho, ¥. 34.

the kings of I/rael: and Elab bis fon reigned in bis fread, yet but a fhort time..

¥.7. And alfo by the band of the prophet Febu the fon of: Hanani, came the word of the Lord againft Baafha, and againft his houfe, &c.] Which is heré repeated, as Abarbinel thinks, becaufe in the former prophecy the threatening was on account not of his own fin, but becaufe he made J/- rael to fin; but here it is, becaufe of his own evil works, as it follows: even for all the evil that he did in the fight of the Lord, in provoking him. to anger with the work of bis bands, in being like the houfe of Feroboam, worthipping the golden calves as they did: and becaufe be killed him, either Feroboam for, according to Dr. Lightfoot’, he was alive this year; rather Nadab the fon‘of Feroboam, who it is certain was flain by Baafha; though it may refer, as Abarhinel thinks, to the whole houfe of Feroboam; though it was agreeable to the will of God, yet was not done by Baa/ba with any regard to it, but to gratify his malice and ambition, and therefore punifhable for it.

¥.8. In the 26th year of Afa king of Fudah began Elah the fon of Baafha to reign over Ifrael in Tirzah two years.| Not complete, for he died in the 27th of Afa,'y. ro. he reigned juft the time that Nadab the fon of Feroboam did, ch. xv. 25.

¥. 9. And bis fervant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, &c.] His military chariots; there were two captains of them, and this was one of them} fo the Targum, ‘* one of the two matters or captains of the chariots:” cen/pired againf bim, as be was in Tirzab drinking himfelf drunk in the houfe of Arza, fleward of bis houfe in Tirzab; who had the charge of his wine and other liquors, to which he was addicted beyond meafure; and this was 2 a fit opportunity for Zimri to fall upon him, and y.1. Then the word of the Lord came to Febu the fon of Hanani, &c.] The feer that reproved Aja, 2 Chron. xvi. 7. fo that this man was the fon of a prophet then living, and was a young man; for we hear of him feveral years after reproving Febofoaphat, 2 Chron. xix. 2. and as a writer of hiftory, 2 Chron..xx. 34. the prophecy that came to him from the Lord was againjt Baajfba; king of L/rael: faying; as follows.

¥.2. Forafmuch as exalted thee out of the duft, &c.] From a very low eftate, and mean family: and made thee prince over my people Ifrael, as they were of right, and ought to have been; and tho’ Baafba got the kingdom by treachery and murder, yet the tranflation of the kingdom to him was according to the appointment of God, and by his over-ruling providence; and even his aé of killing Neda was a fulfilment of a prophecy of his; and had he done it in obedience to the will of God, and in vengeance for his fin, would not have been blame-worthy, fince then he would have been an executioner of the juftice of God: and thou haft walked in the way of Feroboam, and haft made my people Ifrael to fin, to provoke me to anger with their _ fins; committing and encouraging the fame trous practices, fo very provoking to God.

¥. 4. Him that dieth of Baafba in the city, fball the dogs cat, and him that dieth of bis’in the fields, Joall the fowls of the air eat.| They fhould not| have burial, which is juft the fame that was threatened to, and executed on Ferobcam’s family, ch. idola- flay him, when he was drunk, and off his guard, and his army at the fame time was befieging Gibbetbon,-y. 15. fo that there was a very great likenefs in what befel the family of Baafba, to that of the family of Yeroboam; for as the {on-of. the one, and of the other, reigned but two years, fo they were both flain by their fervants, and both at a time when Gibdethon was befieged; the Targum temple of an idol fo cal- \ed, near the royal palace.

¥. 3. Behold, I will take away the pofterity of Baafoa, and the pofterity of his houje, &c.| By death, there fhall be none of his family rémaining in any branch of it: and I will make thy boufe like the houfe of Feroboam the fon of Nebat; execute the fame judgment on it, and in. the fame manner, their fins being alike. takes this Arza to be the yr10. And Zimri fent in and fmote him, and kiled bim, &c.] When in his drunken fit: and this was in the 27th year of Afa 3 when Elab had not reigned two full years: and reigned in his ftead;

xiv. 11. that is, Zimri; his reign was fhort indeed, bu M5. Now the ref of the aéts of Baafba, and\feven days, ¥. 15.: what be did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Irael? As thofe of eroboam and Nadab were, ch. xiv. 19.

y.11. And it came to pa/s when he began to reign, \as foon as be fat on bis throne, &c.} Perhaps the very firft day: that he Slew all the houfe of Baaba;

and xv. 31. his whole family, all the children that he had,

¥. 6. So Baafoa flept with his fathers, &&c.] Or died, not a violent, but natural death: ad was buried im Tirzab; where was the royal palace of that there might be none to make pretenfions to the throne: be left him not one that piffeth againft a wall, neither of bis kinsfolks, nor of ‘bis friends;

not any that might avenge the blood of his family, that might have a right or inclination to do it. y¥.12. Thus did. Zimri deftroy all the boufe of Baafha, occording to the word of the Lord, which be fooke againft Baafoa by Febu the prophet.) That not only his pofterity, but all any way related to him fhould be cut off; yea, it feems to have been carried farther, even to all that were in any connection with him in point of friendthip, fee ¥. 3. y. #3. For all the fins of Baafha, and the fins of Elab bis fon, &c.] By which it appears that the fon trod in the fteps of his father, and was therefore cut off: by which they finned, and by which they made Ifizael to fin, in provoking the Lord God of Ifrael to anger with their vanities, their idols, which had nothing in them, and can’t be of any fervice to their votaries; andto ferve fuch, and neglect the worfhip of the true God, and draw others into the fame iniquity, muft be very provoking to the moft high.

y. 15. In the 27th year of Afa king of Judah, did Zimri reign feven days in Tirzab, &c.] Until the army under Omri came and took the place, and deftroyed him: and the people were encamped againft Gibbetkon, which belongeth to the Pbiliftines; it was befieged in Nadad’s time, but upon his death, by Baajba, the fiege was raifed; or however if then taken, it was recovered by the PAili/tines, and now befieged again by the J/raelites, fee ch, xv. might do whilft a captain of the chariots, and alfo fince he ufurped the crown, facrificing to them by way of thank{giving, for being in pofieffion of the kingdom; and though his reign was fo fhort, he might give plain and {trong intimations that he fhould continue the worfhip of idols.

¥. 20. Now the reft of the atts of Zimri, and bis ¢reafon that he wrought, are they not written in the 400k of the kings of Ljrael?) What he did both before and after his ufurpation, during the feven days he was king, and the manner of his confpiracy, and fuccels in it.

y. 21. Then were the people of Ijrael divided into two parts, &c.] About the fucceffion in the kingdom: half the people followed Tibni the fon of Ginath, to make him king, thefe were the friends of Zimri, or however fuch who did not like that the army fhould impofe a king upon them; who this Tidai was, is not faid: and half followed Omri; the general of the army, perhaps the whole of that.

y. 14. Now the reft of the aéts of Elab, and ali that he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Ifrael?] See ¥. 5.

Y.22. But the people that followed Omri, prevailed againft the people that followed Tibni the fon of Ginath, &c.] Very probably they had a battle, in which the latter were worfted: /9 Tidni died; in the battle: and Omri reigned; took poffeflion of the throne, his rival being flain. é y. 23. In the 31 year of Afa king of Fudab, began Omri to reign over I/rael 12 years, Sc.} Which are to be reckoned not from the 31ft of 4a; for Abab the fon of Omri began to reign in his 38th year, and fo his reign would be but feven or eight years; but they are reckoned from the 27th of A/a, the beginning of it, when E/ah was flain by Zimri, and he died, which to the end of the 38th of 4/2, make 12 years; for the divifion, according to the Fewife chronology *, lafted four years; Farchi fays five*; and from the beginning of that his reign is reckoned, though he did not reign over all J/rael, or completely, until the 31ft of d/a, when Tibi. died: fix years reigned he in Tirzab; the royal city of the kings of I/rael, from Feroboam to this time, and the other fix he reigned in Samaria built by him, as in the next verfe.

v.24. And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer, for two talents of filver, &c.] <A talent of filver, according to Brerewood', was of our money 375 pounds, fo that this hill was. purchafed at 750 pounds: and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the bill, Samaria; its name from him was Shomeron, which is the Hebrew name for Samaria; which, according to Bunting *, was fix miles from Zirzab, and ever after the royal feat of the kings of J/rael.

¥. 25. But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, &c.] Openly and publickly, as if it were in defiance of him: and did werfe than all that were before him, taking no warning by the judgments inflicted on them,which aggravated his fins; and befides, he not only worfhipped the calves, as the reft, and drew J/rael by his example into the fame, as they did, but he publifhed ediéts and decrees, obliging them to worfhip them, and forbid. - ding them to go to Jerusalem, called the fratutes of

+; 16. And ihe people that were encamped heard fay, Zimri bath confpired, and hath alfo flain the king, &c.] Tidings came to the army of what he had done, which was difpleafing to them: wherefore all Ifrael made Omri the captain of the boft, king over Ifrael that day iw the camp; that is, all I rael that were in the army proclaimed Omri their general, king; juft as the Roman army declared Ve/- pafian their general, emperor of Rome, and as feveral of the emperors were chofen.

y.17. And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Ifrael with him, &c.] He, and the army under him, broke up the fiege of that place, and marched to Zirzab; which, according to Bunting *, was 36 miles diftant from each other: and they befieged Tirzah x the royal city, in which Zimri was.

¥. 18. And it came to pafs, that when Zimri faw that the city was taken, &c.] That Omri, and the army with him, had got into it, being a place not much fortified, and Zimri not having force enough to defend it againft fuch an army: that be went into the palace of the king’s boufe; into the inhermoft and moft fplendid, as well as the ftrongeft part of it: and burnt the king’s houfe over him with frre, and be died; that he might not fall into the hands of his rival, who he might fear would ufe him ill, and that he might not enjoy the royal palace; though Kimchi thinks, that Omri fet fire to the palace, and burnt it over the head of. Zimri, in which he perifhed; and this fenfe the vext will bear.

¥. 19. For bis fins which be finned in doing evil in the fight of the Lord, &c.\ In the former part of his life, as well as now: i walking in the way of feroboam, and in his fin which be did to make l/- rael fin, worlhipping the golden calves, which he ha &c. Omri, Mic. vi. 16.

y.26. For he walked in the way of Feroboam the — fon of Nebat, in bis fin wherewith be made Ifrael to Worfhipping the calves: #0 provoke the

Lord God of Ifrael to anger, with their vanities; thefe, and whatfoever idols elfe were worfhipped by Zidonians, or Hercules, whoni the Tyrians wor thipped.

him, fee ¥. 13.. ¥. 32. And be reared up an altar for Baal in the

¥. 27. Now the ret of the atts of Omri, which be did, and his might which be fhewed, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Ifrael?| Where thofe of the preceding kings were boufe of Baal, which be bad built in Samaria.) That he might not go fo far as Tyre or Zidon; and for his wife’s convenience alfo, he built a temple in Samaria for Baal, and erected an altar there to offer

¥. 28. So Omri flept with his fathers, &c.] Died a natural death: and was buried in Samaria, the city he had built, and‘now the royal feat and me- facrifices upon it unto him; fo open and daring was he in his idolatrous practices.

¥. 33. And Abab made a grove, &c.] About the temple of Baal, or elfewhere, in which he placed an idol, and where all manner of filthinefs was fe- tropolis of the kingdom: and Abad his fon reigned cretly committed; or rather A/berah, rendered grove, in bis ftead of whom much is faid in the following hiftory.

¥.29. And in the 35th year of Afa king of Fudah, began Abab the fon of Omri to reign over Ifrael, &c.]- At the latter end of it, the fame year is Affarte, the goddefs of the Zidonians, an image of which Abab made: and Abab did more to provoke the Lord God of Ifrael to anger, than all the kings of Ifrael that were before him his idolatries being more open and bare-faced, and without any his father died, fee ¥. 23. and Abab the fon of excufe, pretence, or colour, as well as more nu-

Omri reigned over Irael in Samaria 22 years; the fame number of years Feroboam did, ch. xiv. 20.

merous. ¥. 34. And in his days did Hiel the Bethelite build

¥. 30. And Abab the fon of Omri did evil in the Fericho, &c.1 Which was forbidden by Fofbua

Sight of the Lord, above all that were before him.) Adding other idols to the calves, and thofe more abominable than they, fince the other kings pretended to worfhip God in them, but he worfhipped other gods befides him, as the following verfes fhew.

.¥. 31. And it came to pals, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the fin of Feroboam the fon of Nebat, &c.] To worfhip the golden calves he fet up: that be took to wife Fexebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, who is called Ishobalus and Itobalus king of the Tyrians, by heathen hiftorians"; and by Theophilus of Antioch*, Futbobalus, prieft of Aftarte, for Tyre and Zidon were under one king. This woman was not only of another nation, and an idolater, but under an anathema, but this man either ignorant of that adjuration of Fo/bua; or in contempt and defiance of it, and knowing it might pleafe the king and queen, fet about the rebuilding of it; and it being done by the leave, and under the anthority of Abab, is mentioned together with his wicked actions: be laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firft-born; that is, his firft-born died as foon as he laid the foundation of the city, but this did not deter him from going on with it: and fet up the gates thereof in his youngeft fon Segub; all the reft of his children died as he was rebuilding the city, until only his youngeft fon was left, and he was taken off by death juft as he had finithed it, fignified by fetting up the gates of it: all which was according to the word of the Lord, which be a very filthy woman, and is made the emblem of | the whore of Rome, Rev. ii. 20. and went and pake by Fo/hua the fon of Nun, between 4 and 500 years ago.

It was after this a place of great note, ferved Baal, and worfripped him that is, went to Zidon and Tyre, and worfhipped his wife’s gods, which were either fupiter Thalaffins, the god of the and fo continued many hundreds of years; fee the note on of. vi. 26. but is now, as Mr. Maundréb fays*, a poor nafty village of the rads.

jah, that there fhould be want’ of rain for

HIS chapter begins with a prophecy of E/ian inftance of a prophet, even the prince of prophets, as Abarbinel calls him, coming out of Ga- fome years to come, and he is directed to go firft /:/ee, contrary to the fuggettions of the Fews, Fobn to the brook Cherith, where he fhould be fed by ravens, ¥. 1—7. and afterwards he is fent to a widow at Zarephath, where he, fhe and her fon were vii. 52. R. Elias Levita' obferves, that after the affair of Gideah, an order was given to {mite the inhabitants of Fabe/h-gilead, ‘fudg. xxi. and-that as fupported for a confiderable time with a handful of it is reafonable to fuppofe, fome might efcape, he meal, and a little oil in a crufe miraculoufly increafed, ¥. 8—16. whofe fon falling fick and dying, he reftored to life, ¥. 17—24.

y.1. And Elijah the Tifbbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, &c.] Which belonged partly to the Reubenites and Gadites, and partly to the halftribe of Manaffeb on the other fide Yordan, where this prophet dwelt; but why he is called the Ti b- bite, is not eafy to fay; what Kimchi obferves feems right, that he was at firft of a city called To bad, and afterwards dwelt at Gilead; which city perhaps js the fame with Thi/be, in the tribe of Napthali, the native place of Tobit, ch. i. 2. and if fo, is thinks E/ijab- was one of them; and that when this began to be inhabited again, they that returned, were called the inhabitants of Gilead, of whom Elijah was, who lived in thofe times, being, as the Fews fuppole, Phinebas, the fon of Eleazar the fon of Aaron, fee Fudg. xx. 28. but that he fhould be Elijah, and live’ to the times of Ahab, is beyond belief. By Origen ™ he is faid to be in Thefoon of Gilead; and by Epiphanius”™ to be of Thefbis, of the land of the Arabians, Gilead bordering upon it: the fame faid unto Abab; who perhaps had been with him before, and reproved him ~ for idolatry, warned him of the evil confequences of it, but to no purpofe, and therefore now threat- ened in a very folemn manner: as the Lord God of; Tfrael liveth, before whom I fland, he fwears by the living: God, in whole prefence he was, and _to whom he appeals as the omnifcient God, whofe minifter and prophet he was, and in whofe name he came and fpoke, and to whom he prayed; for ftanding was a prayer-gefture, and fometimes put for it, fee the note on Matt. vi. 5. and it was at the prayer of Zlijab that rain was with-held, as follows, fee Yam. v.17. there foall not be dew nor rain thefe years; for fome years to come, even three years and a half: but according to my werd; in prayer, or as he fhould predict, in the name of bread, and laying it before thevfaintss Paulus and Awtonius. ty DEM -olety Rattan

¥. 5. So he went, and did according to the word of. the Lord, &c: | Took «his journey eaftward, and hid himfelf in the place directed to: or be wet and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that 73 Jordan, fee the note y. 3. ‘t 1 jee _¥.6. And the ravens brought him bread ‘4 in the morning, and bread and flefh in the i &c:} © For his breakfaft and fupper, the two principal meals then in ule; and as there were feveral employed, they could bring a fu ficiency in a fhore /time for each meal; and thele provifions were'ready y¥. 2. And the word of the Lord came to him, &c.] The word of prophecy, as the Targum; this fhows that by word, in the former verfe, he means the word. of the Lord by him: /aying; as follows.

y¥. 3. Get thee hence, and turn thee eaftward, &c.) From the place where he was, being in danger from Abab and Fezebel, provoked by his reproofs, prepared, the bread made and baked, and the flefh boiled, broiled or roafted; from whence they had it, need not be enquired after; the ews fay”, they were fetched from bad’s table, and others ds Fehofoaphat’s, and others, as probable as any; from the tables of the 7000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal: and be drank of the brook; at his meals.

¥. 7. And it came to pafs after.a while, Se.) Or at the end of days*, perhaps a year, which fome- threatenings and prophecies: and bide thyfelf by the brook Cherith, that is before Fordan, in fome wood or cave near it, or among the reeds and rufhes that grew on the banks of it; and Bochart ° takes it to the be the fame with the riverKazab, on the borders of times is the fenfe of this phrafe,..fee Eyod, iii. 10. Fudg. xvii. 10, that the brook dried ups thro” the. exceflive heat, and for want of fupplies from prings and fountains, with which it. was. ‘feds and for the following reafon: Jecaufe there bad been

Ephraim, which has its name from reeds, Joh. xvi. 8. and. xvii. g. and Cherith by anticipation, from the prophet’s being fed there; and Adrichomius’ places this brook in the tribe of Ephraim; though Fuller 4 in the half-tribe of Manajjeb, beyond fordax; but Bunting fays*, it runs from mount Ephraim between Bethel and Fericho, eight miles from Ferufalem towards the north, and fo paffing along towards the eaft, falls into Fordan. y¥.4. And it fhall be, that thou fhalt drink of -the' brook, &c.| The water of that was to-be his drink:

and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there; whereby he fhould be provided with food to eat); by whom are meant not angels in the form of rawens, as fome; nor, as others, Arabians, for there were none.of that people near him 5 nor, as others, merchants, the word being fometimes ufed of them, for this was not a likely method for privacy; nor, as others, the inhabitants’ of a place called Ored or Orbo; fo the Arabic verfion calls them Orabimi; but we read of no fuch place near Jordan’; the Fews' {peak of a city of this name near Beth/hean, from whence thefe Oredim came; and fome of them' think, they had their name from Oreé, in Fudg. vii. 25. it feems better to interpret them of ravens, as we do, thefe creatures delighting to be in folitary places, in valleys, and by brooks; nor need it be any objection, that they were unclean creatures by the law, fince E/jah did not feed upon them, but was fed by them; and fuppofing any uncleannefs by touch, the ceremonial law might be difpenfed with in an extraordinary cafe, as it fometimes was; though it is very remarkable, that. fuch creatures fhould be employed in this way, which are birds of prey, feize on any thing they can, live. on carrion, and neglect their own young, and yet feed a prophet of the Lord; which fhows the power and providence of Godin it. Something like this ¥evom" relates, of a raven bringing a whole loaf of no rain in the land; from the time Elijah prayed and. prophefied; of this drought mention is made -_ in profane hiftory; Menander, a Phanician writer, fpeaks * of a drought in the times of Jthobalus (the fame with E¢bbaal the father, of Jezebel) which lafted a whole year, and upon ‘prayer, being madethere were thunder, &e. mre ¥. 8. dnd. ihe word of the Lord came unto him &c.]. As. before, after he had been a year atthe brook, and that was dried up: faying; as fol» lows. nd 8a: ¥..9. Arife, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to, Zidon, and dwell there, &c,) This might be a trial of the prophet’s faith, to. be. fent to dwelk ina place belonging to the Zidoniass, among whom Jezebel had an intereft, being the daughter of their king, ch. xvi. 31. the place is fo called, to diftinguith it from another Zarephath, Obad. $. 20. Kimchi interprets it, near to Zidon, yet not as belonging to it, but of the land of J/rael; though it rather feems to be a Gentile city; it is called in Luke iv. 26. Sarepta of Sidony ‘and’ alfo ‘by Pliny*; according to Fofephus*, it was not far either from Sidon or Tyre, and lay between them’: it was ‘three quarters of a mile from Sidon;-and fo Mr. Maundrel * {peaks of it, -as-in the way from Sidon to Tyre, and which is now called Serphaen 5 of which he fays, the place fhewn us for this:city confifted only of a few houfes, on the tops of the mountains, within about half a mile of the feas — but it is more probable, the principal’ partiofthe city ftood,below, in the fpace between the hills and the fea, there being ruins till to’be feet in that place ofa confiderable extent; and attaveller into thofe parts many years before him, faysS, that he faw nothing of an building on the. fhore, but fome {mall houfes in the place where formerly — the town of Sarepta did ftand; and J! there is at this time but eight houfes in all the ww. = aceite, -, S) isis Se Sa SWE ht the: Bis. ee 7 7, Bab. § dei Nee Hie Loe Yop ea town, though by the ruins-it feems to have been) in times pa{t a very fair city; and another ° obferves, that it is about three miles from bebold, I have commanded a widow woman there to Suftain thee, not that this was declared to the woman, or that fhe had any orders from the Lord to fupport him; but that he had determined it in his mind, and would take care in his providence, that he fhould be fupplied by her: this was another trial of the prophet’s faith, that he fhould be fent to a poor widow woman for his fupport, and fhe] a Gentile; but he that had been fo long fed by ravens, could have no reafon to doubt of his being provided for in this way. ledge of, and faith in:

¥.10. So be arofe, and went to Zarephath, &c.| Which, according to Bunting *, was 100 miles from the brook Cherith: and when be came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow womanwas there gathering flicks, perhaps out of an hedge juft without the city; this fhows her to bea poor woman, who had no other way of coming at fuel but this, and no fervant to feteh it for her: the above writer tells us, that now before the gate of the city there is fhewed a certain chapel, where they fay E/zas dring it unto ine, and after make for thee and for thy /on; which was not faid from a felfifh {pirit of the Berytus:) prophet, but to try the faith of the woman;. and belides, as Abarbinel obferves; the prophet was not only hungry and thirfty through his journey, and fo required to be ferved firft, but it was for the fake of his fuftenance, that the Lord would command a bleffing on the meal and oil; wherefore if the drefied it for herfelf and her fon firft, there would have been none left for the divine blefling to decend upon. pt MD 14. For thus faith the Lord God of Ijrael, &c.] Whom the prophet perceived fhe had knowthe barrel of meal fhall not wafte, neither hall the crufe of oil fail; that is, the meal in the barrel, and the oil in the crufe, by an hypallage, or change of words: until the day that the Lord fendeth rain upon the earth; which was affuring her that rain would be fent, and that the Lord, who had the fole command of it, would fend it; and that until that time it fhould be fent, fhe would have no lack of provifions, and therefore need not fcruple drefling for the prophet firit.

firft poke with the widow: and he called to her,

¥.15. And fhe went, and did according to the

and foid, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a wefjel, that I may drink; being thirfty through trafaying of Elijab, &c.] Made a cake for him firft, and brought it to him, which fhewed great faith velling, and fuppofing this to be the woman he was directed to, made trial of her this way; fome render it, im this veffel® which he had with him, and made ufe of at the brook Cheritb.

¥. 11. And as foe was going to fetch it, &c.| For fhe made no difficulty of granting his requeft, but immediately fet out to fetch him fome water from the city, or fome fpring hard by, or her own houfe; being very ready to do an hofpitable ac to a ftranger, and efpecially to a good man, anda prophet, as fhe might perceive by his habit he was, in the word of the Lord by him: and fhe, and be, and her koufe did eat; many days, a year at leaft, if not two years, fee ¥. 7. the widow, the prophet, and her family, lived upon the meal and oil fo long; we read but of one fon, but fhe might have more.

‘y. 16. And the barrel of meal wafted not, neither did the crufe of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he fpake by Elijah.) There being a continual increafe and fupply of both, through the mighty power of God working a continued mira- as it feems by what follows: and faid, bring me, I cle, juft as the loaves and fifhes were increafed pray thee, a morfel of bread in thine hand; to eat before he drank; this he faid ftill farther to try

_ her whether fhe was the perfon that was to fuftain.

while the difciples were eating, Matt. xiv. 19, 20. y¥.17. And it came to pafs after thefe things, &c. him, as well as in order to Jead on to more dif-

Not only after the converfation that paffed between courfe with her. -|the prophet, and the widow, but after they had yw. 12. Aad foe faid, as the Lord thy God liveth, Which fhews her to be a good woman fwearing by the living God, and him only, and that fhe| took Eljab to be a good man, and a prophet of the Lord: J have not a cake; greater or lefs, not a morfel of bread in the houfe: dut a handful of meal in a barrel, and a iittle oil in a crufe; parate and unmixed, and not made into a cake, and drefled as fhe intended to do with them: ezd behold, I am gathering two flicks; ov a few, which would be fufficient to bake fuch a quantity as her meal and oil would make; the {peaks by the figure meiofis, which expreffes lefs than what is meant, as Ben Melech obferves: that I may go in and drefs it for me, and my Jon, that we may eat it, and die; having nothing more left, and no expectation of any elfewhere, and the famine ftrong in the land; fo that fhe could look for nothing but death after lived together many days, a year or years, upon the miraculous provifion made for them: that the on of the woman, the miftre/s of the boufe, fell fick; that is, the fon of the widow woman in whofe houfe the prophet dwelt; the Fews fay *, this woman was the mother of Yonab, and that he was thefe fe-|this fon of her’s: and bis ficknefs was fo fore that ¢here was no breath left in him it was a ficknefs unto death, it iffued in it; for that he was really dead, appears from all that follows.

y. 18. And fhe faid unto Elijah, what have I to do with thee, O thou man of God! &c.) As if fhe fhould fay, it would have been well for me if I had never feen thy face; or had any converfation with thee; this fhe faid rafhly, and in her paffion and agony, being extremely affected with the death of her child, which made her forget and overlook all the benefits fhe had received through the pro- this was eaten. oe phet’s being with her: art thou come unto me to

¥. 13. And Elijah faid unto her, fear not, 8cc.| That fhe and her fon fhould die, it would not be the cafe: go and do as thou haft faid; meal and her oil, and make a cake thereof, and bake it: but make thereof a litile cake firft, and call my fin to remembrance, and to flay my fon? to punifh her for her former fins, fhe was confcious — mix her the had been guilty of; for the fuppofed, that as it was by his prayer that the drought and famine were come upon the land, fo it was in the fame

6 555 in hoe vafe, Junius

¥.20. And he cried unto the Lord, &c.\ Or|come to prayed unto‘him, as the Targum, with great vehemence and importunity: and faid, O Lord my God, haft thou alfo brought evil upon the widow, with whom I fojourn, by flaying ber fon? he pleads his namely through the that the foul dies not with the body, but exifts ina ftate without it. _ 1 5-9) amlaeeal

‘prayer of the prophet. ishetieiiai feparate ~ ¥. 19. And he faid unto her, give me thy fon, and be took bim out of ber bofom, &c.| Where the had ‘Taid him, mourning over him, from thence the ‘prophet took him with her leave:

¥.22. And the Lord heard the voice &c.]. In prayer, and anfwered it: and the foul of the child came into bim again, and be revive i avd carried bim)is the firft inflance of any one being railed from dead, this Satan has imitated; hence the t fabulous ftories with the heathens of perfons raifed to life after death a ae ree _¥. 23. And Elijah took the child, and brought into the boufe, c.J I life; he took it off of the bed in his be chamber, and brought it down to the lower part of the houfe, where the woman was; gud delivered bim unto his mother: and Elijah faid, See, thy fon 4vetb; which no doubt was, to her great furprize, up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon bis own bed; an upper room, which was his bedchamber; hither he carried him, that he might be alone, and ule the greater freedom both in his expreffions and geftures. - down out of the chamber intereft in the Lord, and makes ufe of it as an argument with him to hear his prayer; he obferves the charaéter and condition of the women, a widow, fuch as the Lord has a compaffionate regard for; and he urges the kindnefs of her to him, with whom he had fojourned fo long; and feems to reprefent the cafe as an additional evil or affliction to him, as well as to the widow.

y 21. And be firetched bim/felf upon the child three times, &c.] Or meafured himfelf* on it, or put himfelf into a pofture in fome refpeéts equal to, the child; putting his mouth on its mouth, his eyes on its eyes, his hands on its hands, as E/i/ba afterwards did in a like cafe, perhaps in imitation of him, 2 Kings iv. 34. thereby fhewing his great affection to the child, and in order to increafe it the more, and to make him the more fervent and importunate in his prayers for its life; and hereby fignifying’ alfo that he would if he could infufe his breath and life into it, and warm it with his own heat: and cried unto the Lord, and fatd, O Lord my God, I pray tkee, det this chila’s foul come into him again, which fhews that the child was really dead; and a proof this,"

and was a wonderful inftance of divine power and goodnefs, and to which, the apoftle may, hay fpect, Heb. xi. 35. Bunting 'fays, the inh of this place now take upon them to fhew tl chamber wherein the prophet E/igs, lived, when he raifed the widow’s child to life. ¥ eal a ¥. 24. And the woman faid to Eljab, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, Sc.) She took him to be one at his firft coming to her; fhe was in a great meafure confirmed init by the miracle of the barrel of meal and crufe’of oil 5, but upon thé death of her fon, which fhe was ready_to impute to the prophet, fhe was flaggered at it; but now, by his refurrection from the dead, was fully affured of it: and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth, is truth; fhe had known before that what he faid concerning, the meal and oil not failing was true; but now fhe was more and more convinced and affured that the God, whofe prophet he was, was the true God, and that the religion he profetiess was the true religion, and he a true prophet, and that all his prophecies would be exactly fulfilled, _