Exposition of the Whole Bible

A ELE chapter gives an account of the wicked reign of Fehoabax fon of Febu king of Irae, and of the low eftate he was brought into by the Syrians, ¥. t—g. and of the reign of his fon Foa h,

¥.10—13, and of the ficknefs and death of Ezifba, of the vilit Foe made him in his ficknefs; and of his prediction of the king’s fuccefs againft the Syrians; and of the reviving of a dead man caft into the prophet’s fepulchre, ¥. 14—21. and of the fuccefs of Foafo again{t the Syrians, according to the prediction of the prophet, ¥. 22—25.

but walked. therein, &c.] Continued to worthip the calves ftill, which was an inftance of great ingratitude; the Syriac'and Arabic verfions read, be departed not; Feboabax the king: and there remained the grove in Sameria; which Abab made there, 1 Kings xvi. 33. neither Yefu nor his fon had it cut down, though Baal was deftroyed.

¥.7. Neither did be leave of the people to Feboahaz, but 50 borfemen, 8c.) This is to be conhected with y¥..4. the verfes 5, 6 being to be read in a parenthefis, as in our verfion, and to be underftood of the king of Syria, who left no more to the king of J/rael, not of the people of the land, but of his army, than 50 horfemen, all the reft being either taken and carried captive by him, or flain: and 10 chariots; military chariots, with the men they carried: and 1Q,000 footmen foot-foldiers; to fo fmall a number was his army reduced through wars with the Syrians: for. the king of Syria had deftroyed them, and bad made them like thé duft by threfhing; as corn or.chaff may be reduced to duit by over much threfhing; or as mire and clay by treading on it.

¥.8. Now the reft of the alls of feboabaz, and all that be did, and bis might, &c.| Which he exerted againit the Syriazs, being a man of courage, though not fuccefsful, becaufe the Lord was not with him, but againft him: are ¢hey not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Ijrael? where their acts, and the ‘events of their reigns, were recorded.

¥.9. And Feboahaz flept with bis fathers, &c.] Died, as they did: and they buried bim in Samaria, where Omri, and all the kings of J/rac/, that defcended from him, were buried: and Feafh bis fon reigued in bis ftead, of whom a fhort account is given in the following veriles.;

¥..10. In the 37th year of Foafh king of Judah, began Feboafp the fon of Feboabax to reign over I - rael in Samaria, &c.] But inafmuch as his father began to reign, in the 23d of Joab, and reigned 17 years, ¥.1. this king muft begin to reign in the ggth or 40th of Yoafh; for the reconciling of which it may be obferved, that two of the years of his reign may be fuppofed to be imperfect; or rather that his fon reigned two or three years in his life-time, being raifed up before his father’s death to bea faviour of J/rael from megrien and fo his father lived to fee his prayer anfwered, ¥. 4, 5. and reigned 16 years.

y¥.11, And he did that which was evil in the fight of the Lerd, &c.J As his father did, and his character is deferibed in the fame words, fee ¥. 2, 6, y.12. And the reft of the alts of Foafb, and all that he did, &c.| Though none of his acts as yet are recorded, but his finful ones: aad bis might; or valiant a¢tions in war with the Syriaus, y. 25. and wherewith be fought againft Amaziah king of Judah; of which there is an account in the following chapter: are ¢héy not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of I/rael? in the hiftory of the tranfactions of their reigns. | y.13. And Foal flept with his fathers, &c.] Or died: and Feroboain fat upon bis throne; who was his fon; it is not faid, that be began to fit on it, or to reign, nor to reign in his father’s ftead; hence it. is concluded, a by Kimchi and others, that his father fer him on his throne in his life-

¥. 1. Inthe 23d year of Foalh the fon of Abaziah king of ‘Judah, &c.} ‘The fame year he was’ fo zealous and bufy in repairing the temple, ch. xii. 6. Feboabaz ihe fon of Febu began to reign over Jjrael in Samaria, whereas, Joajh began to reign in the feventh year of Zebu, and Febu reigned but 28 years} ch. x. 36. and xii. 1. this could be but the 21ft of Fob, to reconcile which it muft be obferved, that it was at the beginning of the 7th. year of Febu, that Foa/b began to reign, and at the beginning of the 23d of Fea/b that Feboabaz began to reign, as the Fewi/o commentators obferve: and reigned, 17 years; the two laft of which were in common with his fon, as Funius, fee y. 10.

¥.2. And he did that which was evil in the fight of the Lord, &c.] Committed idolatry: and followed the fins of Feroboam the fon ofNebat, which made I/rael to fin; worhipping the golden calves: be departed not therefrom; from the worthip of

¥. 3. And the anger of the Lord was kindled againft Ifrael, &c.] They doing as their kings did: and ‘he delivered them into the band of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the fon of Hazael, all their days; the word ‘heir fhould not be fupplied, fince it was not true that J/rael was delivered into the hands of both thofe kings of Syria as long as they lived; for they were delivered out of the hands of Benhadad, ¥. 25. but the word his fhould be inferted for it, as to be underftood of the days of Fehoahaz, fee ¥.22..

¥. 4. And Feboahaz befought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him, &c.| He did not apply in his diftrefs to the calves he worfhipped, but.to the Lord; who had a regard to his prayer, not for his fake, of any righteoufnefs of his, or even his repentance and humiliation, which. was only external; but for the fake of J/rael, and becaufe’ they were opprefied, who were his people, and he their God, though they had fadly departed from him: for he faw the oppreffion of I/rael; not only with his eye of omnifcience, but with an eye of mercy and compaffion: Lecaufe the king of Syria oppreffed them; by his incurfions upon them, and wars with them.

¥. 5. And the Lord gave Ifrael a Saviour, &c.] Not an angel fent by him, nor.a captain raifed. up among them, nor the prophet £/iha, who predicted their deliverance, nor Feboabaz himfelf, but his fon Foah, ¥. 25. fo that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; were not in fubjection to them, nor harafied by them, nor-in fear of them: and the children of Ifrael dwelt in their tents, as before time, in peace and fafety.

¥. 6. Neverthele/s, they departed not from the fins of the heufe of Feroboam, who made Ijrael to fin, time; and the Fewi/h chronology ' exprefsly afferts, that he reigned with him one year: and Foafb was buried in Samaria with the kings of Irael, lee ¥. 9. the hiftory of his life and actions does not ceafe here, but after an account of the ficknefs and death of Elifba; it is re-affumed, which was neceffary to interpofe to lead on to it.

¥.14. Now Elifha was fallen fick of his ficknefs, whereof be died, &c.] The prophets don’t live for ever; this ficknefs was unto death; Eli/ba died, and was not tranflated as Elijah was: and oafo the king came down unto him; from his palace to the prophet’s houfe, to vifit him in his ficknefs; which was an inftance of great condefcenfion and refpect, and efpecially in a wicked prince that could not be reformed by him: and wept over his face; held his head over him, and wept, perceiving he was near his end,’ and fenfible that his death would be a public lofs; the nation having often reaped the benefit of his prayers, though his counfel and advice was neglefted and defpifed: and faid, O my father, my father, the chariot of Ifrael, and the borfemen thereof, the fame words Elifha faid to Elijah, as he went up to heaven, which very probably Yoa/h had heard of; fee the note on ch. ii. 12. and here,-as there, the Targum is, ** my mafter, my mafter, who was better to J/rae/ by his prayers than chariots and horfemen.”

y¥. 15. And Elifha faid unto him, take bow and arrows, &c.}] The ufual inftruments of war in thofe days: and he took unto him bow and arrows; which though they might not be had in the houfe of the prophet, he.could have fome from his guards that attended him.

¥.16. And he faid unto the king of Ifrael, put thine hand upon the bow, and be put bis hand upon it, &c.] His left-hand: and Elifha put his bands apon the king’s bands; on both his hands, which were put, the one on the bow, the other on the arrow”; hereby fignifying, that though the king would draw the bow in battle, the Lord, whom the prophet reprefented, would give the fuccefs; and that it would be by his help, and through his blefling on his arms, that he would obtain victory over his enemies.

¥.17. And he faid, open the window eaftward, &c. }

i them, &c.] The teft of them: and be faid unto ~ the hing of Ifrael, [mite upon the ground; the floor — of the roorh_in which the prophet lay: amd be

Jinote thrice, and flayed; made a ftop, ceafed fmiting; he might think this action ‘trifling, and beneath him, only was willing to pleafe the prophet, but did not do it with a good will, and therefore fmote no more; though this was an emblem of his {miting the Syrians, which he might not anderftand. » eee

¥.19. And the man of God was wroth with him, &c.] Becaufe he ceafed fmiting, and fmote no oftener; for it was revealed to the prophet, by an impulfe upon his mind, that by the number of times he {mote on the ground, it would be known how often he fhould get the victory oyer his enemies; but this was to be left to the king’s own will, how often he would fmite, and thereby the prophet would know alfo with what fpirit he would pur- fué his victories, and the advantages he would gain; and faid, thou foouldft have fmitten five or fix times, then hadft thou {mitten Syria until thou hadft con-

Jumed it; as a nation, as well as routed cag feveral armies: whereas now thou fhalt fimite Syria but thrice; beat them only three times in battle, according to the number of his fmitings on the ground, SS

¥.20. And Elifoa died, and they buried bim, &c.} In Samaria. Epiphanius fays*", in Sebaftopolis of Samaria, Samaria itfelf was called Sebafte in aftertimes; though the Fews fay°, he was buried in mount Carmel, in the cave of Elijah; according to the Fewi/ chronology ”, he died in the roth year of Foafb, and he prophefied more than 60 years; 66 as Abarbinel, fince he began to prophefy in the 1gth year of Febofhaphat., and, according to Clemens of Alexandria, when he was 40 years of ages but it feems rather, as Kimchi obferves, that he died in.the beginning of the reign of Yoa/p, and even before his father’s death, when he was a paftner with him in the throne, and before any falyation or deliverance from the Syrians was wrought: and the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year, at the {pring of the year, when there was fruit on the earth, thofe troops of robbers came to plunder and fpoil; feveral of the

Syria lying eaft.of the land of Jfrael, as the Fewi commentators in general obferve, and for which they quote Jf ix. 12. but it lay north-eaft, or rather more to the, north; wherefore this may re- {pect the eaftward part of the land of J/rael, which the Syrians had got poffeffion of, and fhould be recovered as this fign fhewed, fee ch. x. 33. and he opened it, then Elifha faid, fhoot, and he foot; the arrow, out of the window, being opened: and hé faid, the arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria, meaning, that arrow was a fign of the Lord’s deliverance of Lfrael from the Syrians, by whom they had been fadly opprefled, and reduced very low: for thou foalt fmite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou heft conjumed them; not the whole nation, but that army they fhould bring thither;

¥.18. And he faid, take the arrows, and be took h| Fewi/h writers obferve, ‘that in the word for coming, — ~ is inftead of 7, and fo may be rendered, iz that ~ year, in that felf-fame year that Elifba died; and fo read the Syriac, drabvic and the Vulgate Latin verfions. e ». 21. And it came to pafs as they were burying a man, &c.] That is, as they were going to bury. Kims for as yet they were not come to the place they defigned to bury him at, as appears by what |follows: that behold, they {pied a band of men; thatjone of the bands of tht Moadites, which came to’ rob and plunder, and which was about the place where they intended to bury the man; or they fuppofed would be there by that time they got to it, or at leatt before they could bury him, and there- ” fore being frightened ftopped: and they caft the which was a city in the!man into the fepulebre of Eliba; that being neareft, — they opened it, or rather rolled away the ft from it, and threw the body in, in great haf and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elifha; or went and touchéd*, that is, as caft in, he rolled till he came to the body of the prophet, and touched 7 land of J/rae/, where the Syrians were routed in Abab’s time; 100,000 were flain near it, on one day, and 27,coo by the fall of the wall of it, 1 Kings xx. 26,29, 30. hence fome read the words here, as in Aphek. — Kimchi interprets it, being

2 De vitis prop! “eo K oa" Be tee oe he revived, and ftood upon his feet; ferve to confirm the faith of Yeah in the predictions of the prophet concerning his’ victories; is a proof of the refurrection of the dead, and of eternal life, and an emblem of our being quickened through the death of Chrift. The Fews fay *,| this man was Shallum the fon of Tikvah, and hu- {band of Huldah the prophetefs, and was a good man, much given to alms, for which he was rewarded; and they farther fay, he went to his own houfe, and lived many years, and begat children, and particularly Hananeel, mentioned in Fer. xxxii. 7. which is not likely; though others fay‘, he was a wicked man, Zedekiah the ton of Chenaanab, 1 Kings xxii. 24. and therefore not fuffered to continue in the prophet’s grave; but the former is more probable; and, according to Jofephus", it was the band. of robbers that left this man, whom they had mur-j dered, in the grave of Eiij/ba. This grave feems to have been in the field, where the ews of old, and in later times buried, as im the field of Hebron, the potter’s field, &c. fo the Greeks, as Paufanias relates *, and the Romans alfo *, buried by the waywhich mightjand diftrefS$: and bad refoell unto ikem; looked upon them with an eye of pjty and mercy: decau/e of bis covenant with Abrabam, Ijaac, and Facob; made fo long ago he ftill remembered: aud would ot deftroy them, neither caf be them from bis preence as yet; or fuffered them to be carried captive into another land, as he afterwards did in the times of Hofhea.

y¥. 24, So Hazael the king of Syria died, and Benhadad bis fon reigned in his flead.] This was Bes- 4adad the 3d; the firft of this name was of the Damafcene kings; but though the kingdom was now in another family, yet this name, being re- {pectable with the Syriews, was retained in it.

y.25. And Feboa/b the fon of Fehoabaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the fon of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jeboahaz his father by war, &c.] Which were in the countries of Gilead and Ba/han, and belonged. to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manaffeh, ch. x. 33. three times did ‘foafh beat him in fo many pitched battles, but where is not faid, no doubt one of them was in Aphek, at leaft, y. 17. and perhaps the other two on the other fide Jordan; this agrees y. 22. But Hazael king of Syria oppreffed Irael with the three times he fmote the ground, figni- all the days of Feboabaz. |

That he reigned alone, | ficant thereof, ¥. 18. at leaft, before he took his fon Foafo to reign with and recovered the cities of I/- rael; thofe before mentioned; otherwile, if thofe had not been recovered, not ten tribes, only feven

¥. 23. And the Lord was gracious to them, &c.| To Jjrael, notwithftanding their apoftacy from him, and the idolatry of the calves they were guilty and a half, would have been carried captive by the king of Afpria; whereas Fofepbus” fays expreisly, the ten tribes were carried captive.

of: and had compaffion on them; being in oppreffion

N this chapter we have the good reign of Amaziah king of Fudah, his victories over the Edomites, and war with Fehoafh king of Ifrael, by whom he was taken, who died quickly after, y. 1—16. but Amaziah lived 15 years afterwards, and was flain by a confpiracy againft him, and Azariab his fon reigned in his ftead, ¥. 17—22, and a fhort account is given of the reign of Feroboam the fecond, king of J/rael, ¥. 23—29.

y¥.1. In the fecond year of Foafo fon of Feboabaz king of Ifracl reigned Amaziab the fon of Foafh king of Fudab:| As Foafh king of I/rael began to reign in the 37th of Foa/b king of Fudabh, ch. xiii. 10. who feigned 40 years, dmaziah mutt therefore begin his reign in the fourth of Foa/h king of Trael; this theréfore muft be underftood of his fecond year after he reigned alone, for he reigned two or three years in his father’s life-time.

y¥.2. He was 25 years when he began to reign, and reigned 29 years in Ferufalem, &c.] Fourteen years cotemporary with Yoafh king of Irael, who reigned 16 years, ch. xiii. 10. and 15 after him, y. 17. and bis mother’s name was Feboaddan of Ferufalem; of whom we no where elfe read.

¥. 3. And he did that which was right in the he did according to all things as Foafh bis father did who at firft reigned well, and then fell into idolatry, as this his fon did.

¥. 4. Howbeit, the high places were not taken away, &c.] Though he firft did that which was right before God; nor did his father take them away; fee ch. xii. 3.

¥. 5. And it came to pafs as foon as ihe kingdom was firengthened in his hand, &c.|] That he was well fettled on the throne, and had a fhare in the affection of the people, and the idolatry and murder his father had committed, were worn off of the minds of the people, and the friends of the confpirators again{t him were become few or none: that he flew bis fervants that had flain the king his father; charged them with the murder in a court of judicature, obtained a fentence againft them, and had them executed.

y. 6. But the children of the murderers he flew not, &c.} Which is an inftance of his clemency and goodnefs, and of his ftrict regard to juttice, and to the law of God; though he might fear thefe being fpared, would one time or other revenge their fathers deaths: according to that which is written in the book of the law of Mofes, fee Deut. xxiv. 16. wherein the Lord commanded, faying, the fathers fight of the Lord, &c.] At leaft externally, and| ball not be put to death for the children, nor the at the beginning of his reign: yet not like David his father, not with a perfect heart, with that findient.

children, 8c. to which command Amaziah was obe- cerity and uprightnefs as he did, fee 2 Chron. xxv.2.

y.7. He flew of Edom in the valley of Salt ten.

thoufand, &c.) Of which valley, fee the note on 2 Sam. viii. 13. the Edomites having revolted from “¥udab in the days of Joram, ch. vill. 20, 22, Amaziab undertook to reduce them with an army of

300,000 choice men; and befides thefe, hired alfo of J/rael 100,000 valiant men, for roo talents of filver; but at the inftance of a prophet of the Lord he ‘difmiffed the latter, and went againft Edom only with his men, and flew of the Edomites 10,000, befides other 10,000 he ‘took ‘alive, and caft headlong from a rock, which came into his hands, fee 2 Chron. xxv. 5—12. and took Selab by war; which fignifies a rock, the fame with Petra, the metropolis of Arabia Petrea, the country of the Edomites. The city itfelf was not a rock, nor built on one, but was fituated in a plain, furrounded with rocks and mountains, as Strabo” and Pliny* relate, from whence it feems to have its name; and by the Syrians called Recem, where Rocan a king of Midian reigned®, called in the Greek verfion of

Numb. xxxi. 8. Recon; though Vitringa “ is of opinion, that not Petra, the metropolis of Edom, is meant, but Maaleb-Akrabbim, Fofb. xv. 3. Fudg. i. 36. which lay on the fouth-border of Fudea, near the Salt-/ea: and called the name of it foktheel, which fignifies the obedience of God; in memory of his obedience to the prophet of the Lord, in confequence of which he obtained this victory: and the name continued unto this day; the time of

¥. 8. Then Amaziah fent meffengers to Feboafh the fon of Feboahaz fon of Febu king of Ifrael, &c. } The occafion of it was this, when Amaziah difmiffed the hired foldiers of J/rae/ they were difpleafed, and fell upon the cities of Judea from Samaria to Beth-baron, flew 3000 men, and took much fpoil, 2 Chron. xxv. 13. wherefore, when Amaziab returned from the flaughter of the Edomites, being elated with his victories, he fent the following meffage to the king of J/rae/, in order to revenge the injuries his foldiers had done; and perhaps retaining an old grudge for what Zebu, the grandfather of the king of J/rae/, had done to his anceftors, and it may be in hope of reducing the ten tribes to obedience to the houfe of David: faying, come let us look one another in the face; that is, in battle, as the Targum adds; it was a challenge to meet him him in the field of battle, and fight with him, and try each other’s courage, and fee who was the beft man.

¥.9. And Feboafh the king of Ifrael fent to Amaziah the king of Judah, &c.| By the return of his meflengers: faying, the thiftle that was in Lebanon, fent to the cedar that was in Lebanon; intending by this proverbial way of {peaking to humble the pride of Amaziah, comparing him toa thiftle or thorn, alow, mean, abject, weak, prickly and troublefome fhrub, and himfelf to a cedar, a tree high and lofty, ftrong, large and fpreading: /aying, give thy daughter to my fon to wife; fignifying, that if in a peaceable manner he had defired to contract affinity with him, and fo eftablifh mutual friendfhip, he fhould have defpifed him as being asmuch below him, as the thiftle is below a cedar; and therefore fhould ftill more defpife and defy him, who addreffed him in an hoftile manner, and in fuch haughty language: and there paffed by ' a wild beaft that was in Lebanon, and trod down the thiftle; and fo there was an end put at once to its pride and ambition, and to its treaty with the cedar; intimating hereby, that his foldiers would as eafily vanquifh and deftroy the army of Amaziab, as a wild beaft can deftroy a thiftle., facie ~y¥. 10: Thou haft indeed fmitten Edom, and thing heart hath lifted thee up, &c.] Swelled him with pride and vanity on account of the victory he had obtained over the Edomites; which pride was at the bottom of his meflage to him, and that goes before a fall: glory of this, and tarry at home; be content. with the glory of it, and boaft of it ar home, but don’t fwagger abroad, and infule thy neighbours: for why fhouldft thou meddle to thy burt, that thou fhouldft fall, even thou, and Judah with thee? fuggefting to him, that he had better be quiet, fince it would be to the hurt, if not the ruin of him and his kingdom. 4 ¥. 11. But Amaziah would not hear, &c.\ Being given up to a judicial hardnefs of heart, through pride; for this was of God, and by his over-ruling providence, that he might be punifhed for his idolatry, in fetting up the gods of Edom to be his gods, and offering to them, 2 Chron. xxv. 14, 20. therefore Feboafh king of Ifrael went up; trom Samaria to the land of ‘fudab, which was higher ground: and he and Amaziah looked one another in the face; in the field of battle: at Beth-/hemelh, which belongeth to fudab; which is obferved, not merely to diftinguifh it from another Beth-/bemefh in Napbtali, but to obferve, that the king of J/rael waited not for him to give him the challenge, but met his adverfary in his own country, whither he carried the war, not fuffering him to come into his. y¥. 12. And Fudah was put to the worfe before Tfrael, &c.] Could not face them; but, as Yo-

Jephus* fays, a fudden fear and confternation feized them, and before they joined iffue with the J raelites, turned their backs: and they fled every mam to their tents; to their cities, as the Jargum, and left their king alone.

king of Fudab, the fon of Feboafo the fon of Abaziah, at Beth-/oemefh, &c.| And then they looked one another in the face indeed, but 4maziab mutt look very fillily: and came to Ferufalem; the metropolis of Judah, with his royal prifoner: }and broke down the wall of Ferufalem; in at the breach, of which he went with his chariot, as Yo/epbus fays *, in triumph: from the gate of Ephraim unto the - corner -gate, 400 cubits; the gate of Ephraim was to the north of the city, towards the tribe of Ephraim, from whence it had its name; and the corner-gate walls together, or rather the northern and eaftern walls; for Rauwolff fays‘, there is ftill the cornergate in its old place, where the north and eaft walls meet on large and high rocks, and is ftill called by fome the gate of Naphtali. a

¥. 14. And be took all the gold and filver, and all the veffels that were found in the boufe of the Lord, &c.] In 2 Chron, xxv. 24. it is added, with Obededom, who, and his family, had the care of them by lot, fee.1 Chron. xxvi. 15, and in the treafures of the king’s boufe; which were alfo fpoiled and plundered: and hoftages either. fuch as the king” of Fudab had taken from Edom, as pledges. fidelity, that they might not rebel; or which th king of I/rael took of Fudah, even fons of the princes, as the Targum, for fecurity, that they — would give him no more trouble: and returned to

¥.13. And Feboafh king of Iirael took Amaziah was that which joined the northern and weftern —

Samaria; without attempting to bring the kingdom of Fudab into fubjection to him, which he might fuppofe he could not hold, and having enough to do with the Syrians, his avowed enewhen they revolted, and 4maziab cot acain when he defeated them; and this his fon.rébuile-and fortified: and reftored it to Judah; annexed it to the kingdom of Yudab, as in the days of David and mies, Solomon: after that the king flept with bis father's; xy. 15. Now the reft of the aéts of Feboafh which he did, and his might, &c.] His valiant and mighty acts which he did in his wars with the Syrians, ch. xiii. 25. and how he fought with Amaztah king of Judah; a fhort account of which is given in the preceding verfes: are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Ifrael? a book very often mentioned and referred to, as containing the hiftory of the events and tranfactions of after the death of his father Amaziah.

y. 23. In the 15th year of Amaziah, the fon of Foajh king of Judah, Feroboam the fon of Foafb king of Irael began to reign in Samaria, &c.] » So that he reigned 14 or 15 years cotemporary with him; for Amaziah reigned. 29 years: and reigned 41 years; Fofepbus fays' 40, giving only. the round number.;

.24. And be did that which was evil in the every reign. ight of the Lord, &c.| Was guilty of idolatry:

¥.16. And Feboafh flept with his fathers, &c.\ Died as they did: and was buried in Samaria with the kings of I/rael; where they were: and Feroboam bis fon reigned in bis flead; which was Ferobcam be departed not from all the fins of Feroboam the fon of Nebat, who made Ifrael to fin, the worlhip of the calves is efpecially meant; he was in all re- {pects of the fame caft with his anceftor of the fame the fecond. name, from whom he.had it-in veneration of him.

¥. 17. And Amaziab the fon of Foafh king of Judab lived after the death of ‘Fehoafh fon of Feboabaz king of Ifrael 15 years.) Which, with the r4 he reigned cotemporary with him, made the 29 years he reigned, ¥.2. The Vulgate Latin vertion is, y. 25. He reftored the coaft of Ijrael, &c.] The cities upon it, which had been taken away from them by their enemies: from the entring of Hamath; which was the northern border of the land of Cazaan, the entrance into it from Syria, fee Numb.

25 years. xxxiv, 8. unto the fea of the plain; of Fordan, y.18. And the reft of the atts of Amaziab, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Fudab?\ Not in the canonical book of Chronicles; though there are fome things of him recorded there, which are not here; but inthe annals of each reign, written by the king’s hiftorian appointed for that purpofe. bears this name; y¥.19. Now they made a confpiracy againft him in Ferufalem, &c.| Againtt Amaziah; the inhabitants of Ferufalem, the principal men of it; perhaps thofe whofe fons the king of J/rael had carried away as hoftages, which they imputed to the ill conduct of 4maziah, as well as the breaking of the wall of Ferufalem, and the pillaging of the temple, and the king’s palace: and be fled to Lachifb; a fortified city in the tribe of Fudah, Fofb. xv. 39. but they fent after him to Lachifh, and flew bim there; in a private manner, as Fo/ephus * relates.

y. 22. He built Elath, &c.] A port which belonged to Edom, Deut. ii. 8. 1 Kings ix. 26.. which very probably David took from them when he made them tributary, and which they retook, called fometimes the Salt Sea and the Dead Sea; the \ake A/phaltites, as Jofephus *, where formerly ftood Sodom and Gomorrah: according to the word of the Zord God of Ijrael, which he fpake by ihe hand of bis fervant Fonah the fon of Amittai; the fame with him whofe prophecy among the {mall prophets and though his prophecy concerning Feroboam’s fuccefs and victories. is not there, nor any where elfe recorded at length, yet needed not to be doubted of; this is the firft of the prophets fpoken of whofe books are extant: which was of Gath-bepber; a city in the tribe of Zebulun, Fofb. xix. 13. which contradicts a notion of the Yews, that no prophet. came out of Galilee, when the very firft of thofe that were the penmen of the books of prophecies was from thence, fee Fobn vii. 52.

¥.26. For the Lord faw the affliction of Ifrael, that it was very bitter, &c.] Being forely oppreffed by their enemies, efpecially the Syrians; and he was moved to ‘have compaffion upon them, and fhew mercy to them: for there was nat any /hut up, nor any left, nor any helper in Irael; they were in the moft forlorn’ and helplefs condition; fee the note on Deut..xxxii. 36.

y.20. And they brought him on horfes, &c.] That is, in a chariot or hearfe drawn by horfes; though the ews" fuppofe he was carried on horfes, and that, becaufe he worfhipped the gods of the Edomites, who were themfelves carried on horfes; and he was not carried on the fhoulders of men, be- éaufe he neglected to ferve the god of J/rael, whofe myfteries were carried on the fhoulders of men: and he was buried at Ferufalem with his fathers in tbe city of David; and very probably in the fepulchre of the kings, though his father was not. _ y. 21. And all the people of Fudab took Azariab, &c.] Called Uzziab in the next chapter, and fo in the book of Chronicles, both names fignifying much the fame, the one the help of the Lord, the other the firength of the Lord: (which was 16 years old;) yet as he began to reign in the 27th of feroboam, ch. xv. 1. and Feroboam began to reignin the 15th of Amaziah, y. 23. he could be but four years of age, the folution of which is deferred to ch. xv. 1. and made him king inftead of bis father Amaziah; which was after his death, and not when he fled to Lachi/b, as Kimchi thinks.

y. 27. And the Lord faid not that be would blot out the name of Ifrael from under heaven, &c.} Had not as yet declared it by any of his prophets, that he would do it, as he afterwards did by Ho/ea, \ch. i. 4. 9. and was fulfilled in the reign of Hofbea king of J/rael, ch. xvii. but he faved them by the band of Feroboam the fon of Foafh; the inftrument of their deliverance from the hands of their enemies, and of recovering their borders as aforetime.

y. 28. Now the reft of the aéts of Feroboam, and a// that he did, and his might, bow be warred, &c.} His valiant ats and warlike exploits: and how he recovered Damafcus and Hamath, which belonged ¢o fudab, for Ifrael,; which cities, in the times of David and Solomon, were tributary to Judah, but - afterwards fell into the hands of the Syrians, from whom Feroboam recovered them, and annexed them to the kingdom of Ifrael, or, as Kimchi, though ¥eroboam was king of J/rael, yet having a them, he reftored them to the king of 7udab, to whom with the kings of Tfrael, 8c.) Died, and was bu- they belonged: are they not written in the book of xied with them: and Zachariah bis fon reigned in bis ‘ the chronicles of the kings of Irael? where all events fread; who was of the fourth generation from of any moment were regiftered. y g y¥. 29. And Feroboam flept with bis fathers, even

HIS chapter begins with the reign of Azariah king of Fudab, ¥.1—7. and then gives a Hezekiah fhort account of the feveral kings of [rae], to the other kings before him, and others afterwards, till came: the people facrificed, and burut incen/e frill on the high places; {ee ch..xii. 3. A laft of them; of Zachariah, x. 8—12. of Shallum, ¥.13, 14,15. of Menabem, yy. 16—22. of Pekabiab, ¥.23—26. of Pekab, fucceeded by Hofbea, the laft of them, ¥. 27—-31. and is concluded with the reion of Yotham king of Judah, y.

y. 1. Inthe 27th year of Feroboam king of Ifrael, began Azariah the fon of Amaziab king of Fudab to reign.| Now Amaziah lived only to the 15th year of Feroboam, ch. xiv. 2. 17.23. in which year, and not in his 27th, it might be thought /zariab his fon began to reign. There are various ways taken to remove this difficulty, not to take notice ef a corruption of numbers, 27 for 17, which

¥. 5. And the Lord finote the king, 8c.). With leprofy; the reafon of it was, becaufe he intruded. into the prieft’s office, and went into the temple to burn incenfe on the altar of incenfe, 2 Chron. xxvis 19, 20. fo that be was a leper unto the day of bis death; but how long it was to it from his being fmitten cannot be faid with certainty; Dr. Light= foot ' thinks he died the fame year he was fmitten: and dwelt in a feveral houfe; without Ferufalemy,; as the Targum, for lepers, according to the law,. were to dwell feparate without the camp or city, Lev. xiii. 46. the word for /everal fignifies free ™; here he lived alone, free from the company and converfation of men, free from the bufinefs of go- - vernment, his fon doing that’ for him, and in the fome infift on. Bex Gerfom and Abarbinel are of country, where he might freely walk about, as opinion, that thofe 27 years of Feroboam’s reign lepers did, and take the air; the Fews fay”, his houfe are not to be underftood of what were paft, but of was among the graves, where he was free among what were to come before the family of Febu was extinét; and that he reigned 26 years, and his fon 6 months, which made 27 imperfect years. Others fuppofe that Feroboam reigned with his father 1x or 12 years before his death; and reckoning from the different periods of his reign, this was either the 24th year, or the 15th or 16th: and others, that the reign of Azariah may be differently reckoned, either from the time his father fled to Lachif, where he might remain 11 or 12 years, or from his death, and fo may be faid to begin to reign either in the r5th or 27th of Feroboam; or there was an interregnum of rr or 12 years after the death of his father, he being a minor of about 4 years of age, which was the 15th of Feroboam, during which time the government was in the hands of the princes and great men of the nation; and it was not till 4zariah was 16 years of age, and when it was the 27th of feroboam’s reign, that the people agreed to make him king, fee ch. xiv. 24. and which feems to be the beft way of accounting for it.

yt..2. Sixteen years old was he when he began to véign, &c.] By the confent of the people and princes of Fudab, ch. xiv. 21. and be reigned 52 years in Ferufalem, exclufive of the 11 or 12 years of his minority, from his father’s death: and bis mother’s name was Fecholiah of Ferufalem; of whom there is no farther account any where.. ' y. 3. And he did that which was right in the fight of the Lord, &c,] At the beginning of his reign, and in an external way: according to all that bis father Amaziah had done, who did not do what he did “as David, fincerely and cordially, ch. xiv. 3. 2 Chron. xxv. 2.

¥. 4. Save that the high places were not removed, &c.] That is, he did right, excepting in that inftance, and which was the cafe of his father and the dead, as the phrafe is, Pf Ixxxviii.5. but not likely; much better is what dbendana obferves from R. Jouah, that the word, inthe Arabic ® language, fignifies a little houfe, and fo this might be in ~ which he dwelt.out of the city, in comparifon of his palace: and otham the king’s Jon was over thé house; had the direction of the palace, and the management of all affairs in it: judging the people of the land; adminiftring juftice in all cafes, for which they came to him, and fo filled up his father’s place; he did not depofe his father, nor take upow him to be king, only did the bufinefs of one,» y. 6. And the reft of the alts of Azariah, and all that be did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Fudab?| In the hiftory of the reigns of thofe kings; fome of them are res corded in the canonical book of the Chronicles, 2 Chron. xxvi. and fome were written by the prophet J/aiah, 2 Chron. xxvi. 22.. be ¥. 7. So Axariah flept with his fathers, Bec.) Or died, when he had reigned 52 years: and they buried him with his fathers in the city of Davids but not in the fepulchres of the kings, but in the field of the burial, or the burying-ground which bes longed to them, becaufe he was a leper, 2 Chron. xxvi. 23. Benjamin of Tudela ° places his grave near the pillar of 4b/alom, and the fountain of Sé loab, near the brook Kidron: and Fotham bis fom reigned in bis ead; who reigned 16 years; a fars ther account of him, and his reign, we have in the © latter part of this chapter, after the reigns of feves ral of the kings of Jrael. MER ree ¥. 8. In the 38th year of Axariah king of Fudab, did Zachariah the fon of Feroboam reign over Ifrael Samaria fix months.| Since Azariab began'to inthe 27th of Feroboam, y. 1. and Ferobeam rei: 41 years, ch. xiv. 23. his laft year muft be the 15th or 16th of Azariab, in which year Zachariab