Exposition of the Whole Bible

and Hofbea became bis fervant, I finned againft the Lord their God, &c.| By com- | in the following difcourfe, as the caufe of a ing carried captive: which bad brought them up of the land of Egypt, from under the band f Pha. rach king of Egypt; which is obferved to fhew their ingratitude, and to aggravate their fin of idolatry: and had feared other gods; which could do them neither good nor hurt, wherefore it muft be great ftupidity to fear them. 23 Ae ¥. 8. And walked in the ftatutes of the heathen, whom the Lord caft out from before the children of Tfrael, &c.] Meaning the Canaanites, in whofe idolatrous ways they walked, and whom they imitated; though their ejection out of the land fhould have been a warning to them, and they were the. more. inexcufable, as they were particularly cautioned againft walking in them, Lev. xviii. 3. and mitting idolatry, which is the fin enlarged pee of the kings of Lfrael, which they had made; their laws and ftatutes, to worfhip the golden calves, and not go up to Jerufalem to worhhip. ¥.9. nd the children of Ifrael things that were not right ogainft the Lord their God, &c. | As being partly confcious to themfelves that they were not right, and afhamed to commit them openly; and partly, as foolifhly imagining that being done privately, they were not feen and obferved of God, having imbibed fome. atheiftical notions of him, that he was not omnifcient, or. faw not, and had forfaken the earth; or they covered * thefe actions of theirs under feigned and plaufible pretences, that what they did they were - obliged to by their kings, and with political views, and that they worfhipped the true God in the calves; but thefe were coverings too thin not to be feen through: and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen,. to the fenced city; not content with thofe built in former times, they built new ones; and thefe not in their metropolis only, but in all the cities of the kingdom; and not in large cities only, but in every town and village, between one fortified city and another; even wherever there was a watchtower erected, either for fhepherds to watch their flocks, or for keepers of gardens, orchards and vineyards to watch the fruits of them, that they — were not taken away. min.

y¥.10. And they fet them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree.) That is, ftatues and idols; for groves of trees could not be fet under, green trees; but they placed idols of {tone, and of wood, as the latter were, in fuch places as heathens were wont to do; fee Fer.iii,

6. and the note on 1 Kings xiv. 23. fo the Indians to this day have idols difperfed here and there in the fields, placed in little groves, or at the’ foot of fome hill that cafts a fhadow °*.. y. 11. And there they burnt incenfe in all the high places, &c.], As even the tribe of Fudab did, which is obferved in all the preceding reigns: as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them: — the Canaanites, and therefore they might juftly expect to be carried captive alfo: and wrought wicked ’ things to provoke the Lord to anger; by their feveral immoralities, but efpecially their idolatries, y. 12. For they ferved idols, &c.| Baalim, the Targum; dunghil gods, as the word fignifies, ‘. olteh afpucag

5 they are often called in fcripture; and Sverculius was one of the names of Saturn, an heathen deity, which he had, as is fuppofed, by his finding out the method of making land fruitful with dung!: whereof the Lord faid unto them, Ye foal not do this thing; fee Exod. xx. 32 45 5+ 23.

Wi 13. Yet the Lord teftified againft Tfrael, and againft Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the fers, &c.] Againft their fins, reproving them for them, dehorting them from them, exhorting them to repent and leave them; as in all preceding reigns, by Abijah the Shilonite, by Elijab and Elijhe, by Hofea, Amos, and Micah, and others: faying, Turn ye from your evil ways; repent of them, and reform from them, the worthip of the calves particularly: and keep my commandments, and my fratutes, according to all the law which I commanded | your fathers; which was given them and enjoined them at mount Sinai: and which I fent to you by my fervanis the prophets; by whom he put them in mind of them, explained them, and urged obedience to them. dah

¥. 14. Notwithfanding, they would not bear, &c.] Their inftruétions, advice, and admonitions, and obey them: but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God; as Terab and Nabhor, who were idolaters; or rather, their fathers in the wildernefs, that made and ferved the golden calf, and thofe that rebelled againft Mofes and Aaron; itis a metaphor taken from oxen, that will not fubmit their necks to the yoke, but draw back from it, or caft it off, fee 4s vii. 51.

¥. 15. And they rejetied his ftatutes, and bis covenant that be made with their fathers, &c.) At Sinai and Horeb, fee Exod. xxiv. 8. Deut. xxix. 1. and his tefimonies which he teftified againft them; calling heaven and earth to witnefs what he would do to them, if they broke his laws, Deut. iv. 26. and xxx. 19, and xxxii. 1. and which were fo many teflifications of his mind and will what they fhould do, or otherwife what fhould be done to them; Ben Gerfom alfo interprets this of the feafts of the pafiover and tabernacles, which were witnefles of J rael’s coming out of Egypt, and of the fanCtification and redemption of the firft-born, a teftimony of the flaying the firft-born in Egypt: and they followed vanity; idols, which are vain things for help, can neither hear, fee, fpeak, &c. and became vain; as fottifh and ftupid as the idols they worfhipped; which is the ufual fruit and effect of idolatry, fee Rom. i, 21—28. and went after the heathen that were round about thems imitated them in their ido- Jatrous practices, as the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, &c. concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they foould not do like them; of this charge fee Deut. vi. 13, 14.

¥. 16. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their Ged, &c.} Which their idolatry led them to; and indeed he that offends in one point is guilty of them all, Yames ii. 10. and made them molten images, even two calves; which they fet up at Dan and Bethel, in the times of their firft king Feroboam, 1 Kings xiii. 28. 29. and made a grove; as Abab, another of their kings did, 1 Kings xvi. 33. and worfbipped all the boft of heaven; not the angels, fometimes fo called, but befides the fun and moon, Saturn, Fupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus: and ferved Baal; which was fervice to the fun, as Abardine! interprets it; this was the god of

¥. 17. And they caufed their fons and their daughfers to pafs through the fire, &c.] To Baal or Moloch, which were the fame, and reprefented the fun, which, as the above writer obferves, prefides in the element of fire; this was done either by way of luftration, or fo as to be burnt, fee ch. xvi. 3. and ufed divination and inchantments; to get know- I:dge of what was to be done at prelent, or of things to come, neglecting the word of God and his prophets, and acting againft the exprefs law of God, ett. xviii. 10, 11, 12. and fold themfelves to do evil in the fight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger; as Abab their king did, fee 1 Kings xxi. 20. 25. they were as much the fervants of fin, as if they had fold themfeves to be flaves to it.

¥.18. Therefore the Lord was very angry with [rael, &c.] Nothing being more provoking to him than idolatry: and removed them out of bis Yight; not out of the reach of his all-feeing eye, but from all tokens of his favour, from the good land he had given them, and all the benefits and privileges of it: there was none left. but the tribe of Judah only, and part of Benjamin, which was annexed to it, and incorporated in it, and made one kingdom, and maintained the fame worfhip; and there was the lot of Simeon, which was within the tribe of Fudab; and the priefts and the Levites, and various individuals of the feveral tribes, that. came and fettled among them for the fake of worthip; but no perfect, diftinét tribe befides.

¥.19. Al/o Fudab kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, &c,j But. were infeéted with the idolatry of the ten tribes, and drawn into it by their example, and perfifted therein, notwithftanding what befel the ten tribes; which are aggravations of the fins of them both, fee fer. iit. 7—10. but walked in the ftatutes of Ifrael which they made; worfhipping the calves as they did, particularly in the times of Abaz, he fetting the example, fee ch. xvi. 3.

¥. 20.. And the Lord rejeéted all the feed of Ifrael, &c.] The tentribes, with loathing and contempt, and wrote a /o-ammi on them, rejected them from being his people, gave them a bill of divorce, and declared them no more under his care and patronage: and afflifted them, as he did before he utterly caft them off, as by famine, drought, and peftilence, Amos iv. 6—11. and delivered them into tbe hands of fpoilers as firft, into the hands of Hazael and Benbadad, kings of Syria, and then of Tiglath-pilefer king of Affyria, ch. xiii. 3. 22. and xv. 24. until he kad caft them out of bis fight, by fuffering them, as now, to be carried captive by Sa/- manefer, ¥. 6.

¥. 21. Fer be rent Ifrael from the houfe of David, &c.] Inthe times of Rehoboam the fon of Solomon, when ten tribes revolted from him, fignified.

by the rending of a garment in twelve pieces, ten of which were given to ‘Fereboam; and itis here afcribed to the Lord, being according to his purpofe and decree, and which was brought about by his providence, agreeable to a prophecy of his, fee 1 Kings xi. 30, 31. and they made Feroboam the fon of Nebat king; of themfelves, without confulting the Lord and his prophets; and: which was refented by him, though it was his will, and he had foretold it, that Yeroboam fhould be king, fee Ho/: viii. 4. and Feroboam drave Ifrael from deian « ie Il KEN GS.) Obeaviie x a in the cities of Samaria, ‘Rhow not ie none \ God of the land, taking Jehovah the God of J to be a topical deity, limited peculiarly to the land of Irael, whereas he was the, God of the who

Lord, forbidding them to go up to Ferufalem to worfhip; the Targum is, “ made them to err:” and made them fin a great fin, obliging them to worthip the calves he fet.up. aigd yea. For the children of Tfrael walked in all the fas of Feroboam which be did, &c.| ‘They obferved his injunétion, not to’ go to Yerufalem to worfhip, and they worfhipped the calves he did: they departed not from them in all fucceeding reigns, until the time of their captivity., yr. 23. Until the Lord removed Iracl out of bis fight, &c.] Suffered them to be carried captive into the land of Afyria: as be bad faid ly ail bis fervants the propbets; by Hofea, Amos, Micah, and others; fee their prophecies, and alfo 1 Kings Rill. g2. and xiv.-15, 16. fo was Trael carried away out of their own land to Afyria, unto this day, the time of the writing this book; nor have they returned unto our days, near 2500 years ago.

y. 24. And the king of Affyria brought men from Babylon, &c.] Which was at this time under the dominion of the king.of Afyria; though in a little: time after this it revolted, and had a king of its own, ‘ch. xx. 12. this king of Afjrie was either Salmanefer, who carried J/rael captive, orit may be rather his fon Efar-haddon, fee Ezr.:iv. 2. and from Cuthab, which, ‘according to Fofepbus *, was a city in Perfia, where was a river of the fame name; but it was rather a place in Zracb, in the country of Badylon, fee the note on Gea, x. 6. and from Ava; the fame with Ivab, If, xxxili. 13. where perhaps a colony of the Avim had fettled, Deut. ii. 23. and from Hamath; a city of Syria, which Jay on the northern borders of the land of Canaan, Numb, xxxiv. 8. and from Sepbarvaim; thought by fome to be the Sippara of Ptolemy, or the Sippaveni of Abyderus, in Mefopotamia, though Vitringa takes it to be a city in Syro-Phenicia, fee the note on If. xxxvi. 19. and placed them in the cities of Samaria, inftead of the children of Ifrael, not in Samaria, which was now deftroyed, according to the prophecy in Mic. i..6..as Abarbinel and other Sfewifh writers note; and they poffeffed Samaria; as an inheritance; fowed it with corn, and planted vineyards there: end dwelt in the cities thereof, in the feveral parts of the kingdom. 2.

¥. 25. And fo it was at the beginning of their dwelling ibere, that they feared not. the Lord, &c.

Did not ferve him in any manner, but their idols ‘only, which they brought with them; whereas, it was ufual with heathens to ferve the gods of the country, as they reputed them, where they came, along with their own; but even this thofe men did not do: therefore the Lord fent lions among them, even ‘into their cities, into which lions fometimes came’, efpecially when old, out of the thickets of Fordan. and other places where they haunted, fee Fer. xix. 19. which flew fome of them, this the Lord did to. affert his fovereignty, authority, and mighty power, and to let them know, that he ‘could as eafily clear the land of them, as they, by his permiffion, had cleared the land of the J ‘Fofephus™ calls this a plague that was fent among their own hands, even the nations, or thofe the nations, mentioned y¥. 24. thefe, on raelites. |ftanding the inftructions they had about th fhip of the God of J/rae/, retained and { them. own deities: aud put them in the boufes o y¥. 26. Wherefore they [pake to the king of Affyria, &c.] In letters, or by mefléngers they fent unto him: faying, The nations which thou haft removed; from different places before-mentioned: places which the Samaritans bad made im their cities wherein they dwelt; ast had built high places every where and placed'and put images in them, ¥. 9, 105 144 them; they perceived it was not a common cale nor could they impute it to any fecond caufe, - want of food with the lions, ec, but the hand of a fuperior being was in it: and they could think of » no other reafon, but decau/e they know not the man= ner of the God of the land, how, he was to be worfhipped; and becaufe they did not worfhip him, and knew not how to do it, it was refented in thi: manner by him. nett ‘at (ead y soi rae, y.27. Then the king of Aria commanded, Saying, &c.] Gave the following orders and directions; Carry thither one of the priefts whom ye brought ‘rom thence, for they carried away all the people of every clafs, civil and religious: and let bin go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner. f the God of the lend’; it is in the plural number, let them go, &c.° there might be more /priefts than’ oné ordered, or. however, others, to attend affift him in his work; the Fews lay ®, two were fent to circumcife them, and teach them the bor of the law; and they‘ give their names, Doftbai, Ot Dofitheus, and Zachariah, and Fofepbus * fays, the people defired that priefts might be fent to them of the captives. ROE es y.28. Then one of the priefts whom they bad carried away from Samaria, came and dwelt in Bethel, &c.]_ According to an Aradic writer‘, his name was Uzziah; but Epipbanius * fays his name was Efdras; but he wrongly makes him to be fent by Nebuchadnezzar, 30 years after the captivity ‘of the Fews in Babylon: this priefe was, doubtlefs, one of the priefts of the calves; for there were none elfe in the kingdom of J/rae/ carried captive, and as feems alfo by his chufing to dwell in Bethel, where probably he formerly dwelt, and officiated in the fervice of the calf there, and by teaching to make priefts of the loweft order of the people, as Feroboam’s priefts were, ¥. 32. and taught them how they fhould fear the Lord; ferve and worfhip him; he might-not teach them the worthip of the calves, that’ being a political bufinefs, and now no end to be anfwered by it; and befides, they were now’ carried out of the land, This. prieft taught, no doubt, according to the law of Mojes, but wasnot the author of the Pentateuch; which ridiculous con- a ceit of Le Clerc is fufficiently expofed by Witfius* yw. 29. Howbeit, every nation made gods if their own, &c.} Served and worfhipped thofe the brought with them, and which were the work «

Ch. xvi. %. 30—39. ID KT thens. placed their gods there in the room of them, which were as follow. ee

¥. 30. And the men of Babylon made Succoth- Vik s &c.] That is, thofe that came from Bapylon made and ferved an idolof this name, which, according to the Fewi/b writers ", were the figures of an hen and chickens; but others fuppofe them to be the Pleiades, or feven ftars, the ftars being had in great veneration by the Babylonians; though others rather think thofe Succoth-benoth, tabernacles, or booths of the daughters, as the words may be rendered, have refpect to the apartments in the temple of Venus, or Mylitta with the Babylonians and Affjrians, in which women, once in their lives, proftituted themfelves to whomfoever afked them,

“in ipo of Venus; of which filthy practice of theirs Herodotus“ makes mention; and Valerius Maximus {peaks * of a temple of Sicca Venus, which is near in found to this, where the like impurities were committed: and the men of Cuth made Nergal, which, according to the Yews, was in the likenefs of acock; but others, becaufe the firft part of the word fignifies a Jamp, fuppofe fire is meant, worfhipped by the Perfians, trom whom it is thought thefe men came; but rather the word: fignifies, as Hillerus * obferves, the fountain of light, and denotes the fun, worfhipped by the Badylonjans, Cuth being a province of theirs; from hence one of the princes of Babylon had part of his name, Fer. xxxix. 3. and the men of Hamath made Afhima; which, the Fews fay, was in the form of a goat, without any wool on it, or an ape’; but according to Hillerus*, with the Arabs, Afbima is the name of a lion, a fymbol of the fun, under which form it might be worfhipped; unlefs A/bima is the fame with Shamaim, the heavens, worfhipped by the heathens; we read of the A-hemath of Samaria, by which they fwore, Amos viii. 14. though that was before thefe men came thither.

y¥. 31. And the Avites made Nibbaz and Tartak, &c.] The former of which is reprefented by the ews in the fhape of a dog, deriving the word from Nabach to bark, as if it was the fame with the Anubis Latrator of Virgil®, an Egyptian deity; though that is faid * to have its name from VO¥8, which in the Egyptian language fignifies gold, the ftatues of it being made of gold; and the latter in the form of an afs, for what reafon I cannot fay; but the firft word, according to Aillerus *, fignifies, the remote one feeth, that is, the fun, which beholds all things; and Zartak is a chain, and may denote the fixed ftars, chained as it were in their places; or the Satellites of the planets, chained totheir orbs: and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and to Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim, which were the fame with Moloch;

pheafant *; the Septuagint verfion puts the article before them in the feminine gender, excepting the two laft, taking them for fhe-deities, or leaving thé word sixove, images, to be underftood. ts

¥. 32. So they feared the Lord, &c.] Worfhipped the God of J/rael in the manner they were taught: and made unto themjelves of the loweft of them pricfts of the high places, which Jacrificed for them in the boufes of the high places; thefe were made after the manner of Yeroboam’s priefts, 1 Kings xl. 31. and were to facrifice to the God of J rael in the high places, and temples built there; for otherwife they had, no doubt, priefts of their own to facrifice to their gods, and which they brought with them.,

¥. 33. They feared the Lord, and fervéd their own gods, &c.]. Worfhipped both: after thé manner of ihe nations, whom they carried away from. thence, thé Ifraelites, whom they had carried captive from Samaria; they worfhipped the Lord in theif idols, as they did, who pretended to worfhip God in the calves; fo they worfhipped the fupreme God in and by their idols; and made ufe of them as mediators with him.

¥. 34. Unto this day they do after the former manners, &¢.] Which may be underitood either of the new colonies in Samaria, doing after the former cuftoms in their own land, or after the cuftoms of the idolatrous J/raélites; or of the Iraelites in Captivity continuing in their idolatry, not being in the leaft reformed by their troubles; or of fuch of them as were left in the land, who repented not of their idolatries, nor reformed from them: they fear not the Lord; did. not worfhip him, at leaft not ‘alone, and much lefs in a fpirittial manner, with reverence and godly fear: neither do they after their patutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Facob, whom he named Ifrael; that is, they did not obferve the ftatutes and ordinances of the law given on mount Sinai refpecting religious worfhip, to act according to them.

¥. 35. With whom the Lord had made a covenant, &c.] As he did at Sinaz, ¥. 15. and charged them, faying, Ye fhall not fear other gods, nor bow yourfelves to them, nor ferve them, nor facrifice to them; all which is contained in the firft and f€cond com- ~ mandments of the law.

¥. 36. But the Lord, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt, with a great power, anda ftrétched out arm, &c.| Which is obferved, to fhew the obligations they lay under, in point of gratitude, to ferve the Lord: Aim fhall ye fear, and him hall ye worfbip, and to him Jfhall ye do facrifice; and him only, and not other gods; none but he being the object of religious fear and divine worfhip, and to which may be concluded, partly from the worfhip whom facrifices fhould be offered.

paid them, and partly from the fignification of

¥. 37. And the ftatutes, and the ordinances, and their names; both end with Adéelech king, which Moloch alfo fignifies; the firft may be interpreted the mighty king, and the latter the king that anfwers in an oracular way;. from the firft, one of the fons of Seunacherib king of Affyria had his If. xxxvii. 36. though the Fews, according to their fancy, reprefent the one in the likenefs of a mule, and the other in the likenefs of a horfe; and fome make the one to be a peacock, and the other aland the law, and the commandment which he wrote for you, &c.] On the two tables of ftone: ye frail ob/erve to do for evermore, thofe commands relating to religious worfhip, efpecially the object of it, and name,!to moral duties, being of eternal obligation; and all other ftatutes and ordinances of a ceremonial kind he ordered to be written for them, being fuch that they were to regard until the Meffiah came, a new world began: and ye fball not fear other gods; which is repeated, that it might be as it alfo afterwards is.

¥. 39. But the Lord your God ye foall fear, Or worfhip him, both internally and externally, according to his revealed will; for the fear of God includes both internal and external worfhip: and be foall deliver you out of the band of all your enemies; that is, provided they feared and ferved him as he required, and it became them to do, he y¥. 40. Howbeit,. they did not bearken, but did after their former manner.| They did not repent of their idolatries, but perfifted in them, and even when they were in captivity in Afyria, or fuch of obferved, » ¥.. 41. So thefe nations feared. the. Lord, and Jerved their graven images, &c.] Juft in like man- \ner as. the J/raelites had done, who ferved the I Si-Jand the calves, and worfhipped God and Baal oth their children, and their children’s childrens forbid that is, the children and children’s children of the Samaritans: as did their fathers, fo do they unto this day; to the writing of this book, which fome &c.)jascribe to Feremiah, to whofe times, and even ~ longer, they continued this mixed. and. mongrel worfhip, for the {pace of goo years, to the times of Alexander the great, of whom Sandallat, governor. of Samaria, got leave to build a temple, on Gerizzim, for his fon-in-law Maenaffeh, of which became prieft; and the Samaritans were prevailed upon to relinquifh their idolatry, and to worfhip only the.God of J/rae/; and yet it feems but ignorantly, and not without fuperftitiony to the times of Chrift,:

~ yt. 38. And the covenant that I have made witb you, ye hall not forget, &c.| The law given at mount nai; the firft table of which chiefly concerned the worfhip of the one true and living God, and the worfhip of any other, as follows: meither fall ye fear other gods; or make them the object of worfhip.

them as were left in the land.

gi phils chapter begins with the good reign of Hezekiah king of Fudab, the reformation he made in the kingdom, and the profperity that attended him when J/rael was carried captive, y. 1—12. and gives an account of the fiege of Jerufalem by the king of Affria, and of the diftrefs Hezekiah was in, and the hard meafures he was obliged to fubmit unto, ¥. 13——18. and of the reviling and blafphemous fpeech of Rab-/hakeb, one of the generals of the king of Afpria, urging the Jews to a revolt from their king, ¥. 19—37.

y.1. Now it came to pafs in the third year of Hofhea fon of Elab king of Ijrael, &c.) That is,

3256. and before Chrift 748, as commonly received, though itis highly probable it was of a more early date; according to Diomy/ius Halicarnaffenfis, it was founded in the firft year of the 7th Olympiad, in the times of Abaz, A.M. 3118* > and he reigned 29 years in Ferufalem; fo that he reigned 23 years or more after the captivity of the 10 tribes: bis mother’s name alfo was Abi the daughter of Zacha-. riab perhaps the daughter of the fame that was taken by J/aiah for a witnefs, J/ vill, 3. who very probably was a very good woman, and took care: to give her fon a religious education, though he had fo wicked a father, ey ¥. 3. And he did that which was right in the in the third year of his rebelling againft the king of Affyria, when he fhook off his yoke, and refuted to /ight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did.) Some of the kings of Fudab that be tributary to him any longer, fee ch. xvii. 1. that Hezekiah the fon of Abaz king of Fudab began to reign; having finifhed the account of the kingdom of Jjrael, and the captivity of the people, the hiftorian returns to the kingdom of Fudab, and the things of it.

yy. 2. Twenty and five-years old was he when be began to reign, &c.) ‘Now as Abaz his father began to reign at 20, and reigned 16, he mutt die at 36; fo that this fon of his muft be born to chim when at 11 years of age, for only fo many years there be between 25 and 36, which may feem wonderful; but, as Grotius obferves, Hezekiah had now entered into the 24th year, and he might be juft turned of 24, and fo his father might be 12 years of age at his birth; befides, as it is ufual for the divine hiftorian to take away or add the incomplete years of kings, 4baz might be near 21 when he began to reign, and might reign almoft 17, which makes the age of 4bazto be about 38; and Hezekiah being but little more than 24, at his death there were 13 or near 14 years difference in their age, and which was an age that need not be thought incredible for begetting of children. Bochart' and others ®, have given many inftances of children begotten by perfons under that age, even at 10 years of age”: four years after his birth, the famous'city of Rome began to be founded', A. M.| were better than fome others, are faid to do that which was right, but not like David; or they did as he did, but not according to al/ that he did, as is here faid of Hezekiap. “:

¥. 4. He removed the high places, &c.] Which the beft of the kings of Yudab never attempted, and which is obferved of them to their difcredit: and broke the images, and cut down the groves; the idols his father fet up and ferved, ch. xvi. 4. 2 Chron. xxviii. 24. 26, groves and idols in them, were early inftances of idolatry; fee Zudg, iii. 7. and the note there; and their ufe for temples are ftill continued, not only among fome Indian nations’, but among fome chriftians in the northern parts of Europe™ > and brake in pieces the brazen ferpent that Mofes had made which he made in the wildernefs, and which was brought’ by the children of J/rael with them into the land of Canaan, and was kept as 2 memorial of the miracle wrought by looking to it, being laid up in fome proper place where it had been preferved to this day: for unto thofe days the children of Ifrael did burn incenfe to it; not from the time it was brought into Canaan, nor even in later times, in the days of A/a and Febohapbat, who — would never have fuffered it; very ‘probably: this piece of idolatry began in the times of Abaz, who encouraged. every thing of that kind: for — this ferpent they had a great veneration,. being

Ch.xvi. Ww 5-15. UH. KIN GS. made by Mo/és, and a medans.in his time of healing the J/raelites; and they imagined it- might be of fome fervice to them, in a way of mediation to God; and worthy of worfhip, having fome degree of divinity, as Kimchi and. Ben Gerjom; but Laniado™ excufes them from all fhew of idolatry, and fuppofes what they did was for the honour of God only; hence fprung the herefy of the Opdites, according to Theodoret: and he called it Nebufbtan perceiving they were en{nared by it, and drawn into ido- Jatry to it, by way of contempt, he called it. by this name, which fignifies dra/s; fuggefting that it was only a mere piece of brats, had no divinity in it, and could be of no fervice to.them in. divine things; and that it might no longer be a ‘fnare to them, he broke it into pieces; and, as the Jews" fay, ground it to powder, and fcattered it to every wind, that there might be no remains of it.

¥.5. He trujfied in the Lord God of Ifrael,- 8&cc:) To be his protector and defender, and’ had no dependence. on idols as an arm of flefh; the Targum is, he trufted in the Word of the Lord God; not in Nebufotan, but in him the brazen ferpent was a} type of, even in the Word and Son of God, his alone faviour and redeemer: fo that after bim was none like bim among all the kings of fudab;, for tho’ Fofiah was like him in fome things, yet not in all: nor any that were before bim, from the times of the divifion of the kingdoms of J/rael and Fudab; and Ben Gerfom and Abarbinel think, that David, and Solomon are not to ke excepted; David finning inthe cafe of Uriah, and Solomon falling into idolatry, crimes that Hezekiah was not guilty of.

y. 6. For be clave to the Lord, &c.| To his worfhip and fervice; to the fear of the Lord, as the Targum: and departed not from following him; from his worfhip, as the fame paraphrafe: but kept ’ bis commandments, which the Lord commanded Mo- Jes; both moral, ceremonial and judicial..

_ ¥. 7. And the Lord was with him, &c.) The

Word of the Lord was for his help, as the Zargum: and be profpered whitherfoever be went forth, that is, to war: and he rebelled againft the king of Affyria; which is explained in the next claufe: and ferved him not; he refufed to be his fervant,.as_ his father dbaz had been, ch. xvi. 7. to which he was not obliged by any agreement of his; and if it was in his power, might lawfully fhake off his yoke, which is all that is meant by rebelling againft him; he refufed to be tributary to him..

y.8. He fmote the Philiftines even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, &c.} Who in his father’s time had invaded Fudah, and taken many cities and towns in it, which Hezekiah now recovered, and drove them to their own territories, of which Gaza was one; fee 2 Chron. xxviii. 18. from the tower o the watchmen to the fenced city thatis, places both great and fmall, cities, towns and villages; of this phrafe, fee ch. XViilw 9g.

¥. 10. And at the end of three years they took it, &c.] at is, at the firft end of them, at the beginning, in which fenfe the phrafe is taken in Deut. xv. 1. Jer. xxxiv. 14. even in the fixth year demand of him, he would fubmit to: and rhe king of Afyria appointed unso Hezekiah king ef Fudah 300 talents of filver, and 30 talents of gald; to be paid to him direétly; which, according to Brerewood', amounted to 247,500 pounds.

y¥. 9. And it came to pafs in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, &c.| In the beginning of it: which was the feventh year of Hofbea fon of Elab king of Jfrael, the beginning of his feventh: that Shalmancfer king of Afpria came up againft Samaria, and befieged it; fee ch, xvii.

y.15. And Hezekiah gave bim all the filver that was found in the boufe of the Lord, and in the trea- 5 RY Jures of the king’s bouje.) To make up the 3co talents of filver, for which purpofe he exhaufted both, which had been done more than once before” by the kings of Yudab; thefe were their refources \in times of diftrefs; fee ch, xii, 18. and xvi, 8.

VFS of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hofbea king of Lfrael, Samaria was taken; fee ch. xvii. 6.

¥. 11. dnd the king of Affyria did carry away Ifrael unto Affyria, 8cc.} Of the places he difpoffeffed them.of in, after mentioned, fee the note on ch. xvii. 6, Ey

¥..12. Becaufe they obeyed not the voice of the Lord, &c.} In his law, and by his prophets: but tranfgrefed bis covenant, and all that Mofes the jervant of the Lord commanded; which evils are at large infifted on in the preceding chapter as the caufe of their captivity: and would not bear them, wor do them; contrary to the agreement of their fathers at Sizai, who promifed to do both, Exod. XXiv. 3, 7.

¥. 13. Now in the 14th year of king Hezekiah, &c.] Eight years after the captivity of Irae: did Sennacherib king of Affyria come up againft all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them; many of them, the frontier towns, and proceeded as far as Lachifo; ambitious of enlarging his dominions, his father having fubdued the kingdom of J/rae/, and being alfo provoked by Hezekiah’s refufing to pay him tribute. Mention is made of this king by name, by Herodotus and other heathen writers, fee the note on J/. xxxvi. 1. in Tobit i. 15. he is called Sennacherib, and is faid to be fon of Enemaffar, that is, Sbalmanefer; however, he fucceeded him in his kingdom; though fome ° take him to be the fame with Shalmanefer: he is faid by Meta/thenes ” to reign feven years, and was fucceeded by 4faradon, who, according to him, reigned ten years.

v.14. dnd Hezekiah king of Fudab fent to the king of Affyria to Lachifh, &c.| A city in the tribe of Fudab, about 20 miles from Feru/alem, towards the fouth-weft 4, which the king of Affyria was now befieging, 2 Chron. xxxii. g. at firft Hezekiah made provifion to defend himfelf, and encouraged his people not to be afraid of the king of Affria, 2 Chron. xxxii. 1—8. but underftanding he had taken his fortified cities, and made fuch progrefs with his arms, he was difheartened, and fent an ambafly to him to fue for peace; judging it more advifeable to buy it, than to expofe his capital to a fiege; in which he betrayed much weaknefs and difturft of the power and providence of God: /aying, 1 have offended, not the Lord, but the king of 4fjria, by rebelling againft him, or refufing to pay the yearly tribute to him; he owned he had aéted imprudently, and had given him juft occafion to invade his land: return from me; trom his land, from proceeding to Ferufalem, which he feemed to have a defign upon, and go back to his own country with his army, and make no farther conquefts: that which thou putteft on me, I will bear; what. mulé& or fine he fhould lay upon him, or tribute he fhould impofe upon him, or whatever he fhould plates’ of gold with which they were covered; or fcraped off the gold from them, as the Targum interpretsit: andfrom the pillars which Hezekiah king of “tudah had overlaid, or the pofts, as the Targum, the lintel or fide-pofts of the doors of the temple; which tho’ covered in Solomon’s time, the gold was worn off, or had been taken off by Abaz, but was renewed byHezekiah, and who, inthis time of diftrefs, thought kiah, with «a great hoft againft beri Bag withftanding he took the above large fum of m of him, fo falfe and deceitful was he: thefe were three’ generals of his army, whom he fent to befiege Feru- /a/em, whilft he continued the fiege of ‘Lachifh; — only Radjbakeh is mentioned in J/ xxxvi. 2. he being perhaps chief general, and the’ principal fpeaker; whofe fpeech, to the end of this chapter, y..16. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the from the doors of the temple-of the Lordy 8c.) Uhe gold, ¥.17. And the king of Affiria fent Tartan, ad. Rabfaris, ang Rabfhakeb from Lachifh to king Hea he might take it off again, no doubt with a full purpofe to replace it, when he fhould be able. T his is one of the three things the Ta/mudic writers ° difapprove of in Hezekiah: and gave it to the king of Affyria; tomake up the 30 talents of gold he demanded.

intended to intimidate Hezekiah, and difhearten his people with fome circumftances which attended it, — are recorded word for word in J/: xxxvi. throughout; fee the notes on it.