Exposition of the Whole Bible

‘by him,. and now removed into the houfe or temple of the Lord; or, as fome think, this was a reprefentation of a grove, a carved grove of gold or filves, in the midft of which an image was. placed.in the temple; though what Se/den obferves*, feems beft of all, ‘that this was an image of Afberab, as in the original text; that is, of Afarte or Afptoreth, the goddefs of the Zidonians, 1 Kings xi. 52 the fame the Phwnicians are faid to call Aftroarche,and affirm. it to be the moon‘: in 2 Chrom. xxiii. 7. it is called a carved image the idol he had-made; and an 4rabic writer * fays, it had four faces, which

‘feems to be a figure of the cherubim; but, accord-

‘ing Suidas*, it was the ftatue of Fupiter, who alfo fays it had four faces: of which the Lord faid to David, and to Solomon bis fon; that is, of which houfe or temple: iz this houfe, and in Ferufalem, which I have chofen out of all the tribes of Ifrael, will 1 put my name for ever; fee 1 Kings viii. 29. and ix, 3. and the note on y. 4.. y¥. 8. Neither will I make the feet of Ifrael move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, é&c.] Or fuffer them to be carried captive into ‘another land, as in the times of the Fudges; that is, on the following condition: only if they will obferve to do according to all the law that my fervant Mojfes commanded them, by obedience to which they ‘had the tenure of the land of Canaan, Ii. 19. y¥. 9. But they bearkened not, &c.] To the voice of God in his law by Mo/es, and were not obedient to it: and Manaffeb feduced them to do more evil than did the nations, whom the Lord deftroyed before the children of Ijrael; he fet up more idols, and drew the people into more, and greater idolatries, than the old Canaanites; and thefe were the more agoravated by having a law given to them, and prophets fent to:inftruct them in it, and by the benefits and bleffings beftowed upon them by the lawgiver, which laid them under greater obliga~. tions to him;,. fee ‘Yer. ii. 11, 28. y. 10. And the Lord fpake by bis fervants the prophets, 8c.) Who prophefied in the days of Mana/- Jeb; and were, according to the Fewi/b chronology *, Joel, Nahum and Habakkuk: faying; as follows. y. 11. Becaufe Manaffeh king of Fudah bath done thefe abominations, &c.] Before named, ¥. 3, 4,

15, 6, 7. and hath done wickedly above all that the

Amorites- did that were before him; one of the feven nations of Canaan, a principal of them, and which is put for all the reft: and hath made Judah alfo to fin with his idols; the worthip of them, asthe Targum; which he did both by his edicts, and by his example.

¥. 12. Therefore thus faith the Lord God of Ijrael, &c.) Who though kind and gracious to J/rael as their Covenant-God, is yet juft and righ» teous, as well as he is a fovereign Being and Lord of all: debold, Iam bringing fach evil upon Feru-

Salem and ‘Judah, that whofoever beareth of it, both his ears foall tingle; i will make fuch a noife in the world, and be fo Korrible and terrible; and if the report of it would be fo dreadful, as to make a man’s ears tingle, and his heart tremble, what muft it beto endure it! Ezek. xxii 14, fee x Sante Iu. If.. y.13. And Iwill firetch over Ferufalem the line of Samaria, &c.| The Targum is, the line of de- {truction; and the fenfe is, that the fame meafure fhould be meafured to Jerufalem, as was to Sama- via that is, the fame lot and portion fhould befal one as the other, that is, be utterly deftroyed: and the plummet of the boufe-of Abab; the Targum is, the weight or plummet of tribulation; figni-, fying, that the fame calamities fhould come upon the families of Yerufalem, and efpecially on the family of Maznajfeb, as came upon the family of Abab, It isa metaphor from builders that take down, as well as raife up buildings by rule and falem, asa man wipeth a difh, wiping it, and turning it upfide down; as when one takes-a dilh or cup that has broth in it, or any liquid, as oil; and the Septwagint render it alabafler, in which ointment ufed to be put; and wipes it clean, that nothing may appear in it; and then turns it with its mouth downward, that if any thing fhould remain, it might drain out; fignifying hereby the emptying of Yeru/alem of its palaces and houfes, wealth and riches, and of all its inhabitants; and yet the empty difh being preferved, feems to denote the reftoration of Ferufalem after the 70 years captivity. According to the Vulgate Latin verfion, the metaphor is taken from the blotting out of writing-tables, and turning and rubbing the ftyle upon them till the writing is no more feem.

y.14. And I will forfake the remnant of mine inberitance, 8cc.|. The whole land of Canaan was the Lord’s inheritance; 10 tribes in it were already removed, only Fudab with Benjamin was left, and the Lord threatens to forfake that remnant: and deliver them into.the hands of their enemies, and they feall become a prey and fpoil to all their enemies; which was fulfilled in their captivity in Babylon.

y. 15. Becoufe they have done that which was evil in my fight, &c.| Committed idolatry: and have provoked me to anger fince the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, evento this day, being always prone to idolatry, fo provoking to God, and which they were guilty of quickly after they came out of Egypt, in the worfhip of the golden calf, and had ever fince at times been criminal this way; and now the meafure of their iniquity being almoft up, would be reckoned for together.

y. 16. Moreover, Manaffeh fhed innocent blood very much, &c.] Putting to death the prophets that reproved him and his people for their idolatries, and fuch who would not comply therewith;

‘and it is commonly faid, both by Jewish and chriftian writers, that J/aiab was flain, and even fawn afunder by him, fee the note on Hed, xi. 37. till be had filled Ferufalem from one end to another; a metaphor taken from filling a veffel brim full: befide his fin wherewith he made Fudab to fin, in doing that which was evil in the fight of the Lord; the fin of idolatry he drew them into, and even obliged them to commit.

y.17. Now the reft of the alts of Manaffeb, and all that be did, &c.| Both good and bad, for he repented, and was humbled, and did many good things afterwards, though not recorded in this book: aud his fin that be finned, his idolatry: are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Fudah? in which were recorded the moft memorable events of their reigns; and in the canonical book of Chronicles are many things concerning Manaffeb; which are not written here; fee 2 Chroa. xxxiii. 11—16.

y. 18. And Manaffeh flept with his fathers, &c.) Or died, after a reign of 55 years, and a life of

N.G S.. 470) 67: and was buried in the garden of his own bouje, in the garden of Uzza, whether the burial of him here was his own choice, judging himfelf unworthy to lie with the kings of udab, who had been guilty of fuch great fins, or whether the will of others on the fame account, is not certain; and as much at a,lofs are we for the reafon of this garden eing called the garden of Uzza, whether from Uzzab that died for touching the ark, 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7, or from king Uzziah, ch. xv. 7. The Fews buried in gardens in the times of Chrift, who himfelf was buried in one, Yobn xix. 41. The Romans had fometimes fepulchres in their gardens °, ‘Gailba the emperor was buried in his gardens "; and fo had other nations. Cyrus king of Perfia was buried in a garden*: and Amon bis fon reigned in bis fread; of whom we have the following account. »

¥.19. And Amon was 22 years old when he began to reign, &c.]. Being born in the 45th of his father’s life, and in the 33d of his reign: and be reigned two years in Ferufalem; which, as Abarbinel obferves, was the ufual time the fons of wicked kings reigned, and inftances in the fon of Fero= Loam, Baafoa and Abab; 1 Kings xv. 25. and xvi. 8. and xxi. 51. An Arabic writer" fays, he reigned 12 years, but according to the Fews only two: and bis mother’s name was Mefbullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Fotbab there was a. place called Fotbath, which was one of the ftations of the chil dren of J/rael in the wildernefs, Numb. xxxiii. 33. Deut. x. 7. but itcan fcarcely be thought to be the fame place. - ¥.20. And be did that which was evil in the fight of the. Lord, &c. |. Committed idolatry: as his father Manaffeh did, he imitated him in that, but not in his repentance-and humiliation, 2 Chron. XXXiii. 23. “0 y.21. And he walked in all the way his father walked in, 8c.|_ In his wicked way, his idolatry, witchcraft and murders: and ferved the idols that his father ferved, and worfoipped them; Baal, Afptoreth, and all the hoft of heaven, and all the carved images his father made, which it feems he only removed, but did not break in pieces, 2 Chron, XXXili. 22.

¥. 22. And be forfook the Lord God of his fathers, &c.] Of David, Solomon, 8c. and walked not in the way of the Lord, prefcribed by him in his law for the worfhip of him.

¥. 23. And the fervants of Amon confpired againft him, &c.] Some of his domeftic. fervants, and perhaps his courtiers, not on account of his idolatry, but for fome ill ufage of them: and flew the king in bis own houfe, which they had an opportunity to do, being his fervants.

y¥. 24. And the people of the land flew all them that had confpired againft king Amon, &c.] On occafion of his death, there feems to have been an infurrection of the people in a body, to avenge the death of their king, who might be beloved on account of his idolatry, fo depraved was the nas tion 5 or it may be only to avenge his death becaufe he was their king, whofe life thefe men ought not to have taken away: and the rather this may be thought to be the reafon, by what follows, and the people of ‘the land made Fofah bis fon king in bis ftead; who had been prophefied of by name 3 y.25. Now the ref of the as of Amon which be did, are they not written in the book of the Chro- I ’ Wicks

nicles of the kings of Fudab? | See the note on ary edt ails «) Anan _ | bis flead 5, of whom many. things. are faid oy 26, And he was buried in his fepulcbre, in the ne

Where his father Manaffeb pH 1S chapter begiris with the age and charac-}.

ter of Fofiabh king of Fudab, y. 1, 2. and -relates| his orders for repairing the temple, y.

3—7, his attention to the book of the law which

‘was found, and read to him, and the effect it had

‘upon “him, y. 8—-11. the command, he gave to certain perfons to.enquire of the Lord about. it, who applied to. Huldab the prophetefs, y. 12—14.

who returned an, anfwer by them to the king, foretelling the deftruction of Feru/alem, and giving the reafon of it, and ‘at the fame time afftring the king it fhould now be.in his. days,.y.. 15-20.

He iy Fofiab. was eight years. avben he began to feign, &c.Jc And muft be born when his father was but 165 for: mon-lived but. 24. years, ch. xxi. 1g. and be. reigned 31 years in Jerusalem; and fo mutt die at 39 years\of age: and bis mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah, of Bofcath;.a city, of; the tribe ‘of Fudah, Fo. xv« 39. fee the note jthere, j Aids

¥.2.. And he did that which was.right in the fight of the Lord, &c.] Inthe affair of religious worfhip éfpecially;-as well as ‘in other, things: anzd walked in all the ways of David his father; in his religious ways, in which hé never departed, from his God: and turned. not afide:to the right-hand or to the left; but kept aneven, conftant path of worfhip and "duty, according to the law of God.

¥. 3. And it came to pafs in the 18th year of king Fofiab, 8c.) Not of,his age, but of his reign, as appears from 2. Chron.:xxxiv. 8. nor is what follows the firft remarkable act he did in a religious way; for elfewhere we read of whatihe did in the 8th and 12th ‘years of, his reign,, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 3—7. that the king fent Shaphan the fon of Azaliab, the fon of Méfbullam the. feribe, to the houfe of the Lord; the king’s fecretary; the Septuagint verfion is, the {cribe of the houfe of the Lord, and.fo the Vulgate Latin verfion; that kept the account. of the ‘expences Of the temple; with him two others were dent, 2 Chron..xxxiv. 8., faying; as follows.

‘Who had an apartment in the temple; there was an Hilkiab, a prieft, in thofe times, who was the father of feremiah the prophet, Fer. i. 1,2. whom -an Arabic writer! takes.to be the fame with this; but itis not likely: shat be may fum the filver which is brought into the boufe of the Lord; which the people voluntarily offered, for the repairing of it; this he would have the prieft take an account of, that the fim total. might be known; his meaning is, that he fhould take it out of the cheft in which it