ko ME NOG.
was buried, ¥. 18. and: Fofiah bis\ fon reigned in ap ¢
5 DN 7 yeas seats Ger ee 37 idee hoa al en y¥. 5. And let them deliver it.into the band of doers of thewworks. that have the overfight of the hou of the, Lord, &c.J,, Yhat were. overfeers 0. workmen, whofe names are mentioned,.2,Chran,. Xxxiy. 12. into, their, hands the money was to,be delivered by the high-prieft, when he. had taken. the account of it, and perhaps along with the king’s {cribe, fee ch, xii. 10, 11, and fet them, give ik i the doers of the, work, which is.in the houfe « Lord, to repair, the, breaches of the boufe; a wages for their, work; it feems it had not so ¥. 6. Unto\carpenters, and builders, and t &c.]., Who, were! employed, dome in mei the wood-work,, and, others in,repairing, the to walls: and to buy timber and hewen fione to repair the houfe; not only money, was to jbe given them for their workmanthip, but to buy timber and ftone to. work with, 0 aw eat ule y¥. 7. Howbeit, there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their band, &c.]. No account. was kept between the highprieft, and the king’s fcribe who delivered the money, and the overteers, of the workmen who received it from them, the latter, were not called to any account by the former, nor any audit made of
| their accounts; decaufe they dealt jatthfully; they were perfons of fuch known honour and integrity, that their,fidelity was not in the leaft called in queftion, but were trufted without examining their accounts, and how they difpofed of the, money committed to them, fee ch. xii. 15.
y. 8. And Hilkiab the high prieft faid unto Shaphan the feribe; 8c.) Not at the firt time of his meflage to him, but afterwards that he attended on him upon the fame bufinefs; after the high-prieft had examined the temple to know what repairs it wanted, and where: I bave found the book of the law in the houfe of the Lord; fome think this was only the book of Deuteronomy, and fome only fome part of that; rather the whole pentateuch, and that _not.a copy of it, but the very autograph of Mofes, written with his own hand, as it feems from 2 Chron. xxxiv. 14, Some fay he found it in the holy of holies, on the fide of the ark; there indeed it was put originally; but, had it been there,;
the, might have, found’ it before, and mult have feen it, finte, as high-prieft, he entered there on d every year; more probably fome pious prede =A of his had taken it from thence in ati a! neral corruption, as in the reign of Manajfeb, anc hid it in fome. priate place, under a Jay of f
‘was put, and count it, that it, might be known as Yarchi, in fome hole in the wall, which n derftand this-of melting and coining the filver thus given: which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people, who were Levites, 2 Chron. xxxiv. fearch about repairs was found there: and Alki gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it; and th there might be fome copies of it in privat
, i porters of the door, or rather the treathe fanctuary, that had the care of them, as the yet fcarce; and perhaps Shaphaw had nev read it through, as now he did, — 4
Fewifh commentators generally, interpret it.
s, as the Targum;, the keepers of the veffels of fone, at lcaft a.perfect one, or however had 1 co = Pe.8~ a aa. 4.
¥.9. And Shaphan the feride came to the king, end brought the king word egain, &c.| Of the delivery of his meffage to the high-prieft, and of what had been done upon it: and faid, thy fervants have gathered the money that was found in the boufe, meaning Hilkich and himfelf, who had examined the cheit in the temple, into which the money was put for the repairs of it, and had taken it out, and told it: and have delivered it‘tnto the band of them that do the work, that have the overfight of the boufe of the Lord; according to the king’s or-
-¥. 10. And Shaphan foewed the king, 8c. Farther related to him what follows: faying, Hilkiah the high-priefi hath delivered me a book; but did not fay what book it was: and Shaphan read it before the king, part of it; and it is thought by Kimehi and Ben Gerfom, that he particularly read the reproofs and threatenings in the book of Deuteronomy; they fuppofe that Hilkiah ‘read: thofe to Shapban, and directed him to read’ them ‘to the king, that he might take into.confideration a farther reformation. HA nine head bile sail
¥.11. And it came to pafs when the king kad beard the words of the book of the law, &c.] From whence it appears, that he had never wrote out a copy of it, as the kings of J/rae/ were ordered ‘to do, when they came to the throne, Devt. xvii. 18, 1g. nor had read it, at leaft not the whole of it; and. yet. it feems: itrange, that he fhould be 26 years of age,:as he now was, and had proceeded far in the reformation of worfhip, and yet be without the book of the Jaw, and the high-prieft alfo; it looks as if it was, as fome have thought, that they had till now only fome abftracts of the law, and not the whole; and perhaps the reformation hitherto carried on, chiefly lay in abolifhing idolatry, and not fo much in reftoring the ordinances of worfhip to their purity; for it was after this, ~that- the ordinance of the paffover was ordered to be kept; and when the king obferved, on hearing the law read, that it had? not been kept as it fhould, that fuch’ fevere threatenings were denounced againft the tranfgreffors of it: that be rent his clothes; as expreflive of the.renting of his heart, and of his humiliation and forrow for the fins he and his people were guilty of.
¥. 12. And the king commanded Hilkiab the prieft, &c.] The high-prieft, as he is called, y¥. 4, 8. and Abikam the fon of Shaphan, whether the fame with Shaphan the fcribe, before mentioned, or another of the fame name, is not certain: and Achbor the fon of Michaiah; who is called Abdon, the fon of Micah, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 20. and Shaphan the fcribe; who brought and read the book to the king: and Afabiab a@ fervant of the king’s; that waited on him conftantly: /aying; as follows.
¥. 13. Go ye, enquire of the Lord, &c.] Of fome of his prophets, as Ferémiah, who began to prophefy in the 13th year of fofah’s reign, and had been a prophet five years, Fer. i.'1, 2. for me, and for the people, and for all Fudab, concerning the words of this book that is found; for he obferved that this book threatened and foretold not only the’
captivity of the ten ‘tribes, but of Yudab, and of their king; and Farthi thinks, He had a particular refpect to that meflage, she Lord fhall bring thee and thy king, Sc. Deut. xxviii. 36. and therefore was defirous of knowing what he and his. people muft do to avert thofe judgments: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled againft. us which he concluded from the threatenings denounced: be: caufe that our fathers have not hearkened unto the. words of this book, to” do according to all. hich is. written concerning us; he clearly faw that‘his.an= ceftors more remote and immediate had. been very.
t, Iwi bring. evil upon this place, and upon. the inhabitants of it, &c.] “Deftruction to the place, and ‘captivity.to the inhabitants of it: even all she.words,of the, book which the’ king of Fudab hath, reads particu» larly what is contained. in the.26th of; Leviticus,, and 28th of Deuteronomy, even all. the curles..in it.
y. 17. Because they have forfaken me, &c.J, My worfhip, as the Zargum; his word and or inances and have burnt incenfe unto other gods; to b al, to the hoft of heaven, and other heathen deities: that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, their idols of wood, ftone, gold, and. filver, which their hands had made, to worfhip; than which nothing was more provoking to God: there~ fore my wrath foall be’kindjed againft this place, and)
‘foall not be quenched; the’ decree for the deftruétion: of Ferufalem was gone forth, and not to be Called back; the execution of ir totld not be flopped, or: hindered by cries, prayers, ‘intteaties, or otherwife; this wrath of God was-an emblem of the unqtench-. able fire of hell, Martti 12.' Mark ix.44. 0 0
We 18) But to the king of Fudah which Jent you to, enquiré of the Lord, 8ec,| ‘Thatis, with refpect to him, or what’ may concern him,: thas /hall ye fay untobie } carry, back this, meffage to, him,as from the Word ‘he defired 't6° enquire of: Thus Jaith the
Lord God of I/rael, AS’ touching, the’ words wybich thou haft heard; read’ otit.of, the law, conéerning the deftruction of the Jand, and its. inhabitants therein’ threatened. = * fates, Gadi Th like wax, ‘and fufceptible: of ‘impreffions;, or was moved, or trembled,'as the Targum; for God has refpect to fuch as are of contrite hearts, and tremble at’hisi word, J/ Ixvi. 2. and thou haft humbled thyfelf before the Lord; external humiliation, fuch
1 opel: gta of auras. sre sot meas
Py him fe 1, Kings xxi..29. when thon beardef. what 1./pake againft ¢bis place, and againft the inha- his. cries and, prayetsys 0 i 920,\ Behold therefore, Lawill pather thee uta’ bby Akber i »Sc.J; Lowhis: godly» anceftors, © to’ fhare with them in eternal life and happinefs; other» wilerat could be. no, peculiar favour to.die im commony 26 his. fathers did, and be buried im their fe-' pulchres;: and thou foals, be gathered into thy grave in peace;.4n.a time of public peace and tranquility 5 for, though she.was flain in;ibattle;with: the-king of Exypt,,,yet it, was what-he;was perfonally:concerned fer Pup and, was,peaceably interred imthe fepulhreof -his anceftors, «chi ¥Xiii.129)°3 ou as welbas”
he died in fpiritual peace, and enteredintov eternal?
yi 19.< Becaufe thine heart was teniler, &e.) Soft, regards.his, not living,te be diftrefied-with thecalay mities, of.his..nation,andt people) ab followse ‘ead> thine Vi Shall not-fee.all the evitranbichediwill brigg> upon this,place, hecbeitgsremoyedifirtt though -itt came, upon. it in| the|,daysyofi/hisrefoits ti and sheys brought the king soord: agatm 5 of what Auldabethet as in Ahab; was regarded: by the Lord, »much prophetefs had faid.yntgithem. to nolssmmote: od) at more internal and cordial humiliation is regarded!
6 hte chapter treats' of Fofah’s reading the. book'of the law, and of him and. the people renewing’ the covenant with God, y. 1, 2,3. and of his remiéving idols and * idolatry in every fhape, and witchefaft out of the land, which he did in the fincerityof his heart, ¥.4—25. yet the wrath of God ‘was ftill determined upon the Jand, y. 26, 27, 28. and Fofah was taken away by an untimely death, ¥. 29, 30. and was fucceeded by two fons of his, one after another, whofe reigns were y. 1. And the king fent, and they gathered. unto bin all the elders of ‘Fudab, and of Ferufalem.] Fofab fent meffengers throughout the Jand, and convened all the principal men in it at Feru/alem.
¥. 2. And the king went up into the. boufe of the Lord, 8. Tothe temple, from his palace: and all the men of Fudah, dnd all the inhabitants of Ferifalem with him; they met him there: and the priefts, and the prepbets’; the Zephaniah, and Uriab, who, though they.might not be at Ferufalem when the book of the Iaw was oinq-algicl a bas -wal sit todeod sz gfia trevor ov (Ol @B aw Ue ylao wort tir 5; slordw oc7 rol yRoids” moO DEIR
4 y ot anitofisy al dowet Gbson pricft, and thepriefs of the fecoud order, 8ac. \ Ot the, fecond courle of the priefts; the courferof: Fedaidh, f aoe er. eM 2 tty YF: '; a Chixstitye oI KN G Ss. 783 - agrees with what follows: to bring forth out of tbe tem ple of the Lord, all the veffels that were made for, Baal; ufed in burning incenfe, or edie facrifices to him:. and for the grove; the idol of the grove, or Afberab, that is, Ajbtoretb, or Afarte, the fame;with, Venus, or the moon, as Bag/, was.the, fun, theone the hufband, and the other the wife, according, to the Jews *; and for all the hoft of heaven; the ftars: _ and he burnt them without Ferufalemin the fields. of Kidron; or plain of Kidron, as the Ti argum; thro? which the‘brook Kidron'ran:, and carried the afhes, of them unto’ Beth-el;, where one of Feroboam’s calvés was fet, and was.the fource of idolatry.; and this he did'id contempt of that. places. and.to fhew his deteftation. of the idolatry -there, he made it.a dunghil'of afhes of things,ufed in idolatrous fervice; this he ‘could do, that. place, being, in..the hands of the-kings of Fudah from the times. of,dhijab, {GD OER.. 19. 64. Anon sds + selon: Le ¥. 5. And-be put dowy. the.idolatrous,..pricfs, &c.] The Cemarim, fo called,, becaufe. they. wore black clothes, as Kimchi. and_others,.: whereas; the priefts of the Lord were clothed in white linen;:fee the note on Zeph. i. 4. whom. the kings of Fudah had ordained to burn -incenfe in the high, places, in, the. cities of Fudah,’ and in the places round about, Fer; falem; for though thofe high. places were deftroyed by Hezekiah, they were rebuilt by, Manajeb his fon, and priefts put.in them to officiate, there, whom Fofah now depofed, ch. xxi. 3:. bem, alfa that burnt incenfe unto, Baal;: in the fame.high places; thefe were the prieits, and the others in the preceding claufe-are thought to be minifters unto them; #0 the fun, and.to the moon, and to the planets;, the five planets befides the fun and moon, as Saturn, Fupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus; or to the twelve celeftial figns in, the firmament, as fome‘; though Zheodoret takes it to be a fingle ftar, the evening-ftar: and.to all the hoft of heaven; or even to the hoft of heayen,. all the ftars thereof: this part of worthip, durning incenfe, which.was peculiar tothe moft high God, yet was frequently made by idolaters to their deities; and from. the word " by which it is here, and elfewhere exprefled may Neé#ar. be derived, fo much fpoken of by the heathen poets, as of a {weet fmell “, andoas delicious to their gods; and fo Porphyry * reprefents the gods’ as living on {moke,. vapours, \and -perfumes; and frankincenfe is faid, by, Diodorus Sicu- Jus’, to be moft grateful, to them, and beloved by. them; this therefore is a much better derivation, of the word WNeéfar than what Suidas*, gives, that is, as if it-was Neoctar, becaufe it makes thofe young that drink it; or than the account, Athenzeus,* gives of it, that it.is a wine in Badylon fo called. »..., * y. 6. And he brought out the grove from the houfe of the Lord, &c.] _ Not a real «grove of,trees, but a carved one, as fome think; or rather, the image of the grove, ch. xxi. 7. thatis,’ the idol Abtoreth, or Afarte, which was. fet up there 5, fo Theodoret fays; fome interpreters call ic 4foreth, the name of Venus, whom they call Afarte: this Fofab ordeted to be brought without Ferufalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burnt it at the brook Kidron;, the black brook, where the filth of the facrifices was carried: and flampt it fmall to powder; as Mofes did the golden calf: and caft the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people; the common
¥. 7+ And be brake down the boufesof the fadomites that were by the boufe of the Lord, 8c!}v> Near the temple,were. apartments, im which{menorhe oworfhippers, of, idols, proftituted,theirsBodies! to! éach | others; committing that-unnatural fin with oneano-i' ther;, which has:.its» names from: Sodom, vand ftom which thofe are fo called, ‘and which fin:they¢om=> mitted.in -honour.of the idols they ‘worfhippedyrto” fuch, vile affections were they,: ina judicial avantier, delivered. up, -becaufe of theiriidolatry;feeRom) i.” 27,28. the, word. fignifies® boly ones, they *beinig called. fo iby..an» antiphrafis 30 though Abarbinel thinks, thefe, were the idolatrous priefts, whom ‘the worfhippers,of idols reckoned: holy, and fo ‘built houfes,fer them near the temple to lodgein's the Targum, is, ** and broke down: the:houles of things * confecrated to idols,” where they. were put;. and Theodoret-on the place obferves; that by’an homo- ° nymy, they called the damons or idols themfelves boly ones;,;and.it is. not likely, fndeed, that the* Jodomites thould be where the women wove hanging>' for the grove; that is, for Affarte, asthe’ fame writer objerves > or curtains, as: the Fewi b writers”
generally interpret it, in which either the idol: was inclofed, or thefe made apartments for the idolaters to commit their abominable wickednefs privately; tho’ the Syriacand. Arabic verfions are,.** they wove’ garments for,the idols that were there;” and fo the Septuagint verfion, of.the Complutenfian Edition; that is, they wove garments for the goddefs Affarte, which they dreffed her with; the word fignifies boufee;and may mean the fhrines of the idol made of woven, work, £ |
¥. 8. And he brought all the priefts out of the cities of Fudah, &c:|] Who were of the fons of Aaron, and. had ferved in the high places there:.and-defiled the high places whereithe prisfts bad: burat incenfe 5: by cafting dead carcafies, orthe bones of ‘dead men,,or dung, or any.thing.thar was unclean, into them,. by, way of; contempt: from Geba to Beer~ eba which were thernorthern and fouthern boundaries of; tlie, land: of Sudabs and brake down the high places. of the, gates 5 ofthe cities ‘where fome think tutelar gods were placed to’ be worfhipped by perfons.as they wentiin-or out‘of' them’: and particularly that\which were in the entring-in of the gate of Fofoua, the governour of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city $f the city of Ferufalem, where this Fofbua was chief? magiftrate under the king; at.whofedoor ftood an high place, which, Kimchi thinks, might'be.ereater than the reft,. and» therefore.méntionéd: alone, ‘yet’ was not: {pared on account of ‘its greatnefs, orof' the perfon to. whom it: belonged. tt yt. 9. Neverthele/s, the pricts of the bigh places: came not up to the altar of the Lord at Ferufalem, &c.] To facrifice there, as the Targum, though» they. were temoved. from the high’ places, they were not admitted to officiate at the altar of the
Léed, having offered in forbidden places: but they did eat of the unleavened bread with their brethren; the priefts that were pure, as the fons of Zadok; though they might not offer facrifices, they were allowed to partake of the holy things with the priefts, as the meat-offerings made of flour unleavened, Lev. ii. 4, 5. which are here meant, and put for all thereft on which the priefts lived, fee Ezek. wliv. 1O—15. -; a facred chariot. Xenophon". 10. And he defiled Topheth, &c.] A place fo called, as is generally thought, from the beating of drums or timbrels in it, that the fhrieks of the infants facrificed here to Molech, might not be heard by their parents, and they repent of delivering them to him, and take them away. So the Indians now, at the burning of wives with their deceafed hufbands, attend them with drums and trumpets; and at fuch time as the fire is put to the wood, the drums and trumpets make a terrible noife for fear their cries fhould be heard”; fee the notes on Jf xxx. 33. Fer. vii. 31. this he defiled by cafting any fort of filth or unclean thing into it, in contempt of the idolatry there committed, and to alienate the minds of men from it: which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, a valley that belonged to the pofterity of a man of this name, near to Ferufalem, fee Fofo. xv. 8. hence the Greek word Geenna for hell, in the New Teftament: that no man might make his fon or his daughter pafs through the fire to Molech, which: piece of idolatry ufed to be committed in this place.
v.11. And he took away the horfes that the kings of Judah bad given to the fun, &c.| Confecrated to it; thefe were not images of horfes, as fome have thought, but real living ones; and the kings that gave them for the fervice of the fun, and for facrifice to it, very probably were Manaffeb and Amon: that horfes were facred to the fun with many heathen nations, as the Maffagete, a people in Scythia, and the Perfians, and Babylonians, and Ethicpians, is affirmed by various writers®; and from them the Fews received this notion. According to the Fewi/fh commentators, thefe were horfes provided’ for the worfhippers of the fun to ride upon, and mect the fun in the morning at its rifing, and pay their homage to it; but certain it is, that the heathen nations before mentioned flew the horfes, and facrificed them as burnt-offerings to the fun, as is aflerted by Herodotus*, Xenophon‘, Strabo', Paufanias *, Philoftretus*, and other writers‘; and fo the Indians * facrificed them to Apollo, the fame with the fun; thefe being the fwifteft of creatures, they offered them to the fwifteft of their gods, as Herodotus and Heliodorus obferve, in the places before referred to. The ftables, in which thefe horfes were kept, were at the entering of the boufe of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the fuburbs; fo that they reached from the temple to the fuburbs of Yeru/alem, to that part of them where this officer had a chamber, or lodgings, being in fome place of power and authority there; though, according to L’Empereur', it is the fame with Parbar, 1 Chron. xxvi. 18. and fhould not be rendered /uburbs, it being between the compafs or wall of the temple, and the court: and burnt the chariots of the fan with. fire, thefe were either chariots, in which the king and his nobles rode, when they went to meet and worfhip the rifing fun; or rather fuch as were facred to the fun, as well as the horfes, or Fofiab would not have burnt them; they feem to be fuch, in which the images of the fun were carried. Herodotus” makes mention as of facred horfes, fo o; peaks of the chariot of the fun as being of a white colour, and drawn in proceffion at the worfhip of the fin; as does alfo Panfanias° of a chariot, in which were the Sun, Fupiter, and Juno, and near them other deities; which notion of facred chariots, the heathens" might take from the chariot of the cherubim Fe-. bovad fate and rode in, 1 Chron. xxviii. 18.
y.12. And the altars that were on the top of the wpper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Fudab bad made, &cc.] Which were on the roof of the royal palace; the roofs of houfes in Fudab being © flat, Deut. xxi. 8. altars might be built upon them 5 fo in Arabia, altars were built on the tops of houfes. to offer incenfe thereon daily to the fun?; as here. by Manaffeb and Amon very probably, which might be chofen becaufe nearer the heavens; for which reafon the heathens made ufe of high places to. worfhip in, fee ‘Yer. xix, 13. and xxxii, 29. Zeph. i. 5. and the altars which Manaffeh had made in~ the two courts of the houfe of the Lord; ch. xxi. 5. did the king beat down, ordered to be demolifhed:— and brake them down from thence, and caft the duft of them into the brook Kidron, that there might be. no remains of them to be put to any fuperftitious ufe.; "ee.
y.13. And the high places that were before Ferufalem, &c.] Not only that were within the city, © and at the gates of it, but what were without it: - which were on the right-hand of the mount. of cor-. ruption; the mount of Ofives, fo called from the. idolatry and corrupt worfhip performed in it, by way of reproach, with a fmall alteration of the letters of the word m’nwHy for nwH; at the right-hand, or fouth of this mountain, as the Zargum; though others fay %, on the north fide of the mount of Ofves, four furlongs from Feru/alem, were high places: which Solomon king of Ifrael had builded for Afhtoreth the abomination of the Zidoians, and for Chemofh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the chil~ dren of Ammon; of which fee the notes on 1 Kings xi. 5, 7. did the king defile; by cafting unclean’ things into them. Kanwolf'*fays, ** before mount Zion toward the fouth, at the other fide of the rivulet Kidron, lies the mount of tranfgreffion, cal-. led Ma/bith, 2 Kings xxiii. 13. this is higher and fteeper than any hereabout; there you ftill fee fome old -walls of habitations, wherein the concubines. of Solomon did live;” and Mr. Maundrel* obferves, that below the hill ftands now a village called Siloe, where it is faid he kept them..
y.14. And he brake in pieces the images, &c.| Of Afbtoreth, Chemofh and Milcom, in the above high places; whichas thefe high places had been’ rebuilt by Manafeh or Amon, fo new images of thefe deities were placed there: and cut down the
Ch. xxut.nr5—22 I KINGS £roves; in which they were fet: and filled their \ places with the bones of men; of idolatrous priefts end was anfwered in 1 Kings xiii. 31, 32.
and worfhippers, buried in parts adjacent; thefe he dug up and feattered in the high places and groves to defile them, bones of the dead being by jaw unclean, Numb, xix. 16,
¥. 15. Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel, and the bigh place which feroboam the fon of Nebat, who made Ifrael to fin, had made.| For the worfhip of the calf there: doth that altar, and the: high place, he brake down, according to an ancient prophecy of the man of God, 1 Kings xiii. 3. and of Amos in later times, ch, ix. 1. and burnt the high place, and ftampt it fmall to powder, that there might be no remains of it: and burnt the grove; either the grove of trees‘on it, or the idol that was in it. - y. 16. Aud as Fofiah turned himfelf, &c.] From the high place, and the altar at’ Bethel; for he not only gave orders for the deftroying of idolatrous places and idols, but he faw them executed himfelf: be fpied the fepulchres that’ were there in the mount; the graves of idolatrous priefts and worfhippers; who chofe to be buried near thofe places of idolatry; nor was it unufual for perfons to be buried on hills and mountains, fee ‘fo/h. xxiv. 30, 33. and this was a cuttom in other nations formerly‘, particularly among the Indians“ now,, who in many things agree with the Jews: apd fent and took the bones out of the fepulchres, and burnt them upon the altar; where they had facrificed to idols: and polluted it; with their bones, which, according to the law, were defiling, and which was done in contempt of their idolatrous worfhip there: ac-
¥.19. And all the houjes alfo of the bigh places, &c.) The temples of the idols theré, and the houfes for the priefts to dwell in: shat were in the cities of Samaria, whith the kings of I[rael had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Yofiab took away; particu— larly in the cities of Manafeb, Ephraim and. Simeon, unto Napthali, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 6. the I raél-.
ites that remained there acknowledging Fofiab as their kine; and perhaps_after the defeat of Sennacherib, many of the cities of I/rael might put them- {elves under the protection of Hezekiah, and efpecially upon the deftruction of the Africa empire; and Manaffeb, with his liberty, might have his kingdom enlarged by the king of Babylon 3 and which being continued and increafed in the times of Jofiab, might be the reafon of his oppofing the king of Egypt in favour of the king of Badylou: and did to them according to all the aé#s that he had done in Bethel; defiled them, and broke down the altars in them,
¥.20. And be flew all the priejts of the high places that were there, &c.| The idolatrous priefts who facrificed to Baal, and other heathen deities; for as for others that burnt. incenfe in high places, yet to the true God, thofe he fpared, though they were not fuffered to officiate at the altar of God: the others he flew upon the altars; where they facrificed: and burnt mens bones upon them; the bones of the priefts, and worfhippers of idols, as he had done at Bethel: and returned to Ferufalem; after he had gone through the land, both of Fudab and Tfrael, and abolifhed idolatrous worlhip. every cording to the word of the Lord which the man of where.
God proclaimed, who proclaimed thefe words; or things; foretold that fuch a king by name would arife, and burn mens bones upon the altar, and which had been foretold more than 350 years before this time.:
y.17. Then be faid, what title is that that I fee? &c.] A high and large monument over a grave, with an infcription on it, more remarkable. than any of the reft, which made Yofiabh take notice of it; and the Fews have a tradition, as Kimchi obferves, that on one fide of the grave grew nettles and thiftles, and on the other fide odoriferous herbs; which is not to be depended on; but what “he farther obferves may be right, that the old prophet, as he gave order to his fons to lay his body in the fame grave with the man of God, believing his words would be fulfilled, fo he likewife gave orders to have a diftinguifhed monument or pillar erected over the graye; and which people in aftertimes took care to fupport, in memory of the man of God,~ that thereby it might be known; by which means not only the bones of the man of God were preferved from being burnt, but thofe of the old prophet alfo buried with him: and the men of the city told bim, it is the fepulchre of the man of God, which came from Fudah, and proclaimed thefe things that thou haft done againft the altar of Bethel; ee y¥. 18. And be faid, let him alone; let no man move his bones, &c.) Not take them out of the grave, as they had done the reft: fo they let his
, bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria; the old prophet, whereby his
y. 21. And the king commanded all the people, &c.] Not at Yeru/alem only, but throughout the whole kingdom: faying, keep the paffover unio the Lord your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant; which had been lately found and read, and they had agreed to obferve, and in which this ordinance was {trictly enjoined, and was a commemoration of their deliverance out of Egypt, and a direction of their faith to the Meffiah, the antitype of the paflover,
¥. 22. Surely there was not holden fuch a paffover, from the days of ‘the judges that judged Ifrael, &c.
As the king commanded; the people obeyed and
‘kept the paffover, according to the law of the
Lord; the manner of its being kept is not here recorded, but is at large in 2 Chron. xxxv. where it is obferved there had not been fuch an one from the days of Samuel, the laft of the judges; fo that the days of the judges here mean the laft days of them: nor in all the days of the kings of I rael, nor of the kings of Fudab; fince the divifion of the kingdoms; for as for the kings of J/rael, they kept it not; and though it was obferved in the times of Hezekiah king of Fudab, yet not univerfally, and by fome in their uncleannefs; for it is a miftake of Clemens of Alexandria’, that it was not kept in the times between Samuel and Fofiah; in the days of David and Solomon it might be kept by greater numbers, but not with fuch purity, and with fuch chearfulnefs and joy of heart, or with many other facrifices attending it, or fo exaétly agreeable to. the law of God, and with fuch munificence and liberality; the king, and the chief of the pr pie an