XXII. THE SHORT REIGN OF AHAZIAH (2 Chronicles 22:1). (Comp. 2 Kings 8:25.) (1) AND THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM. — 2 Chronicles 21:11; 2 Chronicles 21:13. MADE AHAZIAH... KING. — This variation from the usual formula — “And Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead” — has been supposed to indicate t... [ Continue Reading ]
FORTY AND TWO YEARS OLD. — An error of transcription. 2 Kings 8:26, _twenty and two;_ and so the Syriac and Arabic: the LXX. has “twenty.” Ahaziah could not have been forty when he succeeded, because his father was only forty when he died (2 Chronicles 21:20). ATHALIAH THE DAUGHTER OF OMRI — _i.e.,... [ Continue Reading ]
HE ALSO. — The pronoun is emphatic: _he_ too, like his father. Kings: “And he walked.” WALKED IN THE WAYS OF THE HOUSE OF AHAB. — 2 Chronicles 21:6; 2 Chronicles 21:13; Micah 6:16. FOR HIS MOTHER WAS HIS COUNSELLOR TO DO WICKEDLY. — Not in Kings; an explanatory remark added by the chronicler. (Com... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE. — _And he did the evil._ So 2 Kings 8:27. FOR THEY WERE HIS COUNSELLORS. — Or, _became._ TO HIS DESTRUCTION. — Literally, _to destruction to him,_ the same peculiar expression being used which occurred in 2 Chronicles 20:23. This last half of the verse is evidently the chronicler’s own... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WALKED ALSO AFTER (_in_) THEIR COUNSEL. — An allusion to Psalms 1:1. He became a close partner in the politics of his ally, and joined in his expedition against the Syrians. The words are not in Kings. AND WENT WITH JEHORAM. — 2 Kings 8:28, “Joram.” KING OF ISRAEL. — Added by chronicler. AGAIN... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE — _i.e.,_ Joram, 1 Kings 8:29, and LXX. BECAUSE OF THE WOUNDS. — Omit “because.” So Kings, and LXX. (ἀπὸ τῶν πληγῶν), Syriac, Arabic, and Targum, as well as some Hebrew MSS. The Hebrew text has “because the wounds,” which makes no sense. The word rendered “wounds” (_makhim_) only occurs bes... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE DESTRUCTION OF AHAZIAH WAS OF GOD. — Literally, _And from God came the downtreading of Ahaziah, so that he went to Joram._ The coin cidence of the visit with Jehu’s rebellion revealed the working of Divine providence. It thus came to pass that the three chief representatives of the house of... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN JEHU WAS EXECUTING JUDGMENT UPON THE HOUSE OF AHAB. — The Hebrew phrase strictly means _to plead with,_ or _argue a cause with._ (Comp. 1 Samuel 12:7.) When God is said to plead with men, the notion of judicial punishment is often involved, as in Joel 3:2; Isaiah 66:16; and such is the meaning... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SOUGHT AHAZIAH. — In 2 Kings 9:27 we find a different tradition concerning the death of Ahaziah. That passage, literally rendered, runs as follows: “And Ahaziah king of Judah had seen it (i.e., the death of Jehoram, 2 Kings 9:24), and he fled by the way of the garden palace, and Jehu pursued... [ Continue Reading ]
ATHALIAH SEIZES THE GOVERNMENT (2 Chronicles 22:10). (Comp. 2 Kings 11:1.) (10) BUT WHEN ATHALIAH. — See 2 Kings 11:1, with which this verse nearly coincides. DESTROYED. — So Kings and some Hebrew MSS., and all the versions. Hebrew text, _she spake,_ a mistake of some scribe. ALL THE SEED ROYAL.... [ Continue Reading ]
JEHOSHABEATH. — Kings, “Jehosheba.” (Comp. “Elisheba,” Exodus 6:23; and Ἐλισάβετ (LXX.), Luke 1:7.) THE DAUGHTER OF THE KING. — Kings adds “Joram,” and “sister of Ahaziah.” THAT WERE SLAIN. — _That were to be put to death._ IN A BEDCHAMBER. — Literally, _in the chamber of beds, i.e.,_ where the b... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH THEM. — With Jehoiada and his wife. Kings, “with her;” LXX., “with him;” Syriac and Arabic, “with her.” (See Note on 2 Kings 11:3.)... [ Continue Reading ]