XIII. (1-3) THE REIGN OF JEHOAHAZ. (1) IN THE THREE AND TWENTIETH YEAR OF JOASH. — Josephus makes it the twenty-first year of Joash, but wrongly. According to 2 Kings 12:1, Joash succeeded in the seventh year of Jehu, and Jehu reigned twentyeight years (2 Kings 10:36). SEVENTEEN YEARS. — This agr... [ Continue Reading ]
BESOUGHT. — Literally, _stroked the face of;_ a metaphor which occurs in Exodus 32:11; 1 Kings 13:6). AND THE LORD HEARKENED UNTO HIM. — Not, however, immediately. (See 2 Kings 13:7.) The Syrian invasions, which began under Jehu, were renewed again and again throughout the reign of Jehoahaz (2 Kings... [ Continue Reading ]
A SAVIOUR. — Jeroboam II., the grandson of Jehoahaz, a vigorous and successful sovereign, of whom it is said that Jehovah “saved” Israel by his hand (2 Kings 14:27). THEY WENT OUT FROM UNDER THE HAND. — Referring to the oppressive supremacy of Syria. From these words, and from those of 2 Kings 13:2... [ Continue Reading ]
NEVERTHELESS THEY DEPARTED NOT. — The restoration of Divine favour did not issue in the abolition of the irregular worship introduced by Jeroboam I. as the state religion of the northern kingdom. This is written, of course, from the point of view of the Judæan editor of Kings, who lived long after t... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER DID HE LEAVE OF THE PEOPLE TO JEHOAHAZ. — Rather, _For he had not left to Jehoahaz_ (_any_)_ people_ (_i.e._, war folk; 1 Kings 16:15). The subject appears to be Jehovah. The narrative returns, after the long parenthesis, to the statement of 2 Kings 13:4, “and Jehoahaz besought Jehovah (for... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS MIGHT. — Or, _prowess._ The reference is to his wars with the Syrians.... [ Continue Reading ]
SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS. — Or, _lay down_ (_i.e._, to sleep) _like his fathers, i.e._, as his fathers had done before him. The same phrase is used even of Amaziah, who came to a violent end (2 Kings 14:22).... [ Continue Reading ]
(10-25) THE REIGN OF JOASH, OR JEHOASH.ELISHA FORETELLS HIS SUCCESSES AGAINST THE SYRIANS. (10) IN THE THIRTY AND SEVENTH YEAR. — This does not agree with 2 Kings 13:1. The Ald. LXX. reads,” thirty-ninth,” which is right. BEGAN... TO REIGN, AND REIGNED SIXTEEN YEARS. — The Hebrew is briefer, _reig... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE WALKED THEREIN. — Heb., _in it he walked._ The pronoun is _collective_ in force.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE REST. — This is repeated, 2 Kings 14:15. WHEREWITH HE FOUGHT. — Or, _how he fought_. In 2 Kings 14:15 _and_ is prefixed, and should be restored here. AGAINST AMAZIAH. — See the account of 2 Kings 14:8, _seq_.... [ Continue Reading ]
JEROBOAM SAT UPON HIS THRONE. — The variation from the stereotyped phrase, “and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead,” is remarkable. (See 2 Kings 14:16.) The Talmud (_Seder Olam_) and Kimchi fancy that it is implied that Joash associated Jeroboam with himself on the throne, for fear of a revolt (!... [ Continue Reading ]
(14-21) The visit of Joash to the dying Elisha. This section is obviously derived from another documentary source than the preceding. What a fresh and life-like picture it presents in contrast with the colourless abstract which it follows!... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DIED. — Rather, _he was to die._ CAME DOWN TO HIM_ — i.e._, to his house. Comp, the Note on 2 Kings 5:24; 2 Kings 6:33. WEPT OVER HIS FACE. — As he lay on the bed. O MY FATHER, MY FATHER. — Comp, the Note on 2 Kings 2:12. Joash laments the approaching loss of his best counsellor and helper. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE BOW AND ARROWS. — From one of the royal attendants.... [ Continue Reading ]
PUT THINE HAND UPON THE BOW. — Rather, as margin. In drawing a bow, the left hand “rides” upon it, or closes round it, while the right grasps arrow and string. ELISHA PUT HIS HANDS UPON THE KING’S HANDS. — So as to invest the act of shooting with a _prophetic_ character; and, further perhaps, to si... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WINDOW. — Or, _lattice_. Probably a lattice opening outwards. EASTWARD. — In the direction of Gilead, which was occupied by the Syrians (2 Kings 10:33). SHOOT. — The old illustration of declaring war by shooting an arrow into the enemy’s country (Æn. ix. 57) is not without bearing on this case... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID. — LXX., “and Elisha said unto him,” which, as Thenius remarks, is more appropriate here, in introducing the account of the second symbolic action. THE ARROWS — _i.e._, the bundle of arrows. SMITE UPON THE GROUND. — Rather, _smite_ (or, _strike_) _earthwards;_ as if striking an enemy t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MAN OF GOD WAS WROTH WITH HIM. — Because his present want of zeal augured a like deficiency in prosecuting the war hereafter. The natural irritability of the sick man may also have had something to do with it. Thenius well remarks on the manifestly _historical_ character of the entire scene. It... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE BANDS OF THE MOABITES INVADED. — Rather, _And troops of Moabites used to invade._ They took advantage of the weakened condition of Israel to revenge the devastation of their country described in 2 Kings 3:25. AT THE COMING IN OF THE YEAR. — So the Targum and the LXX. The Syriac, Vulg., and... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THEY WERE BURYING. — They — _i.e._, a party of Israelites. The story is told with vivid _definiteness._ A BAND. — Rather, _the troop_. The particular troop of Moabites which happened to be making an inroad at the time. THEY CAST THE MAN INTO THE SEPULCHRE OF ELISHA. — Comp. Mark 16:3. In this c... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HAZAEL... OPPRESSED. — Rather, _Now Hazael... had oppressed._ The narrative returns to 2 Kings 13:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD WAS GRACIOUS. — The verse is a remark of the compiler’s, as is evident from the style, the reference to the Covenant, and the expression “as yet,” or rather, _until now — i.e._, the day when he was writing, and when the northern kingdom had finally perished. HAD RESPECT. — _Turned_.... [ Continue Reading ]
BEN-HADAD — III., not mentioned in the As Syrian inscriptions. His reign synchronises with that of Samas-Rimmon in Assyria, who made no expeditions to the West (B.C. 825-812). The name Ben-hadad does not, of course, signify any connection with the dynasty overthrown by Hazael. It was a Divine title... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CITIES, WHICH HE HAD TAKEN — _i.e._, which _Hazael_ had taken. The cities referred to must have been cities on the _west_ of Jordan (comp, 2 Kings 13:3; 2 Kings 13:7), for the trans-Jordan had been subdued by Hazael in the time of Jehu (2 Kings 10:32, _seq_.). Jeroboam II, the son of Joash, rest... [ Continue Reading ]