XV. (1-7) THE REIGN OF AZARIAH (UZZIAH), KING OF JUDAH. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 26) (1) IN THE TWENTY AND SEVENTH YEAR OF JEROBOAM. — An error of transcription for the _fifteenth year_ (שץ 15, מ, 27). The error is clear from 2 Kings 14:2; 2 Kings 14:17; 2 Kings 14:23. Amaziah reigned twenty-nine years... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT. — This statement is repeated word for word in Chronicles. Its exact meaning here, as in other instances, is that Azariah supported the legitimate worship, and lent his countenance to no foreign _cultus._ When the chronicler adds that he “sought God in the days of (th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SMOTE THE KING. — The chronicler relates the reason — viz., because of his usurpation of priestly functions in the sanctuary. This happened towards the end of the reign. Jotham, the regent, was only twenty-five when Azariah died (2 Kings 15:33). SMOTE. — Or, _struck._ So _we_ speak of... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REST OF THE ACTS OF AZARIAH. — Such as his wars with the Philistines and Arabs, his improvements in the organisation of the army and the defences of the capital, his fondness for husbandry and cattle-breeding, and his success in all these directions, as well as his intrusion into the Sanctuary t... [ Continue Reading ]
(8-16) THE REIGNS OF ZACHARIAH AND SHALLUM IN SAMARIA. (8) IN THE THIRTY AND EIGHTH YEAR OF AZARIAH. — This agrees with the assumption that Jeroboam reigned fifty-one years (2 Kings 14:23).... [ Continue Reading ]
AS HIS FATHERS — _i.e.,_ the dynasty of Jehu, of which he was the last member. Like all his predecessors, he upheld the illicit worship established by Jeroboam I.... [ Continue Reading ]
SON OF JABESH. — _Not_ man of Jabesh Gilead, as Hitzig explains. The father’s name is always given in the case of usurpers. BEFORE THE PEOPLE. — Rather, _before people_ — _i.e.,_ in public. So all the versions except the LXX. The open assassination of the king is noted, in contrast with the secrecy... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS WAS THE WORD OF THE LORD. — Thenius considers this remark as added by the Judæan editor to the short abstract of Zachariah’s reign.... [ Continue Reading ]
A FULL MONTH. — Literally, as margin. Thenius says Shallum cannot have reigned a _full_ month, as Zechariah 11:8 obviously refers to the three kings Zachrriah, Shallum, and Menahem.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR. — _And._ MENAHEM. — Tiglath Pileser II. records in his annals that in his eighth regnal year (_i.e.,_ B.C. 738) he took tribute of “Raçunnu (Rezin) the Damascene, and Menihimmè Samerinâ’a” — _i.e.,_ Menahem the Samaritan. GADI. — Or, _a Gadite._ WENT UP FROM TIRZAH. — Menahem was Zachariah’s... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN. — After slaying Shallum, and seizing the supreme power. TIPHSAH. — The name means _ford,_ and elsewhere denotes the well-known Thapsacus on the Euphrates (1 Kings 4:24). Here, however, an _Israelite_ city in the neighbourhood of Tirzah is obviously intended. The course of events was apparently... [ Continue Reading ]
(17-22) THE REIGN OF MENAHEM. HIS TRIBUTE TO PUL, KING OF ASSYRIA. (17) REIGNED TEN YEARS. — And some months over. (Comp. 2 Kings 15:23.)... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DID THAT WHICH WAS EVIL. — Ewald says that at the outset Menahem appeared to be guided by better principles, referring to Zechariah 11:4. ALL HIS DAYS. — In the Hebrew these words occur at the _end_ of the verse. They are not found in any other instance of the common formula which the verse repea... [ Continue Reading ]
AND. — As it stands, the verse begins abruptly. But the reading of the LXX. restores the connection: _In his days_ Pul the king of Assyria,” &c. (Comp, 2 Kings 15:29.) PUL. — This name has been read in the cuneiform (_Pu-u-lu, i.e., Pûlu,_ an officer of Sargon’s). For the identity of Pul, king of As... [ Continue Reading ]
EXACTED. — Literally, _caused to go out;_ a word already used in the sense of _to lay out, expend_ money (2 Kings 12:12). Probably, therefore, _laid_ (_vayyissâ_)_, i.e.,_ imposed, should be read here (Genesis 31:17). OF. — Heb., _upon._ THE MIGHTY MEN OF WEALTH. — A later use of the Hebrew phrase... [ Continue Reading ]
(23-26) THE REIGN OF PEKAHIAH (Heb., _Pĕkahyâh_). _(_23_)_ IN THE FIFTIETH YEAR. — The forty-ninth, if verse seventeen were exact. (25) BUT ... A CAPTAIN OF HIS. — _And_... _his adjutant_ (or _knight,_ 2 Kings 7:2). THE PALACE OF THE KING’S HOUSE. — The same expression occurred in 1 Kings 16:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
(27-31) THE REIGN OF PEKAH, SON OF REMALIAH, IN SAMARIA. (27) REIGNED TWENTY YEARS. — This does not agree with the duration assigned to the reign of Jotham (2 Kings 15:33), and the year assigned as the beginning of Hoshea’s reign (2 Kings 17:1). For, according to 2 Kings 15:32, Pekah had reigned abo... [ Continue Reading ]
(32-38) THE REIGN OF JOTHAM IN JERUSALEM. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 27) (32) IN THE SECOND YEAR OF PEKAH. — Who came to the throne in the last year of Uzziah (Azariah, 2 Kings 15:27). (34) ACCORDING TO ALL THAT HIS FATHER UZZIAH HAD DONE. — The chronicler qualifies this general statement by adding that... [ Continue Reading ]