CHAPTER XXI _Jehoram succeeds his father Jehoshaphat; and commences his_ _reign with the murder of his brethren, and of several of_ _the princes of Israel_, 1-5. _He walks in the way of Ahab, whose bad daughter, Athaliah,_ _he had married_, 6. _God remembers his covenant with David, and does n... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:2. _AND HE HAD BRETHREN - THE SONS OF JEHOSHAPHAT, KING OF_ _ISRAEL._] Jehoshaphat certainly was not king of _Israel_, but king of _Judah_. ישראל Yisrael must be a corruption in the text, for יהודה _Yehudah_; which is the reading of the _Syriac, Arabic,_ _Septuagint_, and _Vulg... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:3. _THE KINGDOM GAVE HE TO JEHORAM_] He made him co-partner with himself in the kingdom about _three_ years before his death; so that he reigned only _five_ years after the death of his father Jehoshaphat. See the notes on 2 Kings 8:16, c. and on the same, 2 Chronicles 1:17, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:4. _SLEW ALL HIS BRETHREN_] What a truly diabolic thing is the _lust of power_! it destroys all the charities of life, and renders those who are under its influence the truest resemblants of the arch fiend. That he might sit the more secure upon his throne, this execrable man i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:6. _HE HAD THE DAUGHTER OF AHAB TO WIFE_] This was _Athaliah_, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, who was famous for her impieties and cruelty, as was her most profligate mother. It is likely that she was the principal cause of Jehoram's cruelty and profaneness.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:7. _TO GIVE A LIGHT TO HIM_] To give him a _descendant_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:8. _IN HIS DAYS THE EDOMITES REVOLTED_] See on 2 Kings 8:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:11. _TO COMMIT FORNICATION_] That is, to _serve idols_. The Israelites were considered as joined to Jehovah as a _woman_ is joined to her _husband_: when _she_ associates with _other men_, this is _adultery_; when _they_ served _other gods_, this was called by the same name, it... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:12. _THERE CAME A WRITING TO HIM FROM ELIJAH THE PROPHET_] From 2 Kings 2:11, it is evident that Elijah had been translated in the reign of Jehoshaphat, the father of Jehoram. How then could he send a letter to the son? Some say he sent it from heaven by an angel; others, that... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:14. _WILL THE LORD SMITE_] "The WORD of the Lord will send a great mortality." - _Targum_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:15. _UNTIL THY BOWELS FALL OUT_] This must have been occasioned by a violent inflammation: by the same death perished _Antiochus Epiphanes_, and _Herod Agrippa_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:16. _THE PHILISTINES, AND - THE ARABIANS_] We have no other account of this war. Though it was a predatory war, yet it appears to have been completely ruinous and destructive. What a general curse fell upon this bad king; in his _body, soul, substance,_ _family_, and _governmen... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:17. _SAVE JEHOAHAZ THE YOUNGEST_] This person had at least _three_ names, _Jehoahaz, Ahaziah_, (2 Chronicles 22:1,) and _Azariah_, (2 Chronicles 22:6.)... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:18. _THE LORD SMOTE HIM_] "And after all these things the WORD Of the Lord smote his bowels," c. - _Targum_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:19. _AFTER THE END OF TWO YEARS, HIS BOWELS FELL OUT_] The _Targum_ seems to intimate that he had a constipation and inflammation in his bowels; and that at last his bowels gushed out. _NO BURNING_] "His people made no burning of aromatic woods for him, as they had done for hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Chronicles 21:20. _DEPARTED WITHOUT BEING DESIRED._] He was hated while he lived, and neglected when he died; visibly cursed of God, and necessarily execrated by the people whom he had lived only to corrupt and oppress. No _annalist_ is mentioned as having taken the pains to write any accoun... [ Continue Reading ]