CHAPTER XV _Azariah begins to reign over Judah, and acts well, but does not_ _remove the high places_, 1-4. _He becomes leprous, and dies, after having reigned_ fifty-two _years; and Jotham, his son, reigns in his stead_, 5-7. _Zachariah reigns over Israel, and acts wickedly; and Shallum_ _con... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 15:3. _HE DID_ THAT WHICH WAS _RIGHT_] It is said, 2 Chronicles 26:5, that he sought the Lord in the days of Zechariah the prophet, and God made him to prosper; that he fought against the _Philistines_; broke down the walls of _Gath, Jabneh_, and _Ashdod_; prevailed over the _Arabians... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 15:5. _THE LORD SMOTE THE KING, SO THAT HE WAS A LEPER_] The reason of this plague is well told in the above quoted chapter, 2 Chronicles 26:16. That his heart being elated, he went into the temple to burn incense upon the altar, assuming to himself the functions of the high priest; t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 15:10. _SMOTE HIM BEFORE THE PEOPLE_] In some public assembly: he probably became very unpopular.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 15:12. _THIS_ WAS _THE WORD OF THE LORD - UNTO JEHU_] God had promised to Jehu that his sons should sit on the throne of Israel _to the fourth generation_; and so it came to pass, for _Jehoahaz,_ _Joash, Jeroboam_, and _Zachariah_, succeeded Jehu, to whom this promise was made. But bec... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 15:13. _HE REIGNED A FULL MONTH_] Menahem is supposed to have been one of Zachariah's _generals_. Hearing of the death of his master, when he was with the troops at _Tirzah_, he hastened to Samaria, and slew the murderer, and had himself proclaimed in his stead. But, as the people of _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 15:19. _PUL, THE KING OF ASSYRIA_] This is the first time we hear of _Assyria_ since the days of Nimrod, its founder, Genesis 10:11. Dean _Prideaux_ supposes that this _Pul_ was father of the famous _Sardanapalus_, the son himself being called _Sardan_; to which, as was frequent in th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 15:20. _EACH MAN FIFTY SHEKELS OF SILVER_] Upwards of _five_ _pounds_ sterling a man.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 15:21. ARE _THEY NOT WRITTEN IN - THE CHRONICLES_] There are no chronicles extant, in which there is any thing farther relative to this king.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 15:25. _SMOTE HIM IN SAMARIA, IN THE PALACE OF THE KING'S_ _HOUSE, WITH ARGOB AND ARIEH_] Who Argob and Arieh were we know not; some make them _men_, some make them _statues_. Pekah had _fifty_ Gileadites in the conspiracy with him.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _CAME TIGLATH-PILESER_] He is supposed to have been the successor of Sardanapalus: Dean Prideaux makes him the same with _Arbaces_, called by AElian _Thilgamus_, and by Usher _Ninus junior_; who, together with _Belesis_, headed the conspiracy against _Sardanapalus_, and fixed his seat at N... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _HOSHEA THE SON OF ELAH - IN THE TWENTIETH YEAR OF_ _JOTHAM_] There are many difficulties in the chronology of this place. To reconcile the whole, _Calmet_ says: "Hoshea conspired against Pekah, the _twentieth_ year of the reign of this prince, which was the _eighteenth_ after the beginnin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _NOW THE REST OF THE ACTS OF JOTHAM_] These acts are distinctly stated in 2 Chronicles 27:1. He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and he built much on the wall of _Ophel_. He built cities in the mountains of Judah; and in the forests he built castles and towers. He overthrew t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 15:37. _IN THOSE DAYS THE LORD BEGAN TO SEND_] It was about this time that the Assyrian wars, so ruinous to the Jews, began; but it was in the following reigns that they arrived at their highest pitch of disaster to those unfaithful and unfortunate people. However much we may blame the... [ Continue Reading ]