John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 23:1



INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 23



This chapter treats of Josiah's reading the book of the law, and of him and the people renewing the covenant with God, 2Ki 23:1, and of his removing idols and idolatry in every shape, and witchcraft, out of the land, which he did in the sincerity of his heart, 2Ki 23:4, yet the wrath of God was still determined upon the land, 2Ki 23:26 and Josiah was taken away by an untimely death, 2Ki 23:29 and was succeeded by two sons of his, one after another, whose reigns were wicked, 2Ki 23:31.



Ver. 1. And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. Josiah sent messengers throughout the land, and convened all the principal men in it at Jerusalem.





2 Kings 23:2



Ver. 2. And the king went up into the house of the Lord,.... To the temple, from his palace:



and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him: they met him there:



and the priests, and the prophets; the prophets Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Uriah, who, though they might not be at Jerusalem when the book of the law was found, yet, upon this message of the king's, might come up thither from the countries where they were; the Targum interprets the word "scribes": and some take them to be the sons of the prophets, their disciples; in 2Ch 34:30 they are called Levites:



and all the people, both small and great; a very numerous assembly:



and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord: that is, he caused it to be read by others, and perhaps by more than one, the congregation being so large.





2 Kings 23:3



Ver. 3. And the king stood by a pillar,.... As the manner of kings was, 2Ki 11:14 and is thought to be the brasen scaffold erected by Solomon, on which he stood at the dedication of the temple, and now Josiah at the reading of the law, 2Ch 6:13, it is said to be his place, 2Ch 34:31,

See Gill on "2Ki 11:14"



and made a covenant before the Lord: agreed and promised in the presence of God, both he and his people:



to walk after the Lord: the worship of the Lord, as the Targum; closely to attend to that:



and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes: all the laws of God, moral, civil, and ceremonial:



with all their heart, and all their soul: cordially and sincerely:



to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book: lately found, and now read unto them:



and all the people stood to the covenant: agreed to it, and promised to keep it; so the Targum,



"all the people took upon them the covenant,''



engaged to observe it.





2 Kings 23:4



Ver. 4. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order,.... Or the second course of the priests; the course of Jedaiah, 1Ch 24:7 as some think; or rather, the two chief priests next to the high priest, who were of the line both of Eleazar and Ithamar; though the Targum interprets it of the Sagan of the priests, a deputy of the high priest, such as in later times the high priest had always appointed for him on the day of atonement {r}:



and the keepers of the door: the porters at the door and gates of the temple; or rather the treasurers, as the Targum; such as were appointed over the vessels of the sanctuary, as the Jewish writers generally interpret it, and which best agrees with what follows:



to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal: used in burning incense, or offering sacrifices to him:



and for the grove: the idol of the grove, or Asherah, that is, Ashtoreth, or Astarte, the same with Venus, or the moon, as Baal was the sun, the one the husband, and the other the wife, according to the Jews {s}:



and for all the host of heaven: the stars:



and he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron; or plain of Kidron, as the Targum; through which the brook Kidron ran:



and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel; where one of Jeroboam's calves was set, and was the source of idolatry; and this he did in contempt of that place; and, to show his detestation of the idolatry there, he made it a dunghill of ashes of things used in idolatrous service; this he could do, that place being in the hands of the kings of Judah from the times of Ahijah, 2Ch 13:19.



{r} Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 1. {s} Zohar in Gen. fol. 34. 3.





2 Kings 23:5



Ver. 5. And he put down the idolatrous priests,.... The Cemarim, so called, because they wore black clothes, as Kimchi and others, whereas the priests of the Lord were clothed in white linen,

See Gill on "Zep 1:4".



whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places, in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; for though those high places were destroyed by Hezekiah, they were rebuilt by Manasseh his son, and priests put in them to officiate there, whom Josiah now deposed, 2Ki 21:3,



them also that burnt incense unto Baal; in the same high places; these were the priests, and the others in the preceding clause are thought to be ministers unto them:



to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets; the five planets besides the sun and moon, as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus; or to the twelve celestial signs in the firmament, as some {t}; though Theodoret takes it to be a single star, the evening star:



and to all the host of heaven; or even to the host of heaven, all the stars thereof: this part of worship,



burning incense, which was peculiar to the most high God, yet was frequently made by idolaters to their deities; and from the word {u} by which it is here and elsewhere expressed may "nectar" be derived, so much spoken of by the Heathen poets as of a sweet smell {w}, and as delicious to their gods; and so Porphyry {x} represents the gods as living on smoke, vapours, and perfumes; and frankincense is said, by Diodorus Siculus {y}, to be most grateful to them, and beloved by them; this therefore is a much better derivation of the word "nectar" than what Suidas {z} gives, that is, as if it was "nectar", because it makes those young that drink it; or than the account Athenaeus {a} gives of it, that it is a wine in Babylon so called.



{t} David de Pomis Lexic. fol. 77. 3. {u} rjq "suffitum fecit. Et diis acceptus--" Nidor. Ovid. Metamorph. 1. 12, fab. 4. {w} Theocrit. Idyll. xvii. ver. 29. {x} De Abstinentia, l. 2. c. 42. Celsus apud Origen. l. 8. p. 417. {y} Biblioth. l. 2. p. 132. {z} In voce nektareou. {a} Deipnosophist. l. 1.





2 Kings 23:6



Ver. 6. And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord,.... Not a real grove of trees, but a carved one, as some think; or rather the image of the grove, 2Ki 21:7 that is, the idol Ashtoreth, or Astarte, which was set up there; so Theodoret says; some interpreters call it Astoreth, the name of Venus, whom they call Astarte: this Josiah ordered to be brought



without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burnt it at the brook Kidron; the black brook, where the filth of the sacrifices was carried:



and stamped it small to powder; as Moses did the golden calf:



and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people; the common people, see Jer 26:23 or rather on the graves of the worshippers of idols, as it seems from 2Ch 34:4 the Targum is,



"on the graves of the children of Galia,''



which, Kimchi says, is the name of an idol; this was done partly in contempt of the idol, groves being, according to law, impure; and partly to the reproach of the deceased, and the memory of them, for their idolatry, and to deter from it those that survived them.





2 Kings 23:7



Ver. 7. And he brake down the houses of the Sodomites that were by the house of the Lord,.... Near the temple were apartments, in which men, the worshippers of idols, prostituted their bodies to each other; committing that unnatural sin with one another, which has its name from Sodom, and from which those are so called, and which sin they committed in honour of the idols they worshipped; to such vile affections were they, in a judicial manner, delivered up, because of their idolatry; see Ro 1:27 the word signifies "Holy Ones", they being called so by an antiphrasis; though Abarbinel thinks these were the idolatrous priests, whom the worshippers of idols reckoned "holy", and so built houses for them near the temple to lodge in; the Targum is,



"and broke down the houses of things consecrated to idols,''



where they were put; and Theodoret on the place observes, that by an homonymy, they called the demons or idols themselves "Holy Ones"; and it is not likely, indeed, that the Sodomites should be



where the women wove hangings for the grove; that is, for Astarte, as the same writer observes: or "curtains", as the Jewish writers generally interpret it, in which either the idol was enclosed, or these made apartments for the idolaters to commit their abominable wickedness privately; though the Syriac and Arabic versions are,



"they wove garments for the idols that were there;''



and so the Septuagint version, of the Complutensian edition; that is, they wove garments for the goddess Astarte, which they dressed her with: the word signifies "houses", and may mean the shrines of the idol made of woven work.





2 Kings 23:8



Ver. 8. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah,.... Who were of the sons of Aaron, and had served in the high places there:



and defiled the high places where the priests had burnt incense; by casting dead carcasses, or the bones of dead men, or dung, or anything that was unclean, into them, by way of contempt:



from Geba to Beersheba; which were the northern and southern boundaries of the land of Judah:



and brake down the high places of the gates: of the cities where some think tutelar gods were placed to be worshipped by persons as they went in or out of them: and particularly that



which were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city; of the city of Jerusalem, where this Joshua was chief magistrate under the king; at whose door stood an high place, which, Kimchi thinks, might he greater than the rest, and therefore mentioned alone, yet was not spared on account of its greatness, or of the person to whom it belonged.





2 Kings 23:9



Ver. 9. Nevertheless, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord at Jerusalem,.... To sacrifice there, as the Targum; though they were removed from the high places, they were not admitted to officiate at the altar of the Lord, having offered in forbidden places:



but they did eat of the unleavened bread with their brethren; the priests that were pure, as the sons of Zadok; though they might not offer sacrifices, they were allowed to partake of the holy things with the priests, as the meat offerings made of flour unleavened, Le 2:4 which are here meant, and put for all the rest on which the priests lived, see Eze 44:10.





2 Kings 23:10



Ver. 10. And he defiled Topheth,.... A place so called, as is generally thought, from the beating of drums or timbrels in it, that the shrieks of the infants sacrificed here to Molech might not be heard by their parents, and they repent of delivering them to him, and take them away. So the Indians in India now, at the burning of wives with their deceased husbands, attend them with drums and trumpets; and at such time as the fire is put to the wood, the drums and trumpets make a terrible noise for fear their cries should be heard {b};

See Gill on "Isa 30:33" see Gill on "Jer 7:31" this he defiled by casting any sort of filth or unclean thing into it, in contempt of the idolatry there committed, and to alienate the minds of men from it:



which is the valley of the children of Hinnom; a valley that belonged to the posterity of a man of this name, near to Jerusalem, see

Jos 15:8, hence the Greek word "geenna" for hell, in the New Testament:



that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech; which piece of idolatry used to be committed in this place.



{b} Agreement of Customs between the East Indians and Jews, art. 25. p. 85, 86.





2 Kings 23:11



Ver. 11. And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun,.... Consecrated to it; these were not images of horses, as some have thought, but real living ones; and the kings that gave them for the service of the sun, and for sacrifice to it, very probably were Manasseh and Amon: that horses were sacred to the sun with many Heathen nations, as the Massagetae, a people in Scythia, and the Persians, and Babylonians, and Ethiopians, is affirmed by various writers {c}: and from them the Jews received this notion. According to the Jewish commentators, these were horses provided for the worshippers of the sun to ride upon, and meet the sun in the morning at its rising, and pay their homage to it; but certain it is that the Heathen nations before mentioned slew the horses, and sacrificed them as burnt offerings to the sun, as is asserted by Herodotus {d}, Xenophon {e}, Strabo {f}, Pausanias {g}, Philostratus {h}, and other writers {i}; and so the Indians of India {k} sacrificed them to Apollo, the same with the sun; these being the swiftest of creatures, they offered them to the swiftest of their gods, as Herodotus and Heliodorus observe, in the places before referred to. The stables in which these horses were kept were



at the entering of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs; so that they reached from the temple to the suburbs of Jerusalem, to that part of them where this officer had a chamber, or lodgings, being in some place of power and authority there; though, according to L'Empereur {l}, it is the same with Parbar, 1Ch 26:18 and should not be rendered "suburbs", it being between the compass or wall of the temple, and the court:



and burnt the chariots of the sun with fire; these were either chariots, in which the king and his nobles rode, when they went to meet and worship the rising sun; or rather such as were sacred to the sun, as well as the horses, or Josiah would not have burnt them; they seem to be such in which the images of the sun were carried. Herodotus {m} makes mention as of sacred horses, so of a sacred chariot. Xenophon {n} speaks of the chariot of the sun as being of a white colour, and drawn in procession at the worship of the sun; as does also Pausanias {o} of a chariot, in which were the sun, Jupiter, and Juno, and near them other deities; which notion of sacred chariots the Heathens might take from the chariot of the cherubim Jehovah sat and rode in, 1Ch 28:18.



{c} Justin e Trogo, l. 1. c. 10. Curt. Hist. l. 3. c. 3. Ovid. Fast. l. 1. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 26. Heliodor. Ethiop. l. 10. c. 6. 28. {d} Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 216. {e} Cyropaed. l. 8. c. 23, 24. {f} Geograph. l. 11. p. 353. {g} Laconica, sive, l. 3. p. 201. {h} Vit. Apollon. l. 1. c. 20. {i} Vid. Lactant. de fals. Relig. l. 1. c. 21. {k} Laon. Chalcondyl. de Rebus Turc. l. 3. p. 108. {l} Not. in Misn. Middot, c. 2. sect. 3. No. 3. So Boehart. Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 10. col. 177. {m} Polymnia, sive, l. 7. c. 55. {n} Ut supra, (Cyropaed. l. 8.) c. 23. {o} Eliac. 1. sive, l. 5. p, 307.





2 Kings 23:12



Ver. 12. And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made,.... Which were on the roof of the royal palace; the roofs of houses in Judah being flat, De 21:8 altars might be built upon them; so, in Arabia, altars were built on the tops of houses to offer incense thereon daily to the sun {p}; as here by Manasseh and Amon very probably, which might be chosen because nearer the heavens; for which reason the Heathens made use of high places to worship in, see Jer 19:13



and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord; 2Ki 21:5



did the king beat down; ordered to be demolished:



and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron; that there might be no remains of them to be put to any superstitious use.



{p} Strabo, Geograph l. 16. p. 539.





2 Kings 23:13



Ver. 13. And the high places that were before Jerusalem,.... Not only that were within the city, and at the gates of it, but what were without it:



which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption: the mount of Olives, so called from the idolatry and corrupt worship performed in it, by way of reproach, with a small alteration of the letters of the word tyxvm for hxvm; at the right hand, or south of this mountain, as the Targum; though others say {q}, on the north side of the mount of Olives, four furlongs or half a mile from Jerusalem, were high places:



which Solomon king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon; of which

See Gill on "1Ki 11:5" See Gill on "1Ki 11:7"



did the king defile; by casting unclean things into them. Rauwolff {r} says,



"before Mount Zion toward the south, at the other side of the rivulet Kidron, lies the mount of transgression, called Mashith, 2Ki 23:13, this is higher and steeper than any hereabout; there you still see some old walls of habitations, wherein the concubines of Solomon did live;''



and Mr. Maundrell {s} observes, that below the hill stands now a village called Siloe, where it is said he kept them.



{q} Vid Adrichom. Theatrum T. S. p. 171. {r} Travels, par. 3. c. 4. p. 233. {s} Journey from Aleppo, &c. p. 102.





2 Kings 23:14



Ver. 14. And he brake in pieces the images,.... Of Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom, in the above high places; which as these high places had been rebuilt by Manasseh or Amon, so new images of these deities were placed there:



and cut down the groves; in which they were set:



and filled their places with the bones of men; of idolatrous priests and worshippers, buried in parts adjacent; these he dug up and scattered in the high places and groves to defile them, bones of the dead being by law unclean, Nu 19:15.





2 Kings 23:15



Ver. 15. Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made. For the worship of the calf there:



both that altar, and the high place, he brake down; according to an ancient prophecy of the man of God, 1Ki 13:3 and of Amos in later times, Am 9:1



and burnt the high place, and stamped it small to powder; that there might be no remains of it:



and burnt the grove; either the grove of trees on it, or the idol that was in it.





2 Kings 23:16



Ver. 16. And as Josiah turned himself,.... From the high place, and the altar at Bethel; for he not only gave orders for the destroying of idolatrous places and idols, but he saw them executed himself:



he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount; the graves of idolatrous priests and worshippers, who chose to be buried near those places of idolatry; nor was it unusual for persons to be buried on hills and mountains, see Jos 24:30 and this was a custom in other nations formerly {t}, particularly among the Indians {u} now, who in many things agree with the Jews:



and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burnt them upon the altar; where they had sacrificed to idols:



and polluted it; with their bones, which, according to the law, were defiling, and which was done in contempt of their idolatrous worship there:



according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words; or things; foretold that such a king by name would arise, and burn men's bones upon the altar, and which had been foretold more than three hundred and fifty years before this time.



{t} Vid. Servium in Virgil. Aeneid. 11. ver 849. "fuit ingens monte sub alto". {u} Manasseh ben Israel Spes Israelis. sect 6. p. 29.





2 Kings 23:17



Ver. 17. Then he said, what title is that that I see?.... A high and large monument over a grave, with an inscription on it, more remarkable than any of the rest, which made Josiah take notice of it; and the Jews have a tradition, as Kimchi observes, that on one side of the grave grew nettles and thistles, and on the other side odoriferous herbs; which is not to be depended on; but what he further observes may be right, that the old prophet, as he gave orders to his sons to lay his body in the same grave with the man of God, believing his words would be fulfilled, so he likewise gave orders to have a distinguished monument or pillar erected over the grave; and which people in later times took care to support, in memory of the man of God, that thereby it might be known; by which means not only the bones of the man of God were preserved from being burnt, but those of the old prophet also, buried with him:



and the men of the city told him, it is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel; see 1Ki 13:1.





2 Kings 23:18



Ver. 18. And he said, let him alone, let no man move his bones,.... Not take them out of the grave, as they had done the rest:



so they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria; the old prophet, whereby his end was answered in being buried with him, 1Ki 13:31.





2 Kings 23:19



Ver. 19. And all the houses also of the high places,.... The temples of the idols there, and the houses for the priests to dwell in:



that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away; particularly in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, unto Naphtali, 2Ch 34:6 the Israelites that remained there acknowledging Josiah as their king; and perhaps, after the defeat of Sennacherib, many of the cities of Israel might put themselves under the protection of Hezekiah, and especially upon the destruction of the Assyrian empire; and Manasseh, with his liberty, might have his kingdom enlarged by the king of Babylon; and which being continued and increased in the times of Josiah, might be the reason of his opposing the king of Egypt in favour of the king of Babylon:



and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel; defiled them, and broke down the altars in them.





2 Kings 23:20



Ver. 20. And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there,.... The idolatrous priests who sacrificed to Baal, and other Heathen deities; for as for others that burnt incense in high places, yet to the true God, those he spared, though they were not suffered to officiate at the altar of God: the others he slew



upon the altars; where they sacrificed:



and burnt men's bones upon them: the bones of the priests, and worshippers of idols, as he had done at Bethel:



and returned to Jerusalem; after he had gone through the land, both of Judah and Israel, and abolished idolatrous worship everywhere.





2 Kings 23:21



Ver. 21. And the king commanded all the people,.... Not at Jerusalem only, but throughout the whole kingdom: saying,



keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant; which had been lately found and read, and they had agreed to observe, and in which this ordinance was strictly enjoined, and was a commemoration of their deliverance out of Egypt, and a direction of their faith to the Messiah, the antitype of the passover.





2 Kings 23:22



Ver. 22. Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel,.... As the king commanded; the people obeyed and kept the passover, according to the law of the Lord; the manner of its being kept is not here recorded, but is at large in

2Ch 35:1 where it is observed there had not been such an one from the days of Samuel, the last of the judges; so that the days of the judges here mean the last days of them:



nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; since the division of the kingdoms; for as for the kings of Israel, they kept it not; and though it was observed in the times of Hezekiah king of Judah, yet not universally, and by some in their uncleanness; for it is a mistake of Clemens of Alexandria {w}, that it was not kept in the times between Samuel and Josiah; in the days of David and Solomon it might be kept by greater numbers, but not with such purity, and with such cheerfulness and joy of heart, or with so many other sacrifices attending it, or so exactly agreeable to the law of God, and with such munificence and liberality; the king, and the chief of the priests and Levites, providing out of their own substance for the people and their brethren.



{w} Stromat. l. 1. p. 328.





2 Kings 23:23



Ver. 23. But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem. This shows that Josiah must begin the reformation very early that year, since he did all that is before recorded in this and the preceding chapter by the fourteenth of Nisan, the day on which the passover was kept, which month answers to part of our March and part of April, see 2Ki 22:3 and was the same year the repairs of the temple were finished.





2 Kings 23:24



Ver. 24. Moreover, the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards,.... Who were not to be allowed among the Israelites, De 18:10



and the images; or teraphim: and the idols, and all the abominations; which were worshipped by the Heathens, and introduced among the Jews, and forbidden by the word of God:



that were spied in the land of Judah, and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away; for which, it seems, diligent search was made, and wherever they were discovered were removed:



that he might perform the words of the law, which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord; both with respect to witchcraft and idolatry, see Le 20:27.





2 Kings 23:25



Ver. 25. And like unto him was there no king before him,.... The same is said of Hezekiah, 2Ki 18:5, Hezekiah might excel him in some things, as Josiah might excel Hezekiah in others:



that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might; with such sincerity, heartiness, zeal, and constancy:



according to all the law of Moses; having respect to every commandment, especially relative to worship, with the greatest precision and exactness:



neither after him arose there any like him; for all to the captivity were wicked princes.





2 Kings 23:26



Ver. 26. Notwithstanding, the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah,.... Notwithstanding the great reformation wrought among them; for though Josiah was a sincere reformer, and did what he did heartily, as to the Lord, according to his will, and for his glory; yet the people were not sincere in their compliance, they turned to the Lord not with their whole heart, but feignedly, Jer 3:10



because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal; by shedding innocent blood and committing idolatry, which the people consented to and approved of, and even now privately committed idolatry, as the prophecies of Jeremiah and Zephaniah show; and it may easily be concluded that their hearts were after their idols, by their openly returning to them in the days of the sons of Josiah.





2 Kings 23:27



Ver. 27. And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel. Not from his all seeing eye, but from being the object of his special care and protection; the meaning is, that he would suffer them to he carried out of their land into captivity as Israel was; this he had said in his heart, was determined upon; the decree was gone forth, and it was irrevocable:



and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen: for the place of his worship, the people having forsaken his worship there, and followed after idols:



and the house of which I said, my name shall be there; the temple, called after his name, and where his name was to be, and had been, called upon.





2 Kings 23:28



Ver. 28. Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did,.... For abolishing idolatry, and restoring the true worship of God:



are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? and also of Israel, in which an account was kept of the transactions of their reign; many other of the acts of Josiah are recorded in the canonical book of Chronicles, 2Ch 34:1.





2 Kings 23:29



Ver. 29. In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt,.... Who is called in the Targum Pharaoh the lame, because he was lame in his feet, perhaps gouty; Herodotus {x} also calls him Necos the son of Psammiticus; now it was in the last days of Josiah this king reigned in Egypt, or however that the following event was:



[that] he went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates; to Carchemish, a city situated upon it; see 2Ch 35:26, the king he went against was the king of Babylon, who had conquered the Assyrian monarchy, and therefore called king of it; some take him to be Nabopolassar; according to Marsham {y}, he was Chyniladanus;



and King Josiah went against him; to stop him, that he might not pass through his country, and attack the king of Babylon, whose ally, perhaps, Josiah was; or, however, thought himself obliged to him by the privileges, power, and authority he allowed him to exercise in the land of Israel:



and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him; as soon as they came face to face, and engaged in battle, see 2Ki 14:8 that is Pharaoh slew Josiah at the first onset. Megiddo was a city in the tribe of Manasseh, Jos 17:11. Herodotus {z} calls it Magdolus, which seems to be a city on the borders of Egypt, the same with Migdol, Jer 44:1 where he says Pharoahnechoh conquered the Syrians; in Josephus {a} it is called Mendes very wrongly. Josiah seems to have engaged in this action without consulting the Lord and his prophets.



{x} Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 158. {y} Chronic. Secul. 18. p. 568. {z} Ibid. c. 159. {a} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 5. sect. 1.





2 Kings 23:30



Ver. 30. And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo,.... They took him out of the chariot in which he was wounded, and put him into another, where he died of his wounds by the way; being mortally wounded, he is said to be dead, or a dead man, see 2Ch 35:24



and brought him to Jerusalem; which, according to Bunting {b}, was forty four miles from Megiddo:



and buried him in his own sepulchre; which either he had provided for himself in his lifetime, or which in common belonged to the kings of Judah, see 2Ch 35:24



and the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead; though he was not the eldest son, Jehoiakim, who was afterwards placed in his room, being two years older, as appears from 2Ki 23:31 and this is the reason, as the Jewish commentators in general agree, that he was anointed; which they say was never done to the son of a king, unless there was a competitor, or some objection to, or dispute about, the succession, as in the case of Solomon and others.



{b} Travels, &c. p. 188.





2 Kings 23:31



Ver. 31. Jehoahaz was twenty three years old when he began to reign,.... Who seems to be the same with Shallum, Jer 22:11



and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; a short reign, being deposed by the king of Egypt, as after related:



and his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah; a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 10:29.





2 Kings 23:32



Ver. 32. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Committed idolatry:



according to all that his fathers had done; his grand father and great grandfather, Amon and Manasseh; so soon after Josiah's death was the revolt to idolatry.





2 Kings 23:33



Ver. 33. And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath,.... Places in Syria; Hamath was formerly a kingdom in Syria, and Riblah is said by Jerom {c} to be Antioch of Syria, near to which was the fountain of Daphne; and in the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem on Nu 34:11. Daphne is put for Riblah; and Josephus {d} says Antioch was by Daphne of Syria; and in the Apocrypha:



"Which when Onias knew of a surety, he reproved him, and withdrew himself into a sanctuary at Daphne, that lieth by Antiochia.'' (2 Maccabees 4:33)



Daphne is said to be by Antioch; with which place Pompey was greatly delighted, because of the pleasantness of it, and the abundance of waters about it {e}: hither, it is probable, Jehoahaz went with an army to avenge his father's death on the king of Egypt, or to assist the king of Babylon, or both; and here Pharaoh met with him, and took him, and bound him; he seems to be of a martial spirit, from Eze 19:3



that he might not reign in Jerusalem; whither afterwards the king of Egypt came, and took it; and so Herodotus {f} says that after he had conquered the Syrians at Migdol, he took Cadytis, a great city of Syria, which seems to be Jerusalem, the holy city;



and put the land to a tribute of one hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold; the land of Judah; and one hundred talents, according to Bunting {g}, amounted to 37,500 pounds of our money; and a talent of gold, according to Brerewood {h}, was 4,500 pounds; but Bishop Cumberland {i} makes it 5,067 pounds, three shillings, and ten pence; a talent of gold could not be so large in Homer's time, since he speaks of seven of them given at once in a way of hospitality {k}.



{c} Comment. in Ezekiel. xlvii. fol. 261. C. {d} Antiqu. l. 17. c. 2. sect. 3. {e} Rufi Fest. Breviar. Eutrop. Hist. Rom. l. 6. {f} Ut supra. (Chronic. Secil. 18. p. 568.) {g} Ut supra, (Travels, &c.) p. 288. {h} De Ponder & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 4. {i} Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 4. p. 21. {k} Odyss. 9. ver. 258. & Odyss. 24. ver. 321.





2 Kings 23:34



Ver. 34. And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father,.... Not in the room of Jehoahaz; for he did not allow him to be a king, and to have any lawful right to the throne; but, deposing him, set up his elder brother:



and turned his name to Jehoiakim; to show his subjection to him, and that he held his government by him:



and took Jehoahaz away: with him, from Jerusalem, when he departed thence:



and he came to Egypt, and died there: and never returned to Jerusalem, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, Jer 22:11.





2 Kings 23:35



Ver. 35. And Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh,.... The one hundred talents of silver and the talent of gold, which he imposed as a tribute upon the land:



but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh; he did not take it out of his own treasures nor the treasures of the house of the Lord, which perhaps might be exhausted, but levied it of the people of the land:



he exacted the silver and gold of the people of the land, required them to pay it in:



of everyone according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh: everyone was taxed according to his abilities, in proportion to what he was worth, or to the estate he was possessed of.





2 Kings 23:36



Ver. 36. Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign,.... And therefore must be two years older than his brother Jehoahaz, who was deposed:



and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and therefore must die at the age of thirty and six:



and his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah; which Josephus {l} calls Abuma; but he speaks of a village in Galilee called Ruma {m}; but whether the same with this is not certain.



{l} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 5. sect. 2. {m} De Bello Jud l. 3. c. 6. sect. 21.





2 Kings 23:37



Ver. 37. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. Amon and Manasseh; see

2Ki 23:32.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 24:1



INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 24



This chapter relates the rebellion of Jehoiakim against the king of Babylon, which prepared the way for the ruin of the kingdom of Judah, according to the decree of God, and also the death of Jehoiakim, and the conquest the king of Babylon made of part of the land of the king of Egypt, 2Ki 24:1 and the short and wicked reign of Jehoiachin his son, when he and the royal family, with great numbers of the inhabitants of the land, were carried captive to Babylon, 2Ki 24:8, and his uncle was made king in his room, 2Ki 24:17.



Ver. 1. In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up,.... Against Jerusalem; this was in the latter end of the third, or the beginning of the fourth of Jehoiakim's reign, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 25:1, when Jehoiakim was taken, but restored upon promise of subjection and obedience, and hostages given, at which time Daniel and his companions were carried captive, with some of the vessels of the temple; See Gill on "Da 1:1" see Gill on "Da 1:2"



and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: which were the fifth, sixth, and seventh years of his reign:



then he turned and rebelled against him; being encouraged by the king of Egypt, who promised to assist him against the king of Babylon; Nebuchadnezzar is the Nabocolasser in Ptolemy's canon; and Berosus {n} testifies, that seventy years before the Persian monarchy he made war against the Phoenicians and Jews, and it is from this time the seventy years' captivity is to be dated.



{n} Apud Clement. Alex. Stromat. 1. p. 329.





2 Kings 24:2



Ver. 2. And the Lord sent against him,.... By Nebuchadnezzar, against whom he rebelled:



bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon; who were all subject to the king of Babylon, or were voluntary troops in his service, and bore an hatred to the Jews: according to Eupolemus {o}, this army consisted of Medes and Babylonians, and, besides 10,000 chariots, there were in it 180,000 foot, and 120,000 horse:



and sent them against Judah to destroy it; this was not until the eleventh of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar being diverted by the siege of Tyre, or other important business, from chastising the king of Judah until this time:



according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets; Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Huldah the prophetess.



{o} Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 39. p. 454.





2 Kings 24:3



Ver. 3. Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight,.... It was the sure and certain decree of God they should be carried captive, and therefore he stirred up the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar, and gave him orders to go against it:



for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; which were still continued among the Jews, and committed by them, though repented of by Manasseh, and he returned from them.





2 Kings 24:4



Ver. 4. And also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood,.... See 2Ki 21:16 which cruel usage of the prophets, and servants of the Lord, was still continued; see

Jer 26:21,



which the Lord would not pardon; he pardoned the sins of Manasseh, who repented, but not the sins of those persons who imitated him, but repented not; or though he personally pardoned the sins of Manasseh, so that he was saved everlastingly, yet the temporal punishment of the nation for those sins, in which they were involved with him, was not averted.





2 Kings 24:5



Ver. 5. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim,.... In 2Ch 36:8, it is added, "his abominations, and that which was found in him": which besides his rebellion against the king of Babylon, and his shedding innocent blood, is interpreted of marks made in his body for superstitious and idolatrous purposes; so Lyra.





2 Kings 24:6



Ver. 6. So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers,.... He died as they did, but was not buried with them, and indeed had no burial at all, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, Jer 22:18 for, falling into the hands of the king of Babylon, he was bound in chains, in order to be carried to Babylon, but died as soon as he came out of Jerusalem, at the gates of which he was cast, and had no burial, 2Ch 36:6. At this time also some of the vessels of the temple were carried away, and put in the idol's temple at Babylon, 2Ch 36:7, and Eupolemus {p} says, that whatever gold, silver, and brass, were in the temple, were carried away:



and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead; called sometimes Jeconiah, and by contempt Coniah, Jer 22:24.



{p} Ut supra. (Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 39. p. 454.)





2 Kings 24:7



Ver. 7. And the king of Egypt came not any more out of his land,.... To receive the tribute he imposed on the land of Judah, or to help the kings there of, Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin; not till the times of Zedekiah, and then was obliged to retire, without giving any assistance, Jer 37:7 the reason follows,



for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt; all that lay between the river Nile, or the Rhinocolura, and the river Euphrates so that he could not stir out of his dominions, which lay beyond.





2 Kings 24:8



Ver. 8. Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign,.... In 2Ch 36:9 he is said to be but eight years old; which may be reconciled by observing, that he might be made and declared king by his father, in the first year of his reign, who reigned eleven years, so that he was eight years old when he began to reign with him, and eighteen when he began to reign alone {q}. Dr. Lightfoot {r} gives another solution of this difficulty, that properly speaking he was eighteen years old when he began to reign, but, in an improper sense, the son of eight years, or the eighth year, as the Hebrew phrase is; that is, he fell in the lot of the eighth year of the captivity of Judah, which was in the latter end of the third, or the beginning of the fourth of his father's reign, and the first of Nebuchadnezzar's, and it was now in the eighth of Nebuchadnezzar that he was king, see

2Ki 24:12, but very probably in 2Ch 36:9 there is a mistake in the copyist of eight for eighteen, since in the Arabic and Syriac versions it is there eighteen, as here:



he reigned in Jerusalem three months; the ten days besides are here omitted for shortness, 2Ch 36:9



and his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem; a person no doubt well known in those times.



{q} So in Seder Olam Rabba, c. 25. {r} Works, vol. 1. p. 122.





2 Kings 24:9



Ver. 9. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done. Being partner with him in his throne, he was in his sins, and continued therein, see

2Ki 23:37.





2 Kings 24:10



Ver. 10. At that time,.... When Jehoiachin reigned:



when the year was expired; so it is in 2Ch 36:10 or at the revolution of the year; which some take to be autumn, the beginning of the civil year with the Jews; but rather it was the spring, the time when kings went out to battle, 2Sa 11:1



the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem; that is, his army, under proper generals and officers, and by his orders:



and the city was besieged; in form by the Chaldean army.





2 Kings 24:11



Ver. 11. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city,.... He came in person, following his army:



and his servants did besiege it; very closely.





2 Kings 24:12



Ver. 12. And Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon,.... Not to fight with him, but to submit to him, and to surrender the city to him, and be at his mercy:



he and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers; the royal family, courtiers, and nobles:



and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign; Of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, and which was the eighth of the first captivity, and from whence the seventy years' captivity were reckoned.





2 Kings 24:13



Ver. 13. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house,.... The gates of the city being thrown open to him, he entered and plundered the temple, and the royal palace, and took from thence all the riches thereof:



and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said;

2Ki 20:17 and so the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. No more is said of these vessels in 2Ch 36:10 than that they were brought to Babylon; and so Piscator renders the word here, "took", or "carried them away"; and certain it is that they were carried whole to Babylon, Da 5:2 but as Hezekiah is said to cut off the doors of the temple, that is, strip or scrape off the gold of them, 2Ki 18:16 so Nebuchadnezzar cut off from the temple, or stripped it of the golden vessels in it; of great part of them, the greater part thereof; for that there were some left is plain from Jer 27:18.





2 Kings 24:14



Ver. 14. And he carried away all Jerusalem,.... The inhabitants of it; not every individual of them, but the chief of them, the more honourable, rich, and useful; for the poorer sort were left, as afterwards expressed:



and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives; which was the number of them in the whole; the particulars are after delivered:



and all the craftsmen and smiths; besides the nobles and the soldiers, he took all the artificers that exercised any handicraft trade or business; carpenters and blacksmiths, as some interpret these two words; so that there were none left to make arms for them; the last word may be rendered "enclosers", and are by some interpreted of enclosers of jewels in metals, as gold and silver:



none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land; who were left to till it, and to dress the vines; see 2Ki 25:12.





2 Kings 24:15



Ver. 15. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon,.... Where he continued at least thirty seven years, 2Ki 25:27



and the king's mother; whose name was Nehushta, 2Ki 24:8



and the king's wives; for though he was so young, it seems he had many wives, as was the custom of those times; or his "women", who were either his concubines, or servants in his family:



and his officers; in his court: and the mighty of the land; the princes and nobles thereof; or "the fools of the land", as the word is written; so the people generally were:



those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon; which, according to Bunting {s}, were six hundred and eighty miles distant from each other.



{s} Travels, &c. p. 198.





2 Kings 24:16



Ver. 16. And all the men of might, even seven thousand,.... The particulars of the 10,000 carried captive are here given; 7000 of which were the principal men of the land:



and craftsmen and smiths one thousand; which made 8000:



all that were strong, and apt for war; of these consisted the other 2000; so Abarbinel reckons them; but, according to the Jewish chronologer {t}, which Jarchi and other Jewish commentators follow, the 7000 were out of the tribe of Benjamin and the rest of the tribes, and the 3000 out of the tribe of Judah, which are supposed to be those Jeremiah speaks of, Jer 52:28,



even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon; among these were Ezekiel the prophet, and Mordecai, the uncle of Esther.



{t} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 25.





2 Kings 24:17



Ver. 17. And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead,.... The third son of Josiah, 1Ch 3:15



and changed his name to Zedekiah; for the same reason the king of Egypt changed the name of Eliakim, 2Ki 23:34 to signify his subjection to him; though some think it was to put him in mind of the justice of God, as the name signifies, that would overtake him, should he be treacherous to him, and rebel against him; so the Jewish Midrash.





2 Kings 24:18



Ver. 18-20. Zedekiah was twenty years old when he began to reign,.... So that he was but between nine and ten years of age when his father Josiah died; for Jehoahaz reigned three months, Jehoiakim eleven years, and his son three months and ten days:



and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah; by which it appears that he was the brother of Jehoahaz by father and mother's side, 2Ki 23:31. This and the two following verses are expressed in the same words as in Jer 52:1,

See Gill on "Jer 52:1",

See Gill on "Jer 52:2",

See Gill on "Jer 52:3", in 2Ch 36:10, besides what is here said, is written, that he humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet of the Lord, that spoke in his name, but opposed him; and rebelling against the king of Babylon, broke his oath, and hardened his neck and heart against the Lord, and was obstinate, stubborn, and self-willed.





2 Kings 24:19



Ver. 19. See Gill on "2Ki 24:18".





2 Kings 24:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "2Ki 24:18".

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

2 Kings 25:1



INTRODUCTION TO 2 KINGS 25



In this chapter is an account of the siege, taking, and burning of the city of Jerusalem, and of the carrying captive the king and the inhabitants to Babylon, 2Ki 25:1, as also of the pillars and vessels of the temple brought thither, 2Ki 25:13 and of the putting to death several of the principal persons of the land, 2Ki 25:18, and of the miserable condition of the rest under Gedaliah, whom Ishmael slew, 2Ki 25:23, and the chapter, and so the history, is concluded with the kindness Jehoiachin met with from the king of Babylon, after thirty seven years' captivity, 2Ki 25:27.



Ver. 1-7. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign,.... Of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. From hence to the end of

2Ki 25:7, the account exactly agrees with Jer 52:4.





2 Kings 25:2



Ver. 2. See Gill on "2Ki 25:1"





2 Kings 25:3



Ver. 3. See Gill on "2Ki 25:1"





2 Kings 25:4



Ver. 4. See Gill on "2Ki 25:1"





2 Kings 25:5



Ver. 5. See Gill on "2Ki 25:1"





2 Kings 25:6



Ver. 6. See Gill on "2Ki 25:1"





2 Kings 25:7



Ver. 7. See Gill on "2Ki 25:1"





2 Kings 25:8



Ver. 8-12. And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month,.... In Jer 52:12 it is the tenth day of the month; which, how to be reconciled, See Gill on "Jer 52:12"



which is the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar; who, according to Ptolemy's canon, reigned forty three years; Metasthenes {u} says forty five; and from hence, to the end of 2Ki 25:12 facts are related as in Jer 52:12 whither the reader is referred.



{u} De Judicio Temp. & Annal. Pers. fol. 221. 2.





2 Kings 25:9



Ver. 9. See Gill on "2Ki 25:8"





2 Kings 25:10



Ver. 10. See Gill on "2Ki 25:8"





2 Kings 25:11



Ver. 11. See Gill on "2Ki 25:8"





2 Kings 25:12



Ver. 12. See Gill on "2Ki 25:8"





2 Kings 25:13



Ver. 13-17. And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord,.... The two pillars in the temple, Jachin and Boaz. Benjamin of Tudela says {w}, that in the church of St. Stephen in Rome these pillars now are with the name of Solomon engraved on each; and the Jews at Rome told him, when there, (in the twelfth century,) that on the ninth of Ab (the day the temple was destroyed) every year sweat was found upon them like water; the one, I suppose, will equally be believed as the other, since it is here expressly said that the Chaldeans broke them in pieces. From hence, to the end of 2Ki 25:17 is the same with

Jer 52:7, where it is rather more largely and fully expressed; only there is this difference here in 2Ki 25:17 the height of the chapiter of a pillar is said to be three cubits, there five cubits; for the reconciliation of which, See Gill on "Jer 52:22".



{w} Itinerar. p. 13.





2 Kings 25:14



Ver. 14. See Gill on "2Ki 25:13"





2 Kings 25:15



Ver. 15. See Gill on "2Ki 25:13"





2 Kings 25:16



Ver. 16. See Gill on "2Ki 25:13"





2 Kings 25:17



Ver. 17. See Gill on "2Ki 25:13"





2 Kings 25:18



Ver. 18-21. And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest,.... The sagan, or deputy priest, who officiated for the high priest, when by any means he was rendered unfit and incapable; so Joseph, the son of Ellem, as Josephus {x} relates, officiated for Matthias, when defiled with a nocturnal pollution; and seven days before the day of atonement they always substituted one under the high priest, lest anything of this kind should happen to him {y}. From hence, to the end of 2Ki 25:21 the account is the same as in Jer 52:25, only here in 2Ki 25:19 it is said, that five men that were in the king's presence were taken, there seven men; to account for which, See Gill on "Jer 52:25".



{x} Antiqu. l. 17. c. 6. sect. 4. {y} Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 1.





2 Kings 25:19



Ver. 19. See Gill on "2Ki 25:18"





2 Kings 25:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "2Ki 25:18"





2 Kings 25:21



Ver. 21. See Gill on "2Ki 25:18"





2 Kings 25:22



Ver. 22-24. And as for the people that remained,.... That were left in the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen; over these the king of Babylon made Gedaliah governor, to whom the captains, with their scattered troops, came, and submitted for a time; of whom,

See Gill on "Jer 40:7",

See Gill on "Jer 40:8",

See Gill on "Jer 40:9".





2 Kings 25:23



Ver. 23. See Gill on "2Ki 25:22"





2 Kings 25:24



Ver. 24. See Gill on "2Ki 25:22"





2 Kings 25:25



Ver. 25. And it came to pass in the seventh month,.... Not of Gedaliah's government, but of the year, the month Tisri or September, near two months after the destruction of Jerusalem; the Jews say fifty two days after it; of the death of Gedaliah, and the man that slew him, as here related, See Gill on "Jer 41:1" see Gill on "Jer 41:2" see Gill on "Jer 41:3".





2 Kings 25:26



Ver. 26. And all the people, both small and great,.... High and low, rich and poor, among whom were the king's daughters, committed to the care of Gedaliah, and also the prophets Jeremiah and Baruch, see

Jer 41:16



and the captains of the armies rose, and came to Egypt; contrary to the express command of God; these were Johanan, and the captain of the forces with him, Jer 43:4



for they were afraid of the Chaldees; lest they should come and avenge the death of Gedaliah, appointed governor of Judea, see Jer 41:17.





2 Kings 25:27



Ver. 27-30. And it came to pass in the thirty and seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah,.... Who must then be fifty five years of age:



in the twelfth month, on the twenty and seventh day of the month; in

Jer 52:31 it is said to be the twenty fifth day; of the reason of which difference, See Gill on "Jer 52:31":



that Evilmerodach king of Babylon; who is supposed, by some {z}", to be the same with Belshazzar, and his successor Neriglissar, the same with Darius the Mede in Daniel. From hence, to the end of the chapter, the same account is given of the kindness of this king to Jehoiachin, as in Jer 52:31.

See Gill on "Jer 52:31",

See Gill on "Jer 52:32",

See Gill on "Jer 52:33",

See Gill on "Jer 52:34".



Metasthenes {a} calls him Amilinus Evilmerodach, and says he reigned thirty years, and makes Belshazzar, or Baltassar, as he calls him, his third son.



{z} Vid. Lampe, Eccles. Hist. l. 1. c. 7. sect. 18. {a} Ut supra. (De Judicio Temp. & Annal. Pers. fol. 221. 2.)





2 Kings 25:28



Ver. 28. See Gill on "2Ki 25:27"





2 Kings 25:29



Ver. 29. See Gill on "2Ki 25:27"





2 Kings 25:30



Ver. 30. See Gill on "2Ki 25:27"

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

1 Chronicles 1:1



INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES



This and the following book were reckoned by the Jews as one book, as appears by the Masoretic note at the end of the second book, and as is affirmed by Origen {a} and Jerom {b}; and they were by the ancients {c} called Chronicles, as they are by us; but they are different from the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah, so often mentioned in the preceding books, seeing several things there referred to, as in them, are not to be found here; though no doubt many things here recorded were taken from thence under a divine direction. In the Greek version, and so in the Vulgate Latin version after that, they are called "Paralipomena", that is, things passed over or omitted, because they contain several anecdotes which are not to be found in the books of Samuel and Kings. The Hebrew title of them is, "Dibre Hayamim", words of days, day books or diaries, and what the Greeks call "Ephemerides"; though, as "yamim" sometimes signifies years, they may be named "annals"; and so the Arabic inscription is,



"the Books of Annals;''



and because they chiefly respect the kings of Judah, the Syriac inscription is,



"the Book of the Things that were done in the Times of the Kings of Judah.''



The Targum is,



"the Book of Genealogies, the Words of Days, which were from the Days of the World;''



because the first ten chapters consist of genealogies beginning from Adam. The inspired penman of these books must live after the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, since he carries down the genealogy of the kings and princes of Judah beyond that time, 1Ch 3:17. It is generally thought by the Jews and Christians that Ezra was the writer of them, with which agrees the age in which he lived; and as it may seem, from the last of these books ending with the same words with which that under his name begins: so the Talmudists {d} say, that Ezra wrote his own book, and the genealogy of the chronicles unto his own, or unto Velo, "and he had brethren", 2Ch 21:2 and Jarchi affirms that he wrote them by the hand or means of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, inspired prophets; though some Jewish writers {e} suppose they were written partly by him, and partly by Nehemiah; that all to 2Ch 21:2 were written by Ezra, and the rest by Nehemiah. Kimchi thinks that Ezra was not the first author and writer of these books, but that the books of Chronicles and Annals of the kings of Judah, and of the kings of Israel, were separately written before him; but that he only revised them, and with the men of the great synagogue added the genealogies, and put them into the canon of the Scriptures {f}. Spinosa {g} fancies they were written after Judas Maccabaeus had restored the temple, since the historian tells what families dwelt in Jerusalem in the times of Ezra, 1Ch 9:1 and speaks of the porters, 1Ch 9:17 two of which are mentioned, Ne 11:19 as if Ezra could not describe the families that lived when he did, or name the porters of the temple, since it was finished and dedicated in his time, Ezr 6:15, but however there is no doubt to be made of the authenticity of these books, since not only they have always been acknowledged by the Jews as a part of the canonical Scripture, and by ancient Christians, as appears by the catalogues of Melito {h} and Origen {i}; but there are plain references to them in the New Testament. The genealogy of Christ, by the evangelists, is formed out of them; the doxology in Re 5:12 as some have observed, comes very near to what is used by David, 1Ch 29:11 and the passages in Ac 7:48 contain the sense of what is expressed in 2Ch 2:5. The use and design of these books are chiefly to give a larger account of the kingdom of Judah, especially after the division of it from the ten tribes, and of the kings thereof, than what is given in the preceding books, as in the last of these books; and particularly they ascertain the genealogy of Christ, that it might be clear and plain of what tribe and family the Messiah came, that he descended from the tribe of Judah, and from the kings of the house of David, as in this first book. They both contain an history from Adam, to the deliverance of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon. The first of these books reaches, according to Hottinger {k}, to A. M. 2985, and the latter is an history of four hundred and seventy two years. According to Bishop Usher {l} the former contains a course of 2990 years, and the latter of four hundred and seventy eight.



{a} Apud Eusch. Eccl. Hist. l. 6. c. 25. {b} Ad Dominionem, tom. 3. fol. 7. C. {c} Hieron. Praefat. in lib. Reg. tom. 3. fol. 6. B. {d} T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 15. 1. {e} Shalssalet Hakabala, Abarbinel in Josuam, fol. 3. 3. {f} Vid. Buxtorf. de Punct. Antiqu. par. 1. p. 182. {g} Tract. Theolog. Politic. c. 10. p. 184. {h} Apud Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 4. c. 26. {i} Apud ib. l. 6. c. 25. {k} Thesaur. Philolog. l. 2. c. 1. p. 514, 515. {l} Annal. Vet. Test. p. 56. {m} Tiberias, c. 14.



INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 1



This chapter gives us the genealogy of the patriarchs from Adam to Noah, 1Ch 1:1 of the sons of Noah, and their posterity, to Abraham, 1Ch 1:5 of the sons of Abraham and their posterity, 1Ch 1:28 and of the sons of Esau, 1Ch 1:35 and of the kings and dukes that reigned in Edom, 1Ch 1:43.



Ver. 1-4. Adam, Seth,.... These first four verses exactly agree with the account of the antediluvian patriarchs in Ge 5:1, the first letter in Adam is larger than usual, as a memorial, as Buxtorf {m} observes, of the first and only man, from whence mankind had their beginning, and whose history the author had undertaken to write.





1 Chronicles 1:2



Ver. 2. See Gill on "1Ch 1:1"





1 Chronicles 1:3



Ver. 3. See Gill on "1Ch 1:1"





1 Chronicles 1:4



Ver. 4. See Gill on "1Ch 1:1"





1 Chronicles 1:5



Ver. 5-27. The sons of Japheth, Gomer,.... Here begins the genealogy of the sons of Noah after the flood; of the sons of Japheth the elder, in this and the two following verses; next of the sons of Ham, the younger brother, 1Ch 1:8, then of Shem, whose posterity are mentioned last, because from him, in the line of Heber, sprang Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish nation, of whom the Messiah was to come, for whose sake this genealogy is given, 1Ch 1:17. The whole is the same with the account in Ge 10:1





1 Chronicles 1:6



Ver. 6. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5"





1 Chronicles 1:7



Ver. 7. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5"





1 Chronicles 1:8



Ver. 8. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5"





1 Chronicles 1:9



Ver. 9. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5"





1 Chronicles 1:10



Ver. 10. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:11



Ver. 11. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:12



Ver. 12. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:13



Ver. 13. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:14



Ver. 14. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:15



Ver. 15. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:16



Ver. 16. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:17



Ver. 17. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:18



Ver. 18. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:19



Ver. 19. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:21



Ver. 21. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5"





1 Chronicles 1:22



Ver. 22. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5"





1 Chronicles 1:23



Ver. 23. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5"





1 Chronicles 1:24



Ver. 24. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:25



Ver. 25. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:26



Ver. 26. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:27



Ver. 27. See Gill on "1Ch 1:5".





1 Chronicles 1:28



Ver. 28-34. The sons of Abraham,.... The famous and well known ancestor of the Jews; of Ishmael his firstborn, and his posterity; of his sons by Keturah; and of Isaac and his sons, an account is given from hence to the end of 1Ch 1:34 entirely agreeing with that in

Ge 25:1.





1 Chronicles 1:29



Ver. 29. See Gill on "1Ch 1:28".





1 Chronicles 1:30



Ver. 30. See Gill on "1Ch 1:28".





1 Chronicles 1:31



Ver. 31. See Gill on "1Ch 1:28".





1 Chronicles 1:32



Ver. 32. See Gill on "1Ch 1:28".





1 Chronicles 1:33



Ver. 33. See Gill on "1Ch 1:28".





1 Chronicles 1:34



Ver. 34. See Gill on "1Ch 1:28".





1 Chronicles 1:35



Ver. 35-37. The sons of Esau,.... The firstborn of Isaac; his posterity are named in this and the two following verses, as in

Ge 36:1 only it should be observed, that Timna, 1Ch 1:36 is not the name of a man, but was the concubine of Eliphaz, the eldest son of Esau, and the mother of Amalek, Ge 36:12, and so in the Arabic version it is read,



"and Timna, which was the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, bare him Amalek;''



and so the Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint.





1 Chronicles 1:36



Ver. 36. See Gill on "1Ch 1:35".





1 Chronicles 1:37



Ver. 37. See Gill on "1Ch 1:35".





1 Chronicles 1:38



Ver. 38-42. And the sons of Seir,.... This man and his posterity were not of the race of Esau, but are mentioned because they were a family into which Esau, and a son of his, married, and whose possessions he and his obtained. The account from hence, to the end of 1Ch 1:42 is the same with Ge 36:20, with some little variation of names.





1 Chronicles 1:39



Ver. 39. See Gill on "1Ch 1:38".





1 Chronicles 1:40



Ver. 40. See Gill on "1Ch 1:38".





1 Chronicles 1:41



Ver. 41. See Gill on "1Ch 1:38".





1 Chronicles 1:42



Ver. 42. See Gill on "1Ch 1:38".





1 Chronicles 1:43



Ver. 43-54. Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom,.... Which had its name from Esau, who was so called, Ge 25:30. From hence, to the end of the chapter, an account is given of the kings and dukes of Edom, in the same order as in

Ge 30:31.





1 Chronicles 1:44



Ver. 44. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".





1 Chronicles 1:45



Ver. 45. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".





1 Chronicles 1:46



Ver. 46. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".





1 Chronicles 1:47



Ver. 47. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".





1 Chronicles 1:48



Ver. 48. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".





1 Chronicles 1:49



Ver. 49. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".





1 Chronicles 1:50



Ver. 50. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".





1 Chronicles 1:51



Ver. 51. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".





1 Chronicles 1:52



Ver. 52. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".





1 Chronicles 1:53



Ver. 53. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".





1 Chronicles 1:54



Ver. 54. See Gill on "1Ch 1:43".

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

1 Chronicles 2:1



INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 2



This chapter begins with the twelve sons of Israel or Jacob, 1Ch 2:1, then reckons the sons of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, 1Ch 2:3, then the posterity of Pharez and Zerah, sons of Judah, 1Ch 2:5, next the sons of Hezron, a son of Pharez, 1Ch 2:9, particularly the posterity of Ram, a son of Hezron, from whom sprung Jesse and his family, 1Ch 2:10, then of Caleb: another son of Hezron, 1Ch 2:18, and next of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron, 1Ch 1:25 and particularly the posterity of Sheshan, a descendant of his, 1Ch 1:34 and then other sons of Caleb, with their posterity, are reckoned, 1Ch 1:42 and the chapter is closed with the families of the Scribes in Jabesh, the same with the Kenites, 1Ch 2:55.



Ver. 1,2 These are the sons of Israel,.... Or Jacob, the other son of Isaac, who had the name of Israel given him, because of his power with God, Ge 32:28, whose twelve sons are here mentioned by name; the first four according to their birth of Leah, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; then the two sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, Issachar and Zebulun; and between Dan and Naphtali, the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, are placed Joseph and Benjamin, the sons of Rachel.





1 Chronicles 2:2



Ver. 2. See Gill on "1Ch 2:1".





1 Chronicles 2:3



Ver. 3. The sons of Judah,.... The genealogy begins with him, though the fourth son of Jacob; because, as Kimchi says, this book treats chiefly of the kings of Judah; but rather not only because Jesse and David sprang from him, but also the King Messiah:



Er, and Onan, and Shelah, which three were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess; see Ge 38:2,



and Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the Lord; because he did that which was evil:



and he slew him; he died by the immediate hand of God, and so his brother Onan, being wicked also, Ge 38:7.





1 Chronicles 2:4



Ver. 4. And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah,.... Through incest; they were twins, Ge 38:27 all the sons of Judah were five; who are before mentioned by name.





1 Chronicles 2:5



Ver. 5. The sons of Pharez,.... One of the above twins, born to Judah:



Hezron and Hamul; see Ge 46:12.





1 Chronicles 2:6



Ver. 6. And the sons of Zerah,.... The other twin of Judah:



Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all; the Targum calls them governors, and adds, on whom the spirit of prophecy dwelt; and in the Jewish chronology {n} they are said to prophesy in Egypt; and the four last are supposed to be the same with those in 1Ki 4:31.

See Gill on "1Ki 4:31".



{n} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 20. p. 52.





1 Chronicles 2:7



Ver. 7. And the sons of Carmi,.... The Targum adds, this is Zimri; but in Jos 7:1 Carmi is said to be the son of Zabdi, who seems to be the same with Zimri; and some supply the word here, and read {o} the sons of Zimri, Carmi, Achar, who was the grandson of Zimri; his proper name was Achan, Jos 7:1, but called Achar here by way of reproach, as Jarchi and others observe; being, as it follows,



the troubler of Israel, as Achar signifies: "who transgressed in the thing accursed"; devoted to the Lord, by taking it away for his own use, see Jos 6:17, hence the valley in which he was put to death was called Achor, Jos 6:26.



{o} So Junius & Tremellius, & Piscator.





1 Chronicles 2:8



Ver. 8. And the sons of Ethan; Azariah. Including his posterity, see

Ge 46:23, the posterity of the other three sons of Zerah are not mentioned, either because the writer could not find the genealogy of them, as Kimchi; or rather, as he thinks, he cuts short the genealogy of Zerah, because the kingdom did not proceed from him, and returns to the genealogy of Hezron, from whence it did, or perhaps they had no children.





1 Chronicles 2:9



Ver. 9. The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him,.... The Targum adds, in Timnath; but most likely in Egypt:



Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai; afterwards called Caleb.





1 Chronicles 2:10



Ver. 10-12. And Ram begat Amminadab,.... Ram is the same with Aram, Mt 1:3 the genealogy is carried down from him to Jesse in the same order as there, and in Ru 4:19 only here Nahshon the son of Amminadab is called



the prince of the children of Judah; which Kimchi and Jarchi say is written for the honour of David, who descended from him; and Salmon his son is here called Salma.





1 Chronicles 2:11



Ver. 11. See Gill on "1Ch 2:10".





1 Chronicles 2:12



Ver. 12. See Gill on "1Ch 2:10".





1 Chronicles 2:13



Ver. 13-15. And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third, Nathanael the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ozem the sixth, David the seventh. But Jesse had eight sons, 1Sa 16:10, one of them therefore is not reckoned, either because he was by another woman, and the writer only mentions those that were of the same mother with David; this is the opinion of Aben Ezra and Kimchi; some say he was dead before David came to the kingdom; Kimchi mentions a Midrash, or exposition of theirs, according to which his name was Elihu, and was younger than David, who is mentioned in 1Ch 27:18, and Jarchi observes, that the writer, having found the pearl (David), reckons not the eighth son Elihu, though the Syriac and Arabic versions have inserted him in this order, "Elihu the seventh, David the eighth"; some take the eighth to be a grandson of Jesse, Jonathan the son of Shimea, 2Sa 21:21 the third son of Jesse, here called Shimma, as he is Shammah, 1Sa 16:9.





1 Chronicles 2:14



Ver. 14. See Gill on "1Ch 2:13"





1 Chronicles 2:15



Ver. 15. See Gill on "1Ch 2:13"





1 Chronicles 2:16



Ver. 16. Whose sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail..... That is, sisters of David:



and the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three; all valiant men and captains in David's army; their father's name is nowhere mentioned.





1 Chronicles 2:17



Ver. 17. And Abigail bare Amasa,.... Who was Absalom's general, afterwards reconciled to David, and designed to be made general of his army, but was slain by Joab, see 2Sa 17:25,



and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite; he is called an Israelite, 2Sa 17:25, and so in the Targum here, he being either a proselyte, or else he was an Israelite by birth, but called an Ishmaelite, because he had dwelt among the Ishmaelites some time, as Obededom is called the Gittite for the like reason; so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it.





1 Chronicles 2:18



Ver. 18. And Caleb the son of Hezron,.... The same that is called Chelubai, 1Ch 2:9 but not the same with Caleb the son of Jephunneh, made mention of in the books of Numbers, Joshua, and Judges:



he begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth; who were both his wives; or it may be rather, since Azubah is so particularly called his wife, Jerioth might be a concubine: or of Azubah he begat Jerioth; so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; though it seems best with Hillerus {p} to interpret these names of the same person, and render the last clause, "that is, of Jerioth", of her whose name also was Jerioth, Azubah having two names; and the rather, since only the children of one are mentioned, as follows:



her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon of whom we read nowhere else; the Targum says, Azubah was so called, because she was barren and despised, which this clause contradicts.



{p} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 568.





1 Chronicles 2:19



Ver. 19. And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath,.... The Targum is, "Miriam, who was called Ephrath"; but, according to Josephus {q}, it was his son Hur that was the husband of Miriam the sister of Moses:



which bare him Hur; See Gill on "Ex 17:10".



{q} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 2.





1 Chronicles 2:20



Ver. 20. And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel. Who yet is not thought to be the same Bezaleel we read of in Ex 31:2 though the fathers and grandfathers of both have the same names, and were of the same tribe.





1 Chronicles 2:21



Ver. 21. And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead,.... Which Machir was the son of Manasseh, and Gilead was his grandson, Nu 26:29 the Targum is,



"but he enticed a virgin, the daughter of Machir;''



which suggests, that he committed fornication with her, though he afterwards married her; her name is not mentioned; to me it seems to be Abiah, 1Ch 2:24 and whom the Targum there calls the daughter of Machir:



whom he married when he was sixty years old; the Targum is sixty six; this seems to be his last wife:



and she bare him Segub; the same name with the youngest son of Hiel, who rebuilt Jericho, 1Ki 16:34.





1 Chronicles 2:22



Ver. 22. And Segub begat Jair, who had twenty three cities in the land of Gilead. Which, according to Kimchi, he inherited in right of his wife, which, he says, he took out of the land of Gilead; but they seem to be rather what he took by force of arms from the former inhabitants; see Nu 32:41.





1 Chronicles 2:23



Ver. 23. And he took Geshur, and Aram, with the towns of Jair, from them,.... Cities or countries which the Geshurites and Aramaeans, or Syrians, before inhabited; and which he took from them, together with other towns, which, being taken by him, were called after his name; the Targum is, the Geshurites and Aramaeans took the villages of Jair from them; that is, from the sons of Jair in later times; see

Jos 12:5



with Kenath, and the towns thereof; which Jair took by Nobah his general, and called it after his name, Nu 32:42, even sixty cities; see De 3:4



all these belonged to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead: being given him by Moses, Nu 32:40.





1 Chronicles 2:24



Ver. 24. And after that Hezron was dead in Calebephratah,.... Supposed to be the same with Bethlehem; and was so called, both from Caleb the son of Hezron, and Ephrath his wife, 1Ch 2:19,



then Abiah, Hezron's wife, bare him Ashur the father of Tekoa; being left with child by him at his death; the whole verse is paraphrased thus in the Targum,



"and after Hezron died in the house of Caleb his son in Ephrath, the wife of Hezron the daughter of Machir was left with child, and she bare to him after his death Ashur the prince of the Tekoites;''



whose son gave name very probably to the city of Tekoa, 2Sa 14:2.





1 Chronicles 2:25



Ver. 25. And the sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron, were Ram the firstborn,.... So called by his father after the name of his brother, see 1Ch 2:9



and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah; or "of Ahijah", as some {r} render it, this being the name of his wife, who bare him the sons before named, since mention is made of another wife in the next verse.



{r} Junius, Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis.





1 Chronicles 2:26



Ver. 26. Jerahmeel had also another wife, whose name was Atarah,.... Distinct from his wife before named; or "another woman", which is a phrase for an harlot or concubine, Jud 11:2 which she might be, as Kimchi observes; though the former seems best:



she was the mother of Onam; and perhaps was the only son she bore to Jerahmeel, of whose sons see 1Ch 2:28.





1 Chronicles 2:27



Ver. 27. And the sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel,.... By his first wife:



were Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker; of whom no other notice is taken; perhaps they left no children.





1 Chronicles 2:28



Ver. 28. And the sons of Onam,.... The son of Jerahmeel by his other wife:



were Shammai and Jada. And the sons of Shammai; Nadab, and Abishur; whose posterity are mentioned in the two following verses.





1 Chronicles 2:29



Ver. 29. And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail,.... Of the same name was a wife of Rehoboam, a daughter of his grandfather David's eldest brother, Eliab, 2Ch 11:18



and she bare him Ahban, and Molid; which are no more mentioned, they perhaps leaving no posterity.





1 Chronicles 2:30



Ver. 30. And the sons of Nadab,.... The eldest son of Shammai, 1Ch 2:28,



Seled and Appaim; but Seled died without children; and therefore we hear no more of him.





1 Chronicles 2:31



Ver. 31. And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi: Sheshan,.... Though they had each of them but one son, yet the plural number is used, their posterity being included, as in 1Ch 2:8 and so in the next clause:



and the children of Sheshan; Ahlai; who, from 1Ch 2:34 appears to be a daughter.





1 Chronicles 2:32



Ver. 32. And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai,.... 1Ch 2:28,



Jether and Jonathan: and Jether died without children; the posterity of Jonathan are given the next verse.





1 Chronicles 2:33



Ver. 33. And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth and Zaza,.... Of whom no mention is made elsewhere:



these were the sons of Jerahmeel; not only his immediate sons, but their posterity, called from him Jerahmeelites, 1Sa 27:10.





1 Chronicles 2:34



Ver. 34. Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters,.... And but one of that sort, whose name was Ahlai, 1Ch 2:31 the plural being put here for the singular; or, if that is the name of a son, as some think, he died in his father's lifetime, and left no issue; so that there only remained daughters, and it seems but one by the next verse:



and Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha; one born in his house, and brought up by him, and a proselyte, such an one as Eliezer in Abraham's family.





1 Chronicles 2:35



Ver. 35. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife,.... Having first given him his freedom, as the Targum premises; this daughter seems to be Ahlai, 1Ch 2:31 which receives confirmation from Zabad, one of the descendants of this man, 1Ch 2:36, being said to be the son of Ahlai, 1Ch 11:41, that is, great-grandson:



and she bare him Attai; the genealogy of whose descendants is given to the end of 1Ch 2:41, of whom no mention is made elsewhere, but of Zabad, as before observed; and, according to the Jews, it is given for the sake of Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, the last person mentioned in this genealogy; which Ishmael slew Gedaliah governor of Jerusalem, and is said to be of the seed royal, Jer 41:1.





1 Chronicles 2:36



Ver. 36 See Gill on "1Ch 2:35".





1 Chronicles 2:37



Ver. 37 See Gill on "1Ch 2:35".





1 Chronicles 2:38



Ver. 38 See Gill on "1Ch 2:35".





1 Chronicles 2:39



Ver. 39 See Gill on "1Ch 2:35".





1 Chronicles 2:40



Ver. 40 See Gill on "1Ch 2:35".





1 Chronicles 2:41



Ver. 41 See Gill on "1Ch 2:35".





1 Chronicles 2:42



Ver. 42. Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel,.... Called Chelubai, 1Ch 2:9 and is the same Caleb spoken of in 1Ch 2:18 and his sons next reckoned were by a third wife, Azubah, Ephrath being dead, 1Ch 2:19 and these sons were



Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph; who gave name to the city of Ziph; there were two of this name in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:24 or this is the title of Mesha, governor of the city of Ziph; so the Targum calls him, prince of the Ziphites:



and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron; according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, the words are to be supplied thus, "and the sons of Ziph were Mareshah the father of Hebron"; which, though sometimes the name of a city in the tribe of Judah, is here the name of a man, from whom, perhaps, the city had its name, since Hebron is said to have sons in the next verse; Jarchi makes Mesha to be the prince of Ziph, and prince of the children of Mareshah, and prince of Hebron.





1 Chronicles 2:43



Ver. 43. And the sons of Hebron: Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema. One of these, Tappuah, is the name of a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:34 and there is also Bethtappuah in the same tribe, 1Ch 2:53 which one, or both, might have their name from this man; and Shema also, 1Ch 2:26.





1 Chronicles 2:44



Ver. 44. And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkoam,.... Which Hillerus {s} takes to be the name of a city in the tribe of Judah; and Jarchi's note is, that wherever the word "father" is here used, it is to be understood of the prince of a city that follows:



and Rekem begat Shammai; there is a descendant of Jerahmeel, the brother of Caleb, of this name, 1Ch 2:28.



{s} Onomast. Sacr. p. 329.





1 Chronicles 2:45



Ver. 45. And the son of Shammai was Maon,.... Who gave name to a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:55 see 1Sa 23:24



and Maon was the father of Bethzur; prince of a very strong fortified city of this name in the same tribe, Jos 15:58, unless this was a son of Maon's, from whom the city had its name.





1 Chronicles 2:46



Ver. 46. And Ephah Caleb's concubine bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez,.... An half-wife, or secondary wife; for though this man seems not to have had more wives than one at a time, yet he had concubines with them; we read of another after this, if not a third:



and Haran begat Gazez; whom he so named after his brother.





1 Chronicles 2:47



Ver. 47. And the sons of Jahdai,.... Who is not mentioned by this name before; perhaps the same with Moza, who might have two names, though, according to Hillerus {t}, he was the son of Moza; some take it to be the name of another of Caleb's concubines, by whom he had the six following sons:



Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph; one of these, Pelet perhaps, gave name to Bethpalet in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:27.



{t} Onomast. Sacr. p. 841.





1 Chronicles 2:48



Ver. 48. Maachah, Caleb's concubine,.... Another concubine of his:



bare Sheber, and Tirhanah; or of whom Caleb begot those two; for the verb is masculine; so Kimchi.





1 Chronicles 2:49



Ver. 49. She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah,.... Prince of a place so called, in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:31



Sheva the father of Machbenah, and the father of Gibeah; prince of two cities of those names in the same tribe; of the latter see Jos 15:57,



and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah; Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, had a daughter of this name, but neither he nor she are here meant, Jos 15:16 but by whom Caleb, the son of Hezron, had this daughter, is not said; perhaps by Maachah his concubine last mentioned.





1 Chronicles 2:50



Ver. 50. These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah,.... This is another Caleb, the grandson of Caleb the son of Hezron, called after his name; he was the son of Hur, the firstborn of his wife Ephratah, 1Ch 2:19.



Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim: of the inhabitants of that place; they sprung from him; or, as the Targum, he was prince of Kirjathjearim, a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:60.





1 Chronicles 2:51



Ver. 51. Salma the father of Bethlehem,.... Or prince of Bethlehem, as the Targum; not the same as in 1Ch 2:11 he was the son of Nahshon, this of the younger Caleb:



Hareph, the father of Bethgader; prince of a place of that name called Gedor, 1Ch 4:4, and where this man's name is Penuel; Gedor was in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:58.





1 Chronicles 2:52



Ver. 52. And Shobal, the father of Kirjathjearim had sons,.... Which shows that Kirjathjearim is not the name of a man, or of any of Shobal's sons, who are next mentioned, but of a place of which he was prince: the first is



Haroeh, who is called Reaiah, 1Ch 4:2 a word of the same signification:



and half of the Manahethites; which Kimchi takes to be the proper name of a man called Chatzihamanaheth, another son of Shobal's; but Jarchi interprets it of the name of a place or province called Manahath, 1Ch 8:6 over half of which Haroeh was governor.





1 Chronicles 2:53



Ver. 53. And the families of Kirjathjearim,.... That dwelt there, of which Shobal was prince, and who sprung from him, are as follow:



the Ithrite, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; who had their names from Jether, Putha, Shumath, and Mishra, descendants of Shobal:



of them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites; that is, from the Mishraites sprung the inhabitants of Zeroth and Eshtaol, places in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:33.





1 Chronicles 2:54



Ver. 54. The sons of Salma,.... Another son of the younger Caleb, 1Ch 2:50 whose sons were Bethlehem, the inhabitants of the place, at least many of them, of which he was prince, 1Ch 2:51 and the Netophathite; the inhabitants of Netophah, a place in the tribe of Judah, mentioned along with Bethlehem, Ne 7:26 these sprung from Salma:



Ataroth, the house of Joab; Ataroth seems to be the name of a place in the tribe of Judah, where the family of Joab lived, the inhabitants of which were the descendants of Salma:



and half of the Manahethites; the other half of the inhabitants of Manahath, see 1Ch 2:52,



the Zorites; part also of them, called Zareathites, 1Ch 2:53.





1 Chronicles 2:55



Ver. 55. And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez,.... A city in Judah, the founder of which, perhaps, was Jabez, mentioned in 1Ch 4:9 in which learned men dwelt:



the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites; who sprung from men whose names were Tira, Shimea, and Sucha; and if they were not the posterity of Salma, yet dwelt among his, and so are reckoned with them; perhaps the latter might have their name from dwelling in tents; the former clause may be rendered, "that dwelt with Jabez", who was their master, and they his scholars; in the Vulgate Latin version the words are rendered as appellatives, "singing and resounding, and dwelling in tents": Conrad Pellican, on the place, goes a middle way, and interprets these families as dwelling with Jabez their master, and they his scholars, and that they were called by their progenitors Tirathites, because learned and ingenious, and praecentors of the divine oracles; Shimeathites, because they diligently hearkened to the sacred songs, and the doctrines of the law of God; and Suchathites, because they dwelt not in cities, but in tents, despisers of all worldly things, that they might freely attend to learn:



these are the Kenites; that is, the Suchathites are the Kenites, who, it is well known, dwelt in tents, and not in cities; though Jarchi takes these Kenites to be the inhabitants of Cain, a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:57 but they seem rather to be the Kenites that sprung from Jethro, here made mention of, because some of them dwelt in the tribe of Judah, and among the posterity of Salma, see Jud 1:16



that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab; the prince of that family, and who from Rechab were called Rechabites, Jer 35:2.

 

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