John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
2 Chronicles 25:1
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 25
This chapter begins with the reign of Amaziah, and some of the first acts of it, slaying those that killed his father, 2Ch 25:1, raising a large army in his own kingdom, to which he added 100,000 more he hired out of Israel, whom yet he sent home by the advice of a prophet, 2Ch 25:5, and with his own army marched against the Edomites, and obtained a victory over them, 2Ch 25:11, but the Israelites being displeased with him for dismissing them, fell on some of his cities, and slew many in them, 2Ch 25:13, and such was his stupidity, as to worship the gods of the Edomites he had conquered, for which he was reproved by a prophet, 2Ch 25:14 and being elated with his victory, he sent a challenge to the king of Israel, who accepting of it, a battle ensued, in which Judah was worsted, their king taken, and treasuries spoiled, 2Ch 25:17, and the chapter is closed with the death and burial of Amaziah, 2Ch 25:25.
Ver. 1-4. Amaziah was twenty five years old when he began to reign,.... Of these verses,
See Gill on "2Ki 14:2".
See Gill on "2Ki 14:3".
See Gill on "2Ki 14:5".
See Gill on "2Ki 14:6".
2 Chronicles 25:2
Ver. 2. See Gill on "2Ch 25:1"
2 Chronicles 25:3
Ver. 3. See Gill on "2Ch 25:1"
2 Chronicles 25:4
Ver. 4. See Gill on "2Ch 25:1"
2 Chronicles 25:5
Ver. 5. Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together,.... The inhabitants thereof:
and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin; he divided the people, according to their families throughout his kingdom, into thousands and hundreds, and out of their respective families appointed captains over them:
and he numbered them from twenty years old and above; the usual age men were numbered at for war, to the fiftieth, according to Josephus; the Roman law {a} obliged none to be soldiers after fifty, nor might any be dismissed before {b}; the age of military men with the Romans was from seventeen to forty six, or, as some, forty five; but with the Persians from twenty as here to fifty {c}:
and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield; which shows that their number was greatly decreased since the times of Jehoshaphat, 2Ch 17:14, occasioned by the wars under Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Joash; some copies of the Vulgate Latin {d} have only 30,000.
{a} Seneca de Brevitate Vitae, c. 20. {b} Liv. Hist. l. 42. c. 33. {c} Alex. ab. Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 1. c. 20. {d} Ed. of Sixtus V. the Lovain and MSS. in James's Corruption of the Fathers, p. 295.
2 Chronicles 25:6
Ver. 6. He hired also one hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel,.... The ten tribes, judging his own army not sufficient for his expedition against the Edomites he was meditating:
for one hundred talents of silver; which amounted to 35,300 pounds sterling, and according to Beckius {e} were about five florins and a half to each soldier.
{e} Not. in Targum in loc.
2 Chronicles 25:7
Ver. 7. But there came a man of God to him,.... Who the Jews say {f} was the brother of the king, Amos, the father of Isaiah, but without foundation:
saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; to war against Edom; meaning the 100,000 men he had hired, and suggesting that to have them with him would not be to his advantage, but his detriment, for the following reason:
for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit,
with all the children of Ephraim; they being idolaters, worshippers of the calves; and as they had forsaken the Lord, he had forsaken them; therefore no help could be expected from them; the Targum is,
"the Word of the Lord is not their help.''
{f} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 20. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 11. 2.
2 Chronicles 25:8
Ver. 8. But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle,.... An ironical expression; if thou wilt not be advised, take them with thee, and try what thou canst do; exert all thy courage, and use thy military skill, and mark the issue:
God shall make thee fall before the enemy; notwithstanding the number of thy troops, and those of thy auxiliaries; though some take them to be spoken seriously, and read the words, "but go thou"; that is, alone, without the hired troops, and fight boldly and courageously; or otherwise "God shall make thee fall", &c.
for God hath power to help and to cast down; to help with a few, and to cast down with many; to help without the hired Israelites, and to cast down with them.
2 Chronicles 25:9
Ver. 9. And Amaziah said to the man of God, but what shall we do for the one hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?.... They will be lost, there is no demanding them back again; this he spake with some concern, as loath to lose so much money:
and the man of God answered, the Lord is able to give thee much more than this; whose is the earth, and the fulness thereof, the gold and silver, and all the riches of it; and therefore he had no need to trouble himself about the loss of his money, which, if obedient to the will of God, he might expect it would be abundantly repaid him.
2 Chronicles 25:10
Ver. 10. Then Amaziah separated them,.... From his army, among whom they were incorporated and ranked, to wit,
the army that was come to him out of Ephraim; which he had hired of the ten tribes, these he singled out:
to go home again; to their own country:
wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger; it being a great slight put upon them, and a reproach to them, to be thus dismissed, as they thought; and especially if they understood that it was because they were idolaters; and the rather as they might have hoped to have had their share in the plunder of the Edomites.
2 Chronicles 25:11
Ver. 11. And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people,.... To go to war with the Edomites; not discouraged by the dismission of the hired troops, but trusting in the promise and power of God, he went forth with boldness and intrepidity:
and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir, ten thousand; the Edomites; so called, not because they were the posterity of Seir, but because they dwelt in Seir, from whence they drove the descendants of Seir, and dwelt in their stead; see 2Ki 14:7.
2 Chronicles 25:12
Ver. 12. And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away captive,.... The rest of the army of the Edomites, which amounted to the same number, fell into their hands, and they took them, and carried them off:
and brought them unto the top of the rock; very probably the same on which the city Petra, the metropolis of Edom, was built, called also Selah, 2Ki 14:7 both which names signify a rock. Josephus {g} calls it the great rock in Arabia; that is, Arabia Petraea:
and cast them down from the top of the rock, that they were broken all in pieces; burst asunder, bones broken, and limb from limb separated. This sort of punishment was inflicted by the Romans on various malefactors, by casting them down from the Tarpeian rock {h}; and in Greece, according to the Delphian law, such as were guilty of sacrilege were led to a rock, and cast down headlong from thence {i}: and now in Turkey, at a place called Constantine, a town situated on the top of a great rock, the usual way of executing great criminals is by pushing them from off the cliff {k}; see Lu 4:29, but to use captives taken in war after this manner seems cruel and barbarous; and what should be the reason of such treatment of them is not easy to say.
{g} Antiqu. l. 9. c. 9. sect. 1. {h} Liv. Hist. l. 6. c. 20. Patercul. Hist. Roman. l. 2. Aurel. Victor. de Vir. Illustr. c. 27, 70. Vid, Rycquium de Capitol. Roman. c. 4. p. 45, &c. {i} Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 11. c. 5. {k} Pitt's Account of the Mahometans, ch. 1. p. 10.
2 Chronicles 25:13
Ver. 13. But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, &e.] The 100,000 men hired out of Israel, whom he dismissed before he went against Edom:
fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Bethhoron; which, though it formerly belonged to Ephraim, had been taken by the men of Judah; they did not fall on these as they returned home, for then it would have been said from Bethhoron to Samaria: but after they had returned home, they meditated this piece of revenge for the ill treatment of them, as they reckoned it:
and smote three thousand of them; of the inhabitants of the cities, who rose up and opposed them:
and took much spoil; out of them, and went their way with it.
2 Chronicles 25:14
Ver. 14. Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites,.... Instead of returning thanks to God for the victory obtained, and giving him the glory of it:
that he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods; what were the gods of the Edomites is nowhere said in Scripture; only Josephus {l} speaks of the priests of Coze, which he says was a god of the Idumaeans:
and bowed himself before them, and burned incense unto them; which was the greatest piece of sottishhess and stupidity imaginable, to worship the gods of a nation conquered by him; for since they could not save them, what help could he expect from them?
{l} Antiqu. l. l5. c. 7. sect. 9.
2 Chronicles 25:15
Ver. 15. Wherefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah,.... Idolatry being always highly displeasing to the Lord; and this was a most provoking instance of it, that when the Lord had given him victory over his enemies, that he should forsake him, and worship their gods:
and he sent unto him a prophet; whether the same as before, is not certain:
which said unto him, why hast thou sought after the gods of the people which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand? and therefore it was madness in him to seek after them, and worship them.
2 Chronicles 25:16
Ver. 16. And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, art thou made of the king's council?.... He was not indeed one of his privy council, made so by him, but he was appointed a counsellor to him by the Lord, the King of kings, to expostulate with him about his idolatry, and to advise him to relinquish it, to whose counsel he ought to have hearkened:
forbear, why shouldest thou be smitten? bidding him hold his peace, and threatening him, that if he did not, he must expect to be smitten; that is, with death, as Zechariah the prophet was by the order of his father:
then the prophet forbore; left off speaking, only added this at parting:
and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee; being given up to hardness of heart, so as to pay no regard to the Lord and his prophets, which was a sure presage of destruction:
because thou hast done this; committed such idolatry, and persisted in it:
and hast not hearkened to my counsel; to reform from it.
2 Chronicles 25:17
Ver. 17-19. Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice,.... Not of God, nor of his prophets, but of some of his nobles like himself:
and sent to Joash--king of Israel; of his message to him here, and his answer in the two following verses, see the following notes:
See Gill on "2Ki 14:8".
See Gill on "2Ki 14:9".
See Gill on "2Ki 14:10".
2 Chronicles 25:18
Ver. 18 See Gill on "2Ch 25:17"
2 Chronicles 25:19
Ver. 19 See Gill on "2Ch 25:18"
2 Chronicles 25:20
Ver. 20-28. But Amaziah would not hear,.... What the king of Israel advised him to, not to meddle to his hurt;
for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand [of their enemies]; Amaziah and his army into the hands of Joash and his; this was the will of God, and was brought about by his providence; and that it might be, Amaziah was given up to blindness and hardness of heart, as a punishment of his idolatry:
because they sought after the gods of Edom; he and his nobles, and many of the people following his example; from hence to the end of the chapter the same things are recorded as in 2Ki 14:11, see the notes there, See Gill on "2Ki 14:11" See Gill on "2Ki 14:12" See Gill on "2Ki 14:13" See Gill on "2Ki 14:14" See Gill on "2Ki 14:15" See Gill on "2Ki 14:16" See Gill on "2Ki 14:17" See Gill on "2Ki 14:18" See Gill on "2Ki 14:19" See Gill on "2Ki 14:20"
2 Chronicles 25:21
Ver. 21. See Gill on "2Ch 25:20"
2 Chronicles 25:22
Ver. 22. See Gill on "2Ch 25:20"
2 Chronicles 25:23
Ver. 23. See Gill on "2Ch 25:20"
2 Chronicles 25:24
Ver. 24. See Gill on "2Ch 25:20"
2 Chronicles 25:25
Ver. 25. See Gill on "2Ch 25:20"
2 Chronicles 25:26
Ver. 26. See Gill on "2Ch 25:20"
2 Chronicles 25:27
Ver. 27. See Gill on "2Ch 25:20"
2 Chronicles 25:28
Ver. 28. See Gill on "2Ch 25:20"
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
2 Chronicles 26:1
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 26
This chapter relates the good reign of Uzziah, 2Ch 26:1, his wars and victories, his buildings, the number of his soldiers, and his military stores, 2Ch 26:6, his invasion of the priest's office, in attempting to offer incense, for which he was smitten with a leprosy, which continued to his death, 2Ch 26:16.
Ver. 1-4. Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah,.... Of this and the three following verses, see the notes on 2Ki 14:21 where Uzziah is called Azariah.
See Gill on "2Ki 14:21" See Gill on "2Ki 14:22" See Gill on "2Ki 15:2" See Gill on "2Ki 15:3"
2 Chronicles 26:2
Ver. 2. See Gill on "2Ch 26:1".
2 Chronicles 26:3
Ver. 3. See Gill on "2Ch 26:1".
2 Chronicles 26:4
Ver. 4. See Gill on "2Ch 26:1".
2 Chronicles 26:5
Ver. 5. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah,.... Not that Zechariah, the last of the prophets save one, he lived three hundred years after this; nor he that Joash slew; but, as it may seem, a son of his, perhaps the same with him in Isa 8:2,
who had understanding in the visions of God: who either had prophetic visions granted to him, or had divine wisdom to interpret such that others had; or, as others think, had a gift of interpreting the prophecies of others, the writings of Moses and David, &c. to which the Targum seems to agree; which paraphrases it,
"who taught in the fear of the Lord;''
with which agree the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; some copies read "in the fear of God"; as an ancient manuscript mentioned by Junius, and so the Talmud {l}:
and, as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper; in his kingdom, and against his enemies; even so long as he abode by the word, worship, and ordinances of God, of which instances are given, as follow.
{l} Vid. Buxtorf. Lex. in rad. har.
2 Chronicles 26:6
Ver. 6. And he went forth, and warred against the Philistines,.... Who in the times of Jehoram broke in upon Judah, and distressed them, 2Ch 21:16
and brake down the wall of Gath; which was one of the five principalities of the Philistines:
and the wall of Jabneh; nowhere else mentioned in Scripture, but frequent in the Jewish writings; where the sanhedrim sometimes sat, and where was a famous university, and from whence sprung many of the Jewish rabbins; it is the same which in some writers is called Jamnia, and was a port near to Joppa; and belonged to the tribe of Dan, as Josephus {m} writes:
and the wall of Ashdod: another of the principalities of the Philistines, the same with the Azotus of the New Testament; he dismantled all these places:
and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines; where he placed garrisons to keep them in awe; see Am 1:8.
{m} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 22.
2 Chronicles 26:7
Ver. 7. And God helped him against the Philistines,.... He did not do all before related of himself, and by his own strength, but by the help of God; the Targum is
"the Word of the Lord helped him:''
and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gurbaal; the same with Gerar, according to the Targum; which also belonged to the Philistines, and had a king in Abraham's time, Ge 20:1, the same with Askelon, another of the five principalities of the Philistines:
and the Mehunims; or the Minaeans, as the Septuagint, and whom Pliny {n} makes mention of among the Arabians; they seem to be the Scenite Arabs; see 2Ch 20:1, or rather, as the Targum, those that dwelt in the plain of Maon, which was in Arabia Petraea.
{n} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28.
2 Chronicles 26:8
Ver. 8. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah,.... As tributaries to him, or; however, as desirous to live in friendship with him:
and his name spread abroad, even to the entering in of Egypt; so far he carried his arms, and conquered the countries that lay between Palestine and Egypt:
for he strengthened himself exceedingly; his kingdom and its coasts from the force of enemies.
2 Chronicles 26:9
Ver. 9. Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate,.... Which was broken down by the king of Israel in his father's time, 2Ch 25:23 and which he not only repaired, but strengthened, by building a tower upon it:
and at the valley gate; which led to the valley, Ne 2:13, called the valley of the dead bodies, in which they were cast, and in which the brook Kidron ran, Jer 31:40
and at the turning of the wall; at each of those places he built towers, which Josephus {o} says were one hundred and fifty cubits high: and fortified them; put garrisons of soldiers into them.
{o} Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 3.
2 Chronicles 26:10
Ver. 10. Also he built towers in the desert,.... In the desert of Arabia, to protect travellers from thieves and robbers, and particularly shepherds and their flocks, as appears by what follows; which a certain writer {p} thinks are the same which the Indians call pagodas; not such as served for temples, but were buildings encompassed with good walls, where flocks were gathered together in case of any alarm:
and digged many wells; for the watering of the flocks, which in those hot and desert places were of great use:
for he had much cattle, both in the low country and in the plains; both flocks and herds:
husbandmen also, and vinedressers in the mountains; husbandmen to take care of the corn, and manure the land for that, and gather it when ripe; and vinedressers to prune the vines, and look after them; which were very often planted on mountains, and on which also corn grew, Ps 72:16
and in Carmel; a place in the tribe of Judah, where Nabal dwelt, 1Sa 25:2 or it may be put for any fruitful field:
for he loved husbandry; not only the profit, but the exercise of it at times; and it was usual with great personages in the eastern countries to employ themselves in some such way; Saul after he was king attended the herd, 1Sa 11:5, Mesha king of Moab was a sheep master, 2Ki 3:4, among the Romans, Quinctius Cincinnatus and Cato Major {q} were great lovers of husbandry; and we read of one of the Chinese emperors that gave himself to husbandry, held the plough himself, broke the clods, and cast in the seed, to set an example to the whole empire {r}. Another of their emperors gave himself wholly to husbandry {s}; an other chose an husbandman for his successor, and who also encouraged husbandry {t}.
{p} Agreement of Customs between the East Indians and Jews, art. 13. p. 61. {q} In Cicero de Senectute. {r} Martin. Sinic. Hist. l. 8. p. 326. {s} Ib. l. 4. p. 92. {t} Ib. l. 1. p. 29, 32.
2 Chronicles 26:11
Ver. 11. Moreover, Uzziah had an host of fighting men,.... A standing army:
that went out to war by bands; to annoy his enemies, and to scour the country from thieves and robbers, that came in troops to plunder:
according to the number of their account, by the hand of Jeiel the scribe; the secretary of war, who ordered these bands, settled their number, and directed their destination:
and Maaseiah the ruler; or officer over them, a lieutenant:
under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains; that had the command of them, or at least of one of them.
2 Chronicles 26:12
Ver. 12. The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand six hundred. Who were the commanders and principal officers of his army; and such a number supposed a large army, as follows.
2 Chronicles 26:13
Ver. 13. And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred,.... Which was larger than that in his father's time by 7500, 2Ch 25:5 besides officers:
that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy; they were ready to fight, and fight valiantly, whenever the king had any occasion for them, or the land was invaded.
2 Chronicles 26:14
Ver. 14. And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host,.... For every soldier in the army:
shields and spears; defensive and offensive weapons, the one to cover and protect their bodies, the other to push and pierce their enemies:
and helmets, and habergeons; the first of these were a covering for the head in the day of battle, and the other coats of mail, to defend the body:
and bows; to shoot arrows out of:
and slings to cast stones; at which the Benjaminites formerly were very expert.
2 Chronicles 26:15
Ver. 15. And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers, and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal,.... Such as with the Romans were called "catapultae", "ballistae" {u}, "scorpiones" {w}, &c. and by this it appears that these were not first invented in Greece and Rome, but in Judea. It is said {x}, that the Romans received the machine to batter cities from the Greeks, and that the Trojan horse was no other than a battering ram; but if they did, the invention of them must be ascribed, not to them, but rather to the Syrians and Phoenicians, according to Pliny {y}; though others {z} suppose the Carthaginians, who were a colony of theirs, to be the inventors of them; yet, after all, they seem to be the device of some skilful men among the Jews, in the times of Uzziah; according to Diodorus Siculus {a}, they were not found out when Nineveh was besieged in the times of Sardanapalus:
and his name spread far abroad; in distant countries, for his warlike dispositions and preparations, which made them stand in fear of him:
for he was helped until he was strong; he was wonderfully helped by the Lord to build fortified places, raise a numerous army, and provide all sorts of armour for them, and invent such machines as would greatly annoy the enemy, whereby he became very potent, and injected dread round about him.
{u} Cicero. Tusculan. Quaest. l. 2. Tacit. Hist. l. 3. c. 23. {w} Ammian. Marcellin. l. 23. {x} Vid. Valtrinum de re militari Roman. l. 5. c. 6. {y} Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. {z} Vitruvius de Architectura, l. 10. c. 19. Tertullian. de Pallio, c. 1. & Salmasius in ib. Vid. Turnebi Adversaria, l. 29. c. 18. {a} Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 113.
2 Chronicles 26:16
Ver. 16. When he was strong,.... Became great and powerful, through his victories, the enlargement of his dominions, and having a numerous army, and these well accoutred, and many fortified cities and towers:
his heart was lifted up to his destruction; he grew vain and proud, elated with his flourishing circumstances, which issued in his ruin:
for he transgressed against the Lord his God; who had helped him, and made him so great, and had bestowed so many favours upon him; the Targum is,
"the Word of the Lord his God;''
what his transgression was, follows:
and went into the temple of the Lord; the holy place, into which none but the priests might enter:
to burn incense upon the altar of incense; which stood there.
2 Chronicles 26:17
Ver. 17. And Azariah the priest went in after him,.... To hinder him from doing it, and to persuade him to go out. This was the high priest, as appears from 2Ch 26:20 and is thought to be the same that is spoken of in 1Ch 6:10
and with him eighty priests of the Lord, that were valiant men; not only able bodied men, but men of spirit and courage, and zealous for the honour of God.
2 Chronicles 26:18
Ver. 18. And they withstood Uzziah the king,.... They not only stood against him, but stood about him, surrounded him, so as to hinder him from approaching the altar of incense:
and said unto him, it appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord; it did not belong to his office as a king, it was no part of it
but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense; and to them only; for even the Levites might not do it, only those of the tribe of Levi, that descended from Aaron, see Nu 16:35,
go out of the sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed; by going into that:
neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God; but to his hurt, and be a brand of infamy upon him; for more is designed than is expressed, and as the event showed.
2 Chronicles 26:19
Ver. 19. Then Uzziah was wroth,.... With the priests, and, as Josephus {b} says, threatened to kill them:
and had a censer in his hand to burn incense; ready to do it, and resolved upon it:
and while he was wroth with the priests; and expressing his indignation, and do what he would do to them, if they continued to oppose him:
the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar; which seems not only to describe the position of the priests, being beside the altar of incense, to keep the king from it, when the leprosy was seen by them in his forehead, but the quarter from whence the stroke invisibly came. Josephus {c} says, there was earthquake at the same time, and a mountain was rent.
{b} Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 4. {c} lbid.
2 Chronicles 26:20
Ver. 20. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead,.... He was leprous all over his body, no doubt, but it appeared in his forehead very remarkably, and was seen by them all, who, without doubt, informed him of his case, and of which he soon became sensible:
and they thrust him out from thence; the holy place, he being now unfit to be in a common dwelling house, or his own palace, and much less to be in the house of God:
yea, himself also hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten him; fearing, should he continue there, that something worse would befall him; the Targum is, the Word of the Lord. The leprosy was a disease sent immediately from God, as the case of Miriam, and this of Uzziah, show; and so the Persians {d} had a notion, that those had it who sinned against the sun, and for that reason, and which they accounted and worshipped as God.
{d} Herodot. Clio, sive, l. 1. c. 138.
2 Chronicles 26:21
Ver. 21. And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper,....
See Gill on "2Ki 15:5",
for he was cut off from the house of the Lord; not, suffered to enter into that, because of his uncleanness:
and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land; see 2Ki 15:5.
2 Chronicles 26:22
Ver. 22. Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last,.... What were done by him, both in the beginning and latter end of his reign:
did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write: not in his own prophecy, but in the history of his own times, which was usual for every prophet to write, though now lost, see 2Ki 15:6.
2 Chronicles 26:23
Ver. 23. So Uzziah slept with his fathers,.... Died as they did, the same year, according to Dr. Lightfoot {e}, in which he was smitten with the leprosy; and in the year of his death it was Isaiah had the vision related in Isa 6:1, &c.
and they buried him with his fathers; See Gill on "2Ki 15:7".
{e} Works, vol. 1. p. 99.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
2 Chronicles 27:1
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 27
This chapter treats of the reign of Jotham, which was a good one, 2Ch 27:1, of his buildings and wars, 2Ch 27:3, and of his death and burial, 2Ch 27:7.
Ver. 1. Jotham was twenty five years old,....
See Gill on "2Ki 15:33".
2 Chronicles 27:2
Ver. 2. And he did that which was right,....
See Gill on "2Ki 15:34",
howbeit, he entered not into the temple of the Lord; to burn incense, as his father did; he did according to his good ways, but not his evil ones:
and the people did yet corruptly; in sacrificing and burning incense in the high places, 2Ki 15:35 which some think Joash himself did, and is meant in the preceding clause; but the sense given is best.
2 Chronicles 27:3
Ver. 3. He built the high gate in the house of the Lord,.... See the note on 2Ki 15:35
and on the wall of Ophel he built much; which Kimchi interprets an high place; it was the eastern part of Mount Zion. Josephus {f} calls it Ophlas, and says it joined to the eastern porch of the temple; and some have thought the porch of the temple is meant; the Targum renders it a palace; it is a tradition of the Jews that it was the holy of holies {g}.
{f} De Bell. Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 2. {g} Vid. Hieron Trad. Heb. in lib. Paralipom. fol. 86. A. F. G.
2 Chronicles 27:4
Ver. 4. Moreover, he built cities in the mountains of Judah,.... In the mountainous part of it, the hill country of Judea, Lu 1:65,
and in the forests he built castles and towers; for the safety of travellers, and of shepherds and their flocks, see 2Ch 26:10.
2 Chronicles 27:5
Ver. 5. He fought also with the king of the Ammonites, and prevailed against them,.... These were brought into subjection by David; but in later times endeavoured to cast off the yoke, and even invaded the land of Judah, as in the days of Jehoshaphat, and now in the reign of Jotham, but succeeded not, see Am 1:13
and the children of Ammon gave him the same year one hundred talents of silver; he obliged them to pay this tribute annually, and which they began to pay in the present year, and amounted to 35,330 pounds,
and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley; the measure here is the "cor", the same with the "homer"; which, according to Godwin {h}, held forty five gallons, or five bushels and five gallons, so that there must be upwards of 50,000 bushels of each of these paid to Jotham; according to Bishop Cumberland {i}, a "cor", or "homer", held seventy five wine gallons, and upwards of five pints:
so much did the children of Ammon pay both the second year and the third; the two following years as well as the present one; why this tribute was not continued to be paid cannot be said with certainty, whether the Ammonites refused and revolted, and could not be obliged, or whether the agreement was only for three years.
{h} Moses & Aaron, l. 6. c. 9. {i} Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 3. p. 86.
2 Chronicles 27:6
Ver. 6. So Jotham became mighty,.... Having built towers and castles, and fortified cities, and conquered his enemies:
because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God; ordered, directed, and guided them according to the word and will of God, and walked as in the sight of God, having the fear of him continually before him.
2 Chronicles 27:7
Ver. 7. Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars,.... Not only with the Ammonites, but with the Syrians, and ten tribes, see
2Ki 15:37
and his ways, lo, they are written in the books of the kings of Israel and Judah; not in the canonical books of Kings, but in the Chronicles of the kings of both nations, see 2Ki 15:36.
2 Chronicles 27:8
Ver. 8. He was twenty five years old,.... The same is repeated here as in 2Ch 27:1.
2 Chronicles 27:9
Ver. 9 See Gill on "2Ki 15:38".
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
2 Chronicles 28:1
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 28
This chapter contains the reign of Ahaz, and gives an account of the idolatry he was guilty of, 2Ch 28:1, what calamities came upon him and his people, being delivered up into the hands of the kings of Syria and Israel, who slew many, and carried others captives, 2Ch 28:5, though they that were taken captive by Israel, at the admonition of a prophet, were sent back again, 2Ch 28:9, how also he was distressed by the Edomites and Philistines, and not helped by the king of Assyria, he sent for and made presents to, 2Ch 28:16 and yet went into more and greater idolatries, 2Ch 28:22, and the chapter is concluded with his death and burial, 2Ch 28:26.
Ver. 1-4. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign,.... These verses are much the same with 2Ki 16:2, only in 2Ch 28:2 it is said,
he made also molten images for Baalim; the several Baals or idols of the nations round about, as well as served Jeroboam's calves; see Jud 2:11, and he is said in 2Ch 28:3,
to burn incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom; to Molech, the god of the Ammonites, who was worshipped there.
See Gill on "2Ki 16:2" See Gill on "2Ki 16:3" See Gill on "2Ki 16:4"
2 Chronicles 28:2
Ver. 2. See Gill on "2Ch 28:1"
2 Chronicles 28:3
Ver. 3. See Gill on "2Ch 28:1"
2 Chronicles 28:4
Ver. 4. See Gill on "2Ch 28:1"
2 Chronicles 28:5
Ver. 5. Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria,.... Whose name was Rezin, 2Ki 16:5, though that is an after expedition to this, which is there related. The Lord is called the God of Ahaz, because he was so of right; he had dominion over him, and ought to have been worshipped by him; and, besides, he was so by virtue of the national covenant between God and the people Ahaz was king of; and moreover, Ahaz professed he was his God, though in an hypocritical manner, and he forsook the true worship of him:
and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus; whereas in a later expedition, related in 2Ki 16:5, they did not succeed:
and he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel; whose name was Pekah:
who smote him with a great slaughter; as is next related.
2 Chronicles 28:6
Ver. 6. For Pekah son of Remaliah,.... Who was at this time king of Israel:
slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all
valiant men; a great slaughter to be made at one time, and of valiant men, but not so great as that in 2Ch 13:17,
because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers; this was not a reason with Pekah for slaying them, he himself being an idolater, but why the Lord suffered them to be slain by him.
2 Chronicles 28:7
Ver. 7. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son,.... Who therefore must have escaped being burnt in the valley of Hinnom, or only was caused to pass through the fire there, 2Ch 28:3,
and Azrikam the governor of the house; steward or treasurer in the king's house, in the same office as Sheban was, Isa 22:15
and Elkanah that was next to the king: prime minister of state.
2 Chronicles 28:8
Ver. 8. And the children of Israel carried captive of their brethren two hundred thousand women, sons and daughters,.... Which was a very large and unusual number to be carried captive; but having made such a slaughter of the men, and the rest being intimidated thereby, it was the more easily done:
and took away also much spoil from them; wealth and riches out of their cities, and even from Jerusalem; for by the preceding verse it seems as if they came thither:
and brought the spoils to Samaria; or rather "towards Samaria" {k}, as some render the word; for they were not as yet come to it, nor did they bring it and their captives thither, see 2Ch 9:15.
{k} Nwrmvl "versus Samariam", Piscator, Rambachius.
2 Chronicles 28:9
Ver. 9. But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded,.... Not the same that was in the time of Asa, 2Ch 15:1,
and he went out before the host that came to Samaria; that was coming thither; he went out of Samaria to meet them:
and said unto them, behold, because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand; he let them know it was not owing to their wisdom and conduct, their prowess and courage, that they had got the victory over them, but because the Lord was displeased with them for their sins, and therefore gave them up into their hands:
and ye have slain them in a rage that reaches up unto heaven; that is, with an exceeding great rage and fury, and the cry of which reached to heaven also, and was displeasing to God; he suggests to them, that they had exceeded all bounds, and had not shown that compassion to their brethren, when fallen into their hands, they ought to have done, and which therefore was resented by the God of heaven, see Zec 1:15.
2 Chronicles 28:10
Ver. 10. And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you,.... As seemed by taking and bringing captive such a number of them, contrary to the law, Le 25:39
but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God? for which they deserved to be chastised as well as their brethren the men of Judah, and might expect it, and especially if they used them in a barbarous manner, and contrary to the will of God.
2 Chronicles 28:11
Ver. 11. Now hear me therefore,.... And not only hear, but be obedient:
and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken of your brethren; their women, sons and daughters, even all of them, the whole 200,000:
for the fierce wrath of God is upon you; hangs over your heads, and will fall upon you, unless you do this.
2 Chronicles 28:12
Ver. 12. Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim,.... Of the principal men of the ten tribes, whose names follow:
Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war; who were bringing the captives and spoils to Samaria; but these princes, being influenced by what the prophet said, hindered their proceeding any further.
2 Chronicles 28:13
Ver. 13. And said unto them, ye shall not bring in the captives hither,.... That is, into Samaria, near which it seems they now were:
for whereas we have offended against the Lord already; by exceeding in their cruelty against their brethren of Judah, as well as by worshipping the calves:
ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: by making slaves of those they had taken captives, which was against the express law of God:
for your trespass is great; which they had committed already, by their idolatrous practices:
and there is fierce wrath against Israel; which they perceived by what the prophet had said.
2 Chronicles 28:14
Ver. 14. So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and the congregation. Which were come out of Samaria to meet them; such an effect had the word's of the prophet, and the princes, upon them, that they not only left the captives with them, but the spoil, to dispose of, as they thought fit.
2 Chronicles 28:15
Ver. 15. And the men that were expressed by name rose up,.... Either those before named, 2Ch 28:12 as Jarchi, and so the Vulgate Latin version; or such as they pitched upon, nominated, and appointed:
and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them; put clothes on their backs, and shoes on their feet, who either were taken or carried away before they could put on their garments, or had been stripped of them:
and gave them to eat, and drink, and anointed them; not only fed them, being hungry and thirsty, but anointed them for refreshment after travelling; the Targum is, "washed them", from dirt and filth contracted by travelling:
and carried all the feeble of them on asses; women and children that were not able to walk afoot so far back again:
and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren; a city on the borders both of Judah and Israel, and famous for the number of palm trees near it, see Jud 1:16 in all which these inhabitants of Samaria acted the part of the good Samaritan, Lu 10:33,
then they returned to Samaria: the prophet, with the princes, and the army, and the whole congregation.
2 Chronicles 28:16
Ver. 16. At that time did King Ahaz send to the kings of Assyria to help him. To Tiglathpileser, and his son, see 2Ki 16:7, and the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read in the singular, and so the Targum.
2 Chronicles 28:17
Ver. 17. For again the Edomites had come,.... As in the days of Jehoshaphat, 2Ch 20:10,
and smitten Judah, and carried away captives; taking the advantage of the weak and low condition Ahaz was in, and which was the reason of his sending to the king of Assyria.
2 Chronicles 28:18
Ver. 18. The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country,.... Which lay nearest to them, as Sharon, Lydda, Joppa, &c. in revenge of what Uzziah had done to them, 2Ch 26:6, and of the south of Judah; they penetrated as far as that, from the west to the south of the land:
and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho, with the villages thereof and Timnah with the villages thereof; of which see Jos 15:10
and Gimzo also, and the villages thereof; which though nowhere else mentioned in Scripture, yet we frequently read in Jewish writings {l} of Nahum, a man of Ganizu, which perhaps is the same place with this:
and they dwelt there; kept them in their hands, and inhabited them.
{l} T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 21. 1. Sanhedrin, fol. 108. 2, &c.
2 Chronicles 28:19
Ver. 19. For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel,.... Because of his impieties and idolatries, which the people by his example went into; he is called king of Israel, because he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and because he ruled over two of the tribes of Israel, and of right was king over all Israel, as David and Solomon his ancestors were; though the Vulgate Latin, Septuagint, and Syriac versions, read, king of Judah; and so the Targum: "for he made Judah naked"; stripped them of their religion, and the worship of God, and so of the divine protection, whereby they were exposed to their enemies, see Ex 32:25 the Targum is,
"for the house of Judah ceased from the worship of the Lord;''
transgressed sore against the Lord; by committing gross idolatry the same Targum is,
"they dealt falsely with the Word of the Lord.''
2 Chronicles 28:20
Ver. 20. And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him,.... Not to Jerusalem, but to Damascus, where he made a diversion in his favour, and took that city, and where Ahaz met him, 2Ki 16:9
and distressed him, but strengthened him not; exhausted his treasures, and laid a tribute upon him, but did not help him against the Edomites and Philistines, or recover for him the cities they had taken from him; and, in taking Damascus, he served himself more than Ahaz, and paved the way for seizing upon the ten tribes.
2 Chronicles 28:21
Ver. 21. For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes,.... A part out of the treasures of the temple, and a part out of his own treasures, and another which he levied upon his nobles:
and gave it unto the king of Assyria; sent it to him as a present, to engage him on his side, and assist him against his enemies, 2Ki 16:10
but he helped him not; See Gill on "2Ch 28:20".
2 Chronicles 28:22
Ver. 22. And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord,.... By increasing his idolatries, as appears by what he did, in imitation of what he saw at Damascus, where he had an interview with the king of Assyria, 2Ki 16:10
this is that King Ahaz; that monster of iniquity, than whom there was none worse, nor any so bad, of all the kings of Judah.
2 Chronicles 28:23
Ver. 23. For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him,.... As he foolishly imagined, that they might do him no more hurt; as it is said of the Indians, that they worship the devil, that he may not hurt them; but that a king of Judah should do this is monstrous stupidity; rather therefore the meaning may be, that he worshipped the gods of those that smote him, those of the men or soldiers of Damascus {m} see 2Ch 28:5 for the Spirit of God would never ascribe the smiting of him to idols, though he himself might;
and he said, because the gods of the kings of Syria help them; which looks as if this was before Damascus was taken by the king of Assyria, and when Rezin king of Syria prevailed over Ahaz:
therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me; against the Edomites and Philistines; wherefore rather to this, his idolatry, respect is had in 2Ch 28:22,
but they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel; the worship of them was the cause of all the calamities that came upon that part of Israel of which he was king.
{m} So Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
2 Chronicles 28:24
Ver. 24. And gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God,.... And converted them to his own use, sold them, or melted the gold and silver, of which they were, and made money of them, his treasures being exhausted:
and shut up the doors of the house of the Lord: that the people might not come and worship there, but on the high places he made:
and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem; that the priests might sacrifice there, and not in the temple.
2 Chronicles 28:25
Ver. 25. And in every city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto the gods,.... The gods of Damascus, and other idols; this he did to prevent their coming to Jerusalem to worship.
2 Chronicles 28:26
Ver. 26,27. Now the rest of his acts,.... Of these two verses,
See Gill on "2Ki 16:19",
See Gill on "2Ki 16:20".
2 Chronicles 28:27
Ver. 27. See Gill on "2Ch 28:26"
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
2 Chronicles 29:1
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 29
This chapter begins with the good reign of Hezekiah, who upon his accession to the throne opened the doors of the temple, 2Ch 29:1, summoned the priests and Levites, and exhorted them to purge the temple, and restore the worship of it, 2Ch 29:4, who accordingly set about the work immediately, and cleansed the temple, and, when they had done, reported it to the king, 2Ch 29:12 upon which he, with the princes, went into the temple and offered sacrifices, 2Ch 29:20 and ordered singers to sing at the offering of burnt offerings, 2Ch 29:25 when he and his people offered burnt offerings and peace offerings in great abundance, 2Ch 29:31.
Ver. 1,2. Hezekiah began to reign,.... Of these two verses,
See Gill on "2Ki 18:2",
See Gill on "2Ki 18:3".
2 Chronicles 29:2
Ver. 2. See Gill on "2Ch 29:1"
2 Chronicles 29:3
Ver. 3. He in the first year of his reign, in the first month,.... And, as appears from 2Ch 29:17, on the first day of the month:
opened the doors of the house of the Lord; which his father had shut, 2Ch 28:24
and repaired them; or strengthened them, the hinges, and other parts of them, being loosened and weakened; and ornamented them by overlaying them with gold, the plates of which very probably his father had taken off; for, certain it is, Hezekiah overlaid them, and very probably at this time, see 2Ki 18:16.
2 Chronicles 29:4
Ver. 4. And he brought in the priests and Levites,.... The persons that officiated in the service of the temple:
and gathered them together into the east street; which led to the eastern gate of the temple.
2 Chronicles 29:5
Ver. 5. And said unto them, hear me, ye Levites; sanctify yourselves,.... By washing their bodies and their garments, that no pollution might attend them in their service, see Isa 52:11
and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers; by carrying out of it all manner of uncleanness, as they did, 2Ch 29:16,
and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place; or the abomination; the altar, like that at Damascus, which Ahaz, removing the altar of the Lord, had placed in the court of the priests; or, as Kimchi thinks, an idol, which he had set upon that altar.
2 Chronicles 29:6
Ver. 6. For our fathers have transgressed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God,.... Meaning their more immediate ancestors, his father and theirs, who had committed idolatry; which is a great trespass, and than which there is not a greater evil in the sight of God, nor more provoking to him:
and have forsaken him; his word, worship, and ordinances:
and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord; the temple, by neglecting that, and the service of it, and attending the high places: and turned their backs; upon it; though some think this refers to a rite or custom, introduced by Ahaz before he shut up the temple, that instead of looking to the west, when they worshipped, where was the ark of the Lord, he ordered them to turn their faces to the east, where his altar stood.
2 Chronicles 29:7
Ver. 7. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch,.... So that there was no entering into the temple, 2Ch 28:24
and put out the lamps; for the priests not being able to go in morning and evening to light them, and dress them, they in course went out; the Jews say {n}, that on the eighteenth of Ab, which answers to part of July and August, the western lamp was extinct in the days of Ahaz, for which a fast was kept on that day:
and have not burnt incense, nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel; but had done these in the high places to idols, 2Ch 28:3.
{n} Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. c. 580. sect. 2.
2 Chronicles 29:8
Ver. 8. Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon. Judah and Jerusalem,.... As appeared, by suffering the Syrians, and Israelites, and Edomites, and Philistines, to come upon them, and distress them, as the history of the preceding chapter shows:
and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes; such desolation and destruction were made among them, as not only threw them into a stupor, that they knew not what to do, but were amazing to all their neighbours, and caused them to hiss at them, which they could not but be sensible of.
2 Chronicles 29:9
Ver. 9. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword,.... Of the kings of Syria and Israel, even great numbers of them, 2Ch 28:5
and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this; for this idolatry; or they were, though afterwards dismissed, 2Ch 28:8 and some of them were still in captivity, perhaps such as were carried captive by the Edomites, 2Ch 28:17.
2 Chronicles 29:10
Ver. 10. Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel,.... To renew one, as Asa and Jehoiada had done, promising to serve the Lord, and worship him according to his will:
that his fierce wrath might be turned from us; under the tokens of which they still continued, and might expect it to break forth in other instances, unless a reformation was made.
2 Chronicles 29:11
Ver. 11. My sons,.... So, as the father of his people, he speaks of them in the most tender and affectionate manner:
be not now negligent; backward to this good work, slothful, sluggish, and remiss in it; according to Jarchi and Kimchi, the word has the signification of error, and the sense may be, do not continue in the error in which you have been, in neglecting the service of God:
for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense; on the altar of incense, which was the work of the priests, and for which they were selected from the rest of their brethren; and Hezekiah's discourse was directed to them, as well as to the Levites, 2Ch 29:4.
2 Chronicles 29:12
Ver. 12-14. Then the Levites arose,.... Whose names are mentioned; of the Kohathites two, Mahath the son of Amashai, and Joel the son of Azariah; of the Merarites two, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel; of the Gershonites two, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; and of the family of Elizaphan, a Kohathite, two, Shimri and Jehiel; and of the family of Asaph, one of the chief singers in the times of David, two, Zechariah and Mattaniah; and of the family of Heman, another principal singer in the same times, two, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the family of Jeduthun, the third principal singer, the same with Ethan, two, Shemaiah and Uzziel, in all fourteen.
2 Chronicles 29:13
Ver. 13. See Gill on "2Ch 29:12"
2 Chronicles 29:14
Ver. 14. See Gill on "2Ch 29:13"
2 Chronicles 29:15
Ver. 15. And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves,.... As they were bid, see 2Ch 29:5,
and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the word of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord; for this, which the king commanded, was by the Lord, and they came to do this work, in obedience to both.
2 Chronicles 29:16
Ver. 16. And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it,.... Into the holy place, where the candlesticks and shewbread tables stood, into which none but priests might enter, but not into the most holy place, the innermost of all; for none but the high priest might go into that, and only on the day of atonement; though in case of necessity, as for repairs, others might go into it, and so perhaps now to cleanse it, if any pollution was there:
and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord; into the court of the priests, where the Levites might be, and were:
and the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron; which ran through the valley of the son of Hinnom, into which all unclean things, and the filth of the temple and sacrifices, were usually carried and cast, see 2Ki 18:12.
2 Chronicles 29:17
Ver. 17. Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify,.... Either of the reign of King Hezekiah, or rather of the year; the month Ab or Nisan, as the Targum expresses it:
and on the eighth of the month came they to the porch of the Lord; they seem to have begun cleansing the inner part of the temple first, and so came forward until they came to the porch which led into it:
so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; the holy place, and it may be the most holy place, and the court of the priests:
and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end; it took them eight days more to cleanse the outward porch, and the buildings and chambers belonging to the temple; according to Jarchi, it required so much time, because Ahaz had framed pictures of idols upon the walls of the temple, which could not be defaced sooner.
2 Chronicles 29:18
Ver. 18. Then they went in to Hezekiah the king,.... In his palace:
and said, we have cleansed all the house of the Lord; the several parts of it, and apartments belonging to it:
and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof; which they cleansed and scoured, and put in their proper place, and which Ahaz had removed:
and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof; which had lain neglected and profaned, but were now put in order.
2 Chronicles 29:19
Ver. 19. Moreover, all the vessels which King Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression,.... Not that he threw them away, being valuable, as made of gold and silver; but, as Kimchi interprets it, he removed them, and converted them to idolatrous uses; or, as the Targum, he defiled or profaned them, and made them abominable by strange idols:
have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord; they had cleaned them, and fitted them for service, and had put them where they were ready for use; though the Targum is,
"we have laid them aside, and hid them, and prepared others in their room,''
as unfit for divine service; and which is the sense of other Jewish writers {o}.
{o} T. Bab. Avodah Zarah, fol. 54. 2.
2 Chronicles 29:20
Ver. 20. Then Hezekiah the king rose early,.... Took the first opportunity to attend the worship of God, and set an example to his people:
and gathered the rulers of the city; the elders of the people, the chief magistrates in Jerusalem:
and went up to the house of the Lord; the temple, to worship there.
2 Chronicles 29:21
Ver. 21. And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah,.... To make atonement in a typical way, having respect to the sacrifice of the Messiah, for the sins of the king, his family and court, among whom idolatry had prevailed in the times of his father; and for the cleansing of the temple, which had been polluted by the idolatries of Ahaz; and for the expiation of the whole land; seven of each sort are ordered, though only one goat was required for a sin offering by the law, because of the multitude of transgressions that had been committed, and because of the length of time in which sacrifices had been neglected:
and he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord: the altar of burnt offerings, whose business it was to do it.
2 Chronicles 29:22
Ver. 22. So they killed the bullocks,.... The seven bullocks, that is, the priests killed them:
and the priests received the blood; into basins provided for that purpose:
and sprinkled it on the altar; according to the law of Moses, Le 1:5 and so they did with the rams and lambs.
2 Chronicles 29:23
Ver. 23. And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation,.... Which were to make atonement for the sins of both:
and they laid their hands on them; signifying thereby that they were vicarious sacrifices to be offered up in their own room and stead, and that they deserved to die, as these creatures would: transferring as it were hereby their sins unto them, for which they were to be sacrificed, and to make atonement, as an emblem of the imputation of the sins of the Lord's people to Christ, sacrificed in their stead.
2 Chronicles 29:24
Ver. 24. And the priests killed them,.... The seven he goats; for of the killing of the bullocks, rams, and lambs, mention is made before, 2Ch 29:2
and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make atonement for all Israel; typical of the reconciliation and atonement made for the whole spiritual Israel of God by the sacrifice of Christ:
for the king commanded that the burnt offering, and the sin offering, should be made
for all Israel; not only for the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and for as many of the rest of the tribes as were come over to them, and dwelt among them; but even for the ten tribes also, sadly guilty of idolatry, and for whose reformation and good this pious prince was concerned, see
2Ch 30:1.
2 Chronicles 29:25
Ver. 25. And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps,.... To play upon, which were the three principal instruments of music used in religious worship, and what had been disused in the times of Ahaz:
according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet; this sort of music was not commanded by the law of Moses, but was directed to by David under a divine influence, and was approved of by the prophets of the Lord here mentioned:
for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets; the Targum is,
"for by the Word of the Lord was the commandment by the hand of the prophets.''
2 Chronicles 29:26
Ver. 26. And the Levites stood with the instruments of David,.... Which were invented, directed, and ordered to be used by him, and are the same as in the preceding verse:
and the priests with the trumpets; which were made by the direction of Moses, according to the order of God, Nu 10:2.
2 Chronicles 29:27
Ver. 27. And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar,.... Which was wholly devoted to the Lord, and was an acknowledgment of his sovereignty over them, and of his goodness to them:
and when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel; and this was done at the time of the pouring out of the drink offering, which always attended the burnt offering; for this is a rule with the Jews, that they do not say the song but over the drink offering {o}.
{o} T. Bab. Eracin, fol. 12. 1.
2 Chronicles 29:28
Ver. 28. And all the congregation worshipped,.... Bowed their heads as a token of divine adoration:
and the singers sang; both with vocal and instrumental music, who were the Levites:
and the trumpeters sounded; their silver trumpets; these were the priests: and all this continued
until the burnt offering was finished; with all appertaining to it, the meat and drink offerings.
2 Chronicles 29:29
Ver. 29. And when they had made an end of offering,.... Both the sin offering and the burnt offering:
the king and all that were with him bowed themselves and worshipped; towards the place where the ark was, giving thanks for the purging of the temple, and restoring the worship of it.
2 Chronicles 29:30
Ver. 30. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord, with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer,.... Making use of psalms composed by the one and the other; Jarchi takes it to be the one hundred and fifth psalm, which begins, "O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name"; as in
1Ch 16:7
and they sang praises with gladness; the king and all the people:
and they bowed their heads and worshipped; made another adoration of the Divine Being, as deeply impressed with a sense of his greatness and goodness.
2 Chronicles 29:31
Ver. 31. Then Hezekiah answered and said,.... Or proceeded to say, as follows:
now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord; having entered anew on the performance of their office, filling their hands with sacrifices, as the words signify:
come near, and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord; which the people were to put into their hands to offer for them:
and the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; peace offerings, part of which the offerers had to feast on with their friends so expressing their joy and thankfulness on this occasion:
and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings; of which they had no share, but were wholly the Lord's; and which was a greater proof of their liberality, and so of their sincere and cordial thankfulness.
2 Chronicles 29:32
Ver. 32. And the number of the burnt offerings which the congregation brought were seventy bullocks, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. Of which they had no part to feast but were wholly devoted to the Lord, by way of thankfulness to him.
2 Chronicles 29:33
Ver. 33. And the consecrated things,.... Which were devoted for peace offerings, of which the owners had a part: were six hundred oxen, and three thousand sheep; which was a much lesser number than what were offered upon occasion in the times of David and Solomon, the nation being poorer; and besides, these were only the oblation of two tribes, they of all Israel.
2 Chronicles 29:34
Ver. 34. But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings,.... Take off the skins of them, which used to be done by the priests, Le 1:6,
wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them till the work was ended; assisted in the flaying of the sacrifices, until they had gone through the service of this time, and the skins of all the sacrifices were flayed off:
and until the other priests had sanctified themselves; who had been negligent of it, or had defiled themselves by idolatry:
for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests; were more ready to do it, and did it with greater cheerfulness and good will; were not backward to do it, but did it at once.
2 Chronicles 29:35
Ver. 35. And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings, for every burnt offering,.... Besides the abundance of burnt offerings, whose skins were to be taken off, there were meat offerings and drink offerings to each, which required many hands to prepare them; and also the fat of the peace offerings was to be burnt; which, all together, occasioned a great deal of business:
so the service of the house of the Lord was set in order: both for sacrifice and singing; a good beginning was made, and there was a good foundation laid to proceed on.
2 Chronicles 29:36
Ver. 36. And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people,.... To see things go on so well, which foreboded good unto them: and particularly
that God had prepared the people; disposed and directed their hearts in such a manner as to yield such a cheerful obedience to the will of God, and show such a hearty regard to his worship and service, and the restoration of it:
for the thing was done suddenly; whereby it the more appeared that they were under a divine influence, which so quickly and powerfully wrought upon them to engage in this work, and needed not arguments and persuasions to bring them to it.