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Azariah Smitten with Leprosy.

II. KINGS, XV.

Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
that which was right in the sight of the
LORD, according to all that his father
Amaziah had done; (4) save that the
high places were not removed: the
people sacrificed and burnt incense still
on the high places.

(3) And he did a ch. 10.30.

(5) And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king's son was over the house, judging the people of the land.

(6) And the rest of the acts of Azariah,

B.C. cir. 772.

B.C. cir. 765.

b Matt. 1.9, called;
Ozias.

days.

B.C. cir. 758.

The Reign of Zachariah.

in Samaria six months. (9) And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. (10) And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him. before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

(11) And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. (12) This was "the word of the

Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass.

and all that he did, are they not written Heb, a month of LORD which he spake unto Jehu, saying, in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (7) So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

(8) In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel

B.C. cir. 772.

B.C. cir. 733.

(3) And he did that which was right.-This statement is repeated word for word in Chronicles. Its exact meaning here, as in other instances, is that Azariah supported the legitimate worship, and lent his countenance to no foreign cultus. When the chronieler adds that he "sought God in the days of (the prophet) Zachariah," and that "as long as he sought Jehovah, God made him to prosper," he does not contradict the preceding general estimate of the king's religious policy, but simply gives additional information respecting his life and fortunes.

(5) And the Lord smote the king.-The chronicler relates the reason-viz., because of his usurpation of priestly functions in the sanctuary. This happened towards the end of the reign. Jotham, the regent, was only twenty-five when Azariah died (verse 33).

Smote.-Or, struck. So we speak of a paralytic stroke, and the word plague literally means stroke.

In a several house.-Rather, in the sickhouse (or, hospital)—i.e., a royal residence outside of Jerusalem (Lev. xiii. 46; chap. vii. 3) set apart for such cases. (Strictly, in the house of freedom; because lepers were emancipated from all social relations and duties. Gesenius explains the word from an Arabic root said to mean prostration, weakness; but Lane gives for that term the special meaning smallness (or, narrowness) of the eye; weakness of sight. See his Arabic Lexicon, Bk. I., Pt. II., p. 772.

Over the house.-Not apparently as prefect of the palace (comp. 1 Kings iv. 6, xviii. 3), it as dwelling in the palace instead of his father.

Judging the people of the land. As his father's representative. (Comp. 1 Sam. viii. 6, 20; 1 Kings iii. 9.) This passage is strong evidence against the assumption of joint sovereignties of princes with their fathers, so often made by way of escaping chronological difficulties in Hebrew history. Jotham is not co-regent but viceroy of Azariah until the latter dies.

(6) The rest of the acts of Azariah.-Such as his wars with the Philistines and Arabs, his improvements in the organisation of the army and the defences

b

(13) Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria. (14) For Menahem the son of Gadi went

of the capital, his fondness for husbandry and cattlebreeding, and his success in all these directions, as well as his intrusion into the Sanctuary to offer incense at the golden altar. (See 2 Chron. xxv. and the Notes there.)

(8-16) THE REIGNS OF ZACHARIAH AND
SHALLUM IN SAMARIA.

(8) In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah. -This agrees with the assumption that Jeroboam reigned fifty-one years (chap. xiv. 23).

(9) As his fathers-i.e., the dynasty of Jehu, of which he was the last member. Like all his predecessors, he upheld the illicit worship established by Jeroboam I.

(10) Son of Jabesh.-Not man of Jabesh Gilead, as Hitzig explains. The father's name is always given in the case of usurpers.

Before the people.-Rather, before people-i.e., in public. So all the versions except the LXX. The open assassination of the king is noted, in contrast with the secrecy with which former conspiracies had been concerted. It is a symptom of the rapidly-increasing corruption of morals, which allowed people to look on with indifference while the king was being murdered. (The LXX. puts the Hebrew words into Greek letters thus: Keßλadu. The word qobol-"before"-is Aramaic rather than Hebrew, and only occurs here. Ewald acutely conjectured that Qobolām-"before people"-was really the proper name of another usurper, comparing Zech. xi. 8, the third king during that month;" but in that case the narrative is hardly coherent or complete. Grätz suggests the correction "in Ibleam."

(12) This was the word of the Lord.-Thenius considers this remark as added by the Judæan editor to the short abstract of Zachariah's reign.

(13) A full month.-Literally, as margin. Thenius says Shallum cannot have reigned a full month, as Zech. xi. 8 obviously refers to the three kings Zachariah, Shallum, and Menahem

(14) For.-And.

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Went up from Tirzah.-Menahem was Zachariah's general, who at the time was quartered with the troops at Tirzah, near Samaria (1 Kings xiv. 17). On the news of the murder of Zachariah, Menahem marched to the capital. The month of Shallum's reign was probably taken up with preparations for hostilities on both sides. A battle at Samaria decided matters (Josephus). Perhaps, however, Menahem simply entered Samaria with a part of his forces.

(16) Then. After slaying Shallum, and seizing the

supreme power.

Tiphsah. The name means ford, and elsewhere denotes the well-known Thapsacus on the Euphrates (1 Kings iv. 24). Here, however, an Israelite city in the neighbourhood of Tirzah is obviously intended. The course of events was apparently this: after slaying Shallum, Menahem returned to Tirzah, and set out thence at the head of his entire army to bring the rest of the country to acknowledge him as king. Tiphsah resisting his claims, he made an example of it which proved efficient to terrorise other towns into submission. [Thenius would read Tappuah for Tiphsah by a slight change in one Hebrew letter. This agrees very well with the local indications of the text (comp. Josh. xvii. 7, 8), though, of course, there may have been an otherwise unknown Tiphsah near Tirzah.]

The coasts thereof.-Literally, her borders (or, territories). (Comp. Josh. xvii. 8.)

From Tirzah-i.e., starting from Tirzah. This shows that the districts of Tirzah and Tiphsah (or, Tappuah) were conterminous.

Because they opened not to him.-Literally, for one opened not; an impersonal construction. The meaning is the gates were closed against him. The to him is added by all the versions except the Targum. And all the women.-Comp. chap. viii. 21; Hosea xiii. 16; Amos i. 13.

(17-22) THE REIGN OF MENAHEM. HIS TRIBUTE TO PUL, KING OF ASSYRIA.

(17) Reigned ten years. And some months over. (Comp. verse 23.)

(18) He did that which was evil.-Ewald says that at the outset Menahem appeared to be guided by better principles, referring to Zech. xi. 4-8.

All his days. In the Hebrew these words occur at the end of the verse. They are not found in any other instance of the common formula which

B.C. 771.

and of Menahem.

it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.

(17) In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria. (18) And

:

he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. (19) And "Pul the king of Assyria came against the land and Menahem gave Pul a

the verse repeats (comp. 1 Kings xv. 26, 34, xvi. 26, xxii. 53; 2 Kings iii. 1, x. 31, &c.), and almost certainly belong to the next verse.

From the sins.-Heb., from upon the sins, which is peculiar. The reading of the LXX., "from all the sins," appears right.

(19) And.-As it stands, the verse begins abruptly. But the reading of the LXX. restores the connection: "In his days Pul the king of Assyria," &c. (Comp. verse 29.)

Pul. This name has been read in the cuneiform (Pu-u-lu, i.e., Pûlu, an officer of Sargon's). For the identity of Pul, king of Assyria, with Tiglath Pileser II., see Note on 1 Chron. v. 26, and Schrader's Die Keilinschr. und das Alt. Test., pp. 227-240 (2nd edit., 1883). Prof. Schrader gives the following as the result of his elaborate and most interesting discussion: (1) Menahem of Israel and Azariah of Judah were contemporaries, according to the Bible as well as the Inscriptions. (2) According to the Bible, both these rulers were contemporary with an Assyrian king Pul; according to the Inscriptions, with Tiglath Pileser. (3) Berosus calls Pul a Chaldean; Tiglath Pileser calls himself king of Chaldea. (4) Pul-Porus became in 731 B.C. king of Babylon; Tiglath Pileser in 731 B.C. received the homage of the Babylonian king Merodach-Baladan, as he also reduced other Babylonian princes in this year, amongst them Chinzeros of Amukkan. (5) Poros appears in the canon of Ptolemy as king of Babylon; Tiglath Pileser names himself "king of Babylon." (6) Chinzeros became king of Babylon in 731 B.C. according to the canon, and, in fact, along with (or, under) a king of the name of Pōros; the hypothesis that the vanquished king of Amukkan of the same name was entrusted by Tiglath Pileser with the vassal-kingship of Babylon is suggested at once by the coincidence of the chronological data. (7) In the year 727-726 B.C. a change of government took place in Assyria in consequence of the death of Tiglath Pileser, and in Babylonia in consequence of the death of Porus. (8) No king appears in the Assyrian lists by a name like Pul, which is anomalous as a royal designation; we can only identify Pul with some other name in the lists, and, on historical grounds, with Tiglath Pileser only. (9) Pul and Pōros are forms of the same name (comp. Bâbiru for Bâbilu in Persian inscriptions). (10) From all this, the conclusion is inevitable that Pul and Porus, Pul and Tiglath Pileser, are one and the same person. Came against the land.-Rather, came upon the land (Isa. x. 28; Judges xviii. 27). The meaning here is, occupied it.

A thousand talents of silver.-About £375,000. That his hand might be with him. - Pul (Tiglath Pileser) came at the invitation of Menahem to establish the latter in the sovereignty against other

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thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand. (20) And Menahem 1exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.

(21) And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (22) And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead.

(23) In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years. (2) And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of

B.C. 759.

and is Slain by Remaliah.

Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. (25) But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty 1 Heb., caused to men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.

come forth.

B.C. 759.

B.C. 761.

pretenders as a vassal of Assyria. (Comp. Hosea v. 13, vii. 11, viii. 9.) Tiglath Pileser had first reduced Rezin king of Syria-Damascus, which was probably much weakened by the victories of Jeroboam II. (See Note on verse 14.)

(20) Exacted. Literally, caused to go out; a word already used in the sense of to lay out, expend money (chap. xii. 12). Probably, therefore, laid (vayyissā), i.e., imposed, should be read here (Gen. xxxi. 17).

Of.-Heb., upon.

The mighty men of wealth.-A later use of the Hebrew phrase, which, in older parlance, means "the heroes of the host" (Judges vi. 12; 1 Sam. ix. 1).

Fifty shekels.-The talent of silver was worth 3,000 shekels. The payment of 1,000 talents (3,000,000 shekels) therefore implies a total of 60,000 persons able to contribute. Fifty shekels were one maneh (Assyrian, mana; Greek, uva, and Latin, mina). There was no great Temple treasury to draw from in the northern kingdom, and any palace hoards would have disappeared in the confusions attending the frequent revolutions of the time.

There. Or, then (Ps. xiv. 5).

(23-26) THE REIGN OF PEKAHIAH
(Heb., Pěkahyah).

(23) In the fiftieth year.-The forty-ninth, if verse seventeen were exact.

(25) But a captain of his. And ... his adjutant (or knight, chap. vii. 2).

The palace of the king's house.-The same expression occurred in 1 Kings xvi. 18. The word armôn, rendered "palace," is usually explained as meaning citadel or keep, from a root meaning to be high. (Comp. кра in Greek.) Ewald makes it the harem, which, as the innermost and most strongly-guarded part of an Oriental palace, is probably meant here. Thither Pekahiah had fled for refuge before the conspirators. With Argob and Arieh.-Pekah slew these two persons, probably officers of the royal guard, who stood by their master, as well as the king himself.

The peculiar names are an indication of the historical character of the account. Argob suggests that the

B.C. 740.

(26) And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

(27) In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. (28) And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

(29) In the days of Pekah king of

person who bore this name was a native of the district of Bashan so designated (1 Kings iv. 13); Arieh ("lion "), like our own Coeur-de-Lion, betokens strength and bravery. (Comp. 1 Chron. xii. 8, “The Gadites, whose faces were as the faces of lions.")

And with him fifty men of the Gileadites. -Or, and with him were fifty, &c. Pekah was supported by fifty soldiers, probably of the royal guard. Menahem himself was of Gadite origin (verse 17), and so belonged to Gilead. He would therefore be likely to recruit his body-guard from among the Gileadites, who were always famous for their prowess. (Comp. Josh. xvii. 1; Judges xi. 12; 1 Chron. xxvi. 31.) The two names Argob and Arieh agree with this supposition. The LXX. reads, in place of "the Gileadites," and Taν TETраKoσiwv," of the four hundred," which reminds us of David's 'six hundred Gibborim (2 Sam. xv. 18).

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Josephus accounts for the short reign of Pekahiah by the statement that he imitated the cruelty of his father.

(27-31) THE REIGN OF PEKAH, SON OF REMALIAH, IN SAMARIA.

(27) Reigned twenty years.-This does not agree with the duration assigned to the reign of Jotham (verse 33), and the year assigned as the beginning of Hoshea's reign (chap. xvii. 1). For, according to verse 32, Pekah had reigned about two years when Jotham succeeded in Judah, and Jotham reigned sixteen years; and, according to chap. xvii. 1, Pekah was succeeded by Hoshea in the twelfth year of Jotham's successor, Ahaz. These data make the duration of Pekah's reign from twenty-eight to thirty years. We must, therefore, either assume, with Thenius, that "the numeral sign for 30 (5) has been corrupted into 20 (5),” or, with Ewald, that" and nine" has been accidentally omitted after “twenty."

(29) Tiglath-pileser. This Assyrian sovereign, who reigned from 745 to 727 B.C., is called in his own inscriptions, Tukulti- (or Tuklat) 'abal-Esarra, which Schrader renders, "my trust is Adar"-literally, Trust is the son of the temple of Sarra. (See Note on 1

Israel Invaded by Tiglath-pileser.

II. KINGS, XV.

Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-bethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

(30) And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

(31) And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

(32) In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign. (33) Five and twenty

a

B.C. 739.

a 2 Chron. 27. 1.

B.C. 758.

Chron. v. 26.) "The idea we get of this king from the remains of these inscriptions corresponds throughout to what we know of him from the Bible. Everywhere he is presented as a powerful warrior-king, who subjugated the entire tract of anterior Asia, from the frontier mountains of Media in the east to the Mediterranean sea in the west, including a part of Cappadocia " (Schrader, K.A.T., p. 247).

Took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah all the land of Naphtali.-Comp. 1 Kings xv.

20.

Janoah.-Not the border-town between Ephraim and Manasseh (Josh. xvi. 6), as the context requires a place in the northernmost part of Israel.

Kedesh.-On the western shore of the waters of Merom (Josh. xxi. 37).

Hazor.-See 1 Kings ix. 15.

Gilead. See chap. xiv. 25; 1 Chron. v. 26. It was no long time since Jeroboam II. had recovered it for Israel. According to Schrader (K.A.T., pp. 254, seq.) the reference of the verse is to Tiglath Pileser's expedition in B.C. 734, called in the Eponym list an expedition to the land of Pilista (Philistia). With this Schrader connects a fragment of the annals which begins with a list of towns conquered by Tiglath, and ends thus: .."the town of Gaal (ad) (A) bil... of the upper part of the land of Beth-Omri (i.e., Samaria). in its whole extent I annexed to the territory of Assyria; my prefects the sagans I appointed over them." The fragment goes on to mention the flight of Hânûn, king of Gaza, to Egypt, and the carrying off of his goods and his gods by the conqueror. It is added, "The land of Beth-Omri the whole body of his men, their goods, to the land of Assyria I led away, Pakaha (i.e., Pekah) their king I slew (so Schrader; ? they slew), and A-u-si-ha (i.e., Hoshea) them I appointed. Ten (talents of gold, 1,000 talents of silver) I received from them."

over

(30) Hoshea... slew him, and reigned in his stead. See the inscription of Tiglath Pileser, quoted in the last Note, from which, as Schrader remarks, it is clear that Hoshea only secured his hold on the crown by recognition of the suzerainty of Assyria. The brief record of Kings does not mention his; but

B.C. cir. 742,

The Reign of Jotham in Judah.

years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. (3) And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. (35) Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the LORD.

(36) Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

(37) In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah. (38) And Jotham slept with his fathers,

chap. xvii. 3 represents Hoshea as paying tribute to Shalmaneser IV., the successor of Tiglath.

In the twentieth year of Jotham.-This is a suspicious statement, as not agreeing with verse 33, according to which Jotham reigned sixteen years only. (32-38) THE REIGN OF JOTHAM IN JERUSALEM. (Comp. 2 Chron. xxvii.)

(32) In the second year of Pekah.-Who came to the throne in the last year of Uzziah (Azariah, verse 27). (34) According to all that his father Uzziah had done. The chronicler qualifies this general statement by adding that Jotham did not, like his father, invade the Holy Place. (Comp. 2 Chron. xxvii. 2, with 2 Chron. xxvi. 16.)

(35) Howbeit the high generalises this statement: corruptly."

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places. The chronicler And the people did yet

He built.-Rather, He it was who built. For "the higher gate," see Note on 2 Chron. xxvii. 3. Thenius considers that the term higher denotes rank rather than local position. (See Jer. xx. 2; Ezek. viii. 3, 5, 14, 16; ix. 2; xl. 38-43; and comp. chap. xii. 9.)

(36) Now the rest of the acts of Jotham.-Some of these are related in 2 Chron. xxvii. 4-6. We read there how Jotham built towns and castles, and towers of refuge, and how he fought victoriously against Ammon, and exacted from that nation a heavy tribute three years running. Ewald and Thenius admit the historical value of this brief narrative, which is indeed evident on the face of it.

(37) In those days-i.e., in the last year of Jotham. The attacks of the allies at first took the form of isolated raids. In the next reign the country was invaded by them in full force. (See chap. xvi. 5, seq., and the Notes there.)

Rezin.-Comp. Rezon, Heb., Rězôn (1 Kings xi. 23), the founder of the dynasty. The present name is spelt in the Hebrew of Kings and Isaiah (vii. 1) Reçin. The Assyrian spelling in the records of Tiglath Pileser, who conquered and slew Rezin, suggests that the right spelling was Raçôn (Assyrian, Raçunnu). The first and last kings of the Syrian monarchy thus bore similar names, both, perhaps, meaning "prince."

The Reign

II. KINGS, XVI. and was buried with his fathers in the a 2 Chron. 28. 1. city of David his father: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

CHAPTER XVI.—(1) In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. (2) Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. (3) But he walked in the

XVI.

B.C. cir. 742.

B.C. 742.

b Isa. 7.1.

The Reign oF AHAZ. (Comp. 2 Chron. xxviii.) (2) Twenty years old.-The number should probably be twenty-and-five, according to the LXX., Syriac, and Arabic of 2 Chron. xxviii. 1. Otherwise, Ahaz was begotten when his father was ten (or, eleven) years old-a thing perhaps not impossible in the East, where both sexes reach maturity earlier than among Western races.

(3) But he walked in the way.-See Notes on 2 Chron. xxviii. 2.

Made his son to pass through the fire.-The chronicler rightly explains this as a sacrifice by fire. That such an appalling rite is really intended may be seen by reference to chap. xvii. 31; Jer. xix. 5; Ezek. xvi. 20, xxiii. 37; Jer. xxxii. 35. The expression, "To make to pass through the fire to Moloch" (Lev. xviii. 21) may have originated, as Movers suggests, in the idea that the burning was a kind of passage to union with the deity, after the dross of the flesh had been purged away; or it may be a mere euphemism. Ahaz appears to have been the first Israelite king who offered such a sacrifice. He, no doubt, regarded it as a last desperate resource against the oppression of his northern enemies. It is absurd to suppose that the king intended it in love to his child, as Thenius suggests. (See Judges xi. 31.) Such dreadful sacrifices were only made in cases of dire extremity. (Comp. chap. iii. 27.) The heathen.-More particularly the Ammonites, who made such sacrifices to Molech or Milcom.

(4) In the high places.-These are evidently distinguished from "the hills," two different prepositions being used in the Hebrew as in the English. A bāmāh, or “high-place," was a local sanctuary, and it appears that a sacred pillar or altar might be called a bāmah. Mesha king of Moab speaks of his pillar as "this bāmath." (See Note on chap. i. 1.)

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Under every green tree.-Comp. 1 Kings xiv. 23; Hosea xiv. 8. Thenius says not so much a green as a thick-foliaged and shadow-yielding tree. "They burn incense under oaks, and poplars, and teil trees, because the shadow thereof is good" (Hosea iv. 13).

THE SYRO-EPHRAIMITIC WAR, AND THE INTERVENTION OF TIGLATH PILESER. (Comp. Isa. vii. -ix. 7, "an epitome of the discourses delivered by the prophet at this great national crisis."-Cheyne.) (5) Then Rezin king of Syria. . . to war. This verse agrees almost word for word with Isa. vii. 1. The time is soon after the accession of Ahaz. " Jotham,

of Ahaz.

way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel. (4) And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

(5) Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. (6) At that time Rezin king of

the last of a series of strong and generally successful princes, had died at a critical moment, when Pekah and Rezin were maturing their plans against his kingdom. The opposing parties in northern Israel suspended their feuds to make common cause against Judah (Isa. ix. 21), and the proud inhabitants of Samaria hoped by this policy to more than restore the prestige forfeited in previous years of calamity (Isa. ix. 9, 10). At the same time the Syrians began to operate in the eastern dependencies of Judah, their aim being to possess themselves of the harbour of Elath on the Red Sea, while the Philistines attacked the Judeans in the rear, and ravaged the fertile lowlands (Isa ix. 12, verse 6). A heavy and sudden disaster had already fallen on the Judean arms, a defeat in which 'head and tail, palm-branch and rush' had been mown down in indiscriminate slaughter (Isa. ix. 14). Ahaz was no fit leader in so critical a time; his character was petulant and childish, his policy was dictated in the harem (Isa. iii. 12). Nor was the internal order of the state calculated to inspire confidence. Wealth, indeed, had greatly accumulated in the preceding time of prosperity, but its distribution had been such that it weakened rather than added strength to the nation. The rich nobles were steeped in sensual luxury, the court was full of gallantry, feminine extravagance and vanity gave the tone to aristocratic society (Isa. v. 11, iii. 16; comp. iii. 12, iv. 4), which, like the noblesse of France on the eve of the Revolution, was absorbed in gaiety and pleasure, while the masses were ground down by oppression, and the cry of their distress filled the land (Isa. iii. 15, v. 7)."-Prof. Robertson Smith.

They besieged Ahaz.-The allies wanted to compel Judah to join them in their attempt to throw off the burdensome yoke of Assyria, imposed in 738 B.C. (chap. xv. 19); and thought the best way to secure this was to dethrone the dynasty of David, and set up a creature of their own-"the son of Tabeal” (Isa. vii. 6).

Could not overcome him.-Literally, they were not able to war, as in Isa. vii. 2. The allies could not storm the city, which had been strongly fortified by Uzziah and Jotham (2 Chron. xxvi. 9, xxvii. 3).

(6) At that time.-Bähr regards this verse as a parenthesis, so that verse 7 is the strict continuation of verse 5, and "At that time" simply assigns this war as the epoch when Judah lost its only harbour and chief emporium-a grave blow to the national prosperity. It is perhaps impossible to weave the various data of Isaiah, Kings, and Chronicles into a single narrative which shall be free from all objection. But it seems probable that, after the successes recorded in 2 Chron. xxviii. 5, seq., the confederates advanced upon Jerusa

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