99 did eat and drink; and he said, "See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king's daughter." And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came back, and told him. And he said, "This is the word of Jehovah, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'In the portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the body of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, "This is Jezebel.""" LXXXVIII THE DEATH OF ELISHA (II Kings xiii: 14–20) Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died: and Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over him, and said, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!" And Elisha said unto him, "Take bow and arrows; " and he took unto him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, “Put thy hand upon the bow;" and he put his hand upon it. And Elisha laid his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, "Open the window eastward;" and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot; " and he shot. And he said, "Jehovah's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria; for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them." And he said, "Take the arrows;" and he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, "Smite upon the ground;" and he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times: then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it; and whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice." And Elisha died, and they buried him. [After the death of Elisha the kingdom of Israel sank deep into idolatry. Jehovah sought repeatedly to bring back the people to the faith of their fathers, but when they persisted in their evil he allowed Samaria and many other cities to be taken by Assyria and the inhabitants to be carried away as captives.] LXXXIX HEZEKIAH: THE DESTRUCTION OF (II Kings xviii: 1-xx: 21) Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father1 had done. He removed the high places, and brake the pillars, and cut down the Asherah:2 and he brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.3 He trusted in Jehovah, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him. For he clave to Jehovah; he departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which Jehovah commanded Moses. And Jehovah was with him; whithersoever he went forth he prospered: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. He smote the Philistines unto Gaza and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria carried Israel away unto Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, because they obeyed not the voice of Jehovah their God, but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded, and would not hear it, nor do it. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, "I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear." And the king of Assyria appointed unto1 Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors 1. Demanded of. of the temple of Jehovah, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh1 from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army unto Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field. And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. 6 And Rabshakeh said unto them, 66 Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, "What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?" Thou sayest (but they are but vain words), "There is counsel. and strength for the war." Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me? Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. But if ye say unto me, "We trust in Jehovah our God;" is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem, "Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?" Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then canst thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? Am I now come up without Jehovah 1. Titles of Assyrian officers. The Tartan was the commander-inchief; the Rabsaris was probably the chief eunuch; and the Rabshakeh a general. against this place to destroy it? Jehovah said unto me, "Go up against this land, and destroy it.""" 1 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, "Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not with us in the Jews' 1 language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall." But Rabshakeh said. unto them, "Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words?" Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, "Hear ye the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus saith the king, 'Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand: neither let Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah, saying, "Jehovah will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, "Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive-trees and of honey, that ye may live, and not die:" and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, 66 Jehovah will deliver us." Hath any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?2 have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 1. The name is derived from "Judah" and was at first used only of the members of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin after Israel was divided. Later the name was applied to the whole of the Hebrew race. 2. Independent cities lying between the kingdoms of Judah and Assyria which had been conquered by the Assyrians. |