171 lines
13 KiB
XML
171 lines
13 KiB
XML
<div2 id="iiCh.xxiii" n="xxiii" next="iiCh.xxiv" prev="iiCh.xxii" progress="84.61%" title="Chapter XXII">
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<h2 id="iiCh.xxiii-p0.1">S E C O N D C H R O N I C L E
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S</h2>
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<h3 id="iiCh.xxiii-p0.2">CHAP. XXII.</h3>
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<p class="intro" id="iiCh.xxiii-p1">We read, in the foregoing chapter, of the carrying
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away of Jehoram's sons and his wives; but here we find one of his
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sons and one of his wives left, his son Ahaziah and his wife
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Athaliah, both reserved to be the shame and plague of his family.
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I. Ahaziah was the shame of it as a partaker, 1. In the sin, and,
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2. In the destruction, of the house of Ahab, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.1-2Chr.22.9" parsed="|2Chr|22|1|22|9" passage="2Ch 22:1-9">ver. 1-9</scripRef>. II. Athaliah was the plague of
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it, for she destroyed all the seed-royal, and usurped the throne,
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<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.10-2Chr.22.12" parsed="|2Chr|22|10|22|12" passage="2Ch 22:10-12">ver. 10-12</scripRef>.</p>
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<scripCom id="iiCh.xxiii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22" parsed="|2Chr|22|0|0|0" passage="2Ch 22" type="Commentary"/>
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<scripCom id="iiCh.xxiii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.1-2Chr.22.9" parsed="|2Chr|22|1|22|9" passage="2Ch 22:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Chr.22.1-2Chr.22.9">
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<h4 id="iiCh.xxiii-p1.5">Ahaziah Slain by Jehu. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiii-p1.6">b. c.</span> 884.)</h4>
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<p class="passage" id="iiCh.xxiii-p2">1 And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah
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his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came
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with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah
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the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. 2 Forty and two
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years old <i>was</i> Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned
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one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also <i>was</i> Athaliah
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the daughter of Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of the
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house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.
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4 Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiii-p2.1">Lord</span> like the house of Ahab: for they were his
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counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction.
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5 He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram
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the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria
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at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians smote Joram. 6 And he
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returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds which were
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given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And
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Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram
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the son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he was sick. 7 And the
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destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for when he
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was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi,
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whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiii-p2.2">Lord</span> had anointed to cut
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off the house of Ahab. 8 And it came to pass, that, when
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Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, and found the
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princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that
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ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them. 9 And he sought
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Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in Samaria,) and
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brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him:
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Because, said they, he <i>is</i> the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought
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the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiii-p2.3">Lord</span> with all his heart. So the
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house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiii-p3">We have here an account of the reign of
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Ahaziah, a short reign (of one year only), yet long enough, unless
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it had been better. He was called <i>Jeho-ahaz</i> (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.21.17" parsed="|2Chr|21|17|0|0" passage="2Ch 21:17"><i>ch.</i> xxi. 17</scripRef>); here he is
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called <i>Ahaz-iah,</i> which is the same name and of the same
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signification, only the words of which it is compounded are
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transposed. He is here said to be forty-two years old when he began
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to reign (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.2" parsed="|2Chr|22|2|0|0" passage="2Ch 22:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>),
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which could not be, for his father, his immediate predecessor, was
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but forty when he died, and it is said (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.8.26" parsed="|2Kgs|8|26|0|0" passage="2Ki 8:26">2 Kings viii. 26</scripRef>) that he was twenty-two
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years old when <i>he began to reign.</i> Some make this forty-two
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to be the age of his mother Athaliah, for in the original it is,
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<i>he was the son of forty-two years,</i> that is, the son of a
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mother that was of that age; and justly is her age put for his, in
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reproach to him, because she managed him, and did what she
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would—she, in effect, reigned, and he had little more than the
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title of king. Many good expositors are ready to allow that this,
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with some few more such difficulties, arise from the mistake of
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some transcriber, who put forty-two for twenty-two, and the copies
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by which the error should have been corrected might be lost. Many
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ancient translations read it here twenty-two. Few books are now
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printed without some <i>errata,</i> yet the authors do not
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therefore disown them, nor are the errors of the press imputed to
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the author, but the candid reader amends them by the sense, or by
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comparing them with some other part of the work, as we may easily
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do this.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiii-p4">The history of Ahaziah's reign is briefly
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summed up in two clauses, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.3-2Chr.22.4" parsed="|2Chr|22|3|22|4" passage="2Ch 22:3,4"><i>v.</i>
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3, 4</scripRef>. His mother and her relations were his counselors
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to do wickedly, and it was to his destruction.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiii-p5">I. He did wickedly. Though by a special
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providence of God he was preserved alive, when all his brethren
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were slain, and reserved for the crown, notwithstanding he was the
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youngest of them—though <i>the inhabitants of Jerusalem,</i> when
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they had buried his father ingloriously, made him king, in hopes he
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would take warning by that not to tread in his steps, but would do
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better for himself and his kingdom—yet he was not influenced by
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the favours either of God or man, but <i>walked in the way of the
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house of Ahab, did evil in the sight of the Lord</i> like them
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(<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.3-2Chr.22.4" parsed="|2Chr|22|3|22|4" passage="2Ch 22:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3, 4</scripRef>), that
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is, he worshipped, Baalim and Ashtaroth, supposing (as the learned
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bishop Patrick thinks) that by these demons, as mediators, they
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might have easier access to the supreme <i>Numen,</i> the God of
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Israel, or that <i>these they might resort to at all times</i> and
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<i>for all matters,</i> as being <i>nearer at hand,</i> and <i>not
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of so high a dignity,</i> but of a <i>middle nature</i> between the
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immortal God and mortal men—deified heroes; so they worshipped
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them as the church of Rome does saints and angels. That was
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sufficiently bad; but I wish there was no reason to suspect worse.
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I am apprehensive that they looked upon Jehovah, the God of their
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fathers, to be altogether such a one as these Baalim, and them to
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be as great and as good as he, nay, upon one account, more eligible
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inasmuch as these Baalim encouraged in their worshippers all manner
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of lewdness and sensuality, which the God of Israel strictly
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forbade.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiii-p6">II. He was counselled by his mother and her
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relations to do so. <i>She was his counsellor</i> (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.3" parsed="|2Chr|22|3|0|0" passage="2Ch 22:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) and so were <i>they,
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after the death of his father,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.4" parsed="|2Chr|22|4|0|0" passage="2Ch 22:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. While his father lived <i>he</i>
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took care to keep him to idolatry; but, when he was dead, the house
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of Ahab feared lest his father's miserable end should deter him
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from it, and therefore they were very industrious to keep him
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closely to it, and to make him <i>seven times</i> more a <i>child
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of hell than themselves.</i> The counsel of the ungodly is the ruin
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of many young persons when they are setting out in the world. This
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young prince might have had better advice if he had pleased from
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the princes and the judges, the priests and the Levites, that had
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been famous in his good grandfather's time for teaching in the
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knowledge of God; but the house of Ahab humoured him, and <i>he
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walked after their counsel,</i> gave himself up to be led by them,
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and did just as they would have him. Thus do those debase and
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destroy themselves that forsake the divine guidance.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiii-p7">III. He was counselled by them to his
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destruction. So it proved. Those that counsel us to do wickedly
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counsel us to our destruction; while they fawn, and flatter, and
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pretend friendship, they are really our worst enemies. Those that
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debauch young men destroy them. It was bad enough that they exposed
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him to the sword of the Syrians, drawing him in to join with Joram
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king of Israel in an expedition to Ramoth-Gilead, where Joram was
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wounded, an expedition that was not for his honour. Those that give
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us bad counsel in the affairs of religion, if regarded by us, may
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justly be made of God our counsellors to do foolishly in our own
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affairs. But that was not all: by engaging him in an intimacy with
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Joram king of Israel, they involved him in the common ruin of the
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house of Ahab. He came on a visit to Joram (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.6" parsed="|2Chr|22|6|0|0" passage="2Ch 22:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>) just at the time that Jehu was
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executing the judgment of God upon that idolatrous family, and so
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was cut off with them, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.7-2Chr.22.9" parsed="|2Chr|22|7|22|9" passage="2Ch 22:7-9"><i>v.</i>
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7-9</scripRef>. Here, 1. See and dread the mischief of bad
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company—of joining in with sinners. If not the infection, yet let
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the destruction be feared. <i>Come out from Babylon,</i> that
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falling house, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.18.4" parsed="|Rev|18|4|0|0" passage="Re 18:4">Rev. xviii.
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4</scripRef>. 2. See and acknowledge the justice of God. His
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providence brought Ahaziah, just at this fatal juncture, to see
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Joram, that he might fall with him and be taken as in a snare. This
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we had an account of before, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.9.27-2Kgs.9.28" parsed="|2Kgs|9|27|9|28" passage="2Ki 9:27,28">2
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Kings ix. 27, 28</scripRef>. It is here added that he was decently
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buried (not as Jehoram, whose dead body was cast into Naboth's
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vineyard, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.9.26" parsed="|2Kgs|9|26|0|0" passage="2Ki 9:26">2 Kings ix. 26</scripRef>),
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and the reason given is because he was the son (that is, the
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grandson) of good Jehoshaphat, <i>who sought the Lord with his
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heart.</i> Thus is <i>he</i> remembered with honour long after his
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death, and some respect shown even to his degenerate unworthy seed
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for his sake. <i>The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of
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the wicked shall rot.</i></p>
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</div><scripCom id="iiCh.xxiii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.10-2Chr.22.12" parsed="|2Chr|22|10|22|12" passage="2Ch 22:10-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Chr.22.10-2Chr.22.12">
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<h4 id="iiCh.xxiii-p7.7">Athaliah Usurps the Throne. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiii-p7.8">b. c.</span> 884.)</h4>
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<p class="passage" id="iiCh.xxiii-p8">10 But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw
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that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal
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of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of
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the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among
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the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a
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bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife
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of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid
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him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not. 12 And he was
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with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned
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over the land.</p>
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<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiii-p9">We have here what we had before, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.11.1-2Kgs.11.16" parsed="|2Kgs|11|1|11|16" passage="2Ki 11:1-16">2 Kings xi. 1</scripRef>, &c. 1. A wicked
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woman endeavouring to destroy the house of David, that she might
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set up a throne for herself upon the ruins of it. Athaliah
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barbarously cut off all the seed-royal (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.10" parsed="|2Chr|22|10|0|0" passage="2Ch 22:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>), perhaps intending to transmit
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the crown of Judah after herself to some of her own relations, that
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though her family was cut off in Israel by Jehu it might be planted
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in Judah. 2. A good woman effectually preserving it from being
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wholly extirpated. One of the late king's sons, a child of a year
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old, was rescued from among the dead, and saved alive by the care
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of Jehoiada's wife (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.22.11-2Chr.22.12" parsed="|2Chr|22|11|22|12" passage="2Ch 22:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11,
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12</scripRef>), that a <i>lamp might be ordained for God's
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anointed;</i> for no word of God shall fall to the ground.</p>
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</div></div2> |