mh_parser/vol_split/12 - 2Kings/Chapter 15.xml

<div2 id="iiKi.xvi" n="xvi" next="iiKi.xvii" prev="iiKi.xv" progress="68.37%" title="Chapter XV">
<h2 id="iiKi.xvi-p0.1">S E C O N D   K I N G S</h2>
<h3 id="iiKi.xvi-p0.2">CHAP. XV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iiKi.xvi-p1">In this chapter, I. The history of two of the
kings of Judah is briefly recorded:—1. Of Azariah, or Uzziah,
<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.1-2Kgs.15.7" parsed="|2Kgs|15|1|15|7" passage="2Ki 15:1-7">ver. 1-7</scripRef>. 2. Of Jotham
his son, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.32-2Kgs.15.38" parsed="|2Kgs|15|32|15|38" passage="2Ki 15:32-38">ver. 32-38</scripRef>.
II. The history of many of the kings of Israel that reigned at the
same time is given us in short, five in succession, all of whom,
except one, went down slain to the pit, and their murders were
their successors. 1. Zachariah, the last of the house of Jehu,
reigned six months, and then was slain and succeeded by Shallum,
<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.8-2Kgs.15.12" parsed="|2Kgs|15|8|15|12" passage="2Ki 15:8-12">ver. 8-12</scripRef>. 2. Shallum
reigned one month, and then was slain and succeeded by Menahem,
<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.13-2Kgs.15.15" parsed="|2Kgs|15|13|15|15" passage="2Ki 15:13-15">ver. 13-15</scripRef>. 3. Menahem
reigned ten years, or tyrannised rather, such were his barbarous
cruelties (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.16" parsed="|2Kgs|15|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:16">ver. 16</scripRef>) and
unreasonable exactions (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.20" parsed="|2Kgs|15|20|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:20">ver.
20</scripRef>), and then died in his bed, and left his son to
succeed him first, and then suffer for him, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.16-2Kgs.15.22" parsed="|2Kgs|15|16|15|22" passage="2Ki 15:16-22">ver. 16-22</scripRef>. 4. Pekahiah reigned two
years, and then was slain and succeeded by Pekah, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.23-2Kgs.15.26" parsed="|2Kgs|15|23|15|26" passage="2Ki 15:23-26">ver. 23-26</scripRef>. 5. Pekah reigned
twenty years, and then was slain and succeeded by Hoshea, the last
of all the kings of Israel (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.27-2Kgs.15.31" parsed="|2Kgs|15|27|15|31" passage="2Ki 15:27-31">ver.
27-31</scripRef>) for things were now working and hastening apace
towards the final destruction of that kingdom.</p>
<scripCom id="iiKi.xvi-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15" parsed="|2Kgs|15|0|0|0" passage="2Ki 15" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iiKi.xvi-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.1-2Kgs.15.7" parsed="|2Kgs|15|1|15|7" passage="2Ki 15:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Kgs.15.1-2Kgs.15.7">
<h4 id="iiKi.xvi-p1.12">The Reign of Azariah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p1.13">b. c.</span> 798.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiKi.xvi-p2">1 In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam
king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.
  2 Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he
reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name
<i>was</i> Jecholiah of Jerusalem.   3 And he did <i>that
which was</i> right in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p2.1">Lord</span>, 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.
  5 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p2.2">Lord</span> 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 <i>was</i> over the
house, judging the people of the land.   6 And the rest of the
acts of Azariah, and all that he did, <i>are</i> they not written
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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xvi-p3">This is a short account of the reign of
<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:PrAzar.1.1" parsed="|PrAzar|1|1|0|0" passage="Azariah. 1">Azariah. 1</scripRef>. Most of it is general, and the same that has been given
of others; he began young and reigned long (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.2" parsed="|2Kgs|15|2|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), did, for the most part, that
which was right, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.3" parsed="|2Kgs|15|3|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef> (it was happy for the kingdom that a good reign was a
long one), only he had not zeal and courage enough to take away the
high places, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.4" parsed="|2Kgs|15|4|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>.
2. That which is peculiar, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.5" parsed="|2Kgs|15|5|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef> (that God smote him with a leprosy) is more largely
related, with the occasion of it, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.26.16-2Chr.26.21" parsed="|2Chr|26|16|26|21" passage="2Ch 26:16-21">2 Chron. xxvi. 16</scripRef>, &amp;c., where we have
also a fuller account of the glories of the former part of his
reign, as well as of the disgraces of the latter part of it. He did
that which was right, as Amaziah had done; like him, he began well,
but failed before he finished. Here we are told, (1.) That he was a
leper. The greatest of men are not only subject to the common
calamities, but also to the common infirmities, of human nature;
and, if they be guilty of any heinous sin, they lie as open as the
meanest to the most grievous strokes of divine vengeance. (2.) God
smote him with this leprosy, to chastise him for his presumptuous
invasion of the priests' office. If great men be proud men, some
way or other God will humble them, and make them know he is both
above them and against them, for he resisteth the proud. (3.) That
he was a leper <i>to the day of his death.</i> Though we have
reason to think he repented and the sin was pardoned, yet, for
warning to others, he was continued under this mark of God's
displeasure as long as he lived, and perhaps it was for the good of
his soul that he was so. (4.) That he <i>dwelt in a separate
house,</i> as being made ceremonially unclean by the law, to the
discipline of which, though a king, he must submit. He that
presumptuously intruded into God's temple, and pretended to be a
priest, was justly shut out from his own palace, and shut up as a
prisoner or recluse, ever after. We suppose that his <i>separate
house</i> was made as convenient and agreeable as might be. Some
translate it a <i>free house,</i> where he had liberty to take his
pleasure. However, it was a great mortification to one that had
been so much a man of honour, and a man of business, as he had
been, to be cut off from society and dwell always in a <i>separate
house:</i> it would almost make life itself a burden, even to
kings, though they have never any to converse with but their
inferiors; the most contemplative men would soon be weary of it.
(5.) That his son was his viceroy in the affairs both of his court
(for <i>he was over the house</i>) and of his kingdom (for he was
<i>judging the people of the land</i>); and it was both a comfort
to him and a blessing to his kingdom that he had such a son to fill
up his room.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiKi.xvi-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.8-2Kgs.15.31" parsed="|2Kgs|15|8|15|31" passage="2Ki 15:8-31" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Kgs.15.8-2Kgs.15.31">
<h4 id="iiKi.xvi-p3.8">The Reigns of Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem,
Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p3.9">b. c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiKi.xvi-p4">8 In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king
of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in
Samaria six months.   9 And he did <i>that which was</i> evil
in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p4.1">Lord</span>, 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 <i>are</i> written in the book of
the chronicles of the kings of Israel.   12 This <i>was</i>
the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p4.2">Lord</span> which he spake
unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto
the fourth <i>generation.</i> And so it came to pass.   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 up from Tirzah,
and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in
Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.   15 And the
rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made,
behold, they <i>are</i> written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Israel.   16 Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all
that <i>were</i> therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah:
because they opened not <i>to him,</i> therefore he smote <i>it;
and</i> 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, <i>and
reigned</i> ten years in Samaria.   18 And he did <i>that
which was</i> evil in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p4.3">Lord</span>: he departed not all his days from the sins
of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.   19
<i>And</i> Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and
Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might
be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.   20 And
Menahem exacted the money of Israel, <i>even</i> 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, <i>are</i> 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, <i>and reigned</i>
two years.   24 And he did <i>that which was</i> evil in the
sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p4.4">Lord</span>: he departed not
from the sins of 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 men of
the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.  
26 And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did,
behold, they <i>are</i> 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, <i>and reigned</i> twenty years.   28 And
he did <i>that which was</i> evil in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p4.5">Lord</span>: 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 Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took
Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, 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 <i>are</i> written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xvi-p5">The best days of the kingdom of Israel were
while the government was in Jehu's family. In his reign, and the
next three reigns, though there were many abominable corruptions
and miserable grievances in Israel, yet the crown went in
succession, the kings died in their beds, and some care was taken
of public affairs; but, now that those days are at an end, the
history which we have in these verses of about thirty-three years
represents the affairs of that kingdom in the utmost confusion
imaginable. Woe to those that were with child (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.16" parsed="|2Kgs|15|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>) and to those that gave suck in
those days, for then must needs be great tribulations, when, for
<i>the transgression of the land, many were the princes
thereof.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xvi-p6">I. Let us observe something, in general,
concerning these unhappy revolutions and the calamities which must
needs attend them—these bad times, as they may truly be called. 1.
God had tried the people of Israel both with judgments and mercies,
explained and enforced by his servants the prophets, and yet they
continued impenitent and unreformed, and therefore God justly
brought these miseries upon them, as Moses had warned them. If you
will yet <i>walk contrary to me, I will punish you yet seven times
more,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.21-Lev.26.26" parsed="|Lev|26|21|26|26" passage="Le 26:21-26">Lev. xxvi. 21</scripRef>,
&amp;c. 2. God made good his promise to Jehu, that his sons to the
fourth generation after him should sit upon the throne of Israel,
which was a greater favour than was shown to any of the royal
families either before or after his. God had said it should be so
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.10.30" parsed="|2Kgs|10|30|0|0" passage="2Ki 10:30"><i>ch.</i> x. 30</scripRef>) and we
are told in this chapter (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.12" parsed="|2Kgs|15|12|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>) that so it came to pass. See how punctual God is to
his promises. These calamities God long designed for Israel, and
they deserved them, yet they were not inflicted till that word had
taken effect to the full. Thus God rewarded Jehu for his zeal in
destroying the worship of Baal and the house of Ahab; and yet, when
the measure of the sins of the house of Jehu was full, God avenged
upon it the blood then shed, called <i>the blood of Jezreel,</i>
<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.1.4" parsed="|Hos|1|4|0|0" passage="Ho 1:4">Hos. i. 4</scripRef>. 3. All these kings
did that which was <i>evil in the sight of the Lord,</i> for
<i>they walked in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.</i> Though
at variance with one another, yet in this they agreed, to keep up
idolatry, and the people loved to have it so; though they were
emptied from vessel to vessel, that <i>taste remained in them,</i>
and <i>that scent was not changed.</i> It was sad indeed when their
government was so often altered, yet never for the better—that
among all those contending interests none of them should think it
as much their interest to destroy the calves as others had done to
support them. 4. Each of these (except one) conspired against his
predecessor, and slew him—<i>Shallum, Menahem, Pekah,</i> and
<i>Hoshea,</i> all traitors and murderers, and yet all kings
awhile, one of them ten, another twenty, and another nine years;
for God may suffer wickedness to prosper and to carry away the
wealth and honours awhile, but, sooner or later, blood shall have
blood, and he that dealt treacherously shalt be dealt treacherously
with. One wicked man is often made a scourge to another, and every
wicked man, at length, a ruin to himself. 5. The ambition of the
great men made the nation miserable. Here is Tiphsah, a city of
Israel, barbarously destroyed, with all the coasts thereof, by one
of these pretenders (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.16" parsed="|2Kgs|15|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>), and no doubt it was through blood that each of them
waded to the throne, nor could any of these kings perish alone. No
land can have greater pests, nor Israel worse troubles, than such
men as care not how much the welfare and repose of their country
are sacrificed to their revenge and affectation of dominion. 6.
While the nation was thus shattered by divisions at home the kings
of Assyria, first one (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.19" parsed="|2Kgs|15|19|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>) and then another (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.29" parsed="|2Kgs|15|29|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>), came against it and did what
they pleased. Nothing does more towards the making of a nation an
easy prey to a common enemy than intestine broils and contests for
the sovereignty. Happy the land where that is settled. 7. This was
the condition of Israel just before they were quite ruined and
carried away captive, for that was in the ninth year of Hoshea, the
last of these usurpers. If they had, in these days of confusion and
perplexity, humbled themselves before God and sought his face, that
final destruction might have been prevented; but when God judgeth
he will overcome. These factions, the fruit of an evil spirit sent
among them, hastened that captivity, for a kingdom thus divided
against itself will soon come to desolation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xvi-p7">II. Let us take a short view of the
particular reigns.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xvi-p8">1. Zachariah, the son of Jeroboam, began to
reign in the thirty-eighth year of Azariah, or Uzziah, king of
Judah, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.8" parsed="|2Kgs|15|8|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Some of
the most critical chronologers reckon that between Jeroboam and his
son Zachariah the throne was vacant twenty-two years, others eleven
years, through the disturbances and dissensions that were in the
kingdom; and then it was not strange that Zachariah was deposed
before he was well seated on the throne: he reigned but six months,
and then Shallum <i>slew him before the people,</i> perhaps as
Caesar was slain in the senate, or he put him to death publicly as
a criminal, with the approbation of the people, to whom he had,
some way or other, made himself odious; so ended the line of
Jehu.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xvi-p9">2. But had Shallum peace, who slew his
master? No, he had not (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.13" parsed="|2Kgs|15|13|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>), one month of days measured his reign and then he
was cut off; perhaps to this the prophet, who then lived, refers
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.7" parsed="|Hos|5|7|0|0" passage="Ho 5:7">Hos. v. 7</scripRef>), <i>Now shall a
month devour them with their portions.</i> That dominion seldom
lasts long which is founded in blood and falsehood. Menahem, either
provoked by his crime or animated by his example, soon served him
as he had served his master—<i>slew him and reigned in his
stead,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.14" parsed="|2Kgs|15|14|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>.
Probably he was general in the army, which then lay encamped at
Tirzah, and, hearing of Shallum's treason and usurpation, hastened
to punish it, as Omri did that of Zimri in a like case, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.17" parsed="|1Kgs|16|17|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:17">1 Kings xvi. 17</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xvi-p10">3. Menahem held the kingdom ten years,
<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.17" parsed="|2Kgs|15|17|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. But, whereas
we have heard that the <i>kings of the house of Israel were
merciful kings</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.20.31" parsed="|1Kgs|20|31|0|0" passage="1Ki 20:31">1 Kings xx.
31</scripRef>), this Menahem (the scandal of his country) was so
prodigiously cruel to those of his own nation who hesitated a
little at submitting to him that he not only ruined a city, and the
coasts thereof, but, forgetting that he himself was born of a
woman, <i>ripped up all the women with child,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.16" parsed="|2Kgs|15|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. We may well wonder
that ever it should enter into the heart of any man to be so
barbarous, and to be so perfectly lost to humanity itself. By these
cruel methods he hoped to strengthen himself and to frighten all
others into his interests; but it seems he did not gain his point,
for when the king of Assyria came against him, (1.) So little
confidence had he in his people that he durst not meet him as an
enemy, but was obliged, at a vast expense, to purchase a peace with
him. (2.) Such need had he of help <i>to confirm the kingdom in his
hand</i> that he made it part of his bargain with him (a bargain
which, no doubt, the king of Assyria knew how to make a good hand
of another time) that he should assist him against his own subjects
that were disaffected to him. The money wherewith he purchased his
friendship was a vast sum, no less than 1000 talents of silver
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.19" parsed="|2Kgs|15|19|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), which
Menahem exacted, it is probable, by military execution, <i>of all
the mighty men of wealth,</i> very considerately sparing the poor,
and laying the burden (as was fit) on those that were best able to
bear it; being raised, it was given <i>to the king of Assyria,</i>
as pay for his army, fifty shekels of silver for each man in it.
Thus he got clear of the king of Assyria for this time; he staid
not to quarter in the land (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.20" parsed="|2Kgs|15|20|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>), but his army now got so rich a booty with so little
trouble that it encouraged them to come again, not long after, when
they laid all waste. Thus was <i>he</i> the betrayer of his country
that should have been the protector of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xvi-p11">4. Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, succeeded
his father, but reigned only two years, and then was treacherously
slain by Pekah, falling under the load both of his own and of his
father's wickedness. It is repeated concerning him as before that
he <i>departed not from the sins of Jeroboam.</i> Still this is
mentioned, to show that God was righteous in bringing that
destruction upon them which came not long after, because they hated
to be reformed, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.24" parsed="|2Kgs|15|24|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:24"><i>v.</i>
24</scripRef>. Pekah, it seems, had some persons of figure in his
interest, two of whom are here named (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.25" parsed="|2Kgs|15|25|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>), and with their help he
compassed his design.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xvi-p12">5. Pekah, though he got the kingdom by
treason, kept it twenty years (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.27" parsed="|2Kgs|15|27|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>), so long it was before his
violent dealing returned upon his own head, but it returned at
last. This Pekah, son of Remaliah, (1.) Made himself more
considerable abroad than any of these usurpers, for he was, even in
the latter end of his time (in the reign of Ahaz, which began in
his seventeenth year), a great terror to the kingdom of Judah, as
we find, <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.1-Isa.7.25" parsed="|Isa|7|1|7|25" passage="Isa 7:1-25">Isa. vii. 1</scripRef>,
&amp;c. (2.) He lost a great part of his kingdom to the king of
Assyria. Several cities are here named (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.29" parsed="|2Kgs|15|29|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>) which were taken from him, all
the land of Gilead on the other side Jordan, and Galilee in the
north containing the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon, were seized,
and the inhabitants carried captive into Assyria. By this judgment
God punished him for his attempt upon Judah and Jerusalem. It was
then foretold that within two or three years after he made that
attempt, before a child, then born, should be able to cry <i>My
father and my mother,</i> the riches of Samaria should be <i>taken
away before the king of Assyria</i> (<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.4" parsed="|Isa|8|4|0|0" passage="Isa 8:4">Isa. viii. 4</scripRef>), and here we have the
accomplishment of that prediction. (3.) Soon after this he
forfeited his life to the resentments of his countrymen, who, it is
probable, were disgusted at him for leaving them exposed to a
foreign enemy, while he was invading Judah, of which Hoshea took
advantage and, to gain his crown, seized his life, <i>slew him, and
reigned in his stead.</i> Surely he was fond of a crown indeed who,
at this time, would run such a hazard as a traitor did; for the
crown of Israel, now that it had lost the choicest of its flowers
and jewels, was lined more than ever with thorns, had of late been
fatal to all the heads that had worn it, was forfeited to divine
justice, and now ready to be laid in the dust—a crown which a wise
man would not have taken up in the street, yet Hoshea not only
ventured <i>upon</i> it but ventured <i>for</i> it, and it cost him
dear.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiKi.xvi-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.32-2Kgs.15.38" parsed="|2Kgs|15|32|15|38" passage="2Ki 15:32-38" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Kgs.15.32-2Kgs.15.38">
<h4 id="iiKi.xvi-p12.6">The Reign of Jotham. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p12.7">b. c.</span> 742.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiKi.xvi-p13">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 years old was he when he
began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his
mother's name <i>was</i> Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.   34
And he did <i>that which was</i> right in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p13.1">Lord</span>: 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p13.2">Lord</span>.   36 Now the rest of the acts of
Jotham, and all that he did, <i>are</i> they not written in the
book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?   37 In those
days the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiKi.xvi-p13.3">Lord</span> began to send against
Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.
  38 And Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with
his fathers in the city of David his father: and Ahaz his son
reigned in his stead.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiKi.xvi-p14">We have here a short account of the reign
of Jotham king of Judah, of whom we are told, 1. That he reigned
very well, <i>did that which was right in the sight of the
Lord,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.34" parsed="|2Kgs|15|34|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:34"><i>v.</i> 34</scripRef>.
Josephus gives him a very high character, stating that he was pious
towards God, just towards men, and laid out himself for the public
good,—that, whatever was amiss, he took care to have it
rectified,—and, in short, wanted no virtue that became a good
prince. Though the high places were not taken away, yet to draw
people from them, and keep them close to God's holy place, he
showed great respect to the temple, and built the higher gate which
he went through to the temple. If magistrates cannot do all they
would for the suppressing of vice and profaneness, let them do so
much the more for the support and advancement of piety and virtue,
and the bringing of them into reputation. If they cannot pull down
the high places of sin, yet let them build and beautify the high
gate of God's house. 2. That he died in the midst of his days,
<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.33" parsed="|2Kgs|15|33|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>. Of most of
the kings of Judah we are told how old they were when they began
their reign, and by that may compute how old they were when they
died; but no account is kept of the <i>age</i> of any of the kings
of Israel that I remember, only of the years of their
<i>reigns.</i> This honour God would put upon the kings of the
house of David above those of other families. And by these accounts
it appears that there was none of all the kings of Judah that
reached David's age, seventy, the common age of man. Asa's age I do
not find. Uzziah lived to be sixty-eight, Manasseh sixty-seven, and
Jehoshaphat sixty; and these were the three oldest; many of those
that were of note did not reach fifty. This Jotham died at
forty-one. He was too great a blessing to be continued long to such
an unworthy people. His death was a judgment, especially
considering the character of his son and successor. 3. That in his
days the confederacy was formed against Judah by Rezin and
Remaliah's son, the king of Syria and the king of Israel, which
appeared so very formidable in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz
that, upon notice of it, the heart of that prince was moved and
<i>the heart of the people, as the trees of the wood are moved with
the wind,</i> <scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.2" parsed="|Isa|7|2|0|0" passage="Isa 7:2">Isa. vii. 2</scripRef>.
The confederates were unjust in the attempt, yet it is here said
(<scripRef id="iiKi.xvi-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.37" parsed="|2Kgs|15|37|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:37"><i>v.</i> 37</scripRef>), <i>The
Lord began to send them against Judah,</i> as he bade Shimei curse
David, and took away from Job what the Sabeans robbed him of. Men
are God's hand—the sword, the rod in his hand—which he makes use
of as he pleases to serve his own righteous counsels, though men be
unrighteous in their intentions. This storm gathered in the reign
of pious Jotham, but he came to his grave in peace and it fell upon
his degenerate son.</p>
</div></div2>