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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S E C O N D K I N G S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter,
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I. The history of two of the kings of Judah is briefly recorded:--
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1. Of Azariah, or Uzziah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>.
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2. Of Jotham his son,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:32-38">ver. 32-38</A>.
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II. The history of many of the kings of Israel that reigned at the same
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time is given us in short, five in succession, all of whom, except one,
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went down slain to the pit, and their murders were their successors.
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1. Zachariah, the last of the house of Jehu, reigned six months, and
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then was slain and succeeded by Shallum,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:8-12">ver. 8-12</A>.
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2. Shallum reigned one month, and then was slain and succeeded by
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Menahem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:13-15">ver. 13-15</A>.
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3. Menahem reigned ten years, or tyrannised rather, such were his
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barbarous cruelties
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:16">ver. 16</A>)
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and unreasonable exactions
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:20">ver. 20</A>),
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and then died in his bed, and left his son to succeed him first, and
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then suffer for him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:16-22">ver. 16-22</A>.
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4. Pekahiah reigned two years, and then was slain and succeeded by
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Pekah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:23-26">ver. 23-26</A>.
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5. Pekah reigned twenty years, and then was slain and succeeded by
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Hoshea, the last of all the kings of Israel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:27-31">ver. 27-31</A>)
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for things were now working and hastening apace towards the final
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destruction of that kingdom.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Reign of Azariah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 798.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel
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began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.
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2 Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he
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reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name
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<I>was</I> Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
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3 And he did <I>that which was</I> right in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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according to all that his father Amaziah had done;
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4 Save that the high places were not removed: the people
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sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.
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5 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the
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day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the
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king's son <I>was</I> over the house, judging the people of the land.
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6 And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did,
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<I>are</I> they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
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of Judah?
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7 So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with
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his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in
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his stead.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This is a short account of the reign of Azariah.
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1. Most of it is general, and the same that has been given of others;
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he began young and reigned long
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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did, for the most part, that which was right,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>
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(it was happy for the kingdom that a good reign was a long one), only
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he had not zeal and courage enough to take away the high places,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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2. That which is peculiar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>
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(that God smote him with a leprosy) is more largely related, with the
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occasion of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:16-21">2 Chron. xxvi. 16</A>,
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&c., where we have also a fuller account of the glories of the former
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part of his reign, as well as of the disgraces of the latter part of
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it. He did that which was right, as Amaziah had done; like him, he
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began well, but failed before he finished. Here we are told,
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(1.) That he was a leper. The greatest of men are not only subject to
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the common calamities, but also to the common infirmities, of human
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nature; and, if they be guilty of any heinous sin, they lie as open as
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the meanest to the most grievous strokes of divine vengeance.
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(2.) God smote him with this leprosy, to chastise him for his
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presumptuous invasion of the priests' office. If great men be proud
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men, some way or other God will humble them, and make them know he is
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both above them and against them, for he resisteth the proud.
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(3.) That he was a leper <I>to the day of his death.</I> Though we have
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reason to think he repented and the sin was pardoned, yet, for warning
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to others, he was continued under this mark of God's displeasure as
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long as he lived, and perhaps it was for the good of his soul that he
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was so.
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(4.) That he <I>dwelt in a separate house,</I> as being made
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ceremonially unclean by the law, to the discipline of which, though a
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king, he must submit. He that presumptuously intruded into God's
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temple, and pretended to be a priest, was justly shut out from his own
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palace, and shut up as a prisoner or recluse, ever after. We suppose
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that his <I>separate house</I> was made as convenient and agreeable as
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might be. Some translate it a <I>free house,</I> where he had liberty
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to take his pleasure. However, it was a great mortification to one that
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had been so much a man of honour, and a man of business, as he had
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been, to be cut off from society and dwell always in a <I>separate
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house:</I> it would almost make life itself a burden, even to kings,
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though they have never any to converse with but their inferiors; the
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most contemplative men would soon be weary of it.
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(5.) That his son was his viceroy in the affairs both of his court (for
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<I>he was over the house</I>) and of his kingdom (for he was <I>judging
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the people of the land</I>); and it was both a comfort to him and a
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blessing to his kingdom that he had such a son to fill up his room.</P>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki15_31"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Reigns of Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 758.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did
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Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six
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months.
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9 And he did <I>that which was</I> evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, as
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his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam
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the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
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10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and
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smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his
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stead.
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11 And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they <I>are</I>
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written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
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12 This <I>was</I> the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> which he spake unto Jehu,
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saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the
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fourth <I>generation.</I> And so it came to pass.
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13 Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and
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thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full
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month in Samaria.
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14 For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to
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Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew
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him, and reigned in his stead.
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15 And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy
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which he made, behold, they <I>are</I> written in the book of the
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chronicles of the kings of Israel.
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16 Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that <I>were</I> therein, and
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the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not <I>to him,</I>
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therefore he smote <I>it; and</I> all the women therein that were with
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child he ripped up.
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17 In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah
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began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, <I>and reigned</I>
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ten years in Samaria.
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18 And he did <I>that which was</I> evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>:
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he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of
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Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
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19 <I>And</I> Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and
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Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand
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might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.
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20 And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, <I>even</I> of all the
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mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to
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give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back,
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and stayed not there in the land.
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21 And the rest of the acts of Menahem, and all that he did,
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<I>are</I> they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
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of Israel?
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22 And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son
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reigned in his stead.
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23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the
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son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, <I>and
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reigned</I> two years.
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24 And he did <I>that which was</I> evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>:
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he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
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made Israel to sin.
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25 But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired
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against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the
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king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the
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Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.
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26 And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did,
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behold, they <I>are</I> written in the book of the chronicles of the
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kings of Israel.
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27 In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah
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the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, <I>and
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reigned</I> twenty years.
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28 And he did <I>that which was</I> evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>:
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he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
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made Israel to sin.
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29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king
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of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and
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Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of
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Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.
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30 And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah
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the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in
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his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.
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31 And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did,
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behold, they <I>are</I> written in the book of the chronicles of the
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kings of Israel.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The best days of the kingdom of Israel were while the government was in
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Jehu's family. In his reign, and the next three reigns, though there
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were many abominable corruptions and miserable grievances in Israel,
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yet the crown went in succession, the kings died in their beds, and
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some care was taken of public affairs; but, now that those days are at
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an end, the history which we have in these verses of about thirty-three
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years represents the affairs of that kingdom in the utmost confusion
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imaginable. Woe to those that were with child
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
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and to those that gave suck in those days, for then must needs be great
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tribulations, when, for <I>the transgression of the land, many were the
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princes thereof.</I></P>
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<P>
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I. Let us observe something, in general, concerning these unhappy
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revolutions and the calamities which must needs attend them--these bad
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times, as they may truly be called.
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1. God had tried the people of Israel both with judgments and mercies,
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explained and enforced by his servants the prophets, and yet they
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continued impenitent and unreformed, and therefore God justly brought
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these miseries upon them, as Moses had warned them. If you will yet
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<I>walk contrary to me, I will punish you yet seven times more,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:21-26">Lev. xxvi. 21</A>,
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&c.
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2. God made good his promise to Jehu, that his sons to the fourth
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generation after him should sit upon the throne of Israel, which was a
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greater favour than was shown to any of the royal families either
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before or after his. God had said it should be so
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+10:30"><I>ch.</I> x. 30</A>)
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and we are told in this chapter
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
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that so it came to pass. See how punctual God is to his promises. These
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calamities God long designed for Israel, and they deserved them, yet
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they were not inflicted till that word had taken effect to the full.
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Thus God rewarded Jehu for his zeal in destroying the worship of Baal
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and the house of Ahab; and yet, when the measure of the sins of the
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house of Jehu was full, God avenged upon it the blood then shed, called
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<I>the blood of Jezreel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+1:4">Hos. i. 4</A>.
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3. All these kings did that which was <I>evil in the sight of the
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Lord,</I> for <I>they walked in the sins of Jeroboam the son of
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Nebat.</I> Though at variance with one another, yet in this they
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agreed, to keep up idolatry, and the people loved to have it so; though
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they were emptied from vessel to vessel, that <I>taste remained in
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them,</I> and <I>that scent was not changed.</I> It was sad indeed when
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their government was so often altered, yet never for the better--that
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among all those contending interests none of them should think it as
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much their interest to destroy the calves as others had done to support
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them.
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4. Each of these (except one) conspired against his predecessor, and
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slew him--<I>Shallum, Menahem, Pekah,</I> and <I>Hoshea,</I> all
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traitors and murderers, and yet all kings awhile, one of them ten,
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another twenty, and another nine years; for God may suffer wickedness
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to prosper and to carry away the wealth and honours awhile, but, sooner
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or later, blood shall have blood, and he that dealt treacherously shalt
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be dealt treacherously with. One wicked man is often made a scourge to
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another, and every wicked man, at length, a ruin to himself.
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5. The ambition of the great men made the nation miserable. Here is
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Tiphsah, a city of Israel, barbarously destroyed, with all the coasts
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thereof, by one of these pretenders
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>)
|
|
|
|
and then another
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>),
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
II. Let us take a short view of the particular reigns.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Zachariah, the son of Jeroboam, began to reign in the thirty-eighth
|
|
year of Azariah, or Uzziah, king of Judah,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
2. But had Shallum peace, who slew his master? No, he had not
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
one month of days measured his reign and then he was cut off; perhaps
|
|
to this the prophet, who then lived, refers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+5:7">Hos. v. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
<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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:17">1 Kings xvi. 17</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Menahem held the kingdom ten years,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, whereas we have heard that the <I>kings of the house of Israel
|
|
were merciful kings</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+20:31">1 Kings xx. 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Pekah, it seems, had some persons of figure in his interest, two of
|
|
whom are here named
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
and with their help he compassed his design.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. Pekah, though he got the kingdom by treason, kept it twenty years
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+7:1-25">Isa. vii. 1</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He lost a great part of his kingdom to the king of Assyria.
|
|
Several cities are here named
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>)
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:4">Isa. viii. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki15_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki15_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki15_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki15_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki15_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki15_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki15_38"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Reign of Jotham.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 742.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>:
|
|
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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+7:2">Isa. vii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
The confederates were unjust in the attempt, yet it is here said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+15:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>),
|
|
|
|
<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>
|
|
|
|
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