The reigns of

B. C. 758.

B. C. 772.

A. M. 3246. moved; the people sacrificed and burnt || parted not from the sins of Jeroboam A. M. 3232. incense still on the high places. the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

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

6 And the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are 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.

10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

11 And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.

12 This was h the word of the LORD which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generaAnd so it came to pass.

tion.
13 Shallum the son of Jabesh began to
reign in the nine and thirtieth year of 1 Uzziah
i
king of Judah; and he reigned 3 a full month
in Samaria.

3

meaning is, that his behaviour during the six months in which he reigned, how he managed things, and provoked this conspiracy, are recorded elsewhere.

Verse 5. The Lord smote the king, so that he was Verse 11. The rest of the acts of Zachariah, &c. a leper-The cause of this stroke is related at large,||-We read of nothing that he did; therefore the 2 Chron. xxvi. 16-21. And dwelt in a several house -Separated from conversation with others by virtue of the law, recorded Lev. xiii. 46, which, being the law of the King of kings, bound kings no less than subjects. The Jews, by the term several house, understand a house in the country; where he might have liberty to take his pleasure, but not to meddle with public affairs. Jotham, the king's son, was over the house, &c.-That is, he lived in the palace, and managed all the affairs of the court and of the kingdom, governing in his father's name as his vicegerent. It was in the twenty-seventh year of Azariah's reign that he was smitten with the leprosy, and he continued a leper twenty-five years, during which time Jotham administered the government, his father being incapable of it.

Verse 12. This was the word of the Lord, Thy sons, &c.-How unfaithful soever they proved to God, he faithfully performed the promise which he made to Jehu, whose sons, to the fourth generation, succeeded him in the throne of Israel. But this Shallum put an end to that family, and fulfilled the prophecy of Hosea, (chap. i. 4,) I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. For though Jehu had a command from God to destroy the house of Ahab, yet because he did it not so much in obedience to God, and with a view to his glory, as to satisfy his own private ambition, and in

Verse 7. They buried him with his fathers, &c.—a way of cruelty quite abhorrent to the divine nature, Not in the very sepulchre of the kings, because he was a leper, (2 Chron. xxvi. 23,) but in the same field, and very near to the same place, where his ancestors lay interred.

Verse 10. Shallum the son of Jabesh-Probably one of his chief captains; conspired against him -On what pretence is quite uncertain. And smote him before the people-Openly and impudently, which, it is likely, he presumed to do, either because he remembered that the promise of the kingdom, made to Jehu, was confined to the fourth generation, (chap. x. 30,) which he observed to be now expired; or because he perceived the people were generally disaffected to their king, and favourable to his attempt.

God cut his family short, as soon as he had fulfilled his promise, and avenged that blood by this man, who slew Zachariah, and the rest of his posterity, if there were any. At least, he made the kingdom to cease in his family, and, not long after, it ceased in all Israel, who were rooted out, and never restored to their own country, as Judah was.

Verses 13, 14. He reigned a full month-That dominion seldom lasts long that 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: he went up from Tirzah-A city in the tribe of Ephraim, where Jeroboam first dwelt; and smote Shallum-Probably he was general of the army, which then lay encamped

The wicked reign and

B. C. 172.

in his stead.

CHAPTER XV.

4

death of Menahem.

B. C. 771.

A. M. 3232. Shallum the son of Jabesh in Sa- || hand might be with him to confirm A. M. 3233.
maria, and slew him, and reigned the kingdom in his hand.
20 And Menahem exacted the money of Is-
rael, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of
each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the
king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned
back, and stayed not there in the land.

15 And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.

16 7 Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped

up.

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

18 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

B. C. 771. 19¶ And Pul the king of Assyria
came against the land: and Menahem
gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his
Kings iv. 24. Chap. viii. 12. 1 Chron. v. 26; Isa. ix.

at Tirzah, and hearing of Shallum's treason and
usurpation, he hastened to Samaria to avenge it, as
Omri acted, in a like case, with regard to Zimri.
Verse 16. Then Menahem smote Tiphsah-Either
that Tiphsah mentioned 1 Kings iv. 24, or another
city of the same name. And the coasts thereof, from
Tirzah-All the people dwelling between those
places. Because they opened not to him-Refused
open the gates of their city, and submit to him as
conqueror. All the women that were with child he
ripped up-That by this example of severity he
might affright all the rest of the people into obedi-
ence. The frequent mention of this kind of cruelty,
shows how inhumanly barbarous the eastern people
were in those ages.

10

21 ¶ And the rest of the acts of Menahem,
and all that he did, are they not written in the
book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?
22 And Menahem slept with his fathers; and
Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead.
23 ¶ In the fiftieth year of Azariah B. C. 761.
king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of
Menahem began to reign over Israel in Sama-
ria, and reigned two years.

24 And he did that which was evil in the
sight of the LORD: he departed not from the
sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made
Israel to sin.

25 But Pekah the son of Remaliah, B. C. 759.
a captain of his, conspired against
him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace
of the king's house, with Argob and Arich, and

1; Hos. viii. 9. Chap. xiv. 5.- 4 Heb. caused to come forth.

rian monarchs, and translated the empire to the
Chaldeans. But, according to Dr. Prideaux, Belesis
was one generation later. It is supposed, therefore,
that this Pul was the father of Sardanapalus, and the
same king of Assyria who, when Jonah preached
against Nineveh, gave great tokens of his humilia-
tion and repentance. See Prideaux's Con. A. 747,
and Bedford's Script. Chronology. Menahem gave
Pul a thousand talents of silver-A very consider-
able present indeed, being no less than £450,000 ster-
ling. This sum he gave, not only with a view to
turn away the army of Pul from him, but also to
purchase his friendship and assistance against those
of his own subjects who opposed him, and to con-
firm the kingdom in his hand. By which it appears,
that his cruelty at Tiphsah was so far from establish-
ing him as he expected, that it weakened and endan-
gered him, so that he was obliged to call in a foreign
power to his aid.

Verse 20. Of all the mighty men of wealth-By
exacting the money only of the rich, it is likely, he
thought he should ingratiate himself with the com-
mon people, upon whom he laid no tax.
shekels of silver, demanded of each man of wealth,
were a sum equal to £7. 10s. of our money.

Fifty

Verse 19. Pul the king of Assyria came against
the land-This is the first time that we find any
mention of the kingdom of Assyria, since the days
of Nimrod, who erected a small principality there,
Gen. x. 11. And they were no great people, one
would suppose, when the eighty-third Psalm was
written, in which they are mentioned as auxiliaries
the children of Lot, against the Israelites, together
with other small nations. But now they were be-
come very powerful. This Pul, or Phul, was the
first monarch of that nation that invaded Israel, and
Verses 24, 25. He did that which was evil, &c.-
began their transportation out of their country. Some He was the wicked son of a wicked father, and so
have been of opinion, with Bishop Patrick, Poole, perished by snch a conspiracy as his father formed
and others, that he was the same with Belesis, the against Shallum. With Argob and Arieh-It does
governor of Babylon, who, together with Arbaces not appear from the text whether these persons were
the Mede, slew Sardanapalus, the last of the Assy-Pekah's partners in this treason, or Pekahiah's co ́r-

Pekah reigns over Israel.

B. C. 759.

II. KINGS.

B. C. 740.

Jotham reigns over Judah. A. M. 3245. with him fifty men of the Gileadites: || chah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and A. M. 3264. and he killed him, and reigned in his Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

room.

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

tiers and officers now slain with him. With fifty men of the Gileadites-Who, it is probable, were Pekahiah's body-guard.

Verse 27. In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah Pekah began to reign-This is the fifth king that reigned over Israel during the reign of Azariah king of Judah. Pekah, however, reigned much longer than any of the preceding four. For though he also, like Shallum and Menahem, got the kingdom by treason and blood, he kept possession of it twenty years. So long it was before his violent dealing returned upon his own head. And he made himself more noted abroad than any of these usurpers; for even in the latter part of his time, in the reign of Ahaz, (which began in his seventeenth year,) he was a great terror to the kingdom of Judah, as we find, Isa. vii. 1. Mr. Locke justly observes, that the prophecies of Hosea, Joel, and Amos, come in here, who all prophesied about this time.

30 ¶ And Hoshea the son of Elah B. C. 730. made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

31 And the rest of the acts of Pekah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel. 32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began "Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Ju dah to reign.

B. C. 758.

33 Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years

In the fourth year of Ahaz, in the twentieth year after Jotham had begun to reign, Ush. u2 Chron. xxvii. 1.

years after he had made that attempt, before a child then born should be able to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Samaria should be taken away before the king of Assyria; and here we have the accomplishment of that prediction. It may be proper to observe here, that the kingdom of the ten tribes was not destroyed at one time. The first invasion of their country, and prelude to their destruction, was made by Pul, who took away an immense booty, and drained them of their wealth; probably also carrying captive some of the people that dwelt on the east of Jordan. The second was by this Tiglath-pileser, who carried away the inhabitants of the northern parts, with the Reubenites, Gadites, and halftribe of Manasseh, 1 Chron. v. 26. The third and last was by Shalmaneser, who took Samaria, and carried into captivity the rest of the Israelites, chap. xvii. 1–23.

And reigned in his stead in the twentieth year of Jotham-The meaning is, that he began his reign in the twentieth year after the beginning of Jotham's reign; or, which is the same thing, in the fourth year of Ahaz, son of Jotham.

Verse 30. Hosea made a conspiracy against Pekah, and smote him-It is probable that the Verse 29. In the days of Pekah came Tiglath- people were provoked at him for leaving them expileser, king of Assyria, &c.—He is supposed by posed to a foreign enemy, while he invaded Judah; some to have been the son and successor of Sarda- and that Hosea took advantage of their discontent napalus, who restored the kingdom of Assyria, and and disgust to seize and slay him. Thus Pekah's possessed it after it had been dismembered by Be-treason and violence returned upon himself at last. lesis and Arbaces: but our learned Prideaux, who begins his valuable connection of the Old and New Testaments at this period, makes him to be the same with Arbaces, who, together with Belesis, headed the conspiracy against Sardanapalus, and fixed his royal seat at Nineveh, the ancient residence of the Assyrian kings, as Belesis fixed his at Babylon, and there governed his newly-erected kingdom for nineteen years. And took Ijon, &c., and Gilead, and Galilee, and all Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria-Thus Pekah lost a great part of his kingdom. And by this judgment God punished him for his attempt upon Judah and Jerusalem. For it was then foretold by Isaiah, that within two or three

Verse 32. Began Jotham the son of Uzziah to reign-Why he should be called all along Azariah, and here, and verse 34, Uzziah, no account can be given, unless it was to show that he had two names. And it appears by the book of Chronicles, that the name Uzziah was as much used, when that book was written, as the other.

Verses 33, 34. Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign-Namely, properly and

A. M. 3246. in Jerusalem. And his mother's name || all that he did, are they not written in A. M. 3262. was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. the book of the Chronicles of the 34 And he did that which was right in the kings of Judah? sight of the LORD he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.

CHAPTER XVI.

The idolatry of Ahaz, 1-4. Being assailed by Rezin and Pekah, he hires Tiglath-pileser against them, 5-9. Causes an altar to be built in the temple, according to the form of one he had seen at Damascus, 10-16. temple to Tiglath-pileser, 17, 18. Dies, and is succeeded by Hezekiah.

the seventeenth year of Pekah || gan to reign, and reigned sixteen years A. M. 3262.
in Jerusalem, and did not that which
was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like
David his father.

a 2 Chron. xxviii. 1, &c.

Rezin besieges Jerusalem,

A. M. 3262.
B. C. 742.

II. KINGS.

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

||

Verse 3. He walked in the way of the kings of Israel-Who all worshipped the calves, and were therefore idolaters. He was not joined in any affinity || with them, as Jehoram and Ahaziah were with the house of Ahab, but of his own accord and voluntary motion, and, without any instigation, he walked in their way. The kings of Israel pleaded policy and reasons of state for their idolatry; but Ahaz had no such pretence: in him it was the most unreasonable and impolitic conduct that could be. They were his enemies, and had manifested that they were enemies to themselves too by their idolatry; yet he walked in their way. And made his son to pass through the fire-By way of oblation, so as to be consumed for a burnt-offering, which was the practice of heathen, and of some Israelites in imitation of them. Thus 2 Chron. xxviii. 3, it is said, He burned his children in the fire, that is, some of them, first one, as is here mentioned, and afterward others, as is there observed. See on Lev. xviii. 21, and Deut. xviii. 10. According to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out-It was an instance of his great folly that, in his religion, he would be guided by and imitate those whom he saw fallen into the ditch before his eyes; and of his great impiety, that he would conform to those usages which God had declared to be abominable to him.

Verse 4. He sacrificed, &c., in the high placesIf his father had but had zeal enough to take them away, it might have prevented the corrupting of his sons. They that connive at sin, know not what dangerous snares they lay for those that come after them.

Verses 5, 6. But could not overcome him-Because God, of his own mere grace, undertook the protection of Judah, as he promised to do, and disappointed the designs and hopes of their enemies, Isa. vii. 1-9. At that time Rezin recovered Elath-Took it from the Jews, who had not long been in possession of it, having but lately recovered it, with the rest of Edom: see on chap. xiv. 22. So that, though the confederate kings of Syria and Israel failed, through the

and drives the Jews thence.

g 2

B. C. 742.

6 At that time Rezin king of Syria A. M. 3262. recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day. 7¶ So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.

8 And Ahaz h took the silver and B. C. 740. gold that was found in the house of

interference of Divine Providence, in their attempts on Jerusalem, the former made himself master of this considerable and very commodious port on the Red sea.

Verse 7. So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser-Having forsaken God, he had neither courage nor strength to make head against his enemies, and therefore made his court to the king of Assyria, and endeavoured to prevail on him to come to his relief. But was it because there was not a God in Israel that he sent to the Assyrian for help? The truth is, he could not with any confidence ask help of God, being conscious he had abandoned his worship, and in the grossest manner violated his laws. Observe, reader, they whose hearts condemn them will go any whither for help, in a day of distress, rather than to God. Saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me-I yield myself to thee as thy vassal, to serve and obey thee, and pay thee tribute, upon condition that thou wilt assist me against my enemies. Had he thus humbled himself to God, and implored his favour, he might have been delivered upon easier terms, might have saved his money, and needed only to have parted with his sins. Out of the hand of the king of Syria, &c.— For though they were now gone from Jerusalem, yet he justly concluded they would return again, and, from time to time, molest and vex him.

Verse 8. And Ahaz took the silver, &c.-The treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king's || house, had been sent some years before by Jehoash to the king of Syria, chap. xii. 18. It seems, however, they had been well replenished again by the piety of his successors, Amaziah, Azariah, and especially Jotham. But what authority had Ahaz to dispose thus of the public money, and exhaust the treasures of both church and state, to gratify his new patron and guardian? We can only answer, that it is common for those, who have brought themselves into straits by one sin, to endeavour to extricate themselves by another. And those that have alienated themselves from God, will make no difficulty in alienating from him any other of his rights. In this instance, the sin itself was its own punishment; for, though the king of Assyria hearkened