PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings
George Rawlinson [1812-1902] · 432,569 words · 453 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 241
the.t men a.re, e.ll of them, more or less imperfect. He requires that parents shall be "honoured," not imitated. II. TrrE ETIL EXAMPLE OF A FATHER IS A WARNING TO SONS, WHIOB SHOULD LEAD ~ AVOIDANCE, NOT IMITATION. The sight of a drunken father should disgust sons with drunkenne8:'. Blasp~emous and violent words shou…
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feud, tre.neferring to the children of those by whom they consider themselves to have been injured the animosity which they have long entertained towards their parents. Or when they treat II man with coldness or incivility because his father has done something dis~racerul. Or, generally, when they at:ach blame or discr…
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of oaks, planted on the summit of the hills. In these G?roves there was usually placed a shrine with an image of their deity, just as wo sec, when travelling on the continent ~hrines of the blessed Virgin, or shrines with a crucifix, by the roadside and on th~ hill-tops. The custom of having groves of oaks for relig…
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1md tench men to trust, not to penance& or indulgence& for their acceptance with God, but to the work and merits of Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between God and man. 'l'he countries of the Reformation are marked out among the nations of Europe for their prosperity and industry. The more thorough the work of religiou…
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different vessels' earnings during the year. At last he stopped, &lld put down the pl\per. "Oh, but, sir," exclaimed several skippers, "you haven't read what So-and-so made" referring to the skipper who had fished seven days a week. " Why, what is that to gou ., I've read what gou've made: doesn't that satisfy you?'…
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in Dan and Bet~el, at the extremities of the dominions. Terribly strange it seems to us that the _Alm1~ht,: Author of the human mind should permit it to think of him as some materrnl obJect m nature, or as some production of the human hand. ·what human father, ~ad be th? power, would permit his chi~dr~n to form not onl…
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worship; but the after-effects show that no portion of God's Law can be neglected with impunity. The worship on high places was a temptation and snare to Jude.h. 'l'he neglect to remove them reacted seriously on the life of the nation. II. JusT JUDGMENT. The treatment by Amaziah of his father's murderers gives furt…
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a good time to bring back the revolted tribes to tht, sceptre of Judah. (3) The Israel- ites bad given some provocation in attacks upon the cities of Judah (2 Chron. xxv. 13). This at least would furnish a pretext. 2. lts nature. The challenge took the form of a message to Joash, "Come, let us look one another in the f…
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coul'8ll. "Why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, thnt thou shouldest fll.)[, even thou, and Judah with thee?" It perhaps was not to be expected thnt Amaziah should take advice so unpalatable, so tauntingly conveyed, so wounding to his pride and royal honour. But the result showed that Joash had not overstated his c…
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Vere. 23-29.-The reign of Jeroboam II. .After the usual statement that Jeroboam "did evil in the eight of the Lord, and departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of.N ebat, who made Israel to sin, n we have some brief notices of his reign. Note- I. 'l'HE REVIVED FORTUNES OF !SBA.EL. 1. Jeroboam's successes in wa…
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have begun to reign in the fifteenth yea.r of exempt from ordinary ruleB, boldly invnrled Jeroboam, or there mllBt have been an in- the priestly office, took a oeneer, and entered terregnnm of twelve years between the into the temple, nnd prooeeded to burn death of Amaziah and the aooession of incense upon the golde…
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bodies of the other kings, bnt In another we must enppose that the act of viol,mce pa.rt of the field wherein the sepulchre was was done openly, like Jebu's murder of eitua.ted. '1'his was quite consonant with Jehors.m. A11d slew him, ard reigned in his Jewish feelin~ with respect to the unclean- stead ( comp. ver. 13)…
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follows from the.I of ver. S, and mnst ate.nd Shallum had murdered Za.chario.h nnd or fall with it. The true accession-year of usurped the throne. Meno.hem upon this !-hall um WA.I! probably the twenty-seventh of proceeded from Tirza.h to Se.me.ria, crushed l 'zzie.h. And he reigned a full month in Shallum, e.nd, re…
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u.o. 745, and prooeeded to consolidate the " Menabem of Sam ..ria" in the inecription1 Assyrian power on every side, after a period o_f Bennac~ei:ib (' Eponym Canon,' p. 132, of great weakness and disorganizntion. He hne 17). This second l',lenabem is probably ma.de several expeditions against Babylonia, a descendan…
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were tr·ith the 1dng e.nd shared hie fate, not Neba.t, who me.de Isl'ael to llin. Josephus fellow-conepirntore with Peke.h. The names (' Ant. Jud.,' ix. ll. § 1) says that Peke.h Rre uncommon ones. And with him-i.e. was an irreligious king, and a tmnsgTessor Pekah-flfty men of the Gileadites; fifty men of the Law (o.11…
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nnd the Loke Merom, ns a still more pro- aomewhat scanty, and requires to be supple- bable Pituation. And Gilead. "Gilead" in mented from Chronicles (2 Chron. xxvii.). this connection, Ol\n aca.rcely be "the whole of tho land to the east of the Jordan" (Keil, Ver. 32.-In the second year of Pekah Dabr)-the territory of …
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Nor wBs he content with fortifying the leser, probably in the yur n.o. 748. At tlmt OBpitAI. He Riso" built cities in the moun- tim'3 be pays to the Assyrians n heavy tribute, tRins of JudBh, and in the forests he built consisting of eighteen talents of gold, three castles e.nd towers.'' TiglRth-pileser had hundred …
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gregl\tion, each from hie own ceneer. The leeeon taught by the miracle had been taken deeply to heart; and even such mighty monarchs as David and Solomon had carefully abst&ined from setting aside the privileges of the priestR, or infringing npon them in any way. But Azariah despised the teaching of the past, and the e…
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14). Those who were first in rank were first in excess. People and king vied in debauchery (Hos. vii. 5); and the sottish king joined and encouraged the frce-thinkem and blasphemers of his court (Hos. vii. 3). The idolatrous priests loved and shared in the sins of the people (Hos. iv. 8, 9); nay, they seem to have s…
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HOMILIES BY V.ARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera, 1-7.-Prosperity and its dangers. The contrast between the opening and the close of Uzzia.h's reign-here so sharply set before us-has few parallels in history. There is, indeed, no lack of monarchs who have risen to proud positions of authority and power, and then suddenly have fal…
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consequence? Just what the consequence of a God-fearing life will always be, "As long as he 8011gbt the Lord, God made him to prosper." It is so still. God keeps his word. He has never yet broken that promise, "Thero that honour me I will honour." This WRS _the starting-point in Uzziah's prosperity, and, so long as …
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Pride ofri?hes, pride of rank, ~ow vain, bow foolish they are! Riches may bri~g with them bodily comforts and enjoyments. But if health goes or troubles come, what comfort can they bring us? Can they give us any satisfaction or peace of min<l? Can they banish care or sickness? Can they arrest the skinny hand of Death?…
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Vers. 1-38.-Some kssonsfrom tM history of kings. "In the twenty and seventh year of Jer?boamt etc. The mighty Governor of the universe is represented as saying to the ~ew1sh nat10n, "I ga~e thee a king in mine anger" (Hos. xiii. 2). And truly, with a ce:tam number of except10ns here and there through the ages, kings…
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kings of Judah in succession exhibited this characteristic. They begin well, serve God for a time and prosper, yet stumble and fail at last. We have seen the fates of Joash and Amaziah; o.nd Azariah furnishes a third example. I. AZAnIAH's BEION. 1. His righteous rule. Azariah began to reign when only sixteen years of …
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Vers. 8-22.-.Anm·cliy in Ismel. With rapid descent the kingdom of Israel, whioh had risen to great exteraa.l prosperity under Jeroboam II., hastened to its fall. The rrophets give us vivid P!ctures of the corruption of the times. The bonds of social life were loosened, oppression was rampant, the fear of God seemed …
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The King of Assyria, here named Pul, came against the land, evidently with hostile intent; but Menahem, by the payment of a huge tribute, bought him off, and secured bis sanction to bis occupancy of the throne. (On the identific:ition of Pu!, see the Exposition.) Israel now c,1me under a foreign yoke, and "sorrowed," a…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER XVI. Aha.z can have been no more than twenty a.t hie accession, since in that case he must Vers. 1-2O.-REIGN OF AHAZ OVER have married nt ten years of nge, and have JUDAll. WAB OF AHAZ WITH f'EKAH AND had a. son a.t eleven I The reading of REZIN. En-EDITION OF TIGLATH-PILESEB "twenty-five" instea…
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as Melkarth, Adonis, Rimmon, etc. Yee., heat'hen, whom the Lord oast out from and made his son to paee through the fire. before the children of Israel. (On the In Chronicles (2 Chron. xxviii. 3) we are practice of this terrible rite by the Canaan- told that "he burnt incense in the valley itish nations at the time o…
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rely. The two confederate prinoos then He had not called iu one foreign powel' began the oampAign. Pekah invaded until Pekah had called in another, There ,Tudrea, and geineJ a great victory 0'l'er was no other prospeot (again humanly Ahaz, which is perhaps exaggerated in 2 Chron. xniii. 6-15; Rezin carried his speaking…
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temple itself with destruction (see 1 Kings pileser. In his very imperrect and frag- xiv. 26; eh. xii. 18; xiv. 14). Now, ns on mentary annal@we find the removal of above one former occasion (i Kings xv. 18), they thirty thousand captives recorded, of whom were utilized to purchase an alliance. And more than half are w…
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.,moe, but to give directions in matters which great ·1aver, and the twelve oxen which belonged, not to the regale, but to the ponti- supported it, comp. I Kings vii. 2il--26, and ficale. Urijah ought to have refused obe- Jer. Iii. 20.) The "sea" was probably re- dience. Upon the grea.t a.lta.r. Carla.inly moved from o…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 1---(.-T'M gor:Tliness of parents does not secure the perseverance of their chi7,dren in u:eU-doing, but increases the children's guilt if they take to evil courses, Ahaz, the worst of all the kings of Judah, is the son of one of whom it is said that" he did right in the sight of the Lord" (eh. xv. 3…
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sorrow overmuch, or to regard themselves as culpable. 'fhe infinences which go t,o form each man's character are countless, and with hundreds c,f them a parent has notbin~ to do. Again, there is "the personal equation." There do seem to be some who, "as soon as they are born, go astray and speak lies." It is amonO' the…
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religion were kept up, but the spirit had evaporated. Men thron,,.ed God's courts brought abundant offerings, made many prayers, kept the new moons" and the sabbath; and the appoin_ted feasts, but without any real care for the honour of God or any thought of seekmg to serve and obey him. Hence their worship was" an …
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 1-20.-Steps in a downward path: the reign of .t1.haa. In the opening chapters of Isaiah we have an account of the condition of the kingdom of Judah at the time that Ahaz succeeded to the throne. The prosperity which the country had enjoyed under Uzziah had been continued and increase…
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was worse than useless. It was a /01,l and degrading worship. It le best described in the words of the third verse, "the abominations of the heathen." We can have bnt a faint conception of the loathsome practices associated with the worship of the pagan de1t1es. The pas~age before us speaks of one act of worship-by …
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111. THl!l NEXT DOWNWARD B'l'EP WHICH AHAZ TOOK WAB HIS PLUNDERING THE JIOUBB OF GoD. (Vere. 8, 9, 17, 18.) Abaz paid dear for bis alliance with the King of Assyria. He bad already disobeyed and dishonoured God by bis idolatry. He had already dishonoured God by refusing to heed the warnings which Isaiah gave him. But …
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Hrzrkiah, hie son, 1mcceeded him at the age of twenty-five (see eh. xviii.17). Accol'ding to ~bis he ~Cllme a fathe~ wh~n h~ was only eleven years of age. This is not, neces- fanly, a mistake of the histonan, smce among the Jews in 'l'iberias there are mothers of eleven years of age and fathers of thirteen. And in A…
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tion of his idolatry, submission to the Divine will, and invocation of the Almighty's help; but he followed whet appeared to him the expedient, not the right, and hence two evils ensued. (1) He degraded himself. He sold himself as a slave to the king whose help he invoked. "I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and sa…
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t~nsported with _tb~ honour of seei!lg the royal presence, hearing the royal voioe, and d~llng the royal bidding. A t':'1e pnest should, by inflexible loyalty to Heaven, mould kmgs to be lords paramount m all mundane affairs, and in none other; and should !~ad them to be very kings of men, governing, not by craft and f…
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yet multiplied only to sin (Hoe. viii. 11); that the religious instinct, itself the noblest part of man, is capable of the most perverted developments; that only worship accord- ing to his own commandment is e.cceptable to God. III. NoT ALONE IN smNING. The lengths to which Ahaz could go, apparently without awakening …
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worl?lY poli?Y, the action was foolish, Aa ":ell might the lam'h invoke the help of the lion agarnst the wolf, as any lesser power mvoke the help of the King of Assyria against an enemy. The oonqueror, pleased with any pretext for interfering in another nation's affairs, would not refuse his help, but only that the …
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le notorious. Ecclesiastics cannot plead exemption, though in them the sin is greatest. When even ministers of the Lord cease to testify against evil, and willingly yield themselves as tools to the working out of a wicked k,ng's purposes, religion is in bad case. But here most probably the proverb held true, "Like peop…
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EXPOSITION. CHAPTER xvn. of e.ny speolal wiokedneas-he set up no new idolatry ; he eeeme to have allowed his Ven. 1--41.-TBB REIGN OP HOSIDIA subjects, if they pleased, to attend the OVER lsRAEL. DESTBUOTION OF THE lsBAELlTIII festival worship at Jerusalem (2 Ohron. KrnGnm1, A.ND THE GROUNDS OF IT, RE- xxx. 11, 18).…
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the Maeorites pointed the word as Nio, Sok seems to have been a revelntion at Nineveh, or So). The Aseyrians knew the king as The reign of Shalmaneser came to an end, Sibakhi, and contended with him under and Sargon sea.te<l himself npon the throne. Sargon. Hoshca now sent an embassy to There have been commentators on …
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mu,tranelation. The Hebrew rnna, "And The cle.usl'IB from the present to the end of on Habor (Khabor), the river of Gozan" ver. l 7 depend on the " when" of this (eo also in eh. xviii 11). "Habor, the river vorse ; the apodosis does not oome till ver. of C'TOzan," is undoubtedly one of the 18, "When the children of ler…
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the Hebrew word1 have the significa.tion wrought wioked thing, to provoke the Lord asaigned to them in the Authorized Version. to anger (see below, vers. 15---17). They may mean no more than the.t the Is- Ver. 12.-J'or they served idols; rather, raeli tea made their evil deeds e. bu.rrier be- and they seri,ed ido'la. T…
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Th<> prophets continue.Uy Addrelll!ed them in that which be hae forbiddon. When tbev the Name of God, B&ying, Turn ye from your rejected God's statutes, the Israelites adopted evil ways, and keep my oommandmenta and "the statutes of the heCLthen " (ver. 8), and my statutes, aooording to &11 the Law whioh "walked in …
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writing under the IILter kings from Jeroboam part of Dan and Simeon had also been II. to Hoehee., e.lludes to the Be.e.1-worship absorbed. Thie became now, exclusively, (Hoe. ii. 8, 17) e.s continuing. God's "peculiar people," the object of hi~ Ver. 17.-And they oe.UBed their sons e.nd love and of hie care. The writer…
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to hie l!UC08880J'B. llll'&81 Mllld 1mffer &.lone, united with the Jewieh oommunttl1111, whtoh while Judah w&e spared, bc011use the king- were gradually formed in almost all the dom of David &.nd Solomon had been rent oities of the East: while the irreligious le.id in twain, and the two states h&.d thenceforth asirl…
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MonMchies,' vol. II. p. 415). Those were deportn.tion. Tho Israelites were removed not nocessurily the first; nnd, on the whole, from So.maria, and p!anted partly in Gozan it is probo.blo thnt tho rcpeopli11g of the or Mygdonia, and partly in tho cities country begun eo.rlier. Hnmnth wo.s reduced recently taken from…
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oft.he prrsom abont the court. having hea.rd lin,rto him. And taught them-i.e. the new of the m11tter, reported it to him as one re- settlers -how they should fear the Lord, quiring consideration and remedy. Hence 'fhis worship could only be that of the oalf- the use of the third person instead of the pricsts instit…
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It is not o.t all certain that the Hame.thites been left in the land. After the manner of o.t any time acknowledged the Phamicie.n the nations whom they oarried away from deities, The Hamathite inscriptions are in thenoe; rather, after the manner of the the ohamoter now known o.s "Hittite; " o.nd nations from wlwm they…
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ahe.11 not fear other gods (see the comment oMe (see 1 Chron. v. 20-22; x. 18: xiv, on ,,er. 35). 10-16; 2 Chron. xii. 1-12: xiii. 4-18: Ver. 38.-And the oovena.nt that I h&Ve xiv. 9-12; xx. 5-80, etc.). me.de with yon ye sh&ll not forget. The Ver. 40.-Howbeit they did not hearken. "covenant" intended is not the co…
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the obt11i11ing of his favourable regard. In this way he would probably have secured to himself a long and quiet reign ; and his country would have been spared for many a year the horrors of war, and his people the misery of being carried into captivity. II. HE MIGHT LOOK FOR A HUMAN PROTECTOR AGAINST ASSYRIA, Human h…
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H~n when it ie only between man and man (Gal. iii. 15); but a covenant between man and God-how can anything be more holy ? Must not the infraction of such a covenant entail fearful consequences? ill, THAT IT IS A FURTHER GREAT AOORAVATION OF THE GUILT 011' BIN TO COMMIT. IT AGAINST FREQUENT WARNINGS. "Yet the l ,ord…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-5.-The reign oflloshea. I. A FOOLISH SERVICE. The life of every man is o. service of some sort. We cannot, even if we would, be absolutely our own masters. Some men are the servants of self. Some are the servants of others. Some are the servants of good. Scme are the servants of ev…
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.,.rith011t. blnrne before him in love." 2. What commands they disobeyed. All God's rommandmmts were for their own good. They were rational and wise commandments. To forbid idolatry was t~ forbid a sin which in itself was ungrateful and dishonouring t.o the true God, and which was degrading and demoralizing in its c…
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The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not tho manner of the God of the le.nd: therefore he bath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land•· (vers, 25, 26). It was judgment that first made them think of God. It is …
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I. Ae AN UNFORTUNATE INrrERtTOR OF WRONG. Upon Hoshea and his age there came down the corrupting inauence of no less than eighteen princes, all of whom were ~teeped in wickedness and f&natica.l idolatry. The whole nation had beoome completely immoral and idolatrous. This kin-the last of the lsraelitish-it is said "d…
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.