{ Of Burnt-offerings,made by Solomon, and placed there by God's appointments 7 7+ e. From before the Lords Houſe ; Sce on Lev.1, 3. u Or rather, from between his Altar, &c. or, that Altar, &c. His new Altar was at firſt ſet below the.Brazen Altar, and at a further diſtance from the Temple. This he took for a Diſparagement to his Altar 3 and therefore moſt impiouſly & audaciouſly takes that away,and puts his in its place. x Or, of that Altar ; or of his Altar; as before. So he put Gods Altar out of its place and uſe. | 15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the prieſt,ſay- "i ing, upon the great altar y burn * the morning burnt- '», oftering, and the evening meat-offering, and the kings burnt-ſacrifice, and his meat-offering, with the burnt- offering of all the people of the land, and their meat- offering, and their drink-offerings, and ſprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt- offering, and all the blood of the ſacrifice z:; and the brazen altar ſhall be for me to enquire by #.
7 i.e. Thisnew Altar; which was greater than So/omon's,cither,in quantity,or 1n his eſtimation. z Whatlſoever is offered to the true God,either in my Name ( for poſſibly de did not yet utterly forſake God, but worſhipped Idols with him) or on the behalf of the People, ſhall be offered upon his new altar:Which he ſeems to preſcribe,not only to gratifie his own Humour,but alſo in deſign to diſcourage, and by degrees to extinguiſh the Worſhip of the True God:for he concluded,that the Worthippers of God would never be willing to offer their Sacrifices upon his Altar- a That fhall be reſerved for my proper uſe,to enquire by 3 1. e, at which I may ſeek God,or his fa- vour,or enquire of his Will,to wit, by Sacrifices joined with Prayer, when I ſhall ſee fit» He faith only ro ſeek, or to enquire 3 not ſeek the Lora, or, to enquire of the Lord,as the Phraſe is more largely expref[:4 elſewhere ; but he would not vouchſafe to mention the name of the Lord, whom he had ſo groſly forſaken and deſpiſed.
16 Thus did Urijah the prieſt, according to all char
ing Ahaz commanded 5.
b Having once begun to debauch his Conſcience, he could not | NOW make an honourable Retreat ; and therefore proceeds to exe- Ilngg Wee all the King's Commands:
"8 7 C And king Ahaz cut off * the borders of che
lag; baſes, and removed the laver from off them, and took
5, down the * ſea from off the brazen oxen that were un- der it, and put ic upon a pavement of ſtones t.
Chap-
pb were
KK FF Ss
c Which he did, either to expreſs his Contempt of them, or to rendzr them Inconvenient for the uſes to which they had been deſigned; or to diſpoſe of them, or of the braſs of them, in ſome other place and way, as beſt ſuited with his fancy ; or for the King of Aſhris, as it follows in the next Verſe. |
18 And the covert for the ſabbath 4 that they had builr in the houſe,and the kings entry without e,turned he from the houſe of the LORD, for the king of Aſ- ſyria f. |
4 The form and uſe whereof 1s now unknown. Ir is generally vn- derſtood of ſome Building, or Covert, either that where the Prieſts after their Weekly Courſe was ended, abode until the next Courſe came, and relieved them ; which was done upon the Sabbarh-day, fee 2 Kngs 11: 5,7- or that in which the Guard, or Watchmen of the Temple, kept their ſtation 3 or that under which the King uſed to ſit to hear Gods Word and ſee the Sacrifices ;which is called,che covert of the Sabbath,becauſe the chief times in which the King uſed it for thoſe ends, was the Weekly Sabbath, and other ſolemn Days of Feaſting,or Faſting ( which all come under the name of Sabbaths in the Old Teſtament) upon which the King uſed more certainly,and
ſolemnly, to preſent himſelf before the Lord. than at other times. e By which the King uſed to go from his Palace to the Temple } ſee on 1 Kings 10: 5,12: fi. e. That he might ingratiate himſelf with the King of 4ſjria,by his publick Contempt and RejeQion of that Religion which had been the only Partition-wall between theKings of Judah, and other Kings3 and which poſſibly the preſent King of Aſjria did vehemently diſlike and hate ; and therefore required theſe things from Ahaz.
I9 © Now the reſt of the acts of Ahaz, which he did,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Judah ? |
20 And Ahaz ſlept with his fathers, and was buried
with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his
{on reigned in his ſtead.
CH AP. XVII.
Hoſhes King of Iſrael his wicked Reign : Being ſubdued by Shalmaneſer King of Aſſria, he conſpireth againſt him with So King of Egypt : He is be- ſteged : taken Priſoner : and with all the People carrizd Captive to Af ſyria for their Sins, 1 23+ The ftranze Nations tranſplanted into
Samaria, are plagued with Lions : an Iſraelitiſh Prieſt is [ent to them : Whence followeth a mixture of Religlons, 24 —=——41.
FF the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, + began + xcs. Hoſhea the ſon of Elah to reign 4 in Samaria, over reigned. Iſrael nine years 6. |
a Queſt. How can this bewſhe,ſeing it is ſaid, that he reigned, or brgan to reign in Iſrael in. the twentieth year of Fotham, chap: 15: 30. which was the Fourth Year of Ahaz, as was there noted ? Auf. He uſurped the Kingdom in Ahaz his Fourth Year; but either was not owned as King, by the generality of the People; or was not accepted and eſtabliſhed in his Kingdom by the 4ſhr:an, till Abaz his Twelfth Year : Or, in his eight firſt Years,he was only a Tributary Prince, and the King of Aſhria's Vice-Roy; and after that time he ler up for himſelf, which drew the 4ſjrian upon him. 6b To wit, after his Confirmation and peaceable Poſſeſſion of his Kingdom : Fer in all, he reigned Seventcen, or Eighteen Years ; to wir, Twelve with Ahaz, who reigned Sixteen Years, and Six with Hezekiah, 2 Kings 18