The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 169

this point to vcr. 17 is of events thn t hap- the ,cell of Beth-Eked. Probnbly the bodice pened to him while he was upon his road. were thrown into the well (comp. Jcr. xii. And as he wee at the ahea.ring-houae in the 7). Even two and fbrty men. It is this wa.y. Between Jezreol and Samaria was a number which makes the idea of a visit of station whore the shepherds of the district oompliment incredible. Neither left he o.ny were accustomed to shear their flocks. The of them. The Greeks said, N,f,..,o,, &s ,rcz• eustom gave name to the place, which be- Ttpcz 1<T<[Tczs ,ra,8o.s 1<0.Toll.,C,...,; and the cnmc known as Beth-Eked (Ba18a1e&8, LXX.; general Hebrew practice was to give effect Beth-Akad, J crome), "the house of bind- to the teaching convayed by the maxim ing," from the pl'8.t!tice of tying the sheep's (me Josh. vii. 24, 25; eh. ix. 26; xiv. 6). four feet together beforo shearing them. Vera. 15-11.-Jehonadab the 10n of Re- The situation has not been identified. chah auociated by Jeht1, in his acts. Ver. 13.-Jehu met with the brethren Ver. 15.-.&nd when he was departed of Ahazi&h Xing of 1udah. The actual thence, he lighted on 1ehonadab the son of " brethren" of Ahaziah had been carried Beohab. Between Both-Eked and Samaria off and slain by the Arabians in one of their Jehu fell in with the great Kenite chief, raids into Palestine, as we learn from 2 Jehonadab, the founder of the remarkable Cbron. xxi. 17; xxii. 1 ; the youths here tribe and sect of the Rechabites (Jer. :nxv. mentioned were their sons (2 Chron, xxii. 6-19). Jehonadab is mentioned only here 8), and therefore Ahaziah's nephews. And and in the passage of Jeremiah just quoted; said, Who are ye 1 Travellers in a foreign but it is evident that he was an important country were always liable to be questioned, personage. His tribe, the Kenites, was and were expected to give an account of probably of Arab origin, and certainly of themselves (see Gen. :rl.ii. 7-13; Story of Arab habits. It attached itself to the Saneha, line 38; Herod., ii. 159, etc.). The Israelites during their wanderings in the princes were thus not 6urprised at the in- Sino.itic desert, and was given a. settlement quiry, and readily answered it. And they in" the wilderness of Judah," on the con- answered, We are the brethren of .A.ha.ziah ; quest of Palestine (Judg. i. 16). Jehonadab and we go down to salute the ohildren of seems to have been of an ascetic turn, and the king. There is something abnormal to have laid down for his tribe e. rule of life and needing explanation in this visit. stricter and more severe than any known Forty-two princes, with their retinues, do previously. He required them not merely not, under ord.ina.ry circumstances, start off to dwell in tents, and, unless under the com- on a sudden from one capital, on a compli- pulsion of war, never to enter cities, but also mentary runt to their cousins at another. to abstain wholly from the use of wine, and Perhaps Ewald is right in surmising that, to have neither house, nor field, nor vineyard " at the first report of disturbances in the (Jer. xxxv. 8-10). Ga.utama, between three kingdom of the ten tribes, they had been and four centuries later, enjoined a some- sent off by Athnliah to render any assist- what similar rule upon his disciples. It is ance that they could to the house of Ahab indicative of much strength of character in in its troubles" (' History of Israel,' vol. iv. either case, that so strict a rule was accepted, p. 100, Eng. trans.). In this case their adopted, and acted upon for centuries. On a.n.swer must be regarded as insincere. Fall- the present occasion, Jehu, it would seem, ing in with an o.rmed force stronger than desired the sanction of Jehonadab to the their own, they pretemled ignorance of the proceedings upon which he was about to revolution that had taken place, and sought enter, as calculated to legitimate them in to pass off their hostile purpose under the the eyes of some who might otherwise have pretence of a visit of compliment. But regarded them with disapproval. Jehona- the pretence did not deceive Jehu. And dab had, no donbt, the influence which is the children of the queen. The queen- always wielded by an ascetic in Oriental mother, Jezebel, is probably intended. Her countries. Coming to meet him, This ex- rank entitled her to special mention. pression tells us nothing of J ehonadab's Ver. 14.-And he said, Take them alive. intent. The meeting may have been merely And they took them alive, and Blew them. a chance one. And he aaluted him, and said The brevity of the narrative leaves many to him, l1 thine heart right, as my heart is points of it obscure. It is impossible to say with thy heart t literally, he blessed him; why the order was given, "Take them but the word used (baral,) has frequently alive," when, immediately afterwards, they the sense of " to salute'' (see I Som. xiii. were massacred. Perhaps Jehu at first in- 10; xxv. 14; eh. iv. 29, etc.). Jehu's in- tended to spare their lives, but afterwards quiry was ma,cle to assure himself of Jehono.- thought that it would be safer to have them dab's sympathy, on which no doubt ho put ont of his way. It must be borne in counted, but whereof he was glad to receive mind that they were dcsceudants of Ahab. a positive promise. Jehonadab must hnve At the pit of the 1hearing-ho11.1e; rather, at been known 11s a zealous servant of Jehovah, OR, X. 1-36,] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS.