The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 173

the curse of God had been prononnced Ver. 31.-But J'ehu took no heetl to walk n~i11si it by the ohief prophet of the time in tho Law of the Lord God of Israel with all (I Kings xiii. 2), and hie word had been his heart. Jehu's character is thus summed attPsted as from heaven by two miracles up by Dean Stimlcy : "The chnre.cter or (1 Kings xiii. 4, 5). John onght t.o have Jehu is not difficult to understand, if we known that the calf-worship, if not as hate- take it as a whole, and consider the genera.I ful to God as the Baal-worship, at o.ny rate impression left upon us by tho biblical was hateful, was a standing act of rebellion o.ceount. He is exactly ono of those men ngr.inst Jehovah, and laid the nation nnder whom we are compelled to recognize, not for his displee.snre. Bnt, while his own interests what is good or great in themsel "8, but ae were entirely detached from the one, they instruments for destroying evil, and prepar- were, or at least would seem to him to ho, ing the WRY for good; suoh as Augustus bound up with the other. The calf-worship Cmse.r at Rome, Sultan llte.hmoud II. in was thour.ht to be essential to the mainte- Turkey, or one closer at band in the revo- nar.ce of the di"l'ided kingdom. Abolish it, lutions of our own time and neighbourhood. and all Israel would "return to the house A destiny, long kept in view by himself or of David" (l Kings xii. 26-30). Jehn others-inscrutable secrecy and reserve in wns not prepared to risk this resnlt. His carrying out hie plans-a union of cold, "zeal for Jehovah " did not reach so far. remorseless tenacity with ocoasional burst& Titus his "refmmation of religion" was but .of furious, wayward, almost fanatical zeal; a half-reformation, a partial turning to J e- -this is J ehu, ae he is set before us in the hornh, which brought no permanent blessing historical ne.rmti ve, the worst type of o. eon upon the nation. To wit, the golden oalves of Jaoob-the 'supplanter' ... without the that were in Bethel, &nd that were in Dan. noble and princely qualities of Israel; the 'l'he erection of the calves (1 Kings xii. 29) moat unlovely !l,Dd the most coldly com- "·n.., the initi.e.l sin, their worship the per- mended of all the heroes of hia country " sislent one. (On the nature of the calf- (' Lectures on the Jewish Church,' vol. ii. w0rship, see the comment on 1 Kings xii. 28, p. 289). The estimate is lower than that o.nd compo.re the 'Speaker'e Commentary' formed by most other writers ; but it is not on the same passage.) far from the truth. For he departed not from Yer. 30.-And the Lord said unto J'ehn- the sins of J'eroboa.m, which me.de Israel to sca.rcely by direct revelation, rather by the sin (comp. ver. 29). mouth of a prophet, most probably of Elisha, Vera. 32-36.-Jehu's wars, length of reign, as Thenins supposes-Be::ense thou hast and successor. done well ill ueouting that which is right Ver. 32.-In those days the Lord began to in mine eyes. In ma.king himself the exe- out Israel short. It is certainly not stated cutor of God's will with respect to the house in direct terms that the ill success of Jehu'a of Ahab, and utterly destroying it, ll.S he foreign wars we.a a punishment on him for his had been commended (eh. ix. 7), Jehu had continued maintenance of the cnlf-idolatry: " done well ; " he ha.d also done well in put- but the juxtaposition of vera. 31 and 32 ting down the worship of Baal, and slaying naturally raises the idea, and constitutes a th" idolaters, for the destruction of idolaters strong presumption that it was in the writer's wns distincily commanded in the Law (Exod. mind. The " theocracy " under the kings xxii. 20; :uxii. 27; Numb. xxv. 5). These wo.s carried on mainly, 68 the writer of nets of his a.re praised ; but nothing is eaid Chronicles clea.rly saw, by the bestowal of of his motives in doing them. They were worldly prospeiity and military success on proL:i.bly to e. great extent selfish, AnJ wi,t good kings, and the accumulation of mis- done unto the house of Ahab all that was m fortunes and military disasters on bad ones mine heart (see eh. iL 24--37; L 1-7, 11, (see 2 Chron. xii. 5-12; xiii. 4-18: xiv-. 14), thy children of the fourth generation 2-15; xv. 2-15: xvii. 3-5. etc.). By shall Bit on the throne of Israel External "cutting Israel short "-litero.lly, ~ cutting obedience was suitably rewarded by an ex- off in Iere.el "-is probably meant the con- ternal, earthly honour-the honour of having quest of certain portions of the territory. He.- his dynasty settled upon the throne during zael resumed the war which Benhadad had so five generations, o.nd for a period of above a long waged, and gu.ined numerous successes. hundred years. No other Israelite dynasty And Haza.el smote them in all the ooute of held the throne longer than tl.tree genera- Israel; or, along their whole frontiefo (Bii.hr). tions, or for so much as fifty years. The The frontier intended is, of course, that on "children" or d~cende.nts of Jehn who 8"4t the north and east, where the Israelite terri- upon the throne e.fter him were Jehoahaz, torv was conterminous with that of Syria. his son, Jehoash or Joash, his grandson, Ver. 33.-J'rom J'ordan ea1tward. The Jeroboam II., his great-gmndsou, and Za- territory west of the Jordan was not attacked chari.o.h, son of J eroboe.m II., his great-great- at thiB time. Hazael's expoditions were gra11.di;o11- directed againat the trane-J ordanio region, OIi, L 1-36,] THE SECOND BoOK OF THE KINGS. 215