The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 204

rlad (I Kings :s:v. IS), And by Joash himeelf him to extraordinary funeml hououra; and (ver. IS) to procure the retreat of Ha.za.el from the siege of J erusa.lem, the vessels of by general consent he we.a interred within the temple must h11Ye required reuova.tiug the city of Jerusn,lem, in the sepulchres of nlmoet &B much M the fa.brio itself· and the kings (2 Chron. xxiv. 16). His removnl when it WM found tha.t there reme.i'ned 11, led to a fresh religious revolution. " The llUrplus over and above all that was needed Jewi8h o.ristocracy, who perhaps had never for building pu111oses, we cannot wonder that it was applied to the renewal of the been free from the licentious o.nd idole.trous vessels, absolutely essential a.s they were for taint introduced by Rehoboam o.nd confirmed the eerrioe of the sa.nctua.ry. by Athaliah, and who may well have been Ver. 14.-But they gave that-i.e. the galled by the new rise of the priestly order, whole money oontribnted-to the workmen presented themselves before Joo.eh, o.nd -equivalent to "the carpenters, builders, offered him the snme obsequious homage ma.sons, hewers of stone, etc., mentioned in vers. 11, 12--and repaired therewith the that hnd been pe.id by the young nobles to house of the Lord; i.e. expended the money Rehoboam. He, . , . feeling himself released on the repairs. from personal obligations by the death of Ver. 15.-Moreover they reokoned not his ndopted father, threw himself into their with the men, into whose hand they delivered hands. Athaliah was avenged almost upon the money to be bestowed on workmen. Society rests upon fa.ith a.nd trust. In all the spot where she had been first seized by business tra.nsnctions con 6dence must be her enemies" (Stanley, • Jewish Church,' reposed in some one, whose oho.meter is the vol. ii. p. 845). Joa.eh began by allowing guarantee of his honesty. In the case the reintroduction of idolatry and grove- before us, the overseers of the temple were worship (2 Chron. xxiv. 18), and then, when the persons trusted to expend the money aright (see vcr. 11). The overseers (eh. ii. remonstrated with by Zecharinh, the son of 18) had been appointed by the high prieat. Jehoiada, who had succeeded his father in For they dealt feith1nlly; i.e. honestly, the office of high priest, had the remonstrant Ver. 16.-The trespass money. When a. set upon by the people and slain, The man had injured another, he wa.s bound by writer of Chronicles closely connects this the Law to ma.ke compensation to the injured murderous deed with the Syrian war, which party at the valuation of the priest, with the addition of one-fifth more than the followed it within a year (2 Chron. xxiv. 28), value (Lev. vi. 2-6; Numb. v. 6-8). The and wa.s generally regarded as a Divine compensation was, primarily, to be made to jndgment. the man himself; secondarily, if he were dead, to his nearest kinsman ; finally, if he Ver.17.-Then Ku:ael King of Syria went had left no ki.nsman, to the priest. And Bin up, and fought age.inst Gath. Hitherto money. According to the Law, the priest Judah had been sa.fe from any attack on the was entitled to no money with a sin offer- part of Syria, since Israel had been inter• ing; but it seems to have become customary posed between the two powers. Now, how- to make the priest who offered it a volun- ever, that Haze.el had conquered from Jehu tary gift, to compensate him for his trouble. the entire trans-Jordanic territory (eh. x. 88), Such free gifts the priest was by the Law the ca.se was wholly altered-Judah and (Nuwb. v. 10) entitled to receive. Wu not Syria. had become conterminous along the brought into the house of the Lord-i.e. it line of the lower Jordan, and Syria could in- was not deposited in the chest, or applied vade J udma at a.ny moment. It is surprising to the repairs, but-it we.s the priest■'. that Gath should he.ve been the specinl object of attack, since Gath ( .Abv,.Gheith) lay remote Vere. 17, 18.-The war of Joa,h 1Dith from the Syrian frontier, in the south- Hazael . . A considerable gap occurs between westem part of Judma, e.nd could only be reached from Syria by an enemy who was vers. 16 and 17. We leam from Chronicles not afraid of leaving Jerusalem behind him. some particulars of the interval. Not long Gath, when la.et mentioned, was e. Judmo.n ufter the completion of the repaira, J ehoiada, city, and was fortified by Rehobonm (2 wLc, had lived to a good old age in complete Cbron. xi. 8); but it was originally Philis- 1,armouy with the monarch, expired. His tine (1 Sam. v. I 7), and the Philistines had recovered it before the time of Uzziah (2 piety, e.nd his good services, as preserver of Chron. x.xvi. 6). To which power it belonged tLe house of David, M restorer of the temple- when IIazacl made we.r upon it is uncertain. worahip, and joint-repairer with J oe.sh of the And took it-probably took it by storm, e.nd tcmJ.lle itself, were regarded a.s entitling pi undered it, but did not e.ttompt e.n ooou- OIi. XII. 1-21.] TRE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 247