The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 293

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 (i.e. the authorities) there is reo.son to believe that the people caTried them away; i.e. after the manner of were non-Semitic. 'l'his identi1lcation, there- their countrymen at home. The transle.- fore, must be rege.rded as very doubtful. tion of the Revised Version gives the sense, Perhaps " Ashima" represents Simi, the while changing the construction-" after daughter of lfude.d (see Melito, 'Apologia'). the mannerofthenatione from among whom Ver. 31.-And the Avites made Nibhaz and they had been carried away." Tartak, "Nibho.z" and "Tartak" are very Ver. 34.-Unto this day--i.e. the time obscure. The Sabie.ns a.re BBid to have ac- at which Kings was written (about B c. knowledged an evil demon, whom they called 580-560)-the:, do after the former me.nnara Nib'az or N abaz (Norberg, 'Onomasticon,' -that is, they maintain the mixed religion, p. 100); and Tnrte.k has been derived by which they set up on the coming of the Sa- Gesenius from the Pehlevi Tar-thak, "hero maritan pdest from Assyria a hundred and of darkness;" but these guesses cannot be fifty or sixty years previously-the:, fear not regarded as entitled to much attention. We the Lord. This statement seems directly do not know what the religion of the Avites opposed to the thrice-repeated one (ver3. 32, was, and need not be BUrprised that the 33, 41), "They feared the Loni;" but the names of their gods are new to ns. The apparent contradiction is easily reconciled. polytheism of the East was prolific of deities, The new immigrants " feared Jehovah " in and still more of divine no.mes. Nibhaz and a certain sense, i.e. externi.lly. They ad- Tartak may have been purely loee.l gods, mitted him into their pantheon, and bad or they may have been local names for gods ritual observances in his honour. But they worshipped under other appellations in the did not really fear him in their hearts. Had general pantheon of Babylonia. And the they done so, they would have inquired Sepharvites bumt their ohildren in fire to who.t were his laws, statutes, and ordinances, Adrammelech and Anammeleoh, the gods and would have set themselves to obey them. of Sepharvaim. The god principally wor- This they did not think of doing. Neither shipped at Sippara was Shamas, "the sun." do they lllter their statutes, or after their It is probable that" Adrammelech" (equiva- ordinances-either the " statutes " and " or- lent to adir-melek, " the glorious king,'' or dinances" are regarded as having become edir-malelc, " the arranging king ") was one de jure " theirs " by their occupation of the of his titles. Shamas, in the Babylonian Holy Land,or "their" refers \,y anticipation mythology, was alwo.ys closely connected to "the children or Jacob" towards the with Anunit, a sun-goddess; and it is pro- close of the verse-or after the Law-rather, bably this name which is represented by and after the Law-and oom=11d!nent which Anammelech, which we may regard as an the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, intentional corruption, derisive and con- whom he named Israel (see Gen. xmi. temptuous. 28). Ver. 32.-So the:, feared the Lord-rather, Ver. 35.-With whom the Lord had ma.de and they (also) honoured Jeh<Yoah; i.e. with a oovenant, and charged them, saying, Ye their idolatrollll worship they combined also shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves the worship of Jehovah (comp. ver. 28)-and to them, nor serve them, nor sa.orifioe to made unto themselves of the lowest of them them (see Exod. xx. 3; Dcut. v. 7; vi. 14:; priests of the high plaoes-i.e. followed the xi. 28. For the " covenant,'' see Exod. xix. example of Jeroboam in taking for priests 5-8; uiv. 3-8). persons of all ranks, even the lowest (see Ver. 36.-But the Lord, who brought you the comment on 1 Kings xii. 31)-whioh up out of the land of Egypt with great saoriJioed for them in the houses of the high power and a stretohed-ont arm (comp. Exod. placea (comp. ver. 29). vi. 6; Deut. iv. 34; v. 15; vii, 19; ix. 29; Ver. 33.-The:, fea1·ed the Lord, and senied Ps. c::uxvi. 12, eto.), him shall ye fear, a.nd their own gods. This syncretism, this mixed him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do religion, is so surprising to thfl writer, and sacriJioe (see Deut. vi. 13 ; x. 20; xiii. i ; so Rhhorrent to his religious sentiments, that Josh. xxiv. 14, etc.). he cannot but dwell upon it, not shrinking Ver. 37.-And the statutes, and the ordi- from repeating himself (see vers. 32, 33, 41), nanoes, and the Law, and the comma.ndme!lt, in order to o.rrest the reader's attention, and whioh he wrote for you-i.e. which, by his point out to him the folly and absurdity of Providence, were given you in a written such conduot. The practice was still going form (comp. Exod. xxiv. 4; Deut. mi. !J: on in his own day (vere. 84, 41), nnd may Josh. viii. 3i)-ye shall observe to do for have h11d e.ttrnotions for the desccl\llants of evermore (comp. Lev. xviii. 4, 5; xix. 37; lhe s~ll Israelite population which had Deut. iv. 6; v. l; vi. 24, 25, etc.}; and ye  840 THE SECOND BOOK OP THE KINGS. [ou. xvn, 1-41.