proud to submit itself. Neither king nor people had any Intention of putting up with the loss of independence or becoming loyal Babylonian subjects, however strongly the duty might be pressed upon them by Jeremiah and the other Jehovistic prophets. A profound antagonism was developed from the first. Nebuchadnezzar probably carried off tho captives" of the king's seed, and of the princes" (Dan. i. 3), from Jerusalem by way of hostages. Jehoiakim meditated revolt from the moment of his submission; and within three years threw off the mask, and rebelled openly. Five years of struggle followed. Prompted by Nebuchadnezzar, "the nations set upon him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him" (Ezek. xix. 8; comp. eh. xxiv. 2), ravaged his territory fe.r and wide, " destroyed" multitudes of the people, and, at last, "took the king in their snare" (Ezek. xix. 8), and "brought him to the King of Babylon" (Ezek. xix. 9). Nebuchadnezzar punished him with death, cast out his body unburied, and took as hostages to Babylon three thousand more of the upper classes of the citizens (Josephus,' Ant. Jud.,' x. 6. § 3). Distrust and suspicion on the one side, hatred and sense of cruel wrong on the other, must, under these circumstances, have grown and increased ; the antagonism, instead of dying away with the lapse of time, must have become accentuated. "The end" already approached, though it" was not yet." The weaker party could not but go to the wall; and events were evidently hastening to a denouement. With the death of Jehoiakim the first scene of the last act had terminated. Vers. 8-16.-Blow upon blow. A mild and conciliatory policy might, perhaps, have won the Jews to acquiescence in their subjection. But Nebuchadnezzar's policy was the reverse, and could only tend to their exasperation. With what exact intention or expectation he made Jehoiachin king after executing his father, it is difficult to con- jecture. Perhaps he thought be had nothing to fear from a youth of eighteen. Perhaps he trusted to the known mildness of the youth's disposition (Josephus, 'Ant. J ud.,' x. 7. § 1). In either case, the experiment failed. Jeboiachin, within a few weeks, gave him cause of offence, or, at any rate, furnished him with some pretext for reopening the quarrel. Then blow was struck upon blow. An army was sent to besiege tbe city (ver. 10); soon the great king came up against it in person (ver. 11). In vain did Jehoiachin make submission. He was seized and carried off to Babylon, and there shut up in prison. 'l'he templo and the royal palace were plundered, and at least ten thousand of the inhabitants-the noblest, wealthiest, bravest, and most skilled-torn from their homes and led into captivity (vers. 12-16). A remnant only, consisting chiefly of "the poorest of the people of the land" (ver. 14), were left behind. Jeru- salem, denuded of more than half her population, can scarcely have known herself. She "sat solitary" (Lam. i. I) and " wept sore in the night" (Lam. i. 2), and felt that her total destruction was nigh at hand. So ended the second bCene of the last act.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 1-ch. xxv. 17.-Wickedness, retri"bution, and Divine control, as revealed in Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Judah. "In his days Nebuchadnezzar," etc. In glancin"' through these chapters there are two objects that press on our attention. 1. A national crisis. The peace, the dignity, the wealth, the religious privileges of Judah are con- verging to a close. Israel has already been carried away by a despot to a foreign land, and now Judah is meeting the same fate. All nations have their crises-they havti their rise, their fall, their dissolution. 2. A terrible despot. The name of N ebucbadnezzar comes for the first time under our att.e:i.tion. Who is he? He is a prominent figure in the histories and the prophecies of the old Scriptures. He was the son and successor of Nabopolassar, who, having revolted from Assyria and helped to destroy Nineveh, brought Babylon at once into pre-eminence. The victories of Nebuchadnezzar were stupendous and many. Egypt, Syria, Phcanicia, Palestine, all bowed to his triumphant arms. He made Babylon, his capital, one of the most wonderful cities of the world. The walls with which he fortified it contained, we are told, no less than five hundred million tons of masonry. He was at once the master and the terror of the age he lived In, which was six hundred years before Christ. There is no character in all history 11, KINGS. 2I 482 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. [on. xx1v. l-20.