The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 300

graph here thrown off, and that it is a faithful Sele.h, or rather endeavoured to oho.nge it, to one. of hard fscts that have met together Joktheel, which Gol!Oniue trl\nelatee "sub- di•Ratrously times without number in men's jugated of God." Thie no.me ha.cl l\lready Jives. The Bum, then, of the ro1ttter of our occurred in Josh. xv. 38. Thenewnnme,how- vors. 7, 8 may amount to this: "Under no ever, did not last, as the Edomites rooovered circumatltnoes take Israel, and if thou go soon the country of (eh. xxviii. 17; Amos i. thyself with Rll best preparations, yet know 11 ; Iso.. xvi. 1, 2) Arabie. Petrroa, of whioh thnt God shall destroy thee." Selah or Petm WRS the capital. Left a.live. Yer. 9.-Thie verse is consummate in the The Revised Version correctly renders, oarry two touches by which it sets forth the phe.s<l away alive. The cruelty of the Edomites of e,nrth's oaloule.tingness respecting the receives many illustrations (see last references, pei-ishable, and Heaven's swift disposal of and Ezek. :u:v. 12-14; Obad. 1-15). any such trilling difficulty. Ver. 18.-The aoldiers ... sent be.ok . .. Ver. 10.-It appears that, though this oon- fell upon the oities of 1ude.h, from Se.me.rie. to tingent from Israel's land was a hired force, Beth-horon. There is probably something yet for some ree.eon their bes.rt was in their to read between the lines here, to wit, the.t calling, perhaps in anticipation of plunder. the soldiers returned"'to their master and king It may well be tho.t they asked why they (Joash of Israel), and were by him remitted wore discharged; and whether the right an- to this work. The mention of Se.me.rio. before llwer were given them, that the Lord dwelt Beth-boron (see me.p) indicates it, and the not among them, or some wrong answer, it words "sent back" may be held to imply, evidently did not improve matters, bnt at least, tho.t they :first went be.ck-that the rnnkled in their hearts till it found relief disappointment of spoil was tht> chief part (vers. 13, 22), as they concluded that either of their aggravations, so that now the rather their ability or fi<lelity, or both, were called they got their muoh spoil, and note made in question. The• Speaker's Commentary' thereof, and that-since not so much the very aptly cites the keen resentment and instructive and so far forth more exouee.ble mortification that the Athenians are recorded revenge on the pa.rt of the disappointed to he.vc felt in similar circumstances as told soldiers, but the deliberate ple.n and order in Plute.rch's • Lives:' "Cimon," § 17. of their king he.d bronght o.bout this devas- Sepe.rated them. This is the verb occurring tation of Ame.ziah'e domains, in thia fact we sc\'eral times in the first verses of Gen. i. have the key of whe.t we read in our vers. 17, (0,-7::i~); there it is always followed by the 18, etc., and of the very cool manner in preposition ,:;;_ when speaking of the sepa- which Amaziah challenged Joe.eh. The rating of two things from one another. cities of Judah attacked were apparently Though this be meant here, it is not what is those that once ho.d belonged to Ephraim. Smote three thousa.nd of them; i.e. of the exactly sa.id, and .the prefix preposition ~ people of them. before I.be substantive (,i,,.,:i'?) may, as Keil Ver. 14.-Brought the gods of the ohildron says, be regarded as designating the apposi- of Seir . . . to be his gods, Amaziab's de- tional e.ccllilative to that e.flixed in the shape vout gratitude to God, and acknowledgment of the pronoun "them" to the verb. of him in the name Joktheel, was soon gone, Yer. 11.-Strengthened himself. The and at the very last, grown confident, he hithp. conjngation of our already fam.ili.ar loses all, and realizes the fulfilment of the verb pJ~ ; it was not e. healthy strengthen- "man of God's" prophetic denunciations. ing, and this may be considered denoted in Ver. 15.-He sent unto him a prophet. tLe fact the.t the work was all his own, and We a.re a.gain not told whom. The tone of tLat he wrought himself np. The valley of the prophet, and the words given us as bis salt. Commonly enppoeed to be the plain in the latter half of ver. 16, would lead us south of the Salt Sea, but according to Stan- to think it was the ea.me" man of God;" but lcv (' Sinai and Palestine,' Appendix, § 2. 5, we cannot assert it, and had it been the pp. 482, 483), more probably a "ravine near same it would more probably he.ve tran- Petra" (1 Chron. xviii. 12 ; 2 Sam. viiL 13). spired. The history now often reminds us of (For the association of Seir with Edom, see eh. niv. 16. Gen. xxxvi. 17-20; eh. xx. 10.) Ver. 16.-The chapter well keeps up in Ver. 12.-The top of the rock. The this verse its graphic character, though parallel uses the Hebrew word without trans- the culminating instances of it a.re yet to lation, Selah (V?P.;-:i). There is little doubt come. Forbear. The faithful prophet is that ~his is Petr.a (Conder's 'Handbook to "wi.J:ie as the ~erpent, harmless a.s the dove." the Bible,' 305; Stanley's 'Sinai and Pa.les- He doea forbear, but not till the application tilJ(,,' 87-92). The parallel tells us the of his speech, and o.11 tliat we.a needful is interesting fact that Amaziah, perhaps under most outspokenly (more so tho.n before he tLe iufl ueuce of a spasmodic touch of devout- had heard the usual coward fashion of tho J1t>ss or gratitude, changed the name of tyrant's threat) pronounced. Ilis forbe11,ring, cm. xxv. 1-28,] 'l'HE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 301