The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 379

pllcitly snld thnt the broken four hundred Benne.eberib's exact idea. Ho epoko not of oubite of wnll, from the gnte of Ephraim to t~e literal technical thing siege, but of tho the corner gnto, were mu.de nbsolutely good distress and confinement th1>t the appreh~n- ag1\ln, nlthough in tho maUor of towers e.nd sion of the eiege did not fail to bring. This fortifications much wnR evidently done. so to say more.I tone to the renderinu of the N?le e.leo the word "nil" here, side by eide word (i1J19~) is much to be prefen-ed to that with the " much" of oh. xxvii. 3. And of the mnrgin, "in thefortreBB or 6trongh~ld." raised (it) up to the towora. Discard this Ver. 11.-'fhe policy of Sennacherib, in Authorized Version rendering. The meaning the direct attempt to undermine Hezekiah cunnot be cortuinly pronounced upon, but by appealing etraight to his people, instead of perhaps it may be intender! to eny that he to himself or bis ministers of etato, is yet heightened the towere. 1'he objection is more pronounced in expreseion, ae seen in that the same verb ie wanted for the next 2 Kings xviii. 26, 27. clause, and that its rendering would need to Ver. 12.-This mierepresentinu of Heze- be there slightly reduced again to a mere kie.b's pioas actions is thought by eome to statement of raising from the ground (i.e. have been innocent ignorance on the part of building) another we.11 without. Repaired Sennacherib. Yet"it is ecarcely credible. Millo (see note, 1 Chron. xi. 8). Ver. 13.-Some of these deeds of Senna- Yer. 6.-The street of the gate; tranelate, cherib e.nd his fathers, i.e. predeceesor3 in the wide area at the gate, etc.; what gate is the kingdom of Assyria., are mentioned in not epecified, but preeumably either "the detail in 2 Kinge xvii., pa88im. gate of Ephraim," which would be the one Ver. 15.-'fhe urgency of Sennacherib's opposed to the camp of the beeiegers, or e.ppee.l to the people was of course bis way possibly "the corner gnte" ( ob. xxv. 23 ; of trying to save work of actual siege, fight- and Conder's 'Handbook,' pp. 343-345). ing, etc., to himself e.nd his army. The Ver. 7.-Several of the deecriptive dra- how much less of the message of Sennacherib matic touches of Isa. xxii. 4-H nre forcible probably meant that his eetimate of the your anil apt commentary to thie verse. God, i.e. the God of Israel, was measured Ver. 8.-(See 2 Kinge vi. 16: Jer. xvii. 5.) partly by the comparative smallness and un- The admirable language of Hezekiah here we.rlike character of the nation of J nde.b, quickens our deeire to feel sure that thie was when eet side by side with the great heathen after (and after genuine repentance for) his nations, and partly by the spiritual and in- fe.ithleseness (2 Kinga xviii. 14-16). vieible character and being of God, little in- Ver. 9.-The paesage beginning with this telligible to snch e. one as Sennacherib. verse and ending with ver. 21 represents Ver. 16.-And his servants spe.ke yet more. the much fuller pe.ro.llel (2 Kings xviii. 17 A. glimpee of the fact that the compiler of -xix. 37), fifty-eight verses in e.11. This our book very designedly excerpted ouly much greater fuloess is owing to the greater what he thought needful from very much length e.t which the language of defiance on more abundant resourcee. the part of Sennncherib and his appointed Ver. 17.-Letters to rail on the Lord God officers ie narrated, and the matter of his of Israel (so 2 Kings xix. 8-H). The subsequent letter: also the prayer of Heze- rumour of the approa~h of "Tirha.lmh King kiah; and his application to Ieaie.h, with the of Ethiopia" (ver. 9) quirkened Sennn- reply of the latter to it. On the other side, cberib's e.nxietv to make ;hort work with there is very little additional in our narra- the conflict nt • J eruealem, by intimidating tive, a few words heightening the effect in the people to an early collapse of tLeir our vers. 18, 20, 21, constituting the whole resistance. of such additional matter. The vague mnrk Ver. 18.-In the Jews' speech (see again of time, e.fter this, with which our present 2 Kings xviii. 26, 27). The last three verse opene, merely says that in due course clauses of this verse a.re e.dditione.l matter of Sennacherib's invasion of Judah, e.nd to that contained in the parallel. attack of the fenced cities (ver. 1), he pro- Ver. 19.-As against the gods of the people ceeds to send hie eervants a.ad his insolent of the earth, the work of the hands of mel!, defiances to the metropolis, J erusl1lem itself. Our compiler, e.t e.11 events, signalizee the The three words in it11lic11, "liimself laid dift'erence, which Sennacherib worse than tiege," should evidoutly give pince to the minimizes, between the God of Israel and single word "remnined" or "wns;" i.e. ho the so-called gods of the surrounding heathen and all his host with him remained at, or nations. opposito to, Lnchieh, w bile hid servants Ver. 20.-For the prayer of Hezekie.b, see went to defy Jerusalem in his nnme. 2 Kings xix. 14-19; e.nd for the place of Ver. 10.-In the siege. 'fhis Authorizeu the prayer or prayers of he.iu.h, and the in- Ve1·sion r,JDdering is manifestly incorrect, clicntious of their having been offered, see though, if we simply omit tho [lrticle, nnd alike eh. xix. 4-7, and the verses of the rc11de1· in 6iege, we slrnll probably have grond passage, 20-3-1:. 884 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [ou. xxxn. 1-38.