The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 405

iii. 15), being unwilling that any should perish, but that all ehould tum unto him and live (Ezek. xviii. 23, 32; xxxiii. 11; 1 Tim. ii. 4; 2 Pet. iii. 9). 3. To "indicate the Divincjmtioo, in C&Se the threatened judp;rnents against Judah and Jerusalem should come t.o be fulfilled. After such an exhibition of the hideous character and bittor fruits of idolatry as had been given by J udah's king and people, and after such a display of patient forbearance on the part of Jehovah, when the 11troke of judgment fell upon the apostate land, it would be impossible to say that it was either undeserved or prema- ture; that either Judah's cup of iniquity was not full, or everything had not been done to secure her recovery from the evil path upon which she had entered (Isa. iv. 3-7). IV. ITS PEACEFUL CLOSE, 1. The king wa.s C07t'1e1"ted. "Manasseh humbled him- self greatly before the God of his fathers" (ver. 12). "Manasseh knew that the Lord he WllS God" (ver. 13; see next homily on vers. 11-17). 2. The people We?"e rejO'ITTU!4. In part at least a check was given to their idolatry. Though they con- tinued to sacrifice on the high places, they did eo "unto the Lord their God only" (ver.17). Learn : 1. That early promotion, except in grace, ie frequently a grievous mis- fortune. 2. That piety in parents is no guarantee of piety in children. 3. 'l'hat the alternation of good and evil rulers in the Church and in the state is not without its uses-on the one hand of comfort, on the other hand of trial. 4. That " length of days i~ no true rule of God's favour" (Hall). 5. That "we may not measure grace by means" (ibid.). 6. That "that mischief may be done in a. day which many ages cannot redress" (ibid.). 7. That no degree of wickedness is beyond the reach of grace t.o forgive or remove.-W. Vers. 11-17.-Manasseh's repentance. I. lTs IMPELLING CAUSE. 1. The grace of God. That the regeneration and conversion of a. soul is a work of Divine grace is taught hardly less clearly in the Old Testament (Deut. xxx. 6; 1 Kings viii. 58; Ps. ex. 3; Isa. xxvi 12; Jer. xiii. 23; xxiv. 7; mi. 33; Ezek. xi. 19; Zech. xii. 10) thanintheNew(Johnil3; iii.3; vi.44,63,65; Eph.ii.1-10; v.14; Phil.i.6). 2. Tl,e judgments of Providence. "The Lord brought upon him a.nd hi_s people the captains of the host of the King of Assyria" (ver. 11). (1) The King of Assyria here referred to was either Esarha.ddon (n.c. 681-668), who succeeded Sennacherib, a.nd therefore was contemporary with Manasseh during the first years of his reign (Sayce, • Fresh Light,' etc., p. 152; Rawlinson, 'Egypt and Babylon,' p. 25); or Esarhad- don's son and successor, Assur-bani-pal, B.c. 668-the Sardanapalus of the Greeks (Schrader, 'Die Keilinschriften,' p. 367; Kleinert, in Riehm's 'Ha.ndworterbuch,' p. 948). An inscription of the former monarch mentions Manasseh King of Judah as one of bis tributaries (' Records,' etc., iii. 107), while a similar inscription of the latter sovereign introduces as one of his tributaries the same Manasseh King of Judah (Schrader, p. 355). (2) The occasion of this expedition against Manasseh ia not specified. lf it happened under Esarhaddon, the monuments afford no information of any rising of the Palestinian states against Assyrian supremacy during his reign- Rawlinson (' Kings of Israel a.nd Judah,' p. 207) conjectures that he may have "entered into negotiations with Tirha.kah of Egypt;" if under Assur-bani-pal, Manasseh may have been suspected of sympathizing with Saulmugina of Babylon, Assur-bani-pal's rebellious brother, who about B.C. 648 (and therefore when Mana~h ha.d been forty years upon the throne) endeavoured to assert his independence. (3) The capture and deportation of Manasseh, whom the Assyrian king's generals "took in chains," or " with hooks," a.nd " bound with fetters," accords exactly with the representations given by the monuments. "The practice of bringing prisouers of import_anco into ~he presence of a conquering monarch by means of a thong attached to a. hook or nng passed through their upper or their under lip, or both, is illustrated by the sculptures both of Babylonia and Assyria. Sargon is seen in his palace at Khors~bad receiving prisoners whose Jipa a.re thus perforated; and one of the few Babyloma.n sculptures still extant shows us a vizier conducting into the presence of a monarch two captives held in durance in the same way. Cruel and barbarous as such treatment of a captured king seems to us, there is no doubt that it was an Assyrian usage. To put a hook in a man's mouth and a bridle in his jaws (2 Kings xix. 28) was no mere metaphor expressive of defeat and capture, but a. literal description of a practice that was commoo. Oll. itxxm. 1-25.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 411