2 Chronicles 21:17

And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, &c. l In an hostile manner: and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, his gold, silver, and precious things, the rich furniture of his palace; no mention is made of any other plunder in the city, or the country; so that they seem to have had their principal eye to the king's palace, and the spoil of that; being so directed by the providence of God, who had stirred them up to do this as a punishment of Jehoram: and his sons also, and his wives; these they also carried away, all but Athaliah, who hid herself; he through his disease not being able to make any opposition, or to get any forces together to withstand them: so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons; the same that is called Ahaziah and Azariah, 2 Chronicles 22:1 so the prophecy in 2 Chronicles 21:14 was fulfilled.

21:12-20 A warning from God was sent to Jehoram. The Spirit of prophecy might direct Elijah to prepare this writing in the foresight of Jehoram's crimes. He is plainly told that his sin should certainly ruin him. But no marvel that sinners are not frightened from sin, and to repentance, by the threatenings of misery in another world, when the certainty of misery in this world, the sinking of their estates, and the ruin of their health, will not restrain them from vicious courses. See Jehoram here stripped of all his comforts. Thus God plainly showed that the controversy was with him, and his house. He had slain all his brethren to strengthen himself; now, all his sons are slain but one. David's house must not be wholly destroyed, like those of Israel's kings, because a blessing was in it; that of the Messiah. Good men may be afflicted with diseases; but to them they are fatherly chastisements, and by the support of Divine consolations the soul may dwell at ease, even when the body lies in pain. To be sick and poor, sick and solitary, but especially to be sick and in sin, sick and under the curse of God, sick and without grace to bear it, is a most deplorable case. Wickedness and profaneness make men despicable, even in the eyes of those who have but little religion.

2 Chronicles 21:17 . And his sons also, and his wives — Whom they slew, all except Ahaziah and Athaliah, who possibly were hid in some secret place. So that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz — Who is also called Ahaziah, a name of the same signification with Jehoahaz, and, by a small alteration of the letters, Azariah, ( 2 Chronicles 22:6 ,) the meaning of which word is akin to the other, all signifying the possession, strength, or help of the Lord. Thus blood was required for blood. Jehoram had slain all his brethren; they slay all his sons but one. And he had not escaped, had he not been of the house of David, which must not be extirpated, like that of Ahab, because a blessing was in it, no less a blessing than that of the Messiah.

17 . and brake into it ] The proper meaning of the Heb. verb is “to make a breach in a city-wall [and so take the city]”; cp. 2 Chronicles 32:1 . The word is metaphorically applied (here and Isaiah 7:6 ) to a whole country. in the king’s house ] R.V. mg., belonging to the king’s house . The rendering of A.V. suggests that the allies entered Jerusalem, but this was almost certainly not the case. Jehoahaz ] In 2 Chronicles 22:1 he is called Ahaziah , which is only another form of the name, the prefix Jeho- of the one, and the ending -iah of the other being each the representative of the divine name Jehovah . The name in either form means “Jehovah hath taken” (or “chosen”). Two similar cases are Jehoshaphat and Shephatiah ( 2 Chronicles 21:1 ) and Jehonathan and Nethaniah in 2 Chronicles 17:8 .

His sons also and his wives; whom also they slew, 2 Chronicles 22:1 , except Ahaziah and Athaliah, who possibly were hidden in some secret and safe place. Jehoahaz; called also Ahaziah, which signifies the very same thing with Jehoahaz; and Azariah, 2 Chronicles 22:6 , whose signification is near akin to the other, all signifying God’s taking or helping of him.

Verse 17. - Brake into it ; Hebrew, kal future of בָּקַע (compare the other four significant and expressive occurrences of this exact form, Judges 15:19 ; 2 Samuel 23:16 ; 1 Chronicles 11:18 ; Isaiah 48:21 ). The elementary idea of the root is to divide ; and it occurs in one conjugation or another fifty-one times, there being no more typical occurrence than that of Genesis 7:11 . Carried away . The Hebrew uses the word "carried captive" ( וַיִּשְׁבּוּ ); possibly the order of ver. 14 is inadvertently neglected, which puts the living beings before all the substance, or, goods ( כָּל־הָרְכוּשׁ ). His sons also. From 2 Chronicles 24:7 we note that the sons were not punished for their father's sins alone, but for their own. Jehoahaz . This person is called Ahaziah in 2 Chronicles 22:1 (the syllables of the name being reversed) and Azariah in 2 Chronicles 22:6 , which cannot be explained, but must be supposed an error. The Jehoiachin of 2 Chronicles 36:9 is written Jeconiah , or Jechoniah , in 1 Chronicles 3:16, 17 ; Coniah in Jeremiah 22:24 , etc.; and Jechoniah in 2 Chronicles 24:1 , etc. The two parts of the word combined in either order make the same meaning. On account of the express mention of the camp in 2 Chronicles 22:1 , some think that the slaughter and the plunder were all such as might have been wrought in the royal quarters there ; others that we are to infer the taking by assault of Jerusalem itself and what was therein. 2 Chronicles 21:17

And they came up into Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save {k} Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. (k) Called also Ahaziah, as in 2Ch 22:1 or Azariah in 2Ch 22:6.

(17) And brake into it. —Literally, clave it asun-der ( Exodus 14:16 ). Here as in 1Chronicles 11:18 ; 2Samuel 23:16 . And carried away all the substance . . . his wives.—This statement implies that the enemy entered Jerusalem, although the chronicler has not expressly said it. In the same way (2Chronicles 12:9) he omitted to state that Shishak captured the city before plundering the Temple and palace. The desire to be concise accounts for both omissions. (See on 2Chronicles 22:1.) All the substance that was found in the king’s house.—Literally, that belonged to the king’s house. (Comp. 2Chronicles 34:32 for in; comp. also Deuteronomy 21:17.) It is not said that the Temple was plundered; but nothing can be inferred from the writer’s silence on this point. So that there was never a son left him.—They were not only taken, but slain (2Chronicles 22:1). Save Jehoahaz.—Called Ahaziah in 2Chronicles 22:1, which is the same name with the elements of it reversed. It means “Iah holdeth.” The “Azariah” of 2Chronicles 22:6 seems to be a mistake. LXX., Syriac, Arabic, and Targum, “Ahaziah.”

13-19. hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem … like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab—that is, introduced the superstitions and vices of Phœnician idolatry (see on [444]De 13:6-14). On this account, as well as for his unnatural cruelties, divine vengeance was denounced against him, which was soon after executed exactly as the prophet had foretold. A series of overwhelming calamities befell this wicked king; for in addition to the revolts already mentioned, two neighboring tribes (see 2Ch 17:11) made hostile incursions on the southern and western portions of his kingdom. His country was ravaged, his capital taken, his palace plundered, his wives carried off, and all his children slain except the youngest. He himself was seized with an incurable dysentery, which, after subjecting him to the most painful suffering for the unusual period of two years, carried him off, a monument of the divine judgment. To complete his degradation, his death was unlamented, his burial unhonored by his subjects. This custom, similar to what obtained in Egypt, seems to have crept in among the Hebrews, of giving funeral honors to their kings, or withholding them, according to the good or bad characters of their reign.

The prophet Elijah's letter against Joram, and the infliction of the punishments as announced. - 2 Chronicles 21:12 . There came to him a writing from the prophet Elijah to this effect: "Thus saith Jahve, the God of thy father David, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat, ... but hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, ... and also hast slain thy brethren, the house of thy father, who were better than thyself; behold, Jahve will send a great plague upon thy people, and upon thy sons, and thy wives, and upon all thy goods; and thou shalt have great sickness, by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day." מכתב, writing, is a written prophetic threatening, in which his sins are pointed out to Joram, and the divine punishment for them announced. In regard to this statement, we need not be surprised that nothing is elsewhere told us of any written prophecies of Elijah; for we have no circumstantial accounts of his prophetic activity, by which we might estimate the circumstances which may have induced him in this particular instance to commit his prophecy to writing. But, on the other hand, it is very questionable if Elijah was still alive in the reign of Joram of Judah. His translation to heaven is narrated in 2 Kings 2 , between the reign of Ahaziah and Joram of Israel, but the year of the event is nowhere stated in Scripture.

In the Jewish Chronicle Seder olam, 2 Chronicles 17:45 , it is indeed placed in the second year of Ahaziah of Israel; but this statement is not founded upon historical tradition, but is a mere deduction from the fact that his translation is narrated in 2 Kings 2 immediately after Ahaziah's death; and the last act of Elijah of which we have any record ( 2 Kings 1 ) falls in the second year of that king. Lightfoot, indeed (Opp. i. p. 85), Ramb., and Dereser have concluded from 2 Kings 3:11 that Elijah was taken away from the earth in the reign of Jehoshaphat, because according to that passage, in the campaign against the Moabites, undertaken in company with Joram of Israel, Jehoshaphat inquired for a prophet, and received the answer that Elisha was there, who had poured water upon the hands of Elijah. But the only conclusion to be drawn from that is, that in the camp, or near it, was Elisha, Elijah's servant, not that Elijah was no longer upon earth. The perfect יצק אשׁר seems indeed to imply this; but it is questionable if we may so press the perfect, i.e., whether the speaker made use of it, or whether it was employed only by the later historian. The words are merely a periphrasis to express the relationship of master and servant in which Elijah stood to Elisha, and tell us only that the latter was Elijah's attendant. But Elisha had entered upon this relationship to Elijah long before Elijah's departure from the earth ( 1 Kings 19:19 .).