2 Chronicles 24:27

Now concerning his sons,.... The sons of Joash; how many they were, and what their names: and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him; which some understand of the hard and heavy prophecies of the Lord against him; and others of the heavy taxes and tribute imposed on him by the king of Syria; and others of the collection for the repairs of the temple, 2 Chronicles 24:6, where the word used signifies a burden; and it follows: and the repairing of the house of the Lord; the whole history of that: behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings; not in the canonical book so called, but in the history, commentaries, or annals of the kings of Judah now lost: and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead; see 2 Kings 12:21.

24:15-27 See what a great judgment on any prince or people, the death of godly, zealous, useful men is. See how necessary it is that we act in religion from inward principle. Then the loss of a parent, a minister, or a friend, will not be losing our religion. Often both princes and inferior people have been flattered to their ruin. True grace alone will enable a man to bring forth fruit unto the end. Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, being filled with the Spirit of prophecy, stood up, and told the people of their sin. This is the work of ministers, by the word of God, as a lamp and a light, to discover the sin of men, and expound the providences of God. They stoned Zechariah to death in the court of the house of the Lord. Observe the dying martyr's words: The Lord look upon it, and require it! This came not from a spirit of revenge, but a spirit of prophecy. God smote Joash with great diseases, of body, or mind, or both, before the Syrians departed from him. If vengeance pursue men, the end of one trouble will be but the beginning of another. His own servants slew him. These judgments are called the burdens laid upon him, for the wrath of God is a heavy burden, too heavy for any man to bear. May God help us to take warning, to be upright in heart, and to persevere in his ways to the end.

2 Chronicles 24:27 . The greatness of the burdens laid upon him — Either the severe prophecies uttered against him, of which one instance is recorded, and there might be others that are not recorded; or the great judgments of God upon him, both by the Syrians, 2 Chronicles 24:23 , and by great diseases, 2 Chronicles 24:25 .

27 . the burdens laid upon him ] Render (with R.V. mg.), the burdens uttered against him . Cp. 2 Chronicles 24:19 . The Heb. text of the first half of the verse is uncertain. the repairing ] R.V. the rebuilding . the story ] R.V. the commentary (Heb. midrash ). Cp. Introduction, § 5.

The greatness of the burdens laid upon him; either the severe prophecies against him, which are oft called burdens ; of which one instance is recorded, and there might be others that are not recorded; or the great judgments of God upon him, both by the Syrians, 2 Chronicles 24:23,24 , and by great diseases, 2 Chronicles 24:25 .

The greatness of the burdens laid upon him - Or, "And the multitude of burdens uttered against him." "Burdens" ( 2 Kings 9:25 note) are prophetical denunciations of coming evil. The repairing - See the marginal rendering. Joash's repairs extended to the very base of the temple building. The story of the book of the kings - See the introduction to Chronicles, the second note.

Verse 27. - His sons . We only know of one, Amaziah, his successor. The burdens laid upon him. Some explain this expression of the tribute and bribe Joash had to pay Hazael; others of prophetic "burdens" uttered against him; and others (much favoured by the position of the clause just before the repairing of the house , etc.) of the task which he had so voluntarily undertaken, the money-raising and all ( Ezekiel 24:25 ; comp. our vers. 6, 9, 11). The repairing ; Hebrew, וִיסור . Render, with the Revised Version, the rebuilding. The story of the book of the kings . The Revised Version renders the Hebrew text ( מִדְּרַשׁ סֵפֶר ) "the commentary of the book of the kings," probably to be followed by the words, "of Judah ;" the parallel has "the book of the Chronicles [ סִפֶד דִּבְרֵי הַיָמִים ] of the kings of Judah" (see our Introduction, 1 Chronicles, § 5, pp. 7-10.). The word rendered "story" or "commentary" in our text is employed only once beside ( 2 Chronicles 13:22 ). Its verbal root, however, is found about a hundred and sixty-two times, invariably in the sense of inquiring, and almost invariably rendered in the Authorized Version by the word "inquire," or "seek;" so that perhaps the word "study" or "pursuit" might, idioms being allowed for, be the nearer rendering. It is rabbinic literature mostly that has determined the preference for the word "commentary." 2 Chronicles 24:27

(27) Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the repairing of the house of God. —Rather, And his sons, and the multitude of oracles upon him, and the founding of the house of God. The word “burden” ( massa’ )is common in the sense of a threatening prophecy ( 2Kings 9:25 ; Isaiah 13:1 ; Habakkuk 1:1 ). In 2Chronicles 24:19 it is expressly said that prophets were sent to warn the princes of Judah. If this be the meaning here, the word massa’ is used collectively. Another possible rendering is, “and the greatness of the tribute laid upon him” by Hazael. (Comp. 2Chronicles 17:11 for this sense of massa’ ) The Heb. margin suggests, and as to his sons, may the burden concerning him multiply;” i.e., may the dying words of Zechariah be fulfilled in them even more disastrously! This is wholly improbable. In the story of the book of the kings.—See margin, and Introduction.

25. they left him in great diseases—The close of his life was embittered by a painful malady, which long confined him to bed. his own servants conspired against him—These two conspirators (whose fathers were Jews, but their mothers aliens) were probably courtiers, who, having constant access to the bedchamber, could the more easily execute their design. for the blood of the sons—read "the son" of Jehoiada. Public opinion seems to have ascribed the disasters of his life and reign to that foul crime. And as the king had long lost the esteem and respect of his subjects, neither horror nor sorrow was expressed for his miserable end!

The punishment comes upon them. Joash afflicted by the invasion of Judah by Hazael the Syrian; and his death in consequence of a conspiracy against him. - These two events are narrated in 2 Kings 12:18-21 also, the progress of Hazael's invasion being more exactly traced; see the commentary on 2 Kings 12:18 . The author of the Chronicle brings forward only those parts of it which show how God punished Joash for his defection from Him. "At the revolution of a year," i.e., scarcely a year after the murder of the prophet Zechariah, a Syrian army invaded Judah and advanced upon Jerusalem; "and they destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people," i.e., they smote the army of Joash in a battle, in which the princes (the chief and leaders) were destroyed, i.e., partly slain, partly wounded. This punishment came upon the princes as the originators of the defection from the Lord, 2 Chronicles 24:17. "And they sent all their booty to the king (Hazael) to Damascus." In this booty the treasures which Joash gave to the Syrians (2 Kings 12:19) to buy their withdrawal are also included. In order to show that this invasion of the Syrians was a divine judgment, it is remarked in 2 Chronicles 24:24 that the Syrians, with a small army, gained a victory over the very large army of Judah, and executed judgment upon Joash. שׁפטים עשׂה, as in Exodus 12:12; Numbers 33:4, frequently in Ezekiel, usually construed with בּ, here with את, analogous to the את טּוב עשׂה, e.g., 1 Samuel 24:19

. These words refer to the wounding of Joash, and its results, 2 Chronicles 24:25. In the war Joash was badly wounded; the Syrians on their withdrawal had left him behind in many wounds (מחליים only met with here, synonymous with תּחלאים, 2 Chronicles 21:19). Then his own servants, the court officials named in 2 Chronicles 24:26, conspired against him, and smote him upon his bed. In 2 Kings 12:21, the place where the king, lying sick upon his bed, was slain is stated. He met with his end thus, "because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest" which had been shed. The plural בּני is perhaps only an orthographical error for בּן, occasioned by the preceding דּמי (Berth.); but more probably it is, like בּנין, 2 Chronicles 28:3 and 2 Chronicles 33:6, a rhetorical plural, which says nothing as to the number, but only brings out that Joash had brought blood-guiltiness upon himself in respect of the children of his benefactor Jehoiada; see on 2 Chronicles 28:3. Upon the murdered king, moreover, the honour of being buried in the graves of the kings was not bestowed; cf. 2 Chronicles 21:20. On the names of the two conspirators, 2 Chronicles 24:26, see on 2 Kings 12:21. In 2 Chronicles 24:27 it is doubtful how ורב is to be read.