2 Chronicles 29:8

Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon. Judah and Jerusalem,.... As appeared, by suffering the Syrians, and Israelites, and Edomites, and Philistines, to come upon them, and distress them, as the history of the preceding chapter shows: and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes; such desolation and destruction were made among them, as not only threw them into a stupor, that they knew not what to do, but were amazing to all their neighbours, and caused them to hiss at them, which they could not but be sensible of.

29:1-19 When Hezekiah came to the crown, he applied at once to work reform. Those who begin with God, begin at the right end of their work, and it will prosper accordingly. Those that turn their backs upon God's ordinances, may truly be said to forsake God himself. There are still such neglects, if the word be not duly read and opened, for that was signified by the lighting the lamps, and also if prayers and praise be not offered up, for that was signified by the burning incense. Neglect of God's worship was the cause of the calamities they had lain under. The Lord alone can prepare the heart of man for vital godliness: when much good is done in a little time, the glory must be ascribed to him; and all who love him or the souls of men, will rejoice therein. Let those that do good work, learn to do it well.

2 Chronicles 29:8-9 . He hath delivered them to trouble to astonishment, and to hissing — To such calamities as all that see and hear of them shall be astonished at, and hiss at those who, by their own sin and folly, have brought such miseries upon themselves. When we are under the rebukes of God’s providence, it is good for us to inquire whether we have not neglected God’s ordinances, and whether that be not the controversy he has with us. Our wives are in captivity — Though they were presently released, 2 Chronicles 28:5 ; 2 Chronicles 28:14-15 .

8 . to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing ] R.V. to be tossed to and fro, to be an astonishment, and an hissing . to trouble ] Better as R.V. mg., to be a terror (or “cause of trembling”). The judgement on Israel fills the surrounding nations with trembling for themselves. The rendering of R.V. text “tossed to and fro” is inferior because the Heb. word describes “trembling” and not “motion from place to place.”

Verse 8. - Wherefore the wrath . As illustrated by the defeats and humiliations suffered at the hands of Pekah and Hazael, the Philistines and Edomites, and the Assyrians under Tiglath-Pileser. To trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing . Three words, carrying each a volume of meaning, and charged with the most powerful and painful of reminiscence ( Deuteronomy 28:25, 28, 32 [ observe our ver. 9], 37, 46, 65, 66). The Hebrew word for "hissing" ( שְׁרֵקָה ) occurs, besides, five times in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 19:8; 25:9, 18; 29:18; 51:37), and once in the contemporary Prophet Micah ( Micah 6:16 ; comp. Jeremiah 26:18 ). 2 Chronicles 29:8

He hath delivered them to ... hissing - See 1 Kings 9:8 note. It was an expression which Hezekiah might naturally use, for it had occurred in a prophecy of Micah M 1 Corinthians 6:16 , his contemporary and monitor Jeremiah 26:18-19 , which was probably uttered toward the close of the reign of Ahaz. In Jeremiah the phrase becomes common (marginal references).

(8) The wrath . . . was ( i.e., fell ) upon Judah. —The phrase of 2Chronicles 24:18 . (Comp. 2Chronicles 19:2 ; 2Chronicles 19:10 .) Delivered them to trouble . . .—Rather, made them a horror, an astonishment, and a hissing. The language is Deuteronomic. (Comp. Deuteronomy 28:25; Deuteronomy 28:37 : “Thou shalt become a horror . . . an astonishment.” Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 25:18 : “I will make them an astonishment and a hissing,” et al.) As ye see with your (own) eyes.—For ye behold the disastrous results of the invasions of Aram and Israel, of Edom and the Philistines, and of the appeal to Assyria (2 Chronicles 28).

8, 9. Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem—This pious king had the discernment to ascribe all the national calamities that had befallen the kingdom to the true cause, namely, apostasy from God. The country had been laid waste by successive wars of invasion, and its resources drained. Many families mourned members of their household still suffering the miseries of foreign captivity; all their former prosperity and glory had fled; and to what was this painful and humiliating state of affairs to be traced, but to the manifest judgment of God upon the kingdom for its sins?

Wherefore the wrath of the Lord came upon Judah and Jerusalem. Cf. for the expression, 2 Chronicles 24:18 ; 2 Chronicles 32:25 ; on 2 Chronicles 29:8 , cf. Deuteronomy 28:25 , Deuteronomy 28:37 ; Jeremiah 24:9 ; Jeremiah 25:9 , etc. "As ye see with your eyes." The shameful defeats which Judah had sustained under Ahaz from the Syrians, Ephraimites, Philistines, and Edomites, and the oppression by the Syrian king ( 2 Chronicles 28:5 ., 2 Chronicles 28:17-21 ), are here referred to, as we learn from 2 Chronicles 29:9 .