2 Chronicles 32:5

Also he strengthened himself,.... In the Lord his God, and fortified his city, and put it in the best manner of defence he could: and built up all the wall that was broken; which was broken from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate by Joash king of Israel; and though it might have been repaired by Uzziah, it might again be broken down in the times of Ahaz, by Pekah, king of Israel, or some other enemy, see 2 Chronicles 25:3. and raised it up to the towers; from the corner tower to the tower of the gate of Ephraim, which, as before observed, had been broken down: and another wall without; a second wall, either all around the city, or at such a part of it which was weakest; Josephus (z) says the city of Jerusalem had three walls about it: and repaired Millo in the city of David; a wall on the north side of the city: and made darts and shields in abundance; darts to cast from the walls of the city, to annoy the enemy with, and shields to defend them from those of the enemy. (z) De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 3.

32:1-23 Those who trust God with their safety, must use proper means, else they tempt him. God will provide, but so must we also. Hezekiah gathered his people together, and spake comfortably to them. A believing confidence in God, will raise us above the prevailing fear of man. Let the good subjects and soldiers of Jesus Christ, rest upon his word, and boldly say, Since God is for us, who can be against us? By the favour of God, enemies are lost, and friends gained.

2 Chronicles 32:5 . He built up all the wall that was broken — Which Joash, king of Israel, had broken down, and which had not since been repaired. And raised it up to the towers — Either as high as the towers, or tops of the wall; or from the gate of Ephraim as far as the two towers, which were at the corner-gate, having been raised there for the defence of it. So that the wall, that had been broken down, was all rebuilt. See 2 Chronicles 25:23 . And repaired Millo — Of which see note on 1 Kings 9:15 .

5 . Also he strengthened himself ] R.V. And he took courage . Cp. 2 Chronicles 1:1 (note). broken ] R.V. broken down ; cp. 2 Chronicles 25:23 (note). raised it up to the towers ] Render, repaired the towers , lit. “brought up [healing, restoration] upon the towers; cp. 2 Chronicles 24:13 (Heb.); Nehemiah 4:1 (Heb.). The ellipse is harsh, but not too harsh for the Chronicler. Vulg. reads, “built towers upon it.” another wall ] R.V. the other wall . In Isaiah 22:9-11 the preparations to meet the Assyrian attack are described by the prophet who speaks of a “ditch” (R.V. “reservoir”) made at this time between “the two walls.” In Excavations at Jerusalem , 1894–1897 , Dr Bliss describes a buttressed wall (pp. 96 ff.) built without lime (see his frontispiece for an illustration of it) and enclosing the pool of Siloam on the S.E, which, he says, “may date back as far as Hezekiah” (pp. 325 f.). Dr Bliss also, following up a clue given by earlier explorers found a second wall (running at an angle to the first) enclosing the pool on the west. This second wall was probably due to Herod, but Dr Bliss suggests that the line it follows may have been defended by a wall as early as Hezekiah’s day (p. 326). Thus it is not hard to infer the general course of Hezekiah’s two walls. Millo ] Cp. 1 Chronicles 11:8 , note. darts and shields ] These were meant, not for such trained soldiers as Hezekiah could collect, but for the levy en masse with which the king proposed to man the walls.

The wall that was broken by Joash, 2 Chronicles 25:23 , and not since repaired. Up to the towers; either, 1. As high as the towers, or the tops of the wall. Or, 2. As far as the two towers, or gates, which were made in the form of towers, and had the use of towers, to wit, that of Ephraim and the corner gate, both mentioned above, 2 Chronicles 25:23 . Or, brought up engines or instruments of defence upon the towers . Millo; of which see 1 Kings 9:24 11:27 .

Verse 5. - He strengthened himself ; i.e. , as in our several previous instances of the occurrence of the phrase ( 1 Chronicles 11:10 ; 2 Chronicles 12:1 ; 2 Chronicles 25:11 ; 2 Chronicles 26:8 ), he took all possible means to make himself and people and city strong to withstand the invader. All the wall that was broken (see Isaiah 22:9 ). Although we read that the devastation wrought by Joash ( 2 Chronicles 25:23 ) was very largely repaired by Uzziah ( 2 Chronicles 26:9 ) and by Jotham ( 2 Chronicles 27:3 ), it is not explicitly said that the broken four hundred cubits of wall, from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, were made absolutely good again, although in the matter of towers and fortifications much was evidently done. Note also the word "all" here, side by side with the "much" of 2 Chronicles 27:3 . And raised (it) up to the towers . Discard this Authorized Version rendering. The meaning cannot be certainly pronounced upon, but perhaps it may be intended to say that he heightened the towers. The objection is that the same verb is wanted for the next clause, and that its rendering would need to be there slightly reduced again to a mere statement of raising from the ground ( i.e. building) another wall without. Repaired Millo (see note, 1 Chronicles 11:8 ). 2 Chronicles 32:5

The breaches in the wall of Jerusalem were not entirely due to the old hostility of Joash (marginal reference); but may have been caused either by neglect and carelessness in the reign of Ahaz 2 Chronicles 28 , or by the simple process of natural decay. Hezekiah pulled down houses for the purpose of his repairs Isaiah 22:10 . On Millo, see the marginal references notes.

Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired {a} Millo in the {b} city of David, and made {c} darts and shields in abundance. (a) He made a double wall. (b) Read 2Sa 5:9. (c) Some read, swords or daggers.

(5) Also he strengthened himself. — And h e took courage. ( 2Chronicles 15:8 ; 2Chronicles 18:1 .) Built up all the wall that was broken.—Isaiah 22:9-10, where “many breaches” are spoken of, and it is said that “houses were pulled down to fortify the wall.” Raised it up to the towers.—Heb., and went up on the towers, or, and caused to go up on the towers. A different division of the Hebrew letters will give the sense “and raised upon it towers,” which is probably correct. Thenius prefers to keep the ordinary reading, which he understands to mean, and heightened the towers; alleging that 2Chronicles 26:9 shows that the wall was already furnished with towers. The LXX. has simply καί πύργους, “and towers;” the Vulgate, “et exstruxit turres desuper.” The Syriac renders, “Let them show themselves strong, and make another wall opposite the wall, and let them stop up the ditch which David made.” Another wall without.—Literally, and on the outside of the wall (he built) another—viz., the wall enclosing the lower city or Aera, which he “built,” that is, repaired and strengthened. (See Isaiah 22:11, “the two walls.”) Repaired.—2Chronicles 11:11. Millo.—The rampart. See Note on 1Chronicles 11:8. In the city of David.—To wit, the city of David. Darts.—Shelah. See Note on 2Chronicles 23:10, and comp. 2Chronicles 26:14. The Hebrew is “missiles in abundance, and shields.”

5, 6. he strengthened himself—He made a careful inspection of the city defenses for the purpose of repairing breaches in the wall here, renewing the masonry there, raising projecting machines to the towers, and especially fortifying the lower portion of Zion, that is, Millo, "(in) the original city of David." "In" is a supplement of our translators, and the text reads better without it, for it was not the whole city that was repaired, but only the lower portion of Zion, or the original "city of David."

The fortification of Jerusalem. יתחזּק, he showed himself strong, courageous, as in 2 Chronicles 15:8 ; 2 Chronicles 23:1 . And he built the whole wall which was broken, i.e., he strengthened it by building up the breaches and defective places; cf. Isaiah 22:9 . The words על־המּגדּלות ויּעל are obscure, since the translation "he mounted on the towers" has no meaning. But if יעל be taken as a Hiph., "he caused to ascend upon the towers," the object is wanting; and if we supply walls, it is arbitrary, for we might just as well suppose it to be machines which he caused to be carried to the top of the towers for defence against the enemy ( 2 Chronicles 26:15 ). The lxx have wholly omitted the words, and the translation of the Vulg., et exstruxit turres desuper, appears to be only a guess, but is yet perhaps correct, and presupposes the reading מגדּלות עליה ויּעל, "and brought up upon it towers," in favour of which Ewald also decides. This conjecture is in any case simpler than Bertheau's, that על ויעל is a false transcription of ועליה: "he built the whole wall, and towers upon it, and outside was the other wall," and is therefore to be preferred to it. The "other wall" enclosed the lower city (Acra). This, too, was not first built by Hezekiah; he only fortified it anew, for Isaiah 22:11 already speaks of two walls, between which a body of water had been introduced: see on 2 Chronicles 32:30 .