2 Kings 15:35

Howbeit the high places were not removed,.... As they were not by his father, and the same is observed of the best of kings before: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still in the high places; from which they could not be brought off by prophets or kings: he built the higher gate of the house of the Lord; which was between the temple and the king's palace, which led to it; this he repaired and beautified, or added something to it; or otherwise it was built by Solomon, and therefore called the new gate, Jeremiah 26:10 it is the same that was afterwards called the gate of Nicanor; the east gate, as say the Jewish writers (k). (k) T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 7. 1. Gloss. in ib. Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 7. sect. 6.

He built the higher gate - Jotham followed the example of his father in military, no less than in religious, matters (compare the marginal reference with 2 Chronicles 26:9 ). The "higher" or "upper gate" of the temple is thought to have been that toward the north; and its fortification would seem to indicate fear of an attack from that quarter.

35 . Howbeit the high places ] In 2 Chronicles it is merely said ‘the people did yet corruptly’. He built the higher [R.V. upper ] gate of the house of the Lord ] By ‘build’ is only meant ‘restore’ or ‘beautify’. The gate existed before. The temple stood on a slope, of which the northern side was the highest and the gate on that side was the one of which Jotham made some restoration. The account of his buildings is somewhat fuller in 2 Chronicles. ‘On the wall of Ophel he built much. Moreover he built cities in the hill-country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers’. His success in war, also unnoticed by the compiler of Kings, is dwelt on by the Chronicler. He fought with the Ammonites and conquered them, and the children of Ammon paid him in that year a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand measures of wheat, and the same quantity of barley, and they continued the payment for a second and a third year. ‘So Jotham became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God’.

Verse 35. - Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense, still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the Lord. The "higher gate "is thought to be that towards the north, and its fortification implied a fear of attack from that quarter. It must have become amply evident to the kings of Judah, at any rate from the time of the attack on Menahem (ver. 19), that the independence of both kingdoms was menaced by Assyria, and that it was of great importance that their principal fortresses should be placed in a state of efficient defense. Azariah had paid great attention to the fortifying and arming of Jerusalem ( 2 Chronicles 26:9, 15 ), and his son now followed in his footsteps. From 2 Chronicles 27:3 we learn that he not only built the high gate of the temple, but also "on the wall of Ophel built much," Nor was he content with fortifying the capital. He also "built cities in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers." Tiglath-pileser had made war on his father ('Eponym Canon,' pp. 117, 118). He felt that any day his own turn might come. 2 Kings 15:35

Verse 3. - But the high places were not taken away. So it had been with the best of the previous kings of Judah, as Asa ( 1 Kings 15:14 ) and Jehoshaphat ( 1 Kings 22:43 ); and so it was with the other "good" kings ( 2 Kings 14:4 ; 2 Kings 15:4, 35 ) until the reign of Hezekiah, by whom the high places were removed (see below, 2 Kings 18:4 ). We must remember that it was Jehovah who was worshipped in the "high places," not Baal, or Moloch, or Ashtoreth (see the comment on 1 Kings 15:14 ). The people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places. The people, not the king, in the earlier portion of his reign; but in the later portion, probably the king also (see 2 Chronicles 24:17, 18 ). 2 Kings 12:3

Reign of Jotham of Judah (cf. 2 Chronicles 27:1-9 ). - 2 Kings 15:32 . "In the second year of Pekah Jotham began to reign." This agrees with the statement in 2 Kings 15:27 , that Pekah became king in the last year of Uzziah, supposing that it occurred at the commencement of the year. Jotham's sixteen years therefore came to a close in the seventeenth year of Pekah's reign ( 2 Kings 16:1 ). His reign was like that of his father Uzziah (compare 2 Kings 15:34 , 2 Kings 15:35 with 2 Kings 15:3 , 2 Kings 15:4 ), except, as is added in Chr. 2 Kings 15:2 , that he did not force himself into the temple of the Lord, as Uzziah had done ( 2 Chronicles 26:16 ). All that is mentioned of his enterprises in the account before us is that he built the upper gate of the house of Jehovah, that is to say, that he restored it, or perhaps added to its beauty. The upper gate, according to Ezekiel 9:2 compared with 2 Kings 8:3 , 2 Kings 8:5 , 2 Kings 8:14 and 2 Kings 8:16 , is the gate at the north side of the inner or upper court, where all the sacrifices were slaughtered, according to Ezekiel 40:38-43 . We also find from 2 Chronicles 27:3 . that he built against the wall of Ophel, and several cities in the mountains of Judah, and castles and towers in the forests, and subdued the Ammonites, so that they paid him tribute for three years. Jotham carried on with great vigour, therefore, the work which his father had began, to increase the material prosperity of his subjects.

14 . But the high places were not removed ] R.V. taken away . The change is made that this passage may be rendered in the same way as 2 Chronicles 15:17 , with which it is identical. In Judah (we are told 2 Chronicles 14:5 ) Asa did take away the high places, but in Israel ( 2 Chronicles 15:17 ) they were not taken away. The mention of this as something which Asa might have been expected to effect shews that the conquests of his father and himself had given them much control (or influence) over the affairs of the northern kingdom. As the high places had been long tolerated, and the worship offered there had been accepted we can see how much more difficult it would be to put down this form of worship than any of the others. Hence, in spite of the continuance of the high places, Asa’s heart is said to have been ‘perfect with the Lord.’ The worship on the high places was long kept up. They are mentioned again 1 Kings 22:44 ; 2 Kings 12:3 ; 2 Kings 14:4 ; 2 Kings 15:4 ; 2 Kings 15:35 .