2 Kings 15:37

In those days,.... At the end of the days of Jotham, or after his death, things might be in design, and preparations made before, but nothing of what follows came to pass in his life, but in the times of his son: the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah: to make war with them as a scourge to Ahaz for his sins; of which is in the following chapter.

2 Kings 15:37 . In those days — That is, toward the end of Jotham’s reign; the Lord began to send against Judah, Rezin and Pekah — As he bid Shimei curse David, when he gave him an opportunity of doing it, without fear of punishment. Wicked men are the sword, the rod in God’s hand, which he makes use of as he pleases, to serve his own righteous counsels, though they be unrighteous in their intentions. This storm was gathered in the reign of pious Jotham, but he came to his grave in peace, and it fell upon his degenerate son Ahaz, whose heart, upon notice of it, was moved, as were the hearts of the people, as the trees of the wood are moved by the wind, Isaiah 7:2 .

The recent invasions of Pul and Tiglath-Pileser had effectually alarmed Pekah and Rezin, and had induced them to put aside the traditional jealousies which naturally kept them apart, and to make a league offensive and defensive. Into this league they were anxious that Judaea should enter; but they distrusted the house of David, which had been so long hostile both to Damascus and to Samaria. They consequently formed the design of transferring the Jewish crown to a certain Ben-Tabeal Isaiah 7:6 , probably a Jewish noble, perhaps a refugee at one of their courts, whom they could trust to join heartily in their schemes ( 2 Kings 16:5 note).

37. the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, &c.—This is the first intimation of the hostile feelings of the kings of Israel and Syria, to Judah, which led them to form an alliance and make joint preparations for war. [See on [344]2Ch 27:5.] However, war was not actually waged till the reign of Ahaz.

37 . In those days ] In the days of Jotham the confederacy between Israel and Syria against Judah was formed, though the effects were not felt to the full till the days of Jotham’s son Ahaz. In Isaiah 7 we find that Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel, had come up against Jerusalem to fight against it, and were minded to set up a king in Judah of their own choosing, who is there spoken of as ‘the son of Tabeel’. At that time for the consolation and encouragement of Ahaz the oracle concerning ‘Immanuel’ was sent to him through Isaiah. the Lord began to send ] Though He began to send enemies upon Judah, yet the Lord did not, as Isaiah’s prophecy shews us, leave His people without hope, but in the midst of their chastisement He was thinking upon mercy, and spake by the mouth of the prophet concerning that greatest mercy, the sending of His Son. Rezin the king of Syria ] The name of this king appears several times in the Assyrian records. His country had before this time been made tributary to Assyria. The policy of Rezin appears not only to have embraced a conquest of Judah in alliance with Pekah, but also, after making himself more powerful in that way, the shaking off the yoke of Assyria. For this reason the Assyrian power was the more easily induced to help Ahaz in resisting Israel and Syria. The history of that help is given in the next chapter where the acts of Pekah against Judah are more fully dwelt upon.

Verse 37. - In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Resin the King of Syria. Rezin's name occurs in the Assyrian inscriptions early in the reign of Tigiath-pileser, probably in the year B.C. 743 . At that time he pays to the Assyrians a heavy tribute, consisting of eighteen talents of gold, three hundred talents of silver, two hundred talents of copper, and twenty talents of spices. Subsequently, about the year B.C. 734 , he is found in revolt. His alliance with Pekah, here implied, is directly stated by Isaiah 7:2 . Begun in Jotham's reign, it continued, and came to a head, in the reign of Ahaz (see 2 Kings 16:5 and Isaiah 7:1-9 ; Isaiah 8:6 ). And Pekah the son of Remaliah. Pekah and Rezin intended to establish on the Jewish throne a certain Ben-Tabeal ( Isaiah 7:6 ), a creature of their own, with whose aid they thought to offer an effectual resistance to Assyria. 2 Kings 15:37

In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin, etc. It is evident from the position of this verse at the close of the account of Jotham, that the incursions of the allied Syrians and Israelites into Judah under the command of Rezin and Pekah commenced in the closing years of Jotham, so that these foes appeared before Jerusalem at the very beginning of the reign of Ahaz. - It is true that the Syrians had been subjugated by Jeroboam II(( 2 Kings 14:28 ); but in the anarchical condition of the Israelitish kingdom after his death, they had no doubt recovered their independence. They must also have been overcome by the Assyrians under Pul, for he could never have marched against Israel without having first of all conquered Syria. But as the power of the Assyrians was greatly weakened for a time by the falling away of the Medes and Babylonians, the Syrians had taken advantage of this weakness to refuse the payment of tribute to Assyria, and had formed an alliance with Pekah of Israel to conquer Judah, and thereby to strengthen their power so as to be able to offer a successful resistance to any attack from the side of the Euphrates. - But as 2 Kings 16:6 . and 2 Kings 17 show, it was otherwise decreed in the counsels of the Lord.

This matter may be simply explained by the circumstance, that the author of this book was using as an authority the book of the chronicles alluded to in Esther 10:2 , and is quite analogous with the mode observed in the books of Kings and Chronicles by historians both of Babylonian and post-Babylonian days, who quote from the documents they make use of such events only as seem to them important with regard to the plan of their own work, and then at the close of each reign refer to the documents themselves, in which more may be found concerning the acts of the kings, at the same time frequently adding supplementary information from these sources, - comp. e.g., 1 Kings 14:30 ; 1 Kings 15:7 , 1 Kings 15:23 , 1 Kings 15:32 ; 1 Kings 22:47-50 ; 2 Kings 15:37 ; 2 Chronicles 12:15 , - with this difference only, that in these instances the supplementary notices follow the mention of the documents, while in the present book the notice precedes the citation.

This matter may be simply explained by the circumstance, that the author of this book was using as an authority the book of the chronicles alluded to in Esther 10:2 , and is quite analogous with the mode observed in the books of Kings and Chronicles by historians both of Babylonian and post-Babylonian days, who quote from the documents they make use of such events only as seem to them important with regard to the plan of their own work, and then at the close of each reign refer to the documents themselves, in which more may be found concerning the acts of the kings, at the same time frequently adding supplementary information from these sources, - comp. e.g., 1 Kings 14:30 ; 1 Kings 15:7 , 1 Kings 15:23 , 1 Kings 15:32 ; 1 Kings 22:47-50 ; 2 Kings 15:37 ; 2 Chronicles 12:15 , - with this difference only, that in these instances the supplementary notices follow the mention of the documents, while in the present book the notice precedes the citation.