Notes on Second Kings
From the Original 1599 Geneva Bible Notes

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2Ki 1:1

1:1 Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.

The Argument - This second book contains the acts of the kings of Judah and Israel: that is, of Israel, from the death of Ahab to the last king Hoshea, who was imprisoned by the king of Assyria, and his city Samaria taken, and the ten tribes led into captivity by the just plague of God for their idolatry and disobedience to God. Also of Judah, from the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat to Zedekiah, who for contemning the Lord's commandment by his prophets, and neglecting his many admonitions by famine and other means was taken by his enemies, saw his sons most cruelly slain before his face, and his own eyes put out, as the Lord had declared to him before by his prophet Jeremiah. By the just vengeance of God for contempt of his word Jerusalem was destroyed, the temple burnt, and he and all his people were led away captives into Babylon. In this book are notable examples of God's favour toward those rulers and people who obey his prophets, and embrace his word: and contrariwise of his plagues on those who neglect his ministers, and do not obey his commandments.

2Ki 1:2

1:2 And {a} Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that [was] in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of {b} Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.

(a) So that he was punished for his idolatry in two ways: for the Moabites which were wont to pay him tribute rebelled and he fell out a window which was high in his house to give light beneath.
(b) The Philistines who lived at Ekron worshipped this idol, the god of flies, thinking that he could preserve them from the biting of flies: or else he was so called, because flies were drawn in great abundance by the blood of the sacrifices that were offered to that idol.

2Ki 1:3

1:3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, {c} [Is it] not because [there is] not a God in Israel, [that] ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron?

(c) He shows that idolaters do not have the true God, or else they would seek none but him alone.

2Ki 1:6

1:6 And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, {d} [Is it] not because [there is] not a God in Israel, [that] thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.

(d) Ignorance is the mother of error and idolatry.

2Ki 1:8

1:8 And they answered him, [He was] an {e} hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It [is] Elijah the Tishbite.

(e) Some think that this meant his garments, which were rough and made of hair.

2Ki 1:9

1:9 Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top {f} of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.

(f) That is, Carmel.

2Ki 1:10

1:10 And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I [be] a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. {g} And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

(g) He declares the power God's word has in the mouth of his servants, when they threaten God's judgments against the wicked.

2Ki 1:11

1:11 Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, {h} O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.

(h) He spoke this in mockery, and therefore provoked God's wrath so much more.

2Ki 1:12

1:12 And Elijah answered and said unto them, {i} If I [be] a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

(i) Meaning, that God would show by effect whether he was a true prophet or not.

2Ki 1:13

1:13 And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my {k} life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be {l} precious in thy sight.

(k) Which humble myself before God and his servant.
(l) That is, spare my life, and do not let me die as the other two.

2Ki 1:15

1:15 And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be {m} not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.

(m) Thus the Lord gives boldness to his, that they fear not the threatenings of tyrants, who otherwise of themselves are afraid to do God's message.

2Ki 1:17

1:17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And {n} Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.

(n) Jehoshaphat going to battle against the Syrians, made his son Jehoram king in the 17th year of his reign: and in the 18th year which was the second year of his son, Jehoram the son of Ahab reigned in Israel: and in the fifth year of this Jehoram Jehoshaphat died, and the kingdom of Judah was confirmed to his son.

2Ki 2:1

2:1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from {a} Gilgal.

(a) Which was the place where the children of Israel were circumcised after they came over Jordan and had been forty years in the wilderness, Jos 5:9.

2Ki 2:3

2:3 And the {b} sons of the prophets that [were] at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from {c} thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I {d} know [it]; hold ye your peace.

(b) So called, because they are begotten anew as it were by the heavenly doctrine.
(c) That is, from being your head any more: for to be as the head, is to be the master, as to be at the feet, is to be a scholar.
(d) For the Lord had revealed it to him.

2Ki 2:5

2:5 And the sons of the prophets that [were] at {e} Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know [it]; hold ye your peace.

(e) Not only at Bethel, but at Jericho and other places were there prophets, who had scholars, whom they instructed and brought up in the true fear of God.

2Ki 2:8

2:8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped [it] together, and smote the {f} waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

(f) That is, of Jordan.

2Ki 2:9

2:9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, {g} let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

(g) Let your spirit have double force in me, because of these dangerous times: or let me have twice as much as the rest of the prophets: or if your spirit were to be divided into three parts, let me have two.

2Ki 2:11

2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, [there appeared] a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into {h} heaven.

(h) Thus God has left a testimony in all ages (both before the law, in the law and in the gospel).

2Ki 2:15

2:15 And when the sons of the prophets which [were] to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The {i} spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

(i) The Spirit of prophecy was given to him as it was to Elijah.

2Ki 2:16

2:16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, {l} Ye shall not send.

(l) Because the fact was extraordinary, they doubted where he had gone, but Elisha was assured that he was taken up to God.

2Ki 2:21

2:21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast {m} the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren [land].

(m) Thus God gave him power, even contrary to nature, to make the water profitable for man's use, which before was hurtful.

2Ki 2:24

2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and {n} cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

(n) Perceiving their malicious heart against the Lord and his word, he asks God to avenge the injury done to him.

2Ki 3:1

3:1 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the {a} eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.

(a) Read the annotation in 2Ki 1:17.

2Ki 3:3

3:3 Nevertheless he cleaved unto the {b} sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.

(b) He sacrificed to the golden calves that Jeroboam had made.

2Ki 3:4

3:4 And {c} Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.

(c) This was done after David had made the Moabites tributaries to his successors.

2Ki 3:7

3:7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: {d} I [am] as thou [art], my people as thy people, [and] my horses as thy horses.

(d) Read 1Ki 22:4.

2Ki 3:9

3:9 So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the {e} king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.

(e) Meaning the viceroy, or lieutenant of the king of Judah, 1Ki 22:47.

2Ki 3:11

3:11 But Jehoshaphat said, [Is there] not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may enquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here [is] Elisha the son of Shaphat, which {f} poured water on the hands of Elijah.

(f) That is, who was his servant.

2Ki 3:12

3:12 And Jehoshaphat said, {g} The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

(g) He is able to instruct us what God's will is in this point.

2Ki 3:13

3:13 And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, {h} What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, {i} Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.

(h) He knew that this wicked king would have but used his counsel to serve his turn, and therefore, he disdained to answer him.
(i) The wicked do not esteem the servants of God unless they are driven by every necessity and fear of the present danger.

2Ki 3:14

3:14 And Elisha said, [As] the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would {k} not look toward thee, nor see thee.

(k) God suffers his word to be declared to the wicked because of the godly that are among them.

2Ki 3:15

3:15 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel {l} played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.

(l) He sang songs to God's glory, and so stirred up the prophets heart to prophecy.

2Ki 3:18

3:18 And this is [but] a {m} light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.

(m) He will not only miraculously give you waters, but your enemies also into your hand.

2Ki 3:19

3:19 And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and {n} mar every good piece of land with stones.

(n) Though God bestows his benefits for a time on the enemies, yet he has his seasons, when he will take them away to the intent they might see his vengeance which is prepared for them.

2Ki 3:23

3:23 And they said, {o} This [is] blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.

(o) The sudden joy of the wicked is but a preparation for their destruction, which is at hand.

2Ki 3:24

3:24 And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they {p} went forward smiting the Moabites, even in [their] country.

(p) Meaning, they followed them into the towns.

2Ki 3:25

3:25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in {q} Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about [it], and smote it.

(q) Which was one of the principle cities of the Moabites, in which they left nothing but the walls.

2Ki 3:27

3:27 Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and {r} offered him [for] a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to [their own] land.

(r) Some refer it to the king of Edom's son, whom they say he had taken in that skirmish: but rather it seemed to be his own son, whom he offered to his gods to pacify them: which barbarous cruelty moved the Israelites hearts of pity to depart.

2Ki 4:1

4:1 {a} Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did {b} fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be {c} bondmen.

(a) 2Ki 2:3.
(b) And therefore did not fall into debt by carelessness or excess but by the hand of the Lord.
(c) Because I am poor and not able to pay.

2Ki 4:2

4:2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a {d} pot of oil.

(d) Thus God permits his to be brought many times to extreme necessity, before he helps them, that afterward they may praise his mercy even more.

2Ki 4:4

4:4 And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into {e} all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.

(e) The Prophet declares by this to her, that God never fails to provide for his servants, their wives and children, it they trust in him.

2Ki 4:6

4:6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, [There is] not a vessel more. And the oil {f} stayed.

(f) Or ceased to increase.

2Ki 4:7

4:7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the {g} rest.

(g) God here not only provided for his servant, that his debts should be paid and so kept his doctrine and profession without slander, but also for his wife and children.

2Ki 4:10

4:10 Let us make a {h} little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

(h) Which would be separate from the rest of the house, that he might more conveniently give himself to study and prayers.

2Ki 4:13

4:13 And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; {i} what [is] to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I {k} dwell among mine own people.

(i) Thus the servants of God are not unthankful for the benefits they receive.
(k) I am content with what God has sent me, and can lack nothing that one can do for another.

2Ki 4:14

4:14 And he said, What then [is] to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath {l} no child, and her husband is old.

(l) Which was shameful and therefore he would that his master should pray to God for her that she might be fruitful.

2Ki 4:19

4:19 And he said unto his father, {m} My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.

(m) His head was hurt badly and therefore he cried.

2Ki 4:23

4:23 And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? [it is] neither {n} new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, [It shall be] well.

(n) For at such times the people were wont to resort to the prophets for doctrine and consolation.

2Ki 4:27

4:27 And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she {o} caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul [is] vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid [it] from me, and hath not told me.

(o) In token of humility and joy that she had met with him.

2Ki 4:29

4:29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: {p} if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.

(p) Make such speed that nothing may stop you in the way, Lu 10:4.

2Ki 4:34

4:34 And he went up, and {q} lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.

(q) Elijah did the same to the widow's son at Zarephath 1Ki 17:21 and Paul in Ac 20:10 signifying the care that should be in them, who bear the word of God and are distributors of spiritual life.

2Ki 4:35

4:35 Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed {r} seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

(r) Meaning, often.

2Ki 4:38

4:38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and [there was] a dearth in the {s} land; and the sons of the prophets [were] sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

(s) That is, in the land of Israel.

2Ki 4:39

4:39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a {t} wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred [them] into the pot of pottage: for they knew [them] not.

(t) Which the apothecaries call colloquintida, and is most vehement and dangerous in purging.

2Ki 4:40

4:40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O [thou] man of God, [there is] {u} death in the pot. And they could not eat [thereof].

(u) They feared that they were poisoned because of the bitterness.

2Ki 4:43

4:43 And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and {x} shall leave [thereof].

(x) It is not the quantity of bread that satisfies, but the blessing that God gives.

2Ki 5:1

5:1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given {a} deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, [but he was] a leper.

(a) Here it appears that among the infidels God has his, and also that the infidels esteem those who do good to their country.

2Ki 5:3

5:3 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord [were] with the {b} prophet that [is] in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.

(b) Meaning Elisha.

2Ki 5:4

5:4 And {c} [one] went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that [is] of the land of Israel.

(c) That is, Naaman told it to the king of Syria.

2Ki 5:5

5:5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and {d} took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of raiment.

(d) To give this as a present to the prophets.

2Ki 5:8

5:8 And it was [so], when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, {e} Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.

(e) The prophet rebukes the king because he did not consider that God was true in his promise, and therefore would not leave his Church destitute of a prophet, whose prayers he would hear, and to whom others could have recourse for comfort.

2Ki 5:11

5:11 But Naaman was {f} wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

(f) Man's reason murmurs when it considers only the signs and outward things, and has no regard for the word of God, which is contained there.

2Ki 5:13

5:13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, {g} My father, [if] the prophet had bid thee [do some] great thing, wouldest thou not have done [it]? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

(g) This declares that servants should reverence and love their masters as children their fathers, and likewise masters toward their servants, must be affectioned as toward their children.

2Ki 5:16

5:16 But he said, [As] the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take [it]; {h} but he refused.

(h) So the Lord commands that they that receive freely, should also give freely.

2Ki 5:18

5:18 In this thing the LORD {i} pardon thy servant, [that] when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.

(i) He feels his conscience is wounded by being present at idols service, and therefore desires God to forgive him, lest others by his example might fall to idolatry: for as for his own part he confesses that he will never serve any but the true God.

2Ki 5:19

5:19 And he said unto him, {k} Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

(k) The prophet did not approve his act, but after the common manner of speech he bids him farewell.

2Ki 5:21

5:21 So Gehazi followed after Naaman. And when Naaman saw [him] running after him, {l} he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, and said, [Is] all well?

(l) Declaring by it, the honour and affection he bore to the prophet his master.

2Ki 5:24

5:24 And when he came to the tower, he took [them] from their hand, and bestowed [them] in the house: and he let the men go, and {m} they departed.

(m) Naaman's servants.

2Ki 5:26

5:26 And he said unto him, {n} Went not mine heart [with thee], when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? [Is it] a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and {o} oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?

(n) Was I not present with you in spirit?
(o) That is, money to buy possessions with: meaning that it is detestable in the servants of God to have covetous minds.

2Ki 5:27

5:27 The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy {p} seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper [as white] as snow.

(p) To be an example to all, by whose covetousness God's word might be slandered.

2Ki 6:2

6:2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a {a} beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.

(a) Or a piece of wood fit to build with.

2Ki 6:6

6:6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast [it] in thither; and the iron did {b} swim.

(b) God wrought this miraculously to confirm the authority of Elisha, to whom he had given such abundance of his Spirit.

2Ki 6:8

6:8 Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In {c} such and such a place [shall be] my camp.

(c) Meaning, that he would lie in ambush and take the Israelites unawares.

2Ki 6:10

6:10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and {d} saved himself there, not once nor twice.

(d) The wicked conspire nothing so craftily, but God can reveal it to his servants, and cause their counsel to be disclosed.

2Ki 6:12

6:12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that [is] in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy {e} bedchamber.

(e) There is nothing so secret that you can go about, but he knows it, and reveals it to his king.

2Ki 6:14

6:14 Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a {f} great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.

(f) Though it was nothing in man's judgment to have taken Elisha, yet the wicked doubt, and think they are never able to prepare enough power, though it be but against one or a few.

2Ki 6:16

6:16 And he answered, {g} Fear not: for they that [be] with us [are] more than they that [be] with them.

(g) For he was assured of God's help, and that millions of angels camped about the godly to deliver them.

2Ki 6:17

6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, {h} that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain [was] full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

(h) That he may behold how you have prepared an army to rescue us.

2Ki 6:18

6:18 And when {i} they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

(i) Meaning the Syrians his enemies, who came down thinking themselves sure of him.

2Ki 6:19

6:19 And Elisha said unto them, This [is] not the way, neither [is] this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led {k} them to Samaria.

(k) Thus he did being led by the Spirit of God, and not because he sought his own revenge, but only to set forth the glory of God.

2Ki 6:21

6:21 And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, {l} My father, shall I smite [them]? shall I smite [them]?

(l) The wicked use reverent and grave words toward the servants of God, when they think to have any blessing from them, though in their heart they cannot abide them.

2Ki 6:23

6:23 And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no {m} more into the land of Israel.

(m) For this gentle intreaty and the miracle wrought by the prophet, did more for peace than if they had been overcome in battle for they did not return at that time to fight against Israel, or in that king's days.

2Ki 6:25

6:25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was [sold] for fourscore [pieces] of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's {n} dung for five [pieces] of silver.

(n) The Hebrews write, that they burned it in the seige for lack of wood.

2Ki 6:27

6:27 And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the {o} barnfloor, or out of the winepress?

(o) Meaning, any kind of food as corn and wine.

2Ki 6:30

6:30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, [he had] sackcloth within {p} upon his flesh.

(p) Thus hypocrites when they feel God's judgments think to please him with outward ceremonies whom in prosperity they will not know.

2Ki 6:32

6:32 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and [the king] sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a {q} murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: [is] not the sound of his master's feet behind him?

(q) Meaning, Jehoram Ahab's son, who killed the prophets and caused Naboth to be stoned.

2Ki 6:33

6:33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil [is] of the LORD; what {r} should I wait for the LORD any longer?

(r) So the wicked fall into a rage and desperation, if they do not find a quick remedy for their afflictions.

2Ki 7:1

7:1 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, {a} To morrow about this time [shall] a measure of fine flour [be sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

(a) The godly are always assured of God's help in their necessity, but the times and hours are only revealed by God's Spirit.

2Ki 7:2

7:2 Then a lord on whose hand the king {b} leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, [if] the LORD would make {c} windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see [it] with thine eyes, but shalt not {d} eat thereof.

(b) To whom the king gave the charge and oversight of things as in 2Ki 7:17.
(c) He mocked at the prophets words saying, that if God rained down corn from heaven, yet this could not come to pass.
(d) Your infidelity will be punished in this when you see this miracle, and yet not partake of it.

2Ki 7:3

7:3 And there were four leprous men at the {e} entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?

(e) For it was commanded in the law that they should dwell apart, and not among their brethren, Le 13:46.

2Ki 7:6

7:6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a {f} noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, [even] the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

(f) Thus God needs no great preparation to destroy the wicked. Though they are many he can scatter them with a small noise, or shaking of a leaf.

2Ki 7:7

7:7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it [was], and {g} fled for their life.

(g) The wicked need no greater enemy than their own conscience to pursue them.

2Ki 7:12

7:12 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, {h} I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we [be] hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.

(h) He mistrusted the prophets words, and therefore could believe nothing, as they who are more prudent than godly always cast more doubt than is needed.

2Ki 7:13

7:13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let [some] take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they [are] as all the {i} multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, [I say], they [are] even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see.

(i) There are no more left, but they, or the rest are consumed by the famine, as the rest of the people.

2Ki 7:16

7:16 And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was [sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, {k} according to the word of the LORD.

(k) Which he spoke by the mouth of Elisha, 2Ki 7:1.

2Ki 7:17

7:17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people {l} trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him.

(l) As the people pressed out of the gate to run to the Syrian's tents, where they had heard meat and great spoil was left.

2Ki 8:1

8:1 Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou {a} canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.

(a) Where you can find a convenient place to dwell, where there is plenty.

2Ki 8:3

8:3 And it came to pass at the seven years' end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth {b} to cry unto the king for her house and for her land.

(b) That is, to complain of them who had taken her possessions while she was absent.

2Ki 8:5

8:5 And it came to pass, as he was telling {c} the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this [is] the woman, and this [is] her son, whom Elisha restored to life.

(c) God's wonderful providence appears in this, that he caused the king to desire to hear him, whom before he contemned and also hereby prepared an entrance to the poor widows suit.

2Ki 8:6

8:6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that [was] hers, and all the {d} fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

(d) The king caused that to be justly restored which was wrongfully withheld from her.

2Ki 8:9

8:9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, even of every {e} good thing of Damascus, forty camels' burden, and came and stood before him, and said, Thy son Benhadad king of Syria hath sent me to thee, saying, Shall I recover of this disease?

(e) Of all the chiefest and precious things of the country.

2Ki 8:10

8:10 And Elisha said unto him, Go, say unto him, Thou mayest certainly {f} recover: howbeit the LORD hath shewed me that he shall surely die.

(f) Meaning that he would recover of this disease: but he knew that this messenger Hazael would slay him to obtain the kingdom.

2Ki 8:13

8:13 And Hazael said, But what, [is] thy servant {g} a dog, that he should do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The LORD hath shewed me that thou [shalt be] king over Syria.

(g) That I should be without all humanity and pity.

2Ki 8:15

8:15 And it came to pass on the morrow, that he took a thick cloth, and dipped [it] in water, and {h} spread [it] on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his stead.

(h) Under pretence to refresh or ease him, he suffocated him with his cloak.

2Ki 8:16

8:16 And in the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel, Jehoshaphat [being] then king of Judah, {i} Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign.

(i) Read 2Ki 1:17.

2Ki 8:18

8:18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the {l} daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

(l) The Holy Spirit shows by this the danger of joining with infidels.

2Ki 8:20

8:20 In his days Edom {m} revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.

(m) Which had been subject from David's time until this time of Jehoram.

2Ki 8:22

8:22 Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah unto this day. Then {n} Libnah revolted at the same time.

(n) This was a city in Judah given to the Levites, Jos 21:13 that later turned from king Jehoram, because of his idolatry.

2Ki 8:26

8:26 {o} Two and twenty years old [was] Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name [was] Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel.

(o) Which is to be understood, that he was made king when his father reigned, but after his father's death he was confirmed king when he was forty-two years old, as in 2Ch 22:2.

2Ki 8:28

8:28 And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael king of Syria in {p} Ramothgilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.

(p) Which was a city in the tribe of Gad beyond Jordan.

2Ki 8:29

8:29 And king Joram went back to be healed in {q} Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.

(q) This is a city belonging to the tribe of Issachar.

2Ki 9:1

9:1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, {a} Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead:

(a) Prepare yourself to go diligently about your business for in those countries they used long garments which they tucked up when they went about earnest business.

2Ki 9:6

9:6 And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have {b} anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, [even] over Israel.

(b) This anointing was for kings, priests and prophets which were all figures of Messiah, in whom these three offices were accomplished.

2Ki 9:11

9:11 Then Jehu came forth to the {c} servants of his lord: and [one] said unto him, [Is] all well? wherefore came this {d} mad [fellow] to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication.

(c) That is, the rest of the army, whom he called his brethren before, 2Ki 9:2.
(d) The world always holds the ministers of God is this estimation and has always slandered the children of God
(they called the Son of God a deceiver, and said he had the devil) therefore they should not be discouraged.

2Ki 9:16

9:16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And {e} Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.

(e) God had thus ordained as in 2Ch 12:7 , that this wicked and idolatrous king, who was more ready to please wicked Joram than to obey the will of God, would perish with him, by whose means he thought to have been stronger.

2Ki 9:20

9:20 And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving [is] like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth {f} furiously.

(f) As one that went earnestly about his business.

2Ki 9:22

9:22 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, [Is it] {g} peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts [are so] many?

(g) Meaning, since God is their enemy because of their sins, he will always stir up someone to avenge his cause.

2Ki 9:26

9:26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his {h} sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take [and] cast him into the plat [of ground], according to the word of the LORD.

(h) By this it is evident that Jezebel caused both Naboth and his sons to be put to death, that Ahab might enjoy his vineyard more quietly: else his children might have claimed possession.

2Ki 9:27

9:27 But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw [this], he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. [And they did so] at the going up to Gur, which [is] by Ibleam. And he fled to {i} Megiddo, and died there.

(i) After he was wounded in Samaria, he fled to Megiddo, a city of Judah.

2Ki 9:29

9:29 And in the {k} eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

(k) That is, eleven whole years: for in 2Ki 8:25 when he said he began to reign in the twelfth year of Joram, he takes a partial year for a whole.

2Ki 9:30

9:30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard [of it]; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and {l} looked out at a window.

(l) Being of a harsh and cruel nature, she would still retain her royal state and dignity.

2Ki 9:31

9:31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, [Had] {m} Zimri peace, who slew his master?

(m) As if to say, "Can a traitor or anyone who rises against his superior succeed?", see 1Ki 16:10.

2Ki 9:33

9:33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: {n} and [some] of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.

(n) This he did by the moving of the Spirit of God, that her blood would be shed, who had shed the blood of innocents, to be a spectacle and example of God's judgment for all tyrants.

2Ki 9:34

9:34 And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed [woman], and bury her: for she [is] a {o} king's daughter.

(o) That is, of the king of Zidon, 1Ki 16:31.

2Ki 9:37

9:37 And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; [so] that they shall not say, {p} This [is] Jezebel.

(p) Thus God's judgments appear even in this world against those who suppress his word and persecute his servants.

2Ki 10:1

10:1 And Ahab had seventy {a} sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's [children], saying,

(a) The Scripture calls them sons who are either children or nephews.

2Ki 10:3

10:3 Look even out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and {b} set [him] on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

(b) He wrote this, to prove them whether they would take his side or not.

2Ki 10:6

10:6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye [be] mine, and [if] ye will hearken unto my voice, {c} take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king's sons, [being] seventy persons, [were] with the great men of the city, which brought them up.

(c) God as a just judge punishes the wicked children of wicked parents to the third and fourth generations.

2Ki 10:9

10:9 And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye [be] {d} righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?

(d) You cannot justly condemn me for the king's death, seeing as you have done the same to his posterity: for the Lord commanded me, and moved you to carry out his judgment.

2Ki 10:11

10:11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his {e} priests, until he left him none remaining.

(e) Meaning, the idolatrous priests.

2Ki 10:14

10:14 And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, [even] two and forty men; {f} neither left he any of them.

(f) Thus God's vengeance is on them who have any part or familiarity with the wicked.

2Ki 10:15

10:15 And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab [coming] to meet him: and he {g} saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart [is] with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give [me] thine hand. And he gave [him] his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.

(g) For he feared God, and lamented the wickedness of those times: therefore Jehu was glad to join with him: of Rechab read Jer 35:2.

2Ki 10:18

10:18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served {h} Baal a little; [but] Jehu shall serve him much.

(h) Here Baal is taken for Ashtaroth the idol of the Zidonians, who Jezebel caused to be worshipped, as it is also so used in 1Ki 22:53.

2Ki 10:23

10:23 And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the {i} servants of the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only.

(i) Thus God would have his servants preserved and idolaters destroyed, as in his law he gives express command, De 13:5.

2Ki 10:25

10:25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, [and] slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast [them] out, and went to the {k} city of the house of Baal.

(k) Which was near Samaria.

2Ki 10:30

10:30 And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing [that which is] right in mine eyes, [and] hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that [was] in mine heart, thy {l} children of the fourth [generation] shall sit on the throne of Israel.

(l) Thus God approves and rewards his zeal, in executing God's judgment, though his wickedness was later punished.

2Ki 11:1

11:1 And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the {a} seed royal.

(a) Meaning, all the posterity of Jehoshaphat, to whom the kingdom belonged: thus God used the cruelty of this woman to destroy the family of Ahab.

2Ki 11:2

11:2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, {b} took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons [which were] slain; and they hid him, [even] him and his nurse, in {c} the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.

(b) The Lord promised to maintain the family of David, and not to quench the light of it, therefore he moved the heart of Jehosheba to preserve him.
(c) Where the priests slept.

2Ki 11:4

11:4 And the seventh year {d} Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and shewed them the king's son.

(d) The chief priest, Jehosheba's husband.

2Ki 11:5

11:5 And he commanded them, saying, This [is] the thing that ye shall do; A third part of {e} you that enter in on the sabbath shall {f} even be keepers of the watch of the king's house;

(e) Of the Levites, who had charge of the keeping of the temple, and kept watch by course.
(f) That no one should come on them, while they were crowning the king.

2Ki 11:6

11:6 And a third part [shall be] at the gate of {g} Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, that it be not broken down.

(g) Called the east gate of the temple, 2Ch 23:5.

2Ki 11:7

11:7 And two parts of all you that {h} go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king.

(h) Whose charge is ended.

2Ki 11:9

11:9 And the captains over the hundreds did according to all [things] that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the {i} sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

(i) Read 2Ki 11:5,7.

2Ki 11:10

11:10 And to the captains over hundreds did the {k} priest give king David's spears and shields, that [were] in the temple of the LORD.

(k) That is, Jehoiada.

2Ki 11:12

11:12 And he brought forth {l} the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and [gave him] {m} the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.

(l) That is, Joash, who had been kept secret six years.
(m) Meaning, the law of God, which is his chief charge, and by which only his throne is established.

2Ki 11:14

11:14 And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a {n} pillar, as the manner [was], and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.

(n) Where the king's place was in the temple.

2Ki 11:15

11:15 But Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto them, Have her forth without the ranges: and him that {o} followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest had said, Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD.

(o) To take her part.

2Ki 11:17

11:17 And Jehoiada made a {p} covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD'S people; between the {q} king also and the people.

(p) That both the king and the people should maintain the true worship of God and destroy all idolatry.
(q) That he should govern and they obey in the fear of God.

2Ki 11:18

11:18 And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the {r} altars. And the {s} priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.

(r) Even in the place where he had blasphemed God, and thought to have been helped by his idol, there God poured his vengeance on him.
(s) That is, Jehoiada.

2Ki 11:20

11:20 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet: {t} and they slew Athaliah with the sword [beside] the king's house.

(t) Who by his cruelty and persecution had troubled the whole land.

2Ki 12:2

12:2 And Jehoash did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein {a} Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

(a) As long as rulers give ear to the true ministers of God, they prosper.

2Ki 12:3

12:3 But {b} the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

(b) So hard a thing it is for them, that are in authority, to be brought to the perfect obedience of God.

2Ki 12:4

12:4 And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the dedicated things that is brought into the house of the LORD, [even] the money of every one that passeth [the {c} account], the money that every man is set at, [and] all the money that cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the LORD,

(c) That is, the money of redemption Ex 30:12 , also the money which the priest valued the vows at Le 27:2 , and their free gift.

2Ki 12:5

12:5 Let the priests take [it] to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them repair the {d} breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found.

(d) For the temple which was built a hundred and fifty-five years before, had many things decayed in it, both by the negligence of the king's predecessors, and also by the wickedness of the idolaters.

2Ki 12:7

12:7 Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the [other] priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore {e} receive no [more] money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.

(e) He takes from them the ordering of the money, because of their negligence.

2Ki 12:9

12:9 But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the {f} right side as one cometh into the house of the LORD: and the priests that kept the door put therein all the money [that was] brought into the house of the LORD.

(f) That is, on the south side.

2Ki 12:11

12:11 And they gave the money, being told, into the hands of them {g} that did the work, that had the oversight of the house of the LORD: and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders, that wrought upon the house of the LORD,

(g) For the king had appointed others who were fit for that purpose, 2Ki 22:5.

2Ki 12:13

12:13 Howbeit there were {h} not made for the house of the LORD bowls of silver, snuffers, basons, trumpets, any vessels of gold, or vessels of silver, of the money [that was] brought into the house of the LORD:

(h) For these men only had charge of the repairing of the temple, the rest of the money was brought to the king who caused these to be made later, 2Ch 24:14.

2Ki 12:18

12:18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat, and Jehoram, and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold [that was] found in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and in the king's house, and {i} sent [it] to Hazael king of Syria: and he went away from Jerusalem.

(i) After the death of Jehoiada, Joash fell to idolatry: therefore God rejected him, and stirred up his enemy against him, whom he pacified with the treasures of the temple: for God would not be served with those gifts, seeing the king's heart was wicked.

2Ki 12:20

12:20 And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and {k} slew Joash in the house of {l} Millo, which goeth down to Silla.

(k) Because he had put Zachariah the son of Jehoiada to death, 2Ch 24:25.
(l) Read 2Sa 5:9.

2Ki 13:2

13:2 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to {a} sin; he departed not therefrom.

(a) By worshipping the calves Jeroboam erected in Israel.

2Ki 13:3

13:3 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all {b} [their] days.

(b) While Jehoahaz lived.

2Ki 13:5

13:5 (And the LORD gave Israel a {c} saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel {d} dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.

(c) That is, Joash the son of Jehoahaz.
(d) Safely and without danger.

2Ki 13:6

13:6 Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, [but] walked therein: and there remained the {e} grove also in Samaria.)

(e) In which they committed their idolatry, and which the Lord had commanded to be destroyed De 16:21.

2Ki 13:7

13:7 Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of {f} Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.

(f) That is, Hazael and Benhadad his son, 2Ki 13:3. Of Hazael read 2Ki 13:22.

2Ki 13:10

13:10 In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king {g} of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, [and reigned] sixteen years.

(g) His chief purpose is to describe the kingdom of Judah, and how God performed his promise made to the house of David: but in the process he shows how Israel was afflicted and punished for their great idolatry, who though they had now degenerated, yet God both by sending them many prophets and various punishments, called them to him again.

2Ki 13:14

13:14 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, {h} O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

(h) Thus they used to call the prophets and servants of God, by whom God blesses his people, as in 2Ki 2:12 meaning that they prospered their country more by their prayers than by force of arms.

2Ki 13:17

13:17 And he said, Open the window {i} eastward. And he opened [it]. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD'S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed [them].

(i) That is, toward Syria: so that he not only prophesied with words but also confirmed him by these signs that he would have the victory.

2Ki 13:19

13:19 And the man of God was {k} wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed [it]: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria [but] thrice.

(k) Because he seemed content to have victory against the enemies of God two or three times but did not have the zeal to overcome them continually, and to destroy them completely.

2Ki 13:21

13:21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band [of men]; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he {l} revived, and stood up on his feet.

(l) By this miracle God confirmed the authority of Elisha, whose doctrine in his life they contemned, that at this sight they might return and embrace the same doctrine.

2Ki 13:23

13:23 And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as {m} yet.

(m) That is, until their sins were come to a full measure and there was no more hope of amendment.

2Ki 14:3

14:3 And he did [that which was] {a} right in the sight of the LORD, yet not like David his father: he did according to all things as Joash his father did.

(a) In the beginning of his reign he seemed to have an outward show of godliness, but later he became an idolater and worshipped the idols of the Idumeans.

2Ki 14:6

14:6 But the children of the murderers he {b} slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

(b) Because they neither consented nor were partakers with their fathers in that act.

2Ki 14:7

14:7 He slew of {c} Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah by war, and called the name of it Joktheel unto this day.

(c) For the Idumeans, whom David had brought to subjection, rebelled in the time of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat.

2Ki 14:8

14:8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, {d} let us look one another in the face.

(d) Let us fight hand to hand, and try it by battle, and not destroy one another's cities.

2Ki 14:9

14:9 And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that [was] in Lebanon sent to the {e} cedar that [was] in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that [was] in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.

(e) By this parable Jehoash compares himself to a cedar tree, because of his great kingdom over ten tribes and Amaziah to the thistle because he ruled over but two tribes and the wild beasts are Jehoash's soldiers, that spoiled the cities of Judah.

2Ki 14:10

14:10 Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: {f} glory [of this], and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to [thy] hurt, that thou shouldest fall, [even] thou, and Judah with thee?

(f) Brag of the victory, so that you stay at home and do not provoke me.

2Ki 14:14

14:14 And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and {g} hostages, and returned to Samaria.

(g) That is, which the Israelites had given to them from Judah for an assurance of peace.

2Ki 14:19

14:19 Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to {h} Lachish; but they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there.

(h) Which Rehoboam built in Judah for a fortress, 2Ch 11:9.

2Ki 14:21

14:21 And all the people of Judah took {i} Azariah, which [was] sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.

(i) Who is also called Uzziah, 2Ch 26:1.

2Ki 14:22

14:22 He built {k} Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.

(k) Which is also called Elanon or Eloth.

2Ki 14:24

14:24 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from all the {l} sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

(l) Because this idolatry was so vile and almost incredible, that men should forsake the living God, to worship calves, the work of man's hands, therefore the Scripture often repeats it in the reproach of all idolaters.

2Ki 14:26

14:26 For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, [that it was] very bitter: for [there was] not any {m} shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.

(m) Read 1Ki 14:10.

2Ki 14:28

14:28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and {n} Hamath, [which belonged] to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

(n) Which was also called Antiochia of Syria or Riblah.

2Ki 15:3

15:3 And he did [that which was] {a} right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;

(a) As long as he listened to Zachariah the prophet.

2Ki 15:5

15:5 And the LORD {b} smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king's son [was] over the house, {c} judging the people of the land.

(b) His father and grandfather were slain by their subjects and servants, and he because he would usurp the priest's office contrary to God's ordinance was smitten immediately by the hand of God with the leprosy, 2Ch 26:21.
(c) As viceroy or deputy to his father.

2Ki 15:8

15:8 In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six {d} months.

(d) He was the fourth in descent from Jehu, who reigned according to God's promise, but in him God began to execute his wrath against the house of Jehu.

2Ki 15:10

15:10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and {e} slew him, and reigned in his stead.

(e) Zachariah was the last in Israel, that had the kingdom by succession, save only Pekahiah the son of Menahem, who reigned only two years.

2Ki 15:16

15:16 Then Menahem smote {f} Tiphsah, and all that [were] therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not [to him], therefore he smote [it; and] all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.

(f) Which was a city of Israel that would not receive him as their king.

2Ki 15:19

15:19 [And] Pul the king of Assyria came against the {g} land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand {h} talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.

(g) That is, of Israel.
(h) Instead of seeking help from God, he went about by money to purchase the favour of this king being an infidel and therefore God forsook him, and Pul soon afterward broke his promises, destroyed his country and led his people away captive.

2Ki 15:25

15:25 But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, with {i} Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.

(i) Which were of the same conspiracy.

2Ki 15:29

15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel {k} came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

(k) For God stirred up Pul and Tiglathpileser against Israel for their sins, 1Ch 5:26.

2Ki 15:34

15:34 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD: he did according {l} to all that his father Uzziah had done.

(l) He shows that his uprightness was not such, but that he had many great faults.

2Ki 15:37

15:37 In {m} those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and {n} Pekah the son of Remaliah.

(m) After the death of Jotham.
(n) Who in one day slew 120,000 of Judah's fighting men 2Ch 28:6 , because they had forsaken the true God.

2Ki 16:1

16:1 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah {a} Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.

(a) This was a wicked son of a godly father, as of him again came godly Hezekiah, and of him wicked Manasseh, save that God in the end showed him mercy. Thus we see how uncertain it is to depend on the dignity of our fathers.

2Ki 16:3

16:3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to {b} pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.

(b) That is, offered him to Molech or made him pass between two fires, as the manner of the Gentiles was, Le 18:21, De 18:10.

2Ki 16:5

16:5 Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome {c} [him].

(c) For the Lord preserved the city and his people for the sake of his promise made to David.

2Ki 16:6

16:6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered {d} Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.

(d) Which Azariah had taken from the Syrians and fortified, 2Ki 14:22.

2Ki 16:7

16:7 So Ahaz sent {e} messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I [am] thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.

(e) Contrary to the admonition of the prophet Isaiah, Isa 7:4.

2Ki 16:8

16:8 And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the {f} house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent [it for] a present to the king of Assyria.

(f) Thus he did not spare the temple of God from being spoiled to gain help from men and would not once lift his heart to God to desire his help or hear his prophet's counsel.

2Ki 16:11

16:11 And Urijah the priest built an altar {g} according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made [it] against king Ahaz came from Damascus.

(g) We see that there is no prince so wicked that he cannot find liars and false ministers to serve his purposes.

2Ki 16:12

16:12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered {h} thereon.

(h) Either offerings for peace or prosperity, or thanksgiving as in Le 3:1 or else meaning the morning and evening offering, Ex 29:38, Nu 28:3 and thus he contemned the means and the altar which God had commanded by Solomon, to serve God after his own fantasy.

2Ki 16:14

16:14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which [was] before the LORD, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the LORD, and put it on the {i} north side of the altar.

(i) That is, at the right hand, as men went into the temple.

2Ki 16:15

16:15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the {k} brasen altar shall be for me to enquire [by].

(k) Here he establishes by commandment his own wicked proceedings, and abolishes the commandment and ordinance of God.

2Ki 16:18

16:18 And the {l} covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD {m} for the king of Assyria.

(l) Or tent, in which they lay on the sabbath, who had served their week in the temple and so departed home.
(m) Either to flatter the king of Assyria, when he should thus see him change the ordinance of God or else that the temple might be a refuge for him if the king should suddenly assault his house.

2Ki 17:2

17:2 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, {a} but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

(a) Though he invented no new idolatry or impiety as others did, yet he sought help from the Egyptians, whom God had forbidden.

2Ki 17:4

17:4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, {b} as [he had done] year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

(b) For he had paid tribute for eight years.

2Ki 17:6

17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor [by] the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the {c} Medes.

(c) For at this time the Medes and Persians were subject to the Assyrians.

2Ki 17:7

17:7 For [so] it was, that the children of Israel had {d} sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

(d) He sets forth at length the cause of this great plague and perpetual captivity, to admonish all people, and nations to cleave to the Lord God, and worship only him for fear of similar judgment.

2Ki 17:9

17:9 And the children of Israel did secretly [those] things that [were] not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower {e} of the watchmen to the fenced city.

(e) Meaning, throughout all their borders.

2Ki 17:14

17:14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their {f} fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.

(f) So that to allege the authority of our fathers or great antiquity, except we can prove that they were godly, is but to declare that we are the children of the wicked.

2Ki 17:16

17:16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, [even] two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the {g} host of heaven, and served Baal.

(g) That is, the sun, moon and stars, De 4:19.

2Ki 17:17

17:17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to {h} pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and {i} sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

(h) Read 2Ki 16:3.
(i) Read of this phrase in 1Ki 21:20,25.

2Ki 17:18

17:18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah {k} only.

(k) No whole tribe was left but Judah, and they of Benjamin and Levi who remained were counted with Judah.

2Ki 17:20

17:20 And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his {l} sight.

(l) Out of the land where he showed the greatest tokens of his presence and favour.

2Ki 17:21

17:21 {m} For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.

(m) That is, God cut off the ten tribes, 1Ki 12:16,20.

2Ki 17:24

17:24 And the king of Assyria brought [men] from Babylon, and from {n} Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed [them] in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

(n) Of these people came the Samaritans, of which mention is so often made in the gospel, and with whom the Jews would have nothing to do, Joh 4:9.

2Ki 17:25

17:25 And [so] it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, [that] they {o} feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent lions among them, which slew [some] of them.

(o) That is, they served him not: therefore, lest they should blaspheme him, as though there were no God, because he chastised the Israelites, he shows his mighty power among them by this strange punishment.

2Ki 17:27

17:27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God {p} of the land.

(p) That is, how to worship him: thus the wicked rather than losing their conveniences will change to all religions.

2Ki 17:30

17:30 And the men of Babylon made {q} Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

(q) Meaning that every country served the idol that was most esteemed in the place to which they came.

2Ki 17:33

17:33 They {r} feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.

(r) That is, they had a certain knowledge of God, and feared him because of the punishment, but they continued to be idolaters as do the papists who worship both God and idols: but this is not to fear God, as appears in 2Ki 17:34.

2Ki 17:34

17:34 Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the LORD, neither do they after {s} their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;

(s) He means by this the Israelites to whom God had given his commandments.

2Ki 17:41

17:41 So these {t} nations feared the LORD, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

(t) That is, these strangers who were sent into Samaria by the Assyrians.

2Ki 18:3

18:3 And he did [that which was] {a} right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.

(a) Although they of Judah were given to idolatry and impiety, as they of Israel were, yet God for the sake of his promise was merciful to the throne of David, and yet by his judgment toward the other, provoked to repentance.

2Ki 18:4

18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it {b} Nehushtan.

(b) That is "a piece of brass": thus he calls the serpent by contempt, which even though it was set up by the word of God, and miracles were wrought by it, when it was used for idolatry this good king destroyed it, not thinking it worthy to be called a serpent, but a piece of brass.

2Ki 18:8

18:8 He smote the Philistines, [even] unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, {c} from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

(c) Read 2Ki 17:9.

2Ki 18:14

18:14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, {d} I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

(d) As his zeal was before praised, so his weakness is here set forth, that no one should glory in himself.

2Ki 18:17

18:17 And the king of Assyria sent {e} Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which [is] in the highway of the fuller's field.

(e) After certain years, when Hezekiah ceased to send the tribute appointed by the king of the Assyrians, he sent his captains and army against him.

2Ki 18:20

18:20 Thou sayest, (but [they are but] vain words,) [I have] {f} counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

(f) You think that words will serve to persuade your people, or to move my master.

2Ki 18:21

18:21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, [even] upon {g} Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

(g) Egypt will not only be unable to help you, but will be a detriment to you.

2Ki 18:22

18:22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: [is] not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath {h} taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

(h) Thus the idolaters think that God's religion is destroyed, when superstition and idolatry are reformed.

2Ki 18:23

18:23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give {i} pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

(i) Meaning, that it was best for him to yield to the king of Assyria because his power was so small that he did not have men to care for two thousand horses.

2Ki 18:25

18:25 Am I now come up without the {k} LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

(k) The wicked always flatter themselves in their prosperity, that God favours them. Thus he speaks to scare Hezekiah into thinking that by resisting him he would be resisting God.

2Ki 18:32

18:32 Until {l} I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.

(l) He makes himself so sure, that he will not grant them a truce, unless they give themselves to him to be led away as captives.

2Ki 18:35

18:35 Who [are] they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the {m} LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?

(m) This is an execrable blasphemy against the true God, to make him equal with the idols of other nations: therefore God sharply punished him.

2Ki 19:2

19:2 And he sent Eliakim, which [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, {a} to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

(a) To hear some new prophecy and to have comfort from him.

2Ki 19:3

19:3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day [is] a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to {b} the birth, and [there is] not strength to bring forth.

(b) The dangers are so great, that we can neither avenge this blasphemy, or help ourselves any more than a woman in labour.

2Ki 19:4

19:4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up [thy] prayer for the {c} remnant that are left.

(c) Meaning, for Jerusalem which only remained of all the cities of Judah.

2Ki 19:7

19:7 Behold, I will send a blast {d} upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

(d) The Lord can with one blast blow away all the strength of man, and turn it into dust.

2Ki 19:9

19:9 And when {e} he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, {f} Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,

(e) That is, Sennacherib.
(f) For the kings of Ethiopia and Egypt joined together against the king of Assyria because of his oppression of other countries.

2Ki 19:10

19:10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy {g} God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

(g) The closer the wicked are to their destruction, the more they blaspheme.

2Ki 19:14

19:14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the {h} LORD.

(h) Before the Ark of the covenant.

2Ki 19:15

19:15 And Hezekiah {i} prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest [between] the cherubims, thou art the God, [even] thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.

(i) He shows what the true refuge and help is in all dangers, that is, to flee to the Lord by earnest prayer.

2Ki 19:16

19:16 LORD, {k} bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the {l} living God.

(k) Show by effect that you will not allow your Name to be blasphemed.
(l) By this title he discerns God from all idols and false gods.

2Ki 19:19

19:19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the {m} kingdoms of the earth may know that thou [art] the LORD God, [even] thou only.

(m) He shows the reason the faithful desire God to deliver them: that is, that he may be glorified by their deliverance.

2Ki 19:21

19:21 This [is] the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The {n} virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, [and] laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

(n) Because as yet Jerusalem had not been taken by the enemy therefore he calls her virgin.

2Ki 19:22

19:22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted [thy] voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? [even] {o} against the Holy [One] of Israel.

(o) God counts that as an injury done to him, and will avenge what is done to any of his saints.

2Ki 19:23

19:23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, [and] the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the {p} lodgings of his borders, [and into] the forest of his Carmel.

(p) Meaning Jerusalem, which Isaiah calls the height of his borders, that is, of Judah, Isa 37:24.

2Ki 19:25

19:25 Hast thou not heard long ago [how] I have done it, [and] of ancient times that I have formed it? {q} now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities [into] ruinous heaps.

(q) He declares that as he is the author and beginning of his Church, he will never allow it to be completely destroyed, as other cities and kingdoms.

2Ki 19:26

19:26 Therefore their {r} inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were [as] the grass of the field, and [as] the green herb, [as] the grass on the housetops, and [as corn] blasted before it be grown up.

(r) Thus he describes the wicked, who flourish for a time, and later fade and decay like flowers.

2Ki 19:28

19:28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my {s} hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

(s) I will bridle your rage, and turn you to and fro as it pleases me.

2Ki 19:29

19:29 And this [shall be] a {t} sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.

(t) God not only promised him the victory, but gives him a sign to confirm his faith.

2Ki 19:30

19:30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take {u} root downward, and bear fruit upward.

(u) The Lord will multiply in great number that small remnant of Judah that escaped.

2Ki 19:31

19:31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the {x} zeal of the LORD [of hosts] shall do this.

(x) The love, that God has for his Church will overcome the counsels and enterprises of men.

2Ki 19:37

19:37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons {y} smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

(y) This was the just judgment of God for his blasphemy, that he would be slain before the idol that he preferred to the living God, and by those who should by nature have needed his defence.

2Ki 20:2

20:2 Then he turned his face to the {a} wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,

(a) That his mind might not be troubled.

2Ki 20:3

20:3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a {b} perfect heart, and have done [that which is] good in thy sight. And Hezekiah {c} wept sore.

(b) Meaning, without all hypocrisy.
(c) Not so much for his own death, as for fear that idolatry would be restored which he had destroyed, and so God's Name be dishonoured.

2Ki 20:5

20:5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy {d} prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the {e} house of the LORD.

(d) Because of his true repentance and prayer, God turned away his wrath.
(e) To give thanks for your deliverance.

2Ki 20:7

20:7 And Isaiah said, Take a {f} lump of figs. And they took and laid [it] on the boil, and he recovered.

(f) He declares that though God can heal without other medicines, he will not have these inferior means contemned.

2Ki 20:10

20:10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow {g} return backward ten degrees.

(g) Let the sun go so many degrees back, that the hours may be fewer in the king's dial.

2Ki 20:11

20:11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the {h} dial of Ahaz.

(h) Which was set at the top of the stairs that Ahaz had made.

2Ki 20:12

20:12 At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a {i} present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

(i) Moved by the favour that God showed to Hezekiah, and also because he had declared himself an enemy of Sennacherib who was now destroyed.

2Ki 20:13

20:13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and [all] the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his {k} dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

(k) Being moved by ambition and vain glory, and also because he seemed to rejoice in the friendship of him who was God's enemy and an infidel.

2Ki 20:19

20:19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good [is] the word of the LORD which thou hast {l} spoken. And he said, [Is it] not [good], if {m} peace and truth be in my days?

(l) He acknowledges Isaiah to be the true prophet of God and therefore humbles himself to his word.
(m) Seeing that God has shown me this favour to grant me quietness during my life: for he was afraid lest the enemies would have had opportunity to rejoice if the Church had decayed in his time, because he had restored religion.

2Ki 21:6

21:6 And he made his son {a} pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke [him] to anger.

(a) Read 2Ki 16:3.

2Ki 21:8

21:8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will {b} observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.

(b) Therefore seeing they did not obey the commandment of God, they were justly cast from the land which they had only on condition.

2Ki 21:12

21:12 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I [am] bringing [such] evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall {c} tingle.

(c) Meaning, that whoever hears of this great plague, will be astonished.

2Ki 21:13

21:13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line {d} of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as [a man] wipeth a dish, wiping [it], and turning [it] upside down.

(d) As I have destroyed Samaria and the house of Ahab so will I destroy Judah.

2Ki 21:14

21:14 And I will forsake the {e} remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;

(e) Meaning, Judah and Benjamin, which were the only ones left of the rest of the tribes.

2Ki 21:16

21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed {s} innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD.

(s) The Hebrews write that he slew Isaiah the prophet, who was his father-in-law.

2Ki 21:22

21:22 And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the {g} way of the LORD.

(g) That is, according to his commandment.

2Ki 22:2

22:2 And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, and {a} walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.

(a) His zeal was prophesied of, and his name mentioned by Iddo the prophet, more than 300 years before, 1Ki 13:2 and being but eight years old, he sought the God of his father David, 2Ch 34:3.

2Ki 22:4

22:4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the {b} door have gathered of the people:

(b) Certain of the priests were appointed to this office, as in 2Ki 12:9.

2Ki 22:5

22:5 And let {c} them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD: and let them give it to the doers of the work which [is] in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house,

(c) From the time of Joash for the space of 244 years, the temple remained without repairs through the negligence of the priests. This shows that they who have a charge and do not execute it should have it taken from them.

2Ki 22:7

22:7 Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt {d} faithfully.

(d) So God provided him with faithful servants, seeing he went about so zealously to set forth the work of God.

2Ki 22:8

22:8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the {e} book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

(e) This was the copy that Moses left them, as it appears in 2Ch 34:14 , which either by the negligence of the priests had been lost, or else by the wickedness of idolatrous kings had been abolished.

2Ki 22:13

22:13 Go ye, {f} enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great [is] the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.

(f) Meaning, to some prophet to whom God reveals the knowledge of things, as in Jer 21:8 , though at other times they enquired the Lord by Urim and Thummim.

2Ki 22:14

22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the {g} college;) and they communed with her.

(g) Or the house of doctrine, which was near the temple, and where the learned assembled to search the scriptures and the doctrine of the prophets.

2Ki 22:17

22:17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the {h} works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

(h) The works of man's hand here signifies all that man invents beside the word of God, which are abominable in God's service.

2Ki 22:19

22:19 Because thine heart was {i} tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard [thee], saith the LORD.

(i) Meaning, that he repented as they that do not repent are said to harden their heart, Ps 95:8.

2Ki 22:20

22:20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in {k} peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

(k) Upon which we may gather that the anger of God is ready against the wicked when God takes his servants out of this world.

2Ki 23:1

23:1 And the king {a} sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

(a) Because he saw the great plagues of God that were threatened, he knew no more speedy way to avoid them, than to turn to God by repentance which cannot come but from faith, and faith by hearing the word of God.

2Ki 23:3

23:3 And the king stood by {b} a pillar, and made a {c} covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all [their] heart and all [their] soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.

(b) Where the king had his place, 2Ki 11:14.
(c) As Joshua did, Jos 24:22,25.

2Ki 23:4

23:4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the {d} priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried {e} the ashes of them unto Bethel.

(d) Meaning, they who were next in dignity to the high priest.
(e) In contempt of the altar Jeroboam had built there to sacrifice to his calves.

2Ki 23:5

23:5 And he put down the {f} idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

(f) Or Chemarims, meaning the priests of Baal who were called Chemarims either because they wore black garments or else were smoked with burning incense to idols.

2Ki 23:6

23:6 And he brought out the {g} grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped [it] small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the {h} graves of the children of the people.

(g) He removed the grove which idolaters for devotion had planted near the temple, contrary to the commandment of the Lord, De 16:21 , or as some read, the similitude of a grove which was hung in the temple.
(h) Both in contempt of the idols and reproach of them who had worshipped them in their lives.

2Ki 23:9

23:9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places {i} came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

(i) Because they who had forsaken the Lord to serve idols, were not fit to minister in the service of the Lord for the instruction of others.

2Ki 23:10

23:10 And he defiled {k} Topheth, which [is] in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

(k) Which was a valley near to Jerusalem, and signifies a tabret because they smote on the tabret while their children were burning, that their cry should not be heard, Le 18:21 , after which Josiah commanded trash to be cast in contempt of it.

2Ki 23:11

23:11 And he took away the {l} horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which [was] in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

(l) The idolatrous kings had dedicated horses and chariots to the sun, either to carry about the image of it as the heathen did, or else to sacrifice them as a most agreeable sacrifice.

2Ki 23:13

23:13 And the high places that [were] before Jerusalem, which [were] on the right hand of the {m} mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

(m) That was the mount of olives, so called because it was full of idols.

2Ki 23:15

23:15 Moreover {n} the altar that [was] at Bethel, [and] the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, [and] stamped [it] small to powder, and burned the grove.

(n) Which Jeroboam had built in Israel, 1Ki 12:28,29.

2Ki 23:16

23:16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that [were] there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned [them] upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the {o} man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.

(o) According to the prophecy of Iddo, 1Ki 13:2.

2Ki 23:18

23:18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the {p} prophet that came out of Samaria.

(p) Meaning, the prophet who came after him, and caused him to eat contrary to the command of the Lord, who were both buried in the same grave, 1Ki 13:31.

2Ki 23:22

23:22 Surely there was not holden {q} such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;

(q) For the multitude and zeal of the people with the great preparation.

2Ki 23:26

23:26 Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the {r} fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.

(r) Because of the wicked heart of the people, who would not turn to him by repentance.

2Ki 23:29

23:29 In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah {s} went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.

(s) Because Pharaoh passed through his country, he was afraid Pharaoh would have done him harm and would have stopped him, yet he did not consult the Lord, and therefore was slain.

2Ki 23:32

23:32 And he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his {t} fathers had done.

(t) Meaning, the wicked kings before.

2Ki 23:33

23:33 And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands {u} at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

(u) Which was Antiochia in Syria, also called Hamath.

2Ki 24:1

24:1 In his {a} days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.

(a) In the end of the third year of his reign and in the beginning of the fourth, Dan 1:1.

2Ki 24:3

24:3 Surely at the {b} commandment of the LORD came [this] upon Judah, to remove [them] out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;

(b) Though God used these wicked tyrants to execute his just judgments, they are not to be excused, for they proceeded from ambition and malice.

2Ki 24:6

24:6 So Jehoiakim {c} slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

(c) Not that he was buried with his fathers, but he died in the way, as they let him prisoner toward Babylon, see Jer 22:19.

2Ki 24:12

24:12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah {d} went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year {e} of his reign.

(d) That is, yielded himself to him by the counsel of Jeremiah.
(e) In the reign of the king of Babylon.

2Ki 24:20

24:20 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his {f} presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

(f) Out of Jerusalem and Judah into Babylon.

2Ki 25:1

25:1 And it came to pass in the {a} ninth year of his reign, in the {b} tenth month, in the tenth [day] of the month, [that] Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.

(a) That is, of Zedekiah.
(b) Which the Hebrews call Teber, and it contains part of December and part of January.

2Ki 25:3

25:3 And on the ninth [day] of the [fourth] month the famine {c} prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.

(c) So much that the mothers ate their children, La 4:10.

2Ki 25:4

25:4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war [fled] by night by the way of the {d} gate between two walls, which [is] by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees [were] against the city round about:) and [the king] went the way toward the plain.

(d) Which was a back door, or some secret gate to leave by.

2Ki 25:6

25:6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they {e} gave judgment upon him.

(e) Or, condemned him for his perjury and treason, 2Ch 36:13.

2Ki 25:8

25:8 And in the fifth month, on the {f} seventh [day] of the month, which [is] the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:

(f) Jeremiah writes in Jer 52:12 the tenth day, because the fire continued from the seventh day to the tenth.

2Ki 25:11

25:11 Now the rest of the people [that were] left in the city, and the fugitives that {g} fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.

(g) While the siege endured.

2Ki 25:14

25:14 And the {h} pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

(h) Of these read Ex 27:3.

2Ki 25:18

25:18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the {i} second priest, and the three keepers of the door:

(i) That is, one appointed to act in the place of the high priest, if he were sick or otherwise detained.

2Ki 25:19

25:19 And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and {k} five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land [that were] found in the city:

(k) Jeremiah makes mention of seven but here he speaks of those who were the chiefest.

2Ki 25:24

25:24 And Gedaliah {l} sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon; and it shall be well with you.

(l) That is, he exhorted them in the Name of the Lord, according to Jeremiah's counsel, to submit themselves to Nebuchadnezzar, seeing it was the revealed will of the Lord.

2Ki 25:26

25:26 And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the armies, arose, and came to {m} Egypt: for they were afraid of the Chaldees.

(m) Contrary to Jeremiah's counsel in Jeremiah 40-42.

2Ki 25:27

25:27 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of {n} Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and twentieth [day] of the month, [that] Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;

(n) This long were he, his wife and his children in Babylon, whom Nebuchadnezzar's son after his father's death preferred to honour: thus by God's providence the seed of David was preserved even to Christ.

2Ki 25:30

25:30 And his {o} allowance [was] a continual allowance given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, all the days of his life.

(o) Meaning, that he had standing in the court.