*H In the seven and twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned Azarias, son of Amasias, king of Juda.
Ver. 1. Twentieth. Houbigant endeavours to shew it should be, "the 14th;" Capellus says, the 17th; (H.) and others have suspected that the number is incorrectly printed. Grot. &c. — But this expedient ought only to be adopted when no other can give satisfaction; and this difficulty may be obviated by saying, that Jeroboam's reign with his father continued six years, and that after he had held the septre nineteen years alone, Azarias commenced; (C. Usher) or, that there was an interregnum of eleven years, which is not probable. Capel. — Azarias; otherwise called Ozias; (Ch.) and this was his real name. Grot. See C. xiv. 21. H.
*H And he did that which was pleasing before the Lord, according to all that his father, Amasias, had done.
Ver. 3. Lord. Many laudable actions are specified, 2 Par. xxvi. 4. But at last, forgetting the instructions of the prophet Zacharias, he opened his heart to pride, the bane of great souls, and would arrogate to himself the rights of the priesthood, which brought on his leprosy. C.
*H But the high places he did not destroy, for the people sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places.
Ver. 4. But. In this he was not different from his father. C. xiv. 4.
*H And the Lord struck the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a free house apart: but Joatham, the king's son, governed the palace, and judged the people of the land.
Ver. 5. A leper. In punishment of his usurping the priestly functions. 2 Par. xxvi. 19. Ch. W. — The priests boldly remonstrated with him, but to no effect; till the king perceived himself stricken with the leprosy. Josephus (ix. 10.) says, a dreadful earthquake was felt at the same time, which is supposed to be that mentioned Amos i. 1. and Zac. xiv. 5; (S. Jerom, &c.) though Usher produces some chronological difficulties against this opinion: but they are founded on error. C. — Free. Par. apart; at a distance from all. H. — The like rules were observed in cities, as in the camp. Lev. xiii. 46. M. — Ozias was in a manner dead to all civil transactions; and Isaias (vi. 1.) probably refers to this event. Syr. and Arab. "he remained hidden." Josephus (ibid.) says, "leading a private life." Thus aiming at too much, he lost all! H.
* Footnote * 2_Paralipomenon 26 : 21
And Ozias the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a house apart being full of the leprosy, for which he had been cast out of the house of the Lord. And Joatham his son governed the king's house, and judged the people of the land.*H And Azarias slept with his fathers: and they buried him with his ancestors in the city of David, and Joatham, his son, reigned in his stead.
Ver. 7. David: or, Ozias slept...and they buried him in the field of the royal sepulchre, because he was a leper, and Joatham, &c. 2 Par. xxvi. 23. H. — Such an aversion had people for lepers, that they would not even bury them with others. C. — Yet he was treated with some honour. W.
*H In the eight and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Zacharias, son of Jeroboam, over Israel, in Samaria, six months:
Ver. 8. Thirtieth. Usher would place an interregnum of eleven years and a half, after the death of Jeroboam, to make the first year of Zacharias correspond with the 38th of Azarias, during which, he supposes, the troubles mentioned Amos vii. and viii. happened. But this interregnum has no foundation, v. 5. C. — Capellus says it would have lasted above 22 years. He and Houbigant would read, 28th: the latter adds ten years to the reign of Zacharias. The transcriber might easily omit the years, as they end in the same manner as months. Arab. has "six years;" whence we may infer, that the copies formerly varied. The exploits of Zacharias require a longer space than six months. Chron. sac. p. 107. 110.
*H And Sellum, the son of Jabes, conspired against him: and struck him publicly, and killed him, and reigned in his place.
Ver. 10. Place, having before taken his measures with the conspirators; (v. 15) so that he had not to fear the resentment of the people. He cut off the last king of the family of Jehu; (H.) probably at Jezrahel. Osee i. 5. C.
*H And Manahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Thersa, and he came into Samaria, and struck Sellum, the son of Jabes, in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
Ver. 14. Manahem, general of Zacharias, revenged his death, and then returning to Tharsa, treated it and the neighbouring city, Thapsa, with the utmost fury. So Josephus, ix. 11. But his conjectures are to be received with caution.
*H In the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Manahem, son of Gadi, over Israel, ten years, in Samaria.
Ver. 17. Ten years. Dating from the time that he was enabled to enjoy the throne in peace, after a struggle of eleven months. Usher, A. 3233. — Phul rendered him this service, having received presents, and one of the golden calves, (Osee x. 6. and xiii.) besides 1000 talents, v. 19.
*H And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, all his days.
Ver. 18. Days. During which Jeroboam or Manahem swayed the sceptre. C. — The Sept. refer all his days to the following verse, (H.) which seems to intimate that the tribute was required annually, as may be gathered from the Vulg. veniebat. M. — But Phul probably received the talents only once, to indemnify him for his trouble. He was perhaps the father of Sardanapalus, who joined his name, Phul, to his own, Sardan; as Merodach assumed that of Baladan. Isai. xxxix. 1. Profane authors style the father of Sardanapalus, Anacindaraxes, &c. Phul was the first of the Assyrian monarchs who came into the land of Israel, where we shall find them too often in the sequel. He probably repented on the preaching of Jonas, and averted the scourge (C.) which fell upon the city during the reign of his son. H.
*H And Manahem laid a tax upon Israel, on all that were mighty and rich, to give the king of the Assyrians, each man fifty sicles of silver: so the king of the Assyrians turned back, and did not stay in the land.
Ver. 20. Rich. The lower classes were not perhaps entirely exempted.
*H And Phacee the son of Romelia, his captain, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the tower of the king's house, near Argob, and near Arie, and with him fifty men of the sons of the Galaadites, and he slew him, and reigned in his stead.
Ver. 25. Near. Heb. "may be along with Argob, &c." who were in the conspiracy. Chal. Sept. &c. C.
*H And the rest of the acts of Phaceia, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
Ver. 26. Israel. This book is lost. H. — The Paral. takes no notice of these kings; but relates only the transactions of the kings of Juda after Joas gained the victory; which greatly abridged their power. C. xiv. 14.
*H In the two and fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phacee, the son of Romelia, over Israel, in Samaria, twenty years.
Ver. 27. Romelia. S. Jerom (ep. 142.) places the birth of Romulus in this year, which preceded the famous Olympiads. But Salien differs that event 14 years. A.C. 769. H.
*H In the days of Phacee, king of Israel, came Theglathphalasar, king of Assyria, and took Aion, and Abel Domum Maacha, and Janoe, and Cedes, and Asor, and Galaad, and Galilee, and all the land of Nephthali: and carried them captives into Assyria.
Ver. 29. Assyria, at the invitation of Achaz. C. xvi. 7. — Theglathphalasar is probably the same who is called Ninus the younger, or Thilgam, (Ælian. animal. xii. 21.) by profane writers. He re-established the kingdom of Nineve in part, after the city had been taken, under his father Sardanapalus, by Arbaces, founder of the empire of the Medes, and by Belesus, Narbonassar, or Baladan, who reigned at Babylon. Such was the state of the eastern empires at this time. C. — Aion, or Ahion, (3 K. xv. 20.) perhaps the Enan of Ezechiel xlviii. 1. H. — Maacha, whither Seba had retreatd, 2 K. xx. 14. Heb. Abel-beth-maacha. — Galaad, comprising all the east of the Jordan. C. — Nephthali, to the north-west. H. — Thus the Galileans and Nephthali were transported into Assyria, to repeople it after the late ravages. The tribe in Galaad were fixed on the river Gozan, 1 Par. v. 26.
*H Now Osee, son of Ela, conspired, and formed a plot against Phacee, the son of Romelia, and struck him, and slew him: and reigned in his stead in the twentieth year of Joatham, the son of Ozias.
Ver. 30. In the twentieth year of Joatham. That is, in the twentieth year from the beginning of Joatham's reign. The sacred writer chooses rather to follow here this date, than to speak of the years of Achaz, who had not yet been mentioned. Ch. — But Joatham reigned only 16 years, (v. 33) so that this was the fourth year of Achaz. H. — Usher says that Osee did not ascend the throne till nine years after the death of Phacee, as he is asserted to have commenced his reign in the twelfth year of Achaz. C. xvii. 1. But another difficulty arises from the mention of this 20th year, as Phacee would have reigned 22, instead of 20; (v. 27.) for Joatham only commenced in the second year of Phacee. To reconcile these passages, we may conclude that Osee conspired against the king of Israel in the 18th year of Joatham, gained possession of part of the kingdom in the 20th of the same prince, and of the whole in the 12th of Achaz. C. — The pretended interregnum ought to be rejected, as the murderer of the late king would not delay to ascend the throne. Houbigant adds 10 years to the reign of Phacee, as well as to that of Zacharias: the dates assigned to the kings of Israel being otherwise so much deficient, p. 113.
* Footnote * 2_Paralipomenon 27 : 1
Joatham was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa the daughter of Sadoc.*H And he did that which was right before the Lord: according to all that his father Ozias had done, so did he.
Ver. 34. Did he. Yet he did not imitate his presumption. God gave great success to his enterprises, 2 Paral. xxvii. 2.
*H But the high places he took not away: the people still sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places: he built the highest gate of the house of the Lord.
Ver. 35. Gate, repairing that on the east. Jeremias (xxvi. 10.) mentions the new gate. Joatham also made great additions to the walls of Jerusalem. Paral.
*H In those days the Lord began to send into Juda, Rasin king of Syria, and Phacee the son of Romelia.
Ver. 37. Began. Achaz was much more infested by these princes.