So the couriers went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, “You children of Israel, turn again to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant of you that have escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. Don’t be like your fathers and like your brothers, who trespassed against Yahweh, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation, as you see. Now don’t be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to Yahweh, and enter into his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve Yahweh your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. For if you turn again to Yahweh, your brothers and your children will find compassion before those who led them captive, and will come again into this land, because Yahweh your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”
So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even to Zebulun, but people ridiculed them and mocked them.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv6, 8, 9, 10 He will have compassion on them, and preserve them.
He will have compassion on them, and preserve them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6–10 2Ch 30:6 So the posts went with the letters…
2Ch 30:6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
Ver. 6. Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord.] Hezekiah knew that the poor remnant of Israel were in great affliction: he therefore presseth them to repentance, whereby men return to God, as by sin they run from him. Afflictiones sunt lex practice {Psa 119:71} Hezekiah thought it was good striking while the iron was hot.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv6, 8, 10 To wit, Pul and Tilgath-pilneser, who had carried their…
To wit, Pul and Tilgath-pilneser, who had carried their brethren away captives, 2Ki 15:19,29; 1Ch 5:26; 2Ch 28:20.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv6–10 And be not ye like your fathers, and like…
And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers,.... By worshipping the calves, and neglecting the service of God in the temple at Jerusalem; the Targum is,"which acted deceitfully with the Word of the Lord their God:"
who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see; some part of the land of Israel being already made desolate by the kings of Assyria, which was very visible.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v10 They - The generality of the ten tribes; who…
They - The generality of the ten tribes; who by long want of meat had now lost their appetite to God's ordinances, for which they paid dear. For about six years after their refusal of this offer of grace they were all carried away captive, 2 Kings xviii, 1, 10.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6, 9 Verse 6. So the posts went] רצים ratsim, the…
Verse 6. So the posts went] רצים ratsim, the runners or couriers; persons who were usually employed to carry messages; men who were light of foot, and confidential.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv6, 8, 9, 10 2Ch 30:6. So the posts — Hebrew, הרצים, haratsim,…
2Ch 30:6. So the posts — Hebrew, הרצים, haratsim, the runners; went with the letters — Expresses were sent throughout all the tribes of Israel, with memorials, earnestly pressing the people to take this opportunity of returning to God, from whom they had revolted. Saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord, &c. — In these letters Hezekiah discovers great concern both for the honour of God and for the welfare of the neighbouring kingdom, the prosperity of which he seems earnestly to have desired, though he not only received no toll, tribute, or custom from it, but it had often, and not long since, been vexatious to his kingdom. This was indeed rendering good for evil. And he will return to the remnant of you — You are but a remnant, narrowly escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria, (namely, Pul and Tiglath-pileser,) who have carried your brethren away captive. And therefore it concerns you to put yourselves under the protection of the God of your fathers, that you may not be quite swallowed up: and if you turn to him in the way of duty, he will turn to you in a way of mercy.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv6, 10 The posts went - The bearers of the letters…
The posts went - The bearers of the letters were probably the “runners” who formed a portion of the king’s body-guard (2Ki 10:25 note).
The kings of Assyria - Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser may all be referred to in this passage (compare the marginal reference and 2Ki 17:3). The passage by no means implies that the fall of Samaria and final captivity of the Israelites had as yet taken place.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv6–10 Posts. Literally, "runners or couriers." H. --- King. Heb.…
Posts. Literally, "runners or couriers." H. --- King. Heb. "kings." Phul and Thelgathphalnasar. The latter had taken away some tribes, 4 K. xv. 20, 29. C.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6, 10 the posts--that is, runners, or royal messengers, who were…
the posts--that is, runners, or royal messengers, who were taken from the king's bodyguard (Ch2 23:1-2). Each, well mounted, had a certain number of miles to traverse. Having performed his course, he was relieved by another, who had to scour an equal extent of ground; so that, as the government messengers were despatched in all directions, public edicts were speedily diffused throughout the country. The proclamation of Hezekiah was followed by a verbal address from himself, piously urging the duty, and setting forth the advantages, of a return to the pure faith and institutions which God had delivered to their ancestors through Moses.
the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria--This implies that several expeditions against Israel had already been made by Assyrian invaders--by Pul (Kg2 15:19), but none of the people were then removed; at a later period by Tiglath-pileser, when it appears that numbers among the tribes east of Jordan (Ch1 5:26), and afterwards in the northern parts of Israel (Kg2 15:20), were carried into foreign exile. The invasion of Shalmaneser cannot be alluded to, as it did not take place till the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign (Kg2 17:6; Kg2 18:9-12).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv6, 10 6. The posts — Hebrew, the runners; probably officers…
6. The posts — Hebrew, the runners; probably officers of the royal bodyguard.
The remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria — This passage by no means necessarily implies the downfall of the northern kingdom, nor does any thing in the history of this passover necessitate or require the conclusion of Keil, that it was held subsequent to the final captivity of the ten tribes; for Pul, and Tiglath-pileser, (1Ch_5:26,) and Shalmaneser, (2Ki_17:3,) had carried many Israelites into exile before the first year of Hezekiah’s reign.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv6–10 6. the posts] Lit. “the runners.”
6. the posts] Lit. “the runners.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv6–10 (6) The posts.—The runners— i.e., couriers (ᾰγγαροι). The Syriac…
(6) The posts.—The runners— i.e., couriers (ᾰγγαροι). The Syriac uses the Latin word Tabellarii, “letter- carriers,” which the Arabic mistakes for “folk of Tiberias”! The soldiers of the body-guard seem to have acted as royal messengers.
From the king.—From the hand of the king.
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And according to the commandment.—The construction appears to be: they went with the letters . . . and according to the king’s order. The LXX. and Vulg. omit and, but the Syriac has it.
And he will return.—That he may return unto the survivors that are left unto you from the hand of the hings of Assyria.
Remnant.—Pĕlêtâh.—That the word really means survivors appears from comparison of the Assyrian balâtu, “to be alive;” bullŭtu, “life.”
The kings of Assyria.—See 2Ch_28:16; 2Ch_28:20. The words are a rhetorical reference to Tiglath-pileser’s invasion of the northern kingdom, and the depopulation of Galilee and Gilead. The chronicler’s language may have been influenced also by recollection of the last fatal inroad of Shalmaneser II., in the fourth year of Hezekiah (2Ki_18:9). (See 2Ki_15:29.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv6–8 So the posts (see note on ver. 1). The…
So the posts (see note on ver. 1). The remnant of you escaped of Assyria. Hezekiah had, no doubt, already made his account with the fact that the injured and crushed state of the northern kingdom might be of salutary omen for the attempt on his part to bring them to a sense of their past sins, specially perhaps of omission. Of the calamities of Israel, and their captivity in large part, and in the rest subjection by tribute to Assyria, there is clear testimony in 2Ki_15:29 2Ki_17:1-6.
Vers. 6-9.
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Four reasons for repentance.
The letters which Hezekiah sent throughout the cities and villages of Israel contained an earnest exhortation to repentance; they urged upon the inhabitants of that distressed land that, for the strongest reasons, they should return from their idolatrous ways, and worship the true and living God in his own temple. These considerations are fourfold.
I IT IS TO THE GOD OF THEIR FATHERS THEY WERE EXHORTED TO RETURN. "Children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Israel" (ver. 6). It was not to the house of a strange deity they were now invited; it was to the God of Israel to him to whom their own ancestors bowed the knee; it was to him who ever called himself by the very name they bore, in whom their illustrious father put his trust and found his heritage. Whom should they serve but that One whom Israel himself acknowledged as the Lord his God? (Gen_28:16-22) To those who have gone astray to vanities, to the pursuits of earth, to human attachments, to perishable treasures, and who have forsaken the Divine Source of all good and joy, we have to say, "Return unto the Lord God of your fathers. He to whom and to whose service we invite your return is no strange God in your house. It is he whom your father, whom your mother, has loved and served these many years; whom (it may be) they are worshipping and serving now in the upper sanctuary. It is their tones that may be recognized in our voice, if you have an ear to hear, saying, "Return unto our God, unto our Saviour, unto our heritage, unto our home.
II REBELLION MEANS NOTHING BUT RUIN. "Who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation" (ver. 7). Assuming the (more probable) theory that the country was now in the hands of the Assyrians, there was "desolation" indeed; to most of their families (and to the best of them) captivity or bereavement; to the nation, as such, utter subjection, humiliation, ruin. This was the penalty of their rebellion against Jehovah, its natural and inevitable end. (Deu_29:22-28) To those who are estranged from God we have to say," Return unto God, for distance from him is spiritual ruin.
1. It is the forfeiture of the true heritage of the human soul, the heritage ithas in the favour and the friendship of God.
2. It is the endurance of his most serious displeasure.
3. It is a spiritual bondage, the bondage of sin.
4. It is the beginning of death eternal.
III THERE IS NO DANGER OF REPULSE. "The Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him" (ver. 9). The people of this idolatrous realm might well ask whether they had not hopelessly separated themselves from Jehovah, whether their rebelliousness had not gone such lengths that mercy was not to be looked for. But Hezekiah charged them to dismiss all such fears from their minds; their repentance would meet with a gracious response from the forgiving God of their fathers. It is one of the strongest inducements we have to offer to those now spiritually estranged, that their genuine repentance, the turning of their heart toward the God of their fathers, and their seeking his mercy in Jesus Christ the Divine Saviour, is certain to be attended with his abundant mercy, and to he followed by their restitution to the favour they have lost, to the home they have left, to the blessedness they have thrown away. There is absolutely no fear of a repulse that is a moral impossibility; the unchangeable Word of the faithful God is the immovable pledge that return means reconciliation.
IV RECONCILIATION FOR THEMSELVES MEANS MERCY FOR THEIR RELATIONS. "Your brethren and your children shall find compassion," etc. (ver. 9). This was their one and only hope. If God had mercy upon Israel that was in Israel, he might, he would, recall their brethren and children from the land of their captivity; otherwise these must perish in "a strange land," in the land of the enemy. Our message to men is not unlike this; we have to say to them, "If you will consult the well-being of those in whom you are most interested and for whom you are most responsible; if you will care for the salvation of those nearest and dearest to you, of your brethren and your children; then do you live the life of the holy, do you give the best and strongest evidence that you believe in the excellency of the service of Christ, do you turn from the transient and the unsatisfying treasures of earth, and seek your heritage in the favour of the heavenly Father, in the love and the friendship of the Saviour of mankind. Therefore "yield yourselves unto God" (ver. 8); enter his sanctuary; accept the overtures of his Son; sit down at his table; take on you his Name and his vows. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v7 That the fierceness of His wrath may turn away.
2Ch_30:7-8
That the fierceness of His wrath may turn away.
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Mercy turned to penalty
The fire that cheers, refines, and purifies, also bums and tortures. It all depends on our relation to the fire, whether it be our friend or foe. In Retschs illustration of Goethes Faust, there is one plate where angels are seen dropping roses upon the demons who are contending for the soul of Faust. But every rose falls like molten metal wherever it touches. God rains roses down, but our sinful hearts meeting Divine love with wilful disobedience turn His love into wrath. (Christian Age.)
The duty of yielding ourselves to the Lord
I. A blessed season of grace marked for all israel. Now were the doors of the house of the Lord opened (2Ch_29:3).
II. Their duty in that blessed season of grace.
1. Negative. Be not stiff-necked. It is a metaphor taken from bullocks unaccustomed to the yoke, who make great difficulty and resistance about taking it on.
2. Positive.
(1) Yielding themselves to the Lord. Hebrew, give ye the hand to the Lord.
(2) Entering into His sanctuary.
(3) Serving Him.
(a) In His ordinances.
(b) In their daily walk. (T. Boston, D.D.)
A season of grace
In a season of grace, in which God is offering to lay His yoke on sinners, they should beware of being stiff-necked, or refusing to take it on.
I. What is that yoke which the Lord is offering to lay on sinners. It is the Soft and easy yoke for the salvation and welfare of penitent sinners. Take My yoke upon you, saith Jesus, and learn of Me: For My yoke is easy. This is the yoke of kindly willing subjection to God in Christ.
1. The yoke of subjection to the will of His commandments.
2. The yoke of His providential will. He claims to dispose of you, as seems good to Him.
II. This obedience of the sinner to God is called a yoke, because--
1. Coming under it, we are in a state of subjection as those under a yoke.
2. It is laid on us for labour or work.
3. By it we are not only kept at work, but kept in order at our work. They who truly bear the yoke, are uniform and orderly in their obedience. They have respect unto all Gods commandments.
4. Of its uneasiness to the flesh.
5. It fixes subjection upon us. The bonds of obligation are sweet and agreeable to His willing people.
III. Motives.
1. God is the party with whom we have to do.
2. There will be nothing gained by stiff-neckedness to the yoke of God.
3. God has waited long on you, but will not wait always (Pro_29:1). Now, while a season of grace is afforded to sinners, it is their duty to fall in with it speedily, to give the hand and yield themselves to the Lord. Here We shall--
I. Show how sinners have a season of grace afforded them
1. By their being continued in life.
2. By the call of the Gospel so directed to them. Behold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.
3. By solemn sacramental occasions afforded to a people. This is the case in the text. These make a precious now not to be slighted. At ordinary occasions of the gospel, the blessed bargain is offered; but now the seal of heaven is ready to confirm it.
4. By some inward motions felt within ones own soul, pressing them to comply and yield at length.
II. Inquire what is supposed in this gracious call to sinners. It supposes--
1. That sinners are naturally in a state of rebellion against the Lord.
2. That though the Lord can break the sinner in pieces for his rebellion, yet He would rather that the sinner yield (Eze_33:11).
3. That Gods hand is stretched out to receive the sinner yielding himself (Isa_65:2).
4. That forced work will not be acceptable here.
6. That the sinner willingly yielding shall be kindly received and accepted.
III. Show what it is to give the hand or yield ouselves to the Lord.
1. In general, it comprehends--
(1) The work of conviction.
(2) The work of illumination in the knowledge of Christ, in receiving the discovery of a Savour.
(3) The work of humiliation, in becoming pliable to the Divine propose in the Gospel; leading them to say, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? The iron sinew in the sinners neck is broken. The outer door of the mind, and the inner door of the will, are both cast open to the Lord Christ.
(4) The work of faith in the sinners believing on, and so closing with Christ, as his Saviour from sin and wrath, renouncing all others.
(6) The work of repentance from dead works, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh (Col_2:11). Faith and repentance are inseparable. That faith which produceth not evangelical repentance, is but dead faith.
(6) The work of entire resignation.
2. In particular.
(1) Yielding the soul, or inner man--mind--conscience--will--to the Lord.
(2) Yielding the body or outward man to the Lord.
(3) Yielding up all lusts and idols to Him as traitors which you can no more harbour.
(4) Yielding all lawful enjoyments to Him, so as to be at His disposal, and never to break with Him for any of them.
(5) Yielding, your lot and your all to Him; saying, He shall choose our inheritance for us. Improvement
Use 1: Of conviction and humiliation, in respect of the sad bias which mans nature has got.
Use 2: Of exhortation.
(1) You must yield yourselves to one or other, for you are not self-sufficient.
(2) The Lord hath the best right to you.
(3) Consider what the Lord has yielded for you (Rom_8:32; Rom_5:8).
(4) The Saviour is very desirous of your yielding.
(5) He is not seeking your yielding yourselves for nothing (Hos_3:3).
(6) You must yield or die, bow or break.
(7) Yield and all your former rebellions shall be forgiven.
(8) Yield or the Lord Will have war with you for ever. How will you bear His coming? (2Th_1:7; 2Th_1:9). (T. Boston, D. D.)
The manner in which the soul should yield itself to the Lord
I. As in a marriage covenant (Hos_2:19).
1. Wholly.
2. For ever.
II. As to a conqueror.
III. As to your king and sovereign Lord. At discretion and not by capitulation.
IV. As filial servants to a fatherly master (T. Boston, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 7, 10 people who carry messages
couriers
people who carry messages
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all Israel and Judah
The tribe of Judah was the largest of the tribes of Israel and was in the southern part of Israel. Here the phrase "Israel and Judah" refers to the people who belonged to the southern tribes of Israel. See how you translated this in 2 Chronicles 30:1. AT: "the southern tribes of Israel" (See: Hendiadys)
turn back to Yahweh
Here "turn back to Yahweh" represents submitting to him again. AT: "submit again to Yahweh" (See: Metaphor)
so that he may turn back to the remnant of you
Here "turn back to the remnant" represents protecting the remnant again. AT: "so that he may again protect the remnant of you" (See: Metaphor)
who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria
The word "hand" often represents power or authority. Here it represents the kings' cruel authority to force people to go to other countries. AT: "who have escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
turn
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
remnant
hand
Assyria
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v9 30:9-11 The northern kingdom had been conquered by the…
30:9-11 The northern kingdom had been conquered by the Assyrians (2 Kgs 17:5-28), and many of its people were taken into exile in Assyria. People from other conquered lands now lived there. Most of these foreigners, as well as those Israelites left by the Assyrians, regarded the conquest of Israel as proof that the Lord—the God of Israel—was impotent. They laughed at the thought of making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to honor him.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.