In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes. He did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
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In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes. He did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. However the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. He built the upper gate of Yahweh’s house. Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? In those days, Yahweh began to send Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. Jotham slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in his father David’s city, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
Parallel Translations
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In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign.
He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok.
He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes. He did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
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In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.
Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
Show all 3 translations
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In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.
Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok.
And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.
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Cross-references (14)
- 2 Chronicles 26:4-5 (v34) He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of…
- 2 Kings 15:7 (v32) Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in David’s city: and Jotham his son reigned in his place.
- 1 Chronicles 3:12 (v32) Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
- 2 Chronicles 27:1 (v33) Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the…
- 2 Kings 15:3-4 (v34) He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. However the high places were not taken…
Show all 14 cross-references
- 2 Kings 14:21 (v32) All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah.
- 2 Kings 15:1 (v32) In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign.
- 2 Kings 15:13 (v32) Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned for a month in Samaria.
- 2 Kings 15:17 (v32) In the thirty ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel for ten years in Samaria.
- 2 Kings 15:23 (v32) In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria for two years.
- 2 Kings 15:27 (v32) In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria for twenty years.
- 2 Chronicles 27:1-9 (v32) Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the…
- 2 Chronicles 27:2 (v34) He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, according to all that his father Uzziah had done. However he didn’t enter into Yahweh’s…
- Matthew 1:9 (v32) Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv32, 34 Or, Azariah.
Or, Azariah.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv32–34 2Ki 15:32 In the second year of Pekah the…
2Ki 15:32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.
Ver. 32. Began Jotham,] viz., After his father Uzziah’s death. About this time, the prophet Isaiah saw that glorious vision. {Isa 6:1} In the fourteenth jubilee.
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 v33 When he began to reign, to wit, properly and…
When he began to reign, to wit, properly and alone; for he had reigned before this, as his father’s deputy and viceroy.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v32 We have here a short account of the reign…
We have here a short account of the reign of Jotham king of Judah, of whom we are told, 1. That he reigned very well, did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, Kg2 15:34. Josephus gives him a very high character, stating that he was pious towards God, just towards men, and laid out himself for the public good, - that, whatever was amiss, he took care to have it rectified, - and, in short, wanted no virtue that became a good prince. Though the high places were not taken away, yet to draw people from them, and keep them close to God's holy place, he showed great respect to the temple, and built the higher gate which he went through to the temple. If magistrates cannot do all they would for the suppressing of vice and profaneness, let them do so much the more for the support and advancement of piety and virtue, and the bringing of them into reputation. If they cannot pull down the high places of sin, yet let them build and beautify the high gate of God's house. 2. That he died in the midst of his days, Kg2 15:33. Of most of the kings of Judah we are told how old they were when they began their reign, and by that may compute how old they were when they died; but no account is kept of the age of any of the kings of Israel that I remember, only of the years of their reigns. This honour God would put upon the kings of the house of David above those of other families. And by these accounts it appears that there was none of all the kings of Judah that reached David's age, seventy, the common age of man. Asa's age I do not find. Uzziah lived to be sixty-eight, Manasseh sixty-seven, and Jehoshaphat sixty; and these were the three oldest; many of those that were of note did not reach fifty. This Jotham died at forty-one. He was too great a blessing to be continued long to such an unworthy people. His death was a judgment, especially considering the character of his son and successor. 3. That in his days the confederacy was formed against Judah by Rezin and Remaliah's son, the king of Syria and the king of Israel, which appeared so very formidable in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz that, upon notice of it, the heart of that prince was moved and the heart of the people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind, Isa 7:2. The confederates were unjust in the attempt, yet it is here said (Kg2 15:37), The Lord began to send them against Judah, as he bade Shimei curse David, and took away from Job what the Sabeans robbed him of. Men are God's hand - the sword, the rod in his hand - which he makes use of as he pleases to serve his own righteous counsels, though men be unrighteous in their intentions. This storm gathered in the reign of pious Jotham, but he came to his grave in peace and it fell upon his degenerate son.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v33 To reign - Alone: for he had reigned before…
To reign - Alone: for he had reigned before this, as his father's deputy.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv32–33 2Ki 15:32. Began Jotham the son of Uzziah to…
2Ki 15:32. Began Jotham the son of Uzziah to reign — Why he should be called all along Azariah, and here, and 2Ki 15:34, Uzziah, no account can be given, unless it was to show that he had two names. And it appears by the book of Chronicles, that the name Uzziah was as much used, when that book was written, as the other.
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 vv32, 34 The writer here resumes the history of Judah from…
The writer here resumes the history of Judah from 2Ki 15:7, to resume and conclude the history of Israel in 2 Kings 17.
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 v34 Did he. Yet he did not imitate his presumption.…
Did he. Yet he did not imitate his presumption. God gave great success to his enterprises, 2 Paralipomenon xxvii. 2.
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 v33 JOTHAM'S REIGN OVER JUDAH. (Kg2 15:32-38)
JOTHAM'S REIGN OVER JUDAH. (Kg2 15:32-38)
Five and twenty years was he when he began to reign--that is, alone--for he had ruled as his father's viceroy [Kg2 15:5].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v34 32–38. Jotham king of Judah. Commencement of the plots…
32–38. Jotham king of Judah. Commencement of the plots of Israel against Judah (2Ch_27:1-9)
34. according to all that his father Uzziah had done] The Chronicler notes the great exception ‘Howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord’. As this sin of Uzziah had not been recorded by the compiler of Kings, it is natural that he should not allude to it in the notice of Jotham.
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 v32 (Comp. 2 Chronicles 27)
(32-38) THE REIGN OF JOTHAM IN JERUSALEM.
(Comp. 2 Chronicles 27)
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(32) In the second year of Pekah.—Who came to the throne in the last year of Uzziah (Azariah, 2Ki_15:27).
(34) According to all that his father Uzziah had done.—The chronicler qualifies this general statement by adding that Jotham did not, like his father, invade the Holy Place. (Comp. 2Ch_27:2, with 2Ch_26:16.)
(35) Howbeit the high places.—The chronicler generalises this statement: “And the people did yet corruptly.”
He built.—Rather, He it was who built For “the higher gate,” see Note on 2Ch_27:3. Thenius considers that the term higher denotes rank rather than local position. (See Jer_20:2; Eze_8:3; Eze_8:5; Eze_8:14; Eze_8:16; Eze_9:2; Eze_40:38-43; and comp. 2Ki_12:9.)
(36) Now the rest of the acts of Jotham.—Some of these are related in 2Ch_27:4-6. We read there how Jotham built towns and castles, and towers of refuge, and how he fought victoriously against Ammon, and exacted from that nation a heavy tribute three years running. Ewald and Thenius admit the historical value of this brief narrative, which is indeed evident on the face of it.
(37) In those days—i.e., in the last year of Jotham. The attacks of the allies at first took the form of isolated raids. In the next reign the country was invaded by them in full force. (See 2Ki_16:5, seq., and the Notes there.)
Rezin.—Comp. Rezon, Heb., Rĕzôn (1Ki_11:23), the founder of the dynasty. The present name is spelt in the Hebrew of Kings and Isaiah (Isa_7:1) Rĕçín. The Assyrian spelling in the records of Tiglath Pileser, who conquered and slew Rezin, suggests that the right spelling was Raçôn (Assyrian, Bagunnu). The first and last kings of the Syrian monarchy thus bore similar names, both, perhaps, meaning “prince.”
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 vv32–34 Vers. 32-38. REIGN OF JOTHAM. Once more the writer…
Vers. 32-38. REIGN OF JOTHAM. Once more the writer turns from Israel to Judah, and proceeds to give an account of the reign of Jotham the son of Azariah, or Uzziah, who was appointed regent in his father"s place, when Uzziah was struck with leprosy (ver. 5). The account given of the reign is somewhat scanty, and requires to be supplemented from Chronicles. (2Ch 27)
In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah King of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah King of Judah to reign. In the second year of Pekah, Azariah died, and Jotham became actual king; but his joint reign with his father commenced very much earlier. His sole reign was probably a short one.
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Vers. 32-38. A good reign.
In welcome contrast with the character of the reigns we have been considering, stands this of Jotham, who walked in the footsteps of his father in all that was right.
I JUDAH WELL GOVERNED.
1. Rule in the fear of God. Jotham proved an excellent ruler. He took warning from his father"s example, and "prepared his ways before the Lord his God". (2Ch_27:6) His reign, indeed, was a brief one compared with his father"s, and, had time been given, he might have backslidden as had his predecessors. But, so far as it went, his conduct was blameless, except that the high places were still unremoved. If we assume that Jotham"s years of rule are reckoned from the time when he took his father"s place in the public administration, he cannot have reigned alone for more than five or six years.
2. Religion honor ed. It is told of him, negatively, that he did not, like his father, enter into the temple of the Lord, (2Ch_27:2) and positively, that "he built the higher gate of the house of the Lord." Whereas a wicked ruler like Athaliah broke down the temple, this good king set himself to adorn and strengthen it. In this he showed a laudable zeal for God"s honor.
3. The kingdom strengthened. Jotham strengthened the kingdom of Judah in many other ways by just administration, by extensive works of building, by subjugation of enemies, etc.. (2Ch_27:3-6) If the annals of this reign, "written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah," could be recovered, they would show Jotham to be one of the best kings Judah ever had a worthy son of a very able father. Such rulers are a blessing to a country. Their loss is to be deplored, for there is no guarantee that their successors will be like them. From Jotham to Ahaz the descent is great.
II JUDAH THREATENED.
1. A discordant note. It is said in Chronicles that, notwithstanding Jotham"s enlightened and righteous government, "the people did yet corruptly". (2Ch_27:2) It is not easy to purge out evil leaven when once it has got into a community; and the worship of the high places gave opportunity for evil practices to develop themselves away from the center, which was more under the king"s eye. The pictures Isaiah now begins to draw for us show that the corruption was not slight.
2. Threatened invasion. To this inward corruption of the people may be attributed the chastisements which God now saw fit to send on Judah. In Jotham"s reign they but begin, but in the reign of Ahaz they develop to considerable proportions. In the text we are simply told, "In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin the King of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah." These two kings, as we shall subsequently see, had designs upon the throne of Judah. Chastisement is the more deserved when great privileges are given and fail to be improved. J.O.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v32 2Ki_15:1.—Azariah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah—This king is…
AZARIAH AND JOTHAM IN JUDAH, AND THE LAST SIX KINGS IN ISRAEL
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
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2Ki_15:1.—Azariah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah—This king is the Uzziah of 2 Chronicles 26. See there the more extended explanation of his leprosy. His act was the assumption of sacerdotal functions, which the Lord had restricted to the Levitical priesthood. He arrogated the office of Sovereign Pontiff, and God rebuked his arrogance and impiety. His heart was lifted up to his destruction (2Ch_26:16).
2Ki_15:5. Leper unto the day of his death—In his pride he aspired to be more than king, usurped the functions of God’s consecrated priests; would have seized “the holy crown” of the high priesthood, and added that to his own royal crown. Therefore God took away what was rightly his, and might have enjoyed till his death, debased him to a leper, and thus he died. So covetousness beggars, not ennobles men, and profanity ensures overthrow and contempt. Dwelt in a several house—An array of authorities regard בֵית הַחָפְשִׁית as meaning house of sickness, a hospital, from חָפַשׁ, which (without any Scriptural analogy in the use of the word) they render to be prostrate, weak, or sick. The natural meaning of the verb is to be loosed, set free, as (in Pual form) Lev_19:20, the release of a slave. A separate house, therefore, is the best rendering, and fulfils the law of Lev_13:46, that lepers should dwell apart, outside the camp or city. He was thus an outcast Even in burial (2Ki_15:7) he was only interred in the “field of the burial” of the kings (2Ch_26:23), not in the royal vaults, as being a leper. As the record stands, it marks God’s displeasure against presumption, for “the Lord smote the king;” and this Divine judgment denotes guilt. Even though his rushing to the altar might have been through “too much zeal rather than too little,” as is suggested, zeal must not violate law. To go beyond God’s direction is guilty as to fall behind. To “add to” what is written is denounced equally as to “take from” (Rev_22:18-19).
2Ki_15:37. The Lord began to send against Judah, &c.—This was the beginning of a confederacy by the Israelites with the Syrians against Judah, an alliance which shows, for the first time in the history of the divided kingdoms, that hostility had grown so intense between Israel and Judah that a foreign force was called in to make violent attack upon Judah’s borders. So, when such fellowship and affection as are hallowed and Divinely sanctioned are violated, evil confederacies are sure to be sought, and antagonism grows rife where unity and love should have ruled.—W. H. J.
HOMILETICS OF 2Ki_15:1-7; 2Ki_15:32-38
THE BIBLICAL ESTIMATE OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS
THE reigns of Azariah and Jotham, here referred to with such marked brevity, covered a most eventful period in the history of Judah and Israel, extending over nearly seventy years. The prophets Hosea, Amos, Joel, Jonah, and the sublime Isaiah, flourished during the period, and uttered their faithful protest against the national apostacy. Under the vigorous administration of Azariah and Jotham the kingdom of Judah was placed in a condition of great strength and prosperity. The success of Azariah in all departments seemed to correspond to his double name: Azariah, the strength of Jehovah, and Uzziah, the help of Jehovah. But prosperity, as in other periods and nations, was not without its baleful effects. With the increase of wealth, the nobles of Judah rose into importance, and their luxury, indolence, drunkenness, and oppressive exactions, were in a high degree scandalous: “They skinned the poor to the very quick, they picked their bones and ground them to powder.” The haughty ladies of Zion, decked in gayest apparel and covered with tinkling ornaments, forgot the modesty of their sex as they mincingly tripped along the streets. The licentiousness and irreligion of the times were interrupted and perhaps punished by two great calamities—the awful, dearthful visitation of locusts, who found a garden of Eden, and left it an empty, desolate wilderness; and the ever-memorable earthquake which shook the solid building of the Temple, and moved through the land like a mighty wave of the sea (vide Joe_2:1-20; Amo_4:6-9; Amo_1:1-2; Zec_14:5). The paragraph before us is a suggestive illustration of the Biblical estimate of national affairs.
I. It views the nation in its relation to the claims of Jehovah.
1. Commands obedience to the Divine purpose (2Ki_15:34). So far as Azariah and Jotham imitated the theocratic kings, they had the approbation of all lovers of Zion. The highest exercise of kingly power is to use it in furthering the ends of Divine government.
2. Is careful to record the monarch’s interest in the House of God (2Ki_15:33; 2Ki_15:35). The history emphasises the fact that the name of Jotham’s mother was “Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok,” who was probably a priest, and would thus show the close association of the king with the religious order. Special reference is also made to his building “the higher gate of the House of the Lord.” He the sought to induce the worshippers to bring their offerings to the temple of the true Jehovah, and forsake the forbidden “high places” where many were accustomed to sacrifice. The king does himself honour in all he does for the house of God.
3. Exposes the defects of religious duty (2Ki_15:4; 2Ki_15:35). Both Azariah and Jotham were favourable to the worship of Jehovah, but they showed no great zeal in it. Their government was not remarkable for any decided religious reform, or the quickening of new religious life. The false worship was allowed to exist side by side with the true. The word of God notices this, and while it commends what is good, it faithfully denounces the evil.
II. It takes note of any signal instance of Divine judgment. “And the Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper” (2Ki_15:5). The writer of Kings is silent as to the circumstances under which the king was thus afflicted. He simply records the fact, and regards it as a judgment of Jehovah. (For particulars read 2Ch_26:16-21). The Bible abounds in examples of Divine judgments on nations and individuals (e.g., Sodom and Gomorrha, Genesis 19; Egyptians, Exodus 9; Amalek, 1 Samuel 15; Cain, Genesis 4; Saul, 1 Samuel 28; Jezebel, 2 Kings 9; Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5). These examples might be multiplied indefinitely. “Every story,” says Feltham, “is a chronicle of this truth, and the whole world but the practice. We live not long enough to observe how the judgments of God walk their rounds in striking. Neither always are we able. Some of God’s corrections are in the night, and closeted. Every offence meets not with a market lash.”
Accuse not heaven’s delay; if loth to strike,
Its judgments, like the thunder-gathered storm,
Are but the greater.
Webster.
III. It dismisses with briefest notice the public acts of a great and victorious monarch (2Ki_15:6). The successful wars of the king, his elaborate defences, his public buildings, his encouragement of agriculture and commerce—all these are passed over with the brief formula—“the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did.” The sacred writer was more concerned to show how the king served God and exalted His worship than how he aggrandized himself and his people. External prosperity is delusive and evanescent: growth in piety is a permanent blessing to the nation.
IV. It reveals the combination of powers by which Jehovah would punish the nation for its sins (2Ki_15:37). When the Arctic voyager penetrates the northern seas, the first indication of his approach to the great ice region is a white streak of light seen in the stratum of air nearest the horizon called “the ice-blink.” He then observes loose pieces of ice floating on both sides of his vessel—the modest vanguard of the terrible army of ice-giants with which the stout-timbered ship has to do battle, and by which it is ultimately crushed and vanquished. So this alliance of Rezin and Pekah was the beginning of a series of attacks on Judah which ended in its utter overthrow. Thus Jehovah punished the nation for its idolatry. It is a mercy when the first signs of coming calamity are noted, and its severities avoided by timely repentance and reform. Jehovah can disconcert and scatter the most potent combinations of men, or use them as his instruments for avenging wrong.
LESSONS:—
1. The sacred writers are more careful to depict the moral condition than the external magnificence of the nation.
2. We learn that the great object of revelation is to give prominence, not to merely historical details, but to the development of the Divine purpose in redeeming the race.
3. The fidelity and impartiality of the sacred writings should command our reverence and belief.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Ki_15:1-7; 2Ki_15:32-38. At this time the people turned their attention to money-getting not so much, as had formerly been the case, in particular provinces and districts, but throughout the country, even in Judah; and not so much because a single king like Solomon favoured commercial undertakings, as because the love of trade and gain, and the desire for the easy enjoyment of the greatest possible amount of wealth, had taken possession of all classes. All the scorn poured out by the prophets upon this haste to be rich, and all the rebuke of their tendency to cheat, which was one of the fruits of it, no longer availed to restore the ancient simplicity and contentment (Hos_12:8; Isa_2:7). The long and fortunate reign of Uzziah in Judah was very favourable to the growth of this love of gain and enjoyment. Many were the complaints in Judah of the injustice of the judges and of the oppression of the helpless (Amo_3:1; Amo_6:1; Hos_5:10). There was a perverse and mocking disposition prevalent which led men to throw doubt upon everything, and to raise objections to everything (Amo_6:3; Amo_9:10; Hos_4:4). It made them treat with harsh contempt the rebukes and exhortations of the best prophets, as we feel distinctly from the tone of the writings of Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah. It led them to desire to know heathen religions and to introduce foreign divinities, even when the king himself held aloof from any such movement (Amo_2:4; Hos_4:15; Hos_6:11; Hos_12:1; Isa_2:8).—Ewald.
2Ki_15:3. Azariah not only maintained the worship of Jehovah, but was a good and religious monarch during the greater portions of his reign. See 2Ch_26:4-5. Becoming puffed up, however, with his military successes, he attempted to invade the high priest’s office, and forfeited God’s favour for this sin.—Speaker’s Comm.
2Ki_15:5. The Judgment of God.—I. Is never inflicted but on the gross violation of His law (comp. 2Ch_26:16-21). II. Knows no distinction of person or rank—“The Lord smote the king.” III. Involves terrible suffering—“He was a leper unto the day of his death.” IV. Isolates the sufferer from all he loved and prized—“He dwelt in a several house.”
—The only incident which is mentioned during the long reign of Uzziah is that God touched him, and that he was a leper until his death. It follows that this fact must have seemed to the author to be important before all others. Leprosy is not for him an accidental disease, but a Divine judgment for guilt, as it is often described (Num_12:10; Deu_24:8-9; 2Sa_3:29; 2Ki_5:27). He does not tell more particularly what the sin of the king was; perhaps it was hateful to the king alone, and personally, and not to the whole people, like the sin of Jeroboam.—Lange.
—We should not be over bold to undertake duties which do not devolve upon us. He who covets more than he has any right to have, loses even what he has. We cannot break over the bounds which God has set, without incurring punishment. Think no man blessed until thou hast seen his end.—Ibid.
2Ki_15:6. These acts were recorded by Isaiah, and have come down to us in Chronicles. They comprised, besides the re-establishment of Elath—
1. Successful wars (a) with the Philistines, which resulted in the capture and dismantling of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, and in the planting of a number of Jewish colonies in the Philistine country; (b) with the Arabians of Gur-baal; and (c) with the Mehunim or Maonites.
2. Extension of the power of Judah over Ammon.
3. Fortification of Jerusalem.
4. Extension of pasture and of agriculture towards the East and South, and protection of the agricultural and pastoral population by means of towers.
5. Reorganisation of the army. And
6. Construction of numerous engines for the attack and defence of towns (see 2Ch_26:6-15). Compare for the flourishing condition of Judea at this time, Isa_2:7-16.—Speaker’s Comm.
2Ki_15:7 compared with Isa_6:1-3. Isaiah’s vision of the majesty and glory of Jehovah.—Special work needs special training. This is a principle recognized in all God’s dealings. He prepares His servants for special work by a special course of training and discipline, and by special and striking displays of His glory. As Moses was prepared for his work by his Egyptian experience and by splendid revelations of Jehovah; as the disciples were prepared for their mission by the teachings of Christ and the extraordinary endowments of the Spirit, so Isaiah was qualified for his work by the teachings of this glorious vision. His commission as a prophet was renewed, his faith confirmed, his religious fervour intensified, and his soul braced up for the important duties before him. I. This vision was a revelation of the universal government of Jehovah. “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne.” The throne of God is the centre and source of universal government, including in its conception the two leading ideas of dominion and power.
1. Dominion. This extends over the whole universe of existing things—great and small—reaching and acting upon the most distant with the same ease and comprehensiveness as is shown in the management of those nearest the central throne.
2. Power. It is by the exercise of this attribute that Jehovah makes His dominion felt, and accomplishes His gracious and righteous purposes. That power is infinite and absolute, but its exercise is ever limited by His will, and controlled and regulated by His wisdom: it is constantly operating for our good, both in the material and spiritual realms. II. This vision was a revelation of the adorable holiness of Jehovah. “And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” The holiness of God is the beauty and glory of all other perfections. If it were possible for one attribute to have any excellency over another, that preeminency must be given to His holiness. Power is the hand or arm of God, Omniscience His eye, Mercy His heart, Eternity His duration, but holiness is His beauty. He is called “the Holy One,” the “Holy One of Israel,” and is said to be “glorious in holiness.” This glimpse of the surpassing holiness of Jehovah overwhelmed the prophet. He was smitten with the sense of his own vileness, and cried, “Woe is me, because I am a man of unclean lips!” It was a picture of conscious sin, cowed and shrinking before the presence of infinite purity. ’Tis ever so. Nothing humbles us more than the contrast of our own insignificence and sin with the majesty and ineffable perfections of God. III. This vision was a revelation of the higher order of beings engaged in the service and worship of Jehovah.
1. Observe their exalted station. “Above, or around the throne stood the seraphim.” This indicates their superiority over the heavenly hosts. Jehovah has legions of angels, varying in ability and rank; highest in the innumerable grades stand the seraphim.
2. Observe their extraordinary endowments. “Each one had six rings; with twain he covered his face”—a token of deep reverence and adoring awe, as though unable to bear the insufferable blaze of the Divine glory, or to fathom the incomprehensible mysteries of the Divine nature. “With twain he covered his feet”—a token of profound respect and humility, as if he would fain hide the humblest instrumentalities by which he might accomplish the Divine purposes. “With twain he did fly”—an emblem of the willingness and speed with which he would execute the Divine commands.
3. Observe their delightful employment. “One cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” They chant in responsive strains the praises of Jehovah. What a lofty example of worship and service have we here! Burning with holy and unquenchable love, we may well strive to emulate the adoration of the glowing seraphim.
The church of to-day has special work to do, and to do it successfully needs special help and instruction. The age in which we live demands the exercise of every kind of power the church can legitimately wield. To meet the multiform aspects of the active thought of our time, to sympathise with all that is true, and denounce wisely and boldly all that is false and misleading; to soothe the world’s deep sorrow and lessen its distracting woes; to conduct the troubled heart of humanity to the satisfying rest for which it daily groans—this is a work demanding superhuman aid. We never feel so weak as when we come to grapple with the difficulties of earnest Christian work. It is then we touch the furthermost point of human limitation, and, conscious of our powerlessness, we cry out, like one of old—“I beseech thee, show me thy glory.” And as the vision dawns and pours its splendours on our stricken spirits, we feel the throb of a new ecstatic life, and, with the glow of an intenser love, and sustained by an invincible resolution, we press on to grander achievements!
—We have been hearing of a vision. Does that word sound as if it belonged to times which we have left far behind, as if it pointed to something fantastical and incredible? Oh! if there were no such visions, what an utterly dark and weary and unintelligible place this world would be! How completely we should be given up to the emptiest phantoms, to the base worship of phantoms! What mere shows and mockeries would the state and ceremonial of kings, the debates of legislators, the yearnings and struggles of people become! How truly would the earth be what it seemed to the worn-out misanthropical libertine—“A stage, and all the men and women merely players.” A thousand times we have been all tempted to think it so. The same painted scenery, the same shifting pageants, the same unreal words spoken through different masks by counterfeit voices, the same plots which seem never to be unravelled, what does it all mean? How do men endure the ceaseless change, the dull monotony? Satirists and keen observers of the world’s follies have asked this question again and again. The best man may often doubt what he should reply. But he hears a voice saying to him, “Try to be true to thyself; resist the powers which are tempting thee to go through thy acts, common or sacred, as if thou wert a mere machine; hold fast thy faith that God is, and is working when thou seest least of His working, and when the world seems most to be going on without Him; assure thyself that there is an order in the universe when all its movements seem most disorderly. So will the things around thee by degrees acquire a meaning and a purpose. And when Divine love has kindled thy flagging and perishing thoughts and hopes, thou mayest learn that God can use thee to bearing the tidings of His love and righteousness to a sense-bound land that is bowing to silver and gold, to horses and chariots. And if there should come a convulsion in that land, such as neither thou nor thy fathers have known, be sure that it signifies the removal of such things as can be shaken, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.”—Maurice.
2Ki_15:34. Josephus gives Jotham a very high character, that he was pious towards God, just towards men, and laid himself out for the public good; that whatever was amiss he took care to have it rectified; and, in short, wanted no virtue that became a good prince.
2Ki_15:35. “He built the higher gate of the house of the Lord.” The love of Divine worship.—I. Shown in reverence for God’s house. II. In cheerful sacrifice and labour for the improvement of that house. III. In making the house and worship of God attractive to others.
—It is a glorious thing for a prince, instead of beautifying his palaces and building ivory houses (Amo_3:15), to restore the temple gates, and so say to his people, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.”
2Ki_15:37. It appears by this that the alliance between Pekah and Rezin was made in the reign of Jotham. It had for its object in all probability the consolidation of a power in Syria which might be strong enough to resist the further progress of the Assyrian arms. The recent invasions of Pul and Ziglath-Pileser had effectually alarmed the two northern monarchs, and had induced them to put aside the traditional jealousies which naturally kept them apart, and to make a league offensive and defensive. Into this league they were anxious that Judea should enter; but they distrusted the house of David, which had been so long hostile both to Damascus and to Samaria. They consequently formed the design of transferring the Jewish crown to a certain Ben-Tabeal (Isa_7:6), probably a Jewish noble, perhaps a refugee at one of their courts, whom they could trust to join heartily in their schemes. Hostilities apparently broke out before the death of Jotham; but nothing of importance was effected until the first year of his successor—Speaker’s Comm.
—National troubles—I. Cast their shadows before as a warning to prepare. II. Are sent to rectify the abuse of prosperity. III. Are aggravated by the active opposition of envious neighbours.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v32 Jotham in Judah
Jotham in Judah
v. 32. In the second year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, began Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, to reign.
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v. 33. Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, that is, when he entered upon the rule alone after the death of his father, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
v. 34. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done, worshiping Jehovah alone.
v. 35. Howbeit, the high places were not removed; the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher, that is, the upper, the most northern, gate of the house of the Lord, this including both its restoration and its ornamentation.
v. 36. Now, the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
v. 37. In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah. The Syrians, having thrown off the yoke of the Assyrians, were glad to have the Israelite nation as confederates, in order to obtain, if possible, the overlordship of all the countries between the Euphrates and Egypt.
v. 38. And Jotham, while this misfortune was preparing against Judah, slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, his father, in the royal tombs; and Ahaz, his son, reigned in his stead. The object of God’s punishment is to lead the sinner to repentance while the time of grace is still at hand. But woe unto every person whom God surrenders to the perversity and obstinacy of his own mind!
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv32, 34 In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah,…
In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel
It can be stated clearly that this is the second year of his reign. AT: "In year 2 of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Numbers)
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Jotham son of Azariah, king of Judah began to reign
"Jotham son of Azariah, king of Judah became king of Judah"
He was twenty-five years old ... sixteen years
"He was 25 years old ... 16 years" (See: Numbers)
Jerushah
This is a woman's name. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
king
kingdom of Israel
reign
Uzziah
kingdom of Judah
Jerusalem
Zadok
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 vv32, 34 15:32-33 The second year of King Pekah’s reign reflects…
15:32-33 The second year of King Pekah’s reign reflects the first full year of Jotham’s independent reign; he was co-regent with his father for the previous decade. • sixteen years: From the beginning of his co-regency with his father Uzziah (750 BC) until his son Ahaz became the primary ruler of Judah (735 BC).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.