thistle, which made pretensions to rival the cedar; at the same time he raised himself above him, and made him feel the vanity of his pretensions.

25.-which he spake by his servant Jonah,] The only mention we have of this prophet, is in the present passage, and in the account of his famous message to Nineveh. What the prophecies were by which he encouraged Jeroboam to proclaim war against the king of Syria, we find no where recorded. In many instances the prophets did not commit their predictions to writing..

CHAP. XV.

The seven first verses of this chapter are to be compared with 2. Chron. xxvi. as are the seven last with 2. Chron. xxvii.

Verse 5. And the Lord smote the king,] The cause of this stroke of leprosy is related at 2. Chron. xxvi. 16. &c. where king Azariah is called Uzziah.

-in a several house.] In a separate or private house by himself.

12. This was the word of the Lord which he spake unto Jehu,] See chap. x. 30. God faithfully kept His promise to Jehu: whose sons Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam, and Zachariah, succeededed him in the throne of Israel.

30.-in the twentieth year of Jotham] These words have created a difficulty; for it is said at Verse 33, that Jotham reigned but sixteen years. The plain way of explaining it is, by supposing that Jotham reigned four or more years with his father Azariah.

It will be useful to bear in mind, that, though there are several difficulties respecting the chronology given in Scripture of the kings of Israel and Judah; yet the whole or the greater part of these difficulties may be explained by the circumstance, which frequently took place in those times, of the father and son reigning together for some years.

CHAP. XVI.

This chapter is to be compared with 2 Chron. xxviii.

Verse 3.-made his son to pass through the fire,] See note at Levit. xviii. 21.

12.-the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.] He sacrificed on this new altar, not to the true God, but to the idols of Syria,

15-the great altar] The new altar. he had erected.

the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.] He would not have it thought, that he intended wholly to lay aside the altar made by Solomon, but rather to do it greater honour by reserving it for his own private use, when he pleased to inquire of God by it.

18.-the covert for the sabbath] This is supposed to have been a covered place, where the king sat, in the porch of the temple, or at the entrance of it, upon the sabbath, or other solemnities. Ahaz took this away, and defaced the vessels of the temple, and thus despised the religion of his own country, for the sake of ingratiating himself with the king of Assyria.

CHAP. XVII.

Verse 6.-and carried Israel away into Assyria,] Thus an end was put to the kingdom of Israel; and the ten tribes carried into captivity on account of their sins and wickedness. This example should teach all men, that obstinacy in sin, and contempt of God's word, force Him, as it were, at last to execute His threatenings; and that the covenant which He makes with any people, does not hinder Him from rejecting them, and punishing them with the greatest severity, if they continue to offend Him.

9.-from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.] That is, from one side of the borders of the kingdom to the other.

18.-removed them out of his sight:] From the holy land, where His temple was, in which He dwelt among them.

26.-know not the manner of the God of the land:] They thought the God of Israel to be of the same kind with their idols, whom they supposed to preside over a particular country and people, and who would be honoured with particular rites which were acceptable to Him and no other.

32. So they feared the Lord,] Making a formal profession of serving the Lord, they continued the worship of their own false gods."

CHAP. XVIII.

This chapter is to be compared with Isaiah xxxvi. and xxxvii. to ver. 21; also with 2. Chron. xxix. xxx. xxxi. xxxii. where is a fuller account of the reign of Hezekiah.

Verse 4.-brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made:] See Numbers xxi. 9. Hezekiah broke to pieces this brazen serpent, because the people, instead of regarding it merely as a monument of God's mercy to their ancestors in the wilderness, had for some time offered idolatrous worship to it.

-called it Nehushtan.] That is, " a mere bit of brass." This he did by way of contempt.

7.—he rebelled against the king of Assyria,] He owned not the authority of the king of Assyria over him, to which Ahaz had basely submitted.

Though the word “rebellion" be now generally taken in an evil seuse, for a seditious insurrection

against lawful governors, yet it is not to be so understood in this place, where it means only that this good king would no longer acknowledge himself a tributary and dependent of the king of Assyria.

14.-I have offended:] In refusing to submit to his authority any longer.

-the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah -three hundred talents &c.] That is, he demanded such a sum of Hezekiah..

17.-by the conduit of the upper pool,] By the conduit or canal into which water was conveyed from the upper pool, which was in the highway to the field, where the fullers used to spread their clothes for drying.

2.-is not that he, whose high places-Hezekiah hath taken away,] Rab-shakeh ignorantly or most wickedly endeavours to represent Hezekiah's putting down idolatry, as putting down the worship of the true God.

23. Now therefore,-give pledges to my lord &c ] These seem to be words of high contempt, and undervaluing of Hezekiah's power. He appears to challenge him to come out and fight with his master, saying, that if he would “ give pledges," or security so to use them, he would give him two thousand horses, provided he was able to find the same number of men for them.

25. Am I now come up without the Lord against this place] Rab-shakeh pretends that his master undertook the expedition by God's direction.

26. Speak--to thy servants in the Syrian language; Hezekiah's commissioners, suspecting that these boasting words might frighten the people that stood within hearing, desired Rab-shakeh to speak in his own language, that the people might not understand him.

27.-that they may eat &c.] To make them know, that he would reduce them to the greatest extremities, if they did not submit to him.

32. Until I come and take you away &c.] He promises, that, if they would seek the favour of the king of Assyria, by making him a present, and delivering themselves up to his mercy, they should be transported to a better country than that to which the ten tribes had been transported; and that, in the mean time, every one should enjoy his own possessions.

37.-with their clothes rent,] To express their abhorrence at these audacious insults on their God and their religion.

CHAP. XIX.

This chapter is to be compared with 2. Chron. xxxii. and with Isai. xxxvii.

Verse 3.-the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.] This is a pro

verbial expression, in which he represents their present danger of perishing, unless speedily reJieved, to be like that of a woman who, when ber child was come to the birth, was so spent that she had not strength to bring forth.

4.-lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.] That Judah might not be carried into captivity, as Israel had been.

7. Behold, I will send a blast] A pestilential blast, which destroyed his army in one night." He shall hear a rumour:" He shall be alarmed with an uncertain report that some euemy designs to fall upon him.

9. And when he heard say of Tirkakah &c.] When the king of Assyria heard of Tirhakah's "coming against him, he sent again to Hezekiah to try to bring him to a surrender, before he should hear this report.

14. and spread it before the Lord.] Spread it before the sanctuary, where the symbol of God's presence resided.

16.-which hath sent him] That is, Rab-shakeh. 21.—The virgin the daughter of Zion &c.] By "the daughter of Zion" he means the people that inhabited the upper part of the city; and by "the daughter of Jerusalem," the people of the lower city, and all that were not comprehended under the name of Zion. He calls the daughter of Zion

a virgin," because this fortress, since the conquest of it by David, had remained inviolable, and had not been taken by any enemy.

23.-With the multitude of my chariots I am come up &c. This is an admirable description of the boastings of a king puffed up with great success, and is as much as if he had said, "What place is there into which I cannot make my way; since I have gone, even in my chariots, to the tops of high mountains? Who shall binder me from cutting down the tallest cedars and firs of Lebanon, marching to the extreme borders of the land, and climbing up to the top of Carmel, (or entering into all the fruitful places of the country,) by making an entire conquest of it?" for Carmel often signifies not the mountain of that name, but a fruitful field. Cities in the prophetical writings are sometimes metaphorically represented by woods or forests, and the several ranks of inhabitants by the taller and lesser trees which grow there. In this sense perhaps it is best to understand the present passage.

24.-I have digged and drunk strange waters,] He boasts that he had marched through deserts, where it was expected that his army would perish with thirst, and yet even there he had digged and found water; implying, that he had overcome difficulties seemingly insuperable, and never failed in executing any design he had undertaken.

with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers &c.] Meaning, that he had gone dry shod with his whole army over great rivers, whose streams he had turned, and so had taken the strongest fortresses. He seems to boast that he could as easily turn the waters of great rivers, and cause their channels to become dry, as a gardener stops water from flowing any longer in by the sole of his foot. See note on Deut. xi. 10.

25. Hust thou not heard long ago &c.] These are the words of God, in answer to the boasts of the proud Assyrian, in which He puts him in mind that all his successes ought to be ascribed to God, who over-ruled these events, and made him the instrument of vengeance upon such cities as deserved utter destruction, and weakened the inha-' bitants so that they were unable to defend themselves.

28.-1 will put my hook in thy nose, &c.] I have thee as much in my power as the fisherman can manage the fish, when he has put a hook into his jaws, and as the rider can curb the horse and turn him as he pleases, when the bit is in his mouth.

29. And this shall be a sign unto thee, &c.] These words are addressed to Hezekiah: God assures him, that though the Assyrian army had greatly wasted his country; and though the ensuing year was the sabbatical, or seventh year, in which they were neither to sow nor reap, but to live on the natural produce of the ground; yet they should have so good a self-sown crop, as to supply them till they should sow and reap again with peace and plenty.

30.-the remnant shall yet again take root downward, &c.] The meaning is, that the house of Judah should have firm possession of their own country, and increase and flourish.

31.-the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.] His regard for His own honour, and His great love for his people, shall do these wonders. 35.-and when they arose early &c.] That is, when they who survived this dreadful slaughter arose; for all were not slain, a small number were reserved to be witnesses of a judgment so terrible.

CHAP. XX.

This chapter is to be compared with 2 Chron. xxxii. 24. &c. and Isaiah xxxviii. and xxxix.

Verse 1. In those days] That is, while the Assyrian army was besieging Jerusalem.

3.-remember now how I have walked before thee -with a perfect heart,] Hezekiah in this prayer does not mean to boast that he was free from all sin, or to lay claim to perfect righteousness; but only that he was not conscious of having omitted any thing which was to be done for the restoring the true worship of God. In which he had been

so exact as to take away the high places, which had continued ever since the time of David. And therefore he presumed to beg that he might live to settle and establish what he had begun.

7.-and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.] We need not suppose that there was any natural virtue in the lump of figs, to heal the disorder. Hezekiah was restored by the miraculous inter position of God, and if the remedy applied seemed unlikely to effect the cure, it shewed the miracle to be the greater.

11.-he brought the shadow ten degrees backward.] Ten measures of some size; but we cannot be certain what portion of time is meant by these degrees. "The dial of Ahaz" was probably some dial well known in Jerusalem. and night perhaps have been set up by Ahaz, or during his reign.

15.—there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.] This he did" in the pride of his heart," mentioned at 2 Chron. xxxii. 26, which occasioned the prophet to denounce against him the judgment which follows.

The vanity and ostentation exhibited by the virtuous Hezekiah on this occasion should be a warning to all against the deceitfulness of riches and the dangers of prosperity.

19. Good is the word of the Lord] Hezekiah received this prediction with great humility and religious composure of mind; acknowledging the justice of the Divine judgment on so sinful a nation, and owning he had reason to be thankful that it was not inflicted in his own time, and that he was favoured with the privilege of living and dying in peace.

CHAP. XXI.

This chapter is to be compared with 2 Chron. xxxiii.

Verse 4. he built altars in the house of the Lord, &c.] He made idolatrous altars in the very sanctuary itself, which was peculiarly appointed for the worship of God only.

The

13.-I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab :] This is a metaphor taken from builders who measure with a line and plummet what part of a building should stand and what be demolished. meaning is, I will take the same course with Jerusalem that I have taken with Samaria and with the wicked house of Ahab, which I have utterly rooted out from before me.

16.-beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, Besides his abominable idolatry.

CHAP. XXII.

This chapter to be compared with 2 Chron. xxxiv.

LL

Verse 8.-I have found the book of the law] Meaning, an authentic copy of the law written by Moses: that copy probably which by God's command was laid up in the most holy place. Deut. xxxi. 26.

11.-it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.} Being alarmed when he heard the dreadful threatenings against the transgressors of the law; and fearing that the time for punishment was at hand.

20.-thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace;] Though he was slain in battle, chap. xxiii. 29, yet he went to his grave in peace, because, as the following words express, he did not live to see the calamities of the nation, but left it in a peaceable condition.

God sometimes shortens the lives of those He most loves, that they may not be involved in the judgments He intends to pour down on the wicked.

CHAP. XXIII.

This chapter is to be compared with 2 Chron. xxxiv. xxxv. and xxxvi; also with Jerem. xxv. xxvi. and xxvii.

Verse 6.-brought out the grove] That is, the image of the grove, or the idol Ashtaroth.

10.-Topheth,in the valley of the children of Hinnom,] This place, which had formerly belonged to the sons of Hinnom, became infamous on account of the people passing their children here through the fire to Molech, the god of the Ainmonites: (see note on Levit. xviii. 21:) it was also called Topheth, which signifies some musical instrument which they sounded that the cries of the children might not be heard.

11.-the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun,] Had consecrated to the sun for some idolatrous purposes.

13.-the mount of corruption,] So called from the idolatrous worship practised upon it.

16.-took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar,] Thus was that remarkable prophecy concerning this altar, (1 Kings xiii. 1, 2.) exactly and literally fulfilled.

18.-with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.] That is, of the old prophet of Beth-el, in whose sepulchre the prophet from Judah and himself were buried. See 1 Kings xiji. 20.-burned men's bones upon them,] Which was considered as the highest pollution of their

altars.

29.-when he had seen him.] When he came into his sight, or as soon as they had joined battle.

Should we be disposed to think that this excellent king Josiah deserved a better fate, than to be thus cut off by an untimely death, let us hear in mind, that by this means God in His mercy delis vered him from a view and participation of the miseries which were coming on his country, and removed him from this world to a better.

CHAP. XXIV.

This chapter is to be compared with 2 Chron. xxxvi. and with Jer. xx-xxviii.

Verse 1.-Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up,] From this time, before Christ 606 years, is to be dated the commencement of the Babylonish captivity, which according to the prediction of Je remiah, was to last seventy years. This was about 115 years after the destruction of the kingdom

of Israel.

17.-changed his name to Zedekiah.] This name signifies the justice of the Lord. Thus they intended to put him continually in mind of the vengeance which he was to expect from the justice of the Lord, if he violated that fidelity which he had sworn, in the name of God, to observe towards his conqueror.

CHAP. XXV.

This chapter is to be compared with severa chapters of Jeremiah, particularly with xxxii. Xxxiv, xxxvii. to xli, lii; and with 2 Chron. xxxvi.

Verse 7-and put out the eyes of Zedekiah,and carried him to Babylon.] Thus were con sistently fulfilled the two seemingly different and contrary predictions of Jeremiah and Ezekiel concerning Zedekiah: the one, that he should be carried to Babylon, Jer. xxxii. 5; the other that he should not see Babylon, Ezek. xii. 13.—for he was carried there blind.

9.- he burnt the house of the Lord,] In the destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the inhabitants by the Babylonians we see at last accomplished the threatenings which God had denounced against His people. We have in this a great example of God's tremendous judgments on those who abuse His patience and mercy, and obstinately. persist in their sins.