2 Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And 'his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

3 And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.

4 Nevertheless, for David's sake, did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem :

5 Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

6 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

7 Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

B

8 And Abijam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead.

b 2 Chr. 11, 20-22. c 2 Chr. 13. 2. Michaiah the daughter of Uriel. d 2 Chr. 11. 21. Absalom. e c. 11. 4. f 2 Chr. 21. 7. or, candle. c. 11. 36.

v. 9.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XV.

V. 1-8. We have here a short account of the short reign of Abijam the son of Rehoboam king of Judah. He makes a better figure, 2 Chr. 13. where we have an account of his war with Jeroboam, the speech he made before the armies engaged, and the wonderful victory he obtained by the help of God. There he is called Abijah, My father is the Lord, because no wickedness is there laid to his charge. But here, where we are told of his faults, Jah, the name of God, is, in disgrace to him, taken away from his name, and he is called Abijam, Jer. 22. 24. Few particulars are related concerning him. 1. He began his reign in the beginning of Jeroboam's 18th year; for Rehoboam reigned but 17, ch. 14. 21. Jeroboam indeed survived Rehoboam, but Rehoboam's Abijah lived to succeed him, and to be a terror to Jeroboam, while Jeroboam's Abijah (whom we read of ch. 14. 1) died before him. 2. He reigned scarcely three years, for he died before the end of Jeroboam's 20th year, Being made proud and secure by his great victory over Jeroboam, (2 Chr. 13. 21,) God cut him off, to make way for his son Asa, who would be a better man. 3. His mother's name was Maachah the daughter of Abishalom, namely, Absalom, David's son, as I am the rather inclined to think, because two other of Rehoboam's wives were his near relations, (2 Chr. 11. 18,) one the daughter of Jerimoth, David's son; and another the daughter of Eliab, David's brother. He took warning by his father, not to marry strangers; yet thought it below him to marry his subjects, except they were of the royal family. 4. He carried on his father's wars with Jeroboam. As there was continual war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam, not set battles, (they were forbidden, ch. 12. 24,) but frequent encounters, especially upon the borders; one making incursions and reprisals on the other so there was between Abijam and Jeroboam, (v. 7,) till Jeroboam, with a great army, invaded him, and then Abijam, not being forbidden to act in his own defence routed him, and weakened him, that he compelled him to be quiet the rest of his reign, 2 Chr. 13. 20.

But, in general, we are told, (1.) That he was not like David, had no hearty affection for the ordinances of God; though, to serve his purpose against Jeroboam, he pleaded his possession of the temple and priesthood, as that which he valued himself upon, 2. Chr. 13. 10-12. Many boast of their profession of godliness, who are strangers to the power of it; and plead the truth of their religion, who yet are not true to it. His heart was not perfect with the Lord his God; he seemed to have zeal, but he wanted sincerity; he began well, but he fell off, and walked in all the sins of his father, followed his bad example, though he had seen the bad consequences of it. He that was all his days in war, ought to have been so wise as to make and keep his peace with God, and not to make him his Enemy, especially having found him so good a Friend in his war with Jeroboam, 2 Chr. 13. 18. Let favour be showed the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness, Is. 26. 10. (2.) That yet it was for David's sake that he was advanced to, and continued upon, the throne; it was for his sake, (v. 4, 5,) that God thus set up his son after him; not for his own sake, or for the sake of his father, whose steps he trod in, but for the sake of David, whose example he would not follow. Note, It aggravates the sin of a degenerate seed, that they fare the better for the piety of their ancestors, and owe their blessings to it, and yet will not imitate it. They stand upon that ground, and yet despise it, and trample upon it, and unreasonably ridicule and oppose that which they enjoy the benefit of. The kingdom of Judah was supported, [1] That David might have a lamp, pursuant to the divine ordination of a lamp for his anointed, Ps. 132. 17. [2.] That Jerusalem might be established; not only that the honours put upon it, in David's and Solomon's time, might be preserved to it, but that it might be reserved to the honours designed for it in aftertimes. The character here given of David, is very great,

9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.

10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his 'mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.

11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.

12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had

made.

13 And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove: and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

14 But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

15 And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and the things which himself had dedicated, into the house of the LORD, silver, and gold, and vessels.

16 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

g 2 Chr. 14. 1, &c. ti. e. grandmothers. ver. 2. A 2 Chr. 15. 16, &c. I cut of. Ex. 32. 20. c. 22. 43. holy. that he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, but the exception very remarkable, save only in the matter of Uriah, including both his murder, and the debauching of his wife. That was a bad matter; it was a remaining blot upon his name, a bar in his escutcheon, and the reproach of it was not wiped away, though the guilt was. David was guilty of other faults, but they were nothing in comparison of that; yet even that, being repented of, though it be mentioned for warning to others, did not prevail to throw him out of the covenant, nor to cut off the entail of the promise upon his seed.

V. 9-24. We have here a short account of the reign of Asa; we shall find a more copious history of it, 2 Chr. 14. 15. and 16. Here is,

1. The length of it; He reigned forty-one years in Jerusa lem, v. 10. In the account we have of the kings of Judah, we find the number of the good kings and the bad ones nearly equal; but then we may observe, to our comfort, that the reign of the good kings was generally long, but that of the bad kings short, the consideration of which will make the state of God's church not altogether so bad, within that period, as it appears at first sight. Length of days is in Wisdom's right hand. Honour thy father, much more thy heavenly Father, that thy days may be long.

II. The general good character of it; (v. 11,) Asa did that which was right the eyes of the Lord. That is right indeed, which is so in God's eyes. Those are approved, whom he commends. He did as did David his father, kept close to God, and to his instituted worship, was hearty and zealous for that, which gave him this honourable character, that he was like David, though he was not a prophet, or psalmist, as David was. If we come up to the graces of those that are gone before us, it will be our praise with God, though we come short of their gifts. Asa was like David, though he was neither such a conqueror, nor such an author; for his heart was perfect with the Lord all his days, (v. 14,) that is, he was both cordial and constant in his religion. What he did for God, he was sincere in, steady and uniform, and did it from a good principle, with a single eye to the glory of God.

Im

III. The particular instances of Asa's piety. His times were times of reformation. For, 1. He removed that which was evil. There reformation begins; and a great deal of work of that kind his hand found to do. For though it was but 20 years after the death of Solomon, that he began to reign, yet very gross corruption had spread far, and taken deep root. morality he first struck at; he took away the Sodomites out of the land, suppressed the brothels; for how can either prince or people prosper, while those cages of unclean and filthy birds, more dangerous than pest-houses, are suffered to remain? Then he proceeded against idolatry; he removed all the idols, even those that his father had made, v. 12. His father having made them, he was the more concerned to remove them, that he might cut off the entail of the curse, and prevent the visiting of that iniquity upon him and his. Nay, (which redounds much to his honour, and shows his heart was perfect with God,) when he found idolatry in the court, he rooted it out thence, v. 13. When it appeared that Maachah his mother, or rather his grandmother, (but called his mother, because she had the education of him in his childhood,) had an idol in a grove, though she was his mother, his grandmother, though, it is likely, she had a particular fondness for it, though, being old, she could not live long to patronise it, though she kept it for her own use only, yet he would by no means connive at it. Reformation must begin at home. Bad practices will never be suppressed in the country, while they are supported in the court. Asa, in every thing else, will honour and respect his mother; he loves her well, but he loves God better, and, like the Levite, (Deut. 33. 9,) bravely forgets the relation, when it comes in competition with

17 And 'Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah," that he "might not suffer any to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah.

18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants: and king Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus, saying,

19 There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: behold, I have sent unto thee a present of silver and gold; come and break the league with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me.

20 So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-bethmaachah, and all Cinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.

21 And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.

22 Then king Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted: and they took away the stones of Ramah, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasha had builded: and king Asa built with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah.'

23 The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased "in his feet.

his duty. If she be an idolater, (1.) Her idol shall be destroyed, publicly exposed to contempt, defaced, and burned to ashes, by the brook Kidron, on which, it is probable, he strewed the ashes, in imitation of Moses, (Ex. 32. 20,) and in token of his detestation of idolatry, and his indignation at it, wherever he found it. Let no remains of a court idol appear. (2.) She shall be deposed; he removed her from being queen, or from the queen, that is, from conversing with his wife; he banished her the court, and confined her to an obscure and private life. They that have power, are happy, when thus they have hearts to use it well. 2. He re-established that which was good, v. 15. He brought into the house of God the dedicated things which he himself had vowed out of the spoils of the Ethiopians he had conquered, and which his father had vowed, but lived not to bring in, pursuant to his vow. We must not only cease to do evil, but learn to do well; not only cast away the idols of our iniquity, but dedicate ourselves and our all to God's honour and glory. When those who, in their infancy, were, by baptism, devoted to God, make it their own act and deed to join themselves to him, and vigorously employ themselves in his service, that is bringing in the dedicated things which they and their fathers have dedicated; it is necessary justice, rendering to God the things that are his.

IV. His political conduct. He built cities himself, to encourage the increase of his people, (v. 23,) and to invite others to him by the conveniences of habitation. And he was very zealous to hinder Baasha from building Ramah, because he designed it for the cutting off of communication between his people and Jerusalem, and to hinder those who, in obedience to God, would come to worship there. An enemy must by no means be suffered to fortify a frontier town.

V. The faults of his reign. In both the things for which he was praised, he was found defective; the fairest characters are not without some but or other in them. 1. Did he take away the idols? That was well: but the high places were not removed, (v. 14,) therein his reformation fell short. He removed all images which were rivals with the true God, or false representations of him; but the altars which were set up in high places, and to which those sacrifices were brought, which should have been offered on the altar in the temple, those he suffered to stand, thinking there was no great harm in them, they having been used by good men before the temple was built, and being loath to disoblige the people, who had a kindness to them, and were wedded to them both by custom and convenience; whereas in Judah and Benjamin, the only tribes under Asa's government, which lay so near Jerusalem and the altars there, there was less pretence for them than in those tribes which lay more remote. They were against the law, which obliged them to worship at one place, Deut. 12. 11. They lessened men's esteem of the temple and the altars there, and were an open gap for idolatry to enter in at, while the people were so much addicted to it. It was not well that Asa, when his hand was in, did not remove these; nevertheless his heart was perfect with the Lord. This affords us a comfortable note, that those may be found honest and upright with God, and be accepted of him, who

24 And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and "Jehoshaphat" his son reigned in his stead.

25 And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.

26 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.

27 And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him: and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; (for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon ;)

28 Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead.

29 And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite :

30 Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked "the LORD God of Israel to anger.

31 Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

32 And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years.

yet, in some instances, come short of doing the good they might and should do. The perfection which is made the indispensable condition of the new covenant, is not to be understood of sinlessness, (then we were all undone,) but sincerity. 2. Did he bring in the dedicated things? That was well: but he afterward alienated the dedicated things, when he took the gold and silver out of the house of God, and sent them as a bribe to Benhadad, to hire him to break his league with Baasha, and, by making an inroad upon his country, to give him a diversion from the building of Ramah, v. 18, 19. Here he sinned, (1.) In tempting Ben-hadad to break his league, and so to violate the public faith. If he did wrong in doing it, as certainly he did, Asa did wrong in pursuading him to do it. (2.) In that he could not trust God, who had done so much for him, to free him out of this strait, without his using such indirect means to help himself. (3.) In taking the gold out of the treasury of the temple, which was not to be made use of, but on extraordinary occasions. The project succeeded; Ben-hadad made a descent upon the land of Israel, which obliged Baasha to retire with his whole force from Ramah, (v. 20, 21,) which gave Asa a fair opportunity to demolish his works there, and the timber and stones served him for the building of some cities of his own, But though the design prospered, we find it was displeasing to God; and though Asa valued himself upon the policy of it, and promised himself that it would effectually secure his peace, he is told by a prophet, that he had done foolishly, and that from thenceforth he should have wars; see 2 Chr. 16. 7-9. VI. The troubles of his reign. For the most part, he prospered: but, 1. Baasha king of Israel was a very troublesome neighbour to him. He reigned 24 years, and, all his days, had war, more or less, with Asa, v. 16. This was the effect of the division of the kingdoms, that they were continually vexing one another, which made them both an easier prey to the common enemy. 2. In his old age, he was himself afflicted with the gout; he was diseased in his feet, which made him less fit for business, and peevish toward those about him.

v. 22.

VII. The conclusion of his reign. The acts of it were more largely recorded in the common history, (to which reference is here had, v. 23,) than in this sacred one. He reigned long, but finished, at last, with honour, and left his throne to a successor no way inferior to him.

V. 25-34. We are now to take a view of the miserable state of Israel, while the kingdom of Judah was happy under Asa's good government. It was threatened that they should be as a reed shaken in the water, (ch. 14. 15,) and so they were, when, during the single reign of Asa, the government of their kingdom was in six or seven different hands, as we find in this and the following chapter. Jeroboam was upon the throne, in the beginning of his reign, and Ahab at the end of it; between whom were Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Tibni, and Omri, undermining and destroying one another. This they got by deserting the house both of God and of David.

Here is, 1. The ruin and extirpation of the family of Jeroboam, according to the word of the Lord by Ahijah. His son Nadab succeeded him. If the death of his brother Abijah had

34 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin dwherewith he made Israel to sin.

CHAPTER XVI.

This chapter relates wholly to the kingdom of Israel, and the revolutions of that kingdom-many in a little time. The utter ruin of Jeroboam's family, after it had been 24 years a royal family, we read of in the chapter before. In this chap ter, we have, I. The ruin of Baasha's family, after it had been but 26 years a royal family, foretold by a prophet, (v. 1-7,) and executed by Zimri, one of his captains, v. 8-14. II. The seven days' reign of Zimri, and his sudden fall, v. 15-20. The struggle between Omri and Tibni, and Omri's prevalency, and

his reign, v. 21-28. IV. The beginning of the reign of Ahab, whom we shall

afterward read much of, v. 29-33. V. The rebuilding of Jericho, v. 34. All this while, in Judah things went well.

Totawan, against Baasha, saying,

HEN the word of the LORD came to Jehu "the

2 Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins;

3 Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

4 Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the

e c. 12. 28, 29. 13. 33, 34. b c. 15. 33. c c. 14. 7.

dc. 14. 16. Is. 1. 4. a ver. 7. 2 Chr. 19. 2. 20. 34. d c. 15.34. e Matt. 5. 19. f ver. 11. c. 21. 21, 22. had a due influence upon him, to make him religious, and the honour done him at his death had engaged him to follow his good example, his reign might have been long and glorious; but he walked in the way of his father, (v. 26,) kept up the worship of his calves, and forbade his subjects to go up to Jerusalem to worship; sinned and made Israel to sin; and therefore God brought ruin upon him quickly, in the second year of his reign. He was besieging Gibbethon, a city which the Philistines had taken from the Danites, and was endeavouring to retake it; and there, in the midst of his army, did Baasha, with others, conspire against him, and kill him, (v. 27;) and so little interest had he in the affections of his people, that his army did not only not avenge his death, but chose his murderer for his successor. Whether Baasha did it upon a personal pique against Nadab, or to be avenged on the house of Jeroboam, for some affront received from them; or whether, under pretence of freeing his country from the tyranny of a bad prince; or whether, merely from a principle of ambition, or to make way for himself to the throne, does not appear; but he slew him, and reigned in his stead, v. 28. And the first thing he did, when he came to the crown, was, to cut off all the house of Jeroboam, that he might the better secure himself, and his own usurped government. He thought it not enough to imprison or banish them, but he destroyed them; left not only no males, (as was foretold, ch. 14. 10,) but none that breathed. Herein, he was barbarous, but God was righteous. Jeroboam's sin was punished, (v. 30,) for they that provoke God, do it to their own confusion; see Jer. 7. 19. Ahijah's prophecy was accomplished, (v. 29,) for no word of God shall fall to the ground. Divine threatenings are not designed merely to terrify.

2. The elevation of Baasha. He shall be tried a while, as Jeroboam was; 24 years he reigned, (v. 33,) but showed that it was not from any dislike to Jeroboam's sins, that he destroyed his family, but from malice and ambition; for when he had rooted out the sinner, he himself clave to the sin, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, (v. 34,) though he had seen the end of that way; so strangely was his heart hardened with the deceitfulness of sin.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XVI.

V. 1-14. Here is, I. The ruin of the family of Baasha foretold: he was a man likely enough to have raised and established his family, active, politic, and daring; but he was an idolater, and that brought destruction upon his family. God sent him warning of it before, 1. That if he were thereby wrought upon to repent and reform, the ruin might be prevented; for God threatens, that he may not strike, as one that desires not the death of sinners. 2. That, if not, it might appear that the destruction, when it did come, whoever might be instruments of it, was the act of God's justice, and the punishment of sin. The warning was sent by Jehu, the son of Hanani. The father was a seer, or prophet, at the same time, 2 Chr. 16. 7. He was sent to Asa king of Judah; but the son, who was young, and more active, was sent on this longer and more dangerous expedition to Baasha king of Israel. Juniores ad labores-Toil and adventure are for the young. This Jehu was a prophet, and the son of a prophet. Prophecy, thus happily entailed, was worthy of so much the more honour. This Jehu continued long in his usefulness, for we find him reproving Jehoshaphat, (2 Chr. 19. 2,) above 40 years after, and writing the annals of that prince, 2 Chr. 20. 34. The message which this prophet brought to Baasha, is much the same with that which Ahijah sent to Jeroboam by his wife. (1.) He reminds him of the great things God had done for him; (v. 2,) I exalted thee out of the dust, to the throne of glory; a great instance of the divine sovereignty and power, 1 Sam. 2. 8.

dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.

5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

6 So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead.

7 And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, came the word of the LORD against Baasha, and against his house,' even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, in "provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because "he killed him. 8 In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years.

9 And his servant Zimiri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah.

10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.

11 And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as

* ver. 1.

/ Ex. 20.5. m ver. which was over.

g c. 14. 11. A 2 Chr. 16. 1, &c. i c. 15. 21. 13. л c. 15. N-29. o 2 Kings 9.31. p Nab. 1. 10. Baasha seemed to have raised himself by his own treachery and cruelty, yet there was the hand of Providence in it, to bring about God's counsel, concerning Jeroboam's house; and God's owning his advancement as his act and deed, does by no means amount to the patronising of his ambition and treachery. It is God that puts power into bad men's hands, which he makes to serve his good purposes, notwithstanding the bad use they make of it. I made thee prince over my people. God calls Israel his people still, though wretchedly corrupted, because they retained the covenant of circumcision, and there were many good people among them; it was not till long after, that they were called Lo-ammi, not a people, Hos. 1. 9. (2.) He charges him with high crimes and misdemeanors. [1] That he had made Israel to sin, had seduced God's subjects from their allegiance, and had brought them to pay the homage due to him only, to dunghill deities, and herein, he had walked in the way of Jeroboam, (v. 2,) and been like his house, v. 7. [2] That he had himself provoked God to anger with the work of his hands, that is, by worshipping images, the work of men's hands; though others made them, perhaps he served them, and thereby avowed the making of them, and they are therefore called the work of his hands. [3] That he had destroyed the house of Jeroboam, (v. 7,) because he killed him, namely, Jeroboam's son, and all his; if he had done that with an eye to God, and to his will and glory, and from a holy indignation against the sins of Jeroboam and his house, he had been accepted and applauded as a minister of God's justice; but as he did it, he was not only the tool of God's justice, but a servant to his own lusts, and is justly punished for the malice and ambition which governed him in all he did. They who are, any way, employed in denouncing or executing the justice of God, (magistrates or ministers,) are concerned to do it from a good principle, and in a holy manner, lest it turn into sin to them, and they make themselves obnoxious by it. (3.) He foretels the same destruction to come upon his family, which he himself had been employed to bring upon the family of Jeroboam, v. 3, 4. They who resemble others in their sins, may expect to resemble them in their plagues, especially those who seem zealous against such sins in others, as they allow themselves in; the house of Jehu was reckoned with for the blood of the house of Ahab, Hos. 1. 4.

II. A reprieve granted for some time, so long, that Baasha himself dies in peace, and is buried with honour in his own royal city, (v. 6) so far is he from being a prey either to the dogs or to the fowls, which yet was threatened to his house, v. 4. He lives not either to see or feel the punishment threatened, yet he was himself the greatest delinquent; certainly, there must be a future state, in which impenitent sinners will suffer in their own persons, and not escape, as often they do in this world. Baasha died under no visible stroke of divine vengeance, for aught that appears, but God laid up his iniquity for his children, (as Job speaks, ch. 21. 19;) thus he often visits sins. Observe, Baasha is punished by the destruction of his children after his death, and his children are punished by the abuse of their bodies after their death; that is the only thing which the threatening specifies, (v. 4.) that the dogs and the fowls of the air should eat them, as if herein were designed a tacit intimation, That there are punishments after death, when death has done its worst, which will be the sorest punishments, and are most to be dreaded; these judgments on the body and posterity, signified judgments on the soul when separated from the body, by Him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into

hell.

III. Execution done at last. Baasha's son Elah, like Jeroboam's son Nadab, reigned two years, and then was slain by Zimri, one of his own soldiers, as he was by Baasha: so like was his house made to that of Jeroboam, as was threatened, v. 3.

soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolk nor of his friends. 12 Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake ragainst Baasha by Jehu the prophet;

13 For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.'

14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

15 In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah." And the people were encamped against Gibbethon," which belonged to the Philistines.

16 And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.

18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died,

91 Sam. 25. 22. ・or, both his kinsmen and his friends. Tver. 3. by the hand of. ☐ c. 15. 30. Deut. 32. 21. 1 Sam. 12. 21, Is. 41, 29. Jon. 2. 8. Rom. 1. 21-23. 1 Cor. 8. 4. 10. 19. u ver. 8. v c. 15. 27. to 2 Sam. 17. 23. Ps. 9. 16.

Because his idolatry was like his, and one of the sins for which God contended with him, being the destruction of Jeroboam's family, the more like the destruction of his own was to that, the nearer did the punishment resemble the sin, as face answers to face in a glass.

1. As then, so now, the king himself was first slain, but Elah fell more ingloriously than Nadab; Nadab was slain in the field of action and honour, he and his army then besieging Gibbethon, (ch. 15. 27;) but the siege being then raised, upon that disaster, and the city remaining still in the Philistines' hands, the army of Israel was now renewing the attempt, (v. 15,) and Elah should have been with them to command in chief, but he loved his own ease and safety better than his honour or duty, or the public good, and therefore stayed behind to take his pleasure; and when he was drinking himself drunk in his servant's house, Zimri killed him, v. 9, 10. Let it be a warning to drunkards, especially to those who designedly drink themselves drunk, that they know not but death may surprise them in that condition. (1.) Death comes easily upon men, when they are drunk; beside the chronical diseases which men frequently bring themselves into by hard drinking, and which cut them off in the midst of their days, men, in that condition, are more easily overcome by an enemy, as Amnon by Absalom, and are liable to more bad accidents, being unable to help themselves. (2.) Death comes terribly upon men in that condition, finding them in the act of sin, and incapacitated for any act of devotion; that day comes upon them at unawares, (Luke 21. 34,) like a thief. 2. As then, so now, the whole family was cut off, and rooted out; the traitor was the successor, to whom the unthinking people tamely submitted, as if it were all one to them what king they had, so that they had one; the first thing Zimri did, was, to slay all the house of Baasha; thus he held by cruelty what he got by treason; his cruelty seems to have extended further than Baasha's did against the house of Jeroboam, for he left to Elah none of his kinsfolk or friends, (v. 11 ;) none of his avengers, so the word is, none that were likely to avenge his death; yet divine justice soon avenged it so remarkably, that it was used as a proverb long after, Had Zimri peace, that slew his master? 2 Kings 9. 31. In this, (1.) The word of God was fulfilled, v. 12. (2.) The sins of Baasha and Elah were reckoned for, with which they provoked God with their vanities, v. 13. Their idols are called their vanities, for they cannot profit or help; miserable are those whose deities are vanities.

V. 15-28. Solomon observes, (Prov. 28. 2,) that for the transgression of a land, many were the princes thereof, (so it was here in Israel,) but by a man of understanding the state thereof shall be prolonged. So it was with Judah at the same time, under Asa; when men forsake God, they are out of the way of rest and establishment; Zimri, and Tibni, and Omri, are here striving for the crown. Proud aspiring men ruin one another, and involve others in the ruin; these confusions end in the settlement of Omri; we must therefore take him along with us, through this part of the story.

I. How he was chosen; as the Roman emperors often were, by the army in the field, now encamped before Gibbethon; notice was soon brought thither, that Zimri had slain their king, (v. 16,) and set up himself in Tirzah, the royal city, whereupon they chose Omri king in the camp, that they might, without delay, avenge the death of Elah upon Zimri; though he was idle and intemperate, yet he was their king, and they would not tamely submit to his murderer, nor let the treason go unpunished; they did not attempt to avenge the death of Nadab upon Baasha,

19 For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin.

20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

21 Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omari. 22 But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.

23 In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah.

24 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria."

25 But Omri wrought evil Pin the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him.

26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities."

27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he

c. 12. 28. 15. 26, 34. y Prov. 28. 2. Is. 9. 19-21. 19. 2. Matt. 12. 25. ≈ 2 Chr. 22. 2. Shomeron. c. 13. 32. 2 Kings 17. 24. John 4. 4. Acts 8. 5-8. p Mic. ver. 19. r ver. 13. Acts 14. 15.

6. 16.

perhaps, because the house of Baasha had ruled with more gentleness than the house of Jeroboam; but Zimri shall feel the resentments of the provoked army; the siege of Gibbethon is quitted, (Philistines are sure to gain when Israelites quarrel,) and Zimri is prosecuted.

II. How he conquered Zimri: he is said to have reigned 7 days, (v. 15,) so long before Omri was proclaimed king, and himself proclaimed traitor; but we may suppose it a longer time before he died, for he continued long enough to show his inclination to the way of Jeroboam, and to make himself obnoxions to the justice of God, by supporting his idolatry, v. 19. Tirzah was a beautiful city, but not fortified, so that Omri soon made himself master of it, (v. 17;) forced Zimri into the palace, which, being unable to defend, and yet unwilling to surrender, he burned, and himself in it, v. 18. Unwilling that his rival should ever enjoy that sumptuous palace, he burned it; and fearing that if he fell into the hands of the army, either alive or dead, he should be ignominiously treated, he burned himself in it. See what desperate practices men's wickedness sometimes brings them to, and how it hurries them into their own ruin; see the disposition of incendiaries, who set palaces and kingdoms on fire, though they are themselves in danger of perishing in the flame.

v. 22.

III. How he struggled with Tibni, and, at length, got clear of him; half of the people followed this Tibni, (v. 21,) probably, those who were in Zimri's interest, with whom others joined, who would not have a king chosen in the camp, (lest he should rule by the sword, and a standing army,) but in a convention of the states; the contest between these two lasted some years, and, it is likely, cost a great deal of blood on both sides, for it was in the 27th year of Asa, that Omri was first elected, (v. 15,) and thence the 12 years of his reign are to be dated; but it was not till the 31st year of Asa, that he began to reign without a rival; then Tibni died, it is likely, in battle, and Omri reigned, Sir Walter Raleigh, in his History of the World, (1. 2, c. 19, § 6,) inquires here, why it was, that in all these confusions and revolutions of the kingdom of Israel, they never thought of returning to the house of David, and uniting themselves again to Judah, for then was it better for them than now; and he thinks the reason was, because the kings of Judah assumed a more absolute, arbitrary, and despotic power, than the kings of Israel; it was the heaviness of the yoke that they complained of, when they first revolted from the house of David, and the dread of that made them, ever after, averse to it, and attached to kings of their own, who ruled more by law, and the rules of a limited monarchy.

IV. How he reigned, when he was, at length, settled on the throne. 1. He made himself famous by building Samaria, (which, ever after, was the royal city of the kings of Israel, the palace at Tirzah being burned, and, in process of time, grew so considerable, that it gave name to the middle part of Canaan, which lay between Galilee on the north, and Judea on the south,) and to the inhabitants of that country, who were called Samaritans. He bought the ground for two talents of silver, somewhat more than 700 pounds of our money, for a talent was 353/. 11s. 10d. Perhaps, Shemer, who sold him the ground, let him have it considerably the cheaper, upon condition that the city should be called after his name, which other wise, would have borne the name of the purchaser; it was called Samaria, or Shemeren, as it is in the Hebrew, from Shemer, the former owner, v. 24. The kings of Israel changed their royal seats; Shechem first, then Tirzah, now Samaria;