"In more of life true life no more."[286]Josh. x. 6, 31, xv. 39; 2 Kings xviii. 17; 2 Chron. xi. 9.[287]I have not thought it worth while to unravel by a series of uncertain conjectures the careless, and often self-contradictory, synchronism of the reigns of the kings in the two kingdoms. The compiler of these books evidently attached little or no importance to accurate chronology. For instance, the data of 2 Kings xiii. 1, 10, do not coincide; and instead of entering into tedious, doubtful, and confusing guesses, I have contented myself throughout with giving for the reigns of the kings such dates, or approximate dates, as seem to result from the several notices compared with the contemporary annals of Assyria.[288]2 Chron. xxiv. 23.[289]2 Kings xiii. 4; "besought," literally "stroked the face of" (1 Sam. xiii. 12; 1 Kings xiii. 6).[290]The reference is usually explained of Jeroboam II.[291]Comp. 2 Kings ii. 12.[292]Lit., "Make thine hand to ride upon thy bow." There is not the slightest taint of belomancy in the story (comp. Ezek. xxi. 21), nor does it allude to shooting an arrow into an enemy's country as a declaration of war (Virg.,Æn., ix. 57).[293]Aphek, a name of good omen (1 Kings xx. 26-30).[294]Thrice. Comp. Num. xxii. 28; Exod. xxiii. 17, etc.[295]LXX., ἐλυπήθη.[296]See R.V., margin.[297]Antt., IX. viii. 6.[298]See Ecclus. xlviii. 13: "When he was dead, he prophesied in the tomb." (But the clause may be spurious.)[299]Possibly some matrimonial proposal may have lain behind the interchange of messages.[300]Stade. For similar parables see Judg. ix. 8; Herod., i. 141; Rawlinson,Anc. Mon., iii. 226.[301]Beth-Shemesh, "the house of the sun." It is mentioned in 1 Sam. vi. 9, 12, and was a priestly city, and one of Solomon's store-cities (1 Kings iv. 9). It ultimately fell into the hands of the Philistines (2 Chron. xxviii. 18). It is not the Beth-Shemesh of Josh. xix. 22.[302]Josephus says that this was the fault of Amaziah, whom Joash of Israel threatened with death if Jerusalem resisted.[303]This implies that at least half the northern wall was dismantled—the wall towards Ephraim.[304]Some have conjectured that Amaziah of Judah became more or less the vassal of Joash of Israel, and that the vassalage continued till after the death of Jeroboam II. (1) For Jeroboam II. held Elath till his death, when Uzziah recovered it (2 Kings xiv. 22), and he certainly could not have held this southern Judæan port if Judah was entirely independent; and (2) we read that Uzziah did not become king at all till thetwenty-seventhyear of Jeroboam II. But if Amaziah only survived Joash of Israel fifteen years (2 Kings xiv. 17), Uzziah must have succeeded in thefifteenthyear of Jeroboam. Is the explanation to be found in the fact that up to that time—for twelve years—Jeroboam did not allow the Judæans to elect a king? or are these among the hopeless confusion of synchronism which cannot be reconciled at all with our present data?[305]2 Kings xiv. 25-27. There are other allusions to the historic events in 2 Kings x. 32, 33, xiii. 3-7, 22-25. Hitzig conjectures that Isa. xv., xvi., are "a burden of Moab" quoted from Jonah.[306]2 Kings xiii. 5, "The Lord gave Israel a saviour"; xiv. 27, "And He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash." Some suppose the saviour to be the Assyrian King.[307]It had owned the feudal supremacy of David (2 Sam. viii. 6), and Ahab had extorted the privilege of having bazaars there (1 Kings xx. 34). Considering how immense had been the resources of Damascus (2 Kings vi. 14), which had once been able to send to battle twelve thousand war-chariots (Eponym Canon, p. 108) under Benhadad, we see how fearfully the Syrian capital must have been weakened.[308]If Isa. xv. 1, 2, refers to this invasion of Jeroboam II., as Hitzig first conjectured, we infer that he had taken both Ar of Moab (Rabbath) and Kir of Moab, a strong fortress on a hill, by night assaults; and that he had also captured Dibon, Nebo, and Medeba, and inflicted on them summary chastisement. It appears that the Moabites had advanced northwards from the Arnon, while Hazael occupied Ramoth-Gilead, and had seized part of the tribe of Reuben. Jeroboam II. first expelled them, and then invaded their own proper country. Hitzig conjectures that Isa. xv., xvi., are really an old prophecy—perhaps by Jonah, son of Amittai—which Isaiah quotes, and to which he adds two verses (Isa. xvi. 12, 13). In such overthrow Moab must have learnt to be ashamed of Chemosh (Jer. xlviii. 13).[309]Isa. xv. 7; Amos vi. 14.[310]Amos vi. 2.[311]Merchandise had hitherto been considered discreditable for a pure Jew, so that a trader is called a Canaanite (Hos. xii. 7, 8).[312]See the writer'sMinor Prophets("Men of the Bible" Series), pp. 231-243.[313]Amos vii. 1. Famine (iv. 6); drought (iv. 7, 8); yellow blight and locusts (iv. 9); pestilence (iv. 10); earthquake and burning (iv. 11).[314]Amos vii. 4.[315]Amos i. 1, iii. 14, iv. 11, viii 8; Zech. xiv. 5: "Ye shall flee like as ye fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah." Josephus says that in an earthquake a little before the birth of Christ ten thousand were buried under the ruined houses (Antt., XV. v. 2), and he has many Rabbinic haggadoth to tell us about the earthquake, which, he says, happened at the moment when Uzziah burnt incense in the Temple (Antt., IX. x. 4).[316]According to Hind, they took place on June 15th,b.c.763, and February 9th,b.c.784. Amos alludes to the capture of Gath by Uzziah, of Calneh (Ktesiphon), and of Hamath (vi. 2; 2 Chron. xxvi. 6). Gath henceforth disappears from the Philistian Pentapolis (Amos i. 7, 8; Zeph. ii. 4; Zech. ix. 5).[317]Or "dresser of sycomore-trees" (R.V.). LXX., κνίζων συκάμινα; Vulg.,vellicans sycomoros. The sycomore-fruit (fruit of theFicus sycomorus, or wild fig) is ripened by puncturing it (Theoph.,H. Plant., iv. 2; Pliny,H. N., xiii. 14).[318]The well-known town of Tekoa had been Solomon's horse-fair, and had been fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. xi. 6). It lay in a wild country six miles south of Bethlehem (2 Chron. xx. 20; 1 Macc. ix. 33; Robinson,Bibl. Res., i. 486). For a fuller account of these prophets, I must refer to my book onThe Minor Prophetsin the "Men of the Bible" Series. It has always been assumed that Amos belonged to the well-known Tekoa, and was therefore a subject of the Southern Kingdom. In recent days this has become uncertain. No sycomores grow or can grow on the bleak uplands of Tekoa (Tristram,Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 397); so that Jerome, in his preface to Amos, thinks that "brambles" are intended. Even Kimchi conjectured that Tekoa was an unknown town in the tribe of Asher. Amos's allusions to scenery are all applicable to the Northern landscape.[319]Amos i. 1-ii. 5.[320]Amos ii. 6-13.[321]Amos iii. 9-15.[322]Amos iv. 1-13.[323]This title, "Jehovah-Tsebaoth," now begins to occur. It is not found in the Hexateuch. It probably means "Lord of thestarry hosts." Contact with Assyria first made the Israelites acquainted with star-worship. Amos alludes to the Pleiades and Orion (v. 8: comp. Job ix. 9, xxxviii. 31). Star-worship is forbidden in Deuteronomy. In Amos v. 26 the true meaning is that the Israeliteswould take with them, on their road to exile, Sakkuth (Moloch?) and Kewan (the god-star Saturn).[324]Amos vi. 1-14.[325]Amos vii. 1-9.[326]Strange as it may seem, the early authority for the existence of any calf at Dan is very slight, and the extreme uncertainty of the reading and interpretation in one main passage (1 Kings xii. 32) makes it at least possible that there weretwo calves at Bethel, and that at Dan there was no calf, but only the old idolatrous ephod of Micah, still served by the servant of Moses. See additional note at the end of the volume.[327]Amos iii. 2.[328]That the chief priest of Bethel bore the name "Jehovah is strong" shows once more that "calf-worship" was in no sense asubstitutefor the worship of Jehovah.[329]This was not quite accurate; he had rather prophesied the devastation of the high places (vii. 9). In fact, his words had often been very vague. "Thuswill I do unto thee" (iv. 12).[330]Amos ix. 11-15. Comp. Hos. iii. 5.[331]The exaggerated haggadoth of later days say that Amaziah had Amos beaten with leaded thongs, and that he was carried home in a dying state (Epiphan.,Opp., ii. 145), to which there is a supposed allusion in Heb. xi. 35: ἄλλοι δὲ ἐτυμπανίσθησαν.[332]We cannot be sure that the term "Seer" was meant to be contemptuous, although from 1 Sam. ix. 9 we should infer that the title had become somewhat obsolete. Further, we must bear in mind that it may not have been always easy for worldlings to distinguish between true prophets and the unprincipled pretenders who, about this time, succeeded in making the name and aspect of a prophet so complete a disgrace that men had carefully to disclaim it (Zech. xiii. 2-6). It is true that the heading of Amos (i. 1), which may not, however, be by the prophet himself, tells us of "the words which hesaw" (i.e., spoke as a seer), and he also disclaims the name of prophet (vii. 14).[333]Amos viii. 1-ix. 9, 10.[334]Amos ix. 11-15.[335]Hos. iv. 15-19.[336]Hos. v. 13, vii. 11, viii. 9, ix. 3-6, xi. 5, xii. 1, xiv. 3. It must be borne in mind that the cuneiform inscriptions prove that Assyria had burst into sight like a lurid comet on the horizon far earlier than we had supposed. Jehu had paid tribute to Shalmaneser as far back asb.c.842, more than a century before Menahem's tribute in 738. The destruction which Hosea prophesied took place within thirty-one years of his prophecies—probably inb.c.722, when Sargon finished the siege of Samaria begun by Shalmaneser. The king Hoshea was perhaps taken captive before the siege.[337]Hos. viii. 5, ix. 15.[338]Hos. x. 13, 14.[339]Hos. vi. 9: for "by consent" read "towards Shechem."[340]Hos. vii. 3-7. The allusions are vague, but we see a drunken king among his drunken princes, surrounded by wicked plotters who have flattered his vices. He is ignorant of his peril. The subjects aid the rulers in these abominations. All are blazing, like an oven, with passion and infamy, and only rest (as the baker does) to acquire new strength for inflaming their burning desires. At the dawn their treachery blazes into the crime of murder, and in the wine-sick fever-heat of the banquet the king is murdered by his corrupt intimates (see myMinor Prophets, p. 78).[341]Wellhausen,Isr. and Jud., 85.[342]Hence, perhaps, the expression that the people "took him." If Amaziah died at fifty-nine, he probably had other sons.[343]Compare the interchange of the names Azariel and Uzziel (Exod. vi. 18) in 1 Chron. vi. 2, 18. Azariah means "Jehovah hath helped," and Uzziah "Strength of Jehovah." It is just possible that his name was changed at his accession, as the chief priest also was named Azariah, and confusion might otherwise have arisen.[344]2 Chron. xxvi. 2-15.[345]Isa. xiv. 29. A mixed language arose in this district in consequence (Neh. xiii. 24; Zech. ix. 6). The word Palestine only applies strictly to the district of Philistia. Milton uses it, with his usual accuracy, in the description of Dagon as"That twice-battered god of Palestine."[346]Uzziah's opposition to Assyria—of which there seems to be no doubt, for he must be the Azrijahu of theEponym Canon—took place about 738, and was a coalition movement. But it gives rise to great chronological and other difficulties. As the solution of these is at present only conjectural, I refer to Schrader (E. Tr.), ii. 211-219. He is called Azrijahu Jahudai.[347]2 Kings xv. 5 (2 Chron. xxvi. 21, "a house of sickness"). LXX., ἐν οἴκῳ ἀφφουσώθ; Vulg.,in domo libera seorsim. Comp Lev. xiii. 46. Theodoret understands it that he was shut up privately in his own palace: ἔνδον ἐν θαλάμῳ ὑπ' οὐδένος ὁρώμενος. Symmachus, ἐγκεκλεισμένος.[348]His misfortune must have made a deep impression, and is possibly alluded to in Hos. iv. 4: "For thy people are as they that strive with the priest."[349]The Chronicler attributes the good part of his reign to the influence of an unknown Zechariah, "who had understanding in the visions of God"; and says that when Zechariah died Uzziah altered for the worse.[350]This high priest, Azariah, is only mentioned elsewhere in 2 Chron. xxvi. 17, 20.[351]Josephus says that he had put on a priestly robe, and that a great feast was going on, and that the earthquake (Amos i. 1; Zech. xiv. 5) happened at the moment, which broke the Temple roof, so that a sunbeam smote his head and produced the leprosy. We here see the growth of the Haggadah.[352]For instance, two verses earlier (2 Kings xv. 30) we read of the twentieth year of Jotham.[353]Isa. i. 10-17.[354]Amos viii. 2.[355]Amos iv. 1-3.[356]It is probable that our present Book of Zechariah is composed of the works of three prophets of different dates, each of whom may have borne that name. See myMinor Prophets("Men of the Bible" Series).[357]Zech. xi. 8. In 2 Kings xv. 10 the LXX. read καὶ επάταξεν αὐτὸν ἐν κεβλαάμ; and Ewald thinks that "before the people" (קָבָל־צָם) is really a proper name of the third king in one month—"andKobolamslew him." There is insufficient ground for this; though a similar name is found in Assyrian records.[358]Hos. viii. 3, vii. 7.[359]Zachariah, Shallum, Kobolam (?).[360]Zech. xi. 1-17 (Heb. 13).[361]That this was Thapsacus on the Euphrates (1 Kings iv. 24), and that Menahem was in a position to march northward three hundred miles, and offer so deadly and wanton an insult to the might of Assyria, is out of the question. The name means "a ford," and might apply to any town on a river. Thenius thinks the name is a clerical error forTappuach, between Ephraim and Manasseh (Josh. xvii. 7, 8).[362]Josephus says, ὠμότητος ὑπερβολὴν οὐ καταλιπὼν οὐδὲ ἀγριότητος. It is said that the same crime was committed in 1861 by a Mexican bandit. Machiavelli says, "He who violently and without just right usurps a crown must use cruelty, if cruelty becomes necessary, once for all" (De princ., 8).[363]2 Kings viii. 12; Hos. xiii. 16.[364]Amos i. 13.[365]Hos. x. 14. This allusion is, however, uncertain. Shalmaneser III. is not elsewhere found abbreviated into Shalman. Some suppose him to be a Moabitish king, Salamannu, who was a vassal of Tiglath-Pileser. The LXX., Vulg., etc., identify him with the Zalmunna of Judg. viii. 18. Psalm lxxxiii. 11 renders the wordex domo ejus qui judicavit Baal(i.e., Gideon). Beth-Arbel is either Arbela in Galilee, or Irbid, north-east of Pella.[366]Nah. iii. 10.[367]Isa. xiii. 16.[368]The two predecessors of Tiglath-Pileser (Tuklat-abal-isarra) were Assurdayan and Assurnirari.[369]Isa. v. 26-29.[370]Comp. Job xx. 15; Ruth ii. 1.[371]Hos. v. 11-13. Comp. x. 6: "It [Samaria] shall be carried to Assyria for a present unto King Jareb." Sayce (Bab. and Orient. Records, December 1887) thinks that Jareb may have been the original name of Sargon, and so too Neubauer,Zeitschr. für Assyr., 1886. The Vulg. renders King Jarebad regem ultorem, and so too Symmachus. Aquila and Theodotion have δικαζόμενον. It may be the name of an unknown king of Assyria, or of Pul, or of Sargon—R.V., margin, "a king that should contend."[372]Hos. vii. 8-12.[373]Josephus says, τῇ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀκολουθήσας ὠμότητι.[374]2 Kings xv. 25, A.V., "in the palace of the king's house" (armon), rather "fortress." For the character of the Gileadites see 1 Chron. xii. 8, xxvi. 31.[375]The length of Pekah's reign is most doubtful. If the periods assigned to the reigns in the Northern and Southern Kingdoms be added together up to the Fall of Samaria in the sixth year of Hezekiah (2 Kings xviii. 9, 10), it will be found that the Southern chronology is twenty years longer than the Northern. G. Smith would alter the text, and make Jeroboam II. reign fifty-one years and Pekah thirty years; others invent an interregnum of eleven years between Jeroboam II. and Zachariah, and an anarchy of nine years before Hoshea's accession; others shorten Pekah's reign tooneyear.[376]2 Kings xv. 37.[377]Videinfra.[378]Deut. xxxiii. 19: "They [Zebulon] shall call the peoples unto the mountain: there shall they offer the sacrifices of righteousness."[379]Isa. viii. 6, 7.[380]Perhaps we should read Edomites (2 Kings xvi. 6).[381]The bar of its city gate.[382]Bikath-Aven—"The cleft of Aven"—Cœle Syria, or Hollow Syria, still called by the Arabs El-Bukāa. Comp. Josh. xi. 17, xii. 7. Aven—or "Vanity"—is perhaps Heliopolis or Baalbek. Comp. Ezek. xxx. 17.[383]Perhaps Beit el Jame, "House of Paradise"—about eight hours from Damascus (Porter,Five Years in Syria, i. 313).[384]Kir, in Armenia—the land of their origin (Amos ix. 7).[385]But, after all, was there a golden calf at Dan? It is scarcely ever alluded to, and the notion that there was one may have arisen (1) from a corruption or mistaken rendering of the text in 1 Kings xii. 29, and (2) from the existence there of the idolatrous ephod. See Klostermann,ad loc.; Isa. ix. 8-17.[386]LXX., Ἀποτρίψαι τὸν μόσχον σοῦ, Σαμάρεια; Vulg.,Projectus est vitulus tuus, Samaria. Orelli renders it, "Abscheulich ist dein Kalb, O Samaria." In Jer. xlvi. 15 we read (of Egypt), "Why is thy strong one swept away?" where the true reading may be, "Hath Khaph [i.e., Apis], thy chosen one, fled?" LXX., Ἆπις ὁ μόσχος σοῦ, ὁ ἐκλεκτός. So Amos had prophesied that the "god of Dan" and the "way of Beersheba" should fall for evermore (Amos viii. 14).[387]Isa. ix. 11-16. With this passage comp. 2 Kings xxiii. 5; Zeph. i. 4; Hos. vii. 9, 10.[388]Tiglath-Pileser says: "Pakaha, their king, I killed: Ausi [Hoshea] I placed over them. The distant land of Bit-Khumri [the "house of Omri"]—the whole of its inhabitants, with their goods—I carried away to Asshur" (b.c.734). In this year he mentions Ahaz among his tributaries.[389]Hos. iv. 4; v. 1, "Hear ye this, O priests ... ye have been a snare on Mizpah," etc.; vi. 9, "The company of the priests murder by the way to Shechem."[390]Hos. x. 10 (so R.V., and in the main the versions after the Hebrew margin). LXX., ἐν τῷ παιδεύεσθαι αὐτοὺς ἐν ταῖς δύσιν ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν; Vulg., "cum corripientur propter duas iniquitates suas"; A.V., "When they shall bind themselves in their two furrows." I believe that the "twoiniquities" may meantwocherubs at Bethel. See x. 15: "So shall Bethel do unto you because of the evil of your evil."[391]Hos. xi. 8-11.[392]2 Kings xvii. 1 is inconsistent with xv. 30, 33, and it is wholly useless for our purpose to enter into complicated chronological hypotheses, every one of which may be erroneous.[393]Schrader,K. A. T., p. 255.[394]Seder Olam, xxii. 2; 2 Chron. xxx. 6-11.[395]See Herod., ii. 137; called So (Heb., Sô or Seve) in 2 Kings xvii. 4. Perhaps Shebek, the founder of the twenty-fifth dynasty. LXX., Σηγώρ; Vulg.,Sua; Manetho,Sabachon. In theEponym Canonhe is called an Egyptian general,Sibakhi, who helped Gaza against Assyria, and was defeated. Thekaappended at the end of his name (Egyptian Shaba-ka) is thought by some to be the Cushite article. The race of the priest Hirhor died out with Piankhi, and the Ethiopians elected a noble named Kashta. Shabak was his son. He conquered Sais, and burnt his rival Bek-en-raut alive (b.c.724). His dynasty ruled for fifty years; he was succeeded by Sevechus (Shabatok), and he by Tehrak (Tirhakah).[396]His name means "Salmân, pardon." We have no monuments or inscriptions of this king; only an imperial weight.[397]Mic. v. 1.[398]Hos. xiii. 13.[399]Hos. xiii. 7-11. The prophecy is rhythmic, though not written in actual poetry.[400]Till the discovery of the Assyrian records, Sargon (Sharru-kênu, 'the faithful king') was but a name. The Jews knew but little of him. He is but once mentioned in Scripture (Isa. xx. 1), and was probably confused by some Jews with other kings. Yet he reigned sixteen years (722-705), and his records give the annals of fifteen campaigns. In 720 he crushed a confederacy headed by Yahubid of Hamath, and reduced that city to a "heap of ruins." He then advanced against Hanno, King of Gaza, who was in alliance with Sabaco, and defeated the combined forces of the Philistines and Egyptians at Raphia, half-way between Gaza and the Wady-el-Arîsh, "the torrent [nachal] of Egypt." Sargon was at the time too much occupied with other enemies to pursue his advantage over Egypt; for Armenia, Media, and other countries needed his attention. This encouraged Ashdod to rebel, and its king, Azuri, refused his tribute (see Isa. xx. 1). Sargon deposed him, and put his brother Ahimit in his place. Relying on Egyptian promises, Philistia joined Judah, Edom, and Moab in defying Assyria. They deposed Ahimit as an Assyrian nominee, and put Yaman in his place. Egypt, as usual, failed to help, and in 711 the Assyrian Turtan, or Commander-in-chief, took Ashdod after three years' resistance, and carried its people into captivity. The punishment of Egypt was reserved for the subsequent reigns of Esarhaddon (681-668) and Assurbanipal. See Driver'sIsaiah xlv.(Isa. xx.). Isa. xiv. 29-32 is an ode of triumph for the Fall of Philistia.[401]Hos. xiii. 16.[402]See De Hincks inJourn. of Sacr. Lit., October 1858; Layard,Nin. and Bab., i. 148.[403]Isa. xxviii. 1-4.[404]2 Kings xvii. 13, "by all the prophets, and all theseers," (chôseh). Hāvernick thinks that thenebi'îmwere suchofficially.[405]See Amos ii. 4, 5; Isa. xxviii. 15; Jer. xvi. 19, 20; Ezek. xx. 13-30, etc.[406]Deut. xxvi. 5.[407]Isa. xli. 14.[408]Hos. xi. 9.[409]See myMinor Prophets, 6-97.[410]Not as in A.V., "Habor,bythe river of Gozan."[411]2 Kings xvii. 6. The LXX. has "rivers" and "mountains": ἐν Ἀλαὲ καὶ ἐν Ἀβὼρ ποταμοῖς Γωζὰν καὶ ὅρη Μήδων. The river is not Ezekiel's Chebar. These deportationsen masseof a whole population, with their women and children, their waggons and flocks, are depicted on Sargon's series of tablets in his splendid palace at Khorsabad.[412]Ezra iv. 10. "The great and noble Asnapper" of the passage is either some Assyrian general, or a confusion of the name Assurbanipal.[413]2 Kings xvii. 9. Heb., "covered"; A.V. and R.V., "did secretly," rather "perfidiously"; LXX., ἠμφιέσαντο λόγους ἀδίκους κατὰ κύριον; Vulg.,Et offenderunt verbis non rectis dominum suum.[414]Star-worship is not mentioned in the Book of the Covenant (Exod. xx.-xxiii.) or the oldest sections of the Mosaic Law. It is first forbidden in Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 3, when contact with Syrians and Assyrians made it known (comp. Job xxxi. 26-28; Jer. viii. 2, xix. 13; Zeph. i. 5). The language of 2 Kings vii.-xxiii. frequently reflects the prohibitions of Deuteronomy (see Deut. xii. 2, 30, 31, iv. 19, v. 7, 8, xvi. 21, xviii. 10, xxxi. 16, etc.)[415]In 2 Kings xvii. 11, for "they did wicked things," the LXX. has κοινωνοὺς (i.e.,qedeshîm) ἐχάραξαν καὶ ἑταιρίδας (qedeshôth);i.e., they had depravedhieroduliof both sexes. Comp. Hos. iv. 14; Gen. xxxviii. 21 (where the allusion is to one of the votaries of Asherah).[416]Bishop Lightfoot,Sermons, p. 267.[417]"La quale Religione se ne Principi della Republica Christiana si fusse mantenuta, secondo che dal dottore d'essa ne fu ordinato, sarebbero gli State e le Republiche Christiane più unite e più felici assai ch' elle non sono" (Discorsi, i. 12).[418]2 Kings xvii. 24. Comp. xviii. 34. Hence the later Jews comprehensively called the Samaritans Cuthites. Comp. 2 Kings xix. 13; Isa. xxxvii. 13.[419]Heliopolis, Ptolemy, v. 18, § 7; Isa. xxxvi. 19. Here, according to the Chaldæan legends, Xisuthrus buried his tablets about the Creation, etc.[420]From Ezra iv. 2 some infer that the main immigrants were introduced by Esarhaddon, who did not succeed tillb.c.681. He claims to have colonised Syria.[421]So we see from 2 Kings xix. 13, which applies to the reign of Hezekiah.[422]See Appendix, "The Golden Calves."[423]He uses the agency of "the great and noble Asnapper" (Ezra iv. 10) for the deportation (see Botta, 145; Layard,Nin. and Bab., i. 148; Dr. Hincks,Jour. of Sacr. Lit., October 1858), unless Asnapper be a confusion for Assurbanipal (Sardanapalus).[424]Hos. iii. 4.[425]See Jer. xlix. 19, l. 44; Prov. xxii. 13, etc.[426]Lit., "Daughter-huts" (Selden,De Dis Syr., ii. 7), but probably a transliteration. Zarpanit—"She who gives seed"—was Aphrodite Pandemos (Mylitta—Herod., i. 199). The Rabbis—who only guess—say she represented "the Clucking Hen"—i.e., the Pleiades. There does not seem to be any connection between Succoth and "Sakkuth," the various reading in Amos v. 26, which seems to be the Assyrian Moloch.[427]Said to be worshipped under the form of a cock.[428]LXX., Ἐβλαζέρ. Jarchi says these deities were worshipped under base animal forms—but it is more than doubtful.[429]The Rabbis, from Exod. xxiii. 13; Josh. xxiii. 7, thought they were bound to give scornful nicknames to heathen deities. Hence such changes as Kir-Heres for Kir-Cheres, Beelzebub for Beelzebul, Bethaven for Bethel, Bosheth for Baal, etc.[430]Not as in A.V., "of the lowest of them," but "of all classes." Comp. 1 Kings xii. 31.[431]In 2 Kings xvii. 31-38 we again find repeated references to Deuteronomy (iv. 23, v. 32, x. 20, etc.).[432]Ezra iv. 1. The actual word "Samaritans" occurs only once in the Old Testament, in 2 Kings xvii. 29.[433]See Neh. xiii. 4-9, 28, 29; Jos.,Antt., XI. vii. 2. Josephus makes Manasseh a brother of the high priest Jaddua (b.c.333).[434]Jos.,Antt., IX. xiv. 3, XII. v. 5, XIII. ix. 1, XX. vi., XVIII. ii. 2. The bitterly hostile relations between Jews and Samaritans in the time of Christ are illustrated by Luke ix. 52-54.[435]Probably a shortened form for Jehoahaz ("The Lord taketh hold"). He is called Jahuhazi in Tiglath-Pileser's inscription (Schrader,Keilinschr., p. 163).[436]For twenty-five it is not improbable that we should read fifteen.[437]Isa. iii. 1-12.[438]In Isa. ii. 2-4 we find, as so often in the prophetic books in their present too-often-haphazard arrangement, a glowing promise of universal peace placed before unsparing denunciations. The verses are also found in Micah (iv. 1, 2), and it has been conjectured that in both prophets they are a quotation from some older source—perhaps from Jonah, son of Amittai.[439]Heb., "deceiving with their eyes."[440]Isa. v. 7. The paronomasia of the original is striking. Van Oort renders it, "He looked forreason, but beholdtreason; and forright, but beholdaffright."[441]His name means "Jehovah saves," and is perhaps alluded to in Isa. viii. 18. Amos ("One who bears a burden"), needless to say, is a totally different name from that of Amoz ("Vigorous"), the father of Isaiah.[442]2 Chron. xxviii. 19.[443]It may mean "God is good" (Tabeel).[444]For further explanations I must refer to my paper on Rabbinic Exegesis (Expositor, First Series, v. 373).[445]2 Chron. xxviii. 7.[446]Of Oded nothing else is known.[447]Some, however, interpret the name "A remnant repents" (LXX., ὁ καταλειφθεὶς Ἰασούβ; Vulg.,Qui derelictus est Jaseb).[448]Isa. vi. 13.[449]The words "And within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people" (Isa. vii. 8), are almost certainly an interpolation: for (1) the overthrow came within far less than sixty years; (2) the clause awkwardly breaks the context; (3) the "sixty years" is inconsistent with the promise (vii. 16) that it should be within very few years.[450]Isa. vii. 1-25.[451]Not improbably the water which afterwards flowed through Hezekiah's new tunnel between the Virgin's Tomb and the Pool of Siloam. It is referred to in 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 30 (Isa. xxii. 9-11). SeeAppendix II.[452]This, if it be correct, can only mean that the son of Tabeal had a party in Jerusalem; but Hitzig renders it "dreadeth," not "rejoiceth in."[453]The meaning is by no means clear.[454]See Driver,Isaiah, p. 34.[455]See 2 Kings xxiii. 11, which shows that this was not an innovation of Manasseh's. They were common in Persia. See Q. Curtius, iii. 3.[456]2 Kings xvii. 31; Ezek. xvi. 21, xxiii. 37, xxxiii. 6; Deut. xii. 31; Jer. xix. 5. See 2 Chron. xxviii. 3; for "his son," בְּנוֹ, it uses בָּנָיו "his sons," but perhaps generically. Moloch-worship may have been stimulated by accounts of the Assyrian fire-god Adrammelech (Movers,Phöniz., ii. 101). On this sacrifice of children to Moloch, which the Phœnicians referred back to the god El or Il, once King of Byblos, who in a crisis of danger sacrificed his eldest son Icond, see Plut.,De Superst., § 13; Diod. Sic., xx. 12-14; 2 Kings iii. 27, xvi. 3, xxi. 6; Mic. vi. 7; Döllinger,Judenthum u. Heidenthum(E. T.), i. 427-429.[457]This worship was to be punished by stoning (Lev. xviii. 21, xx. 2-5; Deut. xviii. 10). On the whole subject see Movers,Phöniz., 64; Jarchion Jer. vii.31; Euseb.,Præp. Ev., iv. 16.[458]Josephus says that Ahaz made "a whole burnt-offering" of his son; but his authority is very small (καὶ ἴδιον ὡλοκαύτωσεν παῖδα). Comp. Psalm cvi. 37.[459]Ignorant Romanists have often cherished the same notions about the saints. For centuries in Spain the people bought the old gowns and cowls of the monks, and buried their dead in them, to deceive St. Peter into the notion that they were Dominicans or Franciscans![460]See Ovid,Fasti, v. 659: "Scripea pro domino Tiberi jactatur imago." They were also calledArgei,id.621; Varro,L. L., vi. 3.[461]Varro,L. L., v. 3.[462]Herod., ii. 137. Egypt.,Sebek; Heb.,So(2 Kings xvii. 4), or perhapsSeve; Arab.,Shab'i. Rawlinson,Hist. of Anct. Egypt, ii. 433-450.[463]Kir (see Amos ix. 7) is omitted in the LXX. Elam is added in Isa. xxii. 6. Tiglath-Pileser calls the king Rasunnu Sarimirisu—i.e., of Aram. See Smith,Assyr. Discoveries, p. 274;Eponym Canon, 68; Schrader,K. A. T., 152 ff.[464]Isa. xvii. 1-11.[465]The name seems to be Tuklat-abal-isarra,—according to Oppert worshipper of the son of the Zodiac—i.e., of Nin or Hercules. According to Polyhistor, he was a usurper who had been a vine-dresser in the royal gardens. He never mentions his ancestry. But see Schrader,K. A. T., 217 ff., 240 ff., and in Riehm.[466]Eponym Canon, p. 121, lines 1-15. On this fall of Damascus and Samaria, see Isa. xvii.[467]Jahuhazi (Schrader,Keilinschr., p. 263). He probably bore both names; but, as in the case of Jeconiah, who is called Coniah, the omission of the element "Jehovah" from his name may have been intended as a mark of reprobation.[468]The remark may refer to some earlier period in the reign of Ahaz, before the capture of Damascus. It is more probable that the altar was used for some Assyrian deity, and the adoption of it may have flattered Tiglath-Pileser.[469]2 Kings xvi. 11, which records the zealous subservience of Urijah, is wanting in some MSS. of the LXX. But that the altar was made, and without his opposition, is clear from the narrative. Asa (2 Chron. xv. 8) had repaired Solomon's great altar; Hezekiah subsequently cleansed it (id.xxix. 18); Manasseh rebuilt it (Q'ri). The brass of it ultimately went to Babylon (Jer. lii. 17-20).[470]Bähr says: "It seems that Urijah, like his companion, was only anxious for his revenues. At any rate, his conduct is a sign of the character and standing of the priests of that time. They were 'dumb dogs who could not bark.' They all followed their own ways, every one for his own gain" (Isa. lvi. 10, 11). "We have in this high priest," says theWürtemberg Summary, "a specimen of those hypocrites and belly-servants who say, 'Whose bread I eat, his song I sing'; who veer about with the wind, and seek to be pleasant to all men; who wish to hurt no one's feelings, but teach just what any one wants to hear."[471]1 Kings viii. 64; 2 Chron. iv. 1. In this and similar instances commentators, biassed bya prioriconsiderations, have imagined that Ahaz did not in person offer sacrifices. But this is what the text says, and it was the custom of kings to regard themselves as invested with Divine attributes. Ahaz may have had this lesson impressed on his mind by his visit to Tiglath-Pileser. See Grätz,Gesch. der Juden., ii. 150. Layard,Nin. and Bab., 472 ff., gives us pictures of Assyrian kings ministering at their altars, which are of various shapes.[472]2 Kings xvi. 15. Vulg.,paratum erit ad voluntatem meam. The LXX. followed another reading: ἔσται μοὶ εἰς τὸ πρωί. Grätz (ii. 150), for לכקר, "to inquire," reads לקרב "to draw near to."[473]1 Kings vii. 23-39.[474]2 Kings xvi. 18. The allusions are obscure. R.V., "the covered way"; A.V., "the covert for the Sabbath." See 2 Chron. ix. 4. Here the Hebr.Q'rihasMûsak, and the Vulg.Musach Sabbati. The LXX. evidently did not understand it (καὶ τὸν θεμέλιον τῆς καθέδρας ᾠκοδόμησεν). For "covert for the Sabbath," Geiger suggests "molten images for the Shame" (Bosheth-Baal, by transposition ofShabbath). Comp. 2 Chron. xxviii. 2.[475]2 Chron. xxviii. 20: "Tiglath-Pileser came unto him, and distressed him, but helped him not."[476]2 Kings xviii. 15, 16.[477]In justice to Ahaz, we should observe that (1) in every instance the later account multiplies and magnifies and gives a darker colouring to his offences; (2) that neither Isaiah, Micah, nor any other prophet has a word of reproach for such enormities in Ahaz.[478]It is a Jewish tradition that Hezekiah would not bury his father Ahaz in a sarcophagus, but on a bier (Pesachin, f. 56, 1;Sanhedrin, f. 47, 1; Grätz,Gesch. d. Juden., ii, 224).[479]His name,Chizquîyyah, is shortened fromYechizquîyyahoo(Isa. i. 1; 2 Kings xx. 10; Hos. i. 1). It means "Jehovah's strength" (Gesen.), or "Yah is might" (Fûrst).[480]The first of these dates is highly uncertain, as is the entire chronology of this reign. I follow Kittel.[481]2 Chron. xxxi. 2-21.[482]Josiah did this many years later (2 Kings xxiii. 13).[483]Gen. xxxv. 14. See Spencer,De legg. Hebr., i. 444; Bochart,Canaan, ii. 2.[484]Exod. xxiv. 4. Comp. Deut. vii. 5, xii. 3, xvi. 22; Lev. xxvi. 1; 2 Chron. xiv. 3, xxxi. 1; Jer. xliii. 13; Hos. x. 2; Mic. v. 13 (where the A.V. often has "statue" or "image"). Comp. Clem. Alex.,Strom., i. 24; Arnob.,c. Gent., i. 39.[485]The rendering "grove" in the A.V. is borrowed from the ἄλσος of the LXX., and thelucusof the Vulgate. On the connection of the Asherah with the sacred tree of the Assyrian, see my article on "Grove" in Smith'sDict. of the Bible; and Fergusson,Nineveh and Persepolis Restored, 299-304. On the worship of Asherah, see 1 Kings xv. 13; 2 Kings xxi. 3-7, xxiii. 4; 2 Chron. xv. 16; Judg. iii. 5-7, vi. 25, xviii. 18. Baudissin inHerzog Realencykl.,s.v.We may well be startled by the prevalence of idolatry in Jerusalem revealed in Isa. x. 11, xxvii. 9, xxix. 11, xxx. 9, 22, etc.[486]See Wellhausen,Hist., 235; Stade,Gesch. d. V. I., 460; W. R. Smith,Religion of the Semites, 171; Cheyne,Isaiah, ii. 303; Renan,Hist. du Peuple d'Israel, i. 230 (Prof. Driver,Bibl. Dict., i. 258, 2nd edition).[487]Hierozoicon, ii. 3, § 13.[488]Jer. xliv. 17. In the collection of antiquities of Baron Ustinoff at Jaffa are five or six dragon-headed serpents, with ears of copper and hollow inside. They are ancient, and were perhaps used as talismanic copies of Nehushtan.
"In more of life true life no more."
"In more of life true life no more."
[286]Josh. x. 6, 31, xv. 39; 2 Kings xviii. 17; 2 Chron. xi. 9.
[287]I have not thought it worth while to unravel by a series of uncertain conjectures the careless, and often self-contradictory, synchronism of the reigns of the kings in the two kingdoms. The compiler of these books evidently attached little or no importance to accurate chronology. For instance, the data of 2 Kings xiii. 1, 10, do not coincide; and instead of entering into tedious, doubtful, and confusing guesses, I have contented myself throughout with giving for the reigns of the kings such dates, or approximate dates, as seem to result from the several notices compared with the contemporary annals of Assyria.
[288]2 Chron. xxiv. 23.
[289]2 Kings xiii. 4; "besought," literally "stroked the face of" (1 Sam. xiii. 12; 1 Kings xiii. 6).
[290]The reference is usually explained of Jeroboam II.
[291]Comp. 2 Kings ii. 12.
[292]Lit., "Make thine hand to ride upon thy bow." There is not the slightest taint of belomancy in the story (comp. Ezek. xxi. 21), nor does it allude to shooting an arrow into an enemy's country as a declaration of war (Virg.,Æn., ix. 57).
[293]Aphek, a name of good omen (1 Kings xx. 26-30).
[294]Thrice. Comp. Num. xxii. 28; Exod. xxiii. 17, etc.
[295]LXX., ἐλυπήθη.
[296]See R.V., margin.
[297]Antt., IX. viii. 6.
[298]See Ecclus. xlviii. 13: "When he was dead, he prophesied in the tomb." (But the clause may be spurious.)
[299]Possibly some matrimonial proposal may have lain behind the interchange of messages.
[300]Stade. For similar parables see Judg. ix. 8; Herod., i. 141; Rawlinson,Anc. Mon., iii. 226.
[301]Beth-Shemesh, "the house of the sun." It is mentioned in 1 Sam. vi. 9, 12, and was a priestly city, and one of Solomon's store-cities (1 Kings iv. 9). It ultimately fell into the hands of the Philistines (2 Chron. xxviii. 18). It is not the Beth-Shemesh of Josh. xix. 22.
[302]Josephus says that this was the fault of Amaziah, whom Joash of Israel threatened with death if Jerusalem resisted.
[303]This implies that at least half the northern wall was dismantled—the wall towards Ephraim.
[304]Some have conjectured that Amaziah of Judah became more or less the vassal of Joash of Israel, and that the vassalage continued till after the death of Jeroboam II. (1) For Jeroboam II. held Elath till his death, when Uzziah recovered it (2 Kings xiv. 22), and he certainly could not have held this southern Judæan port if Judah was entirely independent; and (2) we read that Uzziah did not become king at all till thetwenty-seventhyear of Jeroboam II. But if Amaziah only survived Joash of Israel fifteen years (2 Kings xiv. 17), Uzziah must have succeeded in thefifteenthyear of Jeroboam. Is the explanation to be found in the fact that up to that time—for twelve years—Jeroboam did not allow the Judæans to elect a king? or are these among the hopeless confusion of synchronism which cannot be reconciled at all with our present data?
[305]2 Kings xiv. 25-27. There are other allusions to the historic events in 2 Kings x. 32, 33, xiii. 3-7, 22-25. Hitzig conjectures that Isa. xv., xvi., are "a burden of Moab" quoted from Jonah.
[306]2 Kings xiii. 5, "The Lord gave Israel a saviour"; xiv. 27, "And He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash." Some suppose the saviour to be the Assyrian King.
[307]It had owned the feudal supremacy of David (2 Sam. viii. 6), and Ahab had extorted the privilege of having bazaars there (1 Kings xx. 34). Considering how immense had been the resources of Damascus (2 Kings vi. 14), which had once been able to send to battle twelve thousand war-chariots (Eponym Canon, p. 108) under Benhadad, we see how fearfully the Syrian capital must have been weakened.
[308]If Isa. xv. 1, 2, refers to this invasion of Jeroboam II., as Hitzig first conjectured, we infer that he had taken both Ar of Moab (Rabbath) and Kir of Moab, a strong fortress on a hill, by night assaults; and that he had also captured Dibon, Nebo, and Medeba, and inflicted on them summary chastisement. It appears that the Moabites had advanced northwards from the Arnon, while Hazael occupied Ramoth-Gilead, and had seized part of the tribe of Reuben. Jeroboam II. first expelled them, and then invaded their own proper country. Hitzig conjectures that Isa. xv., xvi., are really an old prophecy—perhaps by Jonah, son of Amittai—which Isaiah quotes, and to which he adds two verses (Isa. xvi. 12, 13). In such overthrow Moab must have learnt to be ashamed of Chemosh (Jer. xlviii. 13).
[309]Isa. xv. 7; Amos vi. 14.
[310]Amos vi. 2.
[311]Merchandise had hitherto been considered discreditable for a pure Jew, so that a trader is called a Canaanite (Hos. xii. 7, 8).
[312]See the writer'sMinor Prophets("Men of the Bible" Series), pp. 231-243.
[313]Amos vii. 1. Famine (iv. 6); drought (iv. 7, 8); yellow blight and locusts (iv. 9); pestilence (iv. 10); earthquake and burning (iv. 11).
[314]Amos vii. 4.
[315]Amos i. 1, iii. 14, iv. 11, viii 8; Zech. xiv. 5: "Ye shall flee like as ye fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah." Josephus says that in an earthquake a little before the birth of Christ ten thousand were buried under the ruined houses (Antt., XV. v. 2), and he has many Rabbinic haggadoth to tell us about the earthquake, which, he says, happened at the moment when Uzziah burnt incense in the Temple (Antt., IX. x. 4).
[316]According to Hind, they took place on June 15th,b.c.763, and February 9th,b.c.784. Amos alludes to the capture of Gath by Uzziah, of Calneh (Ktesiphon), and of Hamath (vi. 2; 2 Chron. xxvi. 6). Gath henceforth disappears from the Philistian Pentapolis (Amos i. 7, 8; Zeph. ii. 4; Zech. ix. 5).
[317]Or "dresser of sycomore-trees" (R.V.). LXX., κνίζων συκάμινα; Vulg.,vellicans sycomoros. The sycomore-fruit (fruit of theFicus sycomorus, or wild fig) is ripened by puncturing it (Theoph.,H. Plant., iv. 2; Pliny,H. N., xiii. 14).
[318]The well-known town of Tekoa had been Solomon's horse-fair, and had been fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. xi. 6). It lay in a wild country six miles south of Bethlehem (2 Chron. xx. 20; 1 Macc. ix. 33; Robinson,Bibl. Res., i. 486). For a fuller account of these prophets, I must refer to my book onThe Minor Prophetsin the "Men of the Bible" Series. It has always been assumed that Amos belonged to the well-known Tekoa, and was therefore a subject of the Southern Kingdom. In recent days this has become uncertain. No sycomores grow or can grow on the bleak uplands of Tekoa (Tristram,Nat. Hist. of the Bible, p. 397); so that Jerome, in his preface to Amos, thinks that "brambles" are intended. Even Kimchi conjectured that Tekoa was an unknown town in the tribe of Asher. Amos's allusions to scenery are all applicable to the Northern landscape.
[319]Amos i. 1-ii. 5.
[320]Amos ii. 6-13.
[321]Amos iii. 9-15.
[322]Amos iv. 1-13.
[323]This title, "Jehovah-Tsebaoth," now begins to occur. It is not found in the Hexateuch. It probably means "Lord of thestarry hosts." Contact with Assyria first made the Israelites acquainted with star-worship. Amos alludes to the Pleiades and Orion (v. 8: comp. Job ix. 9, xxxviii. 31). Star-worship is forbidden in Deuteronomy. In Amos v. 26 the true meaning is that the Israeliteswould take with them, on their road to exile, Sakkuth (Moloch?) and Kewan (the god-star Saturn).
[324]Amos vi. 1-14.
[325]Amos vii. 1-9.
[326]Strange as it may seem, the early authority for the existence of any calf at Dan is very slight, and the extreme uncertainty of the reading and interpretation in one main passage (1 Kings xii. 32) makes it at least possible that there weretwo calves at Bethel, and that at Dan there was no calf, but only the old idolatrous ephod of Micah, still served by the servant of Moses. See additional note at the end of the volume.
[327]Amos iii. 2.
[328]That the chief priest of Bethel bore the name "Jehovah is strong" shows once more that "calf-worship" was in no sense asubstitutefor the worship of Jehovah.
[329]This was not quite accurate; he had rather prophesied the devastation of the high places (vii. 9). In fact, his words had often been very vague. "Thuswill I do unto thee" (iv. 12).
[330]Amos ix. 11-15. Comp. Hos. iii. 5.
[331]The exaggerated haggadoth of later days say that Amaziah had Amos beaten with leaded thongs, and that he was carried home in a dying state (Epiphan.,Opp., ii. 145), to which there is a supposed allusion in Heb. xi. 35: ἄλλοι δὲ ἐτυμπανίσθησαν.
[332]We cannot be sure that the term "Seer" was meant to be contemptuous, although from 1 Sam. ix. 9 we should infer that the title had become somewhat obsolete. Further, we must bear in mind that it may not have been always easy for worldlings to distinguish between true prophets and the unprincipled pretenders who, about this time, succeeded in making the name and aspect of a prophet so complete a disgrace that men had carefully to disclaim it (Zech. xiii. 2-6). It is true that the heading of Amos (i. 1), which may not, however, be by the prophet himself, tells us of "the words which hesaw" (i.e., spoke as a seer), and he also disclaims the name of prophet (vii. 14).
[333]Amos viii. 1-ix. 9, 10.
[334]Amos ix. 11-15.
[335]Hos. iv. 15-19.
[336]Hos. v. 13, vii. 11, viii. 9, ix. 3-6, xi. 5, xii. 1, xiv. 3. It must be borne in mind that the cuneiform inscriptions prove that Assyria had burst into sight like a lurid comet on the horizon far earlier than we had supposed. Jehu had paid tribute to Shalmaneser as far back asb.c.842, more than a century before Menahem's tribute in 738. The destruction which Hosea prophesied took place within thirty-one years of his prophecies—probably inb.c.722, when Sargon finished the siege of Samaria begun by Shalmaneser. The king Hoshea was perhaps taken captive before the siege.
[337]Hos. viii. 5, ix. 15.
[338]Hos. x. 13, 14.
[339]Hos. vi. 9: for "by consent" read "towards Shechem."
[340]Hos. vii. 3-7. The allusions are vague, but we see a drunken king among his drunken princes, surrounded by wicked plotters who have flattered his vices. He is ignorant of his peril. The subjects aid the rulers in these abominations. All are blazing, like an oven, with passion and infamy, and only rest (as the baker does) to acquire new strength for inflaming their burning desires. At the dawn their treachery blazes into the crime of murder, and in the wine-sick fever-heat of the banquet the king is murdered by his corrupt intimates (see myMinor Prophets, p. 78).
[341]Wellhausen,Isr. and Jud., 85.
[342]Hence, perhaps, the expression that the people "took him." If Amaziah died at fifty-nine, he probably had other sons.
[343]Compare the interchange of the names Azariel and Uzziel (Exod. vi. 18) in 1 Chron. vi. 2, 18. Azariah means "Jehovah hath helped," and Uzziah "Strength of Jehovah." It is just possible that his name was changed at his accession, as the chief priest also was named Azariah, and confusion might otherwise have arisen.
[344]2 Chron. xxvi. 2-15.
[345]Isa. xiv. 29. A mixed language arose in this district in consequence (Neh. xiii. 24; Zech. ix. 6). The word Palestine only applies strictly to the district of Philistia. Milton uses it, with his usual accuracy, in the description of Dagon as
"That twice-battered god of Palestine."
"That twice-battered god of Palestine."
[346]Uzziah's opposition to Assyria—of which there seems to be no doubt, for he must be the Azrijahu of theEponym Canon—took place about 738, and was a coalition movement. But it gives rise to great chronological and other difficulties. As the solution of these is at present only conjectural, I refer to Schrader (E. Tr.), ii. 211-219. He is called Azrijahu Jahudai.
[347]2 Kings xv. 5 (2 Chron. xxvi. 21, "a house of sickness"). LXX., ἐν οἴκῳ ἀφφουσώθ; Vulg.,in domo libera seorsim. Comp Lev. xiii. 46. Theodoret understands it that he was shut up privately in his own palace: ἔνδον ἐν θαλάμῳ ὑπ' οὐδένος ὁρώμενος. Symmachus, ἐγκεκλεισμένος.
[348]His misfortune must have made a deep impression, and is possibly alluded to in Hos. iv. 4: "For thy people are as they that strive with the priest."
[349]The Chronicler attributes the good part of his reign to the influence of an unknown Zechariah, "who had understanding in the visions of God"; and says that when Zechariah died Uzziah altered for the worse.
[350]This high priest, Azariah, is only mentioned elsewhere in 2 Chron. xxvi. 17, 20.
[351]Josephus says that he had put on a priestly robe, and that a great feast was going on, and that the earthquake (Amos i. 1; Zech. xiv. 5) happened at the moment, which broke the Temple roof, so that a sunbeam smote his head and produced the leprosy. We here see the growth of the Haggadah.
[352]For instance, two verses earlier (2 Kings xv. 30) we read of the twentieth year of Jotham.
[353]Isa. i. 10-17.
[354]Amos viii. 2.
[355]Amos iv. 1-3.
[356]It is probable that our present Book of Zechariah is composed of the works of three prophets of different dates, each of whom may have borne that name. See myMinor Prophets("Men of the Bible" Series).
[357]Zech. xi. 8. In 2 Kings xv. 10 the LXX. read καὶ επάταξεν αὐτὸν ἐν κεβλαάμ; and Ewald thinks that "before the people" (קָבָל־צָם) is really a proper name of the third king in one month—"andKobolamslew him." There is insufficient ground for this; though a similar name is found in Assyrian records.
[358]Hos. viii. 3, vii. 7.
[359]Zachariah, Shallum, Kobolam (?).
[360]Zech. xi. 1-17 (Heb. 13).
[361]That this was Thapsacus on the Euphrates (1 Kings iv. 24), and that Menahem was in a position to march northward three hundred miles, and offer so deadly and wanton an insult to the might of Assyria, is out of the question. The name means "a ford," and might apply to any town on a river. Thenius thinks the name is a clerical error forTappuach, between Ephraim and Manasseh (Josh. xvii. 7, 8).
[362]Josephus says, ὠμότητος ὑπερβολὴν οὐ καταλιπὼν οὐδὲ ἀγριότητος. It is said that the same crime was committed in 1861 by a Mexican bandit. Machiavelli says, "He who violently and without just right usurps a crown must use cruelty, if cruelty becomes necessary, once for all" (De princ., 8).
[363]2 Kings viii. 12; Hos. xiii. 16.
[364]Amos i. 13.
[365]Hos. x. 14. This allusion is, however, uncertain. Shalmaneser III. is not elsewhere found abbreviated into Shalman. Some suppose him to be a Moabitish king, Salamannu, who was a vassal of Tiglath-Pileser. The LXX., Vulg., etc., identify him with the Zalmunna of Judg. viii. 18. Psalm lxxxiii. 11 renders the wordex domo ejus qui judicavit Baal(i.e., Gideon). Beth-Arbel is either Arbela in Galilee, or Irbid, north-east of Pella.
[366]Nah. iii. 10.
[367]Isa. xiii. 16.
[368]The two predecessors of Tiglath-Pileser (Tuklat-abal-isarra) were Assurdayan and Assurnirari.
[369]Isa. v. 26-29.
[370]Comp. Job xx. 15; Ruth ii. 1.
[371]Hos. v. 11-13. Comp. x. 6: "It [Samaria] shall be carried to Assyria for a present unto King Jareb." Sayce (Bab. and Orient. Records, December 1887) thinks that Jareb may have been the original name of Sargon, and so too Neubauer,Zeitschr. für Assyr., 1886. The Vulg. renders King Jarebad regem ultorem, and so too Symmachus. Aquila and Theodotion have δικαζόμενον. It may be the name of an unknown king of Assyria, or of Pul, or of Sargon—R.V., margin, "a king that should contend."
[372]Hos. vii. 8-12.
[373]Josephus says, τῇ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀκολουθήσας ὠμότητι.
[374]2 Kings xv. 25, A.V., "in the palace of the king's house" (armon), rather "fortress." For the character of the Gileadites see 1 Chron. xii. 8, xxvi. 31.
[375]The length of Pekah's reign is most doubtful. If the periods assigned to the reigns in the Northern and Southern Kingdoms be added together up to the Fall of Samaria in the sixth year of Hezekiah (2 Kings xviii. 9, 10), it will be found that the Southern chronology is twenty years longer than the Northern. G. Smith would alter the text, and make Jeroboam II. reign fifty-one years and Pekah thirty years; others invent an interregnum of eleven years between Jeroboam II. and Zachariah, and an anarchy of nine years before Hoshea's accession; others shorten Pekah's reign tooneyear.
[376]2 Kings xv. 37.
[377]Videinfra.
[378]Deut. xxxiii. 19: "They [Zebulon] shall call the peoples unto the mountain: there shall they offer the sacrifices of righteousness."
[379]Isa. viii. 6, 7.
[380]Perhaps we should read Edomites (2 Kings xvi. 6).
[381]The bar of its city gate.
[382]Bikath-Aven—"The cleft of Aven"—Cœle Syria, or Hollow Syria, still called by the Arabs El-Bukāa. Comp. Josh. xi. 17, xii. 7. Aven—or "Vanity"—is perhaps Heliopolis or Baalbek. Comp. Ezek. xxx. 17.
[383]Perhaps Beit el Jame, "House of Paradise"—about eight hours from Damascus (Porter,Five Years in Syria, i. 313).
[384]Kir, in Armenia—the land of their origin (Amos ix. 7).
[385]But, after all, was there a golden calf at Dan? It is scarcely ever alluded to, and the notion that there was one may have arisen (1) from a corruption or mistaken rendering of the text in 1 Kings xii. 29, and (2) from the existence there of the idolatrous ephod. See Klostermann,ad loc.; Isa. ix. 8-17.
[386]LXX., Ἀποτρίψαι τὸν μόσχον σοῦ, Σαμάρεια; Vulg.,Projectus est vitulus tuus, Samaria. Orelli renders it, "Abscheulich ist dein Kalb, O Samaria." In Jer. xlvi. 15 we read (of Egypt), "Why is thy strong one swept away?" where the true reading may be, "Hath Khaph [i.e., Apis], thy chosen one, fled?" LXX., Ἆπις ὁ μόσχος σοῦ, ὁ ἐκλεκτός. So Amos had prophesied that the "god of Dan" and the "way of Beersheba" should fall for evermore (Amos viii. 14).
[387]Isa. ix. 11-16. With this passage comp. 2 Kings xxiii. 5; Zeph. i. 4; Hos. vii. 9, 10.
[388]Tiglath-Pileser says: "Pakaha, their king, I killed: Ausi [Hoshea] I placed over them. The distant land of Bit-Khumri [the "house of Omri"]—the whole of its inhabitants, with their goods—I carried away to Asshur" (b.c.734). In this year he mentions Ahaz among his tributaries.
[389]Hos. iv. 4; v. 1, "Hear ye this, O priests ... ye have been a snare on Mizpah," etc.; vi. 9, "The company of the priests murder by the way to Shechem."
[390]Hos. x. 10 (so R.V., and in the main the versions after the Hebrew margin). LXX., ἐν τῷ παιδεύεσθαι αὐτοὺς ἐν ταῖς δύσιν ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν; Vulg., "cum corripientur propter duas iniquitates suas"; A.V., "When they shall bind themselves in their two furrows." I believe that the "twoiniquities" may meantwocherubs at Bethel. See x. 15: "So shall Bethel do unto you because of the evil of your evil."
[391]Hos. xi. 8-11.
[392]2 Kings xvii. 1 is inconsistent with xv. 30, 33, and it is wholly useless for our purpose to enter into complicated chronological hypotheses, every one of which may be erroneous.
[393]Schrader,K. A. T., p. 255.
[394]Seder Olam, xxii. 2; 2 Chron. xxx. 6-11.
[395]See Herod., ii. 137; called So (Heb., Sô or Seve) in 2 Kings xvii. 4. Perhaps Shebek, the founder of the twenty-fifth dynasty. LXX., Σηγώρ; Vulg.,Sua; Manetho,Sabachon. In theEponym Canonhe is called an Egyptian general,Sibakhi, who helped Gaza against Assyria, and was defeated. Thekaappended at the end of his name (Egyptian Shaba-ka) is thought by some to be the Cushite article. The race of the priest Hirhor died out with Piankhi, and the Ethiopians elected a noble named Kashta. Shabak was his son. He conquered Sais, and burnt his rival Bek-en-raut alive (b.c.724). His dynasty ruled for fifty years; he was succeeded by Sevechus (Shabatok), and he by Tehrak (Tirhakah).
[396]His name means "Salmân, pardon." We have no monuments or inscriptions of this king; only an imperial weight.
[397]Mic. v. 1.
[398]Hos. xiii. 13.
[399]Hos. xiii. 7-11. The prophecy is rhythmic, though not written in actual poetry.
[400]Till the discovery of the Assyrian records, Sargon (Sharru-kênu, 'the faithful king') was but a name. The Jews knew but little of him. He is but once mentioned in Scripture (Isa. xx. 1), and was probably confused by some Jews with other kings. Yet he reigned sixteen years (722-705), and his records give the annals of fifteen campaigns. In 720 he crushed a confederacy headed by Yahubid of Hamath, and reduced that city to a "heap of ruins." He then advanced against Hanno, King of Gaza, who was in alliance with Sabaco, and defeated the combined forces of the Philistines and Egyptians at Raphia, half-way between Gaza and the Wady-el-Arîsh, "the torrent [nachal] of Egypt." Sargon was at the time too much occupied with other enemies to pursue his advantage over Egypt; for Armenia, Media, and other countries needed his attention. This encouraged Ashdod to rebel, and its king, Azuri, refused his tribute (see Isa. xx. 1). Sargon deposed him, and put his brother Ahimit in his place. Relying on Egyptian promises, Philistia joined Judah, Edom, and Moab in defying Assyria. They deposed Ahimit as an Assyrian nominee, and put Yaman in his place. Egypt, as usual, failed to help, and in 711 the Assyrian Turtan, or Commander-in-chief, took Ashdod after three years' resistance, and carried its people into captivity. The punishment of Egypt was reserved for the subsequent reigns of Esarhaddon (681-668) and Assurbanipal. See Driver'sIsaiah xlv.(Isa. xx.). Isa. xiv. 29-32 is an ode of triumph for the Fall of Philistia.
[401]Hos. xiii. 16.
[402]See De Hincks inJourn. of Sacr. Lit., October 1858; Layard,Nin. and Bab., i. 148.
[403]Isa. xxviii. 1-4.
[404]2 Kings xvii. 13, "by all the prophets, and all theseers," (chôseh). Hāvernick thinks that thenebi'îmwere suchofficially.
[405]See Amos ii. 4, 5; Isa. xxviii. 15; Jer. xvi. 19, 20; Ezek. xx. 13-30, etc.
[406]Deut. xxvi. 5.
[407]Isa. xli. 14.
[408]Hos. xi. 9.
[409]See myMinor Prophets, 6-97.
[410]Not as in A.V., "Habor,bythe river of Gozan."
[411]2 Kings xvii. 6. The LXX. has "rivers" and "mountains": ἐν Ἀλαὲ καὶ ἐν Ἀβὼρ ποταμοῖς Γωζὰν καὶ ὅρη Μήδων. The river is not Ezekiel's Chebar. These deportationsen masseof a whole population, with their women and children, their waggons and flocks, are depicted on Sargon's series of tablets in his splendid palace at Khorsabad.
[412]Ezra iv. 10. "The great and noble Asnapper" of the passage is either some Assyrian general, or a confusion of the name Assurbanipal.
[413]2 Kings xvii. 9. Heb., "covered"; A.V. and R.V., "did secretly," rather "perfidiously"; LXX., ἠμφιέσαντο λόγους ἀδίκους κατὰ κύριον; Vulg.,Et offenderunt verbis non rectis dominum suum.
[414]Star-worship is not mentioned in the Book of the Covenant (Exod. xx.-xxiii.) or the oldest sections of the Mosaic Law. It is first forbidden in Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 3, when contact with Syrians and Assyrians made it known (comp. Job xxxi. 26-28; Jer. viii. 2, xix. 13; Zeph. i. 5). The language of 2 Kings vii.-xxiii. frequently reflects the prohibitions of Deuteronomy (see Deut. xii. 2, 30, 31, iv. 19, v. 7, 8, xvi. 21, xviii. 10, xxxi. 16, etc.)
[415]In 2 Kings xvii. 11, for "they did wicked things," the LXX. has κοινωνοὺς (i.e.,qedeshîm) ἐχάραξαν καὶ ἑταιρίδας (qedeshôth);i.e., they had depravedhieroduliof both sexes. Comp. Hos. iv. 14; Gen. xxxviii. 21 (where the allusion is to one of the votaries of Asherah).
[416]Bishop Lightfoot,Sermons, p. 267.
[417]"La quale Religione se ne Principi della Republica Christiana si fusse mantenuta, secondo che dal dottore d'essa ne fu ordinato, sarebbero gli State e le Republiche Christiane più unite e più felici assai ch' elle non sono" (Discorsi, i. 12).
[418]2 Kings xvii. 24. Comp. xviii. 34. Hence the later Jews comprehensively called the Samaritans Cuthites. Comp. 2 Kings xix. 13; Isa. xxxvii. 13.
[419]Heliopolis, Ptolemy, v. 18, § 7; Isa. xxxvi. 19. Here, according to the Chaldæan legends, Xisuthrus buried his tablets about the Creation, etc.
[420]From Ezra iv. 2 some infer that the main immigrants were introduced by Esarhaddon, who did not succeed tillb.c.681. He claims to have colonised Syria.
[421]So we see from 2 Kings xix. 13, which applies to the reign of Hezekiah.
[422]See Appendix, "The Golden Calves."
[423]He uses the agency of "the great and noble Asnapper" (Ezra iv. 10) for the deportation (see Botta, 145; Layard,Nin. and Bab., i. 148; Dr. Hincks,Jour. of Sacr. Lit., October 1858), unless Asnapper be a confusion for Assurbanipal (Sardanapalus).
[424]Hos. iii. 4.
[425]See Jer. xlix. 19, l. 44; Prov. xxii. 13, etc.
[426]Lit., "Daughter-huts" (Selden,De Dis Syr., ii. 7), but probably a transliteration. Zarpanit—"She who gives seed"—was Aphrodite Pandemos (Mylitta—Herod., i. 199). The Rabbis—who only guess—say she represented "the Clucking Hen"—i.e., the Pleiades. There does not seem to be any connection between Succoth and "Sakkuth," the various reading in Amos v. 26, which seems to be the Assyrian Moloch.
[427]Said to be worshipped under the form of a cock.
[428]LXX., Ἐβλαζέρ. Jarchi says these deities were worshipped under base animal forms—but it is more than doubtful.
[429]The Rabbis, from Exod. xxiii. 13; Josh. xxiii. 7, thought they were bound to give scornful nicknames to heathen deities. Hence such changes as Kir-Heres for Kir-Cheres, Beelzebub for Beelzebul, Bethaven for Bethel, Bosheth for Baal, etc.
[430]Not as in A.V., "of the lowest of them," but "of all classes." Comp. 1 Kings xii. 31.
[431]In 2 Kings xvii. 31-38 we again find repeated references to Deuteronomy (iv. 23, v. 32, x. 20, etc.).
[432]Ezra iv. 1. The actual word "Samaritans" occurs only once in the Old Testament, in 2 Kings xvii. 29.
[433]See Neh. xiii. 4-9, 28, 29; Jos.,Antt., XI. vii. 2. Josephus makes Manasseh a brother of the high priest Jaddua (b.c.333).
[434]Jos.,Antt., IX. xiv. 3, XII. v. 5, XIII. ix. 1, XX. vi., XVIII. ii. 2. The bitterly hostile relations between Jews and Samaritans in the time of Christ are illustrated by Luke ix. 52-54.
[435]Probably a shortened form for Jehoahaz ("The Lord taketh hold"). He is called Jahuhazi in Tiglath-Pileser's inscription (Schrader,Keilinschr., p. 163).
[436]For twenty-five it is not improbable that we should read fifteen.
[437]Isa. iii. 1-12.
[438]In Isa. ii. 2-4 we find, as so often in the prophetic books in their present too-often-haphazard arrangement, a glowing promise of universal peace placed before unsparing denunciations. The verses are also found in Micah (iv. 1, 2), and it has been conjectured that in both prophets they are a quotation from some older source—perhaps from Jonah, son of Amittai.
[439]Heb., "deceiving with their eyes."
[440]Isa. v. 7. The paronomasia of the original is striking. Van Oort renders it, "He looked forreason, but beholdtreason; and forright, but beholdaffright."
[441]His name means "Jehovah saves," and is perhaps alluded to in Isa. viii. 18. Amos ("One who bears a burden"), needless to say, is a totally different name from that of Amoz ("Vigorous"), the father of Isaiah.
[442]2 Chron. xxviii. 19.
[443]It may mean "God is good" (Tabeel).
[444]For further explanations I must refer to my paper on Rabbinic Exegesis (Expositor, First Series, v. 373).
[445]2 Chron. xxviii. 7.
[446]Of Oded nothing else is known.
[447]Some, however, interpret the name "A remnant repents" (LXX., ὁ καταλειφθεὶς Ἰασούβ; Vulg.,Qui derelictus est Jaseb).
[448]Isa. vi. 13.
[449]The words "And within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people" (Isa. vii. 8), are almost certainly an interpolation: for (1) the overthrow came within far less than sixty years; (2) the clause awkwardly breaks the context; (3) the "sixty years" is inconsistent with the promise (vii. 16) that it should be within very few years.
[450]Isa. vii. 1-25.
[451]Not improbably the water which afterwards flowed through Hezekiah's new tunnel between the Virgin's Tomb and the Pool of Siloam. It is referred to in 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 30 (Isa. xxii. 9-11). SeeAppendix II.
[452]This, if it be correct, can only mean that the son of Tabeal had a party in Jerusalem; but Hitzig renders it "dreadeth," not "rejoiceth in."
[453]The meaning is by no means clear.
[454]See Driver,Isaiah, p. 34.
[455]See 2 Kings xxiii. 11, which shows that this was not an innovation of Manasseh's. They were common in Persia. See Q. Curtius, iii. 3.
[456]2 Kings xvii. 31; Ezek. xvi. 21, xxiii. 37, xxxiii. 6; Deut. xii. 31; Jer. xix. 5. See 2 Chron. xxviii. 3; for "his son," בְּנוֹ, it uses בָּנָיו "his sons," but perhaps generically. Moloch-worship may have been stimulated by accounts of the Assyrian fire-god Adrammelech (Movers,Phöniz., ii. 101). On this sacrifice of children to Moloch, which the Phœnicians referred back to the god El or Il, once King of Byblos, who in a crisis of danger sacrificed his eldest son Icond, see Plut.,De Superst., § 13; Diod. Sic., xx. 12-14; 2 Kings iii. 27, xvi. 3, xxi. 6; Mic. vi. 7; Döllinger,Judenthum u. Heidenthum(E. T.), i. 427-429.
[457]This worship was to be punished by stoning (Lev. xviii. 21, xx. 2-5; Deut. xviii. 10). On the whole subject see Movers,Phöniz., 64; Jarchion Jer. vii.31; Euseb.,Præp. Ev., iv. 16.
[458]Josephus says that Ahaz made "a whole burnt-offering" of his son; but his authority is very small (καὶ ἴδιον ὡλοκαύτωσεν παῖδα). Comp. Psalm cvi. 37.
[459]Ignorant Romanists have often cherished the same notions about the saints. For centuries in Spain the people bought the old gowns and cowls of the monks, and buried their dead in them, to deceive St. Peter into the notion that they were Dominicans or Franciscans!
[460]See Ovid,Fasti, v. 659: "Scripea pro domino Tiberi jactatur imago." They were also calledArgei,id.621; Varro,L. L., vi. 3.
[461]Varro,L. L., v. 3.
[462]Herod., ii. 137. Egypt.,Sebek; Heb.,So(2 Kings xvii. 4), or perhapsSeve; Arab.,Shab'i. Rawlinson,Hist. of Anct. Egypt, ii. 433-450.
[463]Kir (see Amos ix. 7) is omitted in the LXX. Elam is added in Isa. xxii. 6. Tiglath-Pileser calls the king Rasunnu Sarimirisu—i.e., of Aram. See Smith,Assyr. Discoveries, p. 274;Eponym Canon, 68; Schrader,K. A. T., 152 ff.
[464]Isa. xvii. 1-11.
[465]The name seems to be Tuklat-abal-isarra,—according to Oppert worshipper of the son of the Zodiac—i.e., of Nin or Hercules. According to Polyhistor, he was a usurper who had been a vine-dresser in the royal gardens. He never mentions his ancestry. But see Schrader,K. A. T., 217 ff., 240 ff., and in Riehm.
[466]Eponym Canon, p. 121, lines 1-15. On this fall of Damascus and Samaria, see Isa. xvii.
[467]Jahuhazi (Schrader,Keilinschr., p. 263). He probably bore both names; but, as in the case of Jeconiah, who is called Coniah, the omission of the element "Jehovah" from his name may have been intended as a mark of reprobation.
[468]The remark may refer to some earlier period in the reign of Ahaz, before the capture of Damascus. It is more probable that the altar was used for some Assyrian deity, and the adoption of it may have flattered Tiglath-Pileser.
[469]2 Kings xvi. 11, which records the zealous subservience of Urijah, is wanting in some MSS. of the LXX. But that the altar was made, and without his opposition, is clear from the narrative. Asa (2 Chron. xv. 8) had repaired Solomon's great altar; Hezekiah subsequently cleansed it (id.xxix. 18); Manasseh rebuilt it (Q'ri). The brass of it ultimately went to Babylon (Jer. lii. 17-20).
[470]Bähr says: "It seems that Urijah, like his companion, was only anxious for his revenues. At any rate, his conduct is a sign of the character and standing of the priests of that time. They were 'dumb dogs who could not bark.' They all followed their own ways, every one for his own gain" (Isa. lvi. 10, 11). "We have in this high priest," says theWürtemberg Summary, "a specimen of those hypocrites and belly-servants who say, 'Whose bread I eat, his song I sing'; who veer about with the wind, and seek to be pleasant to all men; who wish to hurt no one's feelings, but teach just what any one wants to hear."
[471]1 Kings viii. 64; 2 Chron. iv. 1. In this and similar instances commentators, biassed bya prioriconsiderations, have imagined that Ahaz did not in person offer sacrifices. But this is what the text says, and it was the custom of kings to regard themselves as invested with Divine attributes. Ahaz may have had this lesson impressed on his mind by his visit to Tiglath-Pileser. See Grätz,Gesch. der Juden., ii. 150. Layard,Nin. and Bab., 472 ff., gives us pictures of Assyrian kings ministering at their altars, which are of various shapes.
[472]2 Kings xvi. 15. Vulg.,paratum erit ad voluntatem meam. The LXX. followed another reading: ἔσται μοὶ εἰς τὸ πρωί. Grätz (ii. 150), for לכקר, "to inquire," reads לקרב "to draw near to."
[473]1 Kings vii. 23-39.
[474]2 Kings xvi. 18. The allusions are obscure. R.V., "the covered way"; A.V., "the covert for the Sabbath." See 2 Chron. ix. 4. Here the Hebr.Q'rihasMûsak, and the Vulg.Musach Sabbati. The LXX. evidently did not understand it (καὶ τὸν θεμέλιον τῆς καθέδρας ᾠκοδόμησεν). For "covert for the Sabbath," Geiger suggests "molten images for the Shame" (Bosheth-Baal, by transposition ofShabbath). Comp. 2 Chron. xxviii. 2.
[475]2 Chron. xxviii. 20: "Tiglath-Pileser came unto him, and distressed him, but helped him not."
[476]2 Kings xviii. 15, 16.
[477]In justice to Ahaz, we should observe that (1) in every instance the later account multiplies and magnifies and gives a darker colouring to his offences; (2) that neither Isaiah, Micah, nor any other prophet has a word of reproach for such enormities in Ahaz.
[478]It is a Jewish tradition that Hezekiah would not bury his father Ahaz in a sarcophagus, but on a bier (Pesachin, f. 56, 1;Sanhedrin, f. 47, 1; Grätz,Gesch. d. Juden., ii, 224).
[479]His name,Chizquîyyah, is shortened fromYechizquîyyahoo(Isa. i. 1; 2 Kings xx. 10; Hos. i. 1). It means "Jehovah's strength" (Gesen.), or "Yah is might" (Fûrst).
[480]The first of these dates is highly uncertain, as is the entire chronology of this reign. I follow Kittel.
[481]2 Chron. xxxi. 2-21.
[482]Josiah did this many years later (2 Kings xxiii. 13).
[483]Gen. xxxv. 14. See Spencer,De legg. Hebr., i. 444; Bochart,Canaan, ii. 2.
[484]Exod. xxiv. 4. Comp. Deut. vii. 5, xii. 3, xvi. 22; Lev. xxvi. 1; 2 Chron. xiv. 3, xxxi. 1; Jer. xliii. 13; Hos. x. 2; Mic. v. 13 (where the A.V. often has "statue" or "image"). Comp. Clem. Alex.,Strom., i. 24; Arnob.,c. Gent., i. 39.
[485]The rendering "grove" in the A.V. is borrowed from the ἄλσος of the LXX., and thelucusof the Vulgate. On the connection of the Asherah with the sacred tree of the Assyrian, see my article on "Grove" in Smith'sDict. of the Bible; and Fergusson,Nineveh and Persepolis Restored, 299-304. On the worship of Asherah, see 1 Kings xv. 13; 2 Kings xxi. 3-7, xxiii. 4; 2 Chron. xv. 16; Judg. iii. 5-7, vi. 25, xviii. 18. Baudissin inHerzog Realencykl.,s.v.We may well be startled by the prevalence of idolatry in Jerusalem revealed in Isa. x. 11, xxvii. 9, xxix. 11, xxx. 9, 22, etc.
[486]See Wellhausen,Hist., 235; Stade,Gesch. d. V. I., 460; W. R. Smith,Religion of the Semites, 171; Cheyne,Isaiah, ii. 303; Renan,Hist. du Peuple d'Israel, i. 230 (Prof. Driver,Bibl. Dict., i. 258, 2nd edition).
[487]Hierozoicon, ii. 3, § 13.
[488]Jer. xliv. 17. In the collection of antiquities of Baron Ustinoff at Jaffa are five or six dragon-headed serpents, with ears of copper and hollow inside. They are ancient, and were perhaps used as talismanic copies of Nehushtan.