Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Description of

CHAP. XX.

the dial of Ahaz. mathematician about the middle of the sixteenth cen- | consider to be a miracle, in the case of the retrogra

tury, proved that the shadow on a stile in a sundial might go backward without a miracle; which was founded on the following theorem :

"In all countries, the zenith of which is situated between the equator and the tropic, as long as the sun passes beyond the zenith, towards the apparent or elevated pole, he arrives twice before noon at the same azimuth; and the same thing takes place in the afternoon."

This gave rise to the demonstration that a diál might be constructed for any latitude on which the shadow shall retrograde or go backward. And it is effected in the following manner :

dation, of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz, was the effect of a mere natural cause, without any thing miraculous in it. On this subject Dr. Hutton very properly remarks: "It is very improbable, if the retrogradation which took place on the dial of that prince had been a natural effect, that it should not have been observed till the prophet announced it to him as the sign of his cure; for in that case it must have always occurred when the sun was between the tropic and the zenith." Hutton's Mathematical Recreations, vol. iii. p. 323.

To this we may add, that if the dial of Ahaz had been thus constructed, the effect must have been geneIncline a plane turned directly south in such a man- rally known; and Hezekiah would never have taken ner that its zenith may fall between the tropic and equá- that for a miracle which he and all his courtiers must tor; and nearly about the middle of the distance between have observed as an occurrence which at particular these two circles. In the latitude of London, for ex-seasons, took place twice every day. And that the ample, which is fifty-one degrees thirty-one minutes, matter was known publicly to have been a miracle we the plane must make an angle of about thirty-eight de- learn from this circumstance: that Merodach-baladan, grees. In the middle of the plane fix an upright stile king of Babylon, sent his ambassadors to Jerusalem to of such a length that its shadow shall go beyond the inquire after the wonder that was done in the land, as plane; and if several angular lines be then drawn from well as after Hezekiah's health: see 2 Chron. xxxii. the bottom of the stile towards the south, about the 31. But the miraculous interposition is so obvious, time of the solstice, the shadow will retrograde twice that infidelity must be driven to pitiful shifts when it in the course of the day, as mentioned above. This is obliged to have recourse to the insinuation of imis evident, since the plane is parallel to the horizontal posture, in a case where the miraculous interference plane, having its zenith under the same meridian, at of God is so strikingly evident. Besides, such a dial the distance of twelve degrees from the equator towards could not be constructed for the latitude of Jerusalem the north; the shadows of the two stiles must conse-without having the north end elevated twenty degrees quently move in the same manner in both.

Of these principles some have endeavoured to make an unholy use, contending that what the Holy Scriptures

seven minutes; which could not be used for the purpose which is indicated in the text. See No. 3 of the preceding observations.

[subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][merged small][graphic][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed][subsumed]

Manasseh fills the

II. KINGS.

CHAPTER XXI.

land with idolatry.

Manasseh succeeds his father Hezekiah, reigns fifty-five years, and fills Jerusalem and the whole land with abominable idolatry and murder, 1–9. God denounces the heaviest judgments against him and the land, 10-15.. Manasseh's acts and death, 16-18. Amon his son succeeds him, and reigns two years; is equally profligate with his father; is slain by his servants, and buried in the garden of Uzza; and Josiah his son reigns in his stead, 19-26..

[blocks in formation]

с

3 For he built up again the high places © which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, das did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.

'5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 h And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchant

[blocks in formation]

Verse 2. After the abominations of the heathen] He exactly copied the conduct of those nations which God had cast out of that land.

Verse 3. Made a grove] He made Asherah, the Babylonian Melitta or Roman Venus. See chap. xyii. 10, and the observations at the end of that chapter; and see here on ver. 7.

Worshipped all the host of heaven] All the stars and planets, but particularly the sun and the moon.. Verse 4. Built altars] He placed idolatrous altars even in the temple.

Verse 6. Made his son pass through the fire] Consecrated him to Moloch.

Observed times] ¡yi veonen; he practised divination by the clouds; by observing their course at particular times, their different kinds, contrary directions, &c., &c.

[blocks in formation]

Lev. xix. 26, 31; ch. xvii. 17; Deut. xviii. 10, 11.——* 2 Sam. vii. 13; 1 Kings viii. 29; ix. 3: chap. xxiii. 27; Psa. cxxxii. 13, 14; Jeremiah xxxii. 34. 12 Sam. vii. 10.- - Proverbs

xxix. 12.

Used enchantments] venichesh; he used incantations, spells, and charms.

Dealt with familiar spirits] nwyı veasah ob; he was a necromancer; was a raiser of spirits, whom he endeavoured to press into his service; he had a Python.

And wizards] OʻT veyiddeonim; the knowing ones, the white witches, and such like; see on Lev. xix. 26-31, where most of these terms are particularly explained and illustrated.

Verse 7. He set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house] Every one may see that Asherah here must signify an idol, and not a grove ; and for the proof of this see the observations at the end of the chapter.

Verse 8. Neither will I make the feet of Israel] Had they been faithful to God's testimonies they never had gone into captivity, and should even at this day have been in possession of the promised land.

Verse 9. Seduced them to do more evil] He did all he could to pervert the national character, and totally destroy the worship of the true God; and he succeeded.

God's displeasure

A. M. 3306-3327.

B. C. 698-677.

XXV. 4.

CHAP. XXI.

B. C. 698-677.
XXV. 4.

against Manasseh. 10 And the LORD spake by his | their enemies; and they shall A. M. 3306-3327. Olymp. XX. 3. servants the prophets, saying, become a prey and a spoil to all Olymp. XX. 3. 11 Because Manasseh king their enemies; of Judah hath done these abominations, and 15 Because they have done that which hath done wickedly above all that the Amo- was evil in my sight, and have provoked rites did, which were before him, and Phath me to anger, since the day their fathers made Judah also to sin with his idols:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.

16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem " from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

V

A. M. 3306-3361.

B. C. 698-643.

Olymp. XX. 3.

-XXXIV. 2.

17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

[blocks in formation]

smooth, with which they could rub out what they had written, and so smooth the place and spread back the wax, as to render it capable of receiving any other word. Thus the Lord had written down Jerusalem, never intending that its name or its memorial should be blotted out. It was written down The Holy City, The City of the Great King; but now God turns the

Verse 10. The Lord spake by-the prophets] The prophets were Hosea, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Isaiah. These five following verses contain the sum of what these prophets spoke.. It is said that Isaiah not only prophesied in those days, but also that he was put to death by Manasseh, being sawn asunder by a wooden saw. Verse 12. Both his ears shall tingle.]n tits-stile and blots this out; and the Holy Jerusalem, the tsalnah; something expressive of the sound in what we call, from the same sensation, the tingling of the ears. This is the consequence of having the ears suddenly pierced with a loud and shrill noise; the ears seem to ring for some time after. The prophets spoke to them vehemently, so that the sound seemed to be continued even when they had left off speaking. This was a faithful and solemn testimony.

Verse 13. The line of Samaria] I will treat Jerusalem as I have treated Samaria. Samaria was taken, pillaged, ruined, and its inhabitants led into captivity; Jerusalem shall have the same measure.

City of the Great King, is no longer to be found! This double use of the stile is pointed out in this ancient enigma :

De summo planus; sed non ego planus in imo: Versor utrinque manu, diverso et munere fungor : Altera pars revocat, quicquid pars altera fecit. "I am flat at the top, but sharp at the bottom; I turn either end, and perform a double function: One end destroys what the other end has made." But the idea of emptying out and wiping a dish expresses the same meaning equally well. Jerusalem shall be emptied of all its wealth, and of all its inhabitants, as truly as a dish turned up is emptied of all its contents; and it shall be turned upside down, never to be filled again. This is true from that time to the present hour.. Jerusalem is the dish turned upside down, the tablet blotted out to the present day! How great are God's mercies! and how terrible his judg

And the plummet of the house of Ahab] The house of Ahab was totally destroyed, and not a man of his race left to sit upon the throne of Israel so shall it be done to the house or royal family of Judah; they shall be all finally destroyed, and not a man of their race shall any more sit on the throne of Judah; nor shall Judah have a throne to sit on. Thus Jerusalem shall have the same weight as well as the same mea-ments! sure as Samaria, because it has copied all the abominations which brought that kingdom to total destruction. I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish] The Vulgate translates this clause as follows: Delebo Jerusalem, sicut deleri solent tabulæ; "I will blot out Jerusalem as tablets are wont to be blotted out." This is a metaphor taken from the ancient method of writing they traced their letters with a style on boards thinly spread over with war; for this purpose one end of the stile was sharp, the other end blunt and

66

Verse 14. I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance] One part (the ten tribes) was already forsaken, and carried into captivity; the remnant (the tribe of Judah) was now about to be forsaken.

Like

Verse 16. Shed innocent blood very much] the deities he worshipped, he was fierce and cruel ; an unprincipled, merciless tyrant: he slew innocent people and God's prophets.

Verse 17. Now the rest of the acts] In 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, &c., we read that the Assyrians took

Amon succeeds Manasseh,

A. M. 3361. B. C. 643.

[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

18 And Manasseh slept with | fathers, and walked not in the Ol. XXXIV. 2. his fathers, and was buried in way of the LORD.

An. Tulli Hos

manorum, 30.

lii. Regis Ro- the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

A. M. 3361-3363. 19 Amon was twenty and two Ol. XXXIV. years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth,, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.

y

A. M. 3363. B. C. 641. Ol. XXXIV. 4. An. Tulli Hos

23 And the servants of Amontili, Regis Roconspired against him, and slew manorum,_32. the king in his own house.

24 And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against King Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

[blocks in formation]

21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them: 22 And he forsook the LORD God of his his stead. w2 Chron. xxxiii. 20.

Verse

2 Chron. xxxiii. 21-23.2, &c. Manasseh, bound him with fetters, and took him toBabylon; that there he repented, sought God, and was, we are not told how, restored to his kingdom; that he fortified the city of David, destroyed idolatry, restored the worship of the true God, and died in peace. In 2 Chron. xxxiii. 18, 19, His prayer unto God' is particularly mentioned. What is called his prayer, is found in the Apocrypha, just before the first book of the Maccabees. There are some good sentiments in it; but whether it be that which was made by Manasseh is more than can be proved. Even the Romish Church have not received it among the canonical books.

Are they not written] There are several particulars referred to here, and in 2 Chron. chap. xxxiii., which are not found in any chronicles or books which now remain; and what the books of the seers were, mentioned in Chronicles, we cannot tell.

Verse 18. In the garden of his own house] It was probably a burying-place made for his own family, for Amon his son is said to be buried in the same place, ver. 26.

Verse 19. He reigned two years in Jerusalem.] The remark of the rabbins is not wholly without foundation, that the sons of those kings who were idolaters, and who succeeded their fathers, seldom reigned more than two years. So Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, 1 Kings xv. 25; Elah, the son of Baasha, 1 Kings xvi. 8; Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, 1 Kings xxii. 51; and Amon, the son of Manasseh, as mentioned here, ver. 19.

Verse 23. The servants of Amon conspired] What their reason was for slaying their king we cannot tell. It does not seem to have been a popular act, for the people of the land rose up and slew the regicides.

21 Kings xi. 33.

[ocr errors]

- 2 Chron. xxxiii. 24, 25,called Josias.

A. M. 3363.
B. C. 641.

Ol. XXXIV. 4. tilii, Regis Ro

An. Tulli Hos

manorum, 30.

b Matt. i. 10,

IT is said ver. 3 and 7, that "Manasseh made á grove; and he set a graven image of the grove," &c. hy w man bɔɔ nx ovi vaiyasem eth pesel haasherah, asher asah: "And he put the graven image of Asherah, which he had made," into the house.

Asherah, which we translate grove, is undoubtedly the name of an idol; and probably of one which was carved out of wood.

R. S. Jarchi, on Gen. xii. 3, says, “that N asherah means a tree which was worshipped by the Gentiles;" like as the oak was worshipped by the ancient Druids in Britain.

Castel, in Lex. Hept. sub voce wx, defines ex asherah thus, Simulacrum ligneum Astartæ dicatum; "A. wooden image dedicated to Astarte or Venus."

The Septuagint render the words by aλoor; and Flamminius Nobilis, on 2 Kings xxiii. 4, says Rursus notal Theodoretus ro aλoos esse Astartem et Venerem, et ab aliis interpretibus dictum ̄Ashtaroth; i. e, “Again Theodoret observes, aλoos is Astarte and Venus; and by other interpreters called Ashtaroth."

The Targum of Ben Uzziel, on Deut. vii. 5, 077ENI Wan vaasheyrehem tegaddeun; i. e., "Their groves shall ye cut down"-translates the place thus, J7`NI psp veilaney sigedeyhon tekatsetsun; "And the oaks of their adoration shall ye cut down."

From the above it is pretty evident that idols, not groves, are generally intended where s asherah and its derivatives are used..

Here follow proofs :

In chap. xxiii. 6, it is said that "Josiah brought out the grove from the house of the Lord." This translation seems very absurd; for what grove could there be in the temple? There was none planted there, nor was there room for any. The plain mean

-vaiyotse eth haashe ויצא את האשרה מבית יהוה We hear enough of this man when we hear that he ing of

was as bad as his father was in the beginning of his reign, but did not copy his father's repentance. Verse 26. The garden of Uzza] The family sepulchre or burying-place.

rah mibbeyth Yehovah, is, " And he brought out the (goddess) Asherah from the house of the Lord, and burnt it," &c.

That this is the true meaning of the place appears

[blocks in formation]

and repairs the temple.

13 daxome, of the prosti

farther from ver. 7, where it is said, "He broke down' threw down the houses, the houses of the sodomites," (Dp hakkedeshim, tutes; and the women who wove garments, ASS

of the whoremongers,) "where the women Wove hangings for the grove" ( on bottim laasherah, "houses or shrines for Asherah.") Similar perhaps to those which the silversmiths made for Diana, Acts

xix. 24. It is rather absurd to suppose that the women were employed in making curtains to encompass a grove.

The Syriac and Arabic versions countenance the interpretation I have given above. In ver. 6, the former says, “He cast out the idol, dechlotho, from the house of the Lord;" and in ver. 7: "He

ledechlotho, for the idols which were there."
Arabic is exactly the same.

The

From the whole it is evident that Asherah was no

other than Venus; the nature of whose worship is plain enough from the mention of whoremongers and prostitutes.

I deny not that there were groves consecrated to idolatrous worship among the Gentiles, but I am sure that such are not intended in the above-cited passages; and the text, in most places, reads better when understood in this way.

CHAPTER XXII.

Josiah succeeds Amon his father, and reigns thirty-one years, 1, 2. He repairs the breaches of the temple, 3-7. Hilkiah finds the book of the law in the temple, 8. It is read by Shaphan the scribe, before the king and his servants, 9, 10. The king, greatly affected, sends to inquire of Huldah the prophetess, 11-13. She delivers an afflictive prophecy concerning the evils that were coming apon the land, 14–17. But promises Josiah that these evils shall not come in his time, 18–20.

A. M. 3363-3394.
641-610.

OL. XXXIV. 4.
-XLII. 3.

B. C. 441-330 JOSIAH was eight years old | house of the LORD, which the
when he began to reign, and keepers of the door have gather-
he reigned thirty and one years ed of the people :
in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was
Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.
2 And he did that which was right in the
sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way
of David his father, and turned not aside to
the right hand or to the left.

[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

NOTES ON CHAP. XXII. Verse 1. Josiah was eight years old] He was one of the best, if not the best, of all the Jewish kings since the time of David. He began well, continued well, and ended well.

Verse 4. That he may sum the silver] As Josiah began to seek the Lord as soon as he began to reign, we may naturally conclude that the worship of God that was neglected and suppressed by his father, was immediately restored; and the people began their accustomed offerings to the temple. Ten years therefore had elapsed since these offerings began; no one had, as yet, taken account of them; nor were they applied to the use for which they were given, viz., the repairing the breaches of the temple:

A. M. 3390.
Ol. XXXIX. 1.

B. C. 624.
An. Anci Martii,
Regis Romano-
rum, 17.

5 And let them h deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house,

6. Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.

7 Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully. 8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book

[blocks in formation]

this the autograph of Moses? It is very probable that it was, for in the parallel place, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 14, it is said to be the book of the law of the Lord by Moses. It is supposed to be that part of Deuteronomy, (xxviii., xxix., xxx., and xxxi.,) which contains the renewing of the covenant in the plains of Moab, and which contains the most terrible invectives against the corrupters of God's word and worship.

The rabbins say that Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon endeavoured to destroy all the copies of the law, and this only was saved by having been buried under a paving-stone. It is scarcely reasonable to suppose that this was the only copy of the law that was found in Judea; for even if we grant that Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon had endeavoured to destroy all the books Verse 8. I have found the book of the law] Was of the law, yet they could not have succeeded so as

« AnteriorContinuar »