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2
Chronicles Chapter Fifteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 15
Asa
returning from the battle, and with the spoil of the enemy, was met by a
prophet of the Lord, who encouraged him to go on with the work of reformation,
promising the presence and help of God with him, 2 Chronicles 15:1,
which inspired him with fresh courage, and he went about the work with great
alacrity; and having offered sacrifices, he and his people entered into a
solemn covenant with the Lord, to serve him, 2 Chronicles 15:8
upon which he destroyed his mother's idol, brought the dedicated things into
the house of God, and the effect of this was peace for a long time, 2 Chronicles 15:16.
2 Chronicles
15:1 Now the Spirit
of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded.
YLT
1And upon Azariah son of
Oded hath been the Spirit of God,
And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded,.... The same
with Iddo, as HillerusF8Onomastic, Sacr. p. 458. thinks; and some
suppose this to be the name of the son as well as the father, but called
Azariah, to distinguish him from him, see 2 Chronicles 15:8
on whom came, as the Targum, the spirit of prophecy, instructing him what to
say to Asa; and the Jews sayF9In Hieron. Trad. Heb. in Paralipom.
fol. 84. L. & 85. A. he is the same with Iddo, and he the same that was
sent to Jeroboam, to reprove him for the altar he built.
2 Chronicles
15:2 2 And he went out to meet Asa,
and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with
you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if
you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
YLT
2and he goeth out before
Asa, and saith to him, `Hear, me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; Jehovah [is]
with you -- in your being with Him, and if ye seek Him, He is found of you, and
if ye forsake Him, He forsaketh you;
And he went out to meet Asa,.... From Jerusalem, as
Asa was coming to it:
and said unto him, hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; the principal
inhabitants of which tribes had been collected, and went to this war, and were
now returning:
the Lord is with you, while ye be with him; it was a
clear case he had been with them, in giving them the victory over the
Ethiopians; and as long as they continued in the service of God, and abode by
his pure worship, they might expect he would yet be with them, otherwise not:
and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; you will see
his face, and enjoy his favour, and have his presence, and help from him in
every time of need, when they sought him by prayer and supplication, as Asa
had, and attended his worship and ordinances:
but if ye forsake him; his laws and his
service:
he will forsake you; and leave you to fall
into the hands of your enemies.
2 Chronicles
15:3 3 For
a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching
priest, and without law;
YLT
3and many days [are] to
Israel without a true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law,
Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God,.... The fear,
worship, and service of him being greatly neglected by them for a long time;
what period of time is referred to is not expressed, whether past, present, or
to come, but left to be supplied; the Targum refers this to the time of the
separation of the ten tribes, and the days of Jeroboam, when the calves were
worshipped, and not the true God, and the teaching priests of the Lord were
cast out, and the law of the Lord, especially with respect to worship, was not
regarded, in which it is followed by many interpreters; others think it refers
to time to come, and to what would be the case, should they forsake the Lord;
and was fulfilled in the Babylonish captivity, see Hosea 3:4 and the
JewsF11Vajikra Rabba, sect. 19. fol. 160. 4. say, that"Oded
prophesied that the days should come, when Israel would be "without the
true God", since judgment should not be done in the world: and
"without a teaching priest"; since the high priesthood should cease,
(see Hebrews 7:12)
"and without the law"; since the sanhedrim should cease;'but
according to our supplement, and which seems most correct, it refers to time
past; not to the case of the ten tribes from the times of Jeroboam; nor to the
case of Judah from the times of Rehoboam; but to times more remote, even the
times of the judges, when they worshipped Baal and Ashtaroth, and not the true
God, Judges 2:10, yet at
the same time suggesting, that should the present inhabitants of Judah go into
the same practices, their case would be like theirs, described in the following
verses:
and without a teaching priest: as they were under the
judges, from the times of Phinehas to those of Eli, which was a long space of
time:
and without law; every man doing as he pleased, there being
no king in Israel, nor any regard paid to the law of God, moral or ceremonial, Judges 17:6.
2 Chronicles
15:4 4 but
when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought
Him, He was found by them.
YLT
4and it turneth back in its
distress unto Jehovah, God of Israel, and they seek Him, and He is found of
them,
But when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of
Israel,.... When being carried captive by neighbouring nations, and
oppressed; and they cried unto the Lord, and repented of their sins, and turned
from them to him:
and sought him; by prayer and supplication:
he was found of them; and appeared for their
help and deliverance, of which there are many instances in the book of Judges.
2 Chronicles
15:5 5 And
in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the
one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the
lands.
YLT
5and in those times there is
no peace to him who is going out, and to him who is coming in, for many
troubles [are] on all the inhabitants of the lands,
And in those times there was no peace to him that went out nor to
him that came in,.... There was no safety in going abroad for travellers from one
part to another on account of trade and business, the highways being infested
with thieves and robbers:
but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries; of the
country villages, which were deserted, because of the plunders and depredations
of them, Judges 5:6.
2 Chronicles
15:6 6 So
nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with
every adversity.
YLT
6and they have been beaten
down, nation by nation, and city by city, for God hath troubled them with every
adversity;
And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city,.... Or one
tribe of another; as the Ephraimites by the Gileadites, and the tribe of
Benjamin by the other tribes; and Shechem by Abimelech, Judges 9:45,
for God did vex them with all adversity; both with
foreign enemies and civil wars; and now it is intimated that this would be
their case again, should they not keep close to the Lord their God.
2 Chronicles
15:7 7 But
you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!”
YLT
7and ye, be ye strong, and
let not your hands be feeble, for there is a reward for your work.'
Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak,.... Be
hearty, earnest, and vigorous, and not languid and remiss in reforming the
worship of God, which Asa had begun:
for your work shall be rewarded; with peace and
prosperity at home, and success against enemies abroad, of which they had had a
recent instance.
2 Chronicles 15:8 8 And when Asa heard these
words and the prophecy of Oded[a] the
prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of
Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of
Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before
the vestibule of the Lord.
YLT
8And at Asa's hearing these
words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he hath strengthened himself, and
doth cause the abominations to pass away out of all the land of Judah and
Benjamin, and out of the cities that he hath captured from the hill-country of
Ephraim, and reneweth the altar of Jehovah that [is] before the porch of
Jehovah,
And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the
prophet,.... Some think that besides the above words of Azariah the son
of Oded, a prophecy of Oded his father was related by him, though not recorded;
but rather Oded here is the same with the son of Oded; and so the Vulgate Latin
and Syriac versions read Azariah the son of Oded; and so does the Alexandrian
copy of the Septuagint version:
he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the
land of Judah and Benjamin; which were abominable to God, and all good
men; besides the images and statues he had broken before, he removed other
idols that remained, being animated and emboldened by the speech of the
prophet:
and out of the cities which he had taken from Mount Ephraim: the same
which his father Abijah had taken from Jeroboam, 2 Chronicles 13:19
and which perhaps, upon the approach of the Ethiopians, revolted from Asa, or
were restored by them to Jeroboam, and Which Asa retook upon his conquest of
them:
and renewed the altar of the Lord before the porch of the Lord; the altar of
burnt offering, which had never been repaired since it was made by Solomon;
perhaps he anew overlaid it with brass that being worn out, or become very thin
in some places.
2 Chronicles 15:9 9 Then he gathered all Judah
and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon,
for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was
with him.
YLT
9and gathereth all Judah and
Benjamin, and the sojourners with them out of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and out of
Simeon -- for they have fallen unto him from Israel in abundance, in their
seeing that Jehovah his God [is] with him.
And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with
them,.... The proselytes of the gate:
out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: out of all
the places in those tribes that had come off to him, or had been taken by him;
for otherwise these belonged to the ten tribes under the government of
Jeroboam, and his successors, and the next clause explains it:
for they fell to him out of Israel abundance, when they saw that
the Lord his God was with him; as was clear by the victory he gave him
over the Ethiopians; after that time many in the above tribes came over to him;
the Targum is,"when they saw the Word of the Lord his God was his help.'
2 Chronicles 15:10 10 So they gathered together
at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.
YLT
10And they are gathered to
Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,
So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem,.... By the
order of Asa, 2 Chronicles 15:9,
in the third month; of the ecclesiastical year, the month
Sivan, in which month was the day of Pentecost; and that very probably was the
time of their gathering:
in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa; and which
seems to be the year in which he fought the Ethiopians.
2 Chronicles 15:11 11 And they offered to the Lord at that time
seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought.
YLT
11and sacrifice to Jehovah on
that day from the spoil they have brought in -- oxen seven hundred, and sheep
seven thousand,
And they offered unto the Lord the same time,.... The
Targum adds, on the feast of weeks, or Pentecost: of the spoil which they had
brought; from the camp of the Ethiopians, and the cities of the Philistines:
seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep; partly for
burnt offerings, and partly for peace offerings, by way of thankfulness to the
Lord for the victory he had given them, and for a feast at the making of the
following covenant with him.
2 Chronicles 15:12 12 Then they entered into a
covenant to seek the Lord
God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;
YLT
12and they enter into a
covenant to seek Jehovah, God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with
all their soul,
And they entered into a covenant,.... Asa and all his
people; that is, as Piscator remarks, they went between the pieces of the calf
cut asunder, for the confirmation of the covenant, see Jeremiah 34:18,
to seek the Lord God of their fathers, with all their heart, and
with all their soul; to serve and worship him most truly, sincerely, and cordially.
2 Chronicles 15:13 13 and whoever would not seek
the Lord
God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or
woman.
YLT
13and every one who doth not
seek for Jehovah, God of Israel, is put to death, from small unto great, from
man unto woman.
That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put
to death,.... That obstinately refused to worship him, and served other
gods, which by the law was deserving of death, Deuteronomy 17:2,
whether small or great, whether man or woman; without any
regard to rank or dignity, age or sex.
2 Chronicles 15:14 14 Then they took an oath
before the Lord
with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns.
YLT
14And they swear to Jehovah
with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets,
And they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice,.... As not
being ashamed of the oath they took, and that there might be witnesses of it,
and that it might be clear they did not equivocate in but expressed themselves
in plain words:
and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets; showing that
the oath was not extorted from them unwillingly, but that they took it with the
utmost cheerfulness, and with all the demonstrations of joy and gladness
imaginable.
2 Chronicles 15:15 15 And all Judah rejoiced at
the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their
soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all
around.
YLT
15and rejoice do all Judah
concerning the oath, for with all their heart they have sworn, and with all
their good-will they have sought Him, and He is found of them, and Jehovah
giveth rest to them round about.
And all Judah rejoiced at the oath,.... The greater part of
them; for some there might be who were dissemblers:
for they had sworn with all their heart; in the
sincerity and uprightness of their souls:
and sought him with their whole desire; none being
more or so desirable as he:
and he was found of them: and favoured them with
his presence:
and the Lord gave them rest round about; from all
their enemies.
2 Chronicles 15:16 16 Also he removed Maachah,
the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had
made an obscene image of Asherah;[b] and Asa
cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook
Kidron.
YLT
16And also Maachah, mother of
Asa the king -- he hath removed her from [being] mistress, in that she hath
made for a shrine a horrible thing, and Asa cutteth down her horrible thing,
and beateth [it] small, and burneth [it] by the brook Kidron:
Verses 16-18
And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the king,.... Or rather
his grandmother, 1 Kings 15:10,
he removed her from being queen; the Septuagint version
is, "that she should not minister to Astarte"; which was the goddess
of the Zidonians; of this and the two next verses; see Gill on 1 Kings 15:13, 1 Kings 15:14, 1 Kings 15:15.
2 Chronicles 15:17 17 But the high places were
not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.
YLT
17yet the high places have
not turned aside from Israel; only, the heart of Asa hath been perfect all his
days.
2 Chronicles 15:18 18 He also brought into the
house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had
dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.
YLT
18And he bringeth in the
sanctified things of his father, and his own sanctified things, to the house of
God, silver, and gold, and vessels.
2 Chronicles 15:19 19 And there was no war until
the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.
YLT
19And war hath not been till
the thirty and fifth year of the reign of Asa.
And there was no more war unto the thirty fifth year of the reign
of Asa. That is, from the Ethiopian war to that time; after that there
was no war with any foreign enemy; there were animosities and discords,
bickerings and hostilities of some sort continually between Asa and Baasha king
of Israel, as long as he lived, see 1 Kings 15:16.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)