ly upon him, and encompassed him round. But when they were near, and knew that it was not he, they all returned back. And while the fight lasted from the morning light, till late in the evening, and the Syrians were conquerors, they killed nobody; as their king had commanded them. And when they sought to kill Ahab alone, but could not find him, there was a young nobleman belonging to king Benhadad, whose name was Naaman; he drew his bow against the enemy, and wounded the king through his breast-plate, in his lungs. Upon this, Ahab resolved not to make his mischance known to his army, lest they should run away. But he bade the driver of his chariot to turn it back, and carry him out of the battle, because he was mortally wounded.* However, he sat in his chariot, and endured the pain till sunset, and then he fainted away and died. At the approach of night the Syrian army retired to their camp; and when the herald belonging to the camp gave notice that Ahab was dead, they returned home. And they took the dead body of Ahab to Samaria, and buried it there; but when they had washed his chariot in the fountain of Jezreel, which was bloody with the dead body of the king, they acknowledged that the prophecy of Elijah was true, for the dogs licked his blood, and the harlots continued afterward to wash themselves in that fountain. But still he died at Ramoth, as Micaiah had foretold. And as what things were† foretold should happen to Ahab by the two prophets came to pass, we ought thence to have exalted notions of God; and every where to honour and worship him, and never to suppose that what is pleasant and agreeable is worthy of belief before what is true; and to esteem nothing more advantageous than the gift of prophecy, and that foreknowledge of future events which is derived from it. Since God shews men thereby what they ought to avoid. We may * 1 Kings xxii. 34. + We have here a very wise reflection of Josephus's about Divine Providence ; and what is derived from it, prophecy; and the inevitable certainty of its accomplishment; and that when wicked men think they take proper methods to elude what is denounced against them, and to escape the Divine judgments thereby threatened, without repentance, they are ever, by Providence, infatuated to bring about their own destruction. And thereby withal to demonstrate the perfect ve racity of that God whose predictions they endeavour to elude. also, from what happened to this king, consider the power of fate;* that there is no way of avoiding it, even when we know it. It creeps upon human souls, and flatters them with pleasing hopes, till it leads them about to the place whence it will be too hard for them. Accordingly Ahab appears to have been deceived thereby, till he disbelieved those that predicted his defeat; but by giving credit to such as foretold what was grateful to him, he was slain; and his son Ahaziah succeeded him. *Or Divine Providence. BOOK IX. Containing an Interval of One Hundred and Fifty-seven Years. FROM THE DEATH OF AHAB TO THE CAPTIVITY OF THE TEN TRIBES. CHAP. I. OF JEHOSHAPHAT'S PIOUS CONDUCT; HIS APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES, AND HIS VICTORIES OVER HIS ENEMIES. WHEN Jehoshaphat wast come to Jerusalem, from the assistance he had afforded Ahab, king of Israel, against the Syrians, the prophet Jehu met him and accused him for assisting an impious prince; and said to him, that God was displeased with him for so doing, but that he delivered him from the enemy, notwithstanding he had sinned, because of his own disposition, which was good. Hereupon the king betook himself to thanksgivings, and sacrifices to God; and soon afterward went over all that country which he ruled round about, and taught the people to observe the laws which God gave them by Moses, and that religious worship that was due to him. He also appointed judges in all the cities of his kingdom; and charged them to have regard to nothing so much in judging the multitude as to do justice, and not to be moved by bribes, nor by the dignity of men eminent for either their birth or riches; but to distribute justice equally to all ;* as knowing that God is con The charge or solemn admonition which Jehoshaphat gave the judges, whom he appointed in each city, runs in these words :-Take heed what ye do, for ye scious of every secret action. When he had instructed them thus, and gone over every city of the two tribes, he returned to Jerusalem. He there also constituted judges out of the priests and Levites,* and principal persons of the multitude; and admonished them to pass all their sentences with care and justice. And that if any of the people of his country had differences of great consequence, they would send them out of the other cities, to these judges, who would be obliged to give righteous sentences concerning such causes, and this with the greater care, because it is proper that the sentences which are given in that city where the temple of God is, and wherein the king dwells, be given with the utmost care and equity. Now he set over them Amariah, the priest, and Zebadiah, of the tribe of Judah. And after this manner it was that the king ordered these affairs. About the same time the Moabites and Ammonites made an expedition against Jehoshaphat, and took with them a great body of Arabians; and pitched their camp at Engedi, a city situate near the lake Asphaltites, and distant three hundred furlongs from Jerusalem. In that place grew the best kind of palm-trees, and the opobalsamum.† Now Jehoshaphat heard that the enemies had passed over the lake, and had made an irruption into that country which belonged to his kingdom; at which news he was affrighted, and called the people of Jerusalem to a congregation in the temple. And standing over against the temple itself, he called upon God to afford him power to inflict punishment upon those invaders; for that those who built his temple had prayed that he would protect that city, and judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment: wherefore now, let the fear of the Lord be upon you: Take heed and do it ; for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts, 2 Chron. xix. 6, 7. It is a remarkable saying of Cicero, that judges, being sworn to do justice, should remember, when they come to pass sentence, "Deum habere testem: id est ut ego arbitror mentem suam, qua nihil homini dedit ipse Deus divinus." De Offic. lib. 3. c. 13. B. * These judges constituted by Jehoshaphat, were a kind of Jerusalem Sanhe. drim, out of the priests, the Levites, and the principal of the people; both here and 2 Chron. xix. 8, much like the old Christian Judicatures of the bishop, the presbyters, the deacons, and the people. ↑ Concerning this precious balsam, see the note on VIII. 6. 2 Chron. xx. 3, 4. 1 take vengeance on those that were so bold as to come against it. When he had prayed thus, he was affected even to tears; and the whole multitude, together with their wives and children, made their supplications also. Hereupon a certain prophet, Jahaziel by name, came into the midst of the assembly, and cried out, both to the multitude and to the king, that God heard their prayers, and promised to fight against their enemies. He also gave order, that the king should draw his forces out the next day; for that he should find them between Jerusalem, and the ascent of Engedi; at a place called Eminence ;* and that he should not engage their forces, but only stand still, and see how God would fight against them. When the prophet had said this, both the king and the multitude fell upon their faces, and gave thanks to God, and worshipped him, and the Levites continued singing hymns to God, with their instruments of music. As soon as it was day, and the king was come into that wilderness which was under the city of Tekoa, he said to the multitude, that they ought to give implicit credit to what the prophet had said; and not to set themselves in array for fighting; but to set the priests, with their trumpets, and the Levites, with the singers of hymns, to give thanks to God, as having already delivered the country from its enemies. This opinion of the king pleased the people, and they did as he desired. So God caused a terror and commotion to arise among the Ammonites; † who thought one another to be enemies, and slew one another; insomuch that not one man out of so great an army escaped. *The cliff of Ziz, 2 Chron. xx. 16. The words in the text are, The Lord set ambushment against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten, 2 Chron. xx. 22. And there are two ways wherein the slaughter may be supposed to have happened: either, 1st. By the ministry of God's angels, who might appear in the shape of men, and putting on the appearance of Moabites or Ammonites, might smite some part of the army privately, and they supposing this to be done by their neighbours, might turn about and fall upon them like enemies, and so break forth into mutual slaughters. Or 2d. By some jealousies and animosities among themselves, which by degrees brake forth, first into secret ambushments, which one party laid for another, and then into open hostilities and outraes to their total destruction. So easy a thing it is for God to defeat his enemies, who when he pleases, infatuate their designs, or arm their own passions and mistakes against them. Pool's Annotation on 2 Chron. 1x. 22. B. can, |