12. A writing...from Elijah the prophet.'-It is concluded, from a comparison of dates, that Elijah's translation must have taken place several years before this. The opinion of Josephus, and of many Jewish and Christian writers, is that the letter was sent to the king, by Elijah, from heaven, by the ministry of angels. Of many other opinions, the more probable seems to be that the name of Elijah has crept into the text instead of that of Elisha, by whom this explanation supposes the letter to have been written ;-or, that Elijah, perceiving by the spirit of prophecy the criminal conduct of the king and its consequences, wrote this letter previously to his translation, and left it

with one of the prophets (probably Elisha) to be delivered in due season; or, that the date of the translation of Elijah is not indicated with such precision as to enable us to feel quite assured that it had already taken place when this letter was sent to Jehoram.

15. Disease of thy bowels.'-Jahn, on the authority of Dr. Mead (Medica Sacra, ch. iv.) concludes this disease to have been a form of dysentery. The long duration of such a disorder is a very unusual circumstance, which, with its awful severity and the previous prediction of the prophet, sufficiently indicated the Hand from which the stroke came.

CHAPTER XXII.

1 Ahaziah succeeding reigneth wickedly. 5 In his confederacy with Joram the son of Ahab, he is slain by Jehu. 10 Athaliah, destroying all the seed royal, save Joash, whom Jehoshabeath his aunt hid, usurpeth the kingdom.

AND the inhabitants of Jerusalem made 'Ahaziah his youngest son king in his stead: for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had slain all the eldest. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned.

2 Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was 'Athaliah the daughter of Omri.

3 He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.

4 Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction.

5 He walked also after their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead: and the Syrians smote Joram.

6 And he returned to be healed in Jezreel because of the wounds 'which were given him at Ramah, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria. And 'Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab at Jezreel, because he was sick.

12 Kings 8, 24, &c.

7 And the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by coming to Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.

8 And it came to pass, that, when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, that ministered to Ahaziah, he slew them.

9 And he sought Ahaziah: and they caught him, (for he was hid in Samaria,) and brought him to Jehu: and when they had slain him, they buried him: Because, said they, he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom.

10 'But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah.

11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not.

12 And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.

4 Heb. wherewith they wounded him. 7 2 Kings 9.7.

Verse 2. Forty and two years old was Ahaziah.'—In 2 Kings viii. 26, the age assigned to him at the commencement of his reign is twenty-two years. The interchange of the letters and D, used as numerals, would account for this difference, the former standing for twenty and the other for forty. But it is perhaps better to take the explanation of Lightfoot, who conceives that Ahaziah began to reign in the twenty-second year of his age, but the fortysecond of the kingdom of his mother Athaliah's family.

10. When Athaliah.....saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.'-This remarkable woman had long been the virtual possessor of the supreme power in Judah; but now she disdained an authority so precarious and indirect, and would reign alone. As the most wicked persons seldom shed blood out of absolute wantonness, it may be conceived that her temper may have been rendered peculiarly savage at this time by the sanguinary proceedings of Jehu in Israel against that house to which

she herself belonged, and in which she had lost, at one fell swoop, a mother, a brother, and a son, with many other very near relatives. It must also have appeared to her that the sort of authority which she had hitherto exercised, first as queen-consort and then as queen-mother, was now in very great danger-as it might be expected that which

ever of her grandsons succeeded to the throne, he would prefer to hers the counsel and guidance of his own mother. Here then were two powerful motives-dread of losing her power, and jealousy of being superseded by another woman -bringing her to the atrocious resolution of destroying all the children of her own son Amaziah,

CHAPTER XXIII.

1 Jehoiada, having set things in order, maketh Joash king. 12 Athaliah is slain. 16 Jehoiada restoreth the worship of God.

AND 'in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.

2 And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

3 And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as the LORD hath 'said of the sons of David.

4 This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;

5 And a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD.

6 But let none come into the house of the

LORD, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.

7 And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall be put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.

8 So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.

9 Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to

the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God.

10 And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about.

11 Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, "God save the king.

12 Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD:

13 And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, "Treason, Treason.

14 Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the LORD.

15 So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her there.

16 ¶ And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD's people.

17 Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and 'slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

18 Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in

the "law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.

19 And he set the 3porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.

20 And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and

11 Num. 28. 2.

brought down the king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the high gate into the king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

21 And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

13 1 Chron. 26. 1, &c.

Verse 8. Jehoiada.....dismissed not the courses.'-The meaning of this, of course, is that the high-priest, in order to have the stronger force at his disposal, detained the Levitical course, which, under ordinary circumstances, would have returned home, or at least would have gone off duty when its week of service had expired.

11. Put upon him the crown.'-We know that crowns were worn by the Hebrew kings; but this is the only incident in Scripture from which we learn that setting a crown on the head was part of the ceremonies of inauguration. There is no part of the Bible in which these ceremonies are so particularly described as in the chapter now before

sions-the wish for a protracted life; but the latter was, in a personal address, the more respectful and complimentary phrase, which was never understood in its literal force. This style of address was used to the Hebrew, Babylonian, and Persian kings (1 Kings i. 31; Neh. ii. 3; Dan. ii. 4). The same is also the proper force of our popular cry, A. B. for ever!' and God save the king' implies the desire for the prolongation of the king's life; by this therefore our translation properly renders the Hebrew expression. Indeed, so similar are the cries of loyalty everywhere, that nearly all the versions find a national cry of equivalent meaning. Thus the Vulgate has here, 'Vivat rex !'--the French versions, 'Vive le roi!' -and so of others.

13. The king stood at his pillar.'-Some think that, instead of 'at his pillar,' we should understand upon a stage' or 'scaffold;' perhaps the brazen scaffold which Solomon erected, and upon which he stood at the dedication of the temple. We incline to join both interpretations, and suppose that Joash stood upon a sort of scaffold or throne placed against a pillar. We cannot suppose that he stood upon the ground, for then, being a child and surrounded by such a number of persons, Athaliah_could scarcely have seen him when she entered. In Homer there are several allusions to the custom of setting a throne against a column.

CHAPTER XXIV.

1 Joash reigneth well all the days of Jehoiada. 4 He giveth order for the repair of the temple. 15 Jehoiada's death and honourable burial. 17 Joash, falling to idolatry, slayeth Zechariah the son of Jehoiada. 23 Joash is spoiled by the Syrians, and slain by Zabad and Jehozabad. 27 Amaziah succeedeth him.

JOASH 'was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

2 And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.

4 And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded 'to repair the house of the LORD.

5_And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto

the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.

6 And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?

7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow upon Baalim.

8 And at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the LORD.

9 And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the LORD the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.

10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.

11 Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the LORD.

13 So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.

14 And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the LORD, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.

15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.

17 Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.

18 And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

:

19 Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them but they would not give ear.

5 Heb. the healing went up upon the work. Heb. Darmesek.

6 Or, pestils.

10 Or, Jozachar, 2 Kings 12. 21.

20 And the Spirit of God 'came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.

21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.

22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.

:

23 And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of 'Damascus.

24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.

25 And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.

26 And these are they that conspired against him; 10Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of "Shimrith a Moabitess.

27 Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in

his stead.

7 Heb. clothed. 11 Or, Shomer.

13

Verse 17. After the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king, etc.'-We may estimate the merits of Jehoiada's administration from the evil consequences that followed his death. It then appeared that the good qualities which the king had seemed to manifest, were the effects rather of the right counsels under which he had acted, than of any solid principles of good. As we have before seen stronger and older men than Joash yielding to the witcheries of idolatry, which

seem so strange to us, we are the less surprised at the fall of this king. It now appeared what deep root idolatry had taken in the land during the years of its predominance under Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Athaliah; and the men of station who had imbibed or had been brought up in its principles, now reared themselves on high, as soon as the repressive power of God's high-priest was withdrawn. They repaired to the royal court, and by their attentions and flatteries so won upon the king, that he was at length

induced to give first his tolerance, and then his sanction, to the rank idolatries by which the two kingdoms had often been brought low. Against this, Zechariah, the son of the late high-priest, and a near relation to the king, raised his voice, and predicted the national calamities which would too surely follow; on which the people rose upon him, and, having received a consenting intimation from the king, stoned him to death in the very court of the temple. Thus did Joash repay the deep obligations for his life and throne which he owed to the house of Jehoiada.

22. The Lord look upon it, and require it.'-One cannot help contrasting this with the last words of another holy man who was slain under somewhat similar circumstances. The words of Stephen were: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge;' and the contrast in the spirit of these two dying prayers seems to furnish no unapt illustration of the different influences of the Jewish and the Christian dispensations.

25. The sepulchres of the kings.-These sepulchres were doubtless excavations in the rock; and as such sepulchres are essentially imperishable, there is hope that they may yet be discovered, when the accumulated rubbish of ages which encumbers the face of Mount Zion shall be sufficiently removed to disclose the ancient monuments which it covers. The tombs which lie about half a mile to the north of the present city, and which bear the name of the 'Sepulchres of the kings,' may have a just claim to that title if understood of the kings of the Herodian dynasty, or else of the royal family of Adiabene, constructed by Helena the queen of that country; for we know from Josephus that both these royal families had tombs in this quarter, and the character of the ornaments belongs to that age; and although usually so understood, they can scarcely be regarded as having a claim to be considered as sepulchres of the ancient Hebrew kings. We shall still, how

ever, provide a description of them, not only because they are so far illustrative as to furnish the most complete existing specimen of what may be called the style of regal sepulchres among the Jews, but because they form the most interesting monument of the kind now existing at Jerusalem. They have been described by many travellers. The best descriptions are those of Maundrell, Pococke, Clarke, Buckingham, Irby and Mangles, Robinson, and Olin. Robinson's account, as usual, is the most exact and explicit; but as the very clear description given by his countryman, Dr. Olin, suits our space better, we here transcribe it.

'It is not, like other tombs about Jerusalem, excavated in a perpendicular cliff. The ground is level, though formed of solid limestone, and the work was commenced by hewing out a quadrangular area, thirty paces in length and twenty-seven wide, a depth of from fifteen to twenty feet. The sides are perpendicular and smooth, and the whole work is below the surface of the earth, so that one must approach quite to the brink of this deep cavity before he perceives it. Several fine olive and fig-trees, I believe three, flourish in the mass of rubbish which has accumulated in the bottom of this excavation. Parallel with its southern side a trench is cut in the rock, thirty-four paces long and ten wide, descending gradually from west to east, till it reaches a depth equal to that of the court. The separating wall is about six feet in thickness, and the connection is formed near the eastern end by a broad arched doorway, ornamented with a simple moulding, now nearly obliterated, and so choked with accumulations that I was compelled to stoop very low to enter.

'In the western end of this spacious court a portico is excavated, twelve paces in length from north to south and five paces wide, by about sixteen feet high, a stratum of the rock being left, which serves as a roof to the portico while the court is open to the heavens. The edge of this