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28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

29 In his days Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo,' when he had seen him. 30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.

31 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was "Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

33 And Pharaoh-nechoh put him in bands at Riblah," in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute

Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.

35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh : he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaoh-nechoh.

36 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah.

37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. CHAPTER XXIV.

Things are here ripening for, and hastening toward, the utter destruction of Jerusalem. We left Jehoiakim on the throne, placed there by the king of Egypt: now here we have, I. The troubles of his reign, how he was brought into subjection by the king of Babylon, and severely chastised for attempting to shake off the yoke, v. 1-6, and how Egypt also was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, v. 7. II. The desolations of his son's reign, which continued but three months; and then he, and all his great men, being forced to surrender at discretion, were carried captives to Babylon, v. 8-16. III. The preparatives of the next reign, (which was the last of all,) for the utter ruin of Jerusalem, which the next chapter will give us an account of, v. 17-20.

N his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon

of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold: came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant

34 And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of

* 2 Chr. 35, 20, &c. ? Zech. 12. 11. m 2 Chr. 36. 1, &c. ⚫ called Shallum, 1 Chr. 3. 15. Jer. 22. 11. n c. 24. 18. o c. 25. 6. Jer. 52. 27. tor, because For all this, (v. 26,) The Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath. That is certainly true, which God spake by the prophet, Jer. 18. 7, 8, That if a nation, doomed to destruction, turn from the evil of sin, God will repent of the evil of punishment; and therefore we must conclude that Josiah's people, though they submitted to Josiah's power, did not heartily imbibe Josiah's principles. They were turned by force, they did not voluntarily turn from their evil way, but still continued their affection for their idols; and therefore he that knows men's hearts, would not recall the sentence, which was, That Judah should be removed, as Israel had been, and Jerusalem itself cast off, v. 27. Yet even this destruction was intended to be their effectual reformation; so that we must say, not only that the criminals had filled their measure, and were ripe for ruin, but also that the disease was come to a crisis, and was ready for a cure; and this shall be all the fruit, even the taking away

of sin.

2. As an evidence of this, even the reforming king is cut off in the midst of his usefulness, in mercy to him, that he might not see the evil which was coming upon his kingdom; but in wrath to his people, for his death was an inlet to their desolations. The king of Egypt waged war, it seems, with the king of Assyria, (so the king of Babylon is now called,) Josiah's kingdom lay between them; he therefore thought himself concerned to oppose the king of Egypt, and check the growing, threatening, greatness of his power; for though, at this time, he protested that he had no design against Josiah, yet if he should prevail to unite the river of Egypt and the river Euphrates, the fand of Judah would soon be overflowed between them; there fore Josiah went against him, and was killed in the first engagement, v. 29, 30. Here, (1.) We cannot justify Josiah's conduct; he had no clear call to engage in this war, nor do we find that he asked counsel of God by Urim, or prophets, concerning it. What had he to do, to appear and act as a friend and ally to the king of Assyria? Should he help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? If the kings of Egypt and Assyria quarrelled, he had reason to think God would bring good out of it to him and his people, and make them instrumental to weaken one another. Some understand the promise made to him, (That he should come to his grave in peace,) in a sense in which it was not performed, because, by bis miscarriage in this matter, he forfeited the benefit of it. God has promised to keep us in all our ways; but if we go out of our way, we throw ourselves out of his protection. I understand the promise so, as that I believe it was fulfilled, for he died in peace with God and his own conscience, and saw not, nor had any immediate prospect of, the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; yet I understand the providence to be a rebuke to him for his rashness. (2.) We must adore God's righteousness, in taking away such a jewel from an unthankful people that knew not how to value it. They greatly lamented his death, (2 Chr. 35, 25,) urged to it by Jeremiah, who told them the meaning of it, and what a threateninng omen it was; but they had not made a due improvement of the mercies they enjoyed by his life, of which God taught them the worth by the want.

V. 31-37. Jerusalem saw not a good day after Josiah was laid in his grave, but one trouble come after another, till, within 22 years, it was quite destroyed. Of the reign of two of his sons here is a short account; the former we find here a prisoner, and the latter a tributary, to the king of Egypt, and both so in the very beginning of their reign. This king of Egypt having slain Josiah, though he had not had any design upon Judah, yet, being provoked by the opposition which Josiah gave him, now, it should seem, he bent all his force against his family and kingdom. If Josiah's sons had trodden in his steps, they would have

p Gen. 41. 45. c. 24. a 2 Chr. 36. 5, &c.

he reigned. I set a mulct upon the land, 2 Chr. 36. 3. 17. Dan. 1.7. g Jer. 22. 11, 12. Er. 19. 3, 4. r ver. 33. fared the better for his piety; but deviating from them, they fared the worse for his rashness.

I. Jehoahaz, a younger son, was first made king by the people of the land; probably, because he was observed to be of a more active warlike genius than his elder brother, and likely to make head against the king of Egypt, and to avenge his father's death, which perhaps the people were more solicitous about, in point of honour, than the keeping up and carrying on his father's reformation; and the issue was accordingly. 1. He did ill, v. 32. Though he had a good education, and a good example, given him, and many a good prayer, we may suppose, put up for him, yet he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and, it is to be feared, began to do so in his father's lifetime, for his reign was so short, that he could not, in that, show much of his character. He did according to all that his wicked fathers had done. Though he had not time to do much, yet he had chosen his patterns, and showed whom he intended to follow, and whose steps he resolved to tread in; and having done this, he is here reckoned to have done according to all the evil which they did, whom he proposed to imitate, The choice of persons whom the young take for their example, is of serious consequence; an error in this choice is fatal, Phil. 3. 17, 18.

2. Doing ill, no wonder that he fared ill. He was but three months a prince, and was then made a prisoner, and lived and died so. The king of Egypt seized him, and put him in bands, (v. 33,) fearing lest he should give him disturbance, and carried him to Egypt, where he died soon after, v. 34. This Jehoahaz is that young lion whom Ezekiel speaks of in his lamentation for the princes of Israel, that learned to catch the prey and devour men, (that was the evil which he did in the sight of the Lord,) but the nations heard of him, he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains into the land of Egypt, Ez. 19. 1-4. See Jer. 22. 10—12.

II. Eliakim, another son of Josiah, was made king by the king of Egypt; it is not said in the room of Jehoahaz, (his reign was so short, that it was scarcely worth taking notice of,) but in the room of Josiah. The crown of Judah had, hitherto, always descended from a father to a son, and never, till now, from one brother to another; once, the succession had so happened in the house of Ahab, but never, till now, in the house of David. The king of Egypt, having used his power in making him king, further showed it in changing his name, he called him Jehoiakim, a name that has reference to Jehovah, for he had no design to make him renounce or forget the religion of his country; all people will walk in the name of their God, and let him do so. The king of Babylon did not do so by those whose names he changed, Dan. 1. 7.

Of this Jehoiakim we are here told, 1. That the king of Egypt made him poor, exacted from him a vast tribute of one hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold, (v. 33,) which, with much difficulty, he squeezed out of his subjects, and gave to Pharaoh, v. 35. Formerly, the Israelites had spoiled the Egyptians, now, the Egyptians spoil Israel: see what woful changes sin makes. 2. That which made him poor, yet did not make him good; notwithstanding the rebukes of Providence he was under, by which he should have been convinced, humbled, and reformed, he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, (v. 37,) and so prepared against himself greater judgments; for such God will send, if lesser do not do the work for which they are sent.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XXIV.

V. 1-7. We have here the first mention of a name which makes a great figure both in the histories, and in the prophecies,

three years: then he turned and rebelled against | months. And his mother's name was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem.

him.

2 And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.

3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;

4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed, (for the filled Jerusalem with innocent blood,) which the LORD would not pardon

5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

6 So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead.

7 And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land for the king of Babylon had taken, from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt. 8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign: and he reigned in Jerusalem three

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of the Old Testament; it is that of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, (v. 1) that head of gold. A potent prince, and one that was the terror of the mighty in the land of the living: and yet his name had not been known in sacred writ, if it had not been employed in the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews.

I. He made Jehoiakim his tributary, and kept him in subjection three years, v. 1. Nebuchadnezzar began his reign in the fourth year of Jehoiakim; in his eighth year he made him his prisoner, but restored him, upon his promise of faithfulness to him; that promise he kept about three years, but then rebelled, probably, in hopes of assistance from the king of Egypt. If Jehoiakim had served his God as he should have done, he had not been servant to the king of Babylon; but God would thus make him know the difference between his service and the service of the kings of the countries, 2 Chr. 12. 8. If he had been content with his servitude, and true to his word, his condition had been no worse; but, rebelling against the king of Babylon, he plunged himself into more trouble.

II. When he rebelled, he sent his forces against him to destroy his country, bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, Ammonites, who were all now in the service and pay of the king of Babylon, (v. 2,) and withal retained, and now showed, their ancient enmity to the Israel of God. Yet no mention is here made of their commission from the king of Babylon, but only of that from the King of kings. The Lord sent against him all these bands. And again, (v. 3,) Surely at the commandment of the Lord, came this upon Judah, else the commandment of Nebuchadnezzar could not have brought it. Many are serving God's purposes, who are not aware of it. Two things God intended in suffering Judah to be thus harassed. 1. The punishment of the sins of Manasseh, which God now visited upon the third and fourth generation. So long he waited before he visited them, to see if the nation would repent; but they continued impenitent, notwithstanding Josiah's endeavours to reform them, and ready to relapse, upon the first turn, into their former idolatries; now that the old bond was put in suit, they were called up, upon the former judgment; that was revived, which God had laid up in store, and sealed among his treasures, (Deut. 32. 34. Job 14. 17,) and, in remembrance of that, he removed Judah out of his sight, and let the world know that time will not wear out the guilt of sin, and that reprieves are not pardons. All that Manasseh did, was called to mind, but especially the innocent blood that he shed, much of which, we may suppose, was the blood of God's witnesses and worshippers, which the Lord would not pardon. Is there then any unpardonable sin but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost? This is meant of the remitting of the temporal punishment: though Manasseh repented, and we have reason to think that even the persecutions and murders he was guilty of, were pardoned, so that he was delivered from the wrath to come; yet, as they were national sins, they lay still charged upon the land, crying for national judgments. Perhaps, some were now living who were aiding and abetting; and the present king was guilty of innocent blood, as appears, Jer. 22. 17. See what a provoking sin murder is, how loud it cries, and how long! See what need nations have to lament the sins of their fathers, lest they smart for them. 2. God intended hereby the accomplishment of the prophecies; it was according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Rather shall Judah be removed out of his sight, nay rather shall heaven and earth pass away, than any word of God fall to the ground. Threatenings will be fulfilled as certainly as promises, if the sinner's repentance prevent not.

9 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done. 10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.

11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.

12 And 'Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his

reign.

13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.

14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.

15 And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon,

† called Jeconiah, 1 Chr. 3. 16. Jer. 24. 1; and Coniah, Jer. 22. 24. 28. k Dan. 1.1, 2. came into seige. ? Jer. 29. 1, 2. Sor, eunucha. m ver. 20. 17. n Jer. 24. 1. oc 25. 12.

III. The king of Egypt was likewise subdued by the king of Babylon, and a great part of his country taken from him, v. 7. It was but lately that he had oppressed Israel, (ch. 23. 33,) now he is himself brought down, and disabled to attempt any thing for the recovery of his losses, or the assistance of his allies; he dares not come any more out of his land. Afterward, he attempted to give Zedekiah some relief, but he was obliged to retire, Jer. 37. 7.

IV. Jehoiakim, seeing his country laid waste, and himself ready to fall into the enemy's hand, as it should seem, died of a broken heart, in the midst of his days, v. 6. So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers; but it is not said that he was buried with them; for, no doubt, the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled, that he should not be lamented, as his father was, but buried with the burial of an ass, (Jer. 22. 18, 19,) and his dead body cast out, Jer. 36. 30.

V. 8-20. This should have been the history of king Jehoiachin's reign, but, alas, it is only the history of king Jehoiachin's captivity, as it is called, Ez. 1. 2. He came to the crown, not to have the honour of wearing it, but the shame of losing it; Ideo tantum venerat, ut exiret-He came in, only to go out.

I. His reign was short and inconsiderable; he reigned but three months, and then was removed and carried captive to Babylon, as his father, it is likely, would have been, if he had lived but so much longer. What an unhappy young prince was this, that was thrust into a falling house, a sinking throne! What an unnatural father had he, who begat him to suffer for him; and by his own sin and folly had left himself nothing to bequeath to his son but his own miseries! Yet this young prince reigned long enough to show that he justly smarted for his fathers' sins, for he trod in their steps, v. 9. He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as they had done; he did nothing to cut off the entail of the curse, to discharge the encumbrances of his crown, and therefore (Transit cum onere The encumbrance descends with the crown) with his own iniquity that of his fathers shall come into the account.

As

II. The calamities that came upon him, and his family, and people, in the very beginning of his reign, were very grievous. 1. Jerusalem was besieged by the king of Babylon, v. 10, 11. He had sent his forces to ravage the country, (v. 2,) now he came himself, and laid siege to the city. Now the word of God was fulfilled, (Deut. 28. 49, &c.) The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, of fierce countenance, that shall first eat the fruit of thy land, and then besiege thee in all thy gates. 2. Jehoiachin immediately surrendered at discretion. soon as he heard the king of Babylon was come in person against the city, his name being, at this time, become very formidable, he beat a parley, and went out to him, v. 12. Had he made his peace with God, and taken the method that Hezekiah did in the like case, he needed not to have feared the king of Babylon, but might have held out with courage, honour, and success; (one should have chased a thousand :) but, wanting the faith and piety of an Israelite, he had not the resolution of a man, of a soldier, of a prince. He and his royal family, his mother and wives, his servants and princes, delivered themselves up prisoners of war; this was the consequence of their being servants of sin.

3. Nebuchadnezzar rifled the treasures both of the church and of the state, and carried away the silver and gold of both, v. 13. Now the word of God, by Isaiah, was fulfilled, (ch, 20. 17,) All that is in thine house, shall be carried to Babylon. Even the vessels of the temple which Solomon had made, and laid up in store to be used as the old ones were worn out, he cut off from the temple, and began to cut them in pieces, but, upon

and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land: those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand; all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

the thrones of the house of David; but that glory is here departed, for the prince is made a most miserable prisoner, the seed royal destroyed, v. 5-7, and the principal officers put to death, v. 18-21. 2. That it was the holy city, there was the testimony of Israel; but that glory is departed, for Solomon's temple is burned to the ground, v. 9, and the sacred vessels that remained, are carried away to Babylon, v. 13-17. Thus is Jerusalem become as a widow, Lam. 1. 1. Ichabod, Where is the glory? II. The destruction and dispersion of the rempant that was left in Judah under Gedaliah, v. 22-26. 11. The countenance which, after 37 years imprisonment, was given to Jehoiachin the captive king of Judah, v. 27-30.

A month, in
ND it came to pass, in the ninth year of his

17 And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father's brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

18 Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

19 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

20 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

CHAPTER XXV.

Ever since David's time, Jerusalem had been a celebrated place; beautiful for

the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.

2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.

4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night, by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain.

5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the situation and the joy of the whole earth; while the book of pealms lasts, that king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho:

name will sound great. In the New Testament, we read much of it, when it was, as here, ripening again for its ruin. In the close of the bible, we read of a New Jerusalem; every thing therefore that concerus Jerusalem, is worthy our regard. In this chapter, we have, I. The utter destruction of Jerusalem by the

and all his army were scattered from him.

6 So they took the king, and brought him up to Chaldeans; the city besieged and taken, v. 1-4, the houses burned, v. 8, 9, the the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave

wall broken down, v. 10, and the inhabitants carried away into captivity, v. 11, 12. The glory of Jerusalem was, 1. That it was the royal city, there were set ⚫or, ewuchs. p Jer. 37. 1. g Jer. 52. 1, &c. T c. 23. 31. 2 Chr. 36. 13.

Ez. 17. 15.

second thoughts, reserved them for his own use, for we find Belshazzar drinking wine in them, Dan. 5. 2, 3.

4. He carried away a great part of Jerusalem into captivity, to weaken it, that he might effectually secure to himself the dominion of it, and prevent its revolt, and to enrich himself with the wealth or service of those he took away; there had been some carried away, eight years hefore this, in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, and the third of Jehoiakim; among them were Daniel and his fellows. See Dan. 1. 1,2. They had approved themselves so well, that this politic prince coveted more of them. Now he carried off, (1.) The young king himself, and his family, (v. 15;) and we find, (ch. 25. 27-29,) that for 37 years, he continued a close prisoner. (2.) All the great men, the princes and officers, whose riches were kept for the owners thereof to their hurt, (Ec. 5. 13,) tempting the enemies to make a prey of them first. (3.) All the military men, the mighty men of valour, (v. 14,) the mighty of the land, (v. 15,) the men of might, even all that were strong and apt for war, v. 16. These could not defend themselves, and the conqueror would not leave them to defend their country, but took them away, to be employed in his service. (4.) All the craftsmen and smiths who made weapons of war; in taking them, he did, in effect, disarm the city, according to the Philistines' policy, 1 Sam. 13. 19. In this captivity Ezekiel, the prophet was carried away, (Ez. 1. 1, 2,) and Mordecai, Esth. 2. 6. This Jehoiachin was also called Jeconiah, 1 Chr. 3. 16, and, in contempt, Coniah, Jer. 22, 24, where his captivity is foretold.

III. The successor whom the king of Babylon appointed in the room of Jehoiachin. God had written him childless, (Jer. 22. 30,) and therefore his uncle was intrusted with the government. The king of Babylon made Mattaniah king, the son of Josiah, and to remind him, and let all the world know, that he was his creature, he changed his name, and called him Zedekiah, v. 17. God had sometimes charged it upon his people, They have set up kings, but not by me, (Hos. 8. 4;) and now, to punish them for that, the king of Babylon shall have the setting up of their kings. Those are justly deprived of their liberty, that use it, and insist upon it, against God's authority. This Zedekiah was the last of the kings of Judah; the name which the king of Babylon gave him, signifies, The justice of the Lord, which was a presage of the glorifying of God's justice in his ruin.

1. See how impious this Zedekiah was. Though the judgments of God upon his three immediate predecessors might have been a warning to him not to tread in their steps, yet he did that which was evil, like all the rest, v. 19.

2. See how impolitic he was. As his predecessor lost his courage, so he his conduct, with his religion, for he rebelled against the king of Babylon, (v. 20,) whose tributary he was, and so, provoked him whom he was utterly unable to contend with, and who, if he had continued true to him, would have protected him; which was the most foolish thing he could do, and hastened the ruin of his kingdom. This came to pass through the anger of the Lord, that he might cast them out from his presence. Note, When those that are intrusted with the counsels of a nation, act unwisely and against their true interest, we ought to take notice of the displeasure of God in it It is for the sins of a people, that God removes the speech of the trusty, and takes away the understanding of the aged, and hides

judgment upon him.

a 2 Chr. 36. 17, &c. Jer. 34. 2, &c. 39. 1, &c. 52. 4, &c. Ez. 24. 2, &c. b Ez. 12. 12. c c. 23. 83. spake judgment with him.

from their eyes the things that belong to the public peace. Whom God will destroy, he infatuates.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XXV.

V. 1-7. We left king Zedekiah in rebellion against the king of Babylon, (ch. 24. 20,) contriving and endeavouring to shake off his yoke, when he was no way able to do it, nor took the right method by making God his friend first. Now here we have an account of the fatal consequences of that attempt. I. The king of Babylon's army laid siege to Jerusalem, v. 1. What should hinder them, when the country was already in their possession? ch. 24. 2. They built forts against the city round about, whence, by such arts of war as they then had, they battered it; sent into it instruments of death, and kept out of it the necessary supports of life. Formerly, Jerusalem had been compassed with the favour of God as with a shield, but now their defence was departed from them, and their enemies surrounded them on every side. Those that by sin have provoked God to leave them, will find that innumerable evils will compass them about. Two years this siege lasted: at first, the army retired, for fear of the king of Egypt, (Jer. 37. 11 ;) but, finding him not so powerful as they thought, they soon returned, with a resolution not to quit the city till they had made themselves masters of it.

II. During this siege, the famine prevailed, (v. 3,) so that, for a long time, they ate their bread by weight, and with care, Ez. 4. 16. Thus they were punished for their gluttony and excess, their fulness of bread, and feeding themselves without fear; at length, there was no bread for the people of the land, that is, the common people, the soldiers, whereby they were weakened, and rendered unfit for service; now they ate their own children for want of food; see this foretold by one prophet, (Ez. 5. 10,) and bewailed by another, Lam. 4. 3, &c. Jeremiah earnestly persuaded the king to surrender, (Jer. 38. 17,) but his heart was hardened, to his destruction.

III. At length, the city was taken by storm, it was broken up, (v. 4,) the besiegers made a breach in the wall, at which they forced their way into it; the besieged, unable any longer to defend it, endeavoured to quit it, and make the best of their way; many, no doubt, were put to the sword, the victorious army being much exasperated by their obstinacy.

IV. The king, his family, and all his great men, made their escape in the night, by some secret passages which the besiegers either had not discovered, or did not keep their eye upon, v. 4. But those as much deceive themselves, who think to escape God's judgments, as those who think to brave them; the feet of him that flees from them, will as surely fail as the hands of him that fights against them; when God judges, he will overcome. Intelligence was given to the Chaldeans of the king's flight, and which way he was gone, so that they soon overtook him, v. 5. His guards were scattered from him, every man shifting for his own safety. Had he put himself under God's protection, that would not have failed him now: he presently fell into the enemies' hands, and here we are told what they did with him.

1. He was brought to the king of Babylon, and tried by a council of war, for rebelling against him who set him up, and to whom he had sworn fidelity; God and man had a quarrel with him for this; see Ez. 17. 16, &c. The king of Babylon now lay at Riblah, (which lay between Judea and Babylon,) that

7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of "Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.

8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, (which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,) came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:

9 And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and Jevery great man's house burnt he with fire.

10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.

11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry

away.

12 But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen. 13 And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.

• made blind. d Ez. 12. 13, &c.

14 And the pots,' and the shovels, and the snuf tor, chief marshal. 1 Kings 9. 8. Ps. 79. 1. Is. 64. 10, 11. f Am. 2. 5. g Neh. 1. 3. Jer. 52. 14, &c. fallen away. A c. 24. 14. Jer. 40. 7. Jer. 27. 19, &c. 1 Kings 7. 15-27. he might be ready to give orders both to bis court at home and his army abroad.

2. His sons were slain before his eyes, though children, that this doleful spectacle, the last his eyes were to behold, might leave an impression of grief and horror upon his spirit as long as he lived; in slaying his sons, they showed their indignation at his falsehood, and, in effect, declared that neither he, nor any of his, were fit to be trusted, and therefore that they were not fit to live.

3. His eyes were put out, by which he was deprived of that common comfort of human life, which is given even to them that are in misery, and to the bitter in soul, the light of the sun; by which he was also disabled for any service. He dreaded being mocked, and therefore would not be persuaded to yield, (Jer. 38. 19;) but that which he feared, came upon him with a witness, and, no doubt, added rauch to his misery; for as they that are deaf, suspect that every body talks of them, so they that are blind, suspect that every body laughs at them; by this, two prophecies that seemed to contradict one another, were both fulfilled. Jeremiah prophesied that Zedekiah should be brought to Babylon, Jer. 32. 5.-34. 3. Ezekiel prophesied that he should not see Babylon, Ez. 12. 13. He was brought thither, but, his eyes being put out, he did not see it; thus he ended his days, before he ended his life.

4. He was bound in fetters of brass, and so carried to Babylon; he that was blind, needed not to be bound, (his blindness fettered him,) but for his greater disgrace, they led him bound; only, whereas common malefactors are laid in iron, (Ps. 105. 18.-107. 10,) he, being a prince, was bound with fetters of brass; but that the metal was somewhat nobler and lighter, was little comfort, while still he was in fetters: let it not seem strange, if those that have been held in the cords of iniquity, come to be thus held in the cords of affliction, Job 36. 8.

V. 8-21. Though we have reason to think that the army of the Chaldeans were much enraged against the city for holding out with so much stubbornness, yet they did not therefore put all to fire and sword as soon as they had taken the city, (which is too commonly done in such cases,) but, about a month after, (compare v. 8 with v. 3,) Nebuzar-adan was sent with orders to complete the destruction of Jerusalem; this space God gave them to repent, after all the foregoing days of his patience, but in vain, their hearts (for aught that appears) were still hardened, and therefore execution is awarded to the utmost.

1. The city and temple are burned, v. 9. It does not appear that the king of Babylon designed to send any colonies to people Jerusalem, and therefore he ordered it to be laid in ashes, as a nest of rebels. At the burning of the king's house, and the houses of the great men, one cannot so much wonder; (the inhabitants had, by their sins, made them combustible;) but that the house of the Lord should perish in these flames, that that holy and beautiful house should be burned with fire, (Is. 64. 11.) is very strange, that house which David prepared for, and which Solomon built, at such a vast expense; that house which had the eye and heart of God perpetually upon it, (1 Kings 9. 3,) might not that have been snatched as a brand out of this burning? No, it must not be fire-proof against God's judgments; this stately structure must be turned into ashes, and, it is probable, the ark in it, for the enemies, having heard how dear the Philistines paid for the abusing of it, durst not seize that, nor did any of its friends take care to preserve it, for then we should have heard of it again in the second temple; one of the VOL. I.-118

fers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

15 And the fire-pans, and the bowls, and such things as were of gold, in gold, and of silver, in silver, the captain of the guard took away.

16 The two pillars, one sea, and the bases, which Solomon had made for the house of the LORD; the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

17 The height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the chapiter upon it was brass: and the height of the chapiter three cubits; and the wreathen work, and pomegranates upon the chapiter round about, all of brass: and like unto these had the second pillar with wreathen work.

18 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah "the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the "door :

19 And out of the city he took an "officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city:

20 And Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, took these, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah:

k Ex. 27.3. 1 Kings 7. 47, 50. the one. m 1 Kings 7. 15. n 1 Chr. 6. 14. Ezra 7. 1. o Jer. 21. 1. 29. 25, 29. threshold. Tor, eunuch. .. vaw the king's face, Esth. 1. 14. for, scribe of the captain of the host.

apocryphal writers does indeed tell us that the prophet Jeremiah got it out of the temple, and conveyed it to a cave in mount Nebo on the other side Jordan, and hid it there, (2 Mac. 2. 4, 5;) but that could not be, for Jeremiah was a close prisoner at that time. By the burning of the temple, God would show how little he cares for the external pomp of his worship, when the life and power of religion are neglected; the people trusted to the temple, as if that would protect them in their sins, (Jer. 7. 4;) but God, by this, lets them know that when they had profaned it, they would find it but a refuge of lies. temple had stood about 420, some say, 430 years; the people having forfeited the promises made concerning it, those promises must be understood of the Gospel temple, which is God's rest for ever. It is observable that the second temple was burned by the Romans, the same month, and the same day of the month, that the first temple was burned by the Chaldeans, which, Josephus says, was the 10th of August.

This

2. The walls of Jerusalem are demolished, (v. 10,) as if the victorious army would be revenged on them that had kept them out so long, or, at least, prevent the like opposition another time. Sin unwalls a people, and takes away their defence. These walls were never repaired till Nehemiah did it.

3. The residue of the people are carried away captive to Babylon, v. 11. Most of the inhabitants had perished by sword or famine, or had made their escape when the king did, (for it is said, v. 5, His army was scattered from him,) so that there were very few left, who, with the deserters, making in all but 832 persons, (as appears, Jer. 52. 29,) were carried away into captivity; only the poor of the land were left behind, (v. 12,) to till the ground, and dress the vineyards, for the Chaldeans. Sometimes poverty is a protection; for they that have nothing, have nothing to lose. When the rich Jews, who had been oppressive to the poor, were made strangers, nay, prisoners, in an enemy's country, the poor, whom they had despised and oppressed, had liberty and peace in their own country; thus Providence sometimes remarkably humbles the proud, and favours them of low degree.

4. The brazen vessels, and other appurtenances of the temple, are carried away, those of silver and gold being most of them gone before; those two famous columns of brass, Jachin and Boaz, which signified the strength and stability of the house of God, were broken to pieces, and the brass of them carried to Babylon, v. 13. When the things signified were sinned away, what should the signs stand there for? Ahaz had profanely cut off the borders of the bases, and put the brazen sea upon a pavement of stones, (ch. 16. 17;) justly therefore are the bases themselves, and the brazen sea, delivered into the enemy's hand. It is just with God to take away his ordinances from those that profane and abuse them, that curtail and depress them. Some things remained of gold and silver, (v. 15,) which were now carried off; but most of this plunder was brass, such a vast quantity of it, that it is said to be without weight, v. 16. The carrying away of the vessels wherewith they ministered, (v. 14,) put an end to the ministration. It was a righteous thing with God to deprive those of the benefit of his worship, who had slighted it so long, and preferred false worships before it; they that would have many altars, now shall have one.

5. Several of the great men are slain in cold blood; Seraiah the chief priest, who was the father of Ezra, (as appears, Ezra 7. 1,) the second priest, who, when there was occasion, officiated for him, and three door keepers of the temple, (v. 18,) the ( 937 )

II. KINGS.

Jehoiachim released from Captivity.

21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew, with him, and smote Gedaliah that he died, and the them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah Jews and the Chaldees that were with him at Mizpah. was carried away out of their land. the captains of the armies, arose, and came to 26 And all the people, both small and great, and Egypt for they were afraid of the Chaldees.

22 And as for the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzer king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ruler. 23 And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 24 And Gedaliah sware to them, and to their men, and said unto them, Fear not to be the servants of the Chaldees: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. 25 But it came to pass, in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, came, and ten men

D Lev. 26. 33. Deut. 28. 36, 61. c. 23. 27. Ez. 12. 25-28. 24. 14. g Jer. 40.5, &c.

r Jer. 41. 1, &c. of the kingdom. Jer. 43. 4, 7. 1 Jer. 52. 31, &c.

27 And it came to pass, in the seven and thirJudah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and tieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison;

throne above the throne of the kings that were with 28 And he spake kindly to him, and set his him in Babylon;

did eat bread continually before him all the days of 29 And changed his prison garments: and he his life.

given him of the king, a daily rate for every day, 30 And his allowance was a continual allowance all the days of his life.

u Gen. 40, 13, 20. † good things with him.

Dan. 2. 37. 5. 18, 19. a Is. 61. 3.

general of the army, five privy-counsellors, (afterward, they fered greatly by it, would not have been punished for it: but, = 2 Sam. 9. 7. y Neh. 11. 23. Dan. 1. 5. Matt. 6. 11. Acts 6. 1. made them up seven, Jer. 52. 25,) the secretary of war, or pay-under pretence of this apprehension, contrary to the counsel of master of the army, and sixty country gentlemen who had con- Jeremiah, they all went to Egypt, where, it is probable, they cealed themselves in the city; these, being persons of some rank, were brought to the king of Babylon, (v. 19, 20,) who mixed with the Egyptians by degrees, and were never heard of ordered them to be all put to death, (v. 21,) when, in reason, their own folly and disobedience, and Egypt had the last of them, more as Israelites; thus was there a full end made of them by they might have hoped that surely the bitterness of death was past. These the king of Babylon's regency looked upon as that the last verse of that chapter of threatenings might be fulmost active in opposing him; but Divine Justice, we may supfilled after all the rest, Deut. 28. €8, The Lord shall bring thee pose, looked upon them as ringleaders in that idolatry and the prophet Jeremiah, ch. 40. to ch. 45. Quæque ipse miserrima into Egypt again. These events are more largely related by impiety which were punished by these desolations. This com- vidit, et quorum pars magna fuit-Which scenes he was doomed pleted the calamity: so Judah was carried away out of their land, about 860 years after they were put in possession of it by to behold, and in which he bare a melancholy part. Joshua. Now the scripture was fulfilled, The Lord shall bring thee, and the king which thou shalt set over thee, into a nation which thou hast not known, Deut. 28. 36. Sin kept their fathers forty years out of Canaan, and now turned them out: the Lord is known by those judgments which he executes, and makes good that word which he has spoken; (Am. 3. 2,) You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

V. 22-30. In these verses, we have,

I. The dispersion of the remaining people, the city of Jerusalem was quite laid waste; some people there were in the land of Judah, (v. 22,) that had weathered the storm, and (which was no small favour at this time, Jer. 45. 5) had their lives given them for a prey. Now see,

no more, after he was carried blind to Babylon; it is probable II. The reviving of the captive prince; of Zedekiah we hear that he did not live long, but that when he died, he was buried coniah, who surrendered himself, (ch. 24. 12,) we are here told, with some marks of honour, Jer. 34. 5. that as soon as Evil-merodach came to the crown, upon the death Of Jehoiachin, or Jeof his father Nebuchadnezzar, he released him out of prison, (where he had lain 37 years, and was now 55 years old,) spake kindly to him, paid more respect to him than to any other of the clothing instead of his prison garments, maintained him in his kings his father had left in captivity, (v. 28,) gave him princely his family, in some measure corresponding to his rank, a daily rate for every day as long as he lived. Consider this, own palace, (v. 29,) and allowed him a pension for himself and

1. As a very happy change of Jehoiachin's condition: to have been so long accustomed to the straits and miseries of a prison, and disgrace, the plenty and pleasure of a court, after he had night. Let none say that they shall never see good again, bewas like the return of the morning after a very dark and tedious. know not what blessed turn Providence may yet give to their cause they have long seen little but evil; the most miserable affairs, nor what comforts they are reserved for, according to the days wherein they have been afflicted, Ps. 90. 15. However, the death of afflicted saints is to them such a change as this here was to Jehoiachin; it will release them out of their prison, shake off the body, that prison garment, and open the way to their advancement; will send them to the throne, to the table of the King of kings, the glorious liberty of God's children.

1. What a good posture they were put into; the king of Baby-honour and liberty, after he had been so long in confinement lon appointed Gedaliah, one of themselves, to be their governor and protector under him, a very good man, and one that would make the best of the bad, (v. 22;) his father Ahikam was one that countenanced and protected Jeremiah, when the princes had vowed his death, Jer. 26. 24. It is probable that this Gedaliah, by the advice of Jeremiah, had gone over to the Chaldeans, and had approved himself so well, that the king of Babylon intrusted him with the government; he resided not at Jerusalem, but at Mizpah, in the land of Benjamin, a place famous in Samuel's time; thither those came, who had fled from Zedekiah, (v. 4,) and put themselves under his protection, (v. 23,) which he assured them of, if they would be patient and peaceable under the government of the king of Babylon, v. 24. Gedaliah, though he had not the pomp and power of a sovereign prince, yet might have been a greater blessing to them than many of their kings had been, especially having such a privy-counsellor as Jeremiah, who was now with them, and interested himself in their affairs, Jer. 40. 5, 6.

2. What a fatal breach was made upon them, soon afterward, by the death of Gedaliah, within two months after he entered upon his government. the present, was determined, and therefore it is in vain for them The utter extirpation of the Jews, for to think of taking root again, the whole land must be plucked up, (Jer. 45. 4;) yet this hopeful settlement is dashed to pieces, not by the Chaldeans, but by some of themselves: the things of their peace were so hidden from their eyes, that they knew not when they were well off, nor would believe when they were told. (1.) They had a good governor of their own, and him they slew, out of spite to the Chaldeans, because he was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, v. 25. Ishmael, who was of the royal

that his father made the yoke of his captives too heavy, and therefore, with the tenderness of a man, and the honour of a 2. As a very generous act of Evil-merodach's; he thought prince, made it lighter; it should seem, all the kings he had in think, for the sake of the antiquity of his family, and the honour his power were favoured, but Jehoiachin above them all; some of his renowned ancestors, David and Solomon; none of the kings of the nations, it is likely, were descended from so long a as the king of Judah. The Jews say that this Evil-merodach race of kings in a direct lineal succession, and by a male line, had been himself imprisoned by his own father, when he returnin consequence of which, as soon as he had it in his power, he ed from his madness, for some mismanagement at that time, showed him this kindness as a sufferer, as a fellow-sufferer. and that in prison he contracted a friendship with Jehoiachin, Some suggest that Evil-merodach had learned from Daniel and family, envying Gedaliah's advancement, and the happy settle-affected to them, and, upon that account, favoured Jehoiachin. his fellows the principles of the true religion, and was well ment of the people under him, though he could not propose to set up himself, resolved to ruin him, and basely slew him and ment of the Jews in captivity, and the support of their faith and 3. As a kind dispensation of Providence, for the encourageall his friends, both Jews and Chaldees: Nebuchadnezzar would hope concerning their enlargement in due time; this happened not, could not, have been a more mischievous enemy to their just about the midnight of their captivity; thirty-six of the sepeace, than this degenerate branch of the house of David was. (2.) They were as yet in their own good land, but they for- behind, and now to see their king thus advanced, would be a sook it, and went to Egypt, for fear of the Chaldees, v. 26. The comfortable earnest to them of their own release in due time, in venty years were now past, and almost as many were yet Chaldeans had reason enough to be offended at the murder of the set time: unto the upright there thus ariseth light in the darkGedaliah; but if those that remained, had humbly remonstrated, ness, to encourage them to hope, even in the cloudy and dark alleging that it was only the act of Ishmael and his party, we day, that at evening time it shall be light; when therefore we are may suppose that they who were innocent of it, nay, who suf-perplexed, let us not be in despair.

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