CHAPTER 8
1. Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had revived, saying, “Get up and go—you and your household—and sojourn wherever you can find hospitality, because YHWH has summoned a famine, and it will also come to the Land for seven years.”
One would think that coming to the point of some Israelites eating their own children would have driven the nation to repentance, but the newfound plenty apparently made them forget YHWH again. (Compare Prov. 30:8) Akh’av was only punished with a three-and-a-half-year famine; here its length is doubled. Does this signify that the sin of the people is even worse than at that time? They had proven to be only looking out for themselves, since they trampled an official in the gate, even if he did have it coming. And instead of feeding everyone freely when they found plenty, they sold the food instead of caring for one another. They did not even thank YHWH for it; they just saw it as “dumb luck”. Were this woman and her son the only people worthy enough to receive a warning or a dispensation to temporarily leave the Land in which Israel is commanded to continue to dwell? And where is her husband? Knowing that he was already old when their son was born (4:14), undoubtedly he had already passed away.
2. So the woman got up and did according to the man of Elohim’s word, and she and her household went and stayed [as a refugee] in the land of the Filistines [for] seven years.
By this time the Filistines were merely a remnant of the power they had once been, and apparently still had some ties to Israel that remained from when they were subjugated under David.
3. And it turned out that at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Filistines and she came forward to apply to the king [to recover] her house and her land,
When so many other nations around them were related to Israel and some were even monotheistic, why did she go to the purely-pagan Filistines?
4. the king was speaking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of Elohim, saying, “Please tell me [about] all the great things that Elisha has done.”
This does not seem like a flashback. But the fact that Gehazi had gone out from Elisha’s presence though he had turned as leprous as snow (5:27), in which case he would have been pronounced ritually clean again (Lev. 13:12-13) makes it seem that he never came back to Elisha. Elisha had another, unnamed servant after he left, so “servant of Elisha” was not his current position, but only a reminder of who he had once been for identification purposes. Instead, he is in the presence of the king who has proven time and again to be Elisha’s enemy. It is human nature for two people who have had bad experiences with the same person to tend to “buddy up” to one another. The king who has been shamed by Elisha may be trying to find his weak point, so he asks the man who knows the most about him to tell him all he knows about him. Yet this accuser still ends up giving a positive witness, because of YHWH’s timing:
5. And while he was recounting to the king how he had brought the dead [boy] back to life, lo and behold, there was the woman whose son he had revived, applying to the king [to recover] her house and her land! And Gehazi said, “My master the king! This is the [very] woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha brought back to life!”
This king is now a witness to a resurrection! YHWH let him be sufficiently impressed to be completely disposed to grant this woman’s every wish!
6. So the king questioned the woman, and she gave him an accounting. So the king appointed a [certain] court official for her, saying, “Restore to her all that is hers, and all the revenue from the field from the day of her departure from the land until now.”
But what kind of revenue could there have been during a famine? As we saw in the days when Yoseyf was in Egypt, though Yaaqov’s family had no bread, they still had fruit and nuts to send to Pharaoh as a gift. It may be that this woman had other things besides wheat growing in her fields—orchards or vineyards or date palms, for example. She is like Yoseyf’s mother Rakhel, who once wept because her son was no more, but now has a male heir by which she can reclaim the land of their heritage. Though he is not righteous, they still have to go before the one who is in the position to grant them return, much like the United Nations which allowed the tribe of Yehudah to reclaim the Land at a strategic time, though since then it would never have been predisposed to do so.
7. Then Elisha entered Damaseq, and Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram, was sick, and he was told, “The man of Elohim has come all the way here!”
Josephus wrote that his distemper stemmed from the fact that upon having to flee Shomron, he realized that his loss was due to YHWH setting himself against him as an enemy. So he at least respects that the one who speaks for YHWH, knowing that he could give him a better idea than anyone of YHWH’s intentions.
8. So the king said to Khaza’El, “Take a contribution in your hand and go to meet the man of Elohim, and you must inquire of YHWH through him, saying, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
Like the former king of Israel, he finally has gained a serious respect for Elisha. Velikovsky points out in Ages in Chaos that because of Israel’s adoption of the same deities as these foreign nations rendered the border between them somewhat superfluous, as exemplified by Elisha’s ease of travel to this foreign capital. Also, though Ben-Hadad had made several land-grabs, both nations were at this time subjugated to Egypt, though Egypt had supported one against the other on several occasions to maintain the status quo.
9. So Khaza’El went to meet him, and took a contribution in his hand, along with all the finest [things from] Damaseq—as much as 40 camels [could] carry—and he came and presented himself before him and said, “Your son, Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, has sent me to you to say, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”
This time it seems Elisha did accept the king’s gift, for he had traveled to his territory this time, whereas when Naaman came he was occupied with other work in YHWH’s Land and did not really even want to be bothered with his arrival. He may have also needed it to feed so many of his students after seven years of famine, though we are not told what was loaded on these camels. Damaseq was known best for textiles. Even today, Damaseq’s finest export is silk.
10. But Elisha said to him, “Go, and tell him, ‘[Yes], you will certainly recover.’ But YHWH has shown me that he will certainly die.”
Is this teaching us that it is permissible to lie to one who is out of YHWH’s favor, especially a foreigner, to keep him in the dark about YHWH’s plans? Or is he just sparing the already-weakened king the bad news, not wishing to trouble him any further because though he has been cordial to YHWH’s servant, he has had to find himself in the position of opposing the very people from whom he came because YHWH was using him to chasten His people?
11. Then he started to make his face resolute; that is, he fixed [his face] to the point of [being] confused. Then the man of Elohim began to weep.
Confused: or, disappointed, ashamed. This is a puzzling phrase; it may even mean Elisha is emotionally responding to a fresh word from YHWH to the point that he goes ashen.
12. And Khaza’El said, “Why is my master weeping?” And he said, “Because I have come to know what trouble you will cause for the descendants of Israel: Their fortifications you will send into the fire. Their choice young men you will slay with the sword. Their nursing infants you will dash to pieces, and their pregnant women you will split open!”
13. But Khaza’El said, “Because? What is your servant—the dog—that he should accomplish such a huge thing?” And Elisha said, “YHWH has shown you to me as king over Aram.”
Dog: an idiom of lowering oneself before one considered greater. Eliyahu had been told to anoint him as king. (1 Kings 19:15) Was he only pretending to hear this message for the first time, or had Eliyahu delegated this task to Elisha before he left?
14. So he departed from [being] with Elisha and came to his master, and he said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he said, “He told me you would definitely recover.”
15. But it turned out that the next day he took a thick woven cloth, dipped it in water, and spread it over his face, and he died. Then Khaza’El became king in his place.
Apparently this news made him relax enough to finally fall into a deep sleep. He clearly trusted Khaza’El with access to the bedchamber, and never suspects him. Khaza’El seems quickly emboldened by Elisha’s words, rationalizing that since the king is already on his deathbed, he might as well speed up the inevitable, so he suffocates the king while he has no consciousness of what is going on. Nicholas of Damascus said that Ben-Hadad’s descendants reigned for ten generations after him, and most thought him wrong because of this event. But the El-Amarna letters also affirm that Khaza’El (called there by the name Azaru) was Ben-Hadad’s (called there Abdi-Ashirta’s) son by a harem woman (i.e., concubine), killed him while he was sick. Shalmaneser called him the “son of a nobody”, in accordance with this identification. (Velikovsky dates the letters 500 to 600 years later than others do because there are so many parallels with the Biblical history from this era once we get past the seeming differences in names.) In his own writings, he uses the same expressions ascribed to him in the Scriptures. (Most notably the “dog” theme seen in verse 13. It was a common idiom in his time, but he in particular came to be simply called “the dog” in other of the letters. He claims that he burned most of Israel’s towns and occupied the Land, and we will see confirmation of this in the following chapters.
16. Now in year five of Yoram, the son of Akh’av, king of Israel, while Y’hoshafat was reigning [in] Yehudah, Y’horam the son of Yehoshafat became king in Yehudah.
Here is an overt description of a co-regency such as have had to be inferred in many other cases to make the total numbers of years in the parallel lists of kings line up.
17. Thirty-two years [old] he was when he began to reign, and he was king for eight years in Yerushalayim.
He was unable to make the “transition” that the number 40 represents, so he died at that age.
18. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel—acting just as Akh’av had, because he had a daughter of Akh’av as a wife, and he did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH.
This was the alliance Y’hoshafat had unwisely made in his premature zeal for the two houses of Israel to reunite. We who are also pursuing this vision must take this warning to heart. Akh’av and Izevel’s daughter taught her husband to worship foreign elohim, rather than the opposite taking place as Y’hoshafat had envisioned.
19. But YHWH was not willing to bring Yehudah to ruin, for the sake of His servant David, whom He had told [He would] always provide him with a lamp for his descendants.
A lamp: This may be the background for David’s descendant Y’shua say he was the “light of the world.” His forebears were meant to uphold the reputation of David by living like him, since that righteous house must continuie, but they did not always do so.
20. In his days Edom revolted from beneath the hand of Yehudah, and set a king over themselves to reign.
Prior to this they had had a deputy (1 Kings 22:47), and the El-Amarna letters strongly suggest that this deputy had been the Adayah mentioned in 2 Chron. 23:1. Revolted: or rebelled, crossed a line, committed a crime. They wanted “national sovereignty”, and we see the empire of David slipping away even further.
21. So Yoram crossed over to Tsa’ir, and all of the chariots were with him. And as it turned out, he rose up at night and attacked Edom, which was surrounding him and the charioteers, and the people fled to their tents.
Tsa’ir: This Edomite city (whose name means “tiny” or “insignificant”) may have been the same as Tso’ar, the small town now to the southeast of the Dead Sea to which Lot asked to escape rather than fleeing as far as he was told to.
22. Yet Edom has been in revolt from under the hand of Yehudah to this day. Then Livnah revolted at that [same] time.
Yet Edom…: Josephus explains that this meant he destroyed only those who lived near his borders, but went no further. Livnah was an important town in the Sh’felah (foothills) of western Yehudah near the land of the Filistines, very close to where David killed Golyath. It was assigned by Y’hoshua as a priestly city. This may be why it seceded—because 2 Chron. 21 says this was done specifically because its inhabitants were faithful to YHWH and they saw that their king was not.
23. Now the rest of the words of Yoram and all that he accomplished, aren’t they recorded upon the scroll of the chronicles of the kings of Yehudah?
This scribe does not want to delve any further into Yoram’s wickedness, but the author of 2 Chronicles supplies more detail. Yoram killed his brothers (who were said to be better than he) and on other rulers who had governed under his father. He did not just allow but even compelled people to worship foreign elohim on the “high places”, and Eliyahu even wrote him a letter putting him on notice that because he had not repented, his bowels themselves would rot to the point of falling out, and there was nothing he would be able to do about it. Receiving a letter from a generation before that spoke directly to his situation would be enough to unnerve most people. His torment in this way lasted two years.
24. When Yoram lay down with his fathers, he was buried with his ancestors in the city of David, and his son Akhazyahu began to reign in his place.
2 Chron. 21:20 says he was buried in the city, but not in the tombs of the kings, and that there was no “burning” for him. Sites have been found all over the land of Yehudah marking the sites of these burnings by which every other Jewish king was memorialized when he died. It was neither a cremation nor a worship of the king, but merely a commemoration. Each king’s burning was held at a different location. Akhazyahu means “YHWH has taken hold or taken possession”. He may have been named for one of the mighty acts of YHWH that Yoram had seen Him accomplish.
25. In year twelve—year of Y’horam the son of Akh’av the king of Israel—Akhazyahu the son of Y’horam, the king of Yehudah, began to reign.
This would seem to indicate that he only reigned seven years instead of eight, but in such counts a fraction of a year counts as a whole year.
26. Akhazyahu was twenty-two years old when he began to reign. And he reigned one year in Yerushalayim, and his mother’s name was Athalyahu the daughter of Omri, the king of Israel.
Note the restoration of the full name of Y’horam. Athalyahu means “Afflicted or compressed by YHWH”. Daughter: Any female descendant. She was the direct daughter of Akh’av, married off to Y’hoshafat’s son in the alliance alluded to in verse 18 and mentioned more overtly in 1 Kings 22:45 and 2 Chronicles 18:1. It had just the opposite result than what Y’hoshafat had intended, much like today who try to bring Jewish people into Christianity rather than calling the latter back to its roots in the Torah. That is the impact one woman can have.l She changed the entire kingdom in one generation. She retains the bitter vendetta her mother held against YHWH’s people. A woman generally sounds more compassionate and gentle, making it easier for men to fall for their schemes and compromise with them. Izevel would have been called progressive today, a celebrity who brought a “backward” kingdom into the majority religion of the region. YHWH saw it very differently. Even with Yehudah having an added degree of protection from YHWH (v. 19), look what it did.
27. Thus he walked in the way of the household of Akh’av, and did what was evil in YHWH’s eyes as the house of Akh’av [had done], because he was the house of Alh’av’s son-in-law.
28. And he went off with Yoram the son of Akh’av to battle with Khaza’El, king of Aram, in Ramoth-Gil’ad. But some Arameans struck Yehoram [down],
29. so Yehoram the king returned to Yizre’el with the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him as he fought Khaza’El, king of Aram, to let himself heal. And Akhazyahu the son of Y’horam, the king of Yehudah, went down to see Yoram the son of Akh’av since he was weak.
Weak: or simply, sick.
CHAPTER 9
1. Then Elisha the prophet called to one of the “sons of the prophets” and said to him, “Tie a belt around your waist, take this flask of oil in your hand, and walk [to] Ramoth-Gil’ad.
Tie a belt: that is, tighten up the loose-flowing robes normally worn, so as to be able to run more quickly.
2. “When you arrive there, you will see there Yehu the son of Y’hoshafat, the son of Nimshi, and you must raise him up from among his brothers and bring him to an inner chamber,
Inner chamber: literally, room inside a room. Though YHWH had not bound Himself to bring the kings of Israel from any particular lineage as He did with David’s line in Yehudah (this is already the beginning of the fifth dynasty in the North), still Yehu came from a lineage with noble names: Yehu itself means “He is YHWH”—directing people to YHWH. Y’hoshafat means “YHWH has judged.” YHWH chose the king. (This is not the Y’hoshafat who was the king of Yehudah; he was the son of Asa.) And Nimshi means “rescued” or “drawn out” (being the passive form of Moshe’s name). Much is made in some circles that question the validity of Scripture over the fact that in 1 Kings 19:16 Yehu is called the “son of Nimshi” and here it is shown that he is actually Nimshi’s grandson. This shows ignorance of the fact that “ben” means any descendant, however many generations have intervened, and it is very common practice in Hebrew writings to skip back to a more illustrious or noble ancestor when giving one’s genealogy, especially in situations where there is no emphasis on one’s immediate father.
3. “then take the flask of oil and pour it out onto his head, and say, ‘This is what YHWH says: “I have anointed you as a king to Israel.”’ Then you must open the door and escape; you must not wait!”
4. So the young man—the prophet’s lad—went to Ramoth-Gil’ad.
5. When he came in, there sat the commanders of the army! And he said, “I have a word for you, commander.” And Yehu said, “For which one of us?” And he said, “For you, commander.”
Which one: They were all commanders in some capacity, but Yehu appears to have been commander-in-chief. They were defending the city King Y’horam had successfully defended from the Arameans (8:28), though the king had been wounded in the process. The army stayed there to hold onto his gains. You: The term is singular in Hebrew in both cases.
6. So he got up and entered the house. And he poured out the oil on his head, and said, “This is what YHWH says: ‘I have anointed you as a king to Israel.
Eliyahu had been commanded to anoint Yehu king (1 Kings 19:16), but he was not able to do so in his lifetime. He had been given other instructions at the time—to anoint Elisha as his successor—which he did carry out, and by delegating this responsibility to a faithful man, Eliyahu did fulfill it. But part of the test was whether Yehu would trust even the word of Elisha’s messenger. As we saw with Naaman, Elisha often did not bother to come into the presence of some people when it was not necessary.
7. “‘And you must strike the house of your master Akh’av, so that I can have the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the servants of YHWH avenged from the hand of Izevel,
The hand: The first time the word is used in Scripture is in Gen. 3:22, where YHWH barred the way to the Tree of Life so Adam would not put out his hand and eat of it in his fallen state. But Izevel did take upon herself the prerogative of bringing forbidden things into Israel and killing the righteous, whom it is not lawful to kill. Though she may have accomplished many things people would consider great, she is best known for importing idolatry and killing the prophets.
8. “‘and the whole house of Akh’av is [to be] exterminated. Indeed, I have caused anyone in Israel belonging to Akh’av who urinates against a wall, whether detained or loose, to be cut off.
I.e., every male would be killed, because they were the ones who carried on his line; his daughters would become part of other households which might have been more worthy of their support.
9. “‘And I have appointed the house of Akh’av [to be] just like the house of Yarav’am the son of N’vat and like the house of Baasha the son of Akhiyah--
10. “‘that is, the dogs will devour Izevel on the property-holding at Yizre’el, and there [will be] no one to bury [her]!’” Then he opened the door and fled.
The messenger was telling the truth—for YHWH had told Akh’av these additional things (1 Kings 21:19-23)—but he did not follow orders specifically, but interjected more of his own knowledge than he was told to say. (v. 3) Just because we know something—or even just because it is true—does not mean we are meant to speak it. Yehu would assume that if the king had not died naturally yet, part of his job in becoming king would be to finish the job Khaza’el had not completed. The servant need not tell him this if he was instructed to give those specific words and flee. This may be why Elisha had no specific successor as he had been to Eliyahu, because he could find no one worthy to carry on his “line”. And the fact that he had not followed directions precisely may be why this servant’s name does not appear in this, the “Book of Life”, while Gehazi’s does. The bar had been raised upon Gehazi’s punishment, and this servant should have known better. Property: Where the palace was. Yizre’el means “Elohim has scattered”, reminding us of the Tower of Bavel, which had also been built for the wrong reason. Bavel was based on a unity gone wrong, so it had to be terminated; in the same vein, Izevel would not be united with his ancestors in death either.
11. So Yehu went out to the servants of his master, and [one of them] said to him, “Is [everything] okay? Why did this madman come to you?” And he said to them, “You are acquainted with the man and his babbling.”
Babbling: or musing, complaint, [manner of] communication. It may refer to his excessive speaking. Apparently they had all become familiar with this servant while Elisha was living among them at Shomron. (6:32) All prophets might have had such a reputation as babblers, since they often appeared rather eccentric.
12. But they said, “[Don’t] disappoint [us]! Please report [it] to us!” So he said, “He told me like this and like that, to say, ‘This is what YHWH says: “I have anointed you as a king to Israel.”’”
He reverts to the specific words Elisha told his messenger to say, hinting that he knew that that was all there was to the original message. Yehu shows some signs of being a prophet later in this chapter, or at least of being very familiar with what YHWH has and has not said.
13. And each of them quickly took his garment and put it underneath him on the [bare] side of the steps and gave blasts with the shofar and said, “Yehu has become king!”
Underneath him: They were conferring added honor on the king, as people commonly did, as seen when Y’shua was proclaimed king. (Mat. 21:8) This would especially be true, since outer garments were signs of one’s rank or prestige, and they would only be left with their “underwear”, looking like slaves, though they had all been commanders. This demonstrated that they were willing to be subservient to him.
14. Thus Yehu the son of Y’hoshafat the son of Nimshi conspired against Yoram. (Now Yoram had been keeping guard [over] Ramoth-Gil’ad—he and all of Israel—because of the presence of Khaza’El, the king of Aram,
Ramoth-Gil’ad is the city Ben-Hadad had taken and Akh’av had died trying to recover. (1 Kings 22) It must have been especially strategic and desirable to keep changing hands like this. The El-Amarna tablets confirm that this was one of the cities battled over.
15. but King Y’horam had gone back to Yizre’el to heal himself from the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him when he had fought with Khaza’el the king of Aram.) And Yehu said, “If there is a desire [in] you, not one fugitive [can escape] the city to go and make it known at Yizre’el.”
I.e., if you really want this to work, you have to keep any other city from knowing about this until the deed is done. With the king in no position to defend himself, the whole army in one place and already under control of the man who was to replace him, a military coup no longer appeared difficult. But Yehu still takes precautions that the word will not leak out in advance. And he still seems a bit uncertain, because he is looking to the opinion of those around him for confirmation.
16. Then Yehu mounted [a chariot] and went to Yizre’el, because while Yoram was laid up there, Akhazyah the king of Yehudah had come down to see Yoram.
It is about 35 miles from Ramoth-Gil’ad to Yizre’el, across the Yarden River and a range of mountains. Come down: the only direction one can come when leaving Yerushalayim, at least symbolically. And 2 Chron. 22:6-7 tells us that this was indeed Akhazyah’s downfall.
17. And the watchman was standing atop the tower at Yizre’el and saw the teeming [numbers with] Yehu as his came, and said, “I see a large number [of people]!” So Y’horam said, “Take a mount and send [someone] to meet them and say, “Do [you come in] peace?”
18. So the rider [on the] horse went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do [you come in] peace?’” And Yehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around to follow me!” And the watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but he did not come back!”
What do you have to do with peace: This is the salient question for Israel today. Turn around: both literally and figuratively, as in “be a turncoat”—defect to the cause more worthy of your service.
19. So he sent a second rider [on a] horse, and he came to them and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do [you come in] peace?’” And Yehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around to follow me!”
20. And the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he did not return, and the conduct is like that which is customary [for] Yehu the son of Nimshi, because he is driving madly!”
Madly: i.e., “like crazy”. Apparently his style of charioteering appeared rather reckless, though he got the job done. Was it because Yehu had such charisma that people were so disposed to follow him immediately? (Compare v. 13.) Or was he very intimidating, appearing as if he would kill them if they did not comply? The nation would certainly be served better by a king who was healthy and strong, in contrast with the ailing Y’horam. And those who lived in Yizre’el and had known Navoth would not look favorably on the son of Akh’av and Izevel. But as soon as Yehu knew that YHWH had given him authority to rule, he took up the right with full confidence.
21. Then Y’horam said, “Harness up!” So when his chariot was harnessed, Y’horam the king of Israel and Akhazyah the king of Yehudah each went out in his chariot. When they went out to meet Yehu, they encountered him on the property that [had belonged to] Navoth the Yizre’elite.
He came as if he were Eliyahu meeting Akh’av again, and this must have sent shudders through Y’horam if he realized what his parents had done there.
22. And what took place is that when Y’horam saw Yehu, he said, “Do [you come in] peace, Yehu?” But Yehu said, “How [can there be] peace, as long as your mother Izevel’s harlotries and her sorceries are so many?”
23. Then Y’horam began to switch his hands around and take flight, and he said to Akhazyah, “[There is] treachery, Akhazyah!”
Switch his hands around: possibly to turn the horses’ bridles so they would turn his chariot around
24. So Yehu filled his hand with a bow and struck Y’horam between his shoulders, and the arrow came out from his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.
The word for “treachery” in verse 23 is rooted in the word for shooting with a bow! (The connection is that as Y’honathan led David with his arrow-shots, so one can mislead by shooting in a direction that distracts one from his real goal.) So Yehu obliged by doing exactly that. Slumped down: or, sank to his knees.
25. And he said to Bidqar his third [officer], “Pick [him] up and throw him into the parcel of land [that belonged to] Navoth the Yizre’elite, because remember, you and I were riding as a team behind his father Akh’av, and YHWH lifted this burden onto him:
He: that is, Yehu.
26. “‘If I haven’t recently noticed the blood of Navoth and the blood of his sons…’, declares YHWH, ‘and I have paid you back [right] on this [same] piece [of ground],’ declares YHWH. So right now, pick [him] up and throw him into the parcel [of land], as YHWH has said!”
Recently: i.e., as if it were only yesterday. Blood of his sons: They may have also been party to the death of Navoth. It seems Yehu and Bidqar were present when Eliyahu spoke this word to Akh’av. (The story is in 1 Kings 21.) Otherwise, one of these two men is a prophet himself. Yehu shows some promise of becoming the first king of Israel who actually has some concern for YHWH’s will.
27. When Akhazyah the king of Yehudah, saw [it], he escaped by way of the inside of the garden, and Yehu chased after him, and said, “Him too! Make sure he’s struck down—[the one] in the chariot!” [And they did so] at the Ascent of Gur, which is at Yivle’am, and he fled to Megiddo, but died there.
Inside of the garden: or, garden house, or a place called Beyth ha-Gan. Akh’av had wanted Navoth’s land specifically for a garden. Yehu was given no instruction to kill the king of Yehudah as well, which may be what Hoshea 1:4 is referring to when it says He would avenge Yehu for “the blood of Yizre’el”. He may have ruined his excellent start already. Yivle’am means “devouring the people”.It is about six miles due south of Yizre’el, but on the other side of Mt. Gilboa, at the northern limit of what some today call “the West Bank”. There is a slightly-more-passable way out of the Yizre’el Valley there. Megiddo is about ten miles northwest of Yivle’am. The El-Amarna tablets also speak of “Makida” being guarded with chariots.
28. And his servants [carried him] in a chariot to Yerushalayim and buried him in his tomb with his ancestors in the City of David.
City of David: The original part of Yerushalayim, south of the Temple Mount on a long spur of a hill that constituted Tzion. Some tombs have recently been found there, including one thought to be David’s true tomb.
29. Now in the eleventh year of Y’horam the son of Akh’av, Akhazyah had become king over Yehudah.
30. When Yehu aarived at Yizre’el, Izevel heard [about it] and put cosmetic shadow on her eyes and did her hair up just right, and was leaning out through the window.
Many depictions of an ornately-dressed woman looking out through a lattice have been found throughout the Levant and fertile crescent. Was this in memory of her, or were there parallel situations? Hair: literally, head. It almost seems as if she wanted to seduce Yehu (possibly an example of the harlotries mentioned in verse 30) It may be that this had become her custom since Akh’av’s death, or even before, reminiscent of Potifar’s wife, getting whomever she wanted.) Or was she just trying to “go out in style”, knowing she was the next target? Or dressing up to scare off the opposition, saying, in effect, “I didn’t get to where I am by being shy!”?
31. When Yehu arrived at the gate, she said, “Was [there] peace [for] Zimri, murderer of his master?”
She apparently already knew about her son’s death. But she may have been trying to get Yehu to reconsider his plans by reminding him that Zimri had only reigned for seven days after carrying out a similar coup. Zimri was the one who had exterminated the whole household of Baasha (see v. 9), and this prophecy was given by none other than someone with the name Yehu. (1 Kings 16:9-15) YHWH is the master of merging such imagery.
32. And he lifted his face toward the window, and said, “Who is with me? Who?” And two-three eunuchs leaned out toward him.
Eunuchs: or simply court officials, but if they were in Izevel’s bedroom, she had probably turned them into eunuchs in the fullest measure of the word.
33. So he said, “Let her drop!” She they let her drop, and some of her blood splattered onto the wall, and the horses trampled her [underfoot].
Wall: of the palace she was in when Akh’av coveted Navoh’s vineyard.
34. And he went inside and eat and drank, then said, “See to this bitterly-cursed [woman]and bury her, since she is [after all] a king’s daughter.”
King’s daughter: This was probably somewhat facetious, but it disconnected her with Israel, because the king who was her father (Eth-Baal) was not Israelite. He was essentially saying to send her back to where she came from.
35. When they went to bury her, they could not find [any] of her except the skull, the feet, and the palms of the hands.
These are the parts of a person that most often get her into trouble. Proverbs 6:16ff includes among the things YHWH hates “a haughty look, a lying tongue, hand that shed innocent blood, [and] feet that are swift in running to evil.” Even dogs—a symbol in Scripture of the lowest of the low—were too noble to eat these perpetrators of evil. They only ate what her clothing covered.
36. So they came back and told him, and he said, “It is [as] YHWH said, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Eliyahu of the Sojourners, saying, ‘On the property at Yizre’el, the dogs will eat the flesh of Izevel,
Did he only now remember the prophecy, or was his taking his time to eat his meal before sending them to bury her a deliberate attempt to allow time for the dogs to eat her first, so she could not indeed be buried with her ancestors?
37. “‘and Izevel’s corpse will be like manure on the surface of the field on the property at Yizre’el, so that they cannot say, “This is Izevel.”’”
She would be indistinguishable from the soil.
CHAPTER 10
[c. year 3159 from creation/841 B.C.E.]
1. Now Akh’av had seventy descendants in Shomron, so Yehu wrote letters and sent [them] to Shomron, to the leaders of Yizre’el, the elders, and to those who [had] supported Akh’av, to say,
Akh’av’s descendants were only half-Israelite. (Compare Lev. 19:19.) They were a counterfeit of the seventy sons of Yaaqov seen in Exodus 1. They were really sons of Izevel, though they represent themselves as Yaaqov’s.
2. “And now, as this letter comes to you while the sons of your master are with you, and the chariots, horses, a fortified city, and weapons are with you,
3. “when you have considered [who is] the best and most upright of the descendants of your master, then seat him on his father’s throne, and fight for the house of your master!”
4. But they were very, very fearful, and said, “Look here! Two kings have not withstood his presence, so how can we withstand [him]?”
5. So [the one] who was over the household, and [the one] who was over the city, as well as the elders and those who supported [them] sent [word] to Yehu to say, “We are your servants, and anything you say to us, we will do. We will not make [any] man king; do what is best in your eyes.”
Because of the wise way he worded his question, they probably recognized that none of Akh’av’s sons was upright.
6. But he wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are for me, and are listening to my voice, take the heads of the descendants of your master, and come to me about [this] time tomorrow in Yizre’el.” (Now the king’s descendants—seventy men—were with the great [men] of the city, who were rearing them.)
Rearing them: literally, making them great.
7. And sure enough, when the letter came to them, they took the descendants of the king and slaughtered them—seventy persons—and put their heads in containers and sent [them] to him in Yizre’el.
Containers: the term covers anything from baskets to pots or jars to caldrons.
8. When the messenger came and reported to him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons!”, he said, “Put them [in] two heaps at the entrance to the gate until the morning.”
They were not even all together in their death. And when someone approached the gates, no matter which way they looked, they could not miss this example he had made of stopping the enemies of Israel before they reached the gate.
9. Then what took place in the morning [was that] he went out and presented [himself there] and said to all the people, “You are righteous! Indeed, I conspired against my master and killed him, but who has struck down all of these?
He may have been testing them by the way they worded the command, for they would have been following his orders if they merely brought the leaders (“heads”) of Akh’av’s clan to him alive, but they took his words to their fullest meaning, surprising even him. He may have expected to have to do all the dirty work himself, but they beat him to the punch.
10. “So then, recognize that none of the word of YHWH, which YHWH spoke in regard to the house of Akh’av has fallen to the earth, and YHWH has carried out that which He spoke by means of His servant Eliyahu!”
Prior to this, only he, Bidqar, and Akh’av might have known of the prophecy, so he did not want them to miss the significance of what they had done. He was not just another power-hungry conqueror. But he was the consummate politician. Though he upheld the prophecy, he also understood the human psyche very well, and made sure the people knew that they were as “guilty” as he was, righteous though this massacre was.
11. Thus Yehu struck down all who remained who belonged to the household of Akh’av in Yizre’el, as well as all his great [men], his intimate acquaintances, and his priests, until he did not have [one] survivor left.
He was an expert planner with great military might and cunning like Yoav, but not Yoav’s treachery. He did not even spare anyone who thought well of Akh’av, so there would be no one left to try to avenge him. Yehu was the one responsible for them being struck down, so he is said to have struck them all down, though he just admitted that the people had done most of the work. His priests: possibly of the pagan temples he endorsed, or possibly just officials of various sorts.
12. So he rose up and came in. As he was walking to Shomron, on the way he was [at] the shepherds’ house of binding,
House of binding: apparently where sheep were sheared.
13. when Yehu encountered the relatives of Akhazyahu, king of Yehudah, and said, “Who are you?” And they said, “We are Akhazyahu’s brothers, and we are coming down for the welfare of the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen-mother.”
For the welfare: some render it, to salute, or to ask about the welfare, or for the friendship of. Queen-mother: that is, Izevel. They had apparently not heard she or her son—or their own king—had been killed. Their association with Akh’av’s family got them killed as well.
14. And he said, “Capture them alive!” So they captured them alive, but slaughtered them toward the pit of the house of binding—42 men—and he did not let a man of them remain.
Pit: the term can mean a well, cistern, or dungeon. The reason for taking them there is not clear, unless it was so the shearing-house would not be bloodied; it may have just been so they would not be identified with the shepherds, for that they were not.
15. When he was walking away from there, he encountered Y’honadav the son of Rekhav [coming] to meet him, and he genuflected to him and said to him, “Do you have an upright heart, just as my heart is with your heart?” and Y’honadav said, “I have and there is; give [me] your hand!” So he gave [him] his hand, and helped him up into the chariot with him.
Rekhav means “rider”. The chariot (merkavah) onto which he was pulled comes from the same root word as his name. Give me your hand: that is, prove you are upright by putting your hand to the work. You cannot be a part of it if you are not doing part of the work; there are to be no spectators here. He needed someone beside him more than he needed someone behind him. Y’honadav had probably come specifically to declare his support. So Yehu has him ride alongside him so everyone can see who is for him, and if Y’honadav is with him, his people are as well. Rekhav is introduced in 1 Chron. 2:55. He came from a family of scribes among the Qeynites, a people living in Yavetz who were associated with Yithro and had been allied with Israel for many generations, but were not Israelite themselves. They dwelt in tents, so the were a nomadic people; they literally came out of nowhere to help him! YHWH has a special fondness for tent-dwellers who rely on Him as their security in a more vivid way. Upright: Possibly for the very uprightness he expressed in this chapter, Y’honadav was blessed with descendants whose faithfulness to a simple preference of his was held up by YHWH as a shining example of what He wanted all of Israel to be like, though not necessarily following the same special ruling he had enjoined upon them. (Yirmeyahu 35:1-18) Because they upheld their father’s wish steadfastly even though tested by YHWH’s prophet, YHWH gives him a magnificent promise, and this righteous ally who follows in the way of his ancestor ends up better off than Israel.
16. And he said, “Come with me, and watch my zeal for YHWH!” Thus they had him ride in his chariot.
17. When he arrived at Shomron, he struck down all those who remained to Akh’av in Shomron until he had annihilated him, according to the word that YHWH had spoken to Eliyahu.
18. And Yehu gathered all the people and said to them, “Akh’av served Baal to a small degree; Yehu in a much greater way!
Did he suddenly change his tune?
19. “So now, summon for me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests; don’t let a man be missing, because I have a great slaughter [to make] to Baal! Anyone who is lacking will not live!” (But Yehu was acting with craftiness, in order to bring about the destruction of those who served Baal.)
With craftiness: from the same root word as Yaaqov, based on the word for heel. Again he gets off clean because his words have a built-in double meaning: “Slaughter to Baal” can also mean “slaughter [of those] belonging to Baal”. He counts on their understanding the term in its most commonly-used sense.
20. And Yehu said, “Dedicate a closing-off to Baal.” So they announced [it].
Announced: or, summoned (them), in response to his command in v. 19.
21. And Yehu sent [word] throughout all of Israel, so all the servants of Baal came, and there was not a man left who did not come. When they came into the temple of Baal, the temple of Baal was full, from mouth to mouth.
Mouth to mouth: possibly so full that they were pressing against one another that closely.
22. And he said to the one who was over the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all of Baal’s servants!” So he brought the attire out for them.
Wardrobe: or vestry, where they kept the special clothing worn by authorized personnel on special occasions.
23. Then Yehu and Y’honadav the son of Rekhav came into the temple of Baal and said to the servants of Baal, “Search carefully and inspect to make sure there are no servants of YHWH here with you, but only servants of Baal.”
This was to be an exclusive, closed-door affair, as we see in the wording of verse 20. But Yehu again took advantage of a double meaning, for he had a different reason for closing them all in:
24. When they had came in to prepare slaughterings and ascending [offerings], Yehu stationed for himself 80 men outside, and said, “The man who lets any of the men whom I am bringing into your hands escape, [it will be] his life [in exchange] for his life!”
I.e., the one who let another escape would be killed in his stead.
25. Then as soon as [someone] finished doing the ascending [offering], Yehu said to the couriers and the third officers, “Go in, strike them down! Don’t let a man come out!” So they attacked them with the sword’s mouth, and the couriers and third officers threw them out. Then they went into the city to the temple of Baal,
Again, he gets the people involved so that he will not be the only one responsible. (Compare v. 15.) With the special garments, it was easy to see whom to kill. Garments are a picture of our works. If one puts on these works, death is the result. Prophets might have come as spies, so they could know their enemy better, or for an occasion to prophesy, but they would not put on those garments. Those who refuse the works of Baal are to be spared.
26. and brought the temple of Baal’s standing-images out, and burned it.
The seemingly-mismatched singular and plural terms appear this way in the Hebrew text.
27. Then they pulled down the standing-image of Baal, and tore down the temple of Baal, and turned it into an outhouse, [which it is] to this day.
In our day this is reminiscent of the statues of Lenin being pulled down at the fall of the Soviet Union. Outhouse: a latrine; literally, a place of excrement, a sewer or a cesspool. This is the diametric opposite of a temple, and the ultimate form of dishonor.
28. Thus Yehu ousted Baal from Israel.
Ousted: literally, made him get lost! In modern terms, this was a “religious cleansing”--and YHWH was all for it. He made Israel a somewhat holy place again.
29. Only, Yehu did not turn from the sins of Yarav’am the son of N’vat in which he caused Israel to miss the target—from following them (the golden calves that were at Beth-El and Dan).
Yehu is probably the best king Israel (the northern kingdom) ever had, at least since Yarav’am, yet they both failed in the same way, though willingly listening to YHWH on some level. Why could Israel never seem to part with these two golden idols in the midst of so many other reforms? For one thing, they were a symbol of national sovereignty and independence from Yehudah. And they may have simply wanted a visible point of contact with YHWH—something tangible, for they did call both of them “YHWH”! As the work of their hands, they retained some measure of control over them, and, they thought, over YHWH by extension. This is the reason we do not use bulls’ horns for shofars. This concept has stayed with us until today in some ways. No one seems to have ever overtly reprimanded them for this, but the scribe clearly understood the problem. Was he someone closely associated with Elisha? It may be that YHWH was waiting to see if someone would get rid of them on their own initiative.
30. Now YHWH had said to Yehu, “Because you have done well at carrying out what was right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Akh’av just like all that was in My heart, your [descendants to the] fourth generation will sit on the throne of Israel.”
31. Yet Yehu was not careful to walk in the instruction of YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, with all of his heart; he did not turn from upon the sins of Yarav’am the son of N’vat, by which he caused Israel to miss the target.
It was a mixed blessing. It would last a while, but there was nothing like the permanence offered to David’s line. Yehu, having cut off the heirs to the throne of Yehudah, was now in a position to reunify the two kingdoms and take all of Israel back to the worship of YHWH in Yerushalayim. What better time could there have been? Yet like Yarav’am, he was probably afraid that he would lose his significance and his power if Yerushalayim again took the focus and the tribe of Yehudah would regain its rightful throne over all of Israel. This contradictory story seems strangely familiar, for it is a prophecy as well. Yarav’am made YHWH into two entities—separate, yet united by both being called YHWH. This is a new concept: two distinct, separate yet equal deities—so much like Christianity! Who corrupted the faith restored by Y’shua the Jew? Descendants of the Northern Kingdom, by inventing anew this “twinity”, with a third aspect added in as well—just as Akh’av’s family had incorporated outright Baal worship into Israel’s religion, which until that point had only been a matter of worshipping YHWH in the wrong way and changing the times of His festivals. Y’shua is YHWH’s deputy, and with his authority as representative could easily be mistaken for the sender Himself. But now heavy paganism was mixed in as well, just as priests of Constantine’s sun-cult were made priests in the churches, and their sun-discs built into church architecture too, and phallic symbols put on their roofs as well. Reformers came along, and were seen as righteous by all except the “descendants of Akh’av”, the papists. They did remove much idolatry from the church, just like Yehu did here, but like him, they also only did half a job—and like Yehu, they killed Jews too. They had an open door to fully reunite the two houses of Israel. The Roman Church told Luther that they would join him in reform provided he went all the way and restored the ancient feasts and the seventh-day Sabbath as well. But Luther did not want to be like the Jews; he wanted to keep Jesus as God. Yehu was clearly enamored by Eliyahu’s prophecies—but what about the rest of what Eliyahu stands for—the restoration of all things? (Mal. 4:5; Mat. 17:11)
32. In those days, YHWH began to cut Israel short, and Khaza’El attacked the whole territory of Israel
Cut short: as in harvesting—an agricultural term, which might also include the concepts of pruning or trimming off bad fruit. The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser, on the second line from the top on four sides, says that one of Yehu’s first concerns as king was to cultivate the graces of the king of Assyria, which was now rising to power, and who may have claimed a part in his revolution. He at least promised him protection against Khaza’el, but Shalmaneser turned out to be incapable of keeping Khaza’el in check. Damaseq penetrated as far as the Southern Kingdom of Yehudah (12:17-18) with great cruelty. Amos refers to the atrocities committed at this time.
33. from the Yarden [toward the] sunrise—the whole land of Gil’ad (the Gadites, the Re’uvenites, and the Menashites, from Aroer, which is on the Arnon River-valley [as far as] both the Gil’ad and the Bashan
That is, all the territory that Israel owned east of the Yarden River. Bashan: called the Golan Heights today. The rest of the territory mentioned here is in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan today. Those who were outside the Land proper were cut off first as a warning to the rest. Yehu took steps toward YHWH, so YHWH took steps toward him. Four generations was a great blessing—and should have been long enough to come to a full repentance. But though YHWH raised him up, he remained only “Protestant” and did not finish the job. So YHWH started cutting of pieces of Israel and turning them over to Israel’s enemies. Now again we have come to the end of YHWH’s temporary blessing, and the church is being left with less to rule over. A few have gone toward further restoration along with a remnant of Yehudah who are doing the same, but three major denominations have recently divested themselves of all official and financial connection to Israel. The blessings YHWH gave the Protestant church were meant to move us toward Restoration, but most have only used them for Reformation instead. And now some are reaping the reward of declaring such open war on YHWH as to say they will act like believers when with believers, but be “socially agnostic” when around unbelievers. Let those who love YHWH do so with a whole heart, not just where it is comfortable.
34. Now the rest of the words of Yehu and all that he accomplished, aren’t they written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
2 Chronicles 22 is the specific chapter that speaks of his acts.
35. When Yehu lay down with his ancestors, they buried him in Shomron, and his son Y’hoakhaz reigned in his place.
Y’hoakhaz means “YHWH has seized possession”. He had indeed gotten His inheritance back from Baal, but now it was time to clean house.
36. And the length of time that Yehu had reigned over Israel in Shomron was 28 years.
He died c. 814 B.C.E.
CHAPTER 11
1. Now Athalyah [was the] mother of Akhazyahu. When she saw that her son was dead, she rose up and started exterminating all the royal seed.
The theatre is now again Yehudah. Like Pharaoh and Herod, this daughter of Izevel who has married into the royal family of Yehudah now kills all the male heirs to her son's throne that she can find. Her purpose is to ensure the foothold of Baal-worship in the southern Kingdom as well. Thus Y'hoshafat's overtures to her father Akh'av by making this marital alliance in hopes that he could restore the worship of YHWH in the North backfired--a warning to us all. She would simply retain power if there were no rivals to the throne. But there was never meant to even be a queen in Israel as such; the queen mother held much more influence than the king’s wife did. But now there is only a queen with no king in the picture--or so she thinks…
2. But Y’hosheva the daughter of King Yoram, the sister of Akhazyahu, took Yoash the son of Akhazyah and carried him away by stealth from among the sons of the king who were being killed in the bed chamber—and his nurse with him—and they hid him from the face of Athalyahu, so he was not killed.
Yoash means “YHWH has fired up”—like a potter ready to form a choice vessel. He was still an infant when spirited away, as he would not be as noticeable if carried away under her garments.
3. And he remained with her, hidden within the House of YHWH, [for] six years while Athalyah was reigning over the Land.
The House of YHWH is the last place Athalyahu would want to come. Tradition says he actually dwelt in a room above the Holy of Holies.
4. But in the seventh year, Y’hoyada sent and fetched the captains of hundreds belonging to the Carians, brought them to the House of YHWH, and cut a covenant with them and made them take an oath in the House of YHWH, and let them see the king’s son.
Seventh year: Like the command in Ex. 23:10, Athalyahu got rid of the royal seed and sowed her type of seed for six years, but on the seventh year the sowing of seed is to cease for a year. Is this how Y’hoyada knew the time was right to act? Carians: inhabitants of Cyprus and the mainland opposite it (Ugarit/Ras-Shamra) in Syria. They may have been the same as the Hurrians as well as the Krithites of 2 Shmu’el 8:18, whose home had been Crete before the natural catastrophe that destroyed their homeland. They were remnants of the Minoan culture (of Minotaur and Labyrinth fame), who then became sea peoples—often pirates but always mariners, and were known for their great fighting skills, so they became mercenaries for many nations, including the House of David. (Velikovsky) The Egyptians named the Mediterranean Sea after them (the Sea of Khar). According to their own tradition in the Ras-Shamra tablets, they were brothers to the Lydians and Mysians. While they were currently working for Athalyahu most directly, their loyalty was really to the House of David, which now appeared defunct, but once they knew that the line had not ended after all, they would regain their honor as defenders of the House of David. 2 Chronicles 23 lists five specific leaders of the Carians, and also says the Levites from all the cities of Yehudah were gathered, as well as the heads of the fathers of Israel. It is likely that Y’hoyada assembled these men under cover of one of the festivals when they would all be expected to be present anyway, and thus would not arouse any suspicions. The true heir to the throne had been the best-kept secret in the Land. 2 Chronicles 22:11 tells us that Y’hosheva (there called Y’hosheveth) was the wife of Y’hoyada, the priest—apparently the high priest. While later custom forbade a priest form marrying outside the tribe of Levi, Leviticus 21 only specifies that he must marry a virgin daughter of his own people, and Y’hezq’el 44 clarifies that this is anyone of the household of Israel. (The intermarriage of priests to foreigners as nullified by Ezra probably resulted in an added fence being built around the actual command to keep them one step further from falling into the same trap again.) If Y’hosheva had the same mother as Akhazyahu (v. 1), she was therefore Athalyahu’s daughter. Apparently Athalyahu was trying to take the next step in carrying the influence of Baal beyond the royal household and into the very Levitical priesthood itself—a masterful strategy for infecting all of Yehudah. But Y’hoyada’s influence on his wife was stronger than her mother’s, and she was able to turn the tables completely because of her access to the Temple. So both she and her husband, the high priest, were the ones who most directly raised the king. Where better could the king-to-be be raised than in the Temple, where he was free from pagan influence and constantly surrounded by whatever remained of the practice of the Torah?
5. And he gave them orders, saying, “This is the thing that you must do: A third of you who go in on the Sabbath, [be] in charge of guarding the king’s house,
The pagan Athalyahu was also unlikely to be around the Temple on the Sabbath. And what better day would there be to oust the counterfeit to the Messiah (anointed king)?
6. “and a third at the Sur gate, and a third at the gate behind the runners, and keep guard over the house, alternately.
2 Chronicles calls the Sur Gate the Yesod (foundation) Gate, an easy mistake due to the similarity of the letters in Hebrew. Josephus says it was the gate that led into the Temple and the gate that led to the palace.
7. “And two of the hands out of all of you who depart [on] the Sabbath—shall be in charge of guarding the House of YHWH by [where] the king [is].
Hands: here an idiom for divisions. Who depart: that is, go off duty. Both shifts would be expected to be present at the “changing of the guard”, so that was when he wanted to make his move.
8. “Thus you must surround the king on every side, [each] man with his weapons in his hand, and whoever comes within the ranks must be put to death. And they must be with the king whenever he goes out or comes in.”
Within the ranks: the rows of soldiers lined up in order (sderoth). Whoever would enter the Temple armed was to be killed. Until the coronation was an accomplished fact, they asked no questions.
9. And the rulers of hundreds did according to all that Y’hoyada the priest commanded. That is, each took his men who go in [on] the Sabbath, along with those who go out on the Sabbath, and came to Y’hoyada the priest.
10. And the priest gave the rulers of hundreds the spears and dominating shields that had belonged to King David, which were in the House of YHWH.
Though the Egyptian Pharaoh Shoshaq had plundered the shields King Shlomoh had put in the House of the Forest of Levanon (1 Kings 14:26), apparently there was another armory all the way inside the Temple complex which he did not touch. The Temple could function as a sort of inner fortress, being within the city walls but having additional walls of its own. This was also necessary since the north side of the city, where the Temple sat, was the least naturally-defensible, not having a steep hillside to climb just to reach the city walls as on the other three sides. These arms were the property of Yoash’s own family, so there was no question that it was valid to use them to defend him even against his half-Tzidonian grandmother.
11. And each of the runners was standing with his weapon in his hand, from the right shoulder of the Temple as far as the left shoulder, [the one] belonging to the altar and [the one] belonging to the House, around the king on every side.
Right shoulder…left shoulder: Josephus takes this as meaning they would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with shields much like the stances the Roman army would take on the defensive, so no one could get through.
12. Then he brought out the son of the king and conferred on him the crown [of consecration] and the testimony. Thus they made him king, and anointed him, and clapped their hands, and said, “[Long] live the king!”
YHWH had preserved the seed of David after all! He had not forgotten His promises to David. Prior to this, many people might have thought King Akhazyahu had been counted too wicked to have an heir to the throne, and that David’s line had ended as YHWH suggested it might when He stipulated that David’s throne would continue forever if the kings walked before YHWH. (1 Kings 9:4-5) The mere realization that this had not been the case would be enough to cause great enthusiasm even for those who were merely patriotic and not necessarily Torah-observant. Consecration: setting him apart (nezer) like a Nazir for a special task, in this case that of the ruler of Yehudah. Testimony: The Torah like that which was put into the Ark (Ex. 25:16), of which he was to make a copy upon accession to the throne. (Deut. 17:18) Since we are not told whether any kings actually followed this order after David, this may have been David’s own copy, some 160 years old. It was only a testimony to the real covenant that could not be put into the box, because it is intangible; the writing only bears witness to what we have agreed to do. Our actions are what constitute the covenant. If we are not obeying, we have no covenant, even if it is “written on our hearts” In Ex. 16:33-34, the phrase “face of YHWH” is substituted with the word “Testimony” in a parallel construct, so in crowning the king, he was also bestowing YHWH’s face on him, which means His favor (as seen in Aharon’s blessing, Num. 6:25) Clapped their hands: Thus when all peoples are commanded to clap their hands (Psalm 2), it is referring to a coronation—in this case, of the Messiah, but as we see here, the term “messiah” applied to anyone who was anointed, especially those in the royal line of David.
13. When Athalyah heard the noise of the firmness of the people, she came toward the people at the House of YHWH.
Josephus (who is not as reliable as Scripture but knew of many traditional interpretations of Scriptures written before his own day) says she brought her own army with her.
14. Then she looked, and, lo and behold, the king was standing upon the pillar according to the customary procedure, with the leaders and the trumpeters [facing] toward the king, and all the people of the Land were joyful and were blowing on [silver] trumpets. Then Athalyah tore her clothes and began to cry out, “Treason! Treason!”
People of the Land: Josephus said the rest of the people would remain inside the Temple courts, unarmed, but ready. Pillar: possibly the same as the platform King Shlomo built for the dedication of the Temple. (1 Kings 8:22) There is a play on words here: tore is qara in Hebrew, and cry out is qara’. Treason: or, conspiracy, unlawful alliance. But the word for the “clothing” that she tore actually means “treachery”, so the very text tells us that she was the one who was treasonous. In usurping power, Athalyahu was bringing the “liberal” ways of the Gentiles into Yehudah in a worse way even than Izevel had done in Israel. No wonder the people intuitively knew this had to end, but they had to present it as an accomplished fact before the queen could find out about it.
15. Then Y’hoyada the priest gave orders to the captains of the hundreds who were in charge of the army and said to them, “Bring her out to within the ranks, and whoever follows her, put to death by the sword,” because the priest had said, “Don’t let [anyone] be killed in the House of YHWH.”
Whoever follows her: or, comes near to help her. Apparently very few people were still loyal to her once it was clear there was an heir to David’s throne, if they ever really were. In charge of: or, who mustered.
16. So they laid hands on her [when she was] on her way in [where] the horses enter the palace, and she was executed there.
There was nothing haphazard about Y’hoyada’s planning. He had all his bases covered.
17. Then Y’hoyada cut a covenant between YHWH, the king, and the people, to serve as a people for YHWH, and between the king and the people.
As a people for YHWH: those whose Elohim He would be. This three-way covenant is rather unique.
18. And all the people of the Land went into the temple of Baal and started tearing it down! They smashed its altars and its images thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars. Then the priest stationed musterers over the House of YHWH.
Though the temples to Baal had been destroyed from the northern kingdom, the same had not yet been done in Yehudah. Apparently this cult had become very well-established in Yehudah during Athalyahu’s six-year reign. Josephus said Athalyahu and Y’horam had built this temple. Images: or shadows, shades.
19. Then he took the captains of hundreds, the Carians, the runners, and all the people of the Land, and they brought the king down from the House of YHWH, and came into the palace by way of the Runners’ Gate, and he seated him on the throne of the kings.
20. Then all the people of the Land began to rejoice, and then the city quieted down when they had executed Athalyahu by the sword at the palace.
Quieted down: i.e., had peace. Josephus said they kept a feast for many days—another hint that this took place at one of YHWH’s appointed times, most likely Sukkoth, when the Temple had been rededicated by Shlomoh as well. 2 Chronicles 23:18-19 adds that Y’hoyada also restored the Temple service according to the courses of duty David had laid out (1 Chron. 24), and arranged it so that no unclean person could enter the Temple.
21. [12:1 in Hebrew] Y’hoash was seven years old when he began to reign.
Clearly Y’hoyada was the real ruler until Yoash was of age to rule on his own.
CHAPTER 12
1. Y’hoash became king in the seventh year of Yehu, and he reigned forty years in Yerushalayim, and the name of his mother [was] Tzivyah of Be’er-sheva.
Apparently his mother was killed in Athalyahu’s massacre. Tzivyah means “a doe”, but it also sounds like it could be related to “YHWH has commanded”. Be’er-sheva is where Avraham dug a well and made a covenant with seven ewes, of which this seventh year is reminiscent. The root word for the Hebrew word “well” means “to clarify” and thus to interpret. But in this chapter we will see the people continuing to interpret the water of YHWH’s word in any way they wish to.
2. And Y’hoash did what was upright in the eyes of YHWH all his days in which Y’hoyada the priest instructed him,
He would indeed prove that his upright acts arose from his mentor’s prodding rather than from the depth of his heart. This highlights the importance of a righteous leader training his sons to carry on his legacy. He may have only afforded Y’hoyada such respect because he had saved his life and been like a father to him.
3. only, the cultic platforms were not removed; the people still slaughtered and burned incense on the cultic platforms.
One way to look at this is that reforms have to be made one step at a time. Y’hoash made an honorable start, yet he could have done so much more. None of the kings since Shlomoh had done anything about these “high places” that he had allowed to be built, no matter how righteous they were otherwise. They did right in their personal lives, but left the leaven in the loaf, which continued to endanger their brothers. What was so attractive about these things that made all the kings hesitate to destroy them? Baal worship was gone from the Land, yet these persisted. Why? These were their security, because in them the people still had something in common with the other nations around them. They may have wanted approval from them, to legitimize their existence as a nation in their own eyes. They were “covering all bases”, in case this return to their roots didn’t quite work out. They were “keeping their irons in two fires”.
4. Then Y’hoash said to the priests, “All the silver of the dedicated things that is brought into the House of YHWH—money of each man that crosses over—silver of the estimated souls, any money that arises upon a man’s heart to bring [into the] House of YHWH,
That crosses over: the phrase is pronounced “over” in Hebrew as well! 2 Chronicles 24 calls this the tribute of Moshe that was laid on Israel in the wilderness, and Josephus states directly that it was the half-sheqel “Temple tax” (Ex. 30:13), and that Y’hoash had sent into all of Yehudah to collect it.
5. “that the priests shall receive, each from his acquaintance, and let them restore to strength the [places where] the Temple is cracked; [it is] for any [place] where [such a] crack is found.”
Acquaintance: one recognized by the priests; since each was responsible to oversee a certain precinct, these were probably people from their places of jurisdiction whom they knew to be wealthy enough to contribute. Crack: or breach, leak, fissure. The majority had thought the temple to Baal was “the place to be” until recently, so the Temple would have largely fallen into disuse. But in addition to the natural dilapidation that comes from years of neglect (as a house that is not lived in always deteriorates more quickly), Athalyahu and her sons had deliberately damaged the Temple of YHWH. (2 Chron. 24:7)
6. Now it turned out [that by the time a] year [had elapsed]—the twenty-third year of King Y’hoash—the priests had not restored a crack of the Temple to strength!
2 Chronicles 24 tells us he had told them to hurry. Josephus speculates or cites a tradition that the priests thought no one would pay this willingly, so they hesitated to ask for it. Y’hoash was 30 years old, the age the priests began their active responsibilities, so he steps up his seriousness as well.
7. So Y’hoash the king called for Y’hoyada the priest and for the priests and said to them, “Why haven’t you restored [one] crack [in] the Temple? So now, don’t take any money from your acquaintances, because you must provide it [yourselves] for the cracked [parts] of the Temple.”
Having been raised, protected, and put in his position by the priests, he had probably been hesitant to confront them before this, but this had gone on too long; even Y’hoyada was now being questioned by the king he raised. They had been given whatever money had come in to do this work, so the logical conclusion was that they were not buying what was needed but keeping it for themselves instead, and so they were asked again to do with it what it had been designated for; they already had the resources.
8. While the priests consented to receive no [more] money from the people, [they] also [agreed] to not restore the cracked [parts] of the Temple to strength.
One would think the priests, if at all zealous for YHWH, would want to do whatever they could to improve the Temple of YHWH. What they could not do themselves, they could delegate to the other Levites, who were designated as their assistants. But since the people were already paying tithes, and dividing their donations between YHWH’s House and the cultic platforms, they might not have been so willing to donate more than the bare minimum, and if the priests took this from what Moshe had said was theirs by right, they probably thought they would not have enough left to live on, since people’s patronage at the Temple was sporadic at best. Though they had put the right king back on the throne, the whole culture had become corrupt. Since the people were not whole-hearted, neither were the priests (Hoshea 4:9), and they come across as stingy or lazy, or even thieves, having been paid but producing nothing. So other measures had to be taken to get the job done…
9. So Y’hoyada the priest took a single chest and bored a hole in its [hinged] lid, and set it near the altar, on the right side as one comes into the House of YHWH, and the priests who guarded the threshold put into it all the silver that was brought into the House of YHWH.
10. Then what they did was, whenever they saw that the silver in the chest became abundant, [one of] the king’s scribes went up with the high priest and secured and counted up the money that was found in the House of YHWH.
Found: because rather than asking for it this time, they just set a strategic hint in a very important place so that those who were full of zeal for YHWH’s house would donate when they saw what needed repairing. And the people did keep giving joyfully until it was finished. (2 Chron. 24) Josephus says they even competed with one another over how large a quantity they could bring in. (Antiquities 9:8:2)
11. Then they gave the money that was weighed out into the hands of those [who were] doing the work—those entrusted with being overseers [in] the House of YHWH, and they brought it out to the engravers of wood and the builders who were working on the House of YHWH,
It does not say the workers were Levites, but when the work needs to be done and no priest is available, any Levite may do it. Where there is not a Levite, any Israelite who can do it may be called on. Willingness counts for much in YHWH’s eyes if one actually carries out the work. Weighed out: Compare the elements of Yeshayahu/Isaiah 26:5-8 to the context here.
12. as well as to the wall-masons and stonecutters, and to purchase lumber and stone cut to repair the cracked [portions] of the House of YHWH, and for all who went out on top of the House to repair it.
13. No silver bowls or snuffers or pitchers or trumpets at all, nor any utensils of gold or silver, were made [for] the House of YHWH from the silver that was brought [into] the House of YHWH,
Athalyahu had taken these utensils and donated them to the worship sites for Baal. (2 Chron. 24:7)
14. because they gave it to those who were doing the work, and with it they repaired the House of YHWH.
2 Chronicles clarifies that these items were not made until they were finished with the repairs. (24:14) So it was not quite as bad as it sounds. But still, the things YHWH did command were left until after the building He only tolerated, and the utensils were apparently sorely missed. This may have been what made people want to frequent the better-equipped "high places". Pharaoh Shishaq of Egypt had plundered such items from the Temple in Rehav'am's day (1 Kings 14:25), so there were probably minimal holy implements available with which to carry out the Temple services. Pitchers were needed for the altar, snuffers for the menorah, silver trumpets to signal new moons, which set the calendar for the rest of the festivals. How could they get along without these? It seems like they have it backwards, but for a while they had to choose one or the other. Y'hoash may have been trying to draw more people (who had been won over by the Baals) back into some aspect of the worship of YHWH by making His Temple look as nice as Baal's had.
15. And they did not require an accounting of the men into whose hands they were entrusting the money to provide for those who were doing the work, because they were dealing faithfully.
This is one of the highest honors that can be conferred upon men! The Levites’ name was attached to this House, so when they did not fulfill their responsibility, to their shame it had to be given to common craftsmen, who proved more eager than the priests had been when given a meaningful task to perform and the means to perform it! And no one had to come behind them to clean up. The priests may have been so used to their work that it had ceased to be special to them, like the townspeople in a prophet’s hometown. It was too normal for them, too close to home, and familiarity bred at least boredom. This may be one of the greatest benefits of our exile—a greater sense of what is set apart, because we have been out in the profane for so long and see the contrast more sharply as we find something really worth building.
16. But the silver of the guilt-offering and the silver of the sin-offering were not brought into the House of YHWH; it belonged to the priests.
Y’hoyada lived to be 130 years of age. (2 Chron. 24:15) Josephus says he was even buried in the tombs of the kings since he had been the one who restored the kingship to David’s family.
17. Then Khaza’el the king of Aram came up and made war on Gath and captured her, so Khaza’el determined to go up against Yerushalayim.
Determined: literally, set his face. One victory gave him the confidence that he could accomplish a greater one. Gath had been one of the five chief cities of the Filistines, and it must have been well-fortified, having once had giants among its citizens who could more than likely have done great feats to strengthen it. If he could conquer this, he thought he could conquer anything. Had the word leaked to him that so much wealth was being poured into the Temple, so that he thought this nation would be worth his time to plunder? The cracks in the walls of the Temple had been repaired, but there were still breaches in the security of the nation, probably due to “loose lips” of people boasting about the great things that went on in the middle of this chapter.
18. So Y’hoash took all the holy things that his ancestors Y’hoshafat, Y’horam, and Akhazyahu, the kings of Yehudah, had dedicated, as well as the things he himself had dedicated, as well as all the gold that was found in the treasuries of YHWH’s House as well as the king’s palace, and he sent it to Khaza’el the king of Aram, so he withdrew from [being set] against Yerushalayim.
Withdrew: literally, went up. He ascended, because he chose not to destroy something set apart, but at what a price! This account makes it sound like Yerushalayim was unscathed, but 2 Chronicles 24 tells us that Khaza’el actually killed many of the leaders of the city and that Y’hoash himself was severely wounded, which may be why he surrendered. A small band of Arameans was able to defeat a great host of Israelites because they had forsaken YHWH. (See below.) Y’hoash was too much like his own father and not enough like his earlier ancestor David. He appears to not have put up much of a fight to preserve the holy things and the treasures that belonged to his ancestors. And if he had all of these treasures stored up, why did he wait to make the Temple implements until the other work was done? He must have been saving it as security for an event like this very one! The scribe does not come out and say he did not use it since it would have probably meant his head, but he subtly points out that the materials had been there all along. Israel has had a long history of not trusting YHWH—even when His cloud and fiery pillar were visible in our midst! We must do better than this! And because they did not invest them in the work of the Kingdom, they lost them altogether. They ended up in the hands of an enemy who did not care much for YHWH.
19. Now the rest of the words of Yoash and all that he accomplished, aren’t they recorded in the Book of the Chronicles belonging to the kings of Yehudah?
This scribe would rather only record his better earlier legacy, for he ended his days in much worse spiritual condition. Notice that his name is even truncated after the last action mentioned.
20. Then there was an uprising [among] his servants, and they banded together in a conspiracy and struck Yoash down in the house of the Millo which goes down [the] highway.
Millo: literally, the “filled-in” place. This is considered by many to be the “stepped-stone structure” which has been uncovered by archaeologists on the eastern flank of the City of David, the original part of Yerushalayim. Highway: Heb, silla’. This part of Yerushalayim is today called Silwan by the Arabs—probably a corruption of Shiloakh (Siloam in Greek), but possibly from an older connection with this term.
21. That is, Yozakhar the son of Shim’ath and Y’hozavad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him down and he died, and they buried him with his ancestors in the City of David, and his son Amatzyah became king in his place.
Yozakhar means “YHWH has remembered”. Shim’ath means “report” or “what is heard”. Y’hozavad means “YHWH has endowed/bestowed”. Shomer means “watchman”, “guard”, or “one who is observant”. Amatzyah means “YHWH is strong” in the sense of firm, assured, determined, persistent, or having proven superior to others. But if they were not staging a coup, why would they kill the king? (For they did let his own son reign, possibly out of respect for YHWH’s choice of the line of David.) Did they think that after forty years it was “just time for a change”, whether for the better or not? 2 Chron. 24 answers our question: After Y’hoyada’s death Yoash was persuaded by Yehudah’s leaders to let Israel turn to the worship of Asherah (the many-breasted goddess from whom the idea of Easter eggs was derived), and when Y’hoyada’s son acted as prophet and warned him, he ordered him executed, bringing YHWH’s wrath.He was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
CHAPTER 13
[c. year 3187 from creation; 813 B.C.E.]
1. In the twenty-third year—the year belonging to Yoash the son of Akhazyahu, the king of Yehudah, Y’hoakhaz the son of Yehu became king over Israel in Shomron [and reigned] seventeen years.
This is the same year that the Temple began to be repaired—probably Yoash’s finest year. Y’hoakhaz means essentially the same as Akhazyahu (“YHWH has taken a firm hold”), the two words merely being reversed in order. Many names are being repeated even across the borders of the two kingdoms.
2. But he did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH and walked after the sins of Yarav’am the son of N’vat [by] which he caused Israel to miss the target; he did not turn away from that.
No matter what their other accomplishments, this is becoming the only standard by which the kings of Israel are judged. The scribe seems to find the necessary listing tiresome, since the nation is getting nowhere, and says the bare minimum about each.
3. So YHWH’s anger was kindled against Israel, and He handed them over to Khaza’El, king of Aram, and to Ben-Hadad the son of Khaza’El all the days.
All the days: constantly or relentlessly, and all the days of Y’hoakhaz’s life (v. 22).
4. Then Y’hoakhaz began to beg for the presence of YHWH, and YHWH listened to him, because He had noticed the distress of Israel, because the king of Aram was oppressing them
Beg: the word ranges in meaning from “make oneself sick” to “become weak” to “be wounded”—i.e., his begging was painstaking. YHWH had told Shlomoh, “If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their Land.” (2 Chron. 7:14)
5. (so YHWH provided a deliverer for Israel so they could get out from under the hand of Aram, and the sons of Israel lived in tents as in a former time
YHWH was so eager to have His people come close to Him that He was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. The nation was so far gone by this time that any move back toward Him received positive reinforcement from Him. Lived in tents: possibly a literal situation, meaning they went out to war against him, but it may also mean that they began to keep the feast of Sukkoth again or that they began to study the Torah once again, as “dwelling in tents” is used in this figurative sense as well. A former time: literally, “the third yesterday”.
6. yet still they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Yarav’am by which he caused Israel to miss the target; he kept that going, and also, the Asherah remained standing at Shomron);
His prayer turned out to be nothing more than one of those “Help me out of this situation” prayers so common all through history, for he proved to not have repented at all. This Asherah was not mentioned before, but Asherah was usually seen as the consort of Baal. Now that Baal-worship was banished from the Land, and we see everyone’s name containing YHWH’s at this time, the significance of the fertility goddess still remaining is that this was the beginning of a popular ideology in which the “widowed” Asherah was now “married” to YHWH. Numerous idols and inscriptions about “YHWH and His Asherah” have been found all over the Land, even in Yerushalayim. (William Dever) This was most common in household worship because people were rightly hesitant to make images of YHWH, but they represented Him through His “feminine counterpart”, and this “need” to attach a female deity to a male remained all the way up until the Christian idea of “Mary mother of God”. The Protestants did not protest this far enough, because like ancient Israel they have not been willing to let go of the idea of an additional “God” besides YHWH. Why is YHWH not enough?
7. indeed, he did not leave any people to Y’hoakhaz except fifty war-horses, ten chariots, and ten thousand footsoldiers, because the king of Aram had done away with them and made them like dust to trample on.
This is an extremely small army for a land this size. He: Khaza’El, but ultimately YHWH. The people did the bare minimum in repenting, so He left them with just barely enough to defend the Land, but not enough to take any new ground, War-horses: or horsemen. To trample on: or, at threshing.
8. Now the rest of the words of Y’hoakhaz and all that he accomplished along with his heroic deeds, aren’t they recorded in the Book of the Chronicles belonging to the kings of Israel?
Heroic deeds: Usually necessary just to get someone into the position of king, but they are not especially noteworthy to this scribe, because they are not righteous.
9. When Y’hoakhaz lay down with his ancestors, they buried him in Shomron, and his son Yoash reigned in his place.
[c. year 3202 from creation; 798 B.C.E.]
10. In the thirty-seventh year—the year belonging to Yoash the king of Yehudah, Y’hoash the son of Y’hoakhaz became king over Israel [and reigned] sixteen years.
The three-year overlap between the two kings named Y’hoash is probably the reason for the two different spellings in this verse.
11. But he did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH and did not turn away from any of the sins of Yarav’am the son of N’vat [by] which he caused Israel to miss the target; that is what he walked in.
Nothing else is said about him here!
12. Now the rest of the words of Yoash and all that he accomplished, and his heroism with which he fought against Amatzyah the king of Yehudah, aren’t they recorded in the Book of the Chronicles belonging to the kings of Israel?
The book of the Chronicles says Yoash attacked Amatzyah because Amatzyah had hired mercenaries from his army, despite its smallness—probably because they needed added revenue and having no other way to get it. However, Amatzyah sent them home (with pay) when a prophet told him YHWH was not with Israel. The latter, though paid the price promised, felt their honor was offended because of this, and made a number of attacks on border towns, killing 3,000 and taking much plunder while Amatzyah was off attacking Edom. Later YHWH allowed Yoash to prevail against Amatzyah because Amatzyah had brought idols back from the Edomites and started worshipping them. (2 Chron. 25) Yoash plundered the palace and the Temple and destroyed a 400-cubit length of Yerushalayim’s wall. Nonetheless, Amatzyah survived Yoash by 15 years; though upset with him, Yoash remembered that they were brothers. But why could Yoash not have spent his strength on more positive restoration in his own land?
[c. year 3218 from creation; 782 B.C.E.]
13. When Yoash lay down with his ancestors, Yarav’am sat on his throne, and Yoash was buried in Shomron with the kings of Israel.
This is a second Yarav’am. Not only did Yoash walk in the ways of Yarav’am; he conferred a high honor on the original Yarav’am by naming his son after him, possibly as the “father of his country” as its “bicentennial” approached—unless by naming his son this, he thought he might be able to restore honor to that name if his son was more righteous than the first.
14. Now when Elisha had become ill with the sickness by which he would die, Yoash the king of Israel came down to him and wept over his face, and said, “My father! My father! The chariot of Israel and its war-horses!”
Ill: Why would YHWH let such a great prophet die from an illness? The word actually often refers to being worn down, as with sandpaper. The half-heartedness of everyone in the nation he loved may have made him lose hope as Yitzhaq had, so that the strain simply wore him out. Chariot…war-horses: This is not an allusion to the loss of most of the army (v. 7). Rather, Yoash was quoting the already well-known words Elisha himself had said to Eliyahu as he was being taken away. (2:12) While he may have simply been trying to curry favor with him in a pragmatic way (since he had not been very righteous before this) or bewailing the fact that this great prophet was going away as well, this time there was a more sobering meaning to these words, because the last of the great prophets to the Northern Kingdom was departing. Aside from Hoshea (also during Yoash’s reign), not until we were dispersed would YHWH send a prophet of this caliber to speak specifically to us, and even then it was indirectly, as Y’hezq’El spoke these prophecies to the Jewish exiles in Bavel. The kings, though often reluctantly, had always been able to go to Elisha for answer, especially in regard to military threats like the one that loomed before them in Khaza’El at this time. His impending death left the outlook for the nation bleak, especially since, unlike Eliyahu, he had failed to invest himself in a clear successor, probably having felt no one was worthy of this honor after he was betrayed by Gehazi and abandoned by his students as too strict, and he appears to have had no son either. He was the one who had been holding back YHWH’s judgment on Israel; when he was gone, to whom would Yoash turn? He seems to have been desperately hinting that he needed a final word from Elisha like what Eliyahu gave him when he was about to be left alone against the world in the same way:
15. So Elisha said to him, “[Go] get a bow and [some] arrows.” So he procured for himself a bow and arrows.
16. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Make your hand ride on the bow!” When he had begun to make his hand “ride”, Elisha put his hand on the hand of the king
Ride on the bow: Josephus interprets this as meaning to string up his bow. He seems to be alluding directly to Yaaqov’s deathbed promise to Yoseyf (ancestor of this very Northern Kingdom) that Elohoim would remain with him after he died, confirmed by his conferring on him some land that he had taken with his bow (Gen. 48:21-22), as well as Yaaqov’s later prophecy that Yoseyf’s bow would remain strong, strengthened by the Shepherd of Israel (Gen. 49:22-25), especially in the context of his being called the deliverer of Israel (v. 5 above). When laying his hands over the king’s, he would have to stand behind him, and like the laying of hands on the animal to be offered in the Temple, this showed identification of the king’s responsibility with his own. He was offering him fuller authority.
17. and said, “Open the window on the east.” So he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he started shooting. And he said, “An arrow for YHWH’s deliverance, and an arrow for deliverance in Aram, and you will strike Aram at Afeq until you have finished it off!”
Afeq: About three miles east of the Kinnereth (Sea of Galilee), probably one of the cities Khaza’El had taken from Israel. (v. 25) Compare how Y’honathan’s arrows indirectly delivered David out of the hands of King Sha’ul. (1 Shmu’el 20:36-37) To Noakh, YHWH used the bow as a promise that a flood would not overwhelm again, and “when the enemy comes in like a flood…YHWH will raise up a standard against them.” (Yeshayau 59:19) East was the general direction toward Aram from where they were, but there is more to it. The Hebrew word for “east” (qedem) also means “ancient” and “forward”. Deliverance came through the east wind when Moshe lifted his rod in obedience to YHWH. (Ex. 14:21) The tribe of Yehudah is found on the east in Israel’s camp (Num. 2:3), and likewise, many want the deliverance that comes through Yehudah (i.e., Y’shua), but not the obedience that carries it to its conclusion. The bow has strength, but the arrows have the point. Yoash was thinking only about defeating Aram, and not about following YHWH’s ancient ways, so he stopped short of what YHWH really wanted.
18. When he had said, “Get the arrows”, and he had gotten them, he told the king of Israel, “Make [them] hit the ground!” So he made [them] hit the ground three times, and stopped.
Elisha did not just offer him the blessing of prevailing over his enemies, but got him directly involved in bringing it about. But the king was not one for dramatizations, especially outdoors in front of the people, for they seemed silly and inconsequential to him, so his pride got in the way and he held back and did the bare minimum. After all, such acts made no sense to him since they physically accomplished nothing. Yet it was actions such as these from which YHWH had brought great results for Moshe when he struck the rock and when he lifted up his rod or threw ashes to the wind. There was no direct connection between these and the water gushing forth or the Reed Sea opening up or the plagues coming on Egypt, but like Y’hezq’El later, as he invested himself fully in the representation of what needed to be done, somehow doors were opened in the spiritual realm that would indeed align unseen elements to make it possible for the real thing to come about. Such portals are especially opened to us during worship, when David commands us to do such seemingly-ineffective things as raise our hands, twirl around, or leap for joy. (Yes, there are “crackpots” who carry such things to the extreme, but weigh the fruit of the other occasions YHWH had the prophets do such things.) Like Naaman’s dipping seven times in the Yarden, these numbers may have had something to do with the mathematics underlying the functioning of the universe, and while he thought he was finished, three times was just not enough. He should have gone on until he was told to stop. Y’shua also lamented over how Yerushalayim was offered deliverance on so many occasions, but refused to accept it.
19. But the man of Elohim became furious with him and said, “By striking five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until it was finished off, but now you will [only] conquer Aram three times.”
It was apparently meant to be time for the line of Aram to be quenched, but Yoash would not be the one to accomplish this. Aram stood between Israel and the Assyrians who would eventually conquer it, and YHWH used even this failure to buy more time for Israel to repent. Elisha seems to have been trying to invest himself into the king as a last-ditch effort to find someone to call his son in hopes of dying in the hope that Israel was left in capable hands. But it was too late, as he did not have enough strength left in him to train him as he needed.
20. Then Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of raiders [from] Moav entered the Land at the coming of the year,
21. and what took place was that, as they were burying a man, lo and behold, they saw the band of raiders, and threw the man into the tomb of Elisha. But as the man moved, he touched against the bones of Elisha, and he came back to life and got up onto his feet!
One should not imagine that Elisha’s bones were lying in the ground when this man’s grave was being dug. Despite the extent of Israel’s spiritual compromise, Josephus says that Elisha’s funeral was a very great affair, and such an illustrious man must have been buried in a mausoleum (possibly built by Yoash himself) with a door that could be opened more quickly than they could finish hewing this man’s cave from the rock. Since the time appears to be a year after Elisha died, this was probably right after his bones were moved from the shelf on which his flesh was allowed to deteriorate and “gathered to his fathers” in another part of the tomb, as was customary in ancient Israel. They apparently planned to come back later and finish burying him, but this way at least his body would not be left on the open ground. What a surprise they would have if they had locked the tomb and he could not get out from inside, when they came back to get his body out for burial! But in the context of the reminder of the day when Elisha had asked for a double portion of Eliyahu’s spirit, we must add this. In the two books of the Kings, ten miracles are attributed to Eliyahu, and Elisha might well have been keeping count to see whether he had indeed received all he had asked for. But by the time Elisha died, only 19 miracles had been done by his hand. So this might have been part of the reason he was irritable on the day of his death. But now that this man had come back to life, YHWH had fulfilled the full “quota” of wonders that he had requested, though the last one was done through only the remains of his hand!
22. But Khaza’El the king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Y’hoakhaz.
This is another flashback from the chronological order, as in verse 14. Oppressed: literally, squeezed or crushed.
23. But YHWH was merciful and showed them compassion and turned His face toward them for the sake of His covenant with Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov, and had not been willing either to let them be destroyed or to throw them out from over His face even until this point:
Not for their own sake, but so that He would not be unfair to His friends the patriarchs, who were more worthy than they. (Compare Yeshayahu 48:9-11 and Y’hezq’El 20:44 and 36:22, which is specifically in the context of the restoration of the Northern Kingdom, which is beginning to occur today, so we must especially keep this perspective as He does the great things He has promised: It is not because we deserve it, but because we benefit from the worthiness of our forebears.)
24. when Khaza’El, king of Aram, died, and his son Ben-Hadad had become king in his place,
25. Y’hoash the son of Y’hoakhaz returned and took the cities from the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Khaza’El that he had taken from the hand of his father Y’hoakhaz in battle. Yoash attacked him three times and recovered the cities of Israel.
Note that Yoash’s name is truncated again when he is fulfilling Elisha’s grim prophecy—a mixed victory at best, yet at least YHWH allowed them to be successful for a time because he was minimally obedient to the prophet. His name (often idiomatic for his reputation) was therefore diminished as well, yet still this is how much those three arrows in verse 19 accomplished.
CHAPTER 14
[c. year 3204 from Creation; 796 B.C.E.]
1. In the second year belonging to Yoash the son of Y’hoakhaz, king of Israel, Amatzyahu the son of Yoash began to reign as king of Yehudah.
2. He was twenty-five years old when he took the throne, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim, and his mother’s name was Y’hoaddin of Yerushalayim.
Y’hoaddin means “YHWH is delighted”.
3. And he did what was right in the eyes of YHWH, only not to the extent that his ancestor David [had]; he did according to all that his father Yoash had done,
Not to the extent: a hard act to follow indeed, but 2 Chron. 25:1 explains that he did what was right, but not with a whole heart.
4. except that the cultic platforms were not removed; still the people were slaughtering and burning incense at the cultic platforms.
These were on the tops of hills. This is very reminiscent of the many steeples still allowed to remain atop many hills in Yehudah today.
5. And it turned out that when the sovereignty had become firm in his hand, he struck down those who had struck down his father the king.
While these men had a reason to kill the king (he had disregarded YHWH’s prophet and had him killed), still they had no authority to do so. Unlike David, they dared to “touch YHWH’s anointed”. Though on one level they accomplished justice for YHWH’s prophet, they paid the price for the manner in which they did it, for they really would have had to be told by a prophet to kill a king in the line of David. So Amatzyahu also was just in avenging his father’s assassins.
6. But he did not kill the children of those who had struck [him] down, as it is written in the book of the Torah of Moshe that YHWH had given orders, saying, “The fathers are not to be put to death on account of the sons, nor are the sons to be put to death on account of the fathers, but rather each will be put to death by his own error.”
The reference is to Deut. 24:16. (Compare Y’hezq’El 18:4, 20.)
7. He attacked Edom in the Valley of Salt—ten thousand [of them]—and captured Sela by means of a battle, and called its name “Yaqth’El” [as it is known] to this day.
Valley of Salt: either near or at the site of what has become part of the Dead Sea. Edom’s territory is just south of there. Sela is the stronghold now known as Petra. (Both names mean “rock” or “cliff/crag”.) It was much more highly-developed by the Nabateans later, but was originally Edom’s capital. It could only be entered by a narrow, mile-long passage between high cliffs, and so would be easy to defend and very hard to conquer. Yaqth’El means “the blamelessness of Elohim” or “obedience to Elohim”. Yet he let it go to his head very quickly:
8. At that time Amatzyah sent messengers to Y’hoash the son of Y’hoakhaz, the son of Yehu, the king of Israel, saying, “Come, let’s look one another in the face!”
This was a challenge to a battle, not a family reunion. 2 Chronicles gives us the added background that at this time he sent away the Israelite soldiers he had hired to go with him to attack Edom, but a prophet warned him that Israel was in no spiritual condition to be in league with Yehudah, and though he paid them, they were insulted that he sent them back home, and they attacked several of his cities. He was therefore ready to fight them as well.
9. But Y’hoash the king of Israel sent [word] to Amatzyahu, king of Yehudah, to say, “The thornbush that was in Levanon sent [word] to the cedar tree that was in Levanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son as a wife.’ But a wild animal that was in Levanon passed through and trampled down the thornbush.
That was the end of the thornbush. Remember that at this time, cedars of Levanon probably grew as large as redwoods, the biggest trees in the world, due to a northern California-like climate, drawing the contrast even more sharply. He was clearly but indirectly saying, “You are no match for me!” Kings often gave their children to one another in marriage to prevent wars between them, but normally the one who gave the daughter to the other king’s son was the weaker party, entering into an alliance of subservience in order to have the stronger nation’s protection. But here, Y’hoash sees Amatzyah as thinking he has the upper hand: “He thinks I need his protection!”
10. “Indeed, you have beaten Edom and your heart has lifted you up. Stay in your home and enjoy the honor! Why, then, should you stir yourself up with trouble and bring about the downfall of both yourself and Yehudah with you?”
He had made some minor attacks out of spite to punish Amatzyahu for insulting him, but did not see the need for an all-out war with his brothers. He was hoping Amatzyahu would take the hint and back down.
11. But Amatzyahu would not listen, so Y’hoash the king of Israel went up, and they looked each other in the face—he and Amatzyahu the king of Yehudah—at Beth-Shemesh, which belongs to Yehudah.
Beth-Shemesh (“house or temple of the sun”) is in the foothills about 15 miles nearly due west of Yerushalayim. There was another city by this name in Egypt—also known as Heliopolis (which also means “city of the sun”) or On. It is not certain whether this Jewish town was the home to a “branch” of the sun’s cult that burned incense to it. There may have been no connection; it may have been named after some kind of topographical feature here that highlighted the sun’s position, but sun-worship was rampant all around the world at that time. Every form of paganism seems to have been attached to it in some way. The fact that Israel defeated Yehudah here may be symbolic of Christians, who had become stronger, destroying their Jewish brothers through capitulation to Constantine’s cult of the “unconquered sun” and persecuting those who were “recalcitrant” in sticking to the “old ways” of keeping the Sabbath.
12. But Yehudah was beaten before Israel, and each man fled to his tent.
Indeed, Amatzyahu had bitten off more than he could chew.
13. And Y’hoash the king of Israel captured Amatzyahu, king of Yehudah, the son of Yoash the son of Akhazyahu at Beth-Shemesh. Then they came to Yerushalayim, and he made a breach in the wall of Yerushalayim at the Gate of Efrayim, all the way to the Corner Gate—400 cubits!
The Gate of Efrayim was on the northern part of the wall Shlomoh had built along the transversal valley that ran perpendicular to the western wall of the Temple westward to the Corner Gate spoken of here, which was on the northwestern corner of the city at the Hinnom Valley, very close to the site of the Yaffa Gate today. The Gate of Efrayim is at the northern edge of what today is called the Jewish Quarter. 400 cubits=600 feet or 200 meters.
14. And he took all the gold and silver and all the implements that were found in the House of YHWH and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, as well as hostages, and went back to Shomron.
Hostages: literally, sons of the pledge/exchange/surety. I.e., they were held for ransom. This does not seem at all fair! Overall Amatzyahu’s record was much better than Yoash’s; his rulings were according to Torah. (v. 6) Yet, as so often takes place, it was Yehudah that suffered this “holocaust”, while Israel seemed “successful” while they had no fear of YHWH, being more interested in gold (of which their gods were indeed made, though they called them “YHWH”). He got away with the treasure and YHWH allowed it. Why? Because Yehudah was only walking in the Torah “for the most part”. It is much more dangerous to be partially in Torah than to not seek YHWH at all, because a minor stench in someone closer to Him will irritate Him much more than a major foul odor exuded by someone far off. Yehudah is saying it wants intimacy with YHWH, and quotes the Torah, yet reserves the cultic platforms for themselves, so it cannot stand against its enemies, as wrong as they might be in comparison. Yehudah had kept something else as a “backup security”, so YHWH allowed the objects used in His worship to be taken away. Those who know more and commit to more are judged more strictly. It hurts more to fall off a higher step, because they were not yet at the top, which is the only place where it is safe. Yehudah was the only people righteous enough to be worth attacking at the time of the Holocaust, but because they were not a light to the nations, but were rather trying to assimilate and focusing on gaining wealth, so they had much further to fall.
15. Now the rest of the words of Y’hoash, what he accomplished, and his heroism, that is, when he fought with Amatzyahu the king of Yehudah—aren’t they recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
16. When Y’hoash lay down with his ancestors, he was buried in Shomron with the kings of Israel, and Yarav’am his son began to reign in his place.
The next thing we read after he steals YHWH’s possessions is that he dies, so he did pay the price for this presumptuousness. YHWH had no more use for him after using him to chastise Amatzyahu.
17. Now Amatzyahu the son of Y’hoash, king of Yehudah, lived fifteen years after the death of Y’hoash the son of Y’hoakhaz the king of Israel.
18. And the rest of the matters of Amatzyahu, aren’t they recorded on the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Yehudah?
[c. year 3218 from Creation; 782 B.C.E.]
19. When they made a conspiracy against him in Yerushalayim, he fled to Lakhish, but they sent [men] after him at Lakhish, and killed him there.
Lakhish was the strongest of a series of fortresses along the front where the foothills met the coastal plain, designed chiefly to protect Yerushalayim from attack from the west. Militarily, it was the second most important city in Yehudah at this time. It is about 23 miles southwest of Yerushalayim.
20. Then they lifted him up onto the horses and he was buried in Yerushalayim with his ancestors—in the City of David.
The City of David is the original portion of Yerushalayim, which by now had about ten times the area the city had before Shlomoh.
[c. year 3209 from Creation; 791 B.C.E.]
21. Now all the people of Yehudah had seized Azaryah when he was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amatzyahu.
Amatzyahu may have stayed at Lakhish for some time before being killed. Why did they kill a king if they did not wish to overthrow his line? 2 Chronicles 25:27 says it was after he had turned away from following YHWH. Azaryah (“YHWH has helped”) was also known as Uzziyah, or “YHWH is my strength”.(2 Chron. 26:1)
22. He rebuilt Eylath and restored it to Yehudah after the king had lain down with his ancestors.
Eylath is at the northern tip of the eastern branch of the Reed Sea (the Gulf of Aqaba), at the extreme southern corner of Israel today. Also known as Etzion-Gever, it was a port Shlomoh had established, but it had been captured since by another people as Yehudah had weakened—probably Edom. After the king had lain down: He was technically co-regent from 791-767 B.C.E., then became sole ruler upon his father’s assassination. More is said about him in chapter 15.
[c. year 3207 from Creation; 793 B.C.E.]
23. In the fifteenth year—the year belonging to Amatzyahu the son of Yoash, king of Yehudah, Yarav’am the son of Yoash became king of Israel in Shomron, [and reigned] 41 years.
24. But he did what was wrong in the eyes of YHWH: he did not turn away from any of the sins of Yarav’am the son of N’vat, who caused Israel to miss the target.
25. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance to Khamath all the way to the Sea of the Aravah, according to the word of YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, which he spoke by means of His servant Yonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who [came] from Gath-ha-Khefer,
Sea of the Aravah: that is, the Salt Sea (or Dead Sea). The Reed Sea is also in the Aravah (though not completely), but Yehudah, not Israel, owned the approach to it. These were the boundaries Y’hoshua originally laid out, but which had been lost to Aram. Here is some information about Yonah which does not appear in the book named after him. This verse is the only way we know exactly where he came from and where he fits in the chronology. Gath-ha-Khefer means “the winepress of exploration/ digging/ searching”. The town was in Z’vulun’s territory, very close to Mount Tavor and the later site of Natzereth, on the southern edge of the Galil His prophecy was positive, but Amos, who also prophesied around this time, gave a negative prophecy about the same areas, threatening a reversal since Israel was not living in a manner worthy of this victory. (6:14) Hoshea also prophesied to the Northern Kingdom during this reign.
26. because YHWH had seen the very bitter affliction of Israel, because restraint had come to an end, and there ceased to be anything left, and there was no helper for Israel,
Restraint…left: or, there was none bound and none free.
27. and YHWH had not said He would obliterate the name of Israel from under the heavens, so He delivered them by the hand of Yarav’am the son of Yoash.
He showed an abundance of mercy to allow this wicked ruler to triumph over his enemies, but Israel’s cup is becoming full; at the time of Yarav’am’s death, only 31 years will remain until the latter of two major deportations into exile, and it seems YHWH is helping them “squeeze the grapes” by blessing them while they are still in sin. They think they are receiving His favor, but in fact have much to answer for. They think they are getting away with much, but in fact are getting deeper and deeper into trouble.
28. Now the rest of the words of Yarav’am and all that he accomplished, and his heroism by which he fought and in which he brought Damaseq and Khamath back into Israel for Yehudah—aren’t they recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
[c. year 3247 from Creation; 753 B.C.E.]
29. When Yarav’am lay down with his ancestors—with the kings of Israel—his son Z’kharyah became king in his place.
CHAPTER 15
1. In the twenty-seventh year—the year belonging to Yarav’am [II] the king of Israel, Azaryah the son of Amatzyah, began to reign [as] king of Yehudah.
Again, Azaryah means “YHWH has helped”, and Amatzyah means “YHWH has proven Himself strong”.
2. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 52 years in Yerushalayim, and his mother’s name was Y’kholyahu [who came] from Yerushalayim.
He had the longest reign of any king of either kingdom, though the first 24 years were co-regency with his father while he was still alive. Y’kholyahu means “YHWH is capable”.
3. And he did what was upright in the eyes of YHWH in every [way] that his father, Amatzyahu, had done.
4. Only, the cultic platforms were not removed; still the people were slaughtering and burning incense at the cultic platforms.
This is an exact repeat of the same verse of the previous chapter. And it has been the recurring theme of the past several reigns. All the way back to the days in Egypt, the Hebrews were known as the people with only one Elohim, but even if people were only worshipping YHWH at these “high places”, this would send a mixed message, because though they said they only had one, this would give the illusion that they had many deities. Also, each of these platforms would have had their own authorities, and each would develop its own standards, and at best they would end up like different “denominations”, rather than all coming from one central command. In addition, it is unlikely that the Levitical priests would be officiating at these places (though there were a few renegade priests or Levites willing to usurp the positions of priests), so the mediators in these places would not be the ones YHWH had designated. And with people taking their slaughters to other locations, they would not be feeding those He had assigned to eat the meat of Israel’s sacrifices. So the prophets had already begun speaking against this practice, and it seems to be this scribe’s chief concern.
5. Then YHWH struck the king, and he became a leper until the day of his death, and he lived in a separate house, and Yotham, the king’s son, was over the house, judging the people of the Land.
This account makes it appear that the leprosy was on account of his not removing the cultic platforms, and the bar was certainly being raised in that regard. But leprosy is elsewhere in Scripture a punishment for wanting or trying to usurp someone else’s authority, and this does not quite fit. But 2 Chronicles 26 fills us in on many more details of his reign and this event as well. He was successful in many building projects, as an inventor, and had great military might. (Tiglath-Pileser II of Assyria said that in his fifth year he had defeated a “great army” under Yehudah.) He enjoyed great prosperity as long as he sought YHWH, all the days of the prophet Z’kharyah, but when he was firmly established, his heart became proud. Hoshea prophesied beginning in his days that because Yehudah did not acknowledge that their gain was given by YHWH, He would take His grain back and bring a famine (2:8-9; 4:3; 9:2). But worse, he presumed to enter the Holy Place in the Temple to burn incense—a prerogative that belonged only to the priests. He was acting like the Egyptian kings, who made themselves high priests. He forgot Miryam, which Deut. 24:8-9 specifically tells us to remember. A priest with the same name (Azaryah) warned him not to do this, but he became angry, and leprosy appeared on his forehead immediately, banning him thereafter from the Temple. But while the present scribe does not mention these intervening events, he may have ignored them for a reason, for if he was a war hero outside, but did not take care of the nagging corrosive factor internally , it really did not matter very much what else he did. The problem mentioned here may be the root cause after all. Being prosperous, he may simply not wanted to “rock the boat”, or was just not quite brave enough to trust YHWH with even this. So what should have been the years of his glory became his disgrace. Because Yehudah had stayed truer to YHWH, it was held to a higher standard than Israel. He had invested more in them, and expects him to be a better example to his brother.
6. And the rest of the words of Azaryah, and all that he accomplished, aren’t they recorded on the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Yehudah?
What else can e said in his favor after verse 5? This scribe’s intent seems to be to emphasize what remained wrong with Israel and Yehudah, even when kings were otherwise upright.
[c. year 3233 from Creation; 767 B.C.E.]
7. When Azaryahu lay down with his ancestors, they buried him with his fathers in the City of David, and Yotham his son became king in his place.
Yeshayahu/Isaiah’s visions came as an encouragement the year Azaryahu (Uzziyahu) died. (Yeshayahu 6) Uzziyahu seems to have been the name he assumed upon accession to the throne.
8. In year 38—the year belonging to Azaryah, the king of Yehudah, Z’kharyahu, the son of Yarav’am, became king over Israel, [and he reigned] in Shomron [for] six months,
Z’kharyahu means “YHWH has remembered”.
9. and he did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH, as his ancestors had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Yarav’am the son of N’vat, who caused Israel to miss the target.
10. And Shallum the son of Yavesh conspired against him and struck him down right in front of the people, and killed him and became king in his place.
Shallum’s name is based on “peace”, and this may be what his father had in mind, but this form of the word also means “retribution” (payback), and this is exactly how YHWH took it.
11. And the rest of the matters of Z’kharyah, they are indeed recorded on the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
12. That was the message that YHWH had spoken to Yehu, saying, “Sons of your fourth [generation] will sit on the throne of Israel.” And so it was.
But this fare and no further: his merit had run out, so his dynasty was cut off by a coup d’etat. They had not even lived up to Yehu’s standard, so YHWH left them to their own devices. They did what they wanted to do, so He simply did not pay them much attention anymore, either for positive or negative reasons.
[c. year 3248 from Creation; 752 B.C.E.]
13. Shallum the son of Yavesh became king in year 39—the year belonging to Uzziyahu, the king of Yehudah, and he reigned a month of days in Shomron.
Recall that Uzziyahu is another name for Azaryah.
14. Then M’nahem the son of Gadi from Tirtzakh came to Shomron and attacked Shallum the son of Yavesh at Shomron, and killed him, and became king in his stead.
What a violent decade! It is the result of Israel’s downhill slide into worse and worse sin. M’nahem was a general under Z’kharyah who killed Shallum to avenge his master’s murderer. Tirtzakh is in Menashe’s tribal territory (west of the Yarden River), about 4 miles north of Sh’khem. Yavesh means “dry”.
15. And the rest of the matters of Shallum, and his conspiracy that he plotted, they are indeed recorded on the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
16. When M’nahem attacked Tifsakh and all who were in it, along with its borders from Tirtzakh, since it would not open up [the gates], he hit it [hard], and split open all its pregnant women.
Tifsakh means “skipping over” or “lame”, from the same root word as for Passover (Pesakh).
17. In year 39—the year belonging to Azaryah, king of Yehudah, M’nahem the son of Gadi became king over Israel, [and reigned] ten years in Shomron,
18. and he did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH; all his days he did not turn away from any of the sins of Yarav’am the son of N’vat, who had caused Israel to miss the target.
19. Pul the king of Asshur came against the Land, and M’nahem gave Pul 1,000 kikkars of silver, to firm up his grip on the kingdom in his hand.
Asshur is Assyria. Pul was known in Babylonian documents as Pulu, and we will see another name below. M’nahem essentially bought his throne from this emperor to whom he was now merely a tributary. A kikkar is 3,000 sheqels, so this was three million sheqels, the equivalent of 30,000 kilograms.
20. And M’nahem brought out the silver that pertained to Israel, that pertained to all the heroes of the army, to give to the king of Ashur—50 sheqels of silver for each one, so the king of Ashur turned back and did not remain there in the Land.
At 50 sheqels a head, the count of his heroes comes to 60,000. (See note on v. 19.)
21. Now the rest of the words of M’nahem and all that he accomplished, aren’t they recorded on the Scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
22. When M’nahem lay down with his ancestors, his son Peqakhyah became king in his place.
Peqakhyah means “YHWH opens”—presumably the eyes or ears, but in his case it may be a reference to his leaving Israel wide open to attack.
[c. 3258 year from Creation; 742 B.C.E.]
23. In year 50, the year belonging to Azaryah, king of Yehudah, Peqakhyah the son of M’nahem became king over Israel, [and he reigned] two years,
24. and he did what was wrong in the eyes of YHWH; he did not turn away from the sins of Yarav’am the son of N’vat, who had caused Israel to miss the goal.
25. Then Peqakh the son of R’malyahu, his third [officer], conspired against him and struck him down in the [elevated] citadel at Shomron along with Argov and Aryeh, and with him 50 men from the sons of the Gil’adites. Then he killed him and reigned in his place.
Another dynasty has ended. Argov means “lump of stony clay” and Aryeh means “lion”. …Excavated:…
26. And the rest of the words of Peqakhyah and all that he accomplished, they are indeed recorded on the Scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
[c. year 3260 from Creation; 740 B.C.E.]
27. In the fifty-second year of Azaryah king of Yehudah, Peqakh the son of Remalyahu became king of Israel, [and he reigned] twenty years at Shomron,
Peqakh means “he opens [eyes or ears]”; notice that the “Yah” portion (short for Yahweh’s name) is missing from his name—another sign of the degeneration of the Northern Kingdom. This makes six kings in Israel during Uzziyahu’s single reign in Yehudah.
28. and he did what was wrong in the eyes of YHWH; he did not turn away from the sins of Yarav’am the son of N’vat, who had caused Israel to miss the goal.
29. In the days of Peqakh, king of Israel, Tiglath Pil’eser, the king of Ashur, came and took Iyon, Avel Beyth-Maakhah, Yanoakh, Qedesh, Hatzor, Gil’ad, Galilee, and all of the territory of Nafthali, and began to take them into exile in Ashur.
This would be the entire northern area of Israel on both sides of the Yarden River, tough only one whole tribe was taken away, so nine could still repent. Ashur: Assyria, north of Babylonia, and the up-and-coming power in the region at this time. Ashur was a son of Shem, but idolatrous. Tiglath-Pil’eser is the same as the Pul of v. 19. He had been paid off by M’nahem to be left alone, but although a treaty would be expected to be upheld by the descendants of both parties, the dynasty in Israel had changed several times, so the new king had no leverage with this conquering emperor as the kings in Yehudah still would because they were all descendants of Uzziyahu in the line of David. (This explains why Pharaoh and his firstborn had to die in order for Israel to do anything more than celebrate a feast to YHWH in the desert; otherwise they would have had to return to Egypt. Only his death and his lack of an heir could break his legal ownership of us.) Most kings took on a new name when they ascended the throne, and in his language the name he took was Tukulti-apil-Esharra, which means “My support is the son of [the deity] Esharra”. Two predecessors had had this title as well. In his inscriptions he says he was the son of Adad-Nirari III, but if this was literally true, then he killed all his relatives when he seized the throne. He came to the throne in 745 B.C.E. following a revolt that may have resulted from the threat of invasion from Urartu. He established his capital at Nimrud and extended Assyrian control over much of Syria, Babylonia, Media, the Neo-Hittites, and Phoenicia, and reorganized the administration in the region to more closely unite the central and provincial sections of the government of his empire rather than maintaining the union only by military force. Still this resulted in a greatly-expanded army. He initiated the policy (later also used by Sargon, Sennakheriv, and others down to Persian times) of transplanting strong but rebellious subjects to reduce dangers that had ruined earlier governments. Since a nation was tied to its deity in the mindset of ancient peoples, so he reasoned that if a people was displaced from its territory, its god could no longer aid them. (Though YHWH is clearly tied to the Land of Israel, He is sovereign over every nation’s spiritual rulers, so this would not place the same kind of limit on Israel when resettled, if they chose to continue to worship Him, which most did not.) They would also be less familiar with the terrain of their new territory, and thus less able to stand against the invading king than they would be in their homeland. The punishment fit the crime: Israel had wanted to be just like the nations; now YHWH was turning us into Gentiles. We got what we asked for. After Pul reduced Arpad to submission by a two-year siege, he clashed with Uzziyahu’s interests, and seems to have established some sovereignty over Yehudah. Not until this time in 734 B.C.E. did he need to come back personally to the western part of his empire. This was the first deportation, from which we count the 2,730 years of the Northern Kingdom’s exile, based on the multiplying of the unrepentant Israel’s prescribed 390 years (Y’hezq’El/Ezekiel 4:4-5) by seven (Lev. 26:18). The events here that led to this exile directly define our job, which is to turn it around, now that the mandatory exile is over. We must sew back up what our ancestors tore through their hatred, lack of respect for authority, and continuing to allow false worship even if it was supposedly worship of YHWH.
30. Then Hoshea the son of Elah plotted a conspiracy against Peqakh, the son of Remalyah, then struck him down and killed him, and became king in his place in the twentieth year of Yotham the son of Uzziyahu, king of Yehudah.
Peqakh was not even allowed one son on the throne, possibly because he had joined forces with R’tzin the king of Aram and attacked Yerushalayim, though he failed to capture it. (v. 37) An inscription has been found on which Tiglath-Pileser boasts: “Peqakh their king they had overthrown; I placed Hoshea over them. From him I received 10 kikkars of gold and 1,000 kikkars of silver.”
31. And the rest of the words of Peqakh and all that he accomplished, they are indeed recorded on the Scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
[c. year 3259 from Creation; 741 B.C.E.]
32. In the second year of Peqakh, son of Remalyah, Yotham the son of Uzziyahu began to reign as king of Yehudah.
Yotham means “YHWH is perfect, undefiled, or full of integrity”.
33. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerushalayim, and his mother’s name was Yerusha’ the daughter of Tzadoq,
Yerusha’ is not a shortened version of Yerushalayim, but means “dispossessed”. She may have been of the priestly line of the priest faithful to David when Avshalom revolted, whose descendants Y’hezq’El said would receive the highest positions in the Temple that is yet to come. (44:15) This would not be surprising If so, she would lose her inheritance with the priesthood, but become part of the House of David.
34. and he did what was right in the eyes of YHWH; he did all the same [kinds of things] his father Uzziyahu had done.
35. Only the cultic platforms were not removed; still the people were slaughtering and burning incense at the cultic platforms. He built the Upper Gate of the House of YHWH.
Upper: literally “highest” (Heb., elyon, one of the titles of YHWH Himself).
36. And the rest of the words of Yotham, aren’t they recorded on the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Yehudah?
37. In those days, YHWH commenced to send R’tzin the king of Aram and Peqakh the son of Remalyahu against Yehudah.
Yeshayahu 7:1-9 clarifies that the attack finally occurred in the days of Yotham’s son, and it appears to mainly have been a test of his confidence in YHWH in the face of an apparent threat:
38. When Yotham lay down with his ancestors, he was buried with his fathers in the City of his ancestor David, and his son Akhaz became king in his place.
Akhaz means “He has kept a firm grip”, but he did not live up to his name, as we will see in the next chapter.
CHAPTER 16
[Year 3265 from creation; 735 B.C.E.]
1. In year seventeen—[the] year of Peqakh, the son of R’malyahu, Akhaz the son of Yotham began to reign as king of Yehudah.
2. Akhaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Yerushalayim, but he did not do what was upright in the eyes of YHWH his Elohim as David his ancestor [had done].
This “became king” came about three years after verse 1, for there was some overlap with his father’s reign; the sixteen years begins from the time his father died. At age twenty, he was eligible to go to war, and thus twenty is considered the age at which one is fully responsible for his actions. Notice how short these lifespans are becoming due to disobedience.
3. Rather, he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and he even made his son pass through the fire, just like the disgusting [ways] of the nations whom YHWH dispossessed from before the sons of Israel,
2 Chronicles 28 says “sons” (plural), and adds the detail that this took place in the Valley of Hinnom (Ge-henna) to the south of Yerushalayim, where remnants of the infant bones from this practice have been unearthed and it is clear from nomenclature that they were Israelite children. Now the ways of Yarav’am are what all the kings of Israel are known for, and it is a reproach for Yehudah’s king to be associated with them. What shame lies on our house! Disgusting: or abominable. This scribe’s purpose is not to be an objective reporter! He wants to communicate the visceral response YHWH had to such actions. Though curtailed on numerous occasions, this practice remained just beneath the surface, probably under cover in some cases, and though it might not have been done in the name of Molekh any longer, Baal worship had included the same practice. (Yirmeyahu 32:35) And many ancient pagan practices still go on today under different names and with different enough formats that many do not recognize them. But when they are uncovered this time, they must be fully eradicated, not just covered up.
4. and he slaughtered and burned incense on the cultic platforms and hill[top]s and under every flourishing tree.
Cultic platforms: Pagan centers of worship that had been in existence before Israel came into the Land. They were not torn down, so they got used again and again. Though his predecessors had not used them, they had allowed them to remain intact, and the people were continuing to use them, so it was a small step for the king to begin using them again for “official” offerings. Flourishing tree: possibly referring to evergreens, as the predecessors of Christmas trees. Or, luxuriant, which highlights the fact that this was taking the easy way rather than entering at the narrow gate.
5. Then R’tzin the king of Aram and Peqakh the son of R’malyahu, the king of Israel, came up to Yerushalayim for battle, and they besieged Akhaz, but they were not able to engage them in battle.
The alliance between the kings of Aram and Israel was initially to prevent further incursions from Assyria, and they may have meant to force Yehudah to join the anti-Assyrian coalition, or to put a man of their own on the throne of David. (Jewish Encyclopedia) Yeshayahu chapter 7 gives additional details: where this text says “engage them in battle”, Yeshayahu says, “Prevail over them”. It tells us that R’tzin had intended to cause a division in Yehudah for its own benefit, through terrorizing her.
6. At that time, R’tzin the king of Aram recovered Eylath for Aram, and cleared all the Jews out of Elath, and the Arameans came to Eylath and have been settled there to this day.
Eylath: Isolated from the rest of Israel, but an important port on the tip of the eastern branch of the Reed Sea (the Gulf of Aqaba today) since Shlomoh’s time. At this point, Yeshayahu 7 tells us that the king’s heart and the people’s with him wavered, but YHWH told him not to let his heart go soft because of the anger of these two kings, because within 65 years, Efrayim would no longer be a people. Actually, it would end up being dispersed within only about ten years, but YHWH was apparently still giving Israel room to repent. He had already determined its end, but had any of the kings done better, He could have prolonged our time in the Land. Akhaz was told to ask YHWH for a sign, and he refused out of a sense of false modesty, since in fact he did not trust YHWH. This tried YHWH’s patience, and it was at this time that the well-known phrase was spoken: “Therefore, Adonai Himself will give you a sign: Behold! The young woman has conceived, and is giving birth to a son, and you will call his name Imanu-El.” This referred first to Akhaz’s son, Hizqiyahu, but has a secondary reference to Y’shua. But YHWH continued, “Before the lad knows how to refuse what is wrong and choose what is right, the land that you are dreading will be abandoned by both of her kings,” and YHWH would bring a time such as had not been seen since Shlomoh’s day. These two kings were indeed turned away, but not before 120,000 were killed in one day, and assumedly additional people on other days. (This shows how Aram would be able to retain control of Eylath, though both Israel and Yehudah stood between it and Aram.) 200,000 women and children were also carried away captive to Israel specifically because of Akhaz’s sins, though when a prophet named Oded confronted them with the fact that their own sins were greater, and this would bring further wrath on Israel, the army of Peqakh escorted these people back to Y’rikho and provided them with supplies. (2 Chron. 28) The Edomites and Filistines also carried away additional captives. In fact, some translate “Arameans” here as “Edomites”, because the Hebrew text here has a seemingly-hybrid term “Eromites”. It could be a scribal error one way or the other, since the Hebrew equivalent of “r” and “d” differ only by a very tiny stroke. But Jewish tradition says the Romans were of Edomite stock, and this form of the word that includes “Rom” in it might have been a branch of Edom that later migrated to Italia. Or it may point to a mixture between the Arameans and Edomites, or some Edomites under Aramean control specifically for the purpose of administering this city, since the Edomite territory was quite close to Eylath.
7. And Akhaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Ashur, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Aram and the king of Israel, who have risen up over me.”
He refused YHWH’s offer to show His power, and turned to a human king for help instead. 2 Chronicles 28:20 makes it sound as if this was not on his own initiative, but that Tiglath-Pileser intimidated him into this confession, probably pressuring him to show whose side he was on. This served him right. When one turns from YHWH, his options are truly few.
8. And Akhaz took [whatever] silver and gold could be found in the House of YHWH and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and sent them to the king of Ashur [as a] bribe.
To him the Temple treasury was nothing more than a big savings account for a “rainy day”. A number of other petty kings also paid the price of submission at this time.
9. And the king of Ashur listened to him, and the king of Ashur went up to Damaseq and captured it, and carried its people into exile in Qir, and R’tzin he killed.
As the prophets had said (Yeshayahu 7:8; 17:3; Amos 1:5), Aram was no longer a threat to Yehudah, and after this it is no longer spoken of as a power. Records from other sources estimate the fall of Damaseq as 732 B.C.E., so this must have taken place very shortly after Yotham died. Yotham’s death may have indeed been the moment of instability that these two kings thought was an opportunity, though 15:37 seems to say it began while he was still dying, though they could probably tell the end was near and wanted to intimidate the new king. Here is another example of Tiglath-Pileser’s policy of relocating a conquered people to separate it from its heritage so as to make it more docile. Qir is a city in Mesopotamia, probably near Elam. Damaseq, still the capital of Syria, was at that time the main trade center on the route from Tsur (Tyre) to Mesopotamia and points east. (See Y’hezq’El 27:18)
10. Then King Akhaz went to meet Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Ashur, at Damaseq. When he saw the altar that was at Damaseq, King Akhaz sent to Uriyah the priest the image of the altar and a model of it, for all of its workmanship.
Image: possibly a sketch. Model: or pattern, diagram, blueprint.
11. So Uriyah the priest rebuilt the altar according to all that King Akhaz had sent from Damaseq. Uriyah the priest kept doing the same until King Akhaz arrived from Damaseq.
12. When the king arrived from Damaseq, the king saw the altar, and the king drew near to the altar and he caused [an offering] to ascend on it.
It was not just that he liked the design aesthetically; he entered into everything that had to do with that altar. 2 Chronicles 28:23 adds the detail that he sacrificed to the gods of Damaseq—the very city that had attacked him! His reasoning was, “If their gods enabled them to defeat me, they might help me too!” But the verse adds that they were his ruin and the ruin of all of Israel.
13. That is, he made his ascending [offering] and its grain offering go up in smoke, and poured out his libation, and dashed the blood of the completion-offering that pertained to it onto the altar.
14. And the bronze altar that was in YHWH’s presence he brought near from the front of the House, from between the altar and the House of YHWH, and put it on the north side of the altar.
He removed judgment (symbolized by bronze) from prominence, and shifted around the design that YHWH had ordered, and the particular details that David had laid out. He had called himself the son of Tiglath-Pileser (v. 7), and therefore no longer saw himself as David’s son. He had sold his birthright!
15. And King Akhaz gave Uriyah the priest orders, saying, “On the great altar, make the morning ascending [offering], the evening grain offering, and the king’s ascending offering and his grain offering go up, along with the ascending [offering] of all the people of the Land, their grain offering, and their libations, and dash all the blood of the ascending [offering] and dash all the blood of the slaughter on it, but the bronze altar will be for me to enquire [by].”
The bronze altar was not for the purpose of inquiry; the Urim and Thummim were for that purpose! This is exactly like Christianity—sidelining the ancient commands of YHWH, but still keeping them nearby just in case it would one day be to his own advantage and misusing them wherever it suited him (wanting the blessings without the accountability), as well as taking on pagan ways at the same time, and indeed making them more prominent for political reasons (v. 18). He had rebuilt the belief system so that more people could be comfortable.
16. So Uriyah the priest did according to all that the king commanded.
Why did the priest not protest that this was YHWH’s house, and that it was not the king’s business to be officiating at the altar, and he was really taking his life into his hands as Uzziyah had done? He, too, was caught up in the compromise—he catering to the king, and the king in turn being a sycophant to Tiglath-Pileser. He wanted to make things comfortable for his new “daddy” whenever he might come to town. (v. 18) It may be that only the modern street slang is strong enough to show the heinousness of what he was doing: “kissing ass”—for that is about the kindest thing we could call an emperor who, whether knowingly or not, had become a rival to David and even to YHWH Himself.
17. Then King Akhaz cut off the rims of the pedestals, and removed the laver from being atop them, and he took the “sea” down from upon the bronze oxen that were under it, and put it on a pavement of [patterned] stones.
Rims: or enclosing-borders.
18. And the screened-in [structure] that they had built in the House for the Sabbath and the king’s external entrance he turned away from the House of YHWH because of the presence of the king of Ashur.
This Sabbath pavilion was built by Shlomoh. It was off the ground, a free-standing balcony with columns that formed a canopy, and looked much like a sukkah. Only descendants of David could be seated there, but Akhaz had dissociated himself from his true heritage in David, so he saw no use for this any longer. He had figuratively taken away the covering of the Sabbath—the very thing YHWH had given Israel as a “wedding band”! His cup was getting very full.
19. And the rest of the matters of Akhaz—what he did—aren’t they recorded on the scroll of the Chronicles of the Kings of Yehudah?
2 Chronicles 28 indeed adds that he made molten images for the Baalim. He even closed up the Temple itself and made pagan altars all over Yerushalayim and all the cities of Yehudah.
20. When Akhaz lay down with his ancestors, he was buried with his fathers in the City of David, and his son Hizqiyahu became king in his place.
At least the chapter ends on a positive note. Despite all of his compromises, Akhaz still named his son “YHWH (not the elohim of Aram, Molekh, or the Baalim) is my firm grip.” And he would take the hint.
INTRODUCTION:
This book begins in the mid-9th century B.C.E. at the end of the northern King Akhazyah's life, where the first book of Kings left off, and continues all the way until the southern kingdom of Yehudah was carried away into captivity in Babylon in 586 B.C.E.
THE SECOND BOOK
OF THE
Kings
Part 2 (Chapters 8-16)
