And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest,.... The spirit of prophecy, as the Targum; he was moved and influenced by it to speak what is after related: which stood above the people; in a desk, or sort of pulpit, in which the priests stood when they taught the people, that they might be the better heard, like...
And they conspired against him,.... Consulted together to take away his life, and got the order of the king to do it: and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord; where he had stood and reproved them; this they did before he went out, while in the temple; and if he is the same Zechariah, as some...
Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him,.... In preserving him in his infancy, and nourishing him; in settling him on the throne, and assisting him with his advice and counsel: but slew his son; who also assisted at his coronation, and with his father and brethren anointed him king, as is probable,...
And it came to pass at the end of the year,.... After the death of Zechariah; so soon had his prophecy its accomplishment: that the host of Syria came up against him; against Joash, king of Judah, under Hazael king of Syria, or however sent by him; for some think this is a different expedition from that in 2 Kings 12:17 though others take it to be...
For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men,.... It consisted but of few: and the Lord delivered a very great host into their hand; which the king of Judah and his princes had got together to oppose them: because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers; therefore the Lord forsook them, and gave them up into the hand of...
And when they were departed from him,.... Having got what wealth and spoil they could: for they left him in great diseases; through the wounds they gave him, and the distress they brought him into: his own servants conspired against him, for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest; for perhaps more than one was slain at the same time; the...
And these are they that conspired against him, Zabad the son of Shimeah an Ammonitess,.... Called Jozachar, the son of Shimeah, 2 Kings 12:21, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess; called in the same place the son of Shomer.
Now concerning his sons,.... The sons of Joash; how many they were, and what their names: and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him; which some understand of the hard and heavy prophecies of the Lord against him; and others of the heavy taxes and tribute imposed on him by the king of Syria; and others of the collection for the repairs of the...
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 25 This chapter begins with the reign of Amaziah, and some of the first acts of it, slaying those that killed his father, 2 Chronicles 25:1, raising a large army in his own kingdom, to which he added 100,000 more he hired out of Israel, whom yet he sent home by the advice of a prophet, 2 Chronicles 25:5, and with his...
Ver. 1-4. Amaziah was twenty five years old when he began to reign,.... Of these verses, [See comments on 2 Kings 14:2]. [See comments on 2 Kings 14:3]. [See comments on 2 Kings 14:5]. [See comments on 2 Kings 14:6].
Moreover Amaziah gathered Judah together,.... The inhabitants thereof: and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and Benjamin; he divided the people, according to their families throughout his kingdom, into thousands and hundreds, and out of their respective...
He hired also one hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel,.... The ten tribes, judging his own army not sufficient for his expedition against the Edomites he was meditating: for one hundred talents of silver; which amounted to 35,300 pounds sterling, and according to Beckius (e) were about five florins and a half to each soldier. (e)...
But there came a man of God to him,.... Who the Jews say (f) was the brother of the king, Amos, the father of Isaiah, but without foundation: saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; to war against Edom; meaning the 100,000 men he had hired, and suggesting that to have them with him would not be to his advantage, but his detriment,...
But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle,.... An ironical expression; if thou wilt not be advised, take them with thee, and try what thou canst do; exert all thy courage, and use thy military skill, and mark the issue: God shall make thee fall before the enemy; notwithstanding the number of thy troops, and those of thy auxiliaries;...
And Amaziah said to the man of God, but what shall we do for the one hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?.... They will be lost, there is no demanding them back again; this he spake with some concern, as loath to lose so much money: and the man of God answered, the Lord is able to give thee much more than this; whose is the...
Then Amaziah separated them,.... From his army, among whom they were incorporated and ranked, to wit, the army that was come to him out of Ephraim; which he had hired of the ten tribes, these he singled out: to go home again; to their own country: wherefore their anger was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great anger; it...
And Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people,.... To go to war with the Edomites; not discouraged by the dismission of the hired troops, but trusting in the promise and power of God, he went forth with boldness and intrepidity: and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir, ten thousand; the Edomites; so called,...