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Matthew Henry |
S E C O N D K I N G S
CHAP. XIII.
This chapter brings us again to the history of the kings of Israel, and
particularly of the family of Jehu. We have here an account of the
reign,
I. Of his son Jehoahaz, which continued seventeen years.
1. His bad character in general
(ver. 1, 2),
the trouble he was brought into
(ver. 3),
and the low ebb of his affairs,
2. His humiliation before God, and God’s compassion towards him,
3. His continuance in his idolatry notwithstanding,
4. His death,
II. Of his grandson Joash, which continued sixteen years. Here is a
general account of his reign in the usual form
(ver. 10-13),
but a particular account of the death of Elisha in his time.
1. The kind visit the king made him
(ver. 14),
the encouragement he gave the king in his wars with Syria,
2. His death and burial
(ver. 20),
and a miracle wrought by his bones,
And, lastly, the advantages Joash gained against the Syrians, according
to his predictions,
| The Reign of Jehoahaz. | B. C. 839. |
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1 In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah
king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel
in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.
2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD,
and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made
Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
3 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he
delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into
the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, all their days.
4 And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto
him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of
Syria oppressed them.
5 (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out
from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel
dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.
6 Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of
Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there
remained the grove also in Samaria.)
7 Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty
horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the
king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust
by threshing.
8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did,
and his might, are they not written in the book of the
chronicles of the kings of Israel?
9 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in
Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.
This general account of the reign of Jehoahaz, and of the state of
Israel during his seventeen years, though short, is long enough to let
us see two things which are very affecting and instructive:–
I. The glory of Israel raked up in the ashes, buried and lost, and
turned into shame. How unlike does Israel appear here to what it had
been and might have been! How is its crown profaned and its honour laid
in the dust!
1. It was the honour of Israel that they worshipped the only living and
true God, who is a Spirit, an eternal mind, and had rules by which to
worship him of his own appointment; but by changing the glory of
their incorruptible God into the similitude of an ox, the truth of God
into a lie, they lost this honour, and levelled themselves with the
nations that worshipped the work of their own hands. We find here that
the king followed the sins of Jeroboam
(v. 2),
and the people departed not from them, but walked therein,
v. 6.
There could not be a greater reproach than these two idolized calves
were to a people that were instructed in the service of God and
entrusted with the lively oracles. In all the history of the ten tribes
we never find the least shock given to that idolatry, but, in every
reign, still the calf was their god, and they separated themselves to
that shame.
2. It was the honour of Israel that they were taken under the special
protection of heaven; God himself was their defence, the shield of
their help and the sword of their excellency. Happy wast thou, O
Israel! upon this account. But here, as often before, we find them
stripped of this glory, and exposed to the insults of all their
neighbours. They by their sins provoked God to anger, and then he
delivered them into the hands of Hazael and Benhadad,
v. 3.
Hazael oppressed Israel
v. 22.
Surely never was any nation so often plucked and pillaged by their
neighbours as Israel was. This the people brought upon themselves by
sin; when they had provoked God to pluck up their hedge, the goodness
of their land did but tempt their neighbours to prey upon them. So low
was Israel brought in this reign, by the many depredations which the
Syrians made upon them, that the militia of the kingdom and all the
force they could bring into the field were but fifty horsemen, ten
chariots, and 10,000 footmen, a despicable muster,
v. 7.
Have the thousands of Israel come to this? How has the gold become
dim! The debauching of a nation will certainly be the debasing of
it.
II. Some sparks of Israel’s ancient honour appearing in these ashes. It
is not quite forgotten, notwithstanding all these quarrels, that this
people is the Israel of God and he is the God of Israel. For,
1. It was the ancient honour of Israel that they were a praying people:
and here we find somewhat of that honour revived; for Jehoahaz their
king, in his distress, besought the Lord
(v. 4),
applied for help, not to the calves (what help could they give him?)
but to the Lord. It becomes kings to be beggars at God’s door, and the
greatest of men to be humble petitioners at the footstool of his
throne. Need will drive them to it.
2. It was the ancient honour of Israel that they had God nigh unto
them in all that which they called upon him for
(Deut. iv. 7),
and so he was here. Though he might justly have rejected the prayer as
an abomination to him, yet the Lord hearkened unto Jehoahaz, and
to his prayer for himself and for his people
(v. 4),
and he gave Israel a saviour
(v. 5),
not Jehoahaz himself, for all his days Hazael oppressed Israel
(v. 22),
but his son, to whom, in answer to his father’s prayers, God gave
success against the Syrians, so that he recovered the cities which they
had taken from his father,
This gracious answer God gave to the prayer of Jehoahaz, not for his
sake, or the sake of that unworthy people, but in remembrance of his
covenant with Abraham
(v. 23),
which, in such exigencies as these, he had long since promised to have
respect to,
See swift God is to show mercy, how ready to hear prayers, how willing
to find out a reason to be gracious, else he would not look so far back
as that ancient covenant which Israel had so often broken and forfeited
all the benefit of. Let this invite and engage us for ever to him, and
encourage even those that have forsaken him to return and repent; for
there is forgiveness with him, that he may be feared.
| The Reign of Joash, King of Israel. | B. C. 839. |
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10 In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began
Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and
reigned sixteen years.
11 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD;
he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
who made Israel sin: but he walked therein.
12 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and
his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Israel?
13 And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his
throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died.
And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over
his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of
Israel, and the horsemen thereof.
15 And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took
unto him bow and arrows.
16 And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the
bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon
the king’s hands.
17 And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it.
Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of
the LORD‘s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria:
for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have
consumed them.
18 And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he
said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote
thrice, and stayed.
19 And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou
shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten
Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite
Syria but thrice.
We have here Jehoash, or Joash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of
Jehu, upon the throne of Israel. Probably the house of Jehu intended
some respect to the house of David when they gave this heir-apparent to
the crown the same name with him that was then king of Judah.
I. The general account here given of him and his reign is much the same
with what we have already met with, and has little in it remarkable,
He was none of the worst, and yet, because he kept up that ancient and
politic idolatry of the house of Jeroboam, it is said, He did that
which was evil in the sight of the Lord. That one evil was enough
to leave an indelible mark of infamy upon his name; for, how little
evil soever men saw in it, it was, in the sight of the Lord, a
very wicked thing; and we are sure that his judgment is according to
truth. It is observable how lightly the inspired penman passes over his
acts, and his might wherewith he warred, leaving it to the common
historians to record them, while he takes notice only of the respect he
showed to Elisha. One good action shall make a better figure in God’s
book than twenty great ones; and, in his account, it gains a man a much
better reputation to honour a prophet than to conquer a king and his
army.
II. The particular account of what passed between him and Elisha has
several things in it remarkable.
1. Elisha fell sick,
Observe,
(1.) He lived long; for it was now about sixty years since he was first
called to be a prophet. It was a great mercy to Israel, and especially
to the sons of the prophets, that he was continued so long a burning
and shining light. Elijah finished his testimony in a fourth part of
that time. God’s prophets have their day set them, some longer, others
shorter, as Infinite Wisdom sees fit.
(2.) All the latter part of his time, from the anointing of Jehu, which
was forty-five years before Joash began his reign, we find no mention
made of him, or of any thing he did, till we find him here upon his
death-bed. He might be useful to the last, and yet not so famous as he
had sometimes been. The time of his flourishing was less than the time
of his living. Let not old people complain of obscurity, but rather be
well pleased with retirement.
(3.) The spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha, and yet he was not sent for
to heaven in a fiery chariot, as Elijah was, but went the common road
out of the world, and was visited with the visitation of all
men. If God honour some above others, who yet are not inferior to
them in gifts or graces, who shall find fault? May he not do what he
will with his own?
2. King Joash visited him in his sickness, and wept over him,
v. 14.
This was an evidence of some good in him, that he had a value and
affection for a faithful prophet; so far was he from hating and
persecuting him as a troubler of Israel that he loved and honoured him
as one of the greatest blessings of his kingdom, and lamented the loss
of him. There have been those who would not be obedient to the word of
God, and yet have the faithful ministers of it so manifested in their
consciences that they could not but have an honour for them. Observe
here,
(1.) When the king heard of Elisha’s sickness he came to visit him, and
to receive his dying counsel and blessing; and it was no disparagement
to him, though a king, thus to honour one whom God honoured. Note, It
may turn much to our spiritual advantage to attend the sick-beds and
death-beds of good ministers and other good men, that we may learn to
die, and may be encouraged in religion by the living comforts they have
from it in a dying hour.
(2.) Though Elisha was very old, had been a great while useful, and, in
the course of nature, could not continue long, yet the king, when he
saw him sick and likely to die, wept over him. The aged are most
experienced and therefore can worst be spared. In many causes, one old
witness is worth ten young ones.
(3.) He lamented him in the same words with which Elisha had himself
lamented the removal of Elijah: My father, my father. It is
probable he had heard or read them in that famous story. Note, Those
that give just honours to the generation that goes before them are
often recompensed with the like from the generation that comes after
them. He that watereth, that watereth with tears, shall be watered,
shall be so watered, also himself, when it comes to his own turn,
(4.) This king was herein selfish; he lamented the loss of Elisha
because he was as the chariot and horsemen of Israel, and therefore
could be ill spared when Israel was so poor in chariots and horsemen,
as we find they were
(v. 7),
when they had in all but fifty horsemen and ten chariots. Those who
consider how much good men contribute to the defence of a nation, and
the keeping off of God’s judgments, will see cause to lament the
removal of them.
3. Elisha gave the king great assurances of his success against the
Syrians, Israel’s present oppressors, and encouraged him to prosecute
the war against them with vigour. Elisha was aware that therefore he
was loth to part with him because he looked upon him as the great
bulwark of the kingdom against that common enemy, and depended much
upon his blessings and prayers in his designs against them. “Well,”
says Elisha, “if that be the cause of your grief, let not that trouble
thee, for thou shalt be victorious over the Syrians when I am in my
grave. I die, but God will surely visit you. He has the residue
of the Spirit, and can raise up other prophets to pray for you.” God’s
grace is not tied to one hand. He can bury his workmen and yet carry on
his work. To animate the king against the Syrians he gives him a sign,
orders him to take bow and arrows
(v. 15),
to intimate to him that, in order to the deliverance of his kingdom
from the Syrians, he must put himself into a military posture and
resolve to undergo the perils and fatigues of war. God would be the
agent, but he must be the instrument. And that he should be successful
he gives him a token, by directing him,
(1.) To shoot an arrow towards Syria,
The king, no doubt, knew how to manage a bow better than the prophet
did, and yet, because the arrow now to be shot was to have its
significancy from the divine institution, as if he were now to be
disciplined, he received the words of command from the prophet: Put
thy hand upon the bow—Open the window—Shoot. Nay,
as if he had been a child that never drew a bow before, Elisha put
his hands upon the king’s hands, to signify that in all his
expeditions against the Syrians he must look up to God for direction
and strength, must reckon his own hands not sufficient for him, but go
on in a dependence upon divine aid. He teacheth my hands to war,
Ps. xviii. 34; cxliv. 1.
The trembling hands of a dying prophet, as they signified the
concurrence and communication of the power of God, gave this arrow more
force than the hands of the king in his full strength. The Syrians had
made themselves masters of the country that lay eastward,
Thitherward therefore the arrow was directed, and such an
interpretation given by the prophet of the shooting of this arrow,
though shot in one respect at random, as made it,
[1.] A commission to the king to attack the Syrians, notwithstanding
their power and possession.
[2.] A promise of success therein. It is the arrow of the Lord’s
deliverance, even the arrow of deliverance from Syria. It is God
that commands deliverance; and, when he will effect it, who can hinder?
The arrow of deliverance is his. He shoots out his arrows, and the work
is done,
“Thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, where they are now
encamped, or where they are to have a general rendezvous of their
forces, till thou have consumed those of them that are vexatious
and oppressive to thee and thy kingdom.”
(2.) To strike with the arrows,
v. 18, 19.
The prophet having in God’s name assured him of victory over the
Syrians, he will now try him and see what improvement he will make of
his victories, whether he will push them on with more zeal than Ahab
did when Benhadad lay at his mercy. For the trial of this he bids him
smite with the arrows on the ground: “Believe them brought to
the ground by the arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and laid at
thy feet; and now show me what thou wilt do to them when thou hast them
down, whether thou wilt do as David did when God gave him the necks
of his enemies, beat them small as the dust before the wind,”
The king showed not that eagerness and flame which one might have
expected upon this occasion, but smote thrice, and no more. Either out
of foolish tenderness to the Syrians, he smote as if he were afraid of
hurting them, at least of ruining them, willing to show mercy to those
that never did, nor ever would, show mercy to him or his people. Or,
perhaps, he smote thrice, and very coldly, because he thought it but a
silly thing, that it looked idle and childish for a king to beat the
floor with his arrows; and thrice was often enough for him to play the
fool merely to please the prophet. But, by contemning the sign, he lost
the thing signified, sorely to the grief of the dying prophet, who was
angry with him, and told him he should have smitten five or six times.
Not being straitened in the power and promise of God, why should he be
straitened in his own expectations and endeavours? Note, It cannot but
be a trouble to good men to see those they wish well to stand in their
own light and forsake their own mercies, to see them lose their
advantages against their spiritual enemies, and to give them
advantage.
| The Death of Elisha. | B. C. 837. |
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20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the
Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that,
behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into
the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and
touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his
feet.
22 But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of
Jehoahaz.
23 And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on
them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither
cast he them from his presence as yet.
24 So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned
in his stead.
25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand
of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out
of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash
beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.
We must here attend,
I. The sepulchre of Elisha: he died in a good old age, and they buried
him; and what follows shows,
1. What power there was in his life to keep off judgments; for, as soon
as he was dead, the bands of the Moabites invaded the land–not great
armies to face them in the field, but roving skulking bands, that
murdered and plundered by surprise. God has many ways to chastise a
provoking people. The king was apprehensive of danger only from the
Syrians, but, behold, the Moabites invade him. Trouble comes sometimes
from that point whence we least feared it. The mentioning of this
immediately upon the death of Elisha intimates that the removal of
God’s faithful prophets is a presage of judgments coming. When
ambassadors are recalled heralds may be expected.
2. What power there was in his dead body: it communicated life to
another dead body,
This great miracle, though very briefly related, was a decided proof of
his mission and a confirmation of all his prophecies. It was also a
plain indication of another life after this. When Elisha died, there
was not an end of him, for then he could not have done this. From
operation we may infer existence. By this it appeared that the Lord was
still the God of Elisha; therefore Elisha still lived, for God is
not the God of the dead, but of the living. And it may, perhaps,
have a reference to Christ, by whose death and burial the grave is made
to all believers a safe and happy passage to life. It likewise
intimated that though Elisha was dead, yet, in virtue of the promises
made by him, Israel’s interests, though they seemed quite sunk and
lost, should revive and flourish again. The neighbours were carrying
the dead body of a man to the grave, and, fearing to fall into the
hands of the Moabites, a party of whom they saw at a distance near the
place where the body was to be interred, they laid the corpse in the
next convenient place, which proved to be Elisha’s sepulchre. The dead
man, upon touching Elisha’s bones, revived, and, it is likely, went
home again with his friends. Josephus relates the story otherwise, That
some thieves, having robbed and murdered an honest traveller, threw his
dead body into Elisha’s grave, and it immediately revived. Elijah was
honoured in his departure. Elisha was honoured after his
departure. God thus dispenses honours as he pleases, but, one way or
other, the rest of all the saints will be glorious,
It is good being near the saints and having our lot with them both in
life and death.
II. The sword of Joash king of Israel; and we find it successful
against the Syrians.
1. The cause of his success was God’s favour
(v. 23):
The Lord was gracious to them, had compassion on them in their
miseries and respect unto them. The several expressions here of
the same import call upon us to observe and admire the triumphs of
divine goodness in the deliverance of such a provoking people. It was
of the Lord’s mercies that they were not consumed, because he would not
destroy them as yet. He foresaw they would destroy themselves at last,
but as yet he would reprieve them, and give them space to repent. The
slowness of God’s processes against sinners must be construed to the
honour of his mercy, not the impeachment of his justice.
2. The effect of his success was Israel’s benefit. He recovered out of
the hands of Benhadad the cities of Israel which the Syrians were
possessed of,
This was a great kindness to the cities themselves, which were hereby
brought from under the yoke of oppression, and to the whole kingdom,
which was much strengthened by the reduction of those cities. Thrice
Joash beat the Syrians, just as often as he had struck the ground with
the arrows, and then a full stop was put to the course of his
victories. Many have repented, when it was too late, of their distrusts
and the straitness of their desires.
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