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A. M. 3001. A. C. 1003; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4482. A. C. 929. 1 KINGS viii. TO THE END OF 2 CHRON.

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distaste against the place, that, from thenceforward, | five and thirty years of age, succeeded him in the kingthe station of his ships was at Elah, for from thence we dom of Judah, and, in all acts of piety, as well as the read of his sending out a fleet next year for Ophir. reformation of religion, imitated, if not excelled, the former part of his father's reign. At his first accession to the throne, he expressed his zeal for God's service, in the extirpation of those Sodomites, and the destruction of those idolatrous high places and groves which remained in his father's reign; and perceiving that the people were grossly ignorant of the law, after he had fortified his frontier towns, and put his kingdom in a good posture of defence, he sent itinerant priests and Levites through all his dominions, with letters to the princes, and heads of each family, to receive them kindly, and to encourage them in expounding the law, and instructing his subjects in the knowledge of their duty.

When Jehoram succeeded his father Jehoshaphat, God, for the punishment of his exceeding great wickedness, suffered the Idumeans to revolt from him; who, having expelled his viceroy, chose them a king of their own, and, under his conduct, regaining their ancient liberty, they soon recovered the two ports of Elah and Ezion-Geber: but even while they had them, there was an interruption in the Ophir trade, until Uzziah king of Judah having retaken Elah, in the beginning of his reign, fortified it anew, peopled it with his own subjects, and restored the old traffic to Ophir, which continued all along until the wicked reign of Ahaz.

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In the reign of Ahaz, Rezin king of Damascus, being assisted by Pekah king of Israel, took Elah by surprise ; and having driven out the Jews that were settled there, put Syrians in their place, and was thinking of carrying on this trade, which the kings of Judah had been so enriched by, to his own advantage; when, the very next year, Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, having by the procurement of Ahaz, invaded Damascus, and conquered Rezin, took possession of Elah, and reserved the property of trade to himself: so that the Jews, from thenceforward, had never any portion in it, which proved a great diminution to their wealth.

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By these means, he soon gained the hearts of his people, who, to support the dignity of his government,“ among the Israelites, like those of our nobility. Every one was things, as those of the patriarchs. The name of God was part of called plainly by his own name: but their names signified great most; which was in a manner a short prayer. Elijah and Joel are made up of two of God's names, joined in a different way. Jehoshaphat and Shephatiah signify the judgment of God: Nathanael, Elnathan, Jonathan and Nathaniah, all four, signify, Jehozedek and Zedekiah, his justice: Johanan, his mercy, God given, or the gift of God. Sometimes the name of God was understood, as in Nathan, David, Obed, &c., as is plain by and Obadiah, How the Assyrians managed this traffic, while it con- Eliezer, God my helper: Uzziel, God my strength; tinued in their hands, or where they fixed their principal import; many are composed of the names of their gods; as the Lord's servant. The Greek names also are of the same mart for it, we are nowhere told. In process of time, Diodorus, Diogenes, Hermodorus, Hæphestion, Athenais, and we find it wholly engrossed by the Tyrians, who, from Artemisia."-Fleury's History of the Israelites, p. 20.-Ed. the same port of Elah, by way of a town on the conb In 2 Chron. xvii, 3. mention is made of the first ways of his fines of Egypt and Palestine, made it all centre in Tyre, word David be not slipped in here by the fault of some tranfather David; but it may very well be questioned, whether the and from thence furnished all the western part of the scriber, in the place of Asa, because in 1 Kings xxii. 43, as world with the wares of Persia, India, Africa, and likewise in 2 Chron. xx. 32, Asa is named, and not David. Arabia, to the great enriching of themselves, as long as Now it is very well known, that in the beginning of his reign, the Persian empire subsisted, under the favour and pro-clusion of it; and therefore the sacred historian, by observing Asa was very religious, but fell from his piety towards the contection of whose kings they enjoyed the full possession that Jehoshaphat followed his father in what he was in his first of this trade. But when the Ptolemies prevailed in days, and not in his old age, might intend a just reflection upon Egypt, by building several ports on the Egyptian or Asa for his growing more negligent and remiss in the service of western side of the Red Sea, for Elah and Ezion-Geber God, towards the decline of his life.-Patrick's Commentary; and Howell's History in the notes. [The word David is wanting lay on the eastern, and, by sending from thence fleets to in the Septuagint and six MSS. Boothroyd omits it, and conall those countries where the Tyrians traded from Elah, siders it most probable that Asa is the true reading.-ED. they soon drew all this trade into their kingdom, and there fixed the chief mart of it at Alexandria, where it continued for a great many ages, until a way was found out, about two centuries and a half ago, of sailing to those parts by the way of the Cape of Good Hope; after which, the Portuguese, for some time, managed this trade; but now the greatest share of it is fallen into the hands of the English and Dutch.

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SECT. II.

CHAP. I. From the Reign of Jehoshaphat to the
Siege of Samaria.

THE HISTORY.

e It is said of his father Asa likewise, that he removed the high places, together with the idols and the groves, which his father and mother had made, 1 Kings xv. 12, &c. ; but then we are to observe, as we have noted before, that there were high places and groves of two sorts; some for the worship of the true God, which continued in Judah even under religious princes; and others for the worship of idols, which good kings took away, groves of this latter kind, were those which Asa destroyed; but even though they left the other standing. The high places and

because towards the conclusion of his reign, when he grew more infirm in body, and more remiss in God's cause, some of his subjects, out of their vile attachment to idols, had made new ones, Jehoshaphat, upon his accession to the throne, had occasion enough to begin a reformation in this particular as well as many others. Patrick's Commentary on 1 Kings xviii. 30; and Poole's Annotations on 2 Chron. xvii. 6.

d It was customary for subjects to make their oblations to their princes, especially at the commencement of their reigns. It is said of some disaffected people, that they brought Saul no presents, even though he had been recognised as king, (1 Sam.

AFTER the death of Asa, a Jehoshaphat his son, when x. 27.) But by the presents here spoken of, we may not impro

'Prideaux's Connexion, part 1. b. 1.

2 The town's name was Rhinocolura, Strabo, b. 16.

perly understand the tribute and customs which his subjects were obliged to pay him; only it was thought proper to call them presents, or voluntary gifts, as a name of a less odious sound and import, than that of tributes.-Calmet's Commentary on 2 Chron.

Prideaux's Connexion, ibid.
* Anno Dom. 1497.
a 1 Kings xvii. 1. “We are deceived by not seeing titles | xviii. 5.

A. M. 3001. A. C. 1003; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4482. A. C. 929. 1 KINGS viii. TO THE END OF 2 CHRON. brought him presents from every quarter, and struck | erected an altar, and ♬ made a grove, where all kinds such a terror into his enemies, that instead of invading of impurities were committed, the more effectually to his dominions, the Philistines came voluntarily, and paid proselyte the vicious and debauched to a religion so him a tribute, which had been suspended for some years, agreeable to their lusts; and as an instance of the daring and the Arabians, whose riches consisted in cattle, sent impiety of this age, one Hiel, who lived at Bethel, the him always seven thousand seven hundred rams, and an famous seat of all idolatry, & adventured to rebuild equal number of he goats, as an annual acknowledg- Jericho, in defiance of the curse which Joshua had proment of their homage. For Jehoshaphat took care to nounced above four hundred and fifty years before, make himself strong in arms, as well as wealth, having against any man that should attempt it. But the prean army of above eleven hundred thousand men, be- sumptuous wretch found to his cost, that Joshua's presides those that were in garrisons, and such fortified diction was verified in him, when he saw his eldest son places as he had well furnished with plenty of all mili- die, as soon as he had begun the work, the rest of his tary stores. children drop off, as he continued it, and his youngest son taken away at last, when he had completed it.

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In short, Jehoshaphat was rich and happy, great and honourable, beloved by his subjects, and revered by his enemies; only there was this great blemish in his reign, that he married his son Jehoram to Athaliah, daughter to Ahab, king of Israel, which both displeased God, and involved him and his family in sundry troubles: but of these hereafter.

This Ahab, as we said, was one of the wickedest princes, and the most abominable idolaters, that ever sat on the throne of Israel: for he not only continued the worship of the calves which Jeroboam had set up, but having married Jezebel, the daughter of d Eth-baal, king of Tyre, to pleasure this woman he introduced the idolatry paid to the god Baal, built him a temple in Samaria,

a His enemies could not but be sensible, that it was in vain to assault him, while he continued firm in his religion; for they must have observed, that the prosperity of all the kings of Judah depended on that, and that they never fell into the hands of their enemies, but when they had first fallen from God.-Patrick's Commentary.

This is such a prodigious number that no judicious critic will attempt to defend it, and besides if Jehoshaphat was possessed of so great a force, it is not easy to account for the alarm which he felt when told that the Moabites and Ammonites were coming against him. Also in his prayer, uttered on that occasion, he says, We have no might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we what to do.'-See Kennicott's Dissertation.-ED.

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The only shadow of excuse that can be alleged in behalf of Jehoshaphat's marrying his son in this manner, might be a fond conceit, that in case Ahab should die without issue male, he might have a chance to reunite the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah; but in this piece of worldly policy he found himself sadly disappointed.-Calmet's Commentary.

d Eth-baal, or Ithobalus, as he is called by profane writers, does equally signify the strength of Baal. In the catalogue of the kings of Tyre, he is said to be the eighth; and as both Tyre and Sidon were, from the beginning, subject to the same king, it is not improbable, that their kings resided sometimes at the one, and sometimes at the other city, and were therefore called the kings of Tyre or Sidon promiscuously. As the character of king and priest were frequently united in the same person, so is he supposed to have been the high priest of Astarte or Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonians; and for this reason perhaps his daughter was so violently attached to that kind of idolatry, that when she came into power, she was for utterly extirpating all the priests and prophets of the Lord. The truth is, this queen was a monster in her kind; and therefore the name of Jezebel has passed into a proverb, to denote any cruel, impious, and imperious woman.-Calmet's Commentary on 1 Kings xvi. 31.

e Baal, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies Lord, and as Selden observes, was anciently the name of the true God, until the world grew wicked, and came to apply it to the sun; in after ages, to other stars; and in process of time, to any of their kings whose memory was dear to them. The same author observes, that the Phoenician Belus, or Baal, was the same with the European Jupiter, and as Sidon was situate on the sea side, their Baal was called by the Greeks the Jupiter of the sea. But more of

In the midst of this bold impiety, Israel however had the happiness to be blessed with an eminent prophet, Elijah, the Tishbite, an inhabitant of Gilead, on the other side of Jordan; who being grieved to see such a general apostasy from the true religion, i prayed ear

this you may see in the writings of that great man.-Selden on the gods of Syria.

f The Jewish law was so far from permitting men to plant Ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and any such groves, that it enjoins all its professors to destroy them; cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire,' (Deut. vii. 5;) and therefore, though Josephus imputes the erection of these to the impiety of his wife Jezebel, who (as he tells us, Jewish Antiq. b. viii. c. 7.) “was a woman of a bold, enterprising humour, and of so impetuous and ungovernable a spirit, that she had the confidence to build a temple to Baal, the god of the Tyrians, to plant groves, for superstition, of all sorts of trees, and to appoint her priests and false prophets expressly for that idolatrous service;" yet her husband was nevertheless culpable for giving her that indulgence.

g Jericho was one of the first places that Joshua took in the land of Canaan; and when he took it, he laid it under a Cherem, that it should never be rebuilt: but it is presumable, that as the sacred history was then very little read, Hiel might either be ignorant of this interdict, or being a professed idolater himself, might probably, at the instigation of Jezebel, or to gain the favour of the court, do it in defiance of God, and to let the world see, that whatever was denounced in his name was of no significance at all, and for this reason met with his condign punishment.-Patrick's and Calmet's Commentaries.

h Thesbe was a town on the other side of Jordan, in the tribe of Gad, and in the land of Gilead, where this prophet was born, or at least inhabited for some time. Since the Scripture makes no mention, either of the quality of his parents, the manner of his education, or his call to the prophetic office, some Jewish doctors have been of opinion, that he was an angel sent from heaven, in the midst of the general corruption of the world, to preserve the true worship of God. Others pretend, that he was a priest descended from the tribe of Aaron; that his father's name was Sabaca, and his birth altogether miraculous: whilst others again will needs have it, that he was Phinehas, the son of Aaron, who after having lived a long while concealed, appeared again in the world under the name of Elijah. But where the Scripture is silent, all particulars of this kind are of small authority. This, however, may be said with safety of him, that he was one of the chief, if not the prince of the prophets of his age; a man of a great and elevated soul, of a generous and undaunted spirit, a zealous defender of the laws of God, and a just avenger of the violation of his honour.-Calmet's Commentary.

i St James's words are these:- Elias was a man subject to the like passions as we are; and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth for the space of three years and six months.' Our blessed Saviour makes mention of the like compass of time, (Luke iv. 25,) and yet neither of these are contradictory to what the sacred history tells us, namely, That the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year," (1 Kings xviii. 1.) For we must remember, that as Egypt had no rain, but was watered by the river Nile; so the land of Canaan had generally none, except twice a year, which they called the

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A. M. 2300. A. C. 1003; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 4482. A. C. 929. 1 KINGS viii. TO THE END OF 2 CHRON. nestly to God, that he would lay bare his arm, and show some visible token of his displeasure against so wicked a people and accordingly, in a short time, he was sent to Ahab to let him know, that God intended to bring a sore famine, occasioned by want of rain," upon the land, which should last for above three whole years.

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When the drought had continued some time, and the divine threat began to operate, Elijah retired to the brook Cherith, where he concealed himself for the space of a whole year, and was miraculously fed by the ravens, which brought him bread and flesh twice every day, and for his drink he had the water of the brook; but when the water of the brook began to fail, God directed him to go to Zarephtha, a town belonging to the territories of Sidon, where he had appointed a widow woman to entertain him.

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early and latter rain.' The former of these was in the month Nisan, which answers to our March; and the other in the month Marchesvan, which answers to our October. Now, at the beginning of the drought, Ahab might very probably impute the want of rain to natural causes; but when, after six months, neither the former nor the latter rain fell in their season, he then began to be enraged at Elijah, as the cause of the national judgment, and forced him, at God's command, to save his life by flight: and from that time the three years in the historian are to be computed, though from the first notice which Elijah gave Ahab of this approaching calamity, to the expiration of it, were certainly three years and a half. This calamity is said to have been procured by Elijah's prayers. but we must not therefore imagine, that his prayers were spiteful and malicious, but necessary rather, and charitable to the offenders; that by the sharp and long aflliction which they produced, God's honour, and the truth of his word and threatenings, which was now universally contemned, might be vindicated; and that the Israelites, whose present impunity hardened them in their idolatry, might hereby be awakened to see their wickedness, their dependence upon God, and the necessity of their returning to his religion and worship.Bedford's Scripture Chronology, b. 6. c. 2; and Poole's Anno

tations.

a It is worthy of remark, that according to Menander, there occurred in the reign of Eth-baal, king of Tyre an extremely severe drought, which lasted from the month Hyperberetæus till the same month in the following year. After prayers were put up for averting the judgment with which the land was threatened, there ensued mighty claps of thunder, and, we may presume, a copious rain. As Eth-baal was contemporary with Ahab, the reader cannot fail to identify the drought now mentioned, with that which gave celebrity to the ministerial functions of the prophet Elijah.-Russell's Connexion, b. 2. c. 2.-ED.

b The brook Cherith, and the valley through which it runs, are both very near the river Jordan; but whether on the east or west side of the river, it is not so well agreed. Eusebius, or at least St Jerome, places it beyond Jordan, and so on the east side of it, but others generally agree in placing it on the west side, because God, in sending away Elijah, says to him, 'Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan,' (1 Kings xvii. 3,) where the expression turn thee eastward,' seems to imply, that Elijah was on the west side of Jordan, for had he been on the east side, then to have gone to the brook, which ran on that side Jordan, would have been to have turned westward.-Wells' Geography of the Old Testa ment, vol. iii.

c Zarephtha, or as it is called in the New Testament, Sarepta, was a town which lay between Tyre and Sidon, but somewhat nearer to the latter. Mr Maundrell, in his journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, observes, that it is the same with what is now called Sarphan, distant about three hours' travel from Sidon, in the way to Tyre. Whatever it was formerly, the same author tells us, that at present it consists of no more than a few houses, on the tops of the mountains, about half a mile from the sea; though there is reason to believe, that the principal part of the city stood below, in a space between the hills and the sea, bccause there are still ruins there to be seen of a very considerable extent. Wells' Geography of the Old Testament, part 1. c. 5. s. 2.

The famine had spread itself over the country of Sidon, as well as the land of Israel; and therefore, when the prophet drew near the town, he met the widow to whom he was directed; and when he requested of her to give him a little water, and withal a morsel of bread, she solemnly protested to him, that she had but an handful of meal in a barrel, d and a little oil in a cruise, and was come out to pick up some sticks, wherewith to bake a cake for her and her son, which was to be the last meal they were ever like to eat. But the prophet, encouraging her to do as he bid her, gave her assurance, that her meal and her oil should not fail as long as the famine lasted; which accordingly proved true: for of that little store, she, and her son, and the prophet, lived for the space of two years; and when, in this space, her son fell sick and died, Elijah by his prayers restored him to life again, which ♬ gave the mother full conviction, that he was a person extraordinary sent from God.

After he had lived in this obscurity for above two years, God commanded him to return to the land of Israel, and to present himself before Ahab, because in a short time, he intended to send rain upon the earth. At this time the famine was so extreme about Samaria, that the king commanded & Obadiah, one of the officers of his household, and some others with him, to go all over the country in quest of some forage for the subsistence of his cattle; and to see that his orders were fully ex

d 1 Kings xvii. 12. As corn is subject to be eaten by worms, the easterns keep what they are spending in long vessels of clay, (Sandys' Travels, p. 117.) So it appears the woman of Zarephtha did. The word translated barrel, properly signifies a jar; and is the same with that used for the vessels in which Gideon's soldiers concealed their torches, and which they brake when they blew with their trumpets.-Harmer, vol. i. p. 277.-Ed.

e Some of the Hebrew doctors, and herein they are followed by some Christians, are of opinion, that this widow's son was the prophet Jonas; that after his restoration, his mother gave him to Elijah; that ever after he attended on the prophet as long as he lived; and on a certain occasion was despatched by him to Nineveh, as every one knows. But besides that these traditions are destitute of any real proof, Jonah was an Hebrew, as he himself declares, (i. 9.) and a native of Gath-hepher, as we read (2 Kings xiv. 25.) whereas the widow's son was a native of Zarephtha, a town belonging to the kingdom of Sidon, and by birth a stranger to the race of Israel.-Calmet's Commentary.

ƒ The woman had sufficient reason to believe, that Elijah was a prophet, or person sent from God, when she saw the miraculous increase of the meal and oil; but upon his not curing her son when he lay sick, but rather suffering him to die, her faith began to droop; whereas, upon seeing him revive, her faith revived with him; and through the joy of having him restored to her again, she accounted this latter miracle much greater than the former.-Le Clerc's Commentary.

9 There are some Jewish doctors who think that this Obadiah was the same with him whose writings we have among the twelve minor prophets. They pretend that he was married to that woman of Shunem, where Elisha used to lodge; that he was a disciple of the prophet Elijah, and the last of the three captains whom king Ahaziah sent to apprehend him; and that for this reason he had compassion on him, though he destroyed the others that came before him, with fire from heaven, (2 Kings i. 9, &c.) but all these things are pure apocrypha. Obadiah himself, in his discourse with Elijah, sufficiently tells us who he was, namely, a person truly religious, who worshipped God alone, had a singular affection for his servants; enough, one would think, to have made Ahab discard, if not persecute him, had he not found him so highly useful in the management of his domestic affairs, as to connive at his not worshipping Baal, or the calves; especially as we read nothing of his going up to Jerusalem, which was a defect that God perhaps might think proper to dispense with.—Calmet and Patrick's Commentaries.

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