Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/343

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II CHRONICLES XXIV. 25—XXV. 3
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him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings. 26And these are they that conspired against him; [1]Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of [2]Shimrith the Moabitess. 27Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens [3]laid upon him, and the [4]rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the commentary of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
25Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart. 3Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established unto him, that he slew his


on his bed] In Kings it is simply "smote Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that goeth down to Silla."

26. Zabad] In 2 Kin. "Jozacar." The difference between the names is not great in Heb.

Shimeath the Ammonitess . . . Shimrith the Moabitess] In 2 Kin. simply Shimeath and Shomer (no mention of their nationality being added). In Kings the names are masculines, Shimeath and Shomer being the fathers of the murderers. The Chronicler makes them out to be the mothers by altering Shomer to Shimrith (Shimeath already has a feminine termination); and by calling them respectively women of Ammon and Moab he casts increased obloquy upon the apostate Joash, the victim (so we are to surmise) of half-breed men whom presumably his foreign idolatries had encouraged to dwell in Jerusalem. At the same time the evil of foreign marriages is emphasised by the story.

27. the burdens laid upon him] Render (with mg.), the burdens (i.e. the prophetic rebukes) uttered against him. Cp. ver. 19. The Heb. text of the first half of the verse is uncertain.

the commentary] Heb. midrash. Cp. Introduction, § 5.


Ch. XXV. 14 (= 2 Kin. xiv. 1—6). Amaziah Succeeds.

2. not with a perfect heart] In Kings, "yet not like David his father" (because "the high places were not taken away"). The Chronicler has something more serious in his mind; cp. vv. 14—16.

3. unto him] LXX., ἐν χειρὶ αυτοῦ "in his hand," as in Kings.

  1. In 2 Kings xii. 12, Jozacar.
  2. In 2 Kings xii. 21, Shomer.
  3. Or, uttered against
  4. Heb. founding.