2 Kings 25

³⁷ “Anointing” symbolized the selecting and setting apart of an individual for a particular task, together with the divine enabling of that person to accomplish the task (1 Samuel 9:16). Anointing also symbolized the transferal of God’s authority to that selected person. Sometimes an evil person was anointed by God for the purpose of carrying out God’s judgment, as in the case of Hazael king of Aram (1 Kings 19:15).

³⁸ As long as sin remains unconfessed, there can be no peace, no reconciliation, either between the sinner and God or between the sinner and the one sinned against. Confession opens the way to forgiveness and to the restoration of broken relationships. True, we can unilaterally forgive a person’s sin—indeed, we must do so; but that alone will not restore the broken relationship.

³⁹ The account of Ahaziah’s death given in verses 27-29 is somewhat different from that given in 2 Chronicles 22:8-9; each account gives part of the story. The wounded Ahaziah escaped to the city of Megiddo in Samaria (Israel), where he hid. Jehu’s men eventually found him and brought him to Jehu. Then they took him back to Megiddo and executed him. The two accounts, then, are complementary.

⁴⁰ Zimri was another army commander who had killed his king, only to die a terrible death seven days later (1 Kings 16:8-20). His name had become synonymous with “traitor.”

⁴¹ It was customary for eunuchs to attend female members of the royal family and to be in charge of the king’s harem. Presumably they would not be tempted to seduce those under their care.

⁴² The movement started by Jehonadab continued for at least two hundred years until the time of Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 35:1-19); Jehonadab’s followers were called Recabites, after the name of his father Recab (verse 15).

⁴³ Other than Ahaziah’s sons, there weren’t many males left in Judah’s royal family. Ahaziah’s father Jehoram (Athaliah’s husband) had murdered all of his brothers (2 Chronicles 21:4); the Philistines and Arabs had carried off all but one of Jehoram’s sons, leaving only Ahaziah to inherit his throne (2 Chronicles 21:16-17); and Jehu had recently killed fortytwo of Ahaziah’s relatives (2 Kings 10:1214).

⁴⁴ A similar attempt by Herod to snuff out the life of Jesus, David’s greatest Son, was likewise unsuccessful (Matthew 2:13-18). Despite his efforts, Satan was unable to thwart God’s ultimate plan for the redemption of mankind.

⁴⁵ In the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, emphasis is given to the role of priests and ?evites in Israel’s history. Thus the account in 2 Chronicles supplements the account given here in 2 Kings.

⁴⁶ For further discussion of the portions of offerings assigned to the priests for their sustenance, see Leviticus 7:28-36 and comment.

⁴⁷ Years earlier, Asa king of Judah had sent a similar bribe to an Aramean king, Ben-Hadad, in order to entice him into an alliance (1 Kings 15:18-19). ?ater Asa was rebuked for this, because he had relied more on human schemes than on the Lord (2 Chronicles 16:7-10).

⁴⁸ Jeroboam was the first king of Israel (the northern kingdom); it was his sin of setting up golden calves for the people to worship that influenced all subsequent generations of Israelites (see 1 Kings 12:28-30).

⁴⁹ Hazael named his son after the king he had murdered (2 Kings 8:15). This is the third Ben-Hadad we have encountered in Scripture, the first having been mentioned in 1 Kings 15:18.

⁵⁰ Another suggestion is that the deliverer (verse 5) was the king of Assyria, who attacked the Arameans on a number of occasions and weakened them enough so that the Israelites were able to reclaim much of their territory from Aram (see verse 25).

⁵¹ Ahab had originally set up this Asherah pole (see 1 Kings 16:33); perhaps Jehu had failed to remove it when he eliminated Baal worship from Israel (2 Kings 10:27-28). Or perhaps it had been set up again during Jehoahaz’s reign.

⁵² Elisha himself had used these very words in referring to the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 2:12).

⁵³ In verse 23, the writer says: To this day God has been unwilling . . . That is, up until the day these words were written, God had been unwilling. God had not yet allowed Israel (the northern kingdom) to be destroyed. However, the final compiler of the books of 1 and 2 Kings lived after Israel had been destroyed and its people sent into exile. Yet some of the sources he used to compile his book (including this passage) were actually written before Israel was destroyed.

⁵⁴ It is important to note that sometimes two kings reigned simultaneously; this occurred particularly when an older king was turning power over to his son. Such a dual kingship was called a coregency. Because of the frequency of coregency, as well as differences in dating, it is sometimes difficult to determine how long each king reigned.

⁵⁵ In 2 Chronicles Chapter 26, Azariah is called Uzziah.

⁵⁶ In verse 28, the writer says that Jeroboam recovered for Israel both Damascus and Hamath, which had belonged to Yaudi. Some scholars believe that Yaudi means Judah; if this is so, the writer is saying that Damascus and Hamath were once included in the territory ruled by David and Solomon, who were of the tribe of Judah.

⁵⁷ It is probable that Pekah began ruling in eastern Israel (Gilead) before his official reign commenced; it seems that during Israel’s final years a civil war was being waged between proAssyrian and antiAssyrian factions in Israel. This would also explain the discrepancies in the lengths of the reigns of Israel’s last kings.

⁵⁸ In 2 Chronicles 28:22, the writer says: In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD. Times of trouble test a person; they reveal a person’s character. In time of trouble, the true believer turns to the Lord; the unbeliever turns against Him. On the outside, the believer and unbeliever may for a time appear the same; but when testing comes, the difference between them will become apparent (see Matthew 7:24-27).

⁵⁹ In ancient times, it was customary to seek guidance from the gods by examining the intestines of animals; this is probably what Ahaz had in mind.

⁶⁰ Many Israelites from northern and eastern Israel had already been deported by Shalmaneser’s father (2 Kings 15:29).

⁶¹ Assyria was located north of the Euphrates River in what is now northern Iraq; thus these deportees were sent “beyond the River.”

⁶² The sins for which Israel was punished were all acts of disobedience to God’s clearly stated commands. The Israelites managed to break some of the most important of these commands. Verse 7: they worshiped other gods (see Exodus 20:3 and comment). Verse 8: they followed the practices of the ungodly Canaanites (see Exodus 23:23-24; 34:10-14 and comments). Verses 9-11: they set up pagan worship sites in all their towns . . . and under every spreading tree (see 2 Kings 16:4). Verse 12: they worshiped idols, though they had been commanded not to (see Exodus 20:36; 34:15-16 and comments).

⁶³ The writer does not mean that God’s presence was limited to Israel’s territory (verse 18). But the land of Israel was the primary area in which God’s Old Testament purposes for His people were meant to be fulfilled. Thus, when the Israelites were removed from the land, they were also removed from God’s covenant blessings—the greatest of which was His presence.

⁶⁴Judah was the only entire tribe that was left. Included in Judah, however, were remnants of the tribes of Simeon and Benjamin.

⁶⁵ Two religious revivals occurred during the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah; however, they were not lasting, and Judah quickly returned to its idolatry.

⁶⁶ The Lord controls every event in the universe. If He allows lions to increase in number, it can be said that He sent them (verse 25).

⁶⁷ Notice that verses 35-39 consist of a quotation, a statement made by God to His own people, the Israelites. These words were not spoken to the foreign settlers who had been sent to Israel by the Assyrians.

⁶⁸ Many scholars believe that not all the Israelites were deported by the Assyrians; some may have remained in Samaria and gradually mixed in with the new foreign settlers. Some scholars believe that these mixed peoples became the “Samaritans” of Jesus’ day.

⁶⁹ The other two kings who received this praise were Asa (1 Kings 15:11) and Josiah (2 Kings 22:2).

⁷⁰ The prophet Isaiah was one of the sources the writer used in compiling 2 Kings Chapters 18-20.

⁷¹ Aramaic was the international language of the Middle East at that time; it was the language of commerce and diplomacy. It was not used by the common people.

⁷² By remnant (verse 4), Hezekiah meant both the inhabitants of Jerusalem and also those Judahites who were still living after Sennacherib’s capture of Judah’s fortified cities (2 Kings 18:13); many of them had fled to Jerusalem for protection.

⁷³ The writer does not say what the report contained; perhaps it was a report of the 18,500 deaths that would soon occur in the Assyrian camp (verses 35-36). The killing of Sennacherib would be carried out by his own sons (verse 37).

⁷⁴Cush (presentday Sudan) lay just south of Egypt; in Hezekiah’s time, Cush and Egypt were united under one king.

⁷⁵ For a similar prophetic denunciation of Assyria, see Isaiah 10:5-19.

⁷⁶ For a discussion of the term angel of the LORD, see Genesis 16:7-10; 18:1-8 and comments.

⁷⁷ Attempts to explain these deaths on the basis of natural causes are doomed to failure. No naturally occurring plague could kill so many so rapidly. This was the angel of the LORD striking down those who were working against God’s purposes (Exodus 12:23). This miracle is comparable to God’s victory over the Egyptians at the Red Sea during Israel’s exodus from Egypt (Exodus 14:19-28).

⁷⁸ We have said here that for prayer to be effective we must pray according to God’s will (1 John 5:1415). But there are other requirements also. We must pray in faith (Mark 11:22-24). We must pray in Jesus’ name-that is, for His sake, as His representatives (John 14:13-14; 16:23). Finally, if our prayers are to be truly effective, we ourselves must remain in Christ and His words must remain in us (John 15:7). If we do not earnestly seek to meet these requirements and choose instead to pray only according to our own will, then we will become like the person the Apostle James addressed when he wrote: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives (James 4:3). For further discussion on the subject of prayer, see Exodus 32:14 and comment.

⁷⁹ It is not known how the Lord accomplished this miracle. It is not necessary to suppose that He reversed the earth’s rotation on its axis. More likely, He produced a local change in the atmosphere which caused the sun’s rays to shift. For further discussion, see General Article: Miracles and the Laws of Nature.

⁸⁰ How could such a godly father as Hezekiah have had such a wicked son? (On the opposite side, how could the wicked Ahaz have produced the godly Hezekiah?) The answer is that each individual is free to make his or her own choices in life. Our parents influence us greatly, but they do not finally determine the course we take. We should sympathize with godly parents whose child does not follow God. Yes, they may bear some responsibility; no parent is perfect. But the main responsibility must be borne by the wayward child. Happily for most parents, the proverb holds true: Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it (Proverbs 22:6).

⁸¹ For a discussion of how God’s covenant promises are contingent on our obedience, see Exodus 19:5-6 and comment.

⁸² The remnant of the Lord’s inheritance was Judah—or what remained of it after the invasion of Sennacherib. When the Lord said He would forsake Judah (verse 14), He meant He would bring judgment upon it; He was not canceling His covenant with Judah and the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12-16). Indeed, a tiny “remnant” would remain throughout Judah’s seventy years of exile, and then that remnant of believers would return to their land.

Even among the Israelites of the northern kingdom, there were some who believed in the Lord. Many of these believers had migrated to Judah in the years before Israel’s destruction. These too would be included in the “remnant.”

⁸³ For further discussion of God’s discipline, see Exodus 15:25-27 and comment; Word List: Discipline.

⁸⁴ According to 2 Chronicles 34:9, the money raised for repairing the temple came not only from the people of Judah and Benjamin (the southern kingdom) but also from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim and the entire remnant of Israel (the northern kingdom). This indicates that there had been many faithful Israelites—the “remnant”—who had migrated to Judah before the northern kingdom fell to Assyria.

⁸⁵ Josiah was killed in battle (2 Kings 23:29-30); however, he died well before the fall of Jerusalem, and he died at peace with the Lord.

⁸⁶ According to 2 Kings 18:5, there was no king like Hezekiah—before or after him! However, in Hezekiah’s case, his special distinguishing quality was his trust in the Lord. Josiah’s special distinguishing quality was his careful obedience to the Lord’s commands.

⁸⁷ If one wonders why God would reject His own temple, it should be recalled that God does not live in temples made by men (1 Kings 8:27-30; Acts 7:48).

⁸⁸ The Babylonians lived east of Israel in what is today southern Iraq. As their power grew, their enemies to the north, the Assyrians, began to weaken. Soon the Assyrian Empire would collapse completely.

⁸⁹ During Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion of Judah, many Judahite hostages were taken; among them was the prophet Daniel (Daniel 1:1).

⁹⁰ The writer says that the sins of Manasseh were the primary cause of God’s wrath (verse 3), including his shedding of innocent blood (2 Kings 21:16). The sins of Manasseh had truly reached to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:5).

⁹¹ The exact numbers of the various people deported are difficult to determine; the numbers in verse 16 do not add up to the 10,000 in verse 14. Furthermore, according to Jeremiah 52:28, only 3,023 people were deported at this time; perhaps Jeremiah’s figure includes only males, or only civilians.

There are a number of so-called “discrepancies” that one can find in the Old Testament; virtually all of them involve numbers, dates, ages, and the spelling of names. Virtually all can be explained. Some discrepancies result from different ways of categorizing people; others arise from different dating systems (the Babylonian calendar, for example, was different from that used in Israel and Judah); others arise from different methods of reckoning the length of each king’s reign. For further discussion on this subject, see comment on Exodus 12:40-42 and footnotes to comment.

⁹² See footnote to comment on 2 Kings 21:1-6.

⁹³ This siege of Jerusalem began in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month (verse 1)—that is, January 15, 588 B.C. Why is this so interesting? Because on that exact date, hundreds of miles away in Babylon, the already exiled prophet Ezekiel was told by the Lord that the siege of Jerusalem had begun that very day! (Ezekiel 24:1-2).

⁹⁴ According to the law, the land was to have a year of rest” every seven years (see Leviticus 25:1-7). There is no record that the Israelites ever observed this law during all their years in the promised land—a period of about eight hundred years. Thus the seventy sabbath rests (representing 490 years) would make up for a large portion of that neglect on the part of the Israelites.

⁹⁵ According to 2 Chronicles 36:22, Cyrus made this proclamation in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah—namely, that after seventy years the exiles would be brought back to their land (Jeremiah 29:10). But another prophet, Isaiah, even predicted by name the very instrument God would use to bring them back—Cyrus king of Persia; and Isaiah made that prediction more than a century before Cyrus was born! (see Isaiah 44:24-28; 45:1,13).

⁹⁶ For a graphic and poetic portrayal of the fall of Jerusalem, see the book of Lamentations.