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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Expositor's Bible: The Books of
+Chronicles by William Henry Bennett
+
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no
+restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under
+the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or
+online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+
+
+Title: The Expositor's Bible: The Books of Chronicles
+
+Author: William Henry Bennett
+
+Release Date: July 21, 2012 [Ebook #40235]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: US-ASCII
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE: THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES***
+
+
+
+
+
+                          The Expositor's Bible
+
+                         The Books of Chronicles
+
+                                    By
+
+                          William Henry Bennett
+
+   Professor of Old Testament Languages and Literature, Mackney and New
+        Colleges; Sometime Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge
+
+                            Hodder & Stoughton
+
+                                 New York
+
+                         George H, Doran Company
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+Preface
+Book I. Introduction.
+   Chapter I. Date And Authorship.
+   Chapter II. Historical Setting.
+   Chapter III. Sources And Mode Of Composition.
+   Chapter IV. The Importance of Chronicles.
+Book II. Genealogies.
+   Chapter I. Names. 1 Chron. i-ix.
+   Chapter II. Heredity. 1 Chron. i.-ix.
+   Chapter III. Statistics.
+   Chapter IV. Family Traditions. 1 Chron. i. 10, 19, 46; ii. 3, 7, 34;
+   iv. 9, 10, 18, 22, 27, 34-43; v. 10, 18-22; vii. 21-23; viii. 13.
+   Chapter V. The Jewish Community In The Time Of The Chronicler.
+   Chapter VI. Teaching By Anachronism. 1 Chron. ix. (cf. xv., xvi.,
+   xxiii.-xxvii., etc.).
+Book III. Messianic And Other Types.
+   Chapter I. Teaching By Types.
+   Chapter II. David--I. His Tribe And Dynasty.
+   Chapter III. David--II. His Personal History.
+   Chapter IV. David--III. His Official Dignity.
+   Chapter V. Solomon.
+   Chapter VI. Solomon (continued).
+   Chapter VII. The Wicked Kings. 2 Chron. xxviii., etc.
+   Chapter VIII. The Priests.
+   Chapter IX. The Prophets.
+   Chapter X. Satan. 1 Chron. xxi.-xxii. 1.
+   Chapter XI. Conclusion.
+Book IV. The Interpretation Of History.
+   Chapter I. The Last Prayer Of David. 1 Chron. xxix. 10-19.
+   Chapter II. Rehoboam And Abijah: The Importance Of Ritual. 2 Chron.
+   x.-xiii.
+   Chapter III. Asa: Divine Retribution. 2 Chron. xiv.-xvi.
+   Chapter IV. Jehoshaphat--The Doctrine Of Non-Resistance. 2 Chron.
+   xvii.-xx.
+   Chapter V. Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Athaliah: The Consequences of a
+   Foreign Marriage. 2 Chron. xxi.-xxiii.
+   Chapter VI. Joash and Amaziah. 2 Chron. xxiv.-xxv.
+   Chapter VII. Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz. 2 Chron. xxvi.-xxviii.
+   Chapter VIII. Hezekiah: The Religious Value Of Music. 2 Chron.
+   xxix.-xxxii.
+   Chapter IX. Manasseh: Repentance And Forgiveness. 2 Chron. xxxiii.
+   Chapter X. The Last Kings Of Judah. 2 Chron. xxxiv.-xxxvi.
+Footnotes
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+To expound Chronicles in a series which has dealt with Samuel, Kings,
+Ezra, and Nehemiah is to glean scattered ears from a field already
+harvested. Sections common to Chronicles with the older histories have
+therefore been treated as briefly as is consistent with preserving the
+continuity of the narrative. Moreover, an exposition of Chronicles does
+not demand or warrant an attempt to write the history of Judah. To
+recombine with Chronicles matter which its author deliberately omitted
+would only obscure the characteristic teaching he intended to convey. On
+the one hand, his selection of material has a religious significance,
+which must be ascertained by careful comparison with Samuel and Kings; on
+the other hand, we can only do justice to the chronicler as we ourselves
+adopt, for the time being, his own attitude towards the history of Hebrew
+politics, literature, and religion. In the more strictly expository parts
+of this volume I have sought to confine myself to the carrying out of
+these principles.
+
+Amongst other obligations to friends, I must specially mention my
+indebtedness to the Rev. T. H. Darlow, M.A., for a careful reading of the
+proof-sheets and many very valuable suggestions.
+
+One object I have had in view has been to attempt to show the fresh force
+and clearness with which modern methods of Biblical study have emphasised
+the spiritual teaching of Chronicles.
+
+
+
+
+
+BOOK I. INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter I. Date And Authorship.
+
+
+Chronicles is a curious literary torso. A comparison with Ezra and
+Nehemiah shows that the three originally formed a single whole. They are
+written in the same peculiar late Hebrew style; they use their sources in
+the same mechanical way; they are all saturated with the ecclesiastical
+spirit; and their Church order and doctrine rest upon the complete
+Pentateuch, and especially upon the Priestly Code. They take the same keen
+interest in genealogies, statistics, building operations, Temple ritual,
+priests and Levites, and most of all in the Levitical doorkeepers and
+singers. Ezra and Nehemiah form an obvious continuation of Chronicles; the
+latter work breaks off in the middle of a paragraph intended to introduce
+the account of the return from the Captivity; Ezra repeats the beginning
+of the paragraph and gives its conclusion. Similarly the register of the
+high-priests is begun in 1 Chron. vi. 4-15 and completed in Neh. xii. 10,
+11.
+
+We may compare the whole work to the image in Daniel's vision whose head
+was of fine gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and his thighs
+of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Ezra
+and Nehemiah preserve some of the finest historical material in the Old
+Testament, and are our only authority for a most important crisis in the
+religion of Israel. The torso that remains when these two books are
+removed is of very mixed character, partly borrowed from the older
+historical books, partly taken down from late tradition, and partly
+constructed according to the current philosophy of history.
+
+The date(1) of this work lies somewhere between the conquest of the
+Persian empire by Alexander and the revolt of the Maccabees, _i.e._,
+between B.C. 332 and B.C. 166. The register in Neh. xii. 10, 11, closes
+with Jaddua, the well-known high-priest of Alexander's time; the genealogy
+of the house of David in 1 Chron. iii. extends to about the same date, or,
+according to the ancient versions, even down to about B.C. 200. The
+ecclesiastical system of the priestly code, established by Ezra and
+Nehemiah B.C. 444, was of such old standing to the author of Chronicles
+that he introduces it as a matter of course into his descriptions of the
+worship of the monarchy. Another feature which even more clearly indicates
+a late date is the use of the term "king of Persia" instead of simply "the
+King" or "the Great King." The latter were the customary designations of
+the Persian kings while the empire lasted; after its fall, the title
+needed to be qualified by the name "Persia." These facts, together with
+the style and language, would be best accounted for by a date somewhere
+between B.C. 300 and B.C. 250. On the other hand, the Maccabaean struggle
+revolutionised the national and ecclesiastical system which Chronicles
+everywhere takes for granted, and the silence of the author as to this
+revolution is conclusive proof that he wrote before it began.
+
+There is no evidence whatever as to the name of the author; but his
+intense interest in the Levites and in the musical service of the Temple,
+with its orchestra and choir, renders it extremely probable that he was a
+Levite and a Temple-singer or musician. We might compare the Temple, with
+its extensive buildings and numerous priesthood, to an English cathedral
+establishment, and the author of Chronicles to some vicar-choral, or,
+perhaps better, to the more dignified precentor. He would be enthusiastic
+over his music, a cleric of studious habits and scholarly tastes, not a
+man of the world, but absorbed in the affairs of the Temple, as a monk in
+the life of his convent or a minor canon in the politics and society of
+the minster close. The times were uncritical, and so our author was
+occasionally somewhat easy of belief as to the enormous magnitude of
+ancient Hebrew armies and the splendour and wealth of ancient Hebrew
+kings; the narrow range of his interests and experience gave him an
+appetite for innocent gossip, professional or otherwise. But his sterling
+religious character is shown by the earnest piety and serene faith which
+pervade his work. If we venture to turn to English fiction for a rough
+illustration of the position and history of our chronicler, the name that
+at once suggests itself is that of Mr. Harding, the precentor in
+_Barchester Towers_. We must however remember that there is very little to
+distinguish the chronicler from his later authorities; and the term
+"chronicler" is often used for "the chronicler or one of his
+predecessors."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II. Historical Setting.
+
+
+In the previous chapter it has been necessary to deal with the chronicler
+as the author of the whole work of which Chronicles is only a part, and to
+go over again ground already covered in the volume on Ezra and Nehemiah;
+but from this point we can confine our attention to Chronicles and treat
+it as a separate book. Such a course is not merely justified, it is
+necessitated, by the different relations of the chronicler to his subject
+in Ezra and Nehemiah on the one hand and in Chronicles on the other. In
+the former case he is writing the history of the social and ecclesiastical
+order to which he himself belonged, but he is separated by a deep and wide
+gulf from the period of the kingdom of Judah. About three hundred years
+intervened between the chronicler and the death of the last king of Judah.
+A similar interval separates us from Queen Elizabeth; but the course of
+these three centuries of English life has been an almost unbroken
+continuity compared with the changing fortunes of the Jewish people from
+the fall of the monarchy to the early years of the Greek empire. This
+interval included the Babylonian captivity and the return, the
+establishment of the Law, the use of the Persian empire, and the conquests
+of Alexander.
+
+The first three of these events were revolutions of supreme importance to
+the internal development of Judaism; the last two rank in the history of
+the world with the fall of the Roman empire and the French Revolution. Let
+us consider them briefly in detail. The Captivity, the rise of the Persian
+empire, and the Return are closely connected, and can only be treated as
+features of one great social, political, and religious convulsion, an
+upheaval which broke the continuity of all the strata, of Eastern life and
+opened an impassable gulf between the old order and the new. For a time,
+men who had lived through these revolutions were still able to carry
+across this gulf the loosely twisted strands of memory, but when they died
+the threads snapped; only here and there a lingering tradition
+supplemented the written records. Hebrew slowly ceased to be the
+vernacular language, and was supplanted by Aramaic; the ancient history
+only reached the people by means of an oral translation. Under this new
+dispensation the ideas of ancient Israel were no longer intelligible; its
+circumstances could not be realised by those who lived under entirely
+different conditions. Various causes contributed to bring about this
+change. First, there was an interval of fifty years, during which
+Jerusalem lay a heap of ruins. After the recapture of Rome by Totila the
+Visigoth in A.D. 546 the city was abandoned during forty days to desolate
+and dreary solitude. Even this temporary depopulation of the Eternal City
+is emphasised by historians as full of dramatic interest, but the fifty
+years' desolation of Jerusalem involved important practical results. Most
+of the returning exiles must have either been born in Babylon or else have
+spent all their earliest years in exile. Very few can have been old enough
+to have grasped the meaning or drunk in the spirit of the older national
+life. When the restored community set to work to rebuild their city and
+their temple, few of them had any adequate knowledge of the old Jerusalem,
+with its manners, customs, and traditions. "The ancient men, that had seen
+the first house, wept with a loud voice"(2) when the foundation of the
+second Temple was laid before their eyes. In their critical and
+disparaging attitude towards the new building, we may see an early trace
+of the tendency to glorify and idealise the monarchical period, which
+culminated in Chronicles. The breach with the past was widened by the
+novel and striking surroundings of the exiles in Babylon. For the first
+time since the Exodus, the Jews as a nation found themselves in close
+contact and intimate relations with the culture of an ancient civilisation
+and the life of a great city.
+
+Nearly a century and a half elapsed between the first captivity under
+Jehoiachin (B.C. 598) and the mission of Ezra (B.C. 458); no doubt in the
+succeeding period Jews still continued to return from Babylon to Judaea,
+and thus the new community at Jerusalem, amongst whom the chronicler grew
+up, counted Babylonian Jews amongst their ancestors for two or even for
+many generations. A Zulu tribe exhibited for a year in London could not
+return and build their kraal afresh and take up the old African life at
+the point where they had left it. If a community of Russian Jews went to
+their old home after a few years' sojourn in Whitechapel, the old life
+resumed would be very different from what it was before their migration.
+Now the Babylonian Jews were neither uncivilised African savages nor
+stupefied Russian helots; they were not shut up in an exhibition or in a
+ghetto; they settled in Babylon, not for a year or two, but for half a
+century or even a century; and they did not return to a population of
+their own race, living the old life, but to empty homes and a ruined city.
+They had tasted the tree of new knowledge, and they could no more live and
+think as their fathers had done than Adam and Eve could find their way
+back into paradise. A large and prosperous colony of Jews still remained
+at Babylon, and maintained close and constant relations with the
+settlement in Judaea. The influence of Babylon, begun during the Exile,
+continued permanently in this indirect form. Later still the Jews felt the
+influence of a great Greek city, through their colony at Alexandria.
+
+Besides these external changes, the Captivity was a period of important
+and many-sided development of Jewish literature and religion. Men had
+leisure to study the prophecies of Jeremiah and the legislation of
+Deuteronomy; their attention was claimed for Ezekiel's suggestions as to
+ritual, and for the new theology, variously expounded by Ezekiel, the
+later Isaiah, the book of Job, and the psalmists. The Deuteronomic school
+systematised and interpreted the records of the national history. In its
+wealth of Divine revelation the period from Josiah to Ezra is only second
+to the apostolic age.
+
+Thus the restored Jewish community was a new creation, baptised into a new
+spirit; the restored city was as much a new Jerusalem as that which St.
+John beheld descending out of heaven; and, in the words of the prophet of
+the Restoration, the Jews returned to a "new heaven and a new earth."(3)
+The rise of the Persian empire changed the whole international system of
+Western Asia and Egypt. The robber monarchies of Nineveh and Babylon,
+whose energies had been chiefly devoted to the systematic plunder of their
+neighbours, were replaced by a great empire, that stretched out one hand
+to Greece and the other to India. The organisation of this great empire
+was the most successful attempt at government on a large scale that the
+world had yet seen. Both through the Persians themselves and through their
+dealings with the Greeks, Aryan philosophy and religion began to leaven
+Asiatic thought; old things were passing away: all things were becoming
+new.
+
+The establishment of the Law by Ezra and Nehemiah was the triumph of a
+school whose most important and effective work had been done at Babylon,
+though not necessarily within the half-century specially called the
+Captivity. Their triumph was retrospective: it not only established a
+rigid and elaborate system unknown to the monarchy, but, by identifying
+this system with the law traditionally ascribed to Moses, it led men very
+widely astray as to the ancient history of Israel. A later generation
+naturally assumed that the good kings must have kept this law, and that
+the sin of the bad kings was their failure to observe its ordinances.
+
+The events of the century and a half or thereabouts between Ezra and the
+chronicler have only a minor importance for us. The change of language
+from Hebrew to Aramaic, the Samaritan schism, the few political incidents
+of which any account has survived, are all trivial compared to the
+literature and history crowded into the century after the fall of the
+monarchy. Even the far-reaching results of the conquests of Alexander do
+not materially concern us here. Josephus indeed tells us that the Jews
+served in large numbers in the Macedonian army, and gives a very dramatic
+account of Alexander's visit to Jerusalem; but the historical value of
+these stories is very doubtful, and in any case it is clear that between
+B.C. 333 and B.C. 250 Jerusalem was very little affected by Greek
+influences, and that, especially for the Temple community to which the
+chronicler belonged, the change from Darius to the Ptolemies was merely a
+change from one foreign dominion to another.
+
+Nor need much be said of the relation of the chronicler to the later
+Jewish literature of the Apocalypses and Wisdom. If the spirit of this
+literature were already stirring in some Jewish circles, the chronicler
+himself was not moved by it. Ecclesiastes, as far as he could have
+understood it, would have pained and shocked him. But his work lay in that
+direct line of subtle rabbinic teaching which, beginning with Ezra,
+reached its climax in the Talmud. Chronicles is really an anthology
+gleaned from ancient historic sources and supplemented by early specimens
+of Midrash and Hagada.
+
+In order to understand the book of Chronicles, we have to keep two or
+three simple facts constantly and clearly in mind. In the first place, the
+chronicler was separated from the monarchy by an aggregate of changes
+which involved a complete breach of continuity between the old and the new
+order: instead of a nation there was a Church; instead of a king there
+were a high-priest and a foreign governor. Secondly, the effects of these
+changes had been at work for two or three hundred years, effacing all
+trustworthy recollection of the ancient order and schooling men to regard
+the Levitical dispensation as their one original and antique
+ecclesiastical system. Lastly, the chronicler himself belonged to the
+Temple community, which was the very incarnation of the spirit of the new
+order. With such antecedents and surroundings, he set to work to revise
+the national history recorded in Samuel and Kings. A monk in a Norman
+monastery would have worked under similar but less serious disadvantages
+if he had undertaken to rewrite the _Ecclesiastical History_ of the
+Venerable Bede.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III. Sources And Mode Of Composition.
+
+
+Our impressions as to the sources of Chronicles are derived from the
+general character of its contents, from a comparison with other books of
+the Old Testament, and from the actual statements of Chronicles itself. To
+take the last first: there are numerous references to authorities in
+Chronicles which at first sight seem to indicate a dependence on rich and
+varied sources. To begin with, there are "The Book of the Kings of Judah
+and Israel,"(4) "The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah,"(5) and "The
+Acts of the Kings of Israel."(6) These, however, are obviously different
+forms of the title of the same work.
+
+Other titles furnish us with an imposing array of prophetic authorities.
+There are "The _Words_" of Samuel the Seer(7), of Nathan the Prophet,(8)
+of Gad the Seer,(9) of Shemaiah the Prophet and of Iddo the Seer,(10) of
+Jehu the son of Hanani,(11) and of the Seers(12); "The _Vision_" of Iddo
+the Seer(13) and of Isaiah the Prophet(14); "The _Midrash_" of the Book of
+Kings(15) and of the Prophet Iddo(16); "The _Acts_ of Uzziah," written by
+Isaiah the Prophet(17); and "The _Prophecy_" of Ahijah the Shilonite.(18)
+There are also less formal allusions to other works.
+
+Further examination, however, soon discloses the fact that these prophetic
+titles merely indicate different sections of "The Book of the Kings of
+Israel and Judah." On turning to our book of Kings, we find that from
+Rehoboam onwards each of the references in Chronicles corresponds to a
+reference by the book of Kings to the "Chronicles(19) of the Kings of
+Judah." In the case of Ahaziah, Athaliah, and Amon, the reference to an
+authority is omitted both in the books of Kings and Chronicles. This close
+correspondence suggests that both our canonical books are referring to the
+same authority or authorities. Kings refers to the "Chronicles of the
+Kings of Judah" for Judah, and to the "Chronicles of the Kings of Israel"
+for the northern kingdom; Chronicles, though only dealing with Judah,
+combines these two titles in one: "The Book of the Kings of Israel and
+Judah."
+
+In two instances Chronicles clearly states that its prophetic authorities
+were found as sections of the larger work. "The Words of Jehu the son of
+Hanani" were "inserted in the Book of the Kings of Israel,"(20) and "The
+Vision of Isaiah the Prophet, the son of Amoz," is in the Book of the
+Kings of Judah and Israel.(21) It is a natural inference that the other
+"Words" and "Visions" were also found as sections of this same "Book of
+Kings."
+
+These conclusions may be illustrated and supported by what we know of the
+arrangement of the contents of ancient books. Our convenient modern
+subdivisions of chapter and verse did not exist, but the Jews were not
+without some means of indicating the particular section of a book to which
+they wished to refer. Instead of numbers they used names, derived from the
+subject of a section or from the most important person mentioned in it.
+For the history of the monarchy the prophets were the most important
+personages, and each section of the history is named after its leading
+prophet or prophets. This nomenclature naturally encouraged the belief
+that the history had been originally written by these prophets. Instances
+of the use of such nomenclature are found in the New Testament, _e.g._,
+Rom. xi. 2: "Wot ye not what the Scripture saith in Elijah"(22)--_i.e._, in
+the section about Elijah--and Mark xii. 26: "Have ye not read in the book
+of Moses in the place concerning the bush?"(23)
+
+While, however, most of the references to "Words," "Visions," etc., are to
+sections of the larger work, we need not at once conclude that _all_
+references to authorities in Chronicles are to this same book. The
+genealogical register in 1 Chron. v. 17 and the "lamentations" of 2 Chron.
+xxxv. 25 may very well be independent works. Having recognised the fact
+that the numerous authorities referred to by Chronicles were for the most
+part contained in one comprehensive "Book of Kings," a new problem
+presents itself: What are the respective relations of our Kings and
+Chronicles to the "Chronicles" and "Kings" cited by them? What are the
+relations of these original authorities to each other? What are the
+relations of our Kings to our Chronicles? Our present nomenclature is
+about as confusing as it well could be; and we are obliged to keep clearly
+in mind, first, that the "Chronicles" mentioned in Kings is not our
+Chronicles, and then that the "Kings" referred to by Chronicles is not our
+Kings. The first fact is obvious; the second is shown by the terms of the
+references, which state that information not furnished in Chronicles may
+be found in the "Book of Kings," but the information in question is often
+not given in the canonical Kings.(24) And yet the connection between Kings
+and Chronicles is very close and extensive. A large amount of material
+occurs either identically or with very slight variations in both books. It
+is clear that either Chronicles uses Kings, or Chronicles uses a work
+which used Kings, or both Chronicles and Kings use the same source or
+sources. Each of these three views has been held by important authorities,
+and they are also capable of various combinations and modifications.
+
+Reserving for a moment the view which specially commends itself to us, we
+may note two main tendencies of opinion. First, it is maintained that
+Chronicles either goes back directly to the actual sources of Kings,
+citing them, for the sake of brevity, under a combined title, or is based
+upon a combination of the main sources of Kings made at a very early date.
+In either case Chronicles as compared with Kings would be an independent
+and parallel authority on the contents of these early sources, and to that
+extent would rank with Kings as first-class history. This view, however,
+is shown to be untenable by the numerous traces of a later age which are
+almost invariably present wherever Chronicles supplements or modifies
+Kings.
+
+The second view is that either Chronicles used Kings, or that the "Book of
+the Kings of Israel and Judah" used by Chronicles was a post-Exilic work,
+incorporating statistical matter and dealing with the history of the two
+kingdoms in a spirit congenial to the temper and interests of the restored
+community. This "post-Exilic" predecessor of Chronicles is supposed to
+have been based upon Kings itself, or upon the sources of Kings, or upon
+both; but in any case it was not much earlier than Chronicles and was
+written under the same influences and in a similar spirit. Being virtually
+an earlier edition of Chronicles, it could claim no higher authority, and
+would scarcely deserve either recognition or treatment as a separate work.
+Chronicles would still rest substantially on the authority of Kings.
+
+It is possible to accept a somewhat simpler view, and to dispense with
+this shadowy and ineffectual first edition of Chronicles. In the first
+place, the chronicler does not appeal to the "Words" and "Visions" and the
+rest of his "Book of Kings" as authorities for his own statements; he
+merely refers his reader to them for further information which he himself
+does not furnish. This "Book of Kings" so often mentioned is therefore
+neither a source nor an authority of Chronicles. There is nothing to prove
+that the chronicler himself was actually acquainted with the book. Again,
+the close correspondence already noted between these references in
+Chronicles and the parallel notes in Kings suggests that the former are
+simply expanded and modified from the latter, and the chronicler had never
+seen the book he referred to. The Books of Kings had stated where
+additional information could be found, and Chronicles simply repeated the
+reference without verifying it. As some sections of Kings had come to be
+known by the names of certain prophets, the chronicler transferred these
+names back to the corresponding sections of the sources used by Kings. In
+these cases he felt he could give his readers not merely the somewhat
+vague reference to the original work as a whole, but the more definite and
+convenient citation of a particular paragraph. His descriptions of the
+additional subjects dealt with in the original authority may possibly,
+like other of his statements, have been constructed in accordance with his
+ideas of what that authority should contain; or more probably they refer
+to this authority the floating traditions of later times and writers.
+Possibly these references and notes of Chronicles are copied from the
+glosses which some scribe had written in the margin of his copy of Kings.
+If this be so, we can understand why we find references to the Midrash of
+Iddo and the Midrash of the book of Kings.(25)
+
+In any case, whether directly or through the medium of a preliminary
+edition, called "The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah," our book of
+Kings was used by the chronicler. The supposition that the original
+sources of Kings were used by the chronicler or this immediate predecessor
+is fairly supported both by evidence and authority, but on the whole it
+seems an unnecessary complication.
+
+Thus we fail to find in these various references to the "Book of Kings,"
+etc., any clear indication of the origin of matter peculiar to Chronicles;
+nevertheless it is not difficult to determine the nature of the sources
+from which this material was derived. Doubtless some of it was still
+current in the form of oral tradition when the chronicler wrote, and owed
+to him its permanent record. Some he borrowed from manuscripts, which
+formed part of the scanty and fragmentary literature of the later period
+of the Restoration. His genealogies and statistics suggest the use of
+public and ecclesiastical archives, as well as of family records, in which
+ancient legend and anecdote lay embedded among lists of forgotten
+ancestors. Apparently the chronicler harvested pretty freely from that
+literary aftermath that sprang up when the Pentateuch and the earlier
+historical books had taken final shape.
+
+But it is to these earlier books that the chronicler owes most. His work
+is very largely a mosaic of paragraphs and phrases taken from the older
+books. His chief sources are Samuel and Kings; he also lays the
+Pentateuch, Joshua, and Ruth under contribution. Much is taken over
+without even verbal alteration, and the greater part is unaltered in
+substance; yet, as is the custom in ancient literature, no acknowledgment
+is made. The literary conscience was not yet aware of the sin of
+plagiarism. Indeed, neither an author nor his friends took any pains to
+secure the permanent association of his name with his work, and no great
+guilt can attach to the plagiarism of one anonymous writer from another.
+This absence of acknowledgment where the chronicler is plainly borrowing
+from elder scribes is another reason why his references to the "Book of
+the Kings of Israel and Judah" are clearly not statements of sources to
+which he is indebted, but simply what they profess to be: indications of
+the possible sources of further information.
+
+Chronicles, however, illustrates ancient methods of historical
+composition, not only by its free appropriation of the actual form and
+substance of older works, but also by its curious blending of identical
+reproduction with large additions of quite heterogeneous matter, or with a
+series of minute but significant alterations. The primitive ideas and
+classical style of paragraphs from Samuel and Kings are broken in upon by
+the ritualistic fervour and late Hebrew of the chronicler's additions. The
+vivid and picturesque narrative of the bringing of the Ark to Zion is
+interpolated with uninteresting statistics of the names, numbers, and
+musical instruments of the Levites.(26) Much of the chronicler's account
+of the revolution which overthrew Athaliah and placed Joash on the throne
+is taken word for word from the book of Kings; but it is adapted to the
+Temple order of the Pentateuch by a series of alterations which substitute
+Levites for foreign mercenaries, and otherwise guard the sanctity of the
+Temple from the intrusion, not only of foreigners, but even of the common
+people.(27) A careful comparison of Chronicles with Samuel and Kings is a
+striking object lesson in ancient historical composition. It is an almost
+indispensable introduction to the criticism of the Pentateuch and the
+older historical books. The "redactor" of these works becomes no mere
+shadowy and hypothetical personage when we have watched his successor the
+chronicler piecing together things new and old and adapting ancient
+narratives to modern ideas by adding a word in one place and changing a
+phrase in another.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV. The Importance of Chronicles.
+
+
+Before attempting to expound in detail the religious significance of
+Chronicles, we may conclude our introduction by a brief general statement
+of the leading features which render the book interesting and valuable to
+the Christian student.
+
+The material of Chronicles may be divided into three parts: the matter
+taken directly from the older historical books; material derived from
+traditions and writings of the chronicler's own age; the various additions
+and modifications which are the chronicler's own work.(28) Each of these
+divisions has its special value, and important lessons may be learnt from
+the way in which the author has selected and combined these materials.
+
+The excerpts from the older histories are, of course, by far the best
+material in the book for the period of the monarchy. If Samuel and Kings
+had perished, we should have been under great obligations to the
+chronicler for preserving to us large portions of their ancient records.
+As it is, the chronicler has rendered invaluable service to the textual
+criticism of the Old Testament by providing us with an additional witness
+to the text of large portions of Samuel and Kings. The very fact that the
+character and history of Chronicles are so different from those of the
+older books enhances the value of its evidence as to their text. The two
+texts, Samuel and Kings on the one hand and Chronicles on the other, have
+been modified under different influences; they have not always been
+altered in the same way, so that where one has been corrupted the other
+has often preserved the correct reading. Probably because Chronicles is
+less interesting and picturesque, its text has been subject to less
+alteration than that of Samuel and Kings. The more interested scribes or
+readers become, the more likely they are to make corrections and add
+glosses to the narrative. We may note, for example, that the name
+"Meribbaal" given by Chronicles for one of Saul's sons is more likely to
+be correct than "Mephibosheth," the form given by Samuel.(29)
+
+The material derived from traditions and writings of the chronicler's own
+age is of uncertain historical value, and cannot be clearly discriminated
+from the author's free composition. Much of it was the natural product of
+the thought and feeling of the late Persian and early Greek period, and
+shares the importance which attaches to the chronicler's own work. This
+material, however, includes a certain amount of neutral matter:
+genealogies, family histories and anecdotes, and notes on ancient life and
+custom. We have no parallel authorities to test this material, we cannot
+prove the antiquity of the sources from which it is derived, and yet it
+may contain fragments of very ancient tradition. Some of the notes and
+narratives have an archaic flavour which can scarcely be artificial; their
+very lack of importance is an argument for their authenticity, and
+illustrates the strange tenacity with which local and domestic tradition
+perpetuates the most insignificant episodes.(30)
+
+But naturally the most characteristic, and therefore the most important,
+section of the contents of Chronicles is that made up of the additions and
+modifications which are the work of the chronicler or his immediate
+predecessors. It is unnecessary to point out that these do not add much to
+our knowledge of the history of the monarchy; their significance consists
+in the light that they throw upon the period towards whose close the
+chronicler lived: the period between the final establishment of
+Pentateuchal Judaism and the attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to stamp it
+out of existence; the period between Ezra and Judas Maccabaeus. The
+chronicler is no exceptional and epoch-making writer, has little personal
+importance, and is therefore all the more important as a typical
+representative of the current ideas of his class and generation. He
+translates the history of the past into the ideas and circumstances of his
+own age, and thus gives us almost as much information about the civil and
+religious institutions he lived under as if he had actually described
+them. Moreover, in stating its estimate of past history, each generation
+pronounces unconscious judgment upon itself. The chronicler's
+interpretation and philosophy of history mark the level of his moral and
+spiritual ideas. He betrays these quite as much by his attitude towards
+earlier authorities as in the paragraphs which are his own composition; we
+have seen how his use of materials illustrates the ancient, and for that
+matter the modern, Eastern methods of historical composition, and we have
+shown the immense importance of Chronicles to Old Testament criticism. But
+the way in which the chronicler uses his older sources also indicates his
+relation towards the ancient morality, ritual, and theology of Israel. His
+methods of selection are most instructive as to the ideas and interests of
+his time. We see what was thought worthy to be included in this final and
+most modern edition of the religious history of Israel. But in truth the
+omissions are among the most significant features of Chronicles; its
+silence is constantly more eloquent than its speech, and we measure the
+spiritual progress of Judaism by the paragraphs of Kings which Chronicles
+leaves out. In subsequent chapters we shall seek to illustrate the various
+ways in which Chronicles illuminates the period preceding the Maccabees.
+Any gleams of light on the Hebrew monarchy are most welcome, but we cannot
+be less grateful for information about those obscure centuries which
+fostered the quiet growth of Israel's character and faith and prepared the
+way for the splendid heroism and religious devotion of the Maccabaean
+struggle.
+
+
+
+
+
+BOOK II. GENEALOGIES.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter I. Names. 1 Chron. i-ix.
+
+
+The first nine chapters of Chronicles form, with a few slight exceptions,
+a continuous list of names. It is the largest extant collection of Hebrew
+names. Hence these chapters may be used as a text for the exposition of
+any spiritual significance to be derived from Hebrew names either
+individually or collectively. Old Testament genealogies have often
+exercised the ingenuity of the preacher, and the student of homiletics
+will readily recollect the methods of extracting a moral from what at
+first sight seems a barren theme. For instance, those names of which
+little or nothing is recorded are held up as awful examples of wasted
+lives. We are asked to take warning from Mahalalel and Methuselah, who
+spent their long centuries so ineffectually that there was nothing to
+record except that they begat sons and daughters and died. Such teaching
+is not fairly derived from its text. The sacred writers implied no
+reflection upon the Patriarchs of whom they gave so short and conventional
+an account. Least of all could such teaching be based upon the lists in
+Chronicles, because the men who are there merely mentioned by name include
+Adam, Noah, Abraham, and other heroes of sacred story. Moreover, such
+teaching is unnecessary and not altogether wholesome. Very few men who are
+at all capable of obtaining a permanent place in history need to be
+spurred on by sermons; and for most people the suggestion that a man's
+life is a failure unless he secures posthumous fame is false and
+mischievous. The Lamb's book of life is the only record of the vast
+majority of honourable and useful lives; and the tendency to
+self-advertisement is sufficiently wide-spread and spontaneous already: it
+needs no pulpit stimulus. We do not think any worse of a man because his
+tombstone simply states his name and age, or any better because it
+catalogues his virtues and mentions that he attained the dignity of
+alderman or author.
+
+The significance of these lists of names is rather to be looked for in an
+opposite direction. It is not that a name and one or two commonplace
+incidents mean so little, but that they suggest so much. A mere parish
+register is not in itself attractive, but if we consider even such a list,
+the very names interest us and kindle our imagination. It is almost
+impossible to linger in a country churchyard, reading the half-effaced
+inscriptions upon the headstones, without forming some dim picture of the
+character and history and even the outward semblance of the men and women
+who once bore the names.
+
+
+    "For though a name is neither
+    ... hand, nor foot,
+    Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
+    Belonging to a man,"
+
+
+yet, to use a somewhat technical phrase, it _connotes_ a man. A name
+implies the existence of a distinct personality, with a peculiar and
+unique history, and yet, on the other hand, a being with whom we are
+linked in close sympathy by a thousand ties of common human nature and
+everyday experience. In its lists of what are now mere names, the Bible
+seems to recognise the dignity and sacredness of bare human life.
+
+But the names in these nine chapters have also a collective significance:
+they stand for more than their individual owners. They are typical and
+representative, the names of kings, and priests, and captains; they sum up
+the tribes of Israel, both as a Church and a nation, down all the
+generations of its history. The inclusion of these names in the sacred
+record, as the express introduction to the annals of the Temple, and the
+sacred city, and the elect house of David, is the formal recognition of
+the sanctity of the nation and of national life. We are entirely in the
+spirit of the Bible when we see this same sanctity in all organised
+societies: in the parish, the municipality, and the state; when we attach
+a Divine significance to registers of electors and census returns, and
+claim all such lists as symbols of religious privilege and responsibility.
+
+But names do not merely suggest individuals and communities: the meanings
+of the names reveal the ideas of the people who used them. It has been
+well said that "the names of every nation are an important monument of
+national spirit and manners, and thus the Hebrew names bear important
+testimony to the peculiar vocation of this nation. No nation of antiquity
+has such a proportion of names of religious import."(31) Amongst ourselves
+indeed the religious meaning of names has almost wholly faded away;
+"Christian name" is a mere phrase, and children are named after relations,
+or according to prevailing fashion, or after the characters of popular
+novels. But the religious motive can still be traced in some modern names;
+in certain districts of Germany the name "Ursula" or "Apollonia" is a sure
+indication that a girl is a Roman Catholic and has been named after a
+popular saint.(32) The Bible constantly insists upon this religious
+significance, which would frequently be in the mind of the devout
+Israelite in giving names to his children. The Old Testament contains more
+than a hundred etymologies(33) of personal names, most of which attach a
+religious meaning to the words explained. The etymologies of the
+patriarchal names--"Abraham," father of a multitude of nations; "Isaac,"
+laughter; "Jacob," supplanter; "Israel," prince with God--are specially
+familiar. The Biblical interest in edifying etymologies was maintained and
+developed by early commentators. Their philology was far from accurate,
+and very often they were merely playing upon the forms of words. But the
+allegorising tendencies of Jewish and Christian expositors found special
+opportunities in proper names. On the narrow foundation of an etymology
+mostly doubtful and often impossible, Philo, and Origen, and Jerome loved
+to erect an elaborate structure theological or philosophical doctrine.
+Philo has only one quotation from our author: "Manasseh had sons, whom his
+Syrian concubine bare to him, Machir; and Machir begat Gilead."(34) He
+quotes this verse to show that recollection is associated in a subordinate
+capacity with memory. The connection is not very clearly made out, but
+rests in some way on the meaning of Manasseh, the root of which means to
+forget. As forgetfulness with recollection restores our knowledge, so
+Manasseh with his Syrian concubine begets Machir. Recollection therefore
+is a concubine, an inferior and secondary quality.(35) This ingenious
+trifling has a certain charm in spite of its extravagance, but in less
+dexterous hands the method becomes clumsy as well as extravagant. It has,
+however, the advantage of readily adapting itself to all tastes and
+opinions, so that we are not surprised when an eighteenth-century author
+discovers in Old Testament etymology a compendium of Trinitarian
+theology.(36) _Ahiah_(37) is derived from _'ehad_, one, and _yah_,
+Jehovah, and is thus an assertion of the Divine unity; _Reuel_(38) is
+resolved into a plural verb with a singular Divine name for its subject:
+this is an indication of trinity in unity; _Ahilud_(39) is derived from
+_'ehad_, one, and _galud_, begotten, and signifies that the Son is
+_only-begotten_.
+
+Modern scholarship is more rational in its methods, but attaches no less
+importance to these ancient names, and finds in them weighty evidence on
+problems of criticism and theology; and before proceeding to more serious
+matters, we may note a few somewhat exceptional names. As pointed in the
+present Hebrew text, _Hazarmaveth_(40) and _Azmaveth_(41) have a certain
+grim suggestiveness. _Hazarmaveth_, court of death, is given as the name
+of a descendant of Shem. It is, however, probably the name of a place
+transferred to an eponymous ancestor, and has been identified with
+_Hadramawt_, a district in the south of Arabia. As, however, _Hadramawt_,
+is a fertile district of Arabia Felix, the name does not seem very
+appropriate. On the other hand _Azmaveth_, "strength of death," would be
+very suitable for some strong, death-dealing soldier. _Azubah_,(42)
+"forsaken," the name of Caleb's wife, is capable of a variety of romantic
+explanations. _Hazelelponi_(43) is remarkable in its mere form; and
+Ewald's interpretation, "Give shade, Thou who turnest to me Thy
+countenance," seems rather a cumbrous signification for the name of a
+daughter of the house of Judah. _Jushab-hesed_,(44) "Mercy will be
+renewed," as the name of a son of Zerubbabel, doubtless expresses the
+gratitude and hope of the Jews on their return from Babylon.(45)
+_Jashubi-lehem_,(46) however, is curious and perplexing. The name has been
+interpreted "giving bread" or "turning back to Bethlehem," but the text is
+certainly corrupt, and the passage is one of many into which either the
+carelessness of scribes or the obscurity of the chronicler's sources has
+introduced hopeless confusion. But the most remarkable set of names is
+found in 1 Chron. xxv. 4, where _Giddalti_ and _Romantiezer_,
+_Joshbekashah_, _Mallothi_, _Hothir_, _Mahazioth_, are simply a Hebrew
+sentence meaning, "I have magnified and exalted help; sitting in
+distress,(47) I have spoken(48) visions in abundance." We may at once set
+aside the cynical suggestion that the author lacked names to complete a
+genealogy and, to save the trouble of inventing them separately, took the
+first sentence that came to hand and cut it up into suitable lengths, nor
+is it likely that a father would spread the same process over several
+years and adopt it for his family. This remarkable combination of names is
+probably due to some misunderstanding of his sources on the part of the
+chronicler. His parchment rolls must often have been torn and fragmentary,
+the writing blurred and half illegible; and his attempts to piece together
+obscure and ragged manuscripts naturally resulted at times in mistakes and
+confusion.
+
+These examples of interesting etymologies might easily be multiplied; they
+serve, at any rate, to indicate a rich mine of suggestive teaching. It
+must, however, be remembered that a name is not necessarily a personal
+name because it occurs in a genealogy; cities, districts, and tribes
+mingle freely with persons in these lists. In the same connection we note
+that the female names are few and far between, and that of those which do
+occur the "sisters" probably stand for allied and related families, and
+not for individuals.
+
+As regards Old Testament theology, we may first notice the light thrown by
+personal names on the relation of the religion of Israel to that of other
+Semitic peoples. Of the names in these chapters and elsewhere, a large
+proportion are compounded of one or other of the Divine names. _El_ is the
+first element in _Elishama_, _Eliphelet_, _Eliada_, etc.; it is the second
+in _Othniel_, _Jehaleleel_, _Asareel_, etc. Similarly _Jehovah_ is
+represented by the initial _Jeho-_ in _Jehoshaphat_, _Jehoiakim_,
+_Jehoram_, etc., by the final _-iah_ in _Amaziah_, _Azariah_, _Hezekiah_,
+etc. It has been calculated that there are a hundred and ninety names(49)
+beginning or ending with the equivalent of Jehovah, including most of the
+kings of Judah and many of the kings of Israel. Moreover, some names which
+have not these prefixes and affixes in their extant form are contractions
+of older forms which began or ended with a Divine name. Ahaz, for
+instance, is mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions as Jahuhazi--_i.e._,
+Jehoahaz--and Nathan is probably a contracted form of Nethaniah.
+
+There are also numerous compounds of other Divine names. _Zur_, rock, is
+found in _Pedahzur_,(50) _Shaddai_, A.V. Almighty, in _Ammishaddai_(51);
+the two are combined in _Zurishaddai_.(52) _Melech_ is a Divine name in
+_Malchi-ram_ and _Malchi-shua_. _Baal_ occurs as a Divine name in
+_Eshbaal_ and _Meribbaal_. _Abi_, father, is a Divine name in _Abiram_,
+_Abinadab_, etc., and probably also _Ahi_ in _Ahiram_ and _Ammi_ in
+_Amminadab_.(53) Possibly, too, the apparently simple names _Melech_,
+_Zur_, _Baal_, are contractions of longer forms in which these Divine
+names were prefixes or affixes.
+
+This use of Divine names is capable of very varied illustration. Modern
+languages have Christian and Christopher, Emmanuel, Theodosius, Theodora,
+etc.; names like Hermogenes and Heliogabalus are found in the classical
+languages. But the practice is specially characteristic of Semitic
+languages. Mohammedan princes are still called _Abdurrahman_, servant of
+the Merciful, and _Abdallah_, servant of God; ancient Phoenician kings were
+named _Ethbaal_ and _Abdalonim_, where _alonim_ is a plural Divine name,
+and the _bal_ in Hannibal and Hasdrubal = _baal_. The Assyrian and
+Chaldaean kings were named after the gods Sin, Nebo, Assur, Merodach,
+_e.g._, _Sin-akki-irib_ (Sennacherib); _Nebuchadnezzar_; _Assur-bani-pal_;
+_Merodach-baladan_.
+
+Of these Divine names El and Baal are common to Israel and other Semitic
+peoples, and it has been held that the Hebrew personal names preserve
+traces of polytheism. In any case, however, the Baal-names are
+comparatively few, and do not necessarily indicate that Israelites
+worshipped a Baal distinct from Jehovah; they may be relics of a time when
+Baal (Lord) was a title or equivalent of Jehovah, like the later Adonai.
+Other possible traces of polytheism are few and doubtful. In Baanah and
+Resheph we may perhaps find the obscure(54) Phoenician deities Anath and
+Reshaph. On the whole, Hebrew names as compared, for instance, with
+Assyrian afford little or no evidence of the prevalence of polytheism.
+
+Another question concerns the origin and use of the name Jehovah. Our
+lists conclusively prove its free use during the monarchy and its
+existence under the judges. On the other hand, its apparent presence in
+Jochebed, the name of the mother of Moses, seems to carry it back beyond
+Moses. Possibly it was a Divine name peculiar to his family or clan. Its
+occurrence in _Yahubidi_, a king of Hamath, in the time of Sargon may be
+due to direct Israelite influence. Hamath had frequent relations with
+Israel and Judah.
+
+Turning to matters of practical religion, how far do these names help us
+to understand the spiritual life of ancient Israel? The Israelites made
+constant use of El and Jehovah in their names, and we have no parallel
+practice. Were they then so much more religious than we are? Probably in a
+sense they were. It is true that the etymology and even the original
+significance of a name in common use are for all practical purposes
+quickly and entirely forgotten. A man may go through a life-time bearing
+the name of Christopher and never know its etymological meaning. At
+Cambridge and Oxford sacred names like "Jesus" and "Trinity" are used
+constantly and familiarly without suggesting anything beyond the colleges
+so called. The edifying phrase, "God encompasseth us," is altogether lost
+in the grotesque tavern sign "The Goat and Compasses." Nor can we suppose
+that the Israelite or the Assyrian often dwelt on the religious
+significance of the _Jeho-_ or _-iah_, the _Nebo_, _Sin_, or _Merodach_,
+of current proper names. As we have seen, the sense of _-iah_, _-el_, or
+_Jeho-_ was often so little present to men's minds that contractions were
+formed by omitting them. Possibly because these prefixes and affixes were
+so common, they came to be taken for granted; it was scarcely necessary to
+write them, because in any case they would be understood. Probably in
+historic times _Abi-_, _Ahi-_, and _Ammi-_ were no longer recognised as
+Divine names or titles; and yet the names which could still be recognised
+as compounded of El and Jehovah must have had their influence on popular
+feeling. They were part of the religiousness, so to speak, of the ancient
+East; they symbolised the constant intertwining of religious acts, and
+words, and thoughts with all the concerns of life. The quality of this
+ancient religion was very inferior to that of a devout and intelligent
+modern Christian; it was perhaps inferior to that of Russian peasants
+belonging to the Greek Church; but ancient religion pervaded life and
+society more consciously than modern Christianity does; it touched all
+classes and occasions more directly, if also more mechanically. And,
+again, these names were not the fossil relics of obsolete habits of
+thought and feeling, like the names of our churches and colleges; they
+were the memorials of comparatively recent acts of faith. The name
+"Elijah" commemorated the solemn occasion on which a father professed his
+own faith and consecrated a new-born child to the true God by naming his
+boy "Jehovah is my God." This name-giving was also a prayer: the child was
+placed under the protection of the deity whose name it bore. The practice
+might be tainted with superstition; the name would often be regarded as a
+kind of amulet; and yet we may believe that it could also serve to express
+a parent's earnest and simple-minded faith. Modern Englishmen have
+developed a habit of almost complete reticence and reserve on religious
+matters, and this habit is illustrated by our choice of proper names.
+Mary, and Thomas, and James are so familiar that their Scriptural origin
+is forgotten, and therefore they are tolerated; but the use of
+distinctively Scriptural Christian names is virtually regarded as bad
+taste. This reticence is not merely due to increased delicacy of spiritual
+feeling: it is partly the result of the growth of science and of literary
+and historical criticism. We have become absorbed in the wonderful
+revelations of methods and processes; we are fascinated by the ingenious
+mechanism of nature and society. We have no leisure to detach our thoughts
+from the machinery and carry them further on to its Maker and Director.
+Indeed, because there is so much mechanism and because it is so wonderful,
+we are sometimes asked to believe that the machine made itself. But this
+is a mere phase in the religious growth of mankind: humanity will tire of
+some of its new toys, and will become familiar with the rest; deeper needs
+and instincts will reassert themselves; and men will find themselves
+nearer in sentiment than they supposed to the ancient people who named
+their children after their God. In this and other matters the East to-day
+is the same as of old; the permanence of its custom is no inapt symbol of
+the permanence of Divine truth, which revolution and conquest are
+powerless to change.
+
+
+    "The East bowed low before the blast
+      In patient, deep disdain;
+    She let the legions thunder past,
+      And plunged in thought again."
+
+
+But the Christian Church is mistress of a more compelling magic than even
+Eastern patience and tenacity: out of the storms that threaten her, she
+draws new energies for service, and learns a more expressive language in
+which to declare the glory of God.
+
+Let us glance for a moment at the meanings of the group of Divine names
+given above. We have said that, in addition to _Melech_ in _Malchi-_,
+_Abi_, _Ahi_, and _Ammi_ are to be regarded as Divine names. One reason
+for this is that their use as prefixes is strictly analogous to that of
+_El_ and _Jeho-_. We have _Abijah_ and _Ahijah_ as well as _Elijah_,
+_Abiel_ and _Ammiel_ as well as _Eliel_, _Abiram_ and _Ahiram_ as well as
+_Jehoram_; _Ammishaddai_ compares with _Zurishaddai_, and _Ammizabad_ with
+_Jehozabad_, nor would it be difficult to add many other examples. If this
+view be correct, _Ammi_ will have nothing to do with the Hebrew word for
+"people," but will rather be connected with the corresponding Arabic word
+for "uncle."(55) As the use of such terms as "brother" and "uncle" for
+Divine names is not consonant with Hebrew theology in its historic period,
+the names which contain these prefixes must have come down from earlier
+ages, and were used in later times without any consciousness of their
+original sense. Probably they were explained by new etymologies more in
+harmony with the spirit of the times; compare the etymology "father of a
+multitude of nations" given to Abraham. Even _Abi-_, father, in the early
+times to which its use as a prefix must be referred, cannot have had the
+full spiritual meaning which now attaches to it as a Divine title. It
+probably only signified the ultimate source of life. The disappearance of
+these religious terms from the common vocabulary and their use in names
+long after their significance had been forgotten are ordinary phenomena in
+the development of language and religion. How many of the millions who use
+our English names for the days of the week ever give a thought to Thor or
+Freya? Such phenomena have more than an antiquarian interest. They remind
+us that religious terms, and phrases, and formulae derive their influence
+and value from their adaptation to the age which accepts them; and
+therefore many of them will become unintelligible or even misleading to
+later generations. Language varies continuously, circumstances change,
+experience widens, and every age has a right to demand that Divine truth
+shall be presented in the words and metaphors that give it the clearest
+and most forcible expression. Many of the simple truths that are most
+essential to salvation admit of being stated once for all; but dogmatic
+theology fossilises fast, and the bread of one generation may become a
+stone to the next.
+
+The history of these names illustrates yet another phenomenon. In some
+narrow and imperfect sense the early Semitic peoples seem to have called
+God "Father" and "Brother." Because the terms were limited to a narrow
+sense, the Israelites grew to a level of religious truth at which they
+could no longer use them; but as they made yet further progress they came
+to know more of what was meant by fatherhood and brotherhood, and gained
+also a deeper knowledge of God. At length the Church resumed these ancient
+Semitic terms; and Christians call God "Abba, Father," and speak of the
+Eternal Son as their elder Brother. And thus sometimes, but not always, an
+antique phrase may for a time seem unsuitable and misleading, and then
+again may prove to be the best expression for the newest and fullest
+truth. Our criticism of a religious formula may simply reveal our failure
+to grasp the wealth of meaning which its words and symbols can contain.
+
+Turning from these obsolete names to those in common use--_El_; _Jehovah_;
+_Shaddai_; _Zur_; _Melech_--probably the prevailing idea popularly
+associated with them all was that of strength: _El_, strength in the
+abstract; _Jehovah_, strength shown in permanence and independence;
+_Shaddai_, the strength that causes terror, the Almighty from whom cometh
+destruction(56); _Zur_, rock, the material symbol of strength, _Melech_,
+king, the possessor of authority. In early times the first and most
+essential attribute of Deity is power, but with this idea of strength a
+certain attribute of beneficence is soon associated. The strong God is the
+Ally of His people; His permanence is the guarantee of their national
+existence; He destroys their enemies. The rock is a place of refuge; and,
+again, Jehovah's people may rejoice in the shadow of a great rock in a
+weary land. The King leads them to battle, and gives them their enemies
+for a spoil.
+
+We must not, however, suppose that pious Israelites would consciously and
+systematically discriminate between these names, any more than ordinary
+Christians do between God, Lord, Father, Christ, Saviour, Jesus. Their
+usage would be governed by changing currents of sentiment very difficult
+to understand and explain after the lapse of thousands of years. In the
+year A.D. 3000, for instance, it will be difficult for the historian of
+dogmatics to explain accurately why some nineteenth-century Christians
+preferred to speak of "dear Jesus" and others of "the Christ."
+
+But the simple Divine names reveal comparatively little; much more may be
+learnt from the numerous compounds they help to form. Some of the more
+curious have already been noticed, but the real significance of this
+nomenclature is to be looked for in the more ordinary and natural names.
+Here, as before, we can only select from the long and varied list. Let us
+take some of the favourite names and some of the roots most often used,
+almost always, be it remembered, in combination with Divine names. The
+different varieties of these sacred names rendered it possible to
+construct various personal names embodying the same idea. Also the same
+Divine name might be used either as prefix or affix. For instance, the
+idea that "God knows" is equally well expressed in the names _Eliada_
+(El-yada'), _Jediael_ (Yada'-el), _Jehoiada_ (Jeho-yada'), and _Jedaiah_
+(Yada'-yah). "God remembers" is expressed alike by _Zachariah_ and
+_Jozachar_; "God hears" by _Elishama_ (El-shama'), _Samuel_ (if for
+Shama'-el), _Ishmael_ (also from Shama'-el), _Shemaiah_, and _Ishmaiah_
+(_both from_ Shama' _and_ Yah); "God gives" by _Elnathan_, _Nethaneel_,
+_Jonathan_, and _Nethaniah_; "God helps" by _Eliezer_, _Azareel_,
+_Joezer_, and _Azariah_; "God is gracious" by _Elhanan_, _Hananeel_,
+_Johanan_, _Hananiah_, _Baal-hanan_, and, for a Carthaginian, _Hannibal_,
+giving us a curious connection between the Apostle of love, John
+(Johanan), and the deadly enemy of Rome.
+
+The way in which the changes are rung upon these ideas shows how the
+ancient Israelites loved to dwell upon them. Nestle reckons that in the
+Old Testament sixty-one persons have names formed from the root _nathan_,
+to give; fifty-seven from _shama_, to hear; fifty-six from _'azar_, to
+help; forty-five from _hanan_, to be gracious; forty-four from _zakhar_,
+to remember. Many persons, too, bear names from the root _yada'_, to know.
+The favourite name is _Zechariah_, which is borne by twenty-five different
+persons.
+
+Hence, according to the testimony of names, the Israelites' favourite
+ideas about God were that He heard, and knew, and remembered; that He was
+gracious, and helped men, and gave them gifts: but they loved best to
+think of Him as God the Giver. Their nomenclature recognises many other
+attributes, but these take the first place. The value of this testimony is
+enhanced by its utter unconsciousness and naturalness; it brings us nearer
+to the average man in his religious moments than any psalm or prophetic
+utterance. Men's chief interest in God was as the Giver. The idea has
+proved very permanent; St. James amplifies it: God is the Giver of every
+good and perfect gift. It lies latent in names: Theodosius, Theodore,
+Theodora, and Dorothea. The other favourite ideas are all related to this.
+God hears men's prayers, and knows their needs, and remembers them; He is
+gracious, and helps them by His gifts. Could anything be more pathetic
+than this artless self-revelation? Men's minds have little leisure for sin
+and salvation; they are kept down by the constant necessity of preserving
+and providing for a bare existence. Their cry to God is like the prayer of
+Jacob, "If Thou wilt give me bread to eat and raiment to put on!" The very
+confidence and gratitude that the names express imply periods of doubt and
+fear, when they said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?" times
+when it seemed to them impossible that God could have heard their prayer
+or that He knew their misery, else why was there no deliverance? Had God
+forgotten to be gracious? Did He indeed remember? The names come to us as
+answers of faith to these suggestions of despair.
+
+Possibly these old-world saints were not more preoccupied with their
+material needs than most modern Christians. Perhaps it is necessary to
+believe in a God who rules on earth before we can understand the Father
+who is in heaven. Does a man really trust in God for eternal life if he
+cannot trust Him for daily bread? But in any case these names provide us
+with very comprehensive formulae, which we are at liberty to apply as
+freely as we please: the God who knows, and hears, and remembers, who is
+gracious, and helps men, and gives them gifts. To begin with, note how in
+a great array of Old Testament names God is the Subject, Actor, and
+Worker; the supreme facts of life are God and God's doings, not man and
+man's doings, what God is to man, not what man is to God. This is a
+foreshadowing of the Christian doctrines of grace and of the Divine
+sovereignty. And again we are left to fill in the objects of the sentences
+for ourselves: God hears, and remembers, and gives--what? All that we have
+to say to Him and all that we are capable of receiving from Him.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II. Heredity. 1 Chron. i.-ix.
+
+
+It has been said that Religion is the great discoverer of truth, while
+Science follows her slowly and after a long interval. Heredity, so much
+discussed just now, is sometimes treated as if its principles were a great
+discovery of the present century. Popular science is apt to ignore history
+and to mistake a fresh nomenclature for an entirely new system of truth,
+and yet the immense and far-reaching importance of heredity has been one
+of the commonplaces of thought ever since history began. Science has been
+anticipated, not merely by religious feeling, but by a universal instinct.
+In the old world political and social systems have been based upon the
+recognition of the principle of heredity, and religion has sanctioned such
+recognition. Caste in India is a religious even more than a social
+institution; and we use the term figuratively in reference to ancient and
+modern life, even when the institution has not formally existed. Without
+the aid of definite civil or religious law the force of sentiment and
+circumstances suffices to establish an informal system of caste. Thus the
+feudal aristocracy and guilds of the Middle Ages were not without their
+rough counterparts in the Old Testament. Moreover, the local divisions of
+the Hebrew kingdoms corresponded in theory, at any rate, to blood
+relationships; and the tribe, the clan, and the family had even more
+fixity and importance than now belong to the parish or the municipality. A
+man's family history or genealogy was the ruling factor in determining his
+home, his occupation, and his social position. In the chronicler's time
+this was especially the case with the official ministers of religion, the
+Temple establishment to which he himself belonged. The priests, the
+Levites, the singers, and doorkeepers formed castes in the strict sense of
+the word. A man's birth definitely assigned him to one of these classes,
+to which none but the members of certain families could belong.
+
+But the genealogies had a deeper significance. Israel was Jehovah's chosen
+people, His son, to whom special privileges were guaranteed by solemn
+covenant. A man's claim to share in this covenant depended on his genuine
+Israelite descent, and the proof of such descent was an authentic
+genealogy. In these chapters the chronicler has taken infinite pains to
+collect pedigrees from all available sources and to construct a complete
+set of genealogies exhibiting the lines of descent of the families of
+Israel. His interest in this research was not merely antiquarian: he was
+investigating matters of the greatest social and religious importance to
+all the members of the Jewish community, and especially to his colleagues
+and friends in the Temple service. These chapters, which seem to us so dry
+and useless, were probably regarded by the chronicler's contemporaries as
+the most important part of his work. The preservation or discovery of a
+genealogy was almost a matter of life and death. Witness the episode in
+Ezra and Nehemiah(57): "And of the priests: the children of Hobaiah, the
+children of Hakkoz, the children of Barzillai, which took a wife of the
+daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name.
+These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy,
+but it was not found; therefore they were deemed polluted and put from the
+priesthood. And the governor said unto them that they should not eat of
+the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim."
+Cases like these would stimulate our author's enthusiasm. As he turned
+over dusty receptacles, and unrolled frayed parchments, and painfully
+deciphered crabbed and faded script, he would be excited by the hope of
+discovering some mislaid genealogy that would restore outcasts to their
+full status and privileges as Israelites and priests. Doubtless he had
+already acquired in some measure the subtle exegesis and minute casuistry
+that were the glory of later Rabbinism. Ingenious interpretation of
+obscure writing or the happy emendation of half-obliterated words might
+lend opportune aid in the recovery of a genealogy. On the other hand,
+there were vested interests ready to protest against the too easy
+acceptance of new claims. The priestly families of undoubted descent from
+Aaron would not thank a chronicler for reviving lapsed rights to a share
+in the offices and revenues of the Temple. This part of our author's task
+was as delicate as it was important.
+
+We will now briefly consider the genealogies in these chapters in the
+order in which they are given. Chap. i. contains genealogies of the
+patriarchal period selected from Genesis. The existing races of the world
+are all traced back through Shem, Ham, and Japheth to Noah, and through
+him to Adam. The chronicler thus accepts and repeats the doctrine of
+Genesis that God made of one every nation of men for to dwell on all the
+face of the earth.(58) All mankind, "Greek and Jew, circumcision and
+uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman,"(59) were alike
+descended from Noah, who was saved from the Flood by the special care of
+God; from Enoch, who walked with God; from Adam, who was created by God in
+His own image and likeness. The Israelites did not claim, like certain
+Greek clans, to be the descendants of a special god of their own, or, like
+the Athenians, to have sprung miraculously from sacred soil. Their
+genealogies testified that not merely Israelite nature, but human nature,
+is moulded on a Divine pattern. These apparently barren lists of names
+enshrine the great principles of the universal brotherhood of men and the
+universal Fatherhood of God. The chronicler wrote when the broad
+universalism of the prophets was being replaced by the hard exclusiveness
+of Judaism; and yet, perhaps unconsciously, he reproduces the genealogies
+which were to be one weapon of St. Paul in his struggle with that
+exclusiveness. The opening chapters of Genesis and Chronicles are among
+the foundations of the catholicity of the Church of Christ.
+
+For the antediluvian period only the Sethite genealogy is given. The
+chronicler's object was simply to give the origin of existing races; and
+the descendants of Cain were omitted, as entirely destroyed by the Flood.
+Following the example of Genesis, the chronicler gives the genealogies of
+other races at the points at which they diverged from the ancestral line
+of Israel, and then continues the family history of the chosen race. In
+this way the descendants of Japheth and Ham, the non-Abrahamic Semites,
+the Ishmaelites, the sons of Keturah, and the Edomites are successively
+mentioned.
+
+The relations of Israel with Edom were always close and mostly hostile.
+The Edomites had taken advantage of the overthrow of the southern kingdom
+to appropriate the south of Judah, and still continued to occupy it. The
+keen interest felt by the chronicler in Edom is shown by the large space
+devoted to the Edomites. The close contiguity of the Jews and Idumaeans
+tended to promote mutual intercourse between them, and even threatened an
+eventual fusion of the two peoples. As a matter of fact, the Idumaean
+Herods became rulers of Judaea. To guard against such dangers to the
+separateness of the Jewish people, the chronicler emphasises the
+historical distinction of race between them and the Edomites.
+
+From the beginning of the second chapter onwards the genealogies are
+wholly occupied with Israelites. The author's special interest in Judah is
+at once manifested. After giving the list of the twelve Patriarchs he
+devotes two and a half chapters to the families of Judah. Here again the
+materials have been mostly obtained from the earlier historical books.
+They are, however, combined with more recent traditions, so that in this
+chapter matter from different sources is pieced together in a very
+confusing fashion. One source of this confusion was the principle that the
+Jewish community could only consist of families of genuine Israelite
+descent. Now a large number of the returned exiles traced their descent to
+two brothers, Caleb and Jerahmeel; but in the older narratives Caleb and
+Jerahmeel are not Israelites. Caleb is a Kenizzite,(60) and his
+descendants and those of Jerahmeel appear in close connection with the
+Kenites.(61) Even in this chapter certain of the Calebites are called
+Kenites and connected in some strange way with the Rechabites.(62) Though
+at the close of the monarchy the Calebites and Jerahmeelites had become an
+integral part of the tribe of Judah, their separate origin had not been
+forgotten, and Caleb and Jerahmeel had not been included in the Israelite
+genealogies. But after the Exile men came to feel more and more strongly
+that a common faith implied unity of race. Moreover, the practical unity
+of the Jews with these Kenizzites overbore the dim and fading memory of
+ancient tribal distinctions. Jews and Kenizzites had shared the Captivity,
+the Exile, and the Return; they worked, and fought, and worshipped side by
+side; and they were to all intents and purposes one nation, alike the
+people of Jehovah. This obvious and important practical truth was
+expressed as such truths were then wont to be expressed. The children of
+Caleb and Jerahmeel were finally and formally adopted into the chosen
+race. Caleb and Jerahmeel are no longer the sons of Jephunneh the
+Kenizzite; they are the sons of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of
+Judah.(63) A new genealogy was formed as a recognition rather than an
+explanation of accomplished facts.
+
+Of the section containing the genealogies of Judah, the lion's share is
+naturally given to the house of David, to which a part of the second
+chapter and the whole of the third are devoted.
+
+Next follow genealogies of the remaining tribes, those of Levi and
+Benjamin being by far the most complete. Chap. vi., which is devoted to
+Levi, affords evidence of the use by the chronicler of independent and
+sometimes inconsistent sources, and also illustrates his special interest
+in the priesthood and the Temple choir. A list of high-priests from Aaron
+to Ahimaaz is given twice over (vv. 4-8 and 49-53), but only one line of
+high-priests is recognised, the house of Zadok, whom Josiah's reforms had
+made the one priestly family in Israel. Their ancient rivals the
+high-priests of the house of Eli are as entirely ignored as the
+antediluvian Cainites. The existing high-priestly dynasty had been so long
+established that these other priests of Saul and David seemed no longer to
+have any significance for the religion of Israel.
+
+The pedigree of the three Levitical families of Gershom, Kohath, and
+Merari is also given twice over: in vv. 16-30 and 31-49. The former
+pedigree begins with the sons of Levi, and proceeds to their descendants;
+the latter begins with the founders of the guilds of singers, Heman,
+Asaph, and Ethan, and traces back their genealogies to Kohath, Gershom,
+and Merari respectively. But the pedigrees do not agree; compare, for
+instance, the lists of the Kohathites:--
+
+22-24.            36-38.
+Kohath            Kohath
+_Amminadab_       _Izhar_
+Korah             Korah
+_Assir_
+_Elkanah_
+Ebiasaph          Ebiasaph
+Assir             Assir
+Tahath            Tahath
+_Uriel_           _Zephaniah_
+_Uzziah_          _Azariah_
+_Shaul_           etc.
+
+We have here one of many illustrations of the fact that the chronicler
+used materials of very different value. To attempt to prove the absolute
+consistency of all his genealogies would be mere waste of time. It is by
+no means certain that he himself supposed them to be consistent. The frank
+juxtaposition of varying lists of ancestors rather suggests that he was
+prompted by a scholarly desire to preserve for his readers all available
+evidence of every kind.
+
+In reading the genealogies of the tribe of Benjamin, it is specially
+interesting to find that in the Jewish community of the Restoration there
+were families tracing their descent through Mephibosheth and Jonathan to
+Saul.(64) Apparently the chronicler and his contemporaries shared this
+special interest in the fortunes of a fallen dynasty, for the genealogy is
+given twice over. These circumstances are the more striking because in the
+actual history of Chronicles Saul is all but ignored.
+
+The rest of the ninth chapter deals with the inhabitants of Jerusalem and
+the ministry of the Temple after the return from the Captivity, and is
+partly identical with sections of Ezra and Nehemiah. It closes the family
+history, as it were, of Israel, and its position indicates the standpoint
+and ruling interests of the chronicler.
+
+Thus the nine opening chapters of genealogies and kindred matter strike
+the key-notes of the whole book. Some are personal and professional; some
+are religious. On the one hand, we have the origin of existing families
+and institutions; on the other hand, we have the election of the tribe of
+Judah and the house of David, of the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron.
+
+Let us consider first the hereditary character of the Jewish religion and
+priesthood. Here, as elsewhere, the formal doctrine only recognised and
+accepted actual facts. The conditions which received the sanction of
+religion were first imposed by the force of circumstances. In primitive
+times, if there was to be any religion at all, it had to be national; if
+God was to be worshipped at all, His worship was necessarily national, and
+He became in some measure a national God. Sympathies are limited by
+knowledge and by common interest. The ordinary Israelite knew very little
+of any other people than his own. There was little international comity in
+primitive times, and nations were slow to recognise that they had common
+interests. It was difficult for an Israelite to believe that his beloved
+Jehovah, in whom he had been taught to trust, was also the God of the
+Arabs and Syrians, who periodically raided his crops, and cattle, and
+slaves, and sometimes carried off his children, or of the Chaldaeans, who
+made deliberate and complete arrangements for plundering the whole
+country, rasing its cities to the ground, and carrying away the population
+into distant exile. By a supreme act of faith, the prophets claimed the
+enemies and oppressors of Israel as instruments of the will of Jehovah,
+and the chronicler's genealogies show that he shared this faith; but it
+was still inevitable that the Jews should look out upon the world at large
+from the standpoint of their own national interests and experience.
+Jehovah was God of heaven and earth; but Israelites knew Him through the
+deliverance He had wrought for Israel, the punishments He had inflicted on
+her sins, and the messages He had entrusted to her prophets. As far as
+their knowledge and practical experience went, they knew Him as the God of
+Israel. The course of events since the fall of Samaria narrowed still
+further the local associations of Hebrew worship.
+
+
+    "God was wroth,
+    And greatly abhorred Israel,
+    So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
+    The tent which He placed among men;
+
+    He refused the tent of Joseph,
+    And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
+    But chose the tribe of Judah,
+    The Mount Zion which He loved:
+    And He built His sanctuary like the heights,
+    Like the earth, which He hath established for ever."(65)
+
+
+We are doubtless right in criticising those Jews whose limitations led
+them to regard Jehovah as a kind of personal possession, the inheritance
+of their own nation, and not of other peoples. But even here we can only
+blame their negations. Jehovah _was_ their inheritance and personal
+possession; but then He was also the inheritance of other nations. This
+Jewish heresy is by no means extinct: white men do not always believe that
+their God is equally the God of the negro; Englishmen are inclined to
+think that God is the God of England in a more especial way than He is the
+God of France. When we discourse concerning God in history, we mostly mean
+our own history. We can see the hand of Providence in the wreck of the
+Armada and the overthrow of Napoleon; but we are not so ready to recognise
+in the same Napoleon the Divine instrument that created a new Europe by
+relieving her peoples from cruel and degrading tyranny. We scarcely
+realise that God cares as much for the Continent as He does for our
+island.
+
+We have great and perhaps sufficient excuses, but we must let the Jews
+have the benefit of them. God is as much the God of one nation as of
+another; but He fulfils Himself to different nations in different ways, by
+a various providential discipline. Each people is bound to believe that
+God has specially adapted His dealings to its needs, nor can we be
+surprised if men forget or fail to observe that God has done no less for
+their neighbours. Each nation rightly regards its religious ideas, and
+life, and literature as a precious inheritance peculiarly its own; and it
+should not be too severely blamed for being ignorant that other nations
+have their inheritance also. Such considerations largely justify the
+interest in heredity shown by the chronicler's genealogies. On the
+positive, practical side, religion _is_ largely a matter of heredity, and
+ought to be. The Christian sacrament of baptism is a continual profession
+of this truth: our children are "clean"; they are within the covenant of
+grace; we claim for them the privileges of the Church to which we belong.
+That was also part of the meaning of the genealogies.
+
+In the broad field of social and religious life the problems of heredity
+are in some ways less complicated than in the more exact discussions of
+physical science. Practical effects can be considered without attempting
+an accurate analysis of causes. Family history not only determines
+physical constitution, mental gifts, and moral character, but also fixes
+for the most part country, home, education, circumstances, and social
+position. All these were a man's inheritance more peculiarly in Israel
+than with us; and in many cases in Israel a man was often trained to
+inherit a family profession. Apart from the ministry of the Temple, we
+read of a family of craftsmen, of other families that were potters, of
+others who dwelt with the king for his work, and of the families of the
+house of them that wrought fine linen.(66) Religion is largely involved in
+the manifold inheritance which a man receives from his fathers. His birth
+determines his religious education, the examples of religious life set
+before him, the forms of worship in which as a child he takes part. Most
+men live and die in the religion of their childhood; they worship the God
+of their fathers; Romanist remains Romanist: Protestant remains
+Protestant. They may fail to grasp any living faith, or may lose all
+interest in religion; but such religion as most men have is part of their
+inheritance. In the Israel of the chronicler faith and devotion to God
+were almost always and entirely inherited. They were part of the great
+debt which a man owed to his fathers.
+
+The recognition of these facts should tend to foster our humility and
+reverence, to encourage patriotism and philanthropy. We are the creatures
+and debtors of the past, though we are slow to own our obligations. We
+have nothing that we have not received; but we are apt to consider
+ourselves self-made men, the architects and builders of our own fortunes,
+who have the right to be self-satisfied, self-assertive, and selfish. The
+heir of all the ages, in the full vigour of youth, takes his place in the
+foremost ranks of time, and marches on in the happy consciousness of
+profound and multifarious wisdom, immense resources, and magnificent
+opportunity. He forgets or even despises the generations of labour and
+anguish that have built up for him his great inheritance. The genealogies
+are a silent protest against such insolent ingratitude. They remind us
+that in bygone days a man derived his gifts and received his opportunities
+from his ancestors; they show us men as the links in a chain, tenants for
+life, as it were, of our estate, called upon to pay back with interest to
+the future the debt which they have incurred to the past. We see that the
+chain is a long one, with many links; and the slight estimate we are
+inclined to put upon the work of individuals in each generation recoils
+upon our own pride. We also are but individuals of a generation that is
+only one of the thousands needed to work out the Divine purpose for
+mankind. We are taught the humility that springs from a sense of
+obligation and responsibility.
+
+We learn reverence for the workers and achievements of the past, and most
+of all for God. We are reminded of the scale of the Divine working:--
+
+
+    "A thousand years in Thy sight
+    Are but as yesterday when it is past
+    And as a watch in the night."
+
+
+A genealogy is a brief and pointed reminder that God has been working
+through all the countless generations behind us. The bare series of names
+is an expressive diagram of His mighty process. Each name in the earlier
+lists stands for a generation or even for several generations. The
+genealogies go back into dim, prehistoric periods; they suggest a past too
+remote for our imagining. And yet they take us back to Adam, to the very
+beginning of human life. From that beginning, however many thousands or
+tens of thousands of years ago, the life of man has been sacred, the
+object of the Divine care and love, the instrument of the Divine purpose.
+
+Later on we see the pedigree of our race dividing into countless branches,
+all of which are represented in this sacred diagram of humanity. The
+Divine working not only extends over all time, but also embraces all the
+complicated circumstances and relationships of the families of mankind.
+These genealogies suggest a lesson probably not intended by the
+chronicler. We recognise the unique character of the history of Israel,
+but in some measure we discern in this one full and detailed narrative of
+the chosen people a type of the history of every race. Others had not the
+election of Israel, but each had its own vocation. God's power, and
+wisdom, and love are manifested in the history of one chosen people on a
+scale commensurate with our limited faculties, so that we may gain some
+faint idea of the marvellous providence in _all_ history of the Father
+from whom _every_ family in heaven and on earth is named.
+
+Another principle closely allied to heredity and also discussed in modern
+times is the solidarity of the race. Humanity is supposed to possess
+something akin to a common consciousness, personality, or individuality.
+Such a quality evidently becomes more intense as we narrow its scope from
+the race to the nation, the clan, and the family; it has its roots in
+family relationships. Tribal, national, humanitarian feelings indicate
+that the larger societies have taken upon themselves something of the
+character of the family. Thus the common feelings and mutual sympathies of
+mankind are due ultimately to blood relationship. The genealogies that set
+forth family histories are the symbols of this brotherhood or solidarity
+of our race. The chart of converging lines of ancestors in Israel carried
+men's minds back from the separate families to their common ancestor;
+again, the ancestry of ancestors led back to a still earlier common
+origin, and the process continued till all the lines met in Noah. Each
+stage of the process enlarged the range of every man's kinship, and
+broadened the natural area of mutual help and affection. It is true that
+the Jews failed to learn this larger lesson from their genealogies, but
+within their own community they felt intensely the bond of kinship and
+brotherhood. Modern patriotism reproduces the strong Jewish national
+feeling, and our humanitarianism is beginning to extend it to the whole
+world. By this time the facts of heredity have been more carefully studied
+and are better understood. If we drew up typical genealogies now, they
+would more fully and accurately represent the mutual relationships of our
+people. As far as they go, the chronicler's genealogies form a clear and
+instructive diagram of the mutual dependence of man on man and family on
+family. The value of the diagram does not require the accuracy of the
+actual names any more than the validity of Euclid requires the actual
+existence of triangles called A B C, D E F. These genealogies are in any
+case a true symbol of the facts of family relations; but they are drawn,
+so to speak, in one dimension only, backwards and forwards in time. Yet
+the real family life exists in three dimensions. There are numerous
+cross-relations, cousinship of all degrees, as well as sonship and
+brotherhood. A man has not merely his male ancestors in the directly
+ascending line--father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc.--but he has
+female ancestors as well. By going back three or four generations a man is
+connected with an immense number of cousins; and if the complete network
+of ten or fifteen generations could be worked out, it would probably show
+some blood bond throughout a whole nation. Thus the ancestral roots of a
+man's life and character have wide ramifications in the former generations
+of his people. The further we go back the larger is the element of
+ancestry common to the different individuals of the same community. The
+chronicler's genealogies only show us individuals as links in a set of
+chains. The more complete genealogical scheme would be better illustrated
+by the ganglia of the nervous system, each of which is connected by
+numerous nerve fibres with the other ganglia. The Church has been compared
+to the body, "which is one, and hath many members, and all the members of
+the body, being many, are one body." Humanity, by its natural kinship, is
+also such a body; the nation is still more truly "one body." Patriotism
+and humanity are instincts as natural and as binding as those of the
+family; and the genealogies express or symbolise the wider family ties,
+that they may commend the virtues and enforce the duties that arise out of
+these ties.
+
+Before closing this chapter something may be said on one or two special
+points. Women are virtually ignored in these genealogies, a fact that
+rather indicates a failure to recognise their influence than the absence
+of such influence. Here and there a woman is mentioned for some special
+reason. For instance, the names of Zeruiah and Abigail are inserted in
+order to show that Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, together with Amasa, were
+all cousins of David. The same keen interest in David leads the chronicler
+to record the names of his wives. It is noteworthy that of the four women
+who are mentioned in St. Matthew's genealogy of our Lord only two--Tamar
+and Bath-shua (_i.e._, Bath-sheba)--are mentioned here. Probably St.
+Matthew was careful to complete the list because Rahab and Ruth, like
+Tamar and possibly Bath-sheba, were foreigners, and their names in the
+genealogy indicated a connection between Christ and the Gentiles, and
+served to emphasise His mission to be the Saviour of the world.
+
+Again, much caution is necessary in applying any principle of heredity. A
+genealogy, as we have seen, suggests our dependence in many ways upon our
+ancestry. But a man's relations to his kindred are many and complicated; a
+quality, for instance, may be latent for one or more generations and then
+reappear, so that to all appearance a man inherits from his grandfather or
+from a more remote ancestor rather than from his father or mother.
+Conversely the presence of certain traits of character in a child does not
+show that any corresponding tendency has necessarily been active in the
+life of either parent. Neither must the influence of circumstances be
+confounded with that of heredity. Moreover, very large allowance must be
+made for our ignorance of the laws that govern the human will, an
+ignorance that will often baffle our attempts to find in heredity any
+simple explanation of men's characters and actions. Thomas Fuller has a
+quaint "Scripture observation" that gives an important practical
+application of these principles:--
+
+"Lord, I find the genealogy of my Saviour strangely chequered with four
+remarkable changes in four immediate generations:
+
+"1. 'Rehoboam begat Abiam'; that is, a bad father begat a bad son.
+
+"2. 'Abiam begat Asa'; that is, a bad father a good son.
+
+"3. 'Asa begat Jehosaphat'; that is, a good father a good son.
+
+"4. 'Jehosaphat begat Joram'; that is, a good father a bad son.
+
+"I see, Lord, from hence that my father's piety cannot be entailed; that
+is bad news for me. But I see also that actual impiety is not always
+hereditary; that is good news for my son."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III. Statistics.
+
+
+Statistics play an important part in Chronicles and in the Old Testament
+generally. To begin with, there are the genealogies and other lists of
+names, such as the lists of David's counsellors and the roll of honour of
+his mighty men. The chronicler specially delights in lists of names, and
+most of all in lists of Levitical choristers. He gives us lists of the
+orchestras and choirs who performed when the Ark was brought to Zion(67)
+and at Hezekiah's passover,(68) also a list of Levites whom Jehoshaphat
+sent out to teach in Judah.(69) No doubt family pride was gratified when
+the chronicler's contemporaries and friends read the names of their
+ancestors in connection with great events in the history of their
+religion. Possibly they supplied him with the information from which these
+lists were compiled. An incidental result of the celibacy of the Romanist
+clergy has been to render ancient ecclesiastical genealogies impossible;
+modern clergymen cannot trace their descent to the monks who landed with
+Augustine. Our genealogies might enable a historian to construct lists of
+the combatants at Agincourt and Hastings; but the Crusades are the only
+wars of the Church militant for which modern pedigrees could furnish a
+muster-roll.
+
+We find also in the Old Testament the specifications and
+subscription-lists for the Tabernacle and for Solomon's temple.(70) These
+statistics, however, are not furnished for the second Temple, probably for
+the same reason that in modern subscription-lists the donors of shillings
+and half-crowns are to be indicated by initials, or described as "friends"
+and "sympathisers," or massed together under the heading "smaller sums."
+
+The Old Testament is also rich in census returns and statements as to the
+numbers of armies and of the divisions of which they were composed. There
+are the returns of the census taken twice in the wilderness and accounts
+of the numbers of the different families who came from Babylon with
+Zerubbabel and later on with Ezra; there is a census of the Levites in
+David's time according to their several families(71); there are the
+numbers of the tribal contingents that came to Hebron to make David
+king,(72) and much similar information.
+
+Statistics therefore occupy a conspicuous position in the inspired record
+of Divine revelation, and yet we often hesitate to connect such terms as
+"inspiration" and "revelation" with numbers, and names, and details of
+civil and ecclesiastical organisation. We are afraid lest any stress laid
+on purely accidental details should distract men's attention from the
+eternal essence of the Gospel, lest any suggestion that the certainty of
+Christian truth is dependent on the accuracy of these statistics should
+become a stumbling-block and destroy the faith of some. Concerning such
+matters there have been many foolish questions of genealogies, profane and
+vain babblings, which have increased unto more ungodliness. Quite apart
+from these, even in the Old Testament a sanctity attaches to the number
+seven, but there is no warrant for any considerable expenditure of time
+and thought upon mystical arithmetic. A symbolism runs through the details
+of the building, furniture, and ritual alike of the Tabernacle and the
+Temple, and this symbolism possesses a legitimate religious significance;
+but its exposition is not specially suggested by the book of Chronicles.
+The exposition of such symbolism is not always sufficiently governed by a
+sense of proportion. Ingenuity in supplying subtle interpretations of
+minute details often conceals the great truths which the symbols are
+really intended to enforce. Moreover, the sacred writers did not give
+statistics merely to furnish materials for Cabbala and Gematria or even to
+serve as theological types and symbols. Sometimes their purpose was more
+simple and practical. If we knew all the history of the Tabernacle and
+Temple subscription-lists, we should doubtless find that they had been
+used to stimulate generous gifts towards the erection of the second
+Temple. Preachers for building funds can find abundance of suitable texts
+in Exodus, Kings, and Chronicles.
+
+But Biblical statistics are also examples in accuracy and thoroughness of
+information, and recognitions of the more obscure and prosaic
+manifestations of the higher life. Indeed, in these and other ways the
+Bible gives an anticipatory sanction to the exact sciences.
+
+The mention of accuracy in connection with Chronicles may be received by
+some readers with a contemptuous smile. But we are indebted to the
+chronicler for exact and full information about the Jews who returned from
+Babylon; and in spite of the extremely severe judgment passed upon
+Chronicles by many critics, we may still venture to believe that the
+chronicler's statistics are as accurate as his knowledge and critical
+training rendered possible. He may sometimes give figures obtained by
+calculation from uncertain data, but such a practice is quite consistent
+with honesty and a desire to supply the best available information. Modern
+scholars are quite ready to present us with figures as to the membership
+of the Christian Church under Antoninus Pius or Constantine; and some of
+these figures are not much more probable than the most doubtful in
+Chronicles. All that is necessary to make the chronicler's statistics an
+example to us is that they should be the monument of a conscientious
+attempt to tell the truth, and this they undoubtedly are.
+
+This Biblical example is the more useful because statistics are often evil
+spoken of, and they have no outward attractiveness to shield them from
+popular prejudice. We are told that "nothing is so false as statistics,"
+and that "figures will prove anything"; and the polemic is sustained by
+works like _Hard Times_ and the awful example of Mr. Gradgrind. Properly
+understood, these proverbs illustrate the very general impatience of any
+demand for exact thought and expression. If "figures" will prove anything,
+so will texts.
+
+Though this popular prejudice cannot be altogether ignored, yet it need
+not be taken too seriously. The opposite principle, when stated, will at
+once be seen to be a truism. For it amounts to this: exact and
+comprehensive knowledge is the basis of a right understanding of history,
+and is a necessary condition of right action. This principle is often
+neglected because it is obvious. Yet, to illustrate it from our author, a
+knowledge of the size and plan of the Temple greatly adds to the vividness
+of our pictures of Hebrew religion. We apprehend later Jewish life much
+more clearly with the aid of the statistics as to the numbers, families,
+and settlements of the returning exiles; and similarly the account-books
+of the bailiff of an English estate in the fourteenth century are worth
+several hundred pages of contemporary theology. These considerations may
+encourage those who perform the thankless task of compiling the
+statistics, subscription-lists, and balance-sheets of missionary and
+philanthropic societies. The zealous and intelligent historian of
+Christian life and service will need these dry records to enable him to
+understand his subject, and the highest literary gifts may be employed in
+the eloquent exposition of these apparently uninteresting facts and
+figures. Moreover, upon the accuracy of these records depends the
+possibility of determining a true course for the future. Neither societies
+nor individuals, for instance, can afford to live beyond their income
+without knowing it.
+
+Statistics, too, are the only form in which many acts of service can be
+recognised and recorded. Literature can only deal with typical instances,
+and naturally it selects the more dramatic. The missionary report can only
+tell the story of a few striking conversions; it may give the history of
+the exceptional self-denial involved in one or two of its subscriptions;
+for the rest we must be content with tables and subscription-lists. But
+these dry statistics represent an infinitude of patience and self-denial,
+of work and prayer, of Divine grace and blessing. The city missionary may
+narrate his experiences with a few inquirers and penitents, but the great
+bulk of his work can only be recorded in the statement of visits paid and
+services conducted. We are tempted sometimes to disparage these
+statements, to ask how many of the visits and services had any result; we
+are impatient sometimes because Christian work is estimated by any such
+numerical line and measure. No doubt the method has many defects, and must
+not be used too mechanically; but we cannot give it up without ignoring
+altogether much earnest and successful labour.
+
+Our chronicler's interest in statistics lays healthy emphasis on the
+practical character of religion. There is a danger of identifying
+spiritual force with literary and rhetorical gifts; to recognise the
+religious value of statistics is the most forcible protest against such
+identification. The permanent contribution of any age to religious thought
+will naturally take a literary form, and the higher the literary qualities
+of religious writing, the more likely it is to survive. Shakespeare,
+Milton, and Bunyan have probably exercised a more powerful direct
+religious influence on subsequent generations than all the theologians of
+the seventeenth century. But the supreme service of the Church in any age
+is its influence on its own generation, by which it moulds the generation
+immediately following. That influence can only be estimated by a careful
+study of all possible information, and especially of statistics. We cannot
+assign mathematical values to spiritual effects and tabulate them like
+Board of Trade returns; but real spiritual movements will before long have
+practical issues, that can be heard, and seen, and felt, and even admit of
+being put into tables. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
+hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it
+goeth"(73); and yet the boughs and the corn bend before the wind, and the
+ships are carried across the sea to their desired haven. Tables may be
+drawn up of the tonnage and the rate of sailing. So is every one that is
+born of the Spirit. You cannot tell when and how God breathes upon the
+soul; but if the Divine Spirit be indeed at work in any society, there
+will be fewer crimes and quarrels, less scandal, and more deeds of
+charity. We may justly suspect a revival which has no effect upon the
+statistical records of national life. Subscription-lists are very
+imperfect tests of enthusiasm, but any widespread Christian fervour would
+be worth little if it did not swell subscription-lists.
+
+Chronicles is not the most important witness to a sympathetic relationship
+between the Bible and exact science. The first chapter of Genesis is the
+classic example of the appropriation by an inspired writer of the
+scientific spirit and method. Some chapters in Job show a distinctly
+scientific interest in natural phenomena. Moreover, the direct concern of
+Chronicles is in the religious aspects of social science. And yet there is
+a patient accumulation of data with no obvious dramatic value: names,
+dates, numbers, specifications, and ritual which do not improve the
+literary character of the narrative. This conscientious recording of dry
+facts, this noting down of anything and everything that connects with the
+subject, is closely akin to the initial processes of the inductive
+sciences. True, the chronicler's interests are in some directions narrowed
+by personal and professional feeling; but within these limits he is
+anxious to make a complete record, which, as we have seen, sometimes leads
+to repetition. Now inductive science is based on unlimited statistics. The
+astronomer and biologist share the chronicler's appetite for this kind of
+mental food. The lists in Chronicles are few and meagre compared to the
+records of Greenwich Observatory or the volumes which contain the data of
+biology or sociology; but the chronicler becomes in a certain sense the
+forerunner of Darwin, Spencer, and Galton. The differences are indeed
+immense. The interval of two thousand odd years between the ancient
+annalist and the modern scientists has not been thrown away. In estimating
+the value of evidence and interpreting its significance, the chronicler
+was a mere child compared with his modern successors. His aims and
+interests were entirely different from theirs. But yet he was moved by a
+spirit which they may be said to inherit. His careful collection of facts,
+even his tendency to read the ideas and institutions of his own time into
+ancient history, are indications of a reverence for the past and of an
+anxiety to base ideas and action upon a knowledge of that past. This
+foreshadows the reverence of modern science for experience, its anxiety to
+base its laws and theories upon observation of what has actually occurred.
+The principle that the past determines and interprets the present and the
+future lies at the root of the theological attitude of the most
+conservative minds and the scientific work of the most advanced thinkers.
+The conservative spirit, like the chronicler, is apt to suffer its
+inherited prepossessions and personal interests to hinder a true
+observation and understanding of the past. But the chronicler's
+opportunities and experience were narrow indeed compared with those of
+theological students to-day; and we have every right to lay stress on the
+progress which he had achieved and the onward path that it indicated
+rather than on the yet more advanced stages which still lay beyond his
+horizon.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV. Family Traditions. 1 Chron. i. 10, 19, 46; ii. 3, 7, 34; iv.
+9, 10, 18, 22, 27, 34-43; v. 10, 18-22; vii. 21-23; viii. 13.
+
+
+Chronicles is a miniature Old Testament, and may have been meant as a
+handbook for ordinary people, who had no access to the whole library of
+sacred writings. It contains nothing corresponding to the books of Wisdom
+or the apocalyptic literature; but all the other types of Old Testament
+literature are represented. There are genealogies, statistics, ritual,
+history, psalms, and prophecies. The interest shown by Chronicles in
+family traditions harmonises with the stress laid by the Hebrew Scriptures
+upon family life. The other historical books are largely occupied with the
+family history of the Patriarchs, of Moses, of Jephthah, Gideon, Samson,
+Saul, and David. The chronicler intersperses his genealogies with short
+anecdotes about the different families and tribes. Some of these are
+borrowed from the older books; but others are peculiar to our author, and
+were doubtless obtained by him from the family records and traditions of
+his contemporaries. The statements that "Nimrod began to be mighty upon
+the earth"(74); that "the name of one" of Eber's sons "was Peleg, because
+in his days the earth was divided"(75); and that Hadad "smote Moab in the
+field of Midian,"(76) are borrowed from Genesis. As he omits events much
+more important and more closely connected with the history of Israel, and
+gives no account of Babel, or of Abraham, or of the conquest of Canaan,
+these little notes are probably retained by accident, because at times the
+chronicler copied his authorities somewhat mechanically. It was less
+trouble to take the genealogies as they stood than to exercise great care
+in weeding out everything but the bare names.
+
+In one instance,(77) however, the chronicler has erased a curious note to
+a genealogy in Genesis. A certain Anah is mentioned both in Genesis and
+Chronicles among the Horites, who inhabited Mount Seir before it was
+conquered by Edom. Most of us, in reading the Authorised Version, have
+wondered what historical or religious interest secured a permanent record
+for the fact that "Anah found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the
+asses of Zibeon his father." A possible solution seemed to be that this
+note was preserved as the earliest reference to the existence of mules,
+which animals played an important part in the social life of Palestine;
+but the Revised Version sets aside this explanation by substituting "hot
+springs" for "mules," as these hot springs are only mentioned here, the
+passage becomes a greater puzzle than ever. The chronicler could hardly
+overlook this curious piece of information, but he naturally felt that
+this obscure archaeological note about the aboriginal Horites did not fall
+within the scope of his work. On the other hand, the tragic fates of Er
+and Achar(78) had a direct genealogical significance. They are referred to
+in order to explain why the lists contain no descendants of these members
+of the tribe of Judah. The notes to these names illustrate the more
+depressing aspects of history. The men who lived happy, honourable lives
+can be mentioned one after another without any comment; but even the
+compiler of pedigrees pauses to note the crimes and misfortunes that broke
+the natural order of life. The annals of old families dwell with
+melancholy pride on murders, and fatal duels, and suicides. History, like
+an ancient mansion, is haunted with unhappy ghosts. Yet our interest in
+tragedy is a testimony to the blessedness of life; comfort and enjoyment
+are too monotonously common to be worth recording, but we are attracted
+and excited by exceptional instances of suffering and sin.
+
+Let us turn to the episodes of family life only found in Chronicles. They
+may mostly be arranged in little groups of two or three, and some of the
+groups present us with an interesting contrast.
+
+We learn from ii. 34-41 and iv. 18 that two Jewish families traced their
+descent from Egyptian ancestors. Sheshan, according to Chronicles, was
+eighth in descent from Judah and fifth from Jerahmeel, the brother of
+Caleb. Having daughters but no son, he gave one of his daughters in
+marriage to an Egyptian slave named Jarha. The descendants of this union
+are traced for thirteen generations. Genealogies, however, are not always
+complete; and our other data do not suffice to determine even
+approximately the date of this marriage. But the five generations between
+Jerahmeel and Sheshan indicate a period long after the Exodus; and as
+Egypt plays no recorded part in the history of Israel between the Exodus
+and the reign of Solomon, the marriage may have taken place under the
+monarchy. The story is a curious parallel to that of Joseph, with the
+parts of Israelite and Egyptian reversed. God is no respecter of persons;
+it is not only when the desolate and afflicted in strange lands belong to
+the chosen people that Jehovah relieves and delivers them. It is true of
+the Egyptian, as well as of the Israelite, that "the Lord maketh poor and
+maketh rich."
+
+
+    "He bringeth low, He also lifteth up;
+    He raiseth up the poor out of the dust:
+    He lifteth up the needy from the dunghill,
+    To make them sit with princes
+    And inherit the throne of glory."(79)
+
+
+This song might have been sung at Jarha's wedding as well as at Joseph's.
+
+Both these marriages throw a sidelight upon the character of Eastern
+slavery. They show how sharply and deeply it was divided from the hopeless
+degradation of negro slavery in America. Israelites did not recognise
+distinctions of race and colour between themselves and their bondsmen so
+as to treat them as worse than pariahs and regard them with physical
+loathing. An American considers himself disgraced by a slight taint of
+negro blood in his ancestry, but a noble Jewish family was proud to trace
+its descent from an Egyptian slave.
+
+The other story is somewhat different, and rests upon an obscure and
+corrupt passage in iv. 18. The confusion makes it impossible to arrive at
+any date, even by rough approximation. The genealogical relations of the
+actors are by no means certain, but some interesting points are tolerably
+clear. Some time after the conquest of Canaan, a descendant of Caleb
+married two wives, one a Jewess, the other an Egyptian. The Egyptian was
+Bithiah, a daughter of Pharaoh, _i.e._, of the contemporary king of Egypt.
+It appears probable that the inhabitants of Eshtemoa traced their descent
+to this Egyptian princess, while those of Gedor, Soco, and Zanoah claimed
+Mered as their ancestor by his Jewish wife.(80) Here again we have the
+bare outline of a romance, which the imagination is at liberty to fill in.
+It has been suggested that Bithiah may have been the victim of some Jewish
+raid into Egypt, but surely a king of Egypt would have either ransomed his
+daughter or recovered her by force of arms. The story rather suggests that
+the chiefs of the clans of Judah were semi-independent and possessed of
+considerable wealth and power, so that the royal family of Egypt could
+intermarry with them, as with reigning sovereigns. But if so, the pride of
+Egypt must have been greatly broken since the time when the Pharaohs
+haughtily refused to give their daughters in marriage to the kings of
+Babylon.
+
+Both Egyptian alliances occur among the Kenizzites, the descendants of the
+brothers Caleb and Jerahmeel. In one case a Jewess marries an Egyptian
+slave; in the other a Jew marries an Egyptian princess. Doubtless these
+marriages did not stand alone, and there were others with foreigners of
+varying social rank. The stories show that even after the Captivity the
+tradition survived that the clans in the south of Judah had been closely
+connected with Egypt, and that Solomon was not the only member of the
+tribe who had taken an Egyptian wife. Now intermarriage with foreigners is
+partly forbidden by the Pentateuch; and the prohibition was extended and
+sternly enforced by Ezra and Nehemiah.(81) In the time of the chronicler
+there was a growing feeling against such marriages. Hence the traditions
+we are discussing cannot have originated after the Return, but must be at
+any rate earlier than the publication of Deuteronomy under Josiah.
+
+Such marriages with Egyptians must have had some influence on the religion
+of the south of Judah, but probably the foreigners usually followed the
+example of Ruth, and adopted the faith of the families into which they
+came. When they said, "Thy people shall be my people," they did not fail
+to add, "and thy God shall be my God." When the Egyptian princess married
+the head of a Jewish clan, she became one of Jehovah's people; and her
+adoption into the family of the God of Israel was symbolised by a new
+name: "Bithiah," "daughter of Jehovah." Whether later Judaism owed
+anything to Egyptian influences can only be matter of conjecture; at any
+rate, they did not pervert the southern clans from their old faith. The
+Calebites and Jerahmeelites were the backbone of Judah both before and
+after the Captivity.
+
+The remaining traditions relate to the warfare of the Israelites with
+their neighbours. The first is a colourless reminiscence, that might have
+been recorded of the effectual prayer of any pious Israelite. The
+genealogies of chap. iv. are interrupted by a paragraph entirely
+unconnected with the context. The subject of this fragment is a certain
+Jabez never mentioned elsewhere, and, so far as any record goes, as
+entirely "without father, without mother, without genealogy," as
+Melchizedek himself. As chap. iv. deals with the families of Judah, and in
+ii. 55 there is a town Jabez also belonging to Judah, we may suppose that
+the chronicler had reasons for assigning Jabez to that tribe; but he has
+neither given these reasons, nor indicated how Jabez was connected
+therewith. The paragraph runs as follows(82): "And Jabez was honoured
+above his brethren, and his mother called his name Jabez" (_Ya'bec_),
+"saying, In pain" (_'oceb_) "I bore him. And Jabez called upon the God of
+Israel, saying,--
+
+
+    'If Thou wilt indeed bless me
+      By enlarging my possessions,
+    And Thy hand be with me
+      To provide pasture,(83) that I be not in distress' (_'oceb_).
+
+
+And God brought about what he asked." The chronicler has evidently
+inserted here a broken and disconnected fragment from one of his sources;
+and we are puzzled to understand why he gives so much, and no more. Surely
+not merely to introduce the etymologies of Jabez; or if Jabez were so
+important that it was worth while to interrupt the genealogies to furnish
+two derivations of his name, why are we not told more about him? Who was
+he, when and where did he live, and at whose expense were his possessions
+enlarged and pasture provided for him? Everything that could give colour
+and interest to the narrative is withheld, and we are merely told that he
+prayed for earthly blessing and obtained it. The spiritual lesson is
+obvious, but it is very frequently enforced and illustrated in the Old
+Testament. Why should this episode about an utterly unknown man be thrust
+by main force into an unsuitable context, if it is only one example of a
+most familiar truth? It has been pointed out that Jacob vowed a similar
+vow and built an altar to El, the God of Israel(84); but this is one of
+many coincidences. The paragraph certainly tells us something about the
+chronicler's views on prayer, but nothing that is not more forcibly stated
+and exemplified in many other passages; it is mainly interesting to us
+because of the light it throws on his methods of composition. Elsewhere he
+embodies portions of well-known works and apparently assumes that his
+readers are sufficiently versed in them to be able to understand the point
+of his extracts. Probably Jabez was so familiar to the chronicler's
+immediate circle that he can take for granted that a few lines will
+suffice to recall all the circumstances to a reader.
+
+We have next a series of much more definite statements about Israelite
+prowess and success in wars against Moab and other enemies.
+
+In iv. 21, 22, we read, "The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er the
+father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of
+the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea; and
+Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had dominion in
+Moab and returned to Bethlehem."(85) Here again the information is too
+vague to enable us to fix any date, nor is it quite certain who had
+dominion in Moab. The verb "had dominion" is plural in Hebrew, and may
+refer to all or any of the sons of Shelah. But, in spite of uncertainties,
+it is interesting to find chiefs or clans of Judah ruling in Moab.
+Possibly this immigration took place when David conquered and partly
+depopulated the country. The men of Judah may have returned to Bethlehem
+when Moab passed to the northern kingdom at the disruption, or when Moab
+regained its independence.
+
+The incident in iv. 34-43 differs from the preceding in having a definite
+date assigned to it. In the time of Hezekiah some Simeonite clans had
+largely increased in number and found themselves straitened for room for
+their flocks. They accordingly went in search of new pasturage. One
+company went to Gedor, another to Mount Seir.
+
+The situation of Gedor is not clearly known. It cannot be the Gedor of
+Josh. xv. 58, which lay in the heart of Judah. The LXX. has Gerar, a town
+to the south of Gaza, and this may be the right reading; but whether we
+read Gedor or Gerar, the scene of the invasion will be in the country
+south of Judah. Here the children of Simeon found what they wanted, "fat
+pasture, and good," and abundant, for "the land was wide." There was the
+additional advantage that the inhabitants were harmless and inoffensive
+and fell an easy prey to their invaders: "The land was quiet and
+peaceable, for they that dwelt there aforetime were of Ham." As Ham in the
+genealogies is the father of Cainan, these peaceable folk would be
+Cainanites; and among them were a people called Meunim, probably not
+connected with any of the Maons mentioned in the Old Testament, but with
+some other town or district of the same name. So "these written by name
+came in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and smote their tents, and
+the Meunim that were found there, and devoted them to destruction as
+accursed, so that none are left unto this day. And the Simeonites dwelt in
+their stead."(86)
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+Then follows in the simplest and most unconscious way the only
+justification that is offered for the behaviour of the invaders: "because
+there was pasture there for their flocks." The narrative takes for
+granted--
+
+
+    "The good old rule, the simple plan,
+    That they should take who have the power,
+    And they should keep who can."
+
+
+The expedition to Mount Seir appears to have been a sequel to the attack
+on Gedor. Five hundred of the victors emigrated into Edom, and smote the
+remnant of the Amalekites who had survived the massacre under Saul(87);
+"and they also dwelt there unto this day."
+
+In substance, style, and ideas this passage closely resembles the books of
+Joshua and Judges, where the phrase "unto this day" frequently occurs.
+Here, of course, the "day" in question is the time of the chronicler's
+authority. When Chronicles was written the Simeonites in Gedor and Mount
+Seir had long ago shared the fate of their victims.
+
+The conquest of Gedor reminds us how in the early days of the Israelite
+occupation of Palestine "Judah went with Simeon his brother into the same
+southern lands," and they smote the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and
+devoted them to destruction as accursed(88); and how the house of Joseph
+took Bethel by treachery.(89) But the closest parallel is the Danite
+conquest of Laish.(90) The Danite spies said that the people of Laish
+"dwelt in security, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure,"
+harmless and inoffensive, like the Gedorites. Nor were they likely to
+receive succour from the powerful city of Zidon or from other allies, for
+"they were far from the Zidonians, and had no dealings with any man."
+Accordingly, having observed the prosperous but defenceless position of
+this peaceable people, they returned and reported to their brethren,
+"Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and,
+behold, it is very good; and are ye still? Be not slothful to go and to
+enter in to possess the land. When ye go, ye shall come unto a people
+secure, and the land," like that of Gedor, "is large, for God hath given
+it into your hand, a place where there is no want of anything that is in
+the earth."
+
+The moral of these incidents is obvious. When a prosperous people is
+peaceable and defenceless, it is a clear sign that God has delivered them
+into the hand of any warlike and enterprising nation that knows how to use
+its opportunities. The chronicler, however, is not responsible for this
+morality, but he does not feel compelled to make any protest against the
+ethical views of his source. There is a refreshing frankness about these
+ancient narratives. The wolf devours the lamb without inventing any flimsy
+pretext about troubled waters.
+
+But in criticising these Hebrew clans who lived in the dawn of history and
+religion we condemn ourselves. If we make adequate allowance for the
+influence of Christ, and the New Testament, and centuries of Christian
+teaching, Simeon and Dan do not compare unfavourably with modern nations.
+As we review the wars of Christendom, we shall often be puzzled to find
+any ground for the outbreak of hostilities other than the defencelessness
+of the weaker combatant. The Spanish conquest of America and the English
+conquest of India afford examples of the treatment of weaker races which
+fairly rank with those of the Old Testament. Even to-day the independence
+of the smaller European states is mainly guaranteed by the jealousies of
+the Great Powers. Still there has been progress in international morality;
+we have got at last to the stage of AEsop's fable. Public opinion condemns
+wanton aggression against a weak state; and the stronger power employs the
+resources of civilised diplomacy in showing that not only the absent, but
+also the helpless, are always wrong. There has also been a substantial
+advance in humanity towards conquered peoples. Christian warfare even
+since the Middle Ages has been stained with the horrors of the Thirty
+Years' War and many other barbarities; the treatment of the American
+Indians by settlers has often been cruel and unjust; but no civilised
+nation would now systematically massacre men, women, and children in cold
+blood. We are thankful for any progress towards better things, but we
+cannot feel that men have yet realised that Christ has a message for
+nations as well as for individuals. As His disciples we can only pray more
+earnestly that the kingdoms of the earth may in deed and truth become the
+kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.
+
+The next incident is more honourable to the Israelites. "The sons of
+Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh" did not merely
+surprise and slaughter quiet and peaceable people: they conquered
+formidable enemies in fair fight.(91) There are two separate accounts of a
+war with the Hagrites, one appended to the genealogy of Reuben and one to
+that of Gad. The former is very brief and general, comprising nothing but
+a bare statement that there was a successful war and a consequent
+appropriation of territory. Probably the two paragraphs are different
+forms of the same narrative, derived by the chronicler from independent
+sources. We may therefore confine our attention to the more detailed
+account.
+
+Here, as elsewhere, these Transjordanic tribes are spoken of as
+"valiant(92) men," "men able to bear buckler and sword and to shoot with
+the bow, and skilful in war." Their numbers were considerable. While five
+hundred Simeonites were enough to destroy the Amalekites on Mount Seir,
+these eastern tribes mustered "forty and four thousand seven hundred and
+threescore that were able to go forth to war." Their enemies were not
+"quiet and peaceable people," but the wild Bedouin of the desert, "the
+Hagrites, with Jetur and Naphish and Nodab." Nodab is mentioned only here;
+Jetur and Naphish occur together in the lists of the sons of Ishmael.(93)
+Ituraea probably derived its name from the tribe of Jetur. The Hagrites or
+Hagarenes were Arabs closely connected with the Ishmaelites, and they seem
+to have taken their name from Hagar. In Psalm lxxxiii. 6-8 we find a
+similar confederacy on a larger scale:--
+
+
+    "The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
+    Moab and the Hagarenes
+    Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
+    Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre,
+    Assyria also is joined with them;
+    They have holpen the children of Lot."
+
+
+There could be no question of unprovoked aggression against these children
+of Ishmael, that "wild ass of a man, whose hand was against every man, and
+every man's hand against him."(94) The narrative implies that the
+Israelites were the aggressors, but to attack the robber tribes of the
+desert would be as much an act of self-defence as to destroy a hornet's
+nest. We may be quite sure that when Reuben and Gad marched eastward they
+had heavy losses to retrieve and bitter wrongs to avenge. We might find a
+parallel in the campaigns by which robber tribes are punished for their
+raids within our Indian frontier, only we must remember that Reuben and
+Gad were not very much more law-abiding or unselfish than their Arab
+neighbours. They were not engaged in maintaining a _pax Britannica_ for
+the benefit of subject nations; they were carrying on a struggle for
+existence with persistent and relentless foes. Another partial parallel
+would be the border feuds on the Northumbrian marches, when--
+
+
+    "... over border, dale, and fell
+    Full wide and far was terror spread;
+    For pathless marsh and mountain cell
+    The peasant left his lowly shed:
+    The frightened flocks and herds were pent
+    Beneath the peel's rude battlement,
+    And maids and matrons dropped the tear
+    While ready warriors seized the spear;
+    ... the watchman's eye
+    Dun wreaths of distant smoke can spy."(95)
+
+
+But the Israelite expedition was on a larger scale than any "warden raid,"
+and Eastern passions are fiercer and shriller than those sung by the Last
+Minstrel: the maids and matrons of the desert would shriek and wail
+instead of "dropping a tear."
+
+In this great raid of ancient times "the war was of God," not, as at
+Laish, because God found for them helpless and easy victims, but because
+He helped them in a desperate struggle. When the fierce Israelite and Arab
+borderers joined battle, the issue was at first doubtful; and then "they
+cried to God, and He was entreated of them, because they put their trust
+in Him," "and they were helped against" their enemies; "and the Hagrites
+were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them, and there
+fell many slain, because the war was of God"; "and they took away their
+cattle: of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty
+thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of slaves a hundred thousand."
+"And they dwelt in their stead until the captivity."
+
+This "captivity" is the subject of another short note. The chronicler
+apparently was anxious to distribute his historical narratives equally
+among the tribes. The genealogies of Reuben and Gad each conclude with a
+notice of a war, and a similar account follows that of Eastern
+Manasseh:--"And they trespassed against the God of their fathers, and went
+a-whoring after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God destroyed
+before them. And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of
+Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, and he
+carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the
+half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara,
+and to the river of Gozan, unto this day."(96) And this war also was "of
+God." Doubtless the descendants of the surviving Hagrites and Ishmaelites
+were among the allies of the Assyrian king, and saw in the ruin of Eastern
+Israel a retribution for the sufferings of their own people; but the later
+Jews and probably the exiles in "Halah, Habor, and Hara," and by "the
+river of Gozan," far away in North-eastern Mesopotamia, found the cause of
+their sufferings in too great an intimacy with their heathen neighbours:
+they had gone a-whoring after their gods.
+
+The last two incidents which we shall deal with in this chapter serve to
+illustrate afresh the rough-and-ready methods by which the chronicler has
+knotted together threads of heterogeneous tradition into one tangled
+skein. We shall see further how ready ancient writers were to represent a
+tribe by the ancestor from whom it traced its descent. We read in vii. 20,
+21, "The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his
+son, and Eleadah his son, and Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and
+Ezer and Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in the land slew,
+because they came down to take away their cattle."
+
+Ezer and Elead are apparently brothers of the second Shuthelah; at any
+rate, as six generations are mentioned between them and Ephraim, they
+would seem to have lived long after the Patriarch. Moreover, they came
+down to Gath, so that they must have lived in some hill-country not far
+off, presumably the hill-country of Ephraim. But in the next two verses
+(22 and 23) we read, "And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his
+brethren came to comfort him. And he went in to his wife, and she
+conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Beriah, because it went
+evil with his house."
+
+Taking these words literally, Ezer and Elead were the actual sons of
+Ephraim; and as Ephraim and his family were born in Egypt and lived there
+all their days, these patriarchal cattle-lifters did not come down from
+any neighbouring highlands, but must have come up from Egypt, all the way
+from the land of Goshen, across the desert and past several Philistine and
+Canaanite towns. This literal sense is simply impossible. The author from
+whom the chronicler borrowed this narrative is clearly using a natural and
+beautiful figure to describe the distress in the tribe of Ephraim when two
+of its clans were cut off, and the fact that a new clan named _Beriah_ was
+formed to take their place. Possibly we are not without information as to
+how this new clan arose. In viii. 13 we read of two Benjamites, "_Beriah_
+and Shema, who were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of
+Aijalon, who put to flight the inhabitants of Gath." Beriah and Shema
+probably, coming to the aid of Ephraim, avenged the defeat of Ezer and
+Elead; and in return received the possessions of the clans, who had been
+cut off, and Beriah was thus reckoned among the children of Ephraim.(97)
+
+The language of ver. 22 is very similar to that of Gen. xxxvii. 34, 35:
+"And Jacob mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his
+daughters rose up to comfort him"; and the personification of the tribe
+under the name of its ancestor may be paralleled from Judges xxi. 6: "And
+the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother."
+
+Let us now reconstruct the story and consider its significance. Two
+Ephraimite clans, Ezer and Elead, set out to drive the cattle "of the men
+of Gath, who were born in the land," _i.e._, of the aboriginal Avvites,
+who had been dispossessed by the Philistines, but still retained some of
+the pasture-lands. Falling into an ambush or taken by surprise when
+encumbered with their plunder, the Ephraimites were cut off, and nearly
+all the fighting men of the clans perished. The Avvites, reinforced by the
+Philistines of Gath, pressed their advantage, and invaded the territory of
+Ephraim, whose border districts, stripped of their defenders, lay at the
+mercy of the conquerors. From this danger they were rescued by the
+Benjamite clans Shema and Beriah, then occupying Aijalon(98); and the men
+of Gath in their turn were defeated and driven back. The grateful
+Ephraimites invited their allies to occupy the vacant territory and in all
+probability to marry the widows and daughters of their slaughtered
+kinsmen. From that time onwards Beriah was reckoned as one of the clans of
+Ephraim.
+
+The account of this memorable cattle foray is a necessary note to the
+genealogies to explain the origin of an important clan and its double
+connection with Ephraim and Benjamin. Both the chronicler and his
+authority recorded it because of its genealogical significance, not
+because they were anxious to perpetuate the memory of the unfortunate
+raid. In the ancient days to which the episode belonged, a frontier cattle
+foray seemed as natural and meritorious an enterprise as it did to William
+of Deloraine. The chronicler does not think it necessary to signify any
+disapproval it is by no means certain that he did disapprove--of such
+spoiling of the uncircumcised; but the fact that he gives the record
+without comment does not show that he condoned cattle-stealing. Men to-day
+relate with pride the lawless deeds of noble ancestors, but they would be
+dismayed if their own sons proposed to adopt the moral code of mediaeval
+barons or Elizabethan buccaneers.
+
+In reviewing the scanty religious ideas involved in this little group of
+family traditions, we have to remember that they belong to a period of
+Israelite history much older than that of the chronicler; in estimating
+their value, we have to make large allowance for the conventional ethics
+of the times. Religion not only serves to raise the standard of morality,
+but also to keep the average man up to the conventional standard; it helps
+and encourages him to do what he believes to be right as well as gives him
+a better understanding of what right means. Primitive religion is not to
+be disparaged because it did not at once convert the rough Israelite
+clansmen into Havelocks and Gordons. In those early days, courage,
+patriotism, and loyalty to one's tribesmen were the most necessary and
+approved virtues. They were fostered and stimulated by the current belief
+in a God of battles, who gave victory to His faithful people. Moreover,
+the idea of Deity implied in these traditions, though inadequate, is by no
+means unworthy. God is benevolent; He enriches and succours His people; He
+answers prayer, giving to Jabez the land and pasture for which he asked.
+He is a righteous God; He responds to and justifies His people's faith:
+"He was entreated of the Reubenites and Gadites because they put their
+trust in Him." On the other hand, He is a jealous God; He punishes Israel
+when they "trespass against the God of their fathers and go a-whoring
+after the gods of the peoples of the land." But the feeling here
+attributed to Jehovah is not merely one of personal jealousy. Loyalty to
+Him meant a great deal more than a preference for a god called Jehovah
+over a god called Chemosh. It involved a special recognition of morality
+and purity, and gave a religious sanction to patriotism and the sentiment
+of national unity. Worship of Moabite or Syrian gods weakened a man's
+enthusiasm for Israel and his sense of fellowship with his countrymen,
+just as allegiance to an Italian prince and prelate has seemed to
+Protestants to deprive the Romanist of his full inheritance in English
+life and feeling. He who went astray after other gods did not merely
+indulge his individual taste in doctrine and ritual: he was a traitor to
+the social order, to the prosperity and national union, of Israel. Such
+disloyalty broke up the nation, and sent Israel and Judah into captivity
+piecemeal.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V. The Jewish Community In The Time Of The Chronicler.
+
+
+We have already referred to the light thrown by Chronicles on this
+subject. Besides the direct information given in Ezra and Nehemiah, and
+sometimes in Chronicles itself, the chronicler by describing the past in
+terms of the present often unconsciously helps us to reconstruct the
+picture of his own day. We shall have to make occasional reference to the
+books of Ezra and Nehemiah, but the age of the chronicler is later than
+the events which they describe, and we shall be traversing different
+ground from that covered by the volume of the "Expositor's Bible" which
+deals with them.
+
+Chronicles is full of evidence that the civil and ecclesiastical system of
+the Pentateuch had become fully established long before the chronicler
+wrote. Its gradual origin had been forgotten, and it was assumed that the
+Law in its final and complete form had been known and observed from the
+time of David onwards. At every stage of the history Levites are
+introduced, occupying the subordinate position and discharging the menial
+duties assigned to them by the latest documents of the Pentateuch. In
+other matters small and great, especially those concerning the Temple and
+its sanctity, the chronicler shows himself so familiar with the Law that
+he could not imagine Israel without it. Picture the life of Judah as we
+find it in 2 Kings and the prophecies of the eighth century, put this
+picture side by side with another of the Judaism of the New Testament, and
+remember that Chronicles is about a century nearer to the latter than to
+the former. It is not difficult to trace the effect of this absorption in
+the system of the Pentateuch. The community in and about Jerusalem had
+become a Church, and was in possession of a Bible. But the hardening,
+despiritualising processes which created later Judaism were already at
+work. A building, a system of ritual, and a set of officials were coming
+to be regarded as the essential elements of the Church. The Bible was
+important partly because it dealt with these essential elements, partly
+because it provided a series of regulations about washings and meats, and
+thus enabled the layman to exalt his everyday life into a round of
+ceremonial observances. The habit of using the Pentateuch chiefly as a
+handbook of external and technical ritual seriously influenced the current
+interpretation of the Bible. It naturally led to a hard literalism and a
+disingenuous exegesis. This interest in externals is patent enough in the
+chronicler, and the tendencies of Biblical exegesis are illustrated by his
+use of Samuel and Kings. On the other hand, we must allow for great
+development of this process in the interval between Chronicles and the New
+Testament. The evils of later Judaism were yet far from mature, and
+religious life and thought in Palestine were still much more elastic than
+they became later on.
+
+We have also to remember that at this period the zealous observers of the
+Law can only have formed a portion of the community, corresponding roughly
+to the regular attendants at public worship in a Christian country. Beyond
+and beneath the pious legalists were "the people of the land," those who
+were too careless or too busy to attend to ceremonial; but for both
+classes the popular and prominent ideal of religion was made up of a
+magnificent building, a dignified and wealthy clergy, and an elaborate
+ritual, alike for great public functions and for the minutiae of daily
+life.
+
+Besides all these the Jewish community had its sacred writings. As one of
+the ministers of the Temple, and, moreover, both a student of the national
+literature and himself an author, the chronicler represents the best
+literary knowledge of contemporary Palestinian Judaism; and his somewhat
+mechanical methods of composition make it easy for us to discern his
+indebtedness to older writers. We turn his pages with interest to learn
+what books were known and read by the most cultured Jews of his time.
+First and foremost, and overshadowing all the rest, there appears the
+Pentateuch. Then there is the whole array of earlier Historical Books:
+Joshua, Ruth, Samuel, and Kings. The plan of Chronicles excludes a direct
+use of Judges, but it must have been well known to our author. His
+appreciation of the Psalms is shown by his inserting in his history of
+David a cento of passages from Psalms xcvi., cv., and cvi.; on the other
+hand, Psalm xviii. and other lyrics given in the books of Samuel are
+omitted by the chronicler. The later Exilic Psalms were more to his taste
+than ancient hymns, and he unconsciously carries back into the history of
+the monarchy the poetry as well as the ritual of later times. Both
+omissions and insertions indicate that in this period the Jews possessed
+and prized a large collection of psalms.
+
+There are also traces of the Prophets. Hanani the seer in his address to
+Asa(99) quotes Zech. iv. 10: "The eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro
+through the whole earth." Jehoshaphat's exhortation to his people,
+"Believe in the Lord your God; so shall ye be established,"(100) is based
+on Isa. vii. 9: "If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be
+established." Hezekiah's words to the Levites, "Our fathers ... have
+turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their
+backs,"(101) are a significant variation of Jer. ii. 27: "They have turned
+their back unto Me, and not their face." The Temple is substituted for
+Jehovah.
+
+There are of course references to Isaiah and Jeremiah and traces of other
+prophets; but when account is taken of them all, it is seen that the
+chronicler makes scanty use, on the whole, of the Prophetical Books. It is
+true that the idea of illustrating and supplementing information derived
+from annals by means of contemporary literature not in narrative form had
+not yet dawned upon historians; but if the chronicler had taken a tithe of
+the interest in the Prophets that he took in the Pentateuch and the
+Psalms, his work would show many more distinct marks of their influence.
+
+An apocalypse like Daniel and works like Job, Proverbs, and the other
+books of Wisdom lay so far outside the plan and subject of Chronicles that
+we can scarcely consider the absence of any clear trace of them a proof
+that the chronicler did not either know them or care for them.
+
+Our brief review suggests that the literary concern of the chronicler and
+his circle was chiefly in the books most closely connected with the
+Temple; viz., the Historical Books, which contained its history, the
+Pentateuch, which prescribed its ritual, and the Psalms, which served as
+its liturgy. The Prophets occupy a secondary place, and Chronicles
+furnishes no clear evidence as to other Old Testament books.
+
+We also find in Chronicles that the Hebrew language had degenerated from
+its ancient classical purity, and that Jewish writers had already come
+very much under the influence of Aramaic.
+
+We may next consider the evidence supplied by the chronicler as to the
+elements and distribution of the Jewish community in his time. In Ezra and
+Nehemiah we find the returning exiles divided into the men of Judah, the
+men of Benjamin, and the priests, Levites, etc. In Ezra ii. we are told
+that in all there returned 42,360, with 7,337 slaves and 200 "singing men
+and singing women." The priests numbered 4,289; there were 74 Levites, 128
+singers of the children of Asaph, 139 porters, and 392 Nethinim and
+children of Solomon's servants. The singers, porters, Nethinim, and
+children of Solomon's servants are not reckoned among the Levites, and
+there is only one guild of singers: "the children of Asaph." The Nethinim
+are still distinguished from the Levites in the list of those who returned
+with Ezra, and in various lists which occur in Nehemiah. We see from the
+Levitical genealogies and the Levites in 1 Chron. vi., ix., etc, that in
+the time of the chronicler these arrangements had been altered. There were
+now three guilds of singers, tracing their descent to Heman, Asaph, and
+Ethan(102) or Jeduthun, and reckoned by descent among the Levites. The
+guild of Heman seems to have been also known as "the sons of Korah."(103)
+The porters and probably eventually the Nethinim were also reckoned among
+the Levites.(104)
+
+We see therefore that in the interval between Nehemiah and the chronicler
+the inferior ranks of the Temple ministry had been reorganised, the
+musical staff had been enlarged and doubtless otherwise improved, and the
+singers, porters, Nethinim, and other Temple servants had been promoted to
+the position of Levites. Under the monarchy many of the Temple servants
+had been slaves of foreign birth; but now a sacred character was given to
+the humblest menial who shared in the work of the house of God. In
+after-times Herod the Great had a number of priests trained as masons, in
+order that no profane hand might take part in the building of his temple.
+
+Some details have been preserved of the organisation of the Levites. We
+read how the porters were distributed among the different gates, and of
+Levites who were over the chambers and the treasuries, and of other
+Levites how--
+
+"They lodged round about the house of God, because the charge was upon
+them, and to them pertained the opening thereof morning by morning.
+
+"And certain of them had charge of the vessels of service; for by tale
+were they brought in, and by tale were they taken out.
+
+"Some of them also were appointed over the furniture, and over all the
+vessels of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour, and the wine, and the
+oil, and the frankincense, and the spices.
+
+"And some of the sons of the priests prepared the confection of the
+spices.
+
+"And Mattithiah, one of the Levites who was the first-born of Shallum the
+Korahite, had the set office over the things that were baked in pans.
+
+"And some of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the
+shewbread to prepare it every sabbath."(105)
+
+This account is found in a chapter partly identical with Neh. xi., and
+apparently refers to the period of Nehemiah; but the picture in the latter
+part of the chapter was probably drawn by the chronicler from his own
+knowledge of Temple routine. So, too, in his graphic accounts of the
+sacrifices by Hezekiah and Josiah,(106) we seem to have an eyewitness
+describing familiar scenes. Doubtless the chronicler himself had often
+been one of the Temple choir "when the burnt-offering began, and the song
+of Jehovah began also, together with the instruments of David, king of
+Israel; and all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the
+trumpeters sounded; and all this continued till the burnt-offering was
+finished."(107) Still the scale of these sacrifices, the hundreds of oxen
+and thousands of sheep, may have been fixed to accord with the splendour
+of the ancient kings. Such profusion of victims probably represented
+rather the dreams than the realities of the chronicler's Temple.
+
+Our author's strong feeling for his own Levitical order shows itself in
+his narrative of Hezekiah's great sacrifices. The victims were so numerous
+that there were not priests enough to flay them; to meet the emergency the
+Levites were allowed on this one occasion to discharge a priestly function
+and to take an unusually conspicuous part in the national festival. In
+zeal they were even superior to the priests: "The Levites were more
+upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests." Possibly here
+the chronicler is describing an incident which he could have paralleled
+from his own experience. The priests of his time may often have yielded to
+a natural temptation to shirk the laborious and disagreeable parts of
+their duty; they would catch at any plausible pretext to transfer their
+burdens to the Levites, which the latter would be eager to accept for the
+sake of a temporary accession of dignity. Learned Jews were always experts
+in the art of evading the most rigid and minute regulations of the Law.
+For instance, the period of service appointed for the Levites in the
+Pentateuch was from the age of thirty to that of fifty.(108) But we gather
+from Ezra and Nehemiah that comparatively few Levites could be induced to
+throw in their lot with the returning exiles; there were not enough to
+perform the necessary duties. To make up for paucity of numbers, this
+period of service was increased; and they were required to serve from
+twenty years old and upward.(109) As the former arrangement had formed
+part of the law attributed to Moses, in course of time the later
+innovation was supposed to have originated with David.
+
+There were, too, other reasons for increasing the efficiency of the
+Levitical order by lengthening their term of service and adding to their
+numbers. The establishment of the Pentateuch as the sacred code of Judaism
+imposed new duties on priests and Levites alike. The people needed
+teachers and interpreters of the numerous minute and complicated rules by
+which they were to govern their daily life. Judges were needed to apply
+the laws in civil and criminal cases. The Temple ministers were the
+natural authorities on the Torah; they had a chief interest in expounding
+and enforcing it. But in these matters also the priests seem to have left
+the new duties to the Levites. Apparently the first "scribes," or
+professional students of the Law, were mainly Levites. There were priests
+among them, notably the great father of the order, "Ezra the priest the
+scribe," but the priestly families took little share in this new work. The
+origin of the educational and judicial functions of the Levites had also
+come to be ascribed to the great kings of Judah. A Levitical scribe is
+mentioned in the time of David.(110) In the account of Josiah's reign we
+are expressly told that "of the Levites there were scribes, and officers,
+and porters"; and they are described as "the Levites that taught all
+Israel."(111) In the same context we have the traditional authority and
+justification for this new departure. One of the chief duties imposed upon
+the Levites by the Law was the care and carriage of the Tabernacle and its
+furniture during the wanderings in the wilderness. Josiah, however, bids
+the Levites "put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David,
+king of Israel, did build; there shall no more be a burden upon your
+shoulders; now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel."(112) In
+other words, "You are relieved of a large part of your old duties, and
+therefore have time to undertake new ones." The immediate application of
+this principle seems to be that a section of the Levites should do all the
+menial work of the sacrifices, and so leave the priests, and singers, and
+porters free for their own special service; but the same argument would be
+found convenient and conclusive whenever the priests desired to impose any
+new functions on the Levites.
+
+Still the task of expounding and enforcing the Law brought with it
+compensations in the shape of dignity, influence, and emolument; and the
+Levites would soon be reconciled to their work as scribes, and would
+discover with regret that they could not retain the exposition of the Law
+in their own hands. Traditions were cherished in certain Levitical
+families that their ancestors had been "officers and judges" under
+David(113); and it was believed that Jehoshaphat had organised a
+commission largely composed of Levites to expound and administer the Law
+in country districts.(114) This commission consisted of five princes, nine
+Levites, and two priests; "and they taught in Judah, having the book of
+the law of the Lord with them; and they went about throughout all the
+cities of Judah and taught among the people." As the subject of their
+teaching was the Pentateuch, their mission must have been rather judicial
+than religious. With regard to a later passage, it has been suggested that
+"probably it is the organisation of justice as existing in his own day
+that he" (the chronicler) "here carries back to Jehoshaphat, so that here
+most likely we have the oldest testimony to the synedrium of Jerusalem as
+a court of highest instance over the provincial synedria, as also to its
+composition and presidency."(115) We can scarcely doubt that the form the
+chronicler has given to the tradition is derived from the institutions of
+his own age, and that his friends the Levites were prominent among the
+doctors of the Law, and not only taught and judged in Jerusalem, but also
+visited the country districts.
+
+It will appear from this brief survey that the Levites were very
+completely organised. There were not only the great classes, the scribes,
+officers, porters, singers, and the Levites proper, so to speak, who
+assisted the priests, but special families had been made responsible for
+details of service: "Mattithiah had the set office over the things that
+were baked in pans; and some of their brethren, of the sons of the
+Kohathites, were over the shewbread, to prepare it every sabbath."(116)
+
+The priests were organised quite differently. The small number of Levites
+necessitated careful arrangements for using them to the best advantage; of
+priests there were enough and to spare. The four thousand two hundred and
+eighty-nine priests who returned with Zerubbabel were an extravagant and
+impossible allowance for a single temple, and we are told that the numbers
+increased largely as time went on. The problem was to devise some means by
+which all the priests should have some share in the honours and emoluments
+of the Temple, and its solution was found in the "courses." The priests
+who returned with Zerubbabel are registered in four families: "the
+children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua; ... the children of Immer;
+... the children of Pashhur; ... the children of Harim."(117) But the
+organisation of the chronicler's time is, as usual, to be found among the
+arrangements ascribed to David, who is said to have divided the priests
+into their twenty-four courses.(118) Amongst the heads of the courses we
+find Jedaiah, Jeshua, Harim, and Immer, but not Pashhur. Post-Biblical
+authorities mention twenty-four courses in connection with the second
+Temple. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to the course
+of Abijah(119); and Josephus mentions a course "Eniakim."(120) Abijah was
+the head of one of David's courses; and Eniakim is almost certainly a
+corruption of Eliakim, of which name Jakim in Chronicles is a contraction.
+
+These twenty-four courses discharged the priestly duties each in its turn.
+One was busy at the temple while the other twenty-three were at home, some
+perhaps living on the profits of their office, others at work on their
+farms. The high-priest, of course, was always at the Temple; and the
+continuity of the ritual would necessitate the appointment of other
+priests as a permanent staff. The high-priest and the staff, being always
+on the spot, would have great opportunities for improving their own
+position at the expense of the other members of the courses, who were only
+there occasionally for a short time. Accordingly we are told later on that
+a few families had appropriated nearly all the priestly emoluments.
+
+Courses of the Levites are sometimes mentioned in connection with those of
+the priests, as if the Levites had an exactly similar organisation.(121)
+Indeed, twenty-four courses of the singers are expressly named.(122) But
+on examination we find that "course" for the Levites in all cases where
+exact information is given(123) does not mean one of a number of divisions
+which took work in turn, but a division to which a definite piece of work
+was assigned, _e.g._, the care of the shewbread or of one of the gates.
+The idea that in ancient times there were twenty-four alternating courses
+of Levites was not derived from the arrangements of the chronicler's age,
+but was an inference from the existence of priestly courses. According to
+the current interpretation of the older history, there must have been
+under the monarchy a very great many more Levites than priests, and any
+reasons that existed for organising twenty-four priestly courses would
+apply with equal force to the Levites. It is true that the names of
+twenty-four courses of singers are given, but in this list occurs the
+remarkable and impossible group of names already discussed:--
+
+"_I-have-magnified_, _I-have-exalted-help_; _Sitting-in-distress_,
+_I-have-spoken_ _In-abundance Visions_"(124) which are in themselves
+sufficient proof that these twenty-four courses of singers did not exist
+in the time of the chronicler.
+
+Thus the chronicler provides material for a fairly complete account of the
+service and ministers of the Temple; but his interest in other matters was
+less close and personal, so that he gives us comparatively little
+information about civil persons and affairs. The restored Jewish community
+was, of course, made up of descendants of the members of the old kingdom
+of Judah. The new Jewish state, like the old, is often spoken of as
+"Judah"; but its claim to fully represent the chosen people of Jehovah is
+expressed by the frequent use of the name "Israel." Yet within this new
+Judah the old tribes of Judah and Benjamin are still recognised. It is
+true that in the register of the first company of returning exiles the
+tribes are ignored, and we are not told which families belonged to Judah
+or which to Benjamin; but we are previously told that the chiefs of Judah
+and Benjamin rose up to return to Jerusalem. Part of this register
+arranges the companies according to the towns in which their ancestors had
+lived before the Captivity, and of these some belong to Judah and some to
+Benjamin. We also learn that the Jewish community included certain of the
+children of Ephraim and Manasseh.(125) There may also have been families
+from the other tribes; St. Luke, for instance, describes Anna as of the
+tribe of Asher.(126) But the mass of genealogical matter relating to Judah
+and Benjamin far exceeds what is given as to the other tribes,(127) and
+proves that Judah and Benjamin were co-ordinate members of the restored
+community, and that no other tribe contributed any appreciable contingent,
+except a few families from Ephraim and Manasseh. It has been suggested
+that the chronicler shows special interest in the tribes which had
+occupied Galilee--Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar--and that this
+special interest indicates that the settlement of Jews in Galilee had
+attained considerable dimensions at the time when he wrote. But this
+special interest is not very manifest; and later on, in the time of the
+Maccabees, the Jews in Galilee were so few that Simon took them all away
+with him, together with their wives and their children and all that they
+had, and brought them into Judaea.
+
+The genealogies seem to imply that no descendants of the Transjordanic
+tribes or of Simeon were found in Judah in the age of the chronicler.
+
+Concerning the tribe of Judah, we have already noted that it included two
+families which traced their descent to Egyptian ancestors, and that the
+Kenizzite clans of Caleb and Jerahmeel had been entirely incorporated in
+Judah and formed the most important part of the tribe. A comparison of the
+parallel genealogies of the house of Caleb gives us important information
+as to the territory occupied by the Jews. In ii. 42-49 we find the
+Calebites at Hebron and other towns of the south country, in accordance
+with the older history; but in ii. 50-55 they occupy Bethlehem and
+Kirjath-jearim and other towns in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. The two
+paragraphs are really giving their territory before and after the Exile;
+during the Captivity Southern Judah had been occupied by the Edomites. It
+is indeed stated in Neh. xi. 25-30 that the children of Judah dwelt in a
+number of towns scattered over the whole territory of the ancient tribe;
+but the list concludes with the significant sentence, "So they _encamped_
+from Beer-sheba unto the valley of Hinnom." We are thus given to
+understand that the occupation was not permanent.
+
+We have already noted that much of the space allotted to the genealogies
+of Judah is devoted to the house of David.(128) The form of this pedigree
+for the generations after the Captivity indicates that the head of the
+house of David was no longer the chief of the state. During the monarchy
+only the kings are given as heads of the family in each generation:
+"Solomon's son was Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son," etc., etc.; but
+after the Captivity the first-born no longer occupied so unique a
+position. We have all the sons of each successive head of the family.
+
+The genealogies of Judah include one or two references which throw a
+little light on the social organisation of the times. There were "families
+of scribes which dwelt at Jabez"(129) as well as the Levitical scribes. In
+the appendix(130) to the genealogies of chap. iv. we read of a house whose
+families wrought fine linen, and of other families who were porters to the
+king and lived on the royal estates. The immediate reference of these
+statements is clearly to the monarchy, and we are told that "the records
+are ancient"; but these ancient records were probably obtained by the
+chronicler from contemporary members of the families, who still pursued
+their hereditary calling.
+
+As regards the tribe of Benjamin, we have seen that there was a family
+claiming descent from Saul.
+
+The slight and meagre information given about Judah and Benjamin cannot
+accurately represent their importance as compared with the priests and
+Levites, but the general impression conveyed by the chronicler is
+confirmed by our other authorities. In his time the supreme interests of
+the Jews were religious. The one great institution was the Temple; the
+highest order was the priesthood. All Jews were in a measure servants of
+the Temple; Ephesus indeed was proud to be called the temple-keeper of the
+great Diana, but Jerusalem was far more truly the temple-keeper of
+Jehovah. Devotion to the Temple gave to the Jews a unity which neither of
+the older Hebrew states had ever possessed. The kernel of this later
+Jewish territory seems to have been a comparatively small district of
+which Jerusalem was the centre. The inhabitants of this district carefully
+preserved the records of their family history, and loved to trace their
+descent to the ancient clans of Judah and Benjamin; but for practical
+purposes they were all Jews, without distinction of tribe. Even the
+ministry of the Temple had become more homogeneous; the non-Levitical
+descent of some classes of the Temple servants was first ignored and then
+forgotten, so that assistants at the sacrifices, singers, musicians,
+scribes, and porters, were all included in the tribe of Levi. The Temple
+conferred its own sanctity upon all its ministers.
+
+In a previous chapter the Temple and its ministry were compared to a
+mediaeval monastery or the establishment of a modern cathedral. In the same
+way Jerusalem might be compared to cities, like Ely or Canterbury, which
+exist mainly for the sake of their cathedrals, only both the sanctuary and
+city of the Jews came to be on a larger scale. Or, again, if the Temple be
+represented by the great abbey of St. Edmundsbury, Bury St. Edmunds itself
+might stand for Jerusalem, and the wide lands of the abbey for the
+surrounding districts, from which the Jewish priests derived their
+free-will offerings, and first-fruits, and tithes. Still in both these
+English instances there was a vigorous and independent secular life far
+beyond any that existed in Judaea.
+
+A closer parallel to the temple on Zion is to be found in the immense
+establishments of the Egyptian temples. It is true that these were
+numerous in Egypt, and the authority and influence of the priesthood were
+checked and controlled by the power of the kings; yet on the fall of the
+twentieth dynasty the high-priest of the great temple of Amen at Thebes
+succeeded in making himself king, and Egypt, like Judah, had its dynasty
+of priest-kings.
+
+The following is an account of the possessions of the Theban temple of
+Amen, supposed to be given by an Egyptian living about B.C. 1350(131):--
+
+"Since the accession of the eighteenth dynasty, Amen has profited more
+than any other god, perhaps even more than Pharaoh himself, by the
+Egyptian victories over the peoples of Syria and Ethiopia. Each success
+has brought him a considerable share of the spoil collected upon the
+battle-fields, indemnities levied from the enemy, prisoners carried into
+slavery. He possesses lands and gardens by the hundred in Thebes and the
+rest of Egypt, fields and meadows, woods, hunting-grounds, and fisheries;
+he has colonies in Ethiopia or in the oases of the Libyan desert, and at
+the extremity of the land of Canaan there are cities under vassalage to
+him, for Pharaoh allows him to receive the tribute from them. The
+administration of these vast properties requires as many officials and
+departments as that of a kingdom. It includes innumerable bailiffs for the
+agriculture; overseers for the cattle and poultry; treasurers of twenty
+kinds for the gold, silver, and copper, the vases and valuable stuffs;
+foremen for the workshops and manufactures; engineers; architects;
+boatmen; a fleet and an army which often fight by the side of Pharaoh's
+fleet and army. It is really a state within the state."
+
+Many of the details of this picture would not be true for the temple of
+Zion; but the Jews were even more devoted to Jehovah than the Thebans to
+Amen, and the administration of the Jewish temple was more than "a state
+within the state": it was the state itself.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI. Teaching By Anachronism. 1 Chron. ix. (cf. xv., xvi.,
+xxiii.-xxvii., etc.).
+
+
+    "And David the king said, ... Who then offereth willingly?... And
+    they gave for the service of the house of God ... ten thousand
+    darics."--1 CHRON. xxix. 1, 5, 7.
+
+
+Teaching by anachronism is a very common and effective form of religious
+instruction; and Chronicles, as the best Scriptural example of this
+method, affords a good opportunity for its discussion and illustration.
+
+All history is more or less guilty of anachronism; every historian
+perforce imports some of the ideas and circumstances of his own time into
+his narratives and pictures of the past: but we may distinguish three
+degrees of anachronism. Some writers or speakers make little or no attempt
+at archaeological accuracy; others temper the generally anachronistic
+character of their compositions by occasional reference to the manners and
+customs of the period they are describing; and, again, there are a few
+trained students who succeed in drawing fairly accurate and consistent
+pictures of ancient life and history.
+
+We will briefly consider the last two classes before returning to the
+first, in which we are chiefly interested.
+
+Accurate archaeology is, of course, part of the ideal of the scientific
+historian. By long and careful study of literature and monuments and by
+the exercise of a lively and well-trained imagination, the student obtains
+a vision of ancient societies. Nineveh and Babylon, Thebes and Memphis,
+rise from their ashes and stand before him in all their former splendour;
+he walks their streets and mixes with the crowds in the market-place and
+the throng of worshippers at the temple, each "in his habit as he lived."
+Rameses and Sennacherib, Ptolemy and Antiochus, all play their proper
+parts in this drama of his fancy. He can not only recall their costumes
+and features: he can even think their thoughts and feel their emotions; he
+actually lives in the past. In _Marius the Epicurean_, in Ebers's _Uarda_,
+in Maspero's _Sketches of Assyrian and Egyptian Life_, and in other more
+serious works we have some of the fruits of this enlightened study of
+antiquity, and are enabled to see the visions at second hand and in some
+measure to live at once in the present and the past, to illustrate and
+interpret the one by the other, to measure progress and decay, and to
+understand the Divine meaning of all history. Our more recent histories
+and works on life and manners and even our historical romances, especially
+those of Walter Scott, have rendered a similar service to students of
+English history. And yet at its very best such realisation of the past is
+imperfect; the gaps in our information are unconsciously filled in from
+our experience, and the ideas of the present always colour our
+reproduction of ancient thought and feeling. The most accurate history is
+only a rough approximation to exact truth; but, like many other rough
+approximations, it is exact enough for many important practical purposes.
+
+But scholarly familiarity with the past has its drawbacks. The scholar may
+come to live so much amongst ancient memories that he loses touch with his
+own present. He may gain large stores of information about ancient
+Israelite life, and yet not know enough of his own generation to be able
+to make them sharers of his knowledge. Their living needs and
+circumstances lie outside his practical experience; he cannot explain the
+past to them because he does not sympathise with their present; he cannot
+apply its lessons to difficulties and dangers which he does not
+understand.
+
+Nor is the usefulness of the archaeologist merely limited by his own lack
+of sympathy and experience. He may have both, and yet find that there are
+few of his contemporaries who can follow him in his excursions into bygone
+time. These limitations and drawbacks do not seriously diminish the value
+of archaeology, but they have to be taken into account in discussing
+teaching by anachronism, and they have an important bearing on the
+practical application of archaeological knowledge. We shall return to these
+points later on.
+
+The second degree of anachronism is very common. We are constantly hearing
+and reading descriptions of Bible scenes and events in which the centuries
+before and after Christ are most oddly blended. Here and there will be a
+costume after an ancient monument, a Biblical description of Jewish
+customs, a few Scriptural phrases; but these are embedded in paragraphs
+which simply reproduce the social and religious ideas of the nineteenth
+century. For instance, in a recent work, amidst much display of
+archaeological knowledge, we have the very modern ideas that Joseph and
+Mary went up to Bethlehem at the census, because Joseph and perhaps Mary
+also had property in Bethlehem, and that when Joseph died "he left her a
+small but independent fortune." Many modern books might be named in which
+Patriarchs and Apostles hold the language and express the sentiments of
+the most recent schools of devotional Christianity; and yet an air of
+historical accuracy is assumed by occasional touches of archaeology.
+Similarly in mediaeval miracle-plays characters from the Bible appeared in
+the dress of the period, and uttered a grotesque mixture of Scriptural
+phrases and vernacular jargon. Much of such work as this may for all
+practical purposes be classed under the third degree of anachronism.
+Sometimes, however, the spiritual significance of a passage or an incident
+turns upon a simple explanation of some ancient custom, so that the
+archaeological detail makes a clear addition to its interest and
+instructiveness. But in other cases a little archaeology is a dangerous
+thing. Scattered fragments of learned information do not enable the reader
+in any way to revive the buried past; they only remove the whole subject
+further from his interest and sympathy. He is not reading about his own
+day, nor does he understand that the events and personages of the
+narrative ever had anything in common with himself and his experience. The
+antique garb, the strange custom, the unusual phrase, disguise that real
+humanity which the reader shares with these ancient worthies. They are no
+longer men of like passions with himself, and he finds neither warning nor
+encouragement in their story. He is like a spectator of a drama played by
+poor actors with a limited stock of properties. The scenery and dresses
+show that the play does not belong to his own time, but they fail to
+suggest that it ever belonged to any period. He has a languid interest in
+the performance as a spectacle, but his feelings are not touched, and he
+is never carried away by the acting.
+
+We have laid so much stress on the drawbacks attaching to a little
+archaeology because they will emphasise what we have to say about the use
+of pure anachronism. Our last illustration, however, reminds us that these
+drawbacks detract but little from the influence of earnest men. If the
+acting be good, we forget the scenery and costumes; the genius of a great
+preacher more than atones for poor archaeology, because, in spite of dress
+and custom, he makes his hearers feel that the characters of the Bible
+were instinct with rich and passionate life. We thus arrive at our third
+degree of pure anachronism.
+
+Most people read their Bible without any reference to archaeology. If they
+dramatise the stories, they do so in terms of their own experience. The
+characters are dressed like the men and women they know: Nazareth is like
+their native village, and Jerusalem is like the county town; the
+conversations are carried on in the English of the Authorised Version.
+This reading of Scripture is well illustrated by the description in a
+recent writer of a modern prophet in Tennessee(132):--
+
+"There was nought in the scene to suggest to a mind familiar with the
+facts an Oriental landscape--nought akin to the hills of Judaea. It was
+essentially of the New World, essentially of the Great Smoky Mountains.
+Yet ignorance has its licence. It never occurred to Teck Jepson that his
+Bible heroes had lived elsewhere. Their history had to him an intimate
+personal relation, as of the story of an ancestor, in the homestead ways
+and closely familiar. He brooded upon these narratives, instinct with
+dramatic interest, enriched with poetic colour, and localised in his
+robust imagination, till he could trace Hagar's wild wanderings in the
+fastnesses, could show where Jacob slept and piled his altar of stones,
+could distinguish the bush, of all others on the 'bald,' that blazed with
+fire from heaven when the angel of the Lord stood within it. Somehow, even
+in their grotesque variation, they lost no dignity in their transmission
+to the modern conditions of his fancy. Did the facts lack significance
+because it was along the gullied red clay roads of Piomingo Cove that he
+saw David, the smiling stripling, running and holding high in his hand the
+bit of cloth cut from Saul's garments while the king had slept in a cave
+at the base of Chilhowie Mountain? And how was the splendid miracle of
+translation discredited because Jepson believed that the chariot of the
+Lord had rested in scarlet and purple clouds upon the towering summit of
+Thunderhead, that Elijah might thence ascend into heaven?"
+
+Another and more familiar example of "singular alterations in date and
+circumstances" is the version in _Ivanhoe_ of the war between Benjamin and
+the other tribes:--
+
+"How long since in Palestine a deadly feud arose between the tribe of
+Benjamin and the rest of the Israelitish nation; and how they cut to
+pieces well-nigh all the chivalry of that tribe; and how they swore by our
+blessed Lady that they would not permit those who remained to marry in
+their lineage; and how they became grieved for their vow, and sent to
+consult his Holiness the Pope how they might be absolved from it; and how,
+by the advice of the Holy Father, the youth of the tribe of Benjamin
+carried off from a superb tournament all the ladies who were there
+present, and thus won them wives without the consent either of their
+brides or their brides' families."
+
+It is needless to say that the chronicler was not thus hopelessly at sea
+about the circumstances of ancient Hebrew history; but he wrote in the
+same simple, straightforward, childlike spirit. Israel had always been the
+Israel of his own experience, and it never occurred to him that its
+institutions under the kings had been other than those with which he was
+familiar. He had no more hesitation in filling up the gaps in the book of
+Kings from what he saw round about him than a painter would have in
+putting the white clouds and blue waters of to-day into a picture of skies
+and seas a thousand years ago. He attributes to the pious kings of Judah
+the observance of the ritual of his own times. Their prophets use phrases
+taken from post-Exilic writings. David is regarded as the author of the
+existing ecclesiastical system in almost all matters that do not date back
+to Moses, and especially as the organiser of the familiar music of the
+Temple. David's choristers sing the hymns of the second Temple. Amongst
+the contributions of his nobles towards the building of the Temple, we
+read of ten thousand darics, the daric being a coin introduced by the
+Persian king Darius.
+
+But we must be careful to recognise that the chronicler writes in perfect
+good faith. These views of the monarchy were common to all educated and
+thoughtful men of his time; they were embodied in current tradition, and
+were probably already to be met with in writing. To charge him with
+inventing them is absurd; they already existed, and did not need to be
+invented. He cannot have coloured his narrative in the interests of the
+Temple and the priesthood. When he lived, these interests were guaranteed
+by ancient custom and by the authoritative sanction of the Pentateuchal
+Law. The chronicler does not write with the strong feeling of a man who
+maintains a doubtful cause; there is no hint of any alternative view which
+needs to be disproved and rejected in favour of his own. He expatiates on
+his favourite themes with happy, leisurely serenity, and is evidently
+confident that his treatment of them will meet with general and cordial
+approval.
+
+And doubtless the author of Chronicles "served his own generation by the
+will of God," and served them in the way he intended. He made the history
+of the monarchy more real and living to them, and enabled them to
+understand better that the reforming kings of Judah were loyal servants of
+Jehovah and had been used by Him for the furtherance of true religion. The
+pictures drawn by Samuel and Kings of David and the best of his successors
+would not have enabled the Jews of his time to appreciate these facts.
+They had no idea of any piety that was not expressed in the current
+observances of the Law, and Samuel and Kings did not ascribe such
+observances to the earlier kings of Judah. But the chronicler and his
+authorities were able to discern in the ancient Scriptures the genuine
+piety of David and Hezekiah and other kings, and drew what seemed to them
+the obvious conclusion that these pious kings observed the Law. They then
+proceeded to rewrite the history in order that the true character of the
+kings and their relation to Jehovah might be made intelligible to the
+people. The only piety which the chronicler could conceive was combined
+with observance of the Law; naturally therefore it was only thus that he
+could describe piety. His work would be read with eager interest, and
+would play a definite and useful part in the religious education of the
+people. It would bring home to them, as the older histories could not, the
+abiding presence of Jehovah with Israel and its leaders. Chronicles
+interpreted history to its own generation by translating older records
+into the circumstances and ideas of its own time.
+
+And in this it remains our example. Chronicles may fall very far short of
+the ideal and yet be superior to more accurate histories which fail to
+make themselves intelligible to their own generation. The ideal history no
+doubt would tell the story with archaeological precision, and then
+interpret it by modern parallels; the historian would show us what we
+should actually have seen and heard if we had lived in the period he is
+describing; he would also help our weak imagination by pointing us to such
+modern events or persons as best illustrate those ancient times. No doubt
+Chronicles fails to bring before our eyes an accurate vision of the
+history of the monarchy; but, as we have said, all history fails somewhat
+in this respect. It is simply impossible to fulfil the demand for history
+that shall have the accuracy of an architect's plans of a house or an
+astronomer's diagrams of the orbit of a planet. Chronicles, however, fails
+more seriously than most history, and on the whole rather more than most
+commentaries and sermons.
+
+But this lack of archaeological accuracy is far less serious than a failure
+to make it clear that the events of ancient history were as real and as
+interesting as those of modern times, and that its personages were actual
+men and women, with a full equipment of body, mind, and soul. There have
+been many teachers and preachers, innocent of archaeology, who have yet
+been able to apply Bible narratives with convincing power to the hearts
+and consciences of their hearers. They may have missed some points and
+misunderstood others, but they have brought out clearly the main,
+practical teaching of their subject; and we must not allow amusement at
+curious anachronisms to blind us to their great gifts in applying ancient
+history to modern circumstances. For instance, the little captive maid in
+the story of Naaman has been described by a local preacher as having
+illuminated texts hung up in her bedroom, and (perambulators not being
+then in use) as having constructed a go-cart for the baby out of an old
+tea-chest and four cotton reels. We feel inclined to smile; but, after
+all, such a picture would make children feel that the captive maid was a
+girl whom they could understand and might even imitate. A more correct
+version of the story, told with less human interest, might leave the
+impression that she was a mere animated doll in a quaint costume, who made
+impossibly pious remarks.
+
+Enlightened and well-informed Christian teachers may still learn something
+from the example of the chronicler. The uncritical character of his age
+affords no excuse to them for shutting their eyes to the fuller light
+which God has given to their generation. But we are reminded that
+permanently significant stories have their parallels in every age. There
+are always prodigal sons, and foolish virgins, importunate widows, and
+good Samaritans. The ancient narratives are interesting as quaint and
+picturesque stories of former times; but it is our duty as teachers to
+discover the modern parallels of their eternal meaning: their lessons are
+often best enforced by telling them afresh as they would have been told if
+their authors had lived in our time, in other words by a frank use of
+anachronism.
+
+It may be objected that the result in the case of Chronicles is not
+encouraging. Chronicles is far less interesting than Kings, and far less
+useful in furnishing materials for the historian. These facts, however,
+are not inconsistent with the usefulness of the book for its own age.
+Teaching by anachronism simply seeks to render a service to its own
+generation; its purpose is didactic, and not historical. How many people
+read the sermons of eighteenth-century divines? But each generation has a
+right to this special service. The first duty of the religious teacher is
+for the men and women that look to him for spiritual help and guidance. He
+may incidentally produce literary work of permanent value for posterity;
+but a Church whose ministry sacrificed practical usefulness in the attempt
+to be learned and literary would be false to its most sacred functions.
+The noblest self-denial of Christian service may often lie in putting
+aside all such ambition and devoting the ability which might have made a
+successful author to making Divine truth intelligible and interesting to
+the uncultured and the unimaginative. Authors themselves are sometimes led
+to make a similar sacrifice; they write to help the many to-day when they
+might have written to delight men of literary taste in all ages. Few
+things are so ephemeral as popular religious literature; it is as quickly
+and entirely forgotten as last year's sunsets: but it is as necessary and
+as useful as the sunshine and the clouds, which are being always spent and
+always renewed. Chronicles is a specimen of this class of literature, and
+its presence in the canon testifies to the duty of providing a special
+application of the sacred truths of ancient history for each succeeding
+generation.
+
+
+
+
+
+BOOK III. MESSIANIC AND OTHER TYPES.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter I. Teaching By Types.
+
+
+A more serious charge has been brought against Chronicles than that dealt
+with in the last chapter. Besides anachronisms, additions, and
+alterations, the chronicler has made omissions that give an entirely new
+complexion to the history. He omits, for instance, almost everything that
+detracts from the character and achievements of David and Solomon; he
+almost entirely ignores the reigns of Saul and Ishbosheth, and of all the
+northern kings. These facts are obvious to the most casual reader, and a
+moment's reflection shows that David as we should know him if we had only
+Chronicles is entirely different from the historical David of Samuel and
+Kings. The latter David has noble qualities, but displays great weakness
+and falls into grievous sin; the David of Chronicles is almost always an
+hero and a blameless saint.
+
+All this is unquestionably true, and yet the purpose and spirit of
+Chronicles are honest and praiseworthy. Our judgment must be governed by
+the relation which the chronicler intended his work to sustain towards the
+older history. Did he hope that Samuel and Kings would be altogether
+superseded by this new version of the history of the monarchy, and so
+eventually be suppressed and forgotten? There were precedents that might
+have encouraged such a hope. The Pentateuch and the books from Joshua to
+Kings derived their material from older works; but the older works were
+superseded by these books, and entirely disappeared. The circumstances,
+however, were different when the chronicler wrote: Samuel and Kings had
+been established for centuries. Moreover, the Jewish community in Babylon
+still exercised great influence over the Palestinian Jews. Copies of
+Samuel and Kings must have been preserved at Babylon, and their possessors
+could not be eager to destroy them, and then to incur the expense of
+replacing them by copies of a history written at Jerusalem from the point
+of view of the priests and Levites. We may therefore put aside the theory
+that Chronicles was intended altogether to supersede Samuel and Kings.
+Another possible theory is that the chronicler, after the manner of
+mediaeval historians, composed an abstract of the history of the world from
+the Creation to the Captivity as an introduction to his account in Ezra
+and Nehemiah of the more recent post-Exilic period. This theory has some
+truth in it, but does not explain the fact that Chronicles is
+disproportionately long if it be merely such an introduction. Probably the
+chronicler's main object was to compose a text-book, which could safely
+and usefully be placed in the hands of the common people. There were
+obvious objections to the popular use of Samuel and Kings. In making a
+selection from his material, the chronicler had no intention of falsifying
+history. Scholars, he knew, would be acquainted with the older books, and
+could supplement his narrative from the sources which he himself had used.
+In his own work he was anxious to confine himself to the portions of the
+history which had an obvious religious significance, and could readily be
+used for purposes of edification. He was only applying more thoroughly a
+principle that had guided his predecessors. The Pentateuch itself is the
+result of a similar selection, only there and in the other earlier
+histories a very human interest in dramatic narrative has sometimes
+interfered with an exclusive attention to edification.
+
+Indeed, the principles of selection adopted by the chronicler are common
+to many historians. A school history does not dwell on the domestic vices
+of kings or on the private failings of statesmen. It requires no great
+stretch of imagination to conceive of a Royalist history of England, that
+should entirely ignore the Commonwealth. Indeed, historians of Christian
+missions sometimes show about the same interest in the work of other
+Churches than their own that Chronicles takes in the northern kingdom. The
+work of the chronicler may also be compared to monographs which confine
+themselves to some special aspect of their subject. We have every reason
+to be thankful that the Divine providence has preserved for us the richer
+and fuller narrative of Samuel and Kings, but we cannot blame the
+chronicler because he has observed some of the ordinary canons for the
+composition of historical text-books.
+
+The chronicler's selective method, however, is carried so far that the
+historical value of his work is seriously impaired; yet in this respect
+also he is kept in countenance by very respectable authorities. We are
+more concerned, however, to point out the positive results of the method.
+Instead of historical portraits, we are presented with a gallery of
+ideals, types of character which we are asked either to admire or to
+condemn. On the one hand, we have David and Solomon, Jehoshaphat and
+Hezekiah, and the rest of the reforming kings of Judah; on the other hand,
+there are Jeroboam, and Ahab, and Ahaz, the kings of Israel, and the bad
+kings of Judah. All these are very sharply defined in either white or
+black. The types of Chronicles are ideals, and not studies of ordinary
+human character, with its mingled motives and subtle gradations of light
+and shade. The chronicler has nothing in common with the authors of modern
+realistic novels or anecdotal memoirs. His subject is not human nature as
+it is so much as human nature as it ought to be. There is obviously much
+to be learnt from such ideal pictures, and this form of inspired teaching
+is by no means the least effective; it may be roughly compared with our
+Lord's method of teaching by parables, without, however, at all putting
+the two upon the same level.
+
+Before examining these types in detail, we may devote a little space to
+some general considerations upon teaching by types. For the present we
+will confine ourselves to a non-theological sense of type, using the word
+to mean any individual who is representative or typical of a class. But
+the chronicler's individuals do not represent classes of actual persons,
+but good men as they seem to their most devoted admirers and bad men as
+they seem to their worst enemies. They are ideal types. Chronicles is not
+the only literature in which such ideal types are found. They occur in the
+funeral sermons and obituary notices of popular favourites, and in the
+pictures which politicians draw in election speeches of their opponents,
+only in these there is a note of personal feeling from which the
+chronicler is free.
+
+In fact, all biography tends to idealise; human nature as it is has
+generally to be looked for in the pages of fiction. When we have been
+blessed with a good and brave man, we wish to think of him at his best; we
+are not anxious to have thrust upon our notice the weaknesses and sins
+which he regretted and for the most part controlled. Some one who loved
+and honoured him is asked to write the biography, with a tacit
+understanding that he is not to give us a picture of the real man in the
+_deshabille_, as it were, of his own inner consciousness. He is to paint
+us a portrait of the man as he strove to fashion himself after his own
+high ideal. The true man, as God knows him and as his fellows should
+remember him, was the man in his higher nature and nobler aspirations. The
+rest, surely, was but the vanishing remnant of a repudiated self. The
+biographer idealises, because he believes that the ideal best represents
+the real man. This is what the chronicler, with a large faith and liberal
+charity, has done for David and Solomon.
+
+Such an ideal picture appeals to us with pathetic emphasis. It seems to
+say, "In spite of temptation, and sin, and grievous falls, this is what I
+ever aimed at and desired to be. Do not thou content thyself with any
+lower ideal. My higher nature had its achievements as well as its
+aspirations. Remember that in thy weakness thou mayest also achieve."
+
+
+    "What I aspired to be,
+    And was not, comforts me;
+
+    All I could never be,
+    All men ignored in me,
+    This I was worth to God...."
+
+
+But we may take these ideals as types, not only in a general sense, but
+also in a modification of the dogmatic meaning of the word. We are not
+concerned here with the type as the mere external symbol of truth yet to
+be revealed; such types are chiefly found in the ritual of the Pentateuch.
+The circumstances of a man's life may also serve as a type in the narrower
+sense, but we venture to apply the theological idea of type to the
+significance of the higher nature in a good man. It has been said in
+reference to types in the theological sense that "a type is neither a
+prophecy, nor a symbol, nor an allegory, yet it has relations with each of
+these. A prophecy is a prediction in words, a type a prediction in things.
+A symbol is a sensuous representation of a thing; a type is such a
+representation having a distinctly predictive aspect: ... a type is an
+enacted prophecy, a kind of prophecy by action."(133) We cannot, of
+course, include in our use of the term type "sensuous representation" and
+some other ideas connected with "type" in a theological sense. Our type is
+a prediction in persons rather than in things. But the use of the term is
+justified as including the most essential point: that "a type is an
+enacted prophecy, a kind of prophecy by action." These personal types are
+the most real and significant; they have no mere arbitrary or conventional
+relation to their antitype. The enacted prophecy is the beginning of its
+own fulfilment, the first-fruits of the greater harvest that is to be. The
+better moments of the man who is hungering and thirsting after
+righteousness are a type, a promise, and prophecy of his future
+satisfaction. They have also a wider and deeper meaning: they show what is
+possible for humanity, and give an assurance of the spiritual progress of
+the world. The elect remnant of Israel were the type of the great
+Christian Church; the spiritual aspirations and persistent faith of a few
+believers were a prophecy that "the earth should be full of the knowledge
+of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." "The kingdom of heaven is like
+unto a grain of mustard seed, ... which is less than all seeds; but when
+it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree." When
+therefore the chronicler ignores the evil in David and Solomon and only
+records the good, he treats them as types. He takes what was best in them
+and sets it forth as a standard and prophecy for the future, a pattern in
+the mount to be realised hereafter in the structure of God's spiritual
+temple upon earth.
+
+But the Holy Spirit guided the hopes and intuitions of the sacred writers
+to a special fulfilment. We can see that their types have one antitype in
+the growth of the Church and the progress of mankind; but the Old
+Testament looked for their chief fulfilment in a Divine Messenger and
+Deliverer: its ideals are types of the Messiah. The higher life of a good
+man was a revelation of God and a promise of His highest and best
+manifestation in Christ. We shall endeavour to show in subsequent chapters
+how Chronicles served to develop the idea of the Messiah.
+
+But the chronicler's types are not all prophecies of future progress or
+Messianic glory. The brighter portions of his picture are thrown into
+relief by a dark background. The good in Jeroboam is as completely ignored
+as the evil in David. Apart from any question of historical accuracy, the
+type is unfortunately a true one. There is a leaven of the Pharisees and
+of Herod, as well as a leaven of the kingdom. If the base leaven be left
+to work by itself, it will leaven the whole mass; and in a final estimate
+of the character of those who do evil "with both hands earnestly," little
+allowance needs to be made for redeeming features. Even if we are still
+able to believe that there is a seed of goodness in things evil, we are
+forced to admit that the seed has remained dead and unfertilised, has had
+no growth and borne no fruit. But probably most men may sometimes be
+profitably admonished by considering the typical sinner--the man in whose
+nature evil has been able to subdue all things to itself.
+
+The strange power of teaching by types has been well expressed by one who
+was herself a great mistress of the art: "Ideas are often poor ghosts: our
+sun-filled eyes cannot discern them; they pass athwart us in thin vapour,
+and cannot make themselves felt; they breathe upon us with warm breath,
+they touch us with soft, responsive hands; they look at us with sad,
+sincere eyes, and speak to us in appealing tones; they are clothed in a
+living human soul; ... their presence is a power."(134)
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II. David--I. His Tribe And Dynasty.
+
+
+King and kingdom were so bound up in ancient life that an ideal for the
+one implied an ideal for the other; all distinction and glory possessed by
+either was shared by both. The tribe and kingdom of Judah were exalted by
+the fame of David and Solomon; but, on the other hand, a specially exalted
+position is accorded to David in the Old Testament because he is the
+representative of the people of Jehovah. David himself had been anointed
+by Divine command to be king of Israel, and he thus became the founder of
+the only legitimate dynasty of Hebrew kings. Saul and Ishbosheth had no
+significance for the later religious history of the nation. Apparently to
+the chronicler the history of true religion in Israel was a blank between
+Joshua and David; the revival began when the Ark was brought to Zion, and
+the first steps were taken to rear the Temple in succession to the Mosaic
+tabernacle. He therefore omits the history of the Judges and Saul. But the
+battle of Gilboa is given to introduce the reign of David, and incidental
+condemnation is passed on Saul: "So Saul died for his trespass which he
+committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord, which he kept
+not, and also for that he asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit,
+to inquire thereby, and inquired not of the Lord; therefore He slew him
+and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse."
+
+The reign of Saul had been an unsuccessful experiment; its only real value
+had been to prepare the way for David. At the same time the portrait of
+Saul is not given at full length, like those of the wicked kings, partly
+perhaps because the chronicler had little interest for anything before the
+time of David and the Temple, but partly, we may hope, because the record
+of David's affection for Saul kept alive a kindly feeling towards the
+founder of the monarchy.
+
+Inasmuch as Jehovah had "turned the kingdom unto David," the reign of
+Ishbosheth was evidently the intrusion of an illegitimate pretender; and
+the chronicler treats it as such. If we had only Chronicles, we should
+know nothing about the reign of Ishbosheth, and should suppose that, on
+the death of Saul, David succeeded at once to an undisputed sovereignty
+over all Israel. The interval of conflict is ignored because, according to
+the chronicler's views, David was, from the first, king _de jure_ over the
+whole nation. Complete silence as to Ishbosheth was the most effective way
+of expressing this fact.
+
+The same sentiment of hereditary legitimacy, the same formal and exclusive
+recognition of a _de jure_ sovereign, has been shown in modern times by
+titles like Louis XVIII. and Napoleon III. For both schools of Legitimists
+the absence of _de facto_ sovereignty did not prevent Louis XVII. and
+Napoleon II. from having been lawful rulers of France. In Israel,
+moreover, the Divine right of the one chosen dynasty had religious as well
+as political importance. We have already seen that Israel claimed a
+hereditary title to its special privileges; it was therefore natural that
+a hereditary qualification should be thought necessary for the kings. They
+represented the nation; they were the Divinely appointed guardians of its
+religion; they became in time the types of the Messiah, its promised
+Saviour. In all this Saul and Ishbosheth had neither part nor lot; the
+promise to Israel had always descended in a direct line, and the special
+promise that was given to its kings and through them to their people began
+with David. There was no need to carry the history further back.
+
+We have already noticed that, in spite of this general attitude towards
+Saul, the genealogy of some of his descendants is given twice over in the
+earlier chapters. No doubt the chronicler made this concession to gratify
+friends or to conciliate an influential family. It is interesting to note
+how personal feeling may interfere with the symmetrical development of a
+theological theory. At the same time we are enabled to discern a practical
+reason for rigidly ignoring the kingship of Saul and Ishbosheth. To have
+recognised Saul as the Lord's anointed, like David, would have complicated
+contemporary dogmatics, and might possibly have given rise to jealousies
+between the descendants of Saul and those of David. Within the narrow
+limits of the Jewish community such quarrels might have been inconvenient
+and even dangerous.
+
+The reasons for denying the legitimacy of the northern kings were obvious
+and conclusive. Successful rebels who had destroyed the political and
+religious unity of Israel could not inherit "the sure mercies of David" or
+be included in the covenant which secured the permanence of his dynasty.
+
+The exclusive association of Messianic ideas with a single family
+emphasises their antiquity, continuity, and development. The hope of
+Israel had its roots deep in the history of the people; it had grown with
+their growth and maintained itself through their changing fortunes. As the
+hope centred in a single family, men were led to expect an individual
+personal Messiah; they were being prepared to see in Christ the fulfilment
+of all righteousness.
+
+But the choice of the house of David involved the choice of the tribe of
+Judah and the rejection of the kingdom of Samaria. The ten tribes, as well
+as the kings of Israel, had cut themselves off both from the Temple and
+the sacred dynasty, and therefore from the covenant into which Jehovah had
+entered with "the man after his own heart." Such a limitation of the
+chosen people was suggested by many precedents. Chronicles, following the
+Pentateuch, tells how the call came to Abraham, but only some of the
+descendants of one of his sons inherited the promise. Why should not a
+selection be made from among the sons of Jacob? But the twelve tribes had
+been explicitly and solemnly included in the unity of Israel, largely
+through David himself. The glory of David and Solomon consisted in their
+sovereignty over a united people. The national recollection of this golden
+age loved to dwell on the union of the twelve tribes. The Pentateuch added
+legal sanction to ancient sentiment. The twelve tribes were associated
+together in national lyrics, like the "Blessing of Jacob" and the
+"Blessing of Moses." The song of Deborah told how the northern tribes
+"came to the help of the Lord against the mighty." It was simply
+impossible for the chronicler to absolutely repudiate the ten tribes; and
+so they are formally included in the genealogies of Israel, and are
+recognised in the history of David and Solomon. Then the recognition
+stops. From the time of the disruption the northern kingdom is quietly but
+persistently ignored. Its prophets and sanctuaries were as illegitimate as
+its kings. The great struggle of Elijah and Elisha for the honour of
+Jehovah is omitted, with all the rest of their history. Elijah is only
+mentioned as sending a letter to Jehoram, king of Judah; Elisha is never
+even named.
+
+On the other hand, it is more than once implied that Judah, with the
+Levites, and the remnants of Simeon and Benjamin, are the true Israel.
+When Rehoboam "was strong he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel
+with him." After Shishak's invasion, "the princes of Israel and the king
+humbled themselves."(135) The annals of Manasseh, king of Judah, are said
+to be "written among the acts of the kings of Israel."(136) The register
+of the exiles, who returned with Zerubbabel is headed "The number of the
+men of the people of Israel."(137) The chronicler tacitly anticipates the
+position of St. Paul: "They are not all Israel which are of Israel"; and
+the Apostle might have appealed to Chronicles to show that the majority of
+Israel might fail to recognise and accept the Divine purpose for Israel,
+and that the true Israel would then be found in an elect remnant. The Jews
+of the second Temple naturally and inevitably came to ignore the ten
+tribes and to regard themselves as constituting this true Israel. As a
+matter of history, there had been a period during which the prophets of
+Samaria were of far more importance to the religion of Jehovah than the
+temple at Jerusalem; but in the chronicler's time the very existence of
+the ten tribes was ancient history. Then, at any rate, it was true that
+God's Israel was to be found in the Jewish community, at and around
+Jerusalem. They inherited the religious spirit of their fathers, and
+received from them the sacred writings and traditions, and carried on the
+sacred ritual. They preserved the truth and transmitted it from generation
+to generation, till at last it was merged in the mightier stream of
+Christian revelation.
+
+The attitude of the chronicler towards the prophets of the northern
+kingdom does not in any way represent the actual importance of these
+prophets to the religion of Israel; but it is a very striking expression
+of the fact that after the Captivity the ten tribes had long ceased to
+exercise any influence upon the spiritual life of their nation.
+
+The chronicler's attitude is also open to criticism on another side. He is
+dominated by his own surroundings, and in his references to the Judaism of
+his own time there is no formal recognition of the Jewish community in
+Babylon; and yet even his own casual allusions confirm what we know from
+other sources, namely that the wealth and learning of the Jews in Babylon
+were an important factor in Judaism until a very late date. This point
+perhaps rather concerns Ezra and Nehemiah than Chronicles, but it is
+closely connected with our present subject, and is most naturally treated
+along with it. The chronicler might have justified himself by saying that
+the true home of Israel must be in Palestine, and that a community in
+Babylon could only be considered as subsidiary to the nation in its own
+home and worshipping at the Temple. Such a sentiment, at any rate, would
+have met with universal approval amongst Palestinian Jews. The chronicler
+might also have replied that the Jews in Babylon belonged to Judah and
+Benjamin and were sufficiently recognised in the general prominence give
+to these tribes. In all probability some Palestinian Jews would have been
+willing to class their Babylonian kinsmen with the ten tribes. Voluntary
+exiles from the Temple, the Holy City, and the Land of Promise had in
+great measure cut themselves off from the full privileges of the people of
+Jehovah. If, however, we had a Babylonian book of Chronicles, we should
+see both Jerusalem and Babylon in another light.
+
+The chronicler was possessed and inspired by the actual living present
+round about him; he was content to let the dead past bury its dead. He was
+probably inclined to believe that the absent are mostly wrong, and that
+the men who worked with him for the Lord and His temple were the true
+Israel and the Church of God. He was enthusiastic in his own vocation and
+loyal to his brethren. If his interests were somewhat narrowed by the
+urgency of present circumstances, most men suffer from the same
+limitations. Few Englishmen realise that the battle of Agincourt is part
+of the history of the United States, and that Canterbury Cathedral is a
+monument of certain stages in the growth of the religion of New England.
+We are not altogether willing to admit that these voluntary exiles from
+our Holy Land belong to the true Anglo-Saxon Israel.
+
+Churches are still apt to ignore their obligations to teachers who, like
+the prophets of Samaria, seem to have been associated with alien or
+hostile branches of the family of God. A religious movement which fails to
+secure for itself a permanent monument is usually labelled heresy. If it
+has neither obtained recognition within the Church nor yet organised a
+sect for itself, its services are forgotten or denied. Even the orthodoxy
+of one generation is sometimes contemptuous of the older orthodoxy which
+made it possible; and yet Gnostics, Arians and Athanasians, Arminians and
+Calvinists, have all done something to build up the temple of faith.
+
+The nineteenth century prides itself on a more liberal spirit. But
+Romanist historians are not eager to acknowledge the debt of their Church
+to the Reformers; and there are Protestant partisans who deny that we are
+the heirs of the Christian life and thought of the mediaeval Church and are
+anxious to trace the genealogy of pure religion exclusively through a
+supposed succession of obscure and half-mythical sects. Limitations like
+those of the chronicler still narrow the sympathies of earnest and devout
+Christians.
+
+But it is time to return to the more positive aspects of the teaching of
+Chronicles, and to see how far we have already traced its exposition of
+the Messianic idea. The plan of the book implies a spiritual claim on
+behalf of the Jewish community of the Restoration. Because they believed
+in Jehovah, whose providence had in former times controlled the destinies
+of Israel, they returned to their ancestral home that they might serve and
+worship the God of their fathers. Their faith survived the ruin of Judah
+and their own captivity; they recognised the power, and wisdom, and love
+of God alike in the prosperity and in the misfortunes of their race. "They
+believed God, and it was counted unto them for righteousness." The great
+prophet of the Restoration had regarded this new Israel as itself a
+Messianic people, perhaps even "a light to the Gentiles" and "salvation
+unto the ends of the earth."(138) The chronicler's hopes were more modest;
+the new Jerusalem had been seen by the prophet as an ideal vision; the
+historian knew it by experience as an imperfect human society: but he
+believed none the less in its high spiritual vocation and prerogatives. He
+claimed the future for those who were able to trace the hand of God in
+their past.
+
+Under the monarchy the fortunes of Jerusalem had been bound up with those
+of the house of David. The chronicler brings out all that was best in the
+history of the ancient kings of Judah, that this ideal picture of the
+state and its rulers might encourage and inspire to future hope and
+effort. The character and achievements of David and his successors were of
+permanent significance. The grace and favour accorded to them symbolised
+the Divine promise for the future, and this promise was to be realised
+through a Son of David.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III. David--II. His Personal History.
+
+
+In order to understand why the chronicler entirely recasts the graphic and
+candid history of David given in the book of Samuel, we have to consider
+the place that David had come to fill in Jewish religion. It seems
+probable that among the sources used by the author of the book of Samuel
+was a history of David, written not long after his death, by some one
+familiar with the inner life of the court. "No one," says the proverb, "is
+an hero to his valet"; very much what a valet is to a private gentleman
+courtiers are to a king: their knowledge of their master approaches to the
+familiarity which breeds contempt. Not that David was ever a subject for
+contempt or less than an hero even to his own courtiers; but they knew him
+as a very human hero, great in his vices as well as in his virtues, daring
+in battle and wise in counsel, sometimes also reckless in sin, yet capable
+of unbounded repentance, loving not wisely, but too well. And as they knew
+him, so they described him; and their picture is an immortal possession
+for all students of sacred life and literature. But it is not the portrait
+of a Messiah; when we think of the "Son of David," we do not want to be
+reminded of Bath-sheba.
+
+During the six or seven centuries that elapsed between the death of David
+and the chronicler, the name of David had come to have a symbolic meaning,
+which was largely independent of the personal character and career of the
+actual king. His reign had become idealised by the magic of antiquity; it
+was a glory of "the good old times." His own sins and failures were
+obscured by the crimes and disasters of later kings. And yet, in spite of
+all its shortcomings, the "house of David" still remained the symbol alike
+of ancient glory and of future hopes. We have seen from the genealogies
+how intimate the connection was between the family and its founder.
+Ephraim and Benjamin may mean either patriarchs or tribes. A Jew was not
+always anxious to distinguish between the family and the founder. "David"
+and "the house of David" became almost interchangeable terms.
+
+Even the prophets of the eighth century connect the future destiny of
+Israel with David and his house. The child, of whom Isaiah prophesied, was
+to sit "upon the throne of David" and be "over his kingdom, to establish
+it and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth
+even for ever."(139) And, again, the king who is to "sit ... in truth, ...
+judging, and seeking judgment, and swift to do righteousness," is to have
+"his throne ... established in mercy in the tent of David."(140) When
+Sennacherib attacked Jerusalem, the city was defended(141) for Jehovah's
+own sake and for His servant David's sake. In the word of the Lord that
+came to Isaiah for Hezekiah, David supersedes, as it were, the sacred
+fathers of the Hebrew race; Jehovah is not spoken of as "the God of
+Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," but "the God of David."(142) As founder of the
+dynasty, he takes rank with the founders of the race and religion of
+Israel: he is "the patriarch David."(143) The northern prophet Hosea looks
+forward to the time when "the children of Israel shall return, and seek
+the Lord their God and David their king"(144); when Amos wishes to set
+forth the future prosperity of Israel, he says that the Lord "will raise
+up the tabernacle of David"(145); in Micah "the ruler in Israel" is to
+come forth from Bethlehem Ephrathah, the birthplace of David(146); in
+Jeremiah such references to David are frequent, the most characteristic
+being those relating to the "righteous branch, whom the Lord will raise up
+unto David," who "shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute
+judgment and justice in the land, in whose days Judah shall be saved, and
+Israel shall dwell safely"(147); in Ezekiel "My servant David" is to be
+the shepherd and prince of Jehovah's restored and reunited people(148);
+Zechariah, writing at what we may consider the beginning of the
+chronicler's own period, follows the language of his predecessors: he
+applies Jeremiah's prophecy of "the righteous branch" to Zerubbabel, the
+prince of the house of David(149): similarly in Haggai Zerubbabel is the
+chosen of Jehovah(150); in the appendix to Zechariah it is said that when
+"the Lord defends the inhabitants of Jerusalem" "the house of David shall
+be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them."(151) In the later
+literature, Biblical and apocryphal, the Davidic origin of the Messiah is
+not conspicuous till it reappears in the Psalms of Solomon(152) and the
+New Testament, but the idea had not necessarily been dormant meanwhile.
+The chronicler and his school studied and meditated on the sacred
+writings, and must have been familiar with this doctrine of the prophets.
+The interest in such a subject would not be confined to scholars.
+Doubtless the downtrodden people cherished with ever-growing ardour the
+glorious picture of the Davidic king. In the synagogues it was not only
+Moses, but the Prophets, that were read; and they could never allow the
+picture of the Messianic king to grow faint and pale.(153)
+
+David's name was also familiar as the author of many psalms. The
+inhabitants of Jerusalem would often hear them sung at the Temple, and
+they were probably used for private devotion. In this way especially the
+name of David had become associated with the deepest and purest spiritual
+experiences.
+
+This brief survey shows how utterly impossible it was for the chronicler
+to transfer the older narrative bodily from the book of Samuel to his own
+pages. Large omissions were absolutely necessary. He could not sit down in
+cold blood to tell his readers that the man whose name they associated
+with the most sacred memories and the noblest hopes of Israel had been
+guilty of treacherous murder, and had offered himself to the Philistines
+as an ally against the people of Jehovah.
+
+From this point of view let us consider the chronicler's omissions
+somewhat more in detail. In the first place, with one or two slight
+exceptions, he omits the whole of David's life before his accession to the
+throne, for two reasons: partly because he is anxious that his readers
+should think of David as king, the anointed of Jehovah, the Messiah;
+partly that they may not be reminded of his career as an outlaw and a
+freebooter and of his alliance with the Philistines.(154) It is probably
+only an unintentional result of this omission that it enables the
+chronicler to ignore the important services rendered to David by Abiathar,
+whose family were rivals of the house of Zadok in the priesthood.
+
+We have already seen that the events of David's reign at Hebron and his
+struggle with Ishbosheth are omitted because the chronicler does not
+recognise Ishbosheth as a legitimate king. The omission would also commend
+itself because this section contains the account of Joab's murder of Abner
+and David's inability to do more than protest against the crime. "I am
+this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah are
+too hard for me,"(155) are scarcely words that become an ideal king.
+
+The next point to notice is one of those significant alterations that mark
+the chronicler's industry as a redactor. In 2 Sam. v. 21 we read that
+after the Philistines had been defeated at Baal-perazim they left their
+images there, and David and his men took them away. Why did they take them
+away? What did David and his men want with images? Missionaries bring home
+images as trophies, and exhibit them triumphantly, like soldiers who have
+captured the enemy's standards. No one, not even an unconverted native,
+supposes that they have been brought away to be used in worship. But the
+worship of images was no improbable apostacy on the part of an Israelite
+king. The chronicler felt that these ambiguous words were open to
+misconstruction; so he tells us what he assumes to have been their
+ultimate fate: "And they left their gods there; and David gave
+commandment, and they were burnt with fire."(156)
+
+The next omission was obviously a necessary one; it is the incident of
+Uriah and Bath-sheba. The name Bath-sheba never occurs in Chronicles. When
+it is necessary to mention the mother of Solomon, she is called Bath-shua,
+possibly in order that the disgraceful incident might not be suggested
+even by the use of the name. The New Testament genealogies differ in this
+matter in somewhat the same way as Samuel and Chronicles. St. Matthew
+expressly mentions Uriah's wife as an ancestress of our Lord, but St. Luke
+does not mention her or any other ancestress.
+
+The next omission is equally extensive and important. It includes the
+whole series of events connected with the revolt of Absalom, from the
+incident of Tamar to the suppression of the rebellion of Sheba the son of
+Bichri. Various motives may have contributed to this omission. The
+narrative contains unedifying incidents, which are passed over as lightly
+as possible by modern writers like Stanley. It was probably a relief to
+the chronicler to be able to omit them altogether. There is no heinous sin
+like the murder of Uriah, but the story leaves a general impression of
+great weakness on David's part. Joab murders Amasa as he had murdered
+Abner, and this time there is no record of any protest even on the part of
+David. But probably the main reason for the omission of this narrative is
+that it mars the ideal picture of David's power and dignity and the
+success and prosperity of his reign.
+
+The touching story of Rizpah is omitted; the hanging of her sons does not
+exhibit David in a very amiable light. The Gibeonites propose that "they
+shall hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the
+Lord," and David accepts the proposal. This punishment of the children for
+the sin of their father was expressly against the Law(157); and the whole
+incident was perilously akin to human sacrifice. How could they be hung up
+before Jehovah in Gibeah unless there was a sanctuary of Jehovah in
+Gibeah? And why should Saul at such a time and in such a connection be
+called emphatically "the chosen of Jehovah"? On many grounds, it was a
+passage which the chronicler would be glad to omit.
+
+In 2 Sam. xxi. 15-17 we are told that David waxed faint and had to be
+rescued by Abishai. This is omitted by Chronicles probably because it
+detracts from the character of David as the ideal hero. The next paragraph
+in Samuel also tended to depreciate David's prowess. It stated that
+Goliath was slain by Elhanan. The chronicler introduces a correction. It
+was not Goliath whom Elhanan slew, but Lahmi, the brother of Goliath.
+However, the text in Samuel is evidently corrupt; and possibly this is one
+of the cases in which Chronicles has preserved the correct text.(158)
+
+Then follow two omissions that are not easily accounted for. 2 Sam. xxii.,
+xxiii., contain two psalms, Psalm xviii. and "the Last Words of David,"
+the latter not included in the Psalter. These psalms are generally
+considered a late addition to the book of Samuel, and it is barely
+possible that they were not in the copy used by the chronicler; but the
+late date of Chronicles makes against this supposition. The psalms may be
+omitted for the sake of brevity, and yet elsewhere a long cento of
+passages from post-Exilic psalms is added to the material derived from the
+book of Samuel. Possibly something in the omitted section jarred upon the
+theological sensibilities of the chronicler, but it is not clear what. He
+does not as a rule look below the surface for obscure suggestions of
+undesirable views. The grounds of his alterations and omissions are
+usually sufficiently obvious; but these particular omissions are not at
+present susceptible of any obvious explanation. Further research into the
+theology of Judaism may perhaps provide us with one hereafter.
+
+Finally, the chronicler omits the attempt of Adonijah to seize the throne,
+and David's dying commands to Solomon. The opening chapters of the book of
+Kings present a graphic and pathetic picture of the closing scenes of
+David's life. The king is exhausted with old age. His authoritative
+sanction to the coronation of Solomon is only obtained when he has been
+roused and directed by the promptings and suggestions of the women of his
+harem. The scene is partly a parallel and partly a contrast to the last
+days of Queen Elizabeth; for when _her_ bodily strength failed, the
+obstinate Tudor spirit refused to be guided by the suggestions of her
+courtiers. The chronicler was depicting a person of almost Divine dignity,
+in whom incidents of human weakness would have been out of keeping; and
+therefore they are omitted.
+
+David's charge to Solomon is equally human. Solomon is to make up for
+David's weakness and undue generosity by putting Joab and Shimei to death;
+on the other hand, he is to pay David's debt of gratitude to the son of
+Barzillai. But the chronicler felt that David's mind in those last days
+must surely have been occupied with the temple which Solomon was to build,
+and the less edifying charge is omitted.
+
+Constantine is reported to have said that, for the honour of the Church,
+he would conceal the sin of a bishop with his own imperial purple. David
+was more to the chronicler than the whole Christian episcopate to
+Constantine. His life of David is compiled in the spirit and upon the
+principles of lives of saints generally, and his omissions are made in
+perfect good faith.
+
+Let us now consider the positive picture of David as it is drawn for us in
+Chronicles. Chronicles would be published separately, each copy written
+out on a roll of its own. There may have been Jews who had Chronicles, but
+not Samuel and Kings, and who knew nothing about David except what they
+learned from Chronicles. Possibly the chronicler and his friends would
+recommend the work as suitable for the education of children and the
+instruction of the common people. It would save its readers from being
+perplexed by the religious difficulties suggested by Samuel and Kings.
+There were many obstacles, however, to the success of such a scheme; the
+persecutions of Antiochus and the wars of the Maccabees took the
+leadership out of the hands of scholars and gave it to soldiers and
+statesmen. The latter perhaps felt more drawn to the real David than to
+the ideal, and the new priestly dynasty would not be anxious to emphasise
+the Messianic hopes of the house of David. But let us put ourselves for a
+moment in the position of a student of Hebrew history who reads of David
+for the first time in Chronicles and has no other source of information.
+
+Our first impression as we read the book is that David comes into the
+history as abruptly as Elijah or Melchizedek. Jehovah slew Saul "and
+turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse."(159) Apparently the
+Divine appointment is promptly and enthusiastically accepted by the
+nation; all the twelve tribes come at once in their tens and hundreds of
+thousands to Hebron to make David king. They then march straight to
+Jerusalem and take it by storm, and forthwith attempt to bring up the Ark
+to Zion. An unfortunate accident necessitates a delay of three months, but
+at the end of that time the Ark is solemnly installed in a tent at
+Jerusalem.(160)
+
+We are not told who David the son of Jesse was, or why the Divine choice
+fell upon him, or how he had been prepared for his responsible position,
+or how he had so commended himself to Israel as to be accepted with
+universal acclaim. He must, however, have been of noble family and high
+character; and it is hinted that he had had a distinguished career as a
+soldier.(161) We should expect to find his name in the introductory
+genealogies; and if we have read these lists of names with conscientious
+attention, we shall remember that there are sundry incidental references
+to David, and that he was the seventh son of Jesse,(162) who was descended
+from the Patriarch Judah, through Boaz, the husband of Ruth.
+
+As we read further we come to other references which throw some light on
+David's early career, and at the same time somewhat mar the symmetry of
+the opening narrative. The wide discrepancy between the chronicler's idea
+of David and the account given by his authorities prevents him from
+composing his work on an entirely consecutive and consistent plan. We
+gather that there was a time when David was in rebellion against his
+predecessor, and maintained himself at Ziklag and elsewhere, keeping
+"himself close, because of Saul the son of Kish," and even that he came
+with the Philistines against Saul to battle, but was prevented by the
+jealousy of the Philistine chiefs from actually fighting against Saul.
+There is nothing to indicate the occasion or circumstances of these
+events.(163) But it appears that even at this period, when David was in
+arms against the king of Israel and an ally of the Philistines, he was the
+chosen leader of Israel. Men flocked to him from Judah and Benjamin,
+Manasseh and Gad, and doubtless from the other tribes as well: "From day
+to day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host like the
+host of God."(164)
+
+This chapter partly explains David's popularity after Saul's death; but it
+only carries the mystery a stage further back. How did this outlaw and
+apparently unpatriotic rebel get so strong a hold on the affections of
+Israel?
+
+Chap. xii. also provides material for plausible explanations of another
+difficulty. In chap. x. the army of Israel is routed, the inhabitants of
+the land take to flight, and the Philistines occupy their cities; in xi.
+and xii. 23-40 all Israel come straightway to Hebron in the most peaceful
+and unconcerned fashion to make David king. Are we to understand that his
+Philistine allies, mindful of that "great host, like the host of God," all
+at once changed their minds and entirely relinquished the fruits of their
+victory?
+
+Elsewhere, however, we find a statement that renders other explanations
+possible. David reigned seven years in Hebron,(165) so that our first
+impression as to the rapid sequence of events at the beginning of his
+reign is apparently not correct, and there was time in these seven years
+for a more gradual expulsion of the Philistines. It is doubtful, however,
+whether the chronicler intended his original narrative to be thus modified
+and interpreted.
+
+The main thread of the history is interrupted here and later on(166) to
+insert incidents which illustrate the personal courage and prowess of
+David and his warriors. We are also told how busily occupied David was
+during the three months' sojourn of the Ark in the house of Obed-edom the
+Gittite. He accepted an alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre; he added to his
+harem; he successfully repelled two inroads of the Philistines, and made
+him houses in the city of David.(167)
+
+The narrative returns to its main subject: the history of the sanctuary at
+Jerusalem. As soon as the Ark was duly installed in its tent, and David
+was established in his new palace, he was struck by the contrast between
+the tent and the palace: "Lo, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of
+the covenant of the Lord dwelleth under curtains." He proposed to
+substitute a temple for the tent, but was forbidden by his prophet Nathan,
+through whom God promised him that his son should build the Temple, and
+that his house should be established for ever.(168)
+
+Then we read of the wars, victories, and conquests of David. He is no
+longer absorbed in the defence of Israel against the Philistines. He takes
+the aggressive and conquers Gath; he conquers Edom, Moab, Ammon, and
+Amalek; he and his armies defeat the Syrians in several battles, the
+Syrians become tributary, and David occupies Damascus with a garrison.
+"And the Lord gave victory to David whithersoever he went." The conquered
+were treated after the manner of those barbarous times. David and his
+generals carried off much spoil, especially brass, and silver, and gold;
+and when he conquered Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, "he brought forth the
+people that were therein, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of
+iron, and with axes. And thus did David unto all the cities of the
+children of Ammon." Meanwhile his home administration was as honourable as
+his foreign wars were glorious: "He executed judgment and justice unto all
+his people"; and the government was duly organised with commanders of the
+host and the bodyguard, with priests and scribes.(169)
+
+Then follows a mysterious and painful dispensation of Providence, which
+the historian would gladly have omitted, if his respect for the memory of
+his hero had not been overruled by his sense of the supreme importance of
+the Temple. David, like Job, was given over for a season to Satan, and
+while possessed by this evil spirit displeased God by numbering Israel.
+His punishment took the form of a great pestilence, which decimated his
+people, until, by Divine command, David erected an altar in the
+threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite and offered sacrifices upon it,
+whereupon the plague was stayed. David at once perceived the significance
+of this incident: Jehovah had indicated the site of the future Temple.
+"This is the house of Jehovah Elohim,(170) and this is the altar of burnt
+offering for Israel."(171)
+
+This revelation of the Divine will as to the position of the Temple led
+David to proceed at once with preparations for its erection by Solomon,
+which occupied all his energies for the remainder of his life.(172) He
+gathered funds and materials, and gave his son full instructions about the
+building; he organised the priests and Levites, the Temple orchestra and
+choir, the doorkeepers, treasurers, officers, and judges; he also
+organised the army, the tribes, and the royal exchequer on the model of
+the corresponding arrangements for the Temple.
+
+Then follows the closing scene of David's life. The sun of Israel sets
+amid the flaming glories of the western sky. No clouds or mists rob him of
+accustomed splendour. David calls a great assembly of princes and
+warriors; he addresses a solemn exhortation to them and to Solomon; he
+delivers to his son instructions for "all the works" which "I have been
+made to understand in writing from the hand of Jehovah." It is almost as
+though the plans of the Temple had shared with the first tables of stone
+the honour of being written with the very finger of God Himself, and David
+were even greater than Moses. He reminds Solomon of all the preparations
+he had made, and appeals to the princes and the people for further gifts;
+and they render willingly--thousands of talents of gold, and silver, and
+brass, and iron. David offers prayer and thanksgiving to the Lord: "And
+David said to all the congregation, Now bless Jehovah our God. And all the
+congregation blessed Jehovah, the God of their fathers, and bowed down
+their heads, and worshipped Jehovah _and the king_. And they sacrificed
+sacrifices unto Jehovah, and offered burnt offerings unto Jehovah, on the
+morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a
+thousand lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for
+all Israel, and did eat and drink before Jehovah on that day with great
+gladness. And they made Solomon king; ... and David died in a good old
+age, full of days, riches, and honour, and Solomon his son reigned in his
+stead."(173)
+
+The Roman expressed his idea of a becoming death more simply: "An emperor
+should die standing." The chronicler has given us the same view at greater
+length; this is how the chronicler would have wished to die if he had been
+David, and how, therefore, he conceives that God honoured the last hours
+of the man after His own heart.
+
+It is a strange contrast to the companion picture in the book of Kings.
+There the king is bedridden, dying slowly of old age; the life-blood
+creeps coldly through his veins. The quiet of the sick-room is invaded by
+the shrill outcry of an aggrieved woman, and the dying king is roused to
+hear that once more eager hands are clutching at his crown. If the
+chronicler has done nothing else, he has helped us to appreciate better
+the gloom and bitterness of the tragedy that was enacted in the last days
+of David.
+
+What idea does Chronicles give us of the man and his character? He is
+first and foremost a man of earnest piety and deep spiritual feeling. Like
+the great religious leaders of the chronicler's own time, his piety found
+its chief expression in ritual. The main business of his life was to
+provide for the sanctuary and its services; that is, for the highest
+fellowship of God and man, according to the ideas then current. But David
+is no mere formalist; the psalm of thanksgiving for the return of the Ark
+to Jerusalem is a worthy tribute to the power and faithfulness of
+Jehovah.(174) His prayer after God had promised to establish his dynasty
+is instinct with devout confidence and gratitude.(175) But the most
+gracious and appropriate of these Davidic utterances is his last prayer
+and thanksgiving for the liberal gifts of the people for the Temple.(176)
+
+Next to David's enthusiasm for the Temple, his most conspicuous qualities
+are those of a general and soldier: he has great personal strength and
+courage, and is uniformly successful in wars against numerous and powerful
+enemies; his government is both able and upright; his great powers as an
+organiser and administrator are exercised both in secular and
+ecclesiastical matters; in a word, he is in more senses than one an ideal
+king.
+
+Moreover, like Alexander, Marlborough, Napoleon, and other epoch-making
+conquerors, he had a great charm of personal attractiveness; he inspired
+his officers and soldiers with enthusiasm and devotion to himself. The
+pictures of all Israel flocking to him in the first days of his reign and
+even earlier, when he was an outlaw, are forcible illustrations of this
+wonderful gift; and the same feature of his character is at once
+illustrated and partly explained by the romantic episode at Adullam. What
+greater proof of affection could outlaws give to their captain than to
+risk their lives to get him a draught of water from the well of Bethlehem?
+How better could David have accepted and ratified their devotion than by
+pouring out this water as a most precious libation to God?(177) But the
+chronicler gives most striking expression to the idea of David's
+popularity when he finally tells us in the same breath that the people
+worshipped Jehovah and the king.(178)
+
+In drawing an ideal picture, our author has naturally omitted incidents
+that might have revealed the defects of his hero. Such omissions deceive
+no one, and are not meant to deceive any one. Yet David's failings are not
+altogether absent from this history. He has those vices which were
+characteristic alike of his own age and of the chronicler's, and which
+indeed are not yet wholly extinct. He could treat his prisoners with
+barbarous cruelty. His pride led him to number Israel, but his repentance
+was prompt and thorough; and the incident brings out alike both his faith
+in God and his care for his people. When the whole episode is before us,
+it does not lessen our love and respect for David. The reference to his
+alliance with the Philistines is vague and incidental. If this were our
+only account of the matter, we should interpret it by the rest of his
+life, and conclude that if all the facts were known, they would justify
+his conduct.
+
+In forming a general estimate of David according to Chronicles, we may
+fairly neglect these less satisfactory episodes. Briefly David is perfect
+saint and perfect king, beloved of God and man.
+
+A portrait reveals the artist as well as the model and the chronicler in
+depicting David gives indications of the morality of his own times. We may
+deduce from his omissions a certain progress in moral sensitiveness. The
+book of Samuel emphatically condemns David's treachery towards Uriah, and
+is conscious of the discreditable nature of many incidents connected with
+the revolts of Absalom and Adonijah; but the silence of Chronicles implies
+an even severer condemnation. In other matters, however, the chronicler
+"judges himself in that which he approveth."(179) Of course the first
+business of an ancient king was to protect his people from their enemies
+and to enrich them at the expense of their neighbours. The urgency of
+these duties may excuse, but not justify, the neglect of the more peaceful
+departments of the administration. The modern reader is struck by the
+little stress laid by the narrative upon good government at home; it is
+just mentioned, and that is about all. As the sentiment of international
+morality is even now only in its infancy, we cannot wonder at its absence
+from Chronicles; but we are a little surprised to find that cruelty
+towards prisoners is included without comment in the character of the
+ideal king.(180) It is curious that the account in the book of Samuel is
+slightly ambiguous and might possibly admit of a comparatively mild
+interpretation; but Chronicles, according to the ordinary translation,
+says definitely, "He _cut_ them with saws." The mere reproduction of this
+passage need not imply full and deliberate approval of its contents; but
+it would not have been allowed to remain in the picture of the ideal king,
+if the chronicler had felt any strong conviction as to the duty of
+humanity towards one's enemies. Unfortunately we know from the book of
+Esther and elsewhere that later Judaism had not attained to any wide
+enthusiasm of humanity.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV. David--III. His Official Dignity.
+
+
+In estimating the personal character of David, we have seen that one
+element of it was his ideal kingship. Apart from his personality, his name
+is significant for Old Testament theology, as that of the typical king.
+From the time when the royal title "Messiah" began to be a synonym for the
+hope of Israel, down to the period when the Anglican Church taught the
+Divine right of kings, and Calvinists insisted on the Divine sovereignty
+or royal authority of God, the dignity and power of the King of kings have
+always been illustrated by, and sometimes associated with, the state of an
+earthly monarch--whereof David is the most striking example.
+
+The times of the chronicler were favourable to the development of the idea
+of the perfect king of Israel, the prince of the house of David. There was
+no king in Israel; and, as far as we can gather, the living
+representatives of the house of David held no very prominent position in
+the community. It is much easier to draw a satisfactory picture of the
+ideal monarch when the imagination is not checked and hampered by the
+faults and failings of an actual Ahaz or Hezekiah. In earlier times the
+prophetic hopes for the house of David had often been rudely disappointed,
+but there had been ample space to forget the past and to revive the old
+hopes in fresh splendour and magnificence. Lack of experience helped to
+commend the idea of the Davidic king to the chronicler. Enthusiasm for a
+benevolent despot is mostly confined to those who have not enjoyed the
+privilege of living under such autocratic government.
+
+On the other hand, there was no temptation to flatter any living Davidic
+king, so that the semi-Divine character of the kingship of David is not
+set forth after the gross and almost blasphemous style of Roman emperors
+or Turkish sultans. It is indeed said that the people worshipped Jehovah
+and the king; but the essential character of Jewish thought made it
+impossible that the ideal king should sit "in the temple of God, setting
+himself forth as God." David and Solomon could not share with the pagan
+emperors the honours of Divine worship in their life-time and apotheosis
+after their death. Nothing addressed to any Hebrew king parallels the
+panegyric to the Christian emperor Theodosius, in which allusion is made
+to his "sacred mind," and he is told that "as the Fates are said to assist
+with their tablets _that God who is the partner in your majesty_, so does
+some Divine power serve your bidding, which writes down and in due time
+suggests to your memory the promises which you have made."(181) Nor does
+Chronicles adorn the kings of Judah with extravagant Oriental titles, such
+as "King of kings of kings of kings." Devotion to the house of David never
+oversteps the bounds of a due reverence, but the Hebrew idea of monarchy
+loses nothing by this salutary reserve.
+
+Indeed, the title of the royal house of Judah rested upon Divine
+appointment. "Jehovah ... turned the kingdom unto David; ... and they
+anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of Jehovah by the
+hand of Samuel."(182) But the Divine choice was confirmed by the cordial
+consent of the nation; the sovereigns of Judah, like those of England,
+ruled by the grace of God and the will of the people. Even before David's
+accession the Israelites had flocked to his standard; and after the death
+of Saul a great array of the twelve tribes came to Hebron to make David
+king, "and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David
+king."(183) Similarly Solomon is the king "whom God hath chosen," and all
+the congregation make him king and anoint him to be prince.(184) The
+double election of David by Jehovah and by the nation is clearly set forth
+in the book of Samuel, and in Chronicles the omission of David's early
+career emphasises this election. In the book of Samuel we are shown the
+natural process that brought about the change of dynasty; we see how the
+Divine choice took effect through the wars between Saul and the
+Philistines and through David's own ability and energy. Chronicles is
+mostly silent as to secondary causes, and fixes our attention on the
+Divine choice as the ultimate ground for David's elevation.
+
+The authority derived from God and the people continued to rest on the
+same basis. David sought Divine direction alike for the building of the
+Temple and for his campaigns against the Philistines. At the same time,
+when he wished to bring up the Ark to Jerusalem, he "consulted with the
+captains of thousands and of hundreds, even with every leader; and David
+said unto all the assembly of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and if it
+be of Jehovah our God, ... let us bring again the ark of our God to us;
+... and all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was
+right in the eyes of all the people."(185) Of course the chronicler does
+not intend to describe a constitutional monarchy, in which an assembly of
+the people had any legal status. Apparently in his own time the Jews
+exercised their measure of local self-government through an informal
+oligarchy, headed by the high-priest; and these authorities occasionally
+appealed to an assembly of the people. The administration under the
+monarchy was carried on in a somewhat similar fashion, only the king had
+greater authority than the high-priest, and the oligarchy of notables were
+not so influential as the colleagues of the latter. But apart from any
+formal constitution the chronicler's description of these incidents
+involves a recognition of the principle of popular consent in government
+as well as the doctrine that civil order rests upon a Divine sanction.
+
+It is interesting to see how a member of a great ecclesiastical community,
+imbued, as we should suppose, with all the spirit of priestcraft, yet
+insists upon the royal supremacy both in state and Church. But to have
+done otherwise would have been to go in the teeth of all history; even in
+the Pentateuch the "king in Jeshurun" is greater than the priest.
+Moreover, the chronicler was not a priest, but a Levite; and there are
+indications that the Levites' ancient jealousy of the priests had by no
+means died out. In Chronicles, at any rate, there is no question of
+priests interfering with the king's secular administration. They are not
+even mentioned as obtaining oracles for David as Abiathar did before his
+accession.(186) This was doubtless implied in the original account of the
+Philistine raids in chap. xiv., but the chronicler may not have understood
+that "inquiring of God" meant obtaining an oracle from the priests.
+
+The king is equally supreme also in ecclesiastical affairs; we might even
+say that the civil authorities generally shared this supremacy. Somewhat
+after the fashion of Cromwell and his major-generals, David utilised "the
+captains of the host" as a kind of ministry of public worship; they joined
+with him in organising the orchestra and choir for the services of the
+sanctuary(187): probably Napoleon and his marshals would have had no
+hesitation in selecting anthems for Notre Dame if the idea had occurred to
+them. David also consulted his captains,(188) and not the priests, about
+bringing the Ark to Jerusalem. When he gathered the great assembly to make
+his final arrangements for the building of the Temple, the princes and
+captains, the rulers and mighty men, are mentioned, but no priests.(189)
+And, last, all the congregation apparently anoint(190) Zadok to be priest.
+The chronicler was evidently a pronounced Erastian.(191) David is no mere
+nominal head of the Church; he takes the initiative in all important
+matters, and receives the Divine commands either directly or through his
+prophets Nathan and Gad. Now these prophets are not ecclesiastical
+authorities; they have nothing to do with the priesthood, and do not
+correspond to the officials of an organised Church. They are rather the
+domestic chaplains or confessors of the king, differing from modern
+chaplains and confessors in having no ecclesiastical superiors. They were
+not responsible to the bishop of any diocese or the general of any order;
+they did not manipulate the royal conscience in the interests of any party
+in the Church; they served God and the king, and had no other masters.
+They did not beard David before his people, as Ambrose confronted
+Theodosius or as Chrysostom rated Eudoxia; they delivered their message to
+David in private, and on occasion he communicated it to the people.(192)
+The king's spiritual dignity is rather enhanced than otherwise by this
+reception of prophetic messages specially delivered to himself. There is
+another aspect of the royal supremacy in religion. In this particular
+instance its object is largely the exaltation of David; to arrange for
+public worship is the most honourable function of the ideal king. At the
+same time the care of the sanctuary is his most sacred duty, and is
+assigned to him that it may be punctually and worthily discharged. State
+establishment of the Church is combined with a very thorough control of
+the Church by the state.
+
+We see then that the monarchy rested on Divine and national election, and
+was guided by the will of God and of the people. Indeed, in bringing up
+the Ark(193) the consent of the people is the only recorded indication of
+the will of God. "Vox populi vox Dei." The king and his government are
+supreme alike over the state and the sanctuary, and are entrusted with the
+charge of providing for public worship. Let us try to express the modern
+equivalents of these principles. Civil government is of Divine origin, and
+should obtain the consent of the people; it should be carried on according
+to the will of God, freely accepted by the nation. The civil authority is
+supreme both in Church and state, and is responsible for the maintenance
+of public worship.
+
+One at least of these principles is so widely accepted that it is quite
+independent of any Scriptural sanction from Chronicles. The consent of the
+people has long been accepted as an essential condition of any stable
+government. The sanctity of civil government and the sacredness of its
+responsibilities are coming to be recognised, at present perhaps rather in
+theory than in practice. We have not yet fully realised how the truth
+underlying the doctrine of the Divine right of kings applies to modern
+conditions. Formerly the king was the representative of the state, or even
+the state itself; that is to say, the king directly or indirectly
+maintained social order, and provided for the security of life and
+property. The Divine appointment and authority of the king expressed the
+sanctity of law and order as the essential conditions of moral and
+spiritual progress. The king is no longer the state. His Divine right,
+however, belongs to him, not as a person or as a member of a family, but
+as the embodiment of the state, the champion of social order against
+anarchy. The "Divinity that doth hedge a king" is now shared by the
+sovereign with all the various departments of government. The state--that
+is to say, the community organised for the common good and for mutual
+help--is now to be recognised as of Divine appointment and as wielding a
+Divine authority. "The Lord has turned the kingdom to" the people.
+
+This revolution is so tremendous that it would not be safe to apply to the
+modern state the remaining principles of the chronicler. Before we could
+do so we should need to enter into a discussion which would be out of
+place here, even if we had space for it.
+
+In one point the new democracies agree with the chronicler: they are not
+inclined to submit secular affairs to the domination of ecclesiastical
+officials.
+
+The questions of the supremacy of the state over the Church and of the
+state establishment of the Church involve larger and more complicated
+issues than existed in the mind or experience of the chronicler. But his
+picture of the ideal king suggests one idea that is in harmony with some
+modern aspirations. In Chronicles the king, as the representative of the
+state, is the special agent in providing for the highest spiritual needs
+of the people. May we venture to hope that out of the moral consciousness
+of a nation united in mutual sympathy and service there may arise a new
+enthusiasm to obey and worship God? Human cruelty is the greatest
+stumbling-block to belief and fellowship; when the state has somewhat
+mitigated the misery of "man's inhumanity to man," faith in God will be
+easier.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V. Solomon.
+
+
+The chronicler's history of Solomon is constructed on the same principles
+as that of David, and for similar reasons. The builder of the first Temple
+commanded the grateful reverence of a community whose national and
+religious life centred in the second Temple. While the Davidic king became
+the symbol of the hope of Israel, the Jews could not forget that this
+symbol derived much of its significance from the widespread dominion and
+royal magnificence of Solomon. The chronicler, indeed, attributes great
+splendour to the court of David, and ascribes to him a lion's share in the
+Temple itself. He provided his successor with treasure and materials and
+even the complete plans, so that on the principle, "Qui facit per alium,
+facit per se," David might have been credited with the actual building.
+Solomon was almost in the position of a modern engineer who puts together
+a steamer that has been built in sections. But, with all these
+limitations, the clear and obvious fact remained that Solomon actually
+built and dedicated the Temple. Moreover, the memory of his wealth and
+grandeur kept a firm hold on the popular imagination; and these
+conspicuous blessings were received as certain tokens of the favour of
+Jehovah.
+
+Solomon's fame, however, was threefold: he was not only the Divinely
+appointed builder of the Temple and, by the same Divine grace, the richest
+and most powerful king of Israel: he had also received from Jehovah the
+gift of "wisdom and knowledge." In his royal splendour and his sacred
+buildings he only differed in degree from other kings; but in his wisdom
+he stood alone, not only without equal, but almost without competitor.
+Herein he was under no obligation to his father, and the glory of Solomon
+could not be diminished by representing that he had been anticipated by
+David. Hence the name of Solomon came to symbolise Hebrew learning and
+philosophy.
+
+In religious significance, however, Solomon cannot rank with David. The
+dynasty of Judah could have only one representative, and the founder and
+eponym of the royal house was the most important figure for the subsequent
+theology. The interest that later generations felt in Solomon lay apart
+from the main line of Jewish orthodoxy, and he is never mentioned by the
+prophets.(194)
+
+Moreover, the darker aspects of Solomon's reign made more impression upon
+succeeding generations than even David's sins and misfortunes. Occasional
+lapses into vice and cruelty might be forgiven or even forgotten; but the
+systematic oppression of Solomon rankled for long generations in the
+hearts of the people, and the prophets always remembered his wanton
+idolatry. His memory was further discredited by the disasters which marked
+the close of his own reign and the beginning of Rehoboam's. Centuries
+later these feelings still prevailed. The prophets who adapted the Mosaic
+law for the closing period of the monarchy exhort the king to take warning
+by Solomon, and to multiply neither horses, nor wives, nor gold and
+silver.(195)
+
+But as time went on Judah fell into growing poverty and distress, which
+came to a head in the Captivity, and were renewed with the Restoration.
+The Jews were willing to forget Solomon's faults in order that they might
+indulge in fond recollections of the material prosperity of his reign.
+Their experience of the culture of Babylon led them to feel greater
+interest and pride in his wisdom, and the figure of Solomon began to
+assume a mysterious grandeur, which has since become the nucleus for
+Jewish and Mohammedan legends. The chief monument of his fame in Jewish
+literature is the book of Proverbs, but his growing reputation is shown by
+the numerous Biblical and apocryphal works ascribed to him. His name was
+no doubt attached to Canticles because of a feature in his character which
+the chronicler ignores. His supposed authorship of Ecclesiastes and of the
+Wisdom of Solomon testifies to the fame of his wisdom, while the titles of
+the "Psalms of Solomon" and even of some canonical psalms credit him with
+spiritual feeling and poetic power.(196)
+
+When the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach proposes to "praise famous
+men," it dwells upon Solomon's temple and his wealth, and especially upon
+his wisdom; but it does not forget his failings.(197) Josephus celebrates
+his glory at great length. The New Testament has comparatively few notices
+of Solomon; but these include references to his wisdom,(198) his
+splendour,(199) and his temple.(200) The Koran, however, far surpasses the
+New Testament in its interest in Solomon; and his name and his seal play a
+leading part in Jewish and Arabian magic. The bulk of this literature is
+later than the chronicler, but the renewed interest in the glory of
+Solomon must have begun before his time. Perhaps, by connecting the
+building of the Temple as far as possible with David, the chronicler marks
+his sense of Solomon's unworthiness. On the other hand, there were many
+reasons why he should welcome the aid of popular sentiment to enable him
+to include Solomon among the ideal Hebrew kings. After all, Solomon had
+built and dedicated the Temple; he was the "pious founder," and the
+beneficiaries of the foundation would wish to make the most of his piety.
+"Jehovah" had "magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel,
+and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king
+before him in Israel."(201) "King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the
+earth in riches and wisdom; and all the kings of the earth sought the
+presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his
+heart."(202) The chronicler would naturally wish to set forth the better
+side of Solomon's character as an ideal of royal wisdom and splendour,
+devoted to the service of the sanctuary. Let us briefly compare Chronicles
+and Kings to see how he accomplished his purpose.
+
+The structure of the narrative in Kings rendered the task comparatively
+easy: it could be accomplished by removing the opening and closing
+sections and making a few minor changes in the intermediate portion. The
+opening section is the sequel to the conclusion of David's reign; the
+chronicler omitted this conclusion, and therefore also its sequel. But the
+contents of this section were objectionable in themselves. Solomon's
+admirers willingly forget that his reign was inaugurated by the execution
+of Shimei, of his brother Adonijah, and of his father's faithful minister
+Joab, and by the deposition of the high-priest Abiathar. The chronicler
+narrates with evident approval the strong measures of Ezra and Nehemiah
+against foreign marriages, and he is therefore not anxious to remind his
+readers that Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter. He does not, however,
+carry out his plan consistently. Elsewhere he wishes to emphasise the
+sanctity of the Ark and tells us that "Solomon brought up the daughter of
+Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her,
+for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of
+Israel, because the places are holy whereunto the ark of the Lord hath
+come."(203)
+
+In Kings the history of Solomon closes with a long account of his numerous
+wives and concubines, his idolatry and consequent misfortunes. All this is
+omitted by the chronicler; but later on, with his usual inconsistency, he
+allows Nehemiah to point the moral of a tale he has left untold: "Did not
+Solomon, king of Israel, sin by these things?... Even him did strange
+women cause to sin."(204) In the intervening section he omits the famous
+judgment of Solomon, probably on account of the character of the women
+concerned. He introduces sundry changes which naturally follow from his
+belief that the Levitical law was then in force.(205) His feeling for the
+dignity of the chosen people and their king comes out rather curiously in
+two minor alterations. Both authorities agree in telling us that Solomon
+had recourse to forced labour for his building operations; in fact, after
+the usual Eastern fashion from the Pyramids down to the Suez Canal,
+Solomon's temple and palaces were built by the _corvee_. According to the
+oldest narrative, he "raised a levy out of all Israel."(206) This suggests
+that forced labour was exacted from the Israelites themselves, and it
+would help to account for Jeroboam's successful rebellion. The chronicler
+omits this statement as open to an interpretation derogatory to the
+dignity of the chosen people, and not only inserts a later explanation
+which he found in the book of Kings, but also another express statement
+that Solomon raised his levy of the "strangers that were in the land of
+Israel."(207) These statements may have been partly suggested by the
+existence of a class of Temple slaves called Solomon's servants.
+
+The other instance relates to Solomon's alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre.
+In the book of Kings we are told that "Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in
+the land of Galilee."(208) There were indeed redeeming features connected
+with the transaction; the cities were not a very valuable possession for
+Hiram: "they pleased him not"; yet he "sent to the King six score talents
+of gold." However, it seemed incredible to the chronicler that the most
+powerful and wealthy of the kings of Israel should either cede or sell any
+portion of Jehovah's inheritance. He emends the text of his authority so
+as to convert it into a casual reference to certain cities which Hiram had
+given to Solomon.(209)
+
+We will now reproduce the story of Solomon as given by the chronicler.
+Solomon was the youngest of four sons born to David at Jerusalem by
+Bath-shua, the daughter of Ammiel. Besides these three brothers, he had at
+least six other elder brothers. As in the cases of Isaac, Jacob, Judah,
+and David himself, the birthright fell to a younger son. In the prophetic
+utterance which foretold his birth, he was designated to succeed to his
+father's throne and to build the Temple. At the great assembly which
+closed his father's reign he received instructions as to the plans and
+services of the Temple,(210) and was exhorted to discharge his duties
+faithfully. He was declared king according to the Divine choice, freely
+accepted by David and ratified by popular acclamation. At David's death no
+one disputed his succession to the throne: "All Israel obeyed him; and all
+the princes and the mighty men and all the sons likewise of King David
+submitted themselves unto Solomon the king."(211)
+
+His first act after his accession was to sacrifice before the brazen altar
+of the ancient Tabernacle at Gibeon. That night God appeared unto him "and
+said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee." Solomon chose wisdom and
+knowledge to qualify him for the arduous task of government. Having thus
+"sought first the kingdom of God and His righteousness," all other
+things--"riches, wealth, and honour"--were added unto him.(212)
+
+He returned to Jerusalem, gathered a great array of chariots and horses by
+means of traffic with Egypt, and accumulated great wealth, so that silver,
+and gold, and cedars became abundant at Jerusalem.(213)
+
+He next proceeded with the building of the Temple, collected workmen,
+obtained timber from Lebanon and an artificer from Tyre. The Temple was
+duly erected and dedicated, the king taking the chief and most conspicuous
+part in all the proceedings. Special reference, however, is made to the
+presence of the priests and Levites at the dedication. On this occasion
+the ministry of the sanctuary was not confined to the course whose turn it
+was to officiate, but "all the priests that were present had sanctified
+themselves and did not keep their courses; also the Levites, which were
+the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and
+their brethren, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, and psalteries, and
+harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and
+twenty priests sounding with trumpets."(214)
+
+Solomon's dedication prayer concludes with special petitions for the
+priests, the saints, and the king: "Now therefore arise, O Jehovah Elohim,
+into Thy resting-place, Thou and the ark of Thy strength; let Thy priests,
+O Jehovah Elohim, be clothed with salvation, and let Thy saints rejoice in
+goodness. O Jehovah Elohim, turn not away the face of Thine anointed;
+remember the mercies of David Thy servant."(215)
+
+When David sacrificed at the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, the
+place had been indicated as the site of the future Temple by the descent
+of fire from heaven; and now, in token that the mercy shown to David
+should be continued to Solomon, the fire again fell from heaven, and
+consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Jehovah
+"filled the house of Jehovah,"(216) as it had done earlier in the day,
+when the Ark was brought into the Temple. Solomon concluded the opening
+ceremonies by a great festival: for eight days the Feast of Tabernacles
+was observed according to the Levitical law, and seven days more were
+specially devoted to a dedication feast.(217)
+
+Afterwards Jehovah appeared again to Solomon, as He had before at Gibeon,
+and told him that this prayer was accepted. Taking up the several
+petitions that the king had offered, He promised, "If I shut up heaven
+that there be no rain, or if I send pestilence among My people; if My
+people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray,
+and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
+heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now Mine
+eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attent, unto the prayer that is made in
+this place." Thus Jehovah, in His gracious condescension, adopts Solomon's
+own words(218) to express His answer to the prayer. He allows Solomon to
+dictate the terms of the agreement, and merely appends His signature and
+seal.
+
+Besides the Temple, Solomon built palaces for himself and his wife, and
+fortified many cities, among the rest Hamath-zobah, formerly allied to
+David.(219) He also organised the people for civil and military purposes.
+
+As far as the account of his reign is concerned, the Solomon of Chronicles
+appears as "the husband of one wife"; and that wife is the daughter of
+Pharaoh. A second, however, is mentioned later on as the mother of
+Rehoboam; she too was a "strange woman," an Ammonitess, Naamah by name.
+
+Meanwhile Solomon was careful to maintain all the sacrifices and festivals
+ordained in the Levitical law, and all the musical and other arrangements
+for the sanctuary commanded by David, the man of God.(220)
+
+We read next of his commerce by sea and land, his great wealth and wisdom,
+and the romantic visit of the queen of Sheba.(221)
+
+And so the story of Solomon closes with this picture of royal state,--
+
+
+            "The wealth of Ormus and of Ind,
+    Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand
+    Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold."
+
+
+Wealth was combined with imperial power and Divine wisdom. Here, as in the
+case of Plato's own pupils Dionysius and Dion of Syracuse, Plato's dream
+came true; the prince was a philosopher, and the philosopher a prince.
+
+At first sight it seems as if this marriage of authority and wisdom had
+happier issue at Jerusalem than at Syracuse. Solomon's history closes as
+brilliantly as David's, and Solomon was subject to no Satanic possession
+and brought no pestilence upon Israel. But testimonials are chiefly
+significant in what they omit; and when we compare the conclusions of the
+histories of David and Solomon, we note suggestive differences.
+
+Solomon's life does not close with any scene in which his people and his
+heir assemble to do him honour and to receive his last injunctions. There
+are no "last words" of the wise king; and it is not said of him that "he
+died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour." "Solomon slept
+with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father; and
+Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead"(222): that is all. When the
+chronicler, the professed panegyrist of the house of David, brings his
+narrative of this great reign to so lame and impotent a conclusion, he
+really implies as severe a condemnation upon Solomon as the book of Kings
+does by its narrative of his sins.
+
+Thus the Solomon of Chronicles shows the same piety and devotion to the
+Temple and its ritual which were shown by his father. His prayer at the
+dedication of the Temple is parallel to similar utterances of David.
+Instead of being a general and a soldier, he is a scholar and a
+philosopher. He succeeded to the administrative abilities of his father;
+and his prayer displays a deep interest in the welfare of his subjects.
+His record--in Chronicles--is even more faultless than that of David. And
+yet the careful student with nothing but Chronicles, even without Ezra and
+Nehemiah, might somehow get the impression that the story of Solomon, like
+that of Cambuscan, had been "left half told." In addition to the points
+suggested by a comparison with the history of David, there is a certain
+abruptness about its conclusion. The last fact noted of Solomon, before
+the formal statistics about "the rest of his acts" and the years of his
+reign, is that horses were brought for him "out of Egypt and out of all
+lands." Elsewhere the chronicler's use of his materials shows a feeling
+for dramatic effect. We should not have expected him to close the history
+of a great reign by a reference to the king's trade in horses.(223)
+
+Perhaps we are apt to read into Chronicles what we know from the book of
+Kings; yet surely this abrupt conclusion would have raised a suspicion
+that there were omissions, that facts had been suppressed because they
+could not bear the light. Upon the splendid figure of the great king, with
+his wealth and wisdom, his piety and devotion, rests the vague shadow of
+unnamed sins and unrecorded misfortunes. A suggestion of unhallowed
+mystery attaches itself to the name of the builder of the Temple, and
+Solomon is already on the way to become the Master of the Genii and the
+chief of magicians.(224)
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI. Solomon (continued).
+
+
+When we turn to consider the spiritual significance of this ideal picture
+of the history and character of Solomon, we are confronted by a difficulty
+that attends the exposition of any ideal history. An author's ideal of
+kingship in the early stages of literature is usually as much one and
+indivisible as his ideal of priesthood, of the office of the prophet, and
+of the wicked king. His authorities may record different incidents in
+connection with each individual; but he emphasises those which correspond
+with his ideal, or even anticipates the higher criticism by constructing
+incidents which seem required by the character and circumstances of his
+heroes. On the other hand, where the priest, or the prophet, or the king
+departs from the ideal, the incidents are minimised or passed over in
+silence. There will still be a certain variety because different
+individuals may present different elements of the ideal, and the
+chronicler does not insist on each of his good kings possessing all the
+characteristics of royal perfection. Still the tendency of the process is
+to make all the good kings alike. It would be monotonous to take each of
+them separately and deduce the lessons taught by their virtues, because
+the chronicler's intention is that they shall all teach the same lessons
+by the same kind of behaviour described from the same point of view. David
+has a unique position, and has to be taken by himself; but in considering
+the features that must be added to the picture of David in order to
+complete the picture of the good king, it is convenient to group Solomon
+with the reforming kings of Judah. We shall therefore defer for more
+consecutive treatment the chronicler's account of their general characters
+and careers. Here we shall merely gather up the suggestions of the
+different narratives as to the chronicler's ideal Hebrew king.
+
+The leading points have already been indicated from the chronicler's
+history of David. The first and most indispensable feature is devotion to
+the temple at Jerusalem and the ritual of the Pentateuch. This has been
+abundantly illustrated from the account of Solomon. Taking the reforming
+kings in their order:--
+
+Asa removed the high places which were rivals of the Temple,(225) renewed
+the altar of Jehovah, gathered the people together for a great
+sacrifice,(226) and made munificent donations to the Temple treasury.(227)
+
+Similarly Jehoshaphat took away the high places,(228) and sent out a
+commission to teach the Law.(229)
+
+Joash repaired the Temple(230); but, curiously enough, though Jehoram had
+restored the high places(231) and Joash was acting under the direction of
+the high-priest Jehoiada, it is not stated that the high places were done
+away with. This is one of the chronicler's rather numerous oversights.
+Perhaps, however, he expected that so obvious a reform would be taken for
+granted.
+
+Amaziah was careful to observe "the law in the book of Moses" that "the
+children should not die for the fathers,"(232) but Amaziah soon turned
+away from following Jehovah. This is perhaps the reason why in his case
+also nothing is said about doing away with the high places.
+
+Hezekiah had a special opportunity of showing his devotion to the Temple
+and the Law. The Temple had been polluted and closed by Ahaz, and its
+services discontinued. Hezekiah purified the Temple, reinstated the
+priests and Levites, and renewed the services; he made arrangements for
+the payment of the Temple revenues according to the provisions of the
+Levitical law, and took away the high places. He also held a reopening
+festival and a passover with numerous sacrifices.(233)
+
+Manasseh's repentance is indicated by the restoration of the Temple
+ritual.(234)
+
+Josiah took away the high places, repaired the Temple, made the people
+enter into a covenant to observe the rediscovered Law, and, like Hezekiah,
+held a great passover.(235)
+
+The reforming kings, like David and Solomon, are specially interested in
+the music of the Temple and in all the arrangements that have to do with
+the porters and doorkeepers and other classes of Levites. Their enthusiasm
+for the exclusive rights of the one Temple symbolises their loyalty to the
+one God, Jehovah, and their hatred of idolatry.
+
+Zeal for Jehovah and His temple is still combined with uncompromising
+assertion of the royal supremacy in matters of religion. The king, and not
+the priest, is the highest spiritual authority in the nation. Solomon,
+Hezekiah, and Josiah control the arrangements for public worship as
+completely as Moses or David. Solomon receives Divine communications
+without the intervention of either priest or prophet; he himself offers
+the great dedication prayer, and when he makes an end of praying, fire
+comes down from heaven. Under Hezekiah the civil authorities decide when
+the passover shall be observed: "For the king had taken counsel, and his
+princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in
+the second month."(236) The great reforms of Josiah are throughout
+initiated and controlled by the king. He himself goes up to the Temple and
+reads in the ears of the people all the words of the book of the covenant
+that was found in the house of Jehovah. The chronicler still adheres to
+the primitive idea of the theocracy, according to which the chief, or
+judge, or king is the representative of Jehovah.
+
+The title to the crown rests throughout on the grace of God and the will
+of the people. In Judah, however, the principle of hereditary succession
+prevails throughout. Athaliah is not really an exception: she reigned as
+the widow of a Davidic king. The double election of David by Jehovah and
+by Israel carried with it the election of his dynasty. The permanent rule
+of the house of David was secured by the Divine promise to its founder.
+Yet the title is not allowed to rest on mere hereditary right. Divine
+choice and popular recognition are recorded in the case of Solomon and
+other kings. "All Israel came to Shechem to make Rehoboam king," and yet
+revolted from him when he refused to accept their conditions; but the
+obstinacy which caused the disruption "was brought about of God, that
+Jehovah might establish His word which He spake by the hand of Ahijah the
+Shilonite."
+
+Ahaziah, Joash, Uzziah, Josiah, Jehoahaz, were all set upon the throne by
+the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.(237) After Solomon the Divine
+appointment of kings is not expressly mentioned; Jehovah's control over
+the tenure of the throne is chiefly shown by the removal of unworthy
+occupants.
+
+It is interesting to note that the chronicler does not hesitate to record
+that of the last three sovereigns of Judah two were appointed by foreign
+kings: Jehoiakim was the nominee of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt; and the
+last king of all, Zedekiah, was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of
+Babylon. In like manner, the Herods, the last rulers of the restored
+kingdom of Judah, were the nominees of the Roman emperors. Such
+nominations forcibly illustrate the degradations and ruin of the
+theocratic monarchy. But yet, according to the teaching of the prophets,
+Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar were tools in the hand of Jehovah; and their
+nomination was still an indirect Divine appointment. In the chronicler's
+time, however, Judah was thoroughly accustomed to receive her governors
+from a Persian or Greek king; and Jewish readers would not be scandalised
+by a similar state of affairs in the closing years of the earlier kingdom.
+
+Thus the reforming kings illustrate the ideal kingship set forth in the
+history of David and Solomon: the royal authority originates in, and is
+controlled by, the will of God and the consent of the people; the king's
+highest duty is the maintenance of the worship of Jehovah; but the king
+and people are supreme both in Church and state.
+
+The personal character of the good kings is also very similar to that of
+David and Solomon. Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah are men of spiritual
+feeling as well as careful observers of correct ritual. None of the good
+kings, with the exception of Joash and Josiah, are unsuccessful in war;
+and good reasons are given for the exceptions. They all display
+administrative ability by their buildings, the organisation of the Temple
+services and the army, and the arrangements for the collection of the
+revenue, especially the dues of the priests and Levites.
+
+There is nothing, however, to indicate that the personal charm of David's
+character was inherited by his descendants; but when biography is made
+merely a means of edification, it often loses those touches of nature
+which make the whole world kin, and are capable of exciting either
+admiration or disgust.
+
+The later narrative affords another illustration of the absence of any
+sentiment of humanity towards enemies. As in the case of David, the
+chronicler records the cruelty of a good king as if it were quite
+consistent with loyalty to Jehovah. Before he turned away from following
+Jehovah, Amariah defeated the Edomites and smote ten thousand of them.
+Others were treated like some of the Malagasy martyrs: "And other ten
+thousand did the children of Judah carry away alive, and brought them unto
+the top of the rock, and cast them down from the top of the rock, that
+they all were broken in pieces."(238) In this case, however, the
+chronicler is not simply reproducing Kings: he has taken the trouble to
+supplement his main authority from some other source, probably local
+tradition. His insertion of this verse is another testimony to the undying
+hatred of Israel for Edom.
+
+But in one respect the reforming kings are sharply distinguished from
+David and Solomon. The record of their lives is by no means blameless, and
+their sins are visited by condign chastisement. They all, with the single
+exception of Jotham, come to a bad end. Asa consulted physicians, and was
+punished by being allowed to die of a painful disease.(239) The last event
+of Jehoshaphat's life was the ruin of the navy, which he had built in
+unholy alliance with Ahaziah, king of Israel, who did very wickedly.(240)
+Joash murdered the prophet Zechariah, the son of the high-priest Jehoiada;
+his great host was routed by a small company of Syrians, and Joash himself
+was assassinated by his servants.(241) Amaziah turned away from following
+Jehovah, and "brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to
+be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto
+them." He was accordingly defeated by Joash, king of Israel, and
+assassinated by his own people.(242) Uzziah insisted on exercising the
+priestly function of burning incense to Jehovah, and so died a leper.(243)
+"Even Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him,
+for his heart was lifted up in the business of ambassadors of the princes
+of Babylon; therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and
+Jerusalem. Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his
+heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of
+Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah." But yet the last days
+of Hezekiah were clouded by the thought that he was leaving the punishment
+of his sin as a legacy to Judah and the house of David.(244) Josiah
+refused to heed the warning sent to him by God through the king of Egypt:
+"He hearkened not unto the words of Neco from the mouth of God, and came
+to fight in the valley of Megiddo"; and so Josiah died like Ahab: he was
+wounded by the archers, carried out of the battle in his chariot, and died
+at Jerusalem.(245)
+
+The melancholy record of the misfortunes of the good kings in their
+closing years is also found in the book of Kings. There too Asa in his old
+age was diseased in his feet, Jehoshaphat's ships were wrecked, Joash and
+Amaziah were assassinated, Uzziah became a leper, Hezekiah was rebuked for
+his pride, and Josiah slain at Megiddo. But, except in the case of
+Hezekiah, the book of Kings says nothing about the sins which, according
+to Chronicles, occasioned these sufferings and catastrophes. The narrative
+in the book of Kings carries upon the face of it the lesson that piety is
+not usually rewarded with unbroken prosperity, and that a pious career
+does not necessarily ensure a happy deathbed. The significance of the
+chronicler's additions will be considered elsewhere; what concerns us here
+is his departure from the principles he observed in dealing with the lives
+of David and Solomon. They also sinned and suffered; but the chronicler
+omits their sins and sufferings, especially in the case of Solomon. Why
+does he pursue an opposite course with other good kings and blacken their
+characters by perpetuating the memory of sins not mentioned in the book of
+Kings, instead of confining his record to the happier incidents of their
+career? Many considerations may have influenced him. The violent deaths of
+Joash, Amaziah, and Josiah could neither be ignored nor explained away.
+Hezekiah's sin and repentance are closely parallel to David's in the
+matter of the census. Although Asa's disease, Jehoshaphat's alliance with
+Israel, and Uzziah's leprosy might easily have been omitted, yet, if some
+reformers must be allowed to remain imperfect, there was no imperative
+necessity to ignore the infirmities of the rest. The great advantage of
+the course pursued by the chronicler consisted in bringing out a clearly
+defined contrast between David and Solomon on the one hand and the
+reforming kings on the other. The piety of the latter is conformed to the
+chronicler's ideal; but the glory and devotion of the former are enhanced
+by the crimes and humiliation of the best of their successors. Hezekiah,
+doubtless, is not more culpable than David, but David's pride was the
+first of a series of events which terminated in the building of the
+Temple; while the uplifting of Hezekiah's heart was a precursor of its
+destruction. Besides, Hezekiah ought to have prompted by David's
+experience.
+
+By developing this contrast, the chronicler renders the position of David
+and Solomon even more unique, illustrious, and full of religious
+significance.
+
+Thus as illustrations of ideal kingship the accounts of the good kings of
+Judah are altogether subordinate to the history of David and Solomon.
+While these kings of Judah remain loyal to Jehovah, they further
+illustrate the virtues of their great predecessors by showing how these
+virtues might have been exercised under different circumstances: how David
+would have dealt with an Ethiopian invasion and what Solomon would have
+done if he had found the Temple desecrated and its services stopped. But
+no essential feature is added to the earlier pictures.
+
+The lapses of kings who began to walk in the law of the Lord and then fell
+away serve as foils to the undimmed glory of David and Solomon. Abrupt
+transitions within the limits of the individual lives of Asa, Joash, and
+Amaziah bring out the contrast between piety and apostacy with startling,
+dramatic effect.
+
+We return from this brief survey to consider the significance of the life
+of Solomon according to Chronicles. Its relation to the life of David is
+summed up in the name Solomon, the Prince of peace. David is the ideal
+king, winning by force of arms for Israel empire and victory, security at
+home and tribute from abroad. Utterly subdued by his prowess, the natural
+enemies of Israel no longer venture to disturb her tranquillity. His
+successor inherits wide dominion, immense wealth, and assured peace.
+Solomon, the Prince of peace, is the ideal king, administering a great
+inheritance for the glory of Jehovah and His temple. His history in
+Chronicles is one of unbroken calm. He has a great army and many strong
+fortresses, but he never has occasion to use them. He implores Jehovah to
+be merciful to Israel when they suffer from the horrors of war; but he is
+interceding, not for his own subjects, but for future generations. In his
+time--
+
+
+    "No war or battle's sound
+    Was heard the world around:
+        The idle spear and shield were high uphung;
+    The hooked chariot stood
+    Unstained with hostile blood;
+        The trumpet spake not to the armed throng."(246)
+
+
+Perhaps, to use a paradox, the greatest proof of Solomon's wisdom was that
+he asked for wisdom. He realised at the outset of his career that a wide
+dominion is more easily won than governed, that to use great wealth
+honourably requires more skill and character than are needed to amass it.
+To-day the world can boast half a dozen empires surpassing not merely
+Israel, but even Rome, in extent of dominion; the aggregate wealth of the
+world is far beyond the wildest dreams of the chronicler: but still the
+people perish for lack of knowledge. The physical and moral foulness of
+modern cities taints all the culture and tarnishes all the splendour of
+our civilisation; classes and trades, employers and employed, maim and
+crush one another in blind struggles to work out a selfish salvation;
+newly devised organisations move their unwieldy masses--
+
+
+    "... like dragons of the prime
+    That tare each other."(247)
+
+
+They have a giant's strength, and use it like a giant. Knowledge comes,
+but wisdom lingers; and the world waits for the reign of the Prince of
+peace who is not only the wise king, but the incarnate wisdom of God.
+
+Thus one striking suggestion of the chronicler's history of Solomon is the
+special need of wisdom and Divine guidance for the administration of a
+great and prosperous empire.
+
+Too much stress, however, must not be laid on the twofold personality of
+the ideal king. This feature is adopted from the history, and does not
+express any opinion of the chronicler that the characteristic gifts of
+David and Solomon could not be combined in a single individual. Many great
+generals have also been successful administrators. Before Julius Caesar was
+assassinated he had already shown his capacity to restore order and
+tranquillity to the Roman world; Alexander's plans for the civil
+government of his conquests were as far-reaching as his warlike ambition;
+Diocletian reorganised the empire which his sword had re-established;
+Cromwell's schemes of reform showed an almost prophetic insight into the
+future needs of the English people; the glory of Napoleon's victories is a
+doubtful legacy to France compared with the solid benefits of his internal
+reforms.
+
+But even these instances, which illustrate the union of military genius
+and administrative ability, remind us that the assignment of success in
+war to one king and a reign of peace to the next is, after all, typical.
+The limits of human life narrow its possibilities. Caesar's work had to be
+completed by Augustus; the great schemes of Alexander and Cromwell fell to
+the ground because no one arose to play Solomon to their David.
+
+The chronicler has specially emphasised the indebtedness of Solomon to
+David. According to his narrative, the great achievement of Solomon's
+reign, the building of the Temple, has been rendered possible by David's
+preparations. Quite apart from plans and materials, the chronicler's view
+of the credit due to David in this matter is only a reasonable recognition
+of service rendered to the religion of Israel. Whoever provided the timber
+and stone, the silver and gold, for the Temple, David won for Jehovah the
+land and the city that were the outer courts of the sanctuary, and roused
+the national spirit that gave to Zion its most solemn consecration.
+Solomon's temple was alike the symbol of David's achievements and the
+coping-stone of his work.
+
+By compelling our attention to the dependence of the Prince of Peace upon
+the man who "had shed much blood," the chronicler admonishes us against
+forgetting the price that has been paid for liberty and culture. The
+splendid courtiers whose "apparel" specially pleased the feminine tastes
+of the queen of Sheba might feel all the contempt of the superior person
+for David's war-worn veterans. The latter probably were more at home in
+the "store cities" than at Jerusalem. But without the blood and toil of
+these rough soldiers Solomon would have had no opportunity to exchange
+riddles with his fair visitor and to dazzle her admiring eyes with the
+glories of his temple and palaces.
+
+The blessings of peace are not likely to be preserved unless men still
+appreciate and cherish the stern virtues that flourish in troubled times.
+If our own times become troubled, and their serenity be invaded by fierce
+conflict, it will be ours to remember that the rugged life of "the hold in
+the wilderness" and the struggles with the Philistines may enable a later
+generation to build its temple to the Lord and to learn the answers to
+"hard questions."(248) Moses and Joshua, David and Solomon, remind us
+again how the Divine work is handed on from generation to generation:
+Moses leads Israel through the wilderness, but Joshua brings them into the
+Land of Promise; David collects the materials, but Solomon builds the
+Temple. The settlement in Palestine and the building of the Temple were
+only episodes in the working out of the "one increasing purpose," but one
+leader and one life-time did not suffice for either episode. We grow
+impatient of the scale upon which God works: we want it reduced to the
+limits of our human faculties and of our earthly lives; yet all history
+preaches patience. In our demand for Divine interventions whereby--
+
+
+                    "... sudden in a minute
+    All is accomplished, and the work is done,"
+
+
+we are very Esaus, eager to sell the birthright of the future for a mess
+of pottage to-day.
+
+And the continuity of the Divine purpose is only realised through the
+continuity of human effort. We must indeed serve our own generation; but
+part of that service consists in providing that the next generation shall
+be trained to carry on the work, and that after David shall come
+Solomon--the Solomon of Chronicles, and not the Solomon of Kings--and that,
+if possible, Solomon shall not be succeeded by Rehoboam. As we attain this
+larger outlook, we shall be less tempted to employ doubtful means, which
+are supposed to be justified by their end; we shall be less enthusiastic
+for processes that bring "quick returns," but give very "small profits" in
+the long run. Christian workers are a little too fond of spiritual
+jerry-building, as if sites in the kingdom of heaven were let out on
+ninety-nine-year leases; but God builds for eternity, and we are
+fellow-workers together with Him.
+
+To complete the chronicler's picture of the ideal king, we have to add
+David's warlike prowess and Solomon's wisdom and splendour to the piety
+and graces common to both. The result is unique among the many pictures
+that have been drawn by historians, philosophers, and poets. It has a
+value of its own, because the chronicler's gifts in the way of history,
+philosophy, and poetry were entirely subordinated to his interest in
+theology; and most theologians have only been interested in the doctrine
+of the king when they could use it to gratify the vanity of a royal
+patron.
+
+The full-length portrait in Chronicles contrasts curiously with the little
+vignette preserved in the book which bears the name of Solomon. There, in
+the oracle which King Lemuel's mother taught him, the king is simply
+admonished to avoid strange women and strong drink, to "judge righteously,
+and minister judgment to the poor and needy."(249)
+
+To pass to more modern theology, the theory of the king that is implied in
+Chronicles has much in common with Wyclif's doctrine of dominion: they
+both recognise the sanctity of the royal power and its temporal supremacy,
+and they both hold that obedience to God is the condition of the continued
+exercise of legitimate rule. But the priest of Lutterworth was less
+ecclesiastical and more democratic than our Levite.
+
+A more orthodox authority on the Protestant doctrine of the king would be
+the Thirty-nine Articles. These, however, deal with the subject somewhat
+slightly. As far as they go, they are in harmony with the chronicler. They
+assert the unqualified supremacy of the king, both ecclesiastical and
+civil. Even "general councils may not be gathered together without the
+commandment and will of princes."(250) On the other hand, princes are not
+to imitate Uzziah in presuming to exercise the priestly function of
+offering incense: they are not to minister God's word or sacraments.
+
+Outside theology the ideal of the king has been stated with greater
+fulness and freedom, but not many of the pictures drawn have much in
+common with the chronicler's David and Solomon. Machiavelli's prince and
+Bolingbroke's patriot king belong to a different world; moreover, their
+method is philosophical, and not historical: they state a theory rather
+than draw a picture. Tennyson's Arthur is, what he himself calls him, an
+"ideal knight" rather than an ideal king. Perhaps the best parallels to
+David are to be found in the Cyrus of the Greek historians and
+philosophers and the Alfred of English story. Alfred indeed combines many
+of the features both of David and Solomon: he secured English unity, and
+was the founder of English culture and literature; he had a keen interest
+in ecclesiastical affairs, great gifts of administration, and much
+personal attractiveness. Cyrus, again, specially illustrates what we may
+call the posthumous fortunes of David: his name stood for the ideal of
+kingship with both Greeks and Persians, and in the _Cyropaedia_ his life
+and character are made the basis of a picture of the ideal king.
+
+Many points are of course common to almost all such pictures; they portray
+the king as a capable and benevolent ruler and a man of high personal
+character. The distinctive characteristic of Chronicles is the stress laid
+on the piety of the king, his care for the honour of God and the spiritual
+welfare of his subjects. If the practical influence of this teaching has
+not been altogether beneficent, it is because men have too invariably
+connected spiritual profit with organisation, and ceremonies, and forms of
+words, sound or otherwise.
+
+But to-day the doctrine of the state takes the place of the doctrine of
+the king. Instead of Cyropaedias we have Utopias. We are asked sometimes to
+look back, not to an ideal king, but to an ideal commonwealth, to the age
+of the Antonines or to some happy century of English history when we are
+told that the human race or the English people were "most happy and
+prosperous"; oftener we are invited to contemplate an imaginary future. We
+may add to those already made one or two further applications of the
+chronicler's principles to the modern state. His method suggests that the
+perfect society will have the virtues of our actual life without its
+vices, and that the possibilities of the future are best divined from a
+careful study of the past. The devotion of his kings to the Temple
+symbolises the truth that the ideal state is impossible without
+recognition of a Divine presence and obedience to a Divine will.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII. The Wicked Kings. 2 Chron. xxviii., etc.
+
+
+The type of the wicked king is not worked out with any fulness in
+Chronicles. There are wicked kings, but no one is raised to the "bad
+eminence" of an evil counterpart to David; there is no anti-David, so to
+speak, no prototype of antichrist. The story of Ahaz, for instance, is not
+given at the same length and with the same wealth of detail as that of
+David. The subject was not so congenial to the kindly heart of the
+chronicler. He was not imbued with the unhappy spirit of modern realism,
+which loves to dwell on all that is foul and ghastly in life and
+character; he lingered affectionately over his heroes, and contented
+himself with brief notices of his villains. In so doing he was largely
+following his main authority: the books of Samuel and Kings. There too the
+stories of David and Solomon, of Elijah and Elisha, are told much more
+fully than those of Jeroboam and Ahab.
+
+But the mention of these names reminds us that the chronicler's limitation
+of his subject to the history of Judah excludes much of the material that
+might have been drawn from the earlier history for a picture of the wicked
+king. If it had been part of the chronicler's plan to tell the story of
+Ahab, he might have been led to develop his material and moralise upon the
+king's career till the narrative assumed proportions that would have
+rivalled the history of David. Over against the great scene that closed
+David's life might have been set another summing up in one dramatic moment
+the guilt and ruin of Ahab. But these schismatic kings were "alienated
+from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of the
+promise, having no hope and without God in the world."(251) The
+disobedient sons of the house of David were still children within the
+home, who might be rebuked and punished; but the Samaritan kings, as the
+chronicler might style them, were outcasts, left to the tender mercies of
+the dogs, and sorcerers, and murderers that were without the Holy City,
+Cains without any protecting mark upon their forehead.
+
+Hence the wicked kings in Chronicles are of the house of David. Therefore
+the chronicler has a certain tenderness for them, partly for the sake of
+their great ancestor, partly because they are kings of Judah, partly
+because of the sanctity and religious significance of the Messianic
+dynasty. These kings are not Esaus, for whom there is no place of
+repentance. The chronicler is happy in being able to discover and record
+the conversion, as we should term it, of some kings whose reigns began in
+rebellion and apostacy. By a curious compensation, the kings who begin
+well end badly, and those who begin badly end well; they all tend to about
+the same average. We read of Rehoboam(252) that "when he humbled himself
+the wrath of the Lord turned from him, that he would not destroy him
+altogether; and, moreover, in Judah there were good things found"; the
+wickedness of Abijah, which is plainly set forth in the book of
+Kings,(253) is ignored in Chronicles; Manasseh "humbled himself greatly
+before the God of his fathers," and turned altogether from the error of
+his ways(254); the unfavourable judgment on Jehoahaz recorded in the book
+of Kings, "And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,
+according to all that his fathers had done,"(255) is omitted in
+Chronicles.
+
+There remain seven wicked kings of whom nothing but evil is recorded:
+Jehoram, Ahaziah, Ahaz, Amon, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. Of
+these we may take Ahaz as the most typical instance. As in the cases of
+David and Solomon, we will first see how the chronicler has dealt with the
+material derived from the book of Kings; then we will give his account of
+the career of Ahaz; and finally, by a brief comparison of what is told of
+Ahaz with the history of the other wicked kings, we will try to construct
+the chronicler's idea of the wicked king and to deduce its lessons.
+
+The importance of the additions made by the chronicler to the history in
+the book of Kings will appear later on. In his account of the attack made
+upon Ahaz by Rezin, king of Damascus, and Pekah, king of Israel, he
+emphasises the incidents most discreditable to Ahaz. The book of Kings
+simply states that the two allies "came up to Jerusalem to war; and they
+besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him"(256); Chronicles dwells upon
+the sufferings and losses inflicted on Judah by this invasion. The book of
+Kings might have conveyed the impression that the wicked king had been
+allowed to triumph over his enemies; Chronicles guards against this
+dangerous error by detailing the disasters that Ahaz brought upon his
+country.
+
+The book of Kings also contains an interesting account of alterations made
+by Ahaz in the Temple and its furniture. By his orders the high-priest
+Urijah made a new brazen altar for the Temple after the pattern of an
+altar that Ahaz had seen in Damascus. As Chronicles narrates the closing
+of the Temple by Ahaz, it naturally omits these previous alterations.
+Moreover, Urijah appears in the book of Isaiah as a friend of the prophet,
+and is referred to by him as a "faithful witness."(257) The chronicler
+would not wish to perplex his readers with the problem, How could the
+high-priest, whom Isaiah trusted as a faithful witness, become the agent
+of a wicked king, and construct an altar for Jehovah after a heathen
+pattern?
+
+The chronicler's story of Ahaz runs thus. This wicked king had been
+preceded by three good kings: Amaziah, Uzziah, and Jotham. Amaziah indeed
+had turned away from following Jehovah at the end of his reign, but Uzziah
+had been zealous for Jehovah throughout, not wisely, but too well; and
+Jotham shares with Solomon the honour of a blameless record. Without
+counting Amaziah's reign, king and people had been loyal to Jehovah for
+sixty or seventy years. The court of the good kings would be the centre of
+piety and devotion. Ahaz, no doubt, had been carefully trained in
+obedience to the law of Jehovah, and had grown up in the atmosphere of
+true religion. Possibly he had known his grandfather Uzziah in the days of
+his power and glory; but at any rate, while Ahaz was a child, Uzziah was
+living as a leper in his "several house," and Ahaz must have been familiar
+with this melancholy warning against presumptuous interference with the
+Divine ordinances of worship.
+
+Ahaz was twenty years old when he came to the throne, so that he had time
+to profit by a complete education, and should scarcely have found
+opportunity to break away from its influence. His mother's name is not
+mentioned, so that we cannot say whether, as may have been the case with
+Rehoboam, some Ammonite woman led him astray from the God of his fathers.
+As far as we can learn from our author, Ahaz sinned against light and
+knowledge; with every opportunity and incentive to keep in the right path,
+he yet went astray.
+
+This is a common feature in the careers of the wicked kings. It has often
+been remarked that the first great specialist on education failed utterly
+in the application of his theories to his own son. Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah,
+and Josiah were the most distinguished and the most virtuous of the
+reforming kings, yet Jehoshaphat was succeeded by Jehoram, who was almost
+as wicked as Ahaz; Hezekiah's son "Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants
+of Jerusalem to err, so that they did evil more than did the nations whom
+the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel";(258) Josiah's son and
+grandsons "did evil in the sight of the Lord."(259)
+
+Many reasons may be suggested for this too familiar spectacle: the impious
+son of a godly father, the bad successor of a good king. Heirs-apparent
+have always been inclined to head an opposition to their fathers' policy,
+and sometimes on their accession they have reversed that policy. When the
+father himself has been a zealous reformer, the interests that have been
+harassed by reform are eager to encourage his successor in a retrograde
+policy; and reforming zeal is often tinged with an inconsiderate harshness
+that provokes the opposition of younger and brighter spirits. But, after
+all, this atavism in kings is chiefly an illustration of the slow growth
+of the higher nature in man. Practically each generation starts afresh
+with an unregenerate nature of its own, and often nature is too strong for
+education.
+
+Moreover, a young king of Judah was subject to the evil influence of his
+northern neighbour. Judah was often politically subservient to Samaria,
+and politics and religion have always been very intimately associated. At
+the accession of Ahaz the throne of Samaria was filled by Pekah, whose
+twenty years' tenure of authority indicates ability and strength of
+character. It is not difficult to understand how Ahaz was led "to walk in
+the ways of the kings of Israel" and "to make molten images for the
+Baals."
+
+Nothing is told us of the actual circumstances of these innovations. The
+new reign was probably inaugurated by the dismissal of Jotham's ministers
+and the appointment of the personal favourites of the new king. The
+restoration of old idolatrous cults would be a natural advertisement of a
+new departure in the government. So when the establishment of Christianity
+was a novelty in the empire, and men were not assured of its permanence,
+Julian's accession was accompanied by an apostacy to paganism; and later
+aspirants to the purple promised to follow his example. But the worship of
+Jehovah was not at once suppressed. He was not deposed from His throne as
+the Divine King of Judah; He was only called upon to share His royal
+authority with the Baals of the neighbouring peoples.
+
+But although the Temple services might still be performed, the king was
+mainly interested in introducing and observing a variety of heathen rites.
+The priesthood of the Temple saw their exclusive privileges disregarded
+and the rival sanctuaries of the high places and the sacred trees taken
+under royal patronage. But the king's apostacy was not confined to the
+milder forms of idolatry. His weak mind was irresistibly attracted by the
+morbid fascination of the cruel rites of Moloch: "He burnt incense in the
+valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, according
+to the abomination of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the
+children of Israel."
+
+The king's devotions to his new gods were rudely interrupted. The insulted
+majesty of Jehovah was vindicated by two disastrous invasions. First, Ahaz
+was defeated by Rezin, king of Syria, who carried away a great multitude
+of captives to Damascus; the next enemy was one of those kings of Israel
+in whose idolatrous ways Ahaz had chosen to walk. The delicate flattery
+implied by Ahaz becoming Pekah's proselyte failed to conciliate that
+monarch. He too defeated the Jews with great slaughter. Amongst his
+warriors was a certain Zichri, whose achievements recalled the prowess of
+David's mighty men: he slew Maaseiah the king's son and Azrikam, the ruler
+of the house, the Lord High Chamberlain, and Elkanah, that was next unto
+the king, the Prime Minister. With these notables, there perished in a
+single day a hundred and twenty thousand Jews, all of them valiant men.
+Their wives and children, to the number of two hundred thousand, were
+carried captive to Samaria. All these misfortunes happened to Judah
+"because they had forsaken Jehovah, the God of their fathers."
+
+And yet Jehovah in wrath remembered mercy. The Israelite army approached
+Samaria with their endless train of miserable captives, women and
+children, ragged and barefoot, some even naked, filthy and footsore with
+forced marches, left hungry and thirsty after prisoners' scanty rations.
+Multiply a thousandfold the scenes depicted on Egyptian and Assyrian
+monuments, and you have the picture of this great slave caravan. The
+captives probably had no reason to fear the barbarities which the
+Assyrians loved to inflict upon their prisoners, but yet their prospects
+were sufficiently gloomy. Before them lay a life of drudgery and
+degradation in Samaria. The more wealthy might hope to be ransomed by
+their friends; others, again, might be sold to the Phoenician traders, to
+be carried by them to the great slave marts of Nineveh and Babylon or even
+oversea to Greece. But in a moment all was changed. "There was a prophet
+of Jehovah, whose name was Oded, and he went out to meet the army and said
+unto them, Behold, because Jehovah, the God of your fathers, was wroth
+with Judah, He hath delivered them into your hand; and ye have slain them
+in a rage which hath reached up unto heaven. And now ye purpose to keep
+the children of Judah and of Jerusalem for male and female slaves; but are
+there not even with you trespasses of your own against Jehovah your God?
+Now hear me therefore, and send back the captives, for the fierce wrath of
+Jehovah is upon you."
+
+Meanwhile "the princes and all the congregation of Samaria" were waiting
+to welcome their victorious army, possibly in "the void place at the
+entering in of the gate of Samaria." Oded's words, at any rate, had been
+uttered in their presence. The army did not at once respond to the appeal;
+the two hundred thousand slaves were the most valuable part of their
+spoil, and they were not eager to make so great a sacrifice. But the
+princes made Oded's message their own. Four heads of the children of
+Ephraim are mentioned by name as the spokesmen of the "congregation," the
+king being apparently absent on some other warlike expedition. These four
+were Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth,
+Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai. Possibly among
+the children of Ephraim who dwelt in Jerusalem after the Return there were
+descendants of these men, from whom the chronicler obtained the
+particulars of this incident. The princes "stood up against them that came
+from the war," and forbade their bringing the captives into the city. They
+repeated and expanded the words of the prophet: "Ye purpose that which
+will bring upon us a trespass against Jehovah, to add unto our sins and to
+our trespass, for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against
+Israel." The army were either convinced by the eloquence or overawed by
+the authority of the prophet and the princes: "They left the captives and
+the spoil before all the princes and the congregation." And the four
+princes "rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all
+that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them
+to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them
+upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto
+their brethren; then they returned to Samaria."
+
+Apart from incidental allusions, this is the last reference in Chronicles
+to the northern kingdom. The long history of division and hostility closes
+with this humane recognition of the brotherhood of Israel and Judah. The
+sun, so to speak, did not go down upon their wrath. But the king of Israel
+had no personal share in this gracious act. At the first it was Jeroboam
+that made Israel to sin; throughout the history the responsibility for the
+continued division would specially rest upon the kings, and at the last
+there is no sign of Pekah's repentance and no prospect of his pardon.
+
+The various incidents of the invasions of Rezin and Pekah were alike a
+solemn warning and an impressive appeal to the apostate king of Judah. He
+had multiplied to himself gods of the nations round about, and yet had
+been left without an ally, at the mercy of a hostile confederation,
+against whom his new gods either could not or would not defend him. The
+wrath of Jehovah had brought upon Ahaz one crushing defeat after another,
+and yet the only mitigation of the sufferings of Judah had also been the
+work of Jehovah. The returning captives would tell Ahaz and his princes
+how in schismatic and idolatrous Samaria a prophet of Jehovah had stood
+forth to secure their release and obtain for them permission to return
+home. The princes and people of Samaria had hearkened to his message, and
+the two hundred thousand captives stood there as the monument of Jehovah's
+compassion and of the obedient piety of Israel. Sin was bound to bring
+punishment; and yet Jehovah waited to be gracious. Wherever there was room
+for mercy, He would show mercy. His wrath and His compassion had alike
+been displayed before Ahaz. Other gods could not protect their worshippers
+against Him; He only could deliver and restore His people. He had not even
+waited for Ahaz to repent before He had given him proof of His willingness
+to forgive.(260)
+
+Such Divine goodness was thrown away upon Ahaz; there was no token of
+repentance, no promise of amendment; and so Jehovah sent further judgments
+upon the king and his unhappy people. The Edomites came and smote Judah,
+and carried away captives; the Philistines also invaded the cities of the
+lowland and of the south of Judah, and took Beth-shemesh, Aijalon,
+Gederoth, Soco, Timnah, Gimzo, and their dependent villages, and dwelt in
+them; and Jehovah brought Judah low because of Ahaz. And the king hardened
+his heart yet more against Jehovah, and cast away all restraint, and
+trespassed sore against Jehovah. Instead of submitting himself, he sought
+the aid of the kings of Assyria, only to receive another proof of the
+vanity of all earthly help so long as he remained unreconciled to Heaven.
+Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, welcomed this opportunity of
+interfering in the affairs of Western Asia, and saw attractive prospects
+of levying blackmail impartially on his ally and his enemies. He came unto
+Ahaz, "and distressed him, but strengthened him not." These new troubles
+were the occasion of fresh wickedness on the part of the king: to pay the
+price of this worse than useless intervention, he took away a portion not
+only from his own treasury and from the princes, but also from the
+treasury of the Temple, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
+
+Thus betrayed and plundered by his new ally, he trespassed "yet more
+against Jehovah, this same king Ahaz." It is almost incredible that one
+man could be guilty of so much sin; the chronicler is anxious that his
+readers should appreciate the extraordinary wickedness of this man, this
+same king Ahaz. In him the chastening of the Lord yielded no peaceable
+fruit of righteousness; he would not see that his misfortunes were sent
+from the offended God of Israel. With perverse ingenuity, he found in them
+an incentive to yet further wickedness. His pantheon was not large enough.
+He had omitted to worship the gods of Damascus. These must be powerful
+deities, whom it would be worth while to conciliate, because they had
+enabled the kings of Syria to overrun and pillage Judah. Therefore Ahaz
+sacrificed to the gods of Syria, that they might help him. "But," says the
+chronicler, "they were the ruin of him and of all Israel." Still Ahaz went
+on consistently with his policy of comprehensive eclecticism. He made
+Jerusalem a very Athens for altars, which were set up at every street
+corner; he discovered yet other gods whom it might be advisable to adore:
+"And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense
+unto other gods."
+
+Hitherto Jehovah had still received some share of the worship of this most
+religious king, but apparently Ahaz came to regard Him as the least
+powerful of his many supernatural allies. He attributed his misfortunes,
+not to the anger, but to the helplessness, of Jehovah. Jehovah was
+specially the God of Israel; if disaster after disaster fell upon His
+people, He was evidently less potent than Baal, or Moloch, or Rimmon. It
+was a useless expense to maintain the worship of so impotent a deity.
+Perhaps the apostate king was acting in the blasphemous spirit of the
+savage who flogs his idol when his prayers are not answered. Jehovah, he
+thought, should be punished for His neglect of the interests of Judah.
+"Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces
+the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of
+Jehovah";(261) he had filled up the measure of his iniquities.
+
+And thus it came to pass that in the Holy City, "which Jehovah had chosen
+to cause His name to dwell there," almost the only deity who was not
+worshipped was Jehovah. Ahaz did homage to the gods of all the nations
+before whom he had been humiliated; the royal sacrifices smoked upon a
+hundred altars, but no sweet savour of burnt offering ascended to Jehovah.
+The fragrance of the perpetual incense no longer filled the holy place
+morning and evening; the seven lamps of the golden candlestick were put
+out, and the Temple was given up to darkness and desolation. Ahaz had
+contented himself with stripping the sanctuary of its treasures; but the
+building itself, though closed, suffered no serious injury. A stranger
+visiting the city, and finding it full of idols, could not fail to notice
+the great pile of the Temple and to inquire what image, splendid above all
+others, occupied that magnificent shrine. Like Pompey, he would learn with
+surprise that it was not the dwelling-place of any image, but the symbol
+of an almighty and invisible presence. Even if the stranger were some
+Moabite worshipper of Chemosh, he would feel dismay at the wanton
+profanity with which Ahaz had abjured the God of his fathers and
+desecrated the temple built by his great ancestors. The annals of Egypt
+and Babylon told of the misfortunes which had befallen those monarchs who
+were unfaithful to their national gods. The pious heathen would anticipate
+disaster as the punishment of Ahaz's apostacy.
+
+Meanwhile the ministers of the Temple shared its ruin and degradation; but
+they could feel the assurance that Jehovah would yet recall His people to
+their allegiance and manifest Himself once more in the Temple. The house
+of Aaron and the tribe of Levi possessed their souls in patience till the
+final judgment of Jehovah should fall upon the apostate. They had not long
+to wait: after a reign of only sixteen years, Ahaz died at the early age
+of thirty-six. We are not told that he died in battle or by the visitation
+of God. His health may have been broken by his many misfortunes, or by
+vicious practices that would naturally accompany his manifold idolatries;
+but in any case his early death would be regarded as a Divine judgment.
+The breath was scarcely out of his body before his religious innovations
+were swept away by a violent reaction. The people at once passed sentence
+of condemnation on his memory: "They brought him not into the sepulchres
+of the kings of Israel."(262) His successor inaugurated his reign by
+reopening the Temple, and brought back Judah to the obedience of Jehovah.
+The monuments of the impious worship of the wicked king, his multitudinous
+idols, and their ritual passed away like an evil dream, like "the track of
+a ship in the sea or a bird in the air."
+
+The leading features of this career are common to most of the wicked kings
+and to the evil days of the good kings "Walking in the ways of the kings
+of Israel" was the great crime of Jehoshaphat and his successors Jehoram
+and Ahaziah. Other kings, like Manasseh, built high places and followed
+after the abominations of the heathen whom Jehovah cast out before the
+children of Israel. Asa's lapse into wickedness began by plundering the
+Temple treasury to purchase an alliance with a heathen king, the king of
+Syria, against whose successor Ahaz in his turn hired the king of Assyria.
+Amaziah adopted the gods of Edom, as Ahaz the gods of Syria, but with less
+excuse, for Amaziah had conquered Edom. Other crimes are recorded among
+the evil doings of the kings: Asa had recourse to physicians, that is,
+probably to magic; Jehoram slew his brethren; Joash murdered the son of
+his benefactor Jehoiada; but the supreme sin was disloyalty to Jehovah and
+the Temple, and of this sin the chronicler's brief history of Ahaz is the
+most striking illustration. Ahaz is the typical apostate: he hardens his
+heart alike against the mercy of Jehovah and against His repeated
+judgment. He is a very Pharaoh among the kings of Judah. The discipline
+that should have led to repentance is continually perverted to be the
+occasion of new sin, and at last the apostate dies in his iniquity. The
+effect of the picture is heightened by its insistence on this one sin of
+apostacy; other sins are illustrated and condemned elsewhere, but here the
+chronicler would have us concentrate our attention on the rise, progress,
+and ruin of the apostate. Indeed, this one sin implied and involved all
+others; the man who suppressed the worship of Jehovah, and revelled in the
+obscene superstitions of heathen cults, was obviously capable of any
+enormity. The chronicler is not indifferent to morality as compared with
+ritual, and he sees in the neglect of Divinely appointed ritual an
+indication of a character rotten through and through. In his time neglect
+of ritual on the part of the average man or the average king implied
+neglect of religion, or rather adherence to an alien and immoral faith.
+
+Thus the supreme sin of the wicked kings naturally contrasts with the
+highest virtue of the good kings. The standing of both is determined by
+their attitude towards Jehovah. The character of the good kings is
+developed in greater detail than that of their wicked brethren; but we
+should not misrepresent the chronicler's views, if we ascribed to the
+wicked kings all the vices antithetic to the virtues of his royal ideal.
+Nevertheless the picture actually drawn fixes our attention upon their
+impious denial of the God of Israel. Much Church history has been written
+on the same principle: Constantine is a saint because he established
+Christianity; Julian is an incarnation of wickedness because he became an
+apostate; we praise the orthodox Theodosius, and blame the Arian Valens.
+Protestant historians have canonised Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, and have
+prefixed an unholy epithet to the name of their kinswoman, while Romanist
+writers interchange these verdicts. But underlying even such opposite
+judgments there is the same valid principle, the principle that was in the
+mind of the chronicler: that the king's relation to the highest and purest
+truth accessible to him, whatever that truth may be, is a just criterion
+of his whole character. The historian may err in applying the criterion,
+but its general principle is none the less sound.
+
+For the character of the wicked nation we are not left to the general
+suggestions that may be derived from the wicked king. The prophets show us
+that it was by no vicarious condemnation that priests and people shared
+the ruin of their sovereign. In their pages the subject is treated from
+many points of view: Israel and Judah, Edom and Tyre, Egypt, Assyria, and
+Babylon, serve in their turn as models for the picture of the wicked
+nation. In the Apocalypse the ancient picture is adapted to new
+circumstances, and the City of the Seven Hills takes the place of Babylon.
+Modern prophets have further adapted the treatment of the subject to their
+own times, and for the most part to their own people. With stern and
+uncompromising patriotism, Carlyle and Ruskin have sought righteousness
+for England even at the expense of its reputation; they have emphasised
+its sin and selfishness in order to produce repentance and reform. For
+other teachers the history of foreign peoples has furnished the picture of
+the wicked nation, and the France of the Revolution or the "unspeakable"
+Turk has been held up as an example of all that is abominable in national
+life.
+
+Any detailed treatment of this theme in Scripture would need an
+exposition, not merely of Chronicles, but of the whole Bible. We may,
+however, make one general application of the chronicler's principle that
+the wicked nation is the nation that forgets God. We do not now measure a
+people's religion by the number and magnificence of its priests and
+churches, or by the amount of money devoted to the maintenance of public
+worship. The most fatal symptoms of national depravity are the absence of
+a healthy public opinion, indifference to character in politics, neglect
+of education as a means of developing character, and the stifling of the
+spirit of brotherhood in a desperate struggle for existence. When God is
+thus forgotten, and the gracious influences of His Spirit are no longer
+recognised in public and private life, a country may well be degraded into
+the ranks of the wicked nations.
+
+The perfectly general terms in which the doings and experiences of Ahaz
+are described facilitate the application of their warnings to the ordinary
+individual. His royal station only appears in the form and scale of his
+wickedness, which in its essence is common to him with the humblest
+sinner. Every young man enters, like Ahaz, upon a royal inheritance;
+character and career are as all-important to a peasant or a shopgirl as
+they are to an emperor or a queen. When a girl of seventeen or a youth of
+twenty succeeds to some historic throne, we are moved to think of the
+heavy burden of responsibility laid upon inexperienced shoulders and of
+the grave issues that must be determined during the swiftly passing years
+of their early manhood and womanhood. Alas, this heavy burden and these
+grave issues are but the common lot. The young sovereign is happy in the
+fierce light that beats upon his throne, for he is not allowed to forget
+the dignity and importance of life. History, with its stories of good and
+wicked kings, has obviously been written for his instruction; if the time
+be out of joint, as it mostly is, he has been born to set it right. It is
+all true, yet it is equally true for every one of his subjects. His lot is
+only the common lot set upon a hill, in the full sunlight, to illustrate,
+interpret, and influence lower and obscurer lives. People take such eager
+interest in the doings of royal families, their christenings, weddings,
+and funerals, because therein the common experience is, as it were,
+glorified into adequate dignity and importance.
+
+"Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen
+years in Jerusalem"; but most men and women begin to reign before they are
+twenty. The history of Judah for those sixteen years was really determined
+long before Ahaz was invested with crown and sceptre. Men should all be
+educated to reign, to respect themselves and appreciate their
+opportunities. We do in some measure adopt this principle with promising
+lads. Their energies are stimulated by the prospect of making a fortune or
+a name, or the more soaring imagination dreams of a seat on the woolsack
+or on one of the Front Benches. Gifted girls are also encouraged, as
+becomes their gifts, to achieve a brilliant marriage or a popular novel.
+We need to apply the principle more consistently and to recognise the
+royal dignity of the average life and of those whom the superior person is
+pleased to call commonplace people. It may then be possible to induce the
+ordinary young man to take a serious interest in his own future. The
+stress laid on the sanctity and supreme value of the individual soul has
+always been a vital element of evangelical teaching; like most other
+evangelical truths, it is capable of deeper meaning and wider application
+than are commonly recognised in systematic theology.
+
+We have kept our sovereign waiting too long on the threshold of his
+kingdom; his courtiers and his people are impatient to know the character
+and intentions of their new master. So with every heir who succeeds to his
+royal inheritance. The fortunes of millions may depend upon the will of
+some young Czar or Kaiser; the happiness of a hundred tenants or of a
+thousand workmen may rest on the disposition of the youthful inheritor of
+a wide estate or a huge factory; but none the less in the poorest cottage
+mother and father and friends wait with trembling anxiety to see how the
+boy or girl will "turn out" when they take their destinies into their own
+hands and begin to reign. Already perhaps some tender maiden watches in
+hope and fear, in mingled pride and misgiving, the rapidly unfolding
+character of the youth to whom she has promised to commit all the
+happiness of a life-time.
+
+And to each one in turn there comes the choice of Hercules; according to
+the chronicler's phrase, the young king may either "do right in the eyes
+of Jehovah, like David his father," or he may walk "in the ways of the
+kings of Israel, and make molten images for the Baals."
+
+The "right doings of David his father" may point to family traditions,
+which set a high standard of noble conduct for each succeeding generation.
+The teaching and influence of the pious Jotham are represented by the
+example of godliness set in many a Christian home, by the wise and loving
+counsel of parents and friends. And Ahaz has many modern parallels, sons
+and daughters upon whom every good influence seems spent in vain. They are
+led astray into the ways of the kings of Israel, and make molten images
+for the Baals. There were several dynasties of the kings of Israel, and
+the Baals were many and various; there are many tempters who deliberately
+or unconsciously lay snares for souls, and they serve different powers of
+evil. Israel was for the most part more powerful, wealthy, and cultured
+than Judah. When Ahaz came to the throne as a mere youth, Pekah was
+apparently in the prime of life and the zenith of power. He is no inapt
+symbol of what the modern tempter at any rate desires to appear: the
+showy, pretentious man of the world, who parades his knowledge of life,
+and impresses the inexperienced youth with his shrewdness and success, and
+makes his victim eager to imitate him, to walk in the ways of the kings of
+Israel.
+
+Moreover, the prospect of making molten images for the Baals is an
+insidious temptation. Ahaz perhaps found the decorous worship of the one
+God dull and monotonous. Baals meant new gods and new rites, with all the
+excitement of novelty and variety. Jotham may not have realised that this
+youth of twenty was a man: the heir-apparent may have been treated as a
+child and left too much to the women of the harem. Responsible activity
+might have saved Ahaz. The Church needs to recognise that healthy,
+vigorous youth craves interesting occupation and even excitement. If a
+father wishes to send his son to the devil, he cannot do better than make
+that son's life, both secular and religious, a routine of monotonous
+drudgery. Then any pinchbeck king of Israel will seem a marvel of wit and
+good fellowship, and the making of molten images a most pleasing
+diversion. A molten image is something solid, permanent, and conspicuous,
+a standing advertisement of the enterprise and artistic taste of the
+maker; he engraves his name on the pedestal, and is proud of the
+honourable distinction. Many of our modern molten images are duly set
+forth in popular works, for instance the reputation for impure life, or
+hard drinking, or reckless gambling, to achieve which some men have spent
+their time, and money, and toil. Other molten images are dedicated to
+another class of Baals: Mammon the respectable and Belial the polite.
+
+The next step in the history of Ahaz is also typical of many a rake's
+progress. The king of Israel, in whose ways he has walked, turns upon him
+and plunders him; the experienced man of the world gives his pupil painful
+proof of his superiority, and calls in his confederates to share the
+spoil. Now surely the victim's eyes will be opened to the life he is
+leading and the character of his associates. By no means. Ahaz has been
+conquered by Syria, and therefore he will worship the gods of Syria, and
+he will have a confederate of his own in the Assyrian king. The victim
+tries to master the arts by which he has been robbed and ill-treated; he
+will become as unscrupulous as his masters in wickedness. He seeks the
+profit and distinction of being the accomplice of bold and daring sinners,
+men as pre-eminent in evil as Tilgath-pilneser in Western Asia; and they,
+like the Assyrian king, take his money and accept his flattery: they use
+him and then cast him off more humiliated and desperate than ever. He
+sinks into a prey of meaner scoundrels: the Edomites and Philistines of
+fast life; and then, in his extremity, he builds new high places and
+sacrifices to more new gods; he has recourse to all the shifty expedients
+and sordid superstitions of the devotees of luck and chance.
+
+All this while he has still paid some external homage to religion; he has
+observed the conventions of honour and good breeding. There have been
+services, as it were, in the temple of Jehovah. Now he begins to feel that
+this deference has not met with an adequate reward; he has been no better
+treated than the flagrantly disreputable: indeed, these men have often got
+the better of him. "It is vain to serve God; what profit is there in
+keeping His charge and in walking mournfully before the Lord of hosts? The
+proud are called happy; they that work wickedness are built up: they tempt
+God, and are delivered." His moods vary; and, with reckless inconsistency,
+he sometimes derides religion as worthless and unmeaning, and sometimes
+seeks to make God responsible for his sins and misfortunes. At one time he
+says he knows all about religion and has seen through it; he was brought
+up to pious ways, and his mature judgment has shown him that piety is a
+delusion; he will no longer countenance its hypocrisy and cant: at another
+time he complains that he has been exposed to special temptations and has
+not been provided with special safeguards; the road that leads to life has
+been made too steep and narrow, and he has been allowed without warning
+and remonstrance to tread "the primrose path that leads to the everlasting
+bonfire"; he will cast off altogether the dull formalities and irksome
+restraints of religion; he will work wickedness with a proud heart and a
+high hand. His happiness and success have been hindered by pedantic
+scruples; now he will be built up and delivered from his troubles. He gets
+rid of the few surviving relics of the old honourable life. The service of
+prayer and praise ceases; the lamp of truth is put out; the incense of
+holy thought no longer perfumes the soul; and the temple of the Spirit is
+left empty, and dark, and desolate.
+
+At last, in what should be the prime of manhood, the sinner,
+broken-hearted, worn out in mind and body, sinks into a dishonoured grave.
+
+The career and fate of Ahaz may have other parallels besides this, but it
+is sufficiently clear that the chronicler's picture of the wicked king is
+no mere antiquarian study of a vanished past. It lends itself with
+startling facility to illustrate the fatal downward course of any man who,
+entering on the royal inheritance of human life, allies himself with the
+powers of darkness and finally becomes their slave.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII. The Priests.
+
+
+The Israelite priesthood must be held to include the Levites. Their
+functions and status differed from those of the house of Aaron in degree,
+and not in kind. They formed a hereditary caste set apart for the service
+of the sanctuary, and as such they shared the revenues of the Temple with
+the sons of Aaron. The priestly character of the Levites is more than once
+implied in Chronicles. After the disruption, we are told that "the priests
+and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to Rehoboam," because
+"Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not exercise the
+priest's office unto Jehovah." On an emergency, as at Hezekiah's great
+feast at the reopening of the Temple, the Levites might even discharge
+priestly functions. Moreover, the chronicler seems to recognise the
+priestly character of the whole tribe of Levi by retaining in a similar
+connection the old phrase "the priests the Levites."(263)
+
+The relation of the Levites to the priests, the sons of Aaron, was not
+that of laymen to clergy, but of an inferior clerical order to their
+superiors. When Charlotte Bronte has occasion to devote a chapter to
+curates, she heads it "Levitical." The Levites, again, like deacons in the
+Church of England, were forbidden to perform the most sacred ritual of
+Divine service. Technically their relation to the sons of Aaron might be
+compared to that of deacons to priests or of priests to bishops. From the
+point of view of numbers,(264) revenues, and social standing, the sons of
+Aaron might be compared to the dignitaries of the Church: archbishops,
+bishops, archdeacons, deans, and incumbents of livings with large incomes
+and little work; while the Levites would correspond to the more moderately
+paid and fully occupied clergy. Thus the nature of the distinction between
+the priests and the Levites shows that they were essentially only two
+grades of the same order; and this corresponds roughly to what has been
+generally denoted by the term "priesthood." Priest-hood, however, had a
+more limited meaning in Israel than in later times. In some branches of
+the Christian Church, the priests exercise or claim to exercise functions
+which in Israel belonged to the prophets or the king.
+
+Before considering the central and essential idea of the priest as a
+minister of public worship, we will notice some of his minor duties. We
+have seen that the sanctity of civil government is emphasised by the
+religious supremacy of the king; the same truth is also illustrated by the
+fact that the priests and Levites were sometimes the king's officers for
+civil affairs. Under David, certain Levites of Hebron are spoken of as
+having the oversight of all Israel, both east and west of Jordan, not only
+"for all the business of Jehovah," but also "for the service of the
+king."(265) The business of the law-courts was recognised by Jehoshaphat
+as the judgment of Jehovah, and accordingly amongst the judges there were
+priests and Levites.(266) Similarly the mediaeval governments often found
+their most efficient and trustworthy administrators in the bishops and
+clergy, and were glad to reinforce their secular authority by the sanction
+of the Church; and even to-day bishops sit in Parliament: incumbents
+preside over vestries, and sometimes act as county magistrates. But the
+interest of religion in civil government is most manifest in the moral
+influence exercised unofficially by earnest and public-spirited ministers
+of all denominations.
+
+The chronicler refers more than once to the educational work of the
+priests, and especially of the Levites. The English version probably gives
+his real meaning when it attributes to him the phrase "teaching
+priest."(267) Jehoshaphat's educational commission was largely composed of
+priests and Levites, and Levites are spoken of as scribes. Jewish
+education was largely religious, and naturally fell into the hands of the
+priesthood, just as the learning of Egypt and Babylon was chiefly in the
+hands of priests and magi. The Christian ministry maintained the ancient
+traditions: the monasteries were the homes of mediaeval learning, and till
+recently England and Scotland mainly owed their schools to the Churches,
+and almost all schoolmasters of any position were in holy orders--priests
+and Levites. Under our new educational system the free choice of the
+people places many ministers of religion on the school boards.
+
+The next characteristic of the priesthood is not so much in accordance
+with Christian theory and practice. The house of Aaron and the tribe of
+Levi were a Church militant in a very literal sense. In the beginning of
+their history the tribe of Levi earned the blessing of Jehovah by the
+pious zeal with which they flew to arms in His cause and executed His
+judgment upon their guilty fellow-countrymen.(268) Later on, when "Israel
+joined himself unto Baal-peor, and the anger of Jehovah was kindled
+against Israel,"(269) then stood up Phinehas, "the ancestor of the house
+of Zadok," and executed judgment.
+
+
+    "And so the plague was stayed,
+    And that was counted unto him for righteousness
+    Unto all generations for evermore."(270)
+
+
+But the militant character of the priesthood was not confined to its early
+history. Amongst those who "came armed for war to David to Hebron to turn
+the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of Jehovah," were four
+thousand six hundred of the children of Levi and three thousand seven
+hundred of the house of Aaron, "and Zadok, a young man mighty of valour,
+and twenty-two captains of his father's house."(271) "The third captain of
+David's army for the third month was Benaiah the son of Jehoiada the
+priest."(272)
+
+David's Hebronite overseers were all "mighty men of valour." When Judah
+went out to war, the trumpets of the priests gave the signal for
+battle(273); when the high-priest Jehoiada recovered the kingdom for
+Joash, the Levites compassed the king round about, every man with his
+weapons in his hand(274); when Nehemiah rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem,
+"every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other
+held his weapon,"(275) and amongst the rest the priests. Later on, when
+Jehovah delivered Israel from the hand of Antiochus Epiphanes, the
+priestly family of the Maccabees, in the spirit of their ancestor
+Phinehas, fought and died for the Law and the Temple. There were priestly
+soldiers as well as priestly generals, for we read how "at that time
+certain priests, desirous to show their valour, were slain in battle, for
+that they went out to fight inadvisedly."(276) In the Jewish war the
+priest Josephus was Jewish commander in Galilee.
+
+Christianity has aroused a new sentiment with regard to war. We believe
+that the servant of the Lord must not strive in earthly battles. Arms may
+be lawful for the Christian citizen, but it is felt to be unseemly that
+the ministers who are the ambassadors of the Prince of Peace should
+themselves be men of blood. Even in the Middle Ages fighting prelates like
+Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, were felt to be exceptional anomalies; and the
+prince-bishops and electoral archbishops were often ecclesiastics only in
+name. To-day the Catholic Church in France resents the conscription of its
+seminarists as an act of vindictive persecution.
+
+And yet the growth of Christian sentiment in favour of peace has not
+prevented the occasional combination of the soldier and the ecclesiastic.
+If Islam has had its armies of dervishes, Cyril's monks fought for
+orthodoxy at Alexandria and at Constantinople with all the ferocity of
+wild beasts. The Crusaders, the Templars, the Knights of St. John, were in
+varying degrees partly priests and partly soldiers. Cromwell's Ironsides,
+when they were wielding carnal weapons in their own defence or in any
+other good cause, were as expert as any Levites at exhortations and psalms
+and prayers; and in our own day certain generals and admirals are fond of
+playing the amateur ecclesiastic. In this, as in so much else, while we
+deny the form of Judaism, we retain its spirit. Havelock and Gordon were
+no unworthy successors of the Maccabees.
+
+The characteristic function, however, of the Jewish priesthood was their
+ministry in public worship, in which they represented the people before
+Jehovah. In this connection public worship does not necessarily imply that
+the public were present, or that the worship in question was the united
+act of a great assembly. Such worshipping assemblies were not uncommon,
+especially at the feasts; but ordinary public worship was worship on
+behalf of the people, not by the people. The priests and Levites were part
+of an elaborate system of symbolic ritual. Worshippers might gather in the
+Temple courts, but the Temple itself was not a place in which public
+meetings for worship were held, and the people were not admitted into it.
+The Temple was Jehovah's house, and His presence there was symbolised by
+the Ark. In this system of ritual the priests and Levites represented
+Israel; their sacrifices and ministrations were the acceptable offerings
+of the nation to God. If the sacrifices were duly offered by the priests
+"according to all that was written in the law of Jehovah, and if the
+priests with trumpets and the Levites with psalteries, and harps, and
+cymbals duly ministered before the ark of Jehovah to celebrate, and thank,
+and praise Jehovah, the God of Israel," then the Divine service of Israel
+was fully performed. The whole people could not be regularly present at a
+single sanctuary, nor would they be adequately represented by the
+inhabitants of Jerusalem and casual visitors from the rest of the country.
+Three times a year the nation was fully and naturally represented by those
+who came up to the feasts, but usually the priests and Levites stood in
+their place.
+
+When an assembly gathered for public worship at a feast or any other time,
+the priests and Levites expressed the devotion of the people. They
+performed the sacrificial rites, they blew the trumpets and played upon
+the psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, and sang the praises of Jehovah.
+The people were dismissed by the priestly blessing. When an individual
+offered a sacrifice as an act of private worship, the assistance of the
+priests and Levites was still necessary. At the same time the king as well
+as the priesthood might lead the people in praise and prayer, and the
+Temple psalmody was not confined to the Levitical choir. When the Ark was
+brought away from Kirjath-jearim, "David and all Israel played before God
+with all their might, even with songs, and with harps, and with
+psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets"; and
+when at last the Ark had been safely housed in Jerusalem, and the due
+sacrifices had all been offered, David dismissed the people in priestly
+fashion by blessing them in the name of Jehovah.(277) At the two solemn
+assemblies which celebrated the beginning and the close of the great
+enterprise of building the Temple, public prayer was offered, not by the
+priests, but by David(278) and Solomon.(279) Similarly Jehoshaphat led the
+prayers of the Jews when they gathered to seek deliverance from the
+invading Moabites and Ammonites. Hezekiah at his great passover both
+exhorted the people and interceded for them, and Jehovah accepted his
+intercession; but on this occasion, when the festival was over, it was not
+the king, but "the priests the Levites,"(280) who "arose and blessed the
+people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to His holy
+habitation, even unto heaven." In the descriptions of Hezekiah's and
+Josiah's festivals, the orchestra and choir, of course, are busy with the
+music and singing; otherwise the main duty of the priests and Levites is
+to sacrifice. In his graphic account of Josiah's passover, the chronicler
+no doubt reproduces on a larger scale the busy scenes in which he himself
+had often taken part. The king, the princes, and the chiefs of the Levites
+had provided between them thirty-seven thousand six hundred lambs and kids
+and three thousand eight hundred oxen for sacrifices; and the resources of
+the establishment of the Temple were taxed to the utmost. "So the service
+was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites by the
+courses, according to the king's commandment. And they killed the
+passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of
+their hand, and the Levites flayed the sacrifices. And they removed the
+burnt offerings, that they might give them according to the divisions of
+the fathers' houses of the children of the people, to offer unto Jehovah,
+as it is written in the law of Moses; and so they did with the oxen. And
+they roasted the passover according to the ordinance; and they boiled the
+holy offerings in pots, and caldrons, and pans, and carried them quickly
+to all the children of the people. And afterward they prepared for
+themselves and for the priests, because the priests the sons of Aaron were
+busied in offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore
+the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests the sons of Aaron.
+And the singers were in their place, and the porters were at their several
+gates; they needed not to depart from their service, for their brethren
+the Levites prepared for them. So all the service of Jehovah was prepared
+the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the
+altar of Jehovah."(281) Thus even in the accounts of great public
+gatherings for worship the main duty of the priests and Levites is to
+perform the sacrifices. The music and singing naturally fall into their
+hands, because the necessary training is only possible to a professional
+choir. Otherwise the now symbolic portions of the service, prayer,
+exhortation, and blessing, were not exclusively reserved to ecclesiastics.
+
+The priesthood, like the Ark, the Temple, and the ritual, belonged
+essentially to the system of religious symbolism. This was their peculiar
+domain, into which no outsider might intrude. Only the Levites could touch
+the Ark. When the unhappy Uzzah "put forth his hand to the Ark," "the
+anger of Jehovah was kindled against him; and he smote Uzzah so that he
+died there before God."(282) The king might offer up public prayer; but
+when Uzziah ventured to go into the Temple to burn incense upon the altar
+of incense, leprosy broke forth in his forehead, and the priests thrust
+him out quickly from the Temple.(283)
+
+Thus the symbolic and representative character of the priesthood and
+ritual gave the sacrifices and other ceremonies a value in themselves,
+apart alike from the presence of worshippers and the feelings or
+"intention" of the officiating minister. They were the provision made by
+Israel for the expression of its prayer, its penitence and thanksgiving.
+When sin had estranged Jehovah from His people, the sons of Aaron made
+atonement for Israel; they performed the Divinely appointed ritual by
+which the nation made submission to its offended King and cast itself upon
+His mercy. The Jewish sacrifices had features which have survived in the
+sacrifice of the Mass, and the multiplication of sacrifices arose from
+motives similar to those that lead to the offering up of many masses.
+
+One would expect, as has happened in the Christian Church, that the
+ministrants of the symbolic ritual would annex the other acts of public
+worship, not only praise, but also prayer and exhortation. Considerations
+of convenience would suggest such an amalgamation of functions; and among
+the priests, while the more ambitious would see in preaching a means of
+extending their authority, the more earnest would be anxious to use their
+unique position to promote the spiritual life of the people. Chronicles,
+however, affords few traces of any such tendency; and the great scene in
+the book of Nehemiah in which Ezra and the Levites expound the Law had no
+connection with the Temple and its ritual. The development of the Temple
+service was checked by its exclusive privileges; it was simply impossible
+that the single sanctuary should continue to provide for all the religious
+wants of the Jews, and thus supplementary and inferior places of worship
+grew up to appropriate the non-ritual elements of service. Probably even
+in the chronicler's time the division of religious services between the
+Temple and the synagogue had already begun, with the result that the
+representative and symbolic character of the priesthood is almost
+exclusively emphasised.
+
+The representative character of the priesthood has another aspect.
+Strictly the priest represented the nation before Jehovah; but in doing so
+it was inevitable that he should also in some measure represent Jehovah to
+the nation. He could not be the channel of worship offered to God without
+being also the channel of Divine grace to man. From the priest the
+worshipper learnt the will of God as to correct ritual, and received the
+assurance that the atoning sacrifice was duly accepted. The high-priest
+entered within the veil to make atonement for Israel; he came forth as the
+bearer of Divine forgiveness and renewed grace, and as he blessed the
+people he spoke in the name of Jehovah. We have been able to discern the
+presence of these ideas in Chronicles, but they are not very conspicuous.
+The chronicler was not a layman; he was too familiar with priests to feel
+any profound reverence for them. On the other hand, he was not himself a
+priest, but was specially preoccupied with the musicians, the Levites, and
+the doorkeepers; so that probably he does not give us an adequate idea of
+the relative dignity of the priests and the honour in which they were held
+by the people. Organists and choirmasters, it is said, seldom take an
+exalted view of their minister's office.
+
+The chronicler deals more fully with a matter in which priests and Levites
+were alike interested: the revenues of the Temple. He was doubtless aware
+of the bountiful provision made by the Law for his order, and loved to
+hold up this liberality of kings, princes, and people in ancient days for
+his contemporaries to admire and imitate. He records again and again the
+tens of thousands of sheep and oxen provided for sacrifice, not altogether
+unmindful of the rich dues that must have accrued to the priests out of
+all this abundance; he tells us how Hezekiah first set the good example of
+appointing "a portion of his substance for the burnt offerings," and then
+"commanded the people that dwelt at Jerusalem to give the portion of the
+priests and the Levites that they might give themselves to the law of the
+Lord. And as soon as the commandment came abroad the children of Israel
+gave in abundance the first-fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and
+of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they
+in abundantly."(284) These were the days of old, the ancient years when
+the offering of Judah and Jerusalem was pleasant to Jehovah; when the
+people neither dared nor desired to offer on God's altar a scanty tale of
+blind, lame, and sick victims; when the tithes were not kept back, and
+there was meat in the house of God(285); when, as Hezekiah's high-priest
+testified, they could eat and have enough and yet leave plenty.(286) The
+manner in which the chronicler tells the tale of ancient abundance
+suggests that his days were like the days of Malachi. He was no pampered
+ecclesiastic, revelling in present wealth and luxury, but a man who
+suffered hard times, and looked back wistfully to the happier experiences
+of his predecessors.
+
+Let us now restore the complete picture of the chronicler's priest from
+his scattered references to the subject. The priest represents the nation
+before Jehovah, and in a less degree represents Jehovah to the nation; he
+leads their public worship, especially at the great festal gatherings; he
+teaches the people the Law. The high character, culture, and ability of
+the priests and Levites occasions their employment as judges and in other
+responsible civil offices. If occasion required, they could show
+themselves mighty men of valour in their country's wars. Under pious
+kings, they enjoyed ample revenues which gave them independence, added to
+their importance in the eyes of the people, and left them at leisure to
+devote themselves exclusively to their sacred duties.
+
+In considering the significance of this picture, we can pass over without
+special notice the exercise by priests and Levites of the functions of
+leadership in public worship, teaching, and civil government. They are not
+essential to the priesthood, but are entirely consistent with the tenure
+of the priestly office, and naturally become associated with it. Warlike
+prowess was certainly no part of the priesthood; but, whatever may be true
+of Christian ministers, it is difficult to charge the priests of the Lord
+of hosts with inconsistency because, like Jehovah Himself, they were men
+of war(287) and went forth to battle in the armies of Israel. When a
+nation was continually fighting for its very existence, it was impossible
+for one tribe out of the twelve to be non-combatant.
+
+With regard to the representative character of the priests, it would be
+out of place here to enter upon the burning questions of sacerdotalism;
+but we may briefly point out the permanent truth underlying the ancient
+idea of the priesthood. The ideal spiritual life in every Church is one of
+direct fellowship between God and the believer.
+
+
+    "Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and spirit with spirit can
+                meet;
+    Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet."
+
+
+And yet a man may be truly religious and not realise this ideal, or only
+realise it very imperfectly. The gift of an intense and real spiritual
+life may belong to the humblest and poorest, to men of little intellect
+and less learning; but, none the less, it is not within the immediate
+reach of every believer, or indeed of any believer at every time. The
+descendants of Mr. Little-faith and Mr. Ready-to-halt are amongst us
+still, and there is no immediate prospect of their race becoming extinct.
+Times come when we are all glad to put ourselves under the safe conduct of
+Mr. Great-heart. There are many whose prayers seem to themselves too
+feebly winged to rise to the throne of grace; they are encouraged and
+helped when their petitions are borne upwards on the strong pinions of
+another's faith. George Eliot has pictured the Florentines as awed
+spectators of Savonarola's audiences with Heaven. To a congregation
+sometimes the minister's prayers are a sacred and solemn spectacle; his
+spiritual feeling is beyond them; he intercedes for blessings they neither
+desire nor understand; they miss the heavenly vision which stirs his soul.
+He is not their spokesman, but their priest; he has entered the holy
+place, bearing with him the sins that crave forgiveness, the fears that
+beg for deliverance, the hopes that yearn to be fulfilled. Though the
+people may remain in the outer court, yet they are fully assured that he
+has passed into the very presence of God. They listen to him as to one who
+has had actual speech with the King and received the assurance of His
+goodwill towards them. When the vanguard of the Ten Thousand first sighted
+the Euxine, the cry of "Thalassa! Thalassa!" ("The sea! the sea!") rolled
+backward along the line of march; the rearguard saw the long-hoped-for
+sight with the eyes of the pioneers. Much unnecessary self-reproach would
+be avoided if we accepted this as one of God's methods of spiritual
+education, and understood that we all have in a measure to experience this
+discipline in humility. The priesthood of the believer is not merely his
+right to enter for himself into the immediate presence of God: it becomes
+his duty and privilege to represent others. But times will also come when
+he himself will need the support of a priestly intercession in the Divine
+presence-chamber, when he will seek out some one of quick sympathy and
+strong faith and say, "Brother, pray for me." Apart from any
+ecclesiastical theory of the priesthood, we all recognise that there are
+God-ordained priests, men and women, who can inspire dull souls with a
+sense of the Divine presence and bring to the sinful and the struggling
+the assurance of Divine forgiveness and help. If one in ten among the
+official priests of the historic Churches had possessed these supreme
+gifts, the world would have accepted the most extravagant sacerdotalism
+without a murmur. As it is, every minister, every one who leads the
+worship of a congregation, assumes for the time being functions and should
+possess the corresponding qualifications. In his prayers he speaks for the
+people; he represents them before God; on their behalf he enters into the
+Divine presence; they only enter with him, if, as their spokesman and
+representative, he has grasped their feelings and raised them to the level
+of Divine fellowship. He may be an untutored labourer in his working
+garments; but if he can do this, this spiritual gift makes him a priest of
+God. But this Christian priesthood is not confined to public service; as
+the priest offered sacrifice for the individual Jew, so the man of
+spiritual sympathies helps the individual to draw near his Maker. "To pray
+with people" is a well-known ministry of Christian service, and it
+involves this priestly function of presenting another's prayers to God.
+This priesthood for individuals is exercised by many a Christian who has
+no gifts of public utterance.
+
+The ancient priest held a representative position in a symbolic ritual, a
+position partly independent of his character and spiritual powers. Where
+symbolic ritual is best suited for popular needs, there may be room for a
+similar priesthood to-day. Otherwise the Christian priesthood is required
+to represent the people not in symbol, but in reality, to carry not the
+blood of dead victims into a material Holy of holies, but living souls
+into the heavenly temple.
+
+There remains one feature of the Jewish priestly system upon which the
+chronicler lays great stress: the endowments and priestly dues. In the
+case of the high-priest and the Levites, whose whole time was devoted to
+sacred duties, it was obviously necessary that those who served the altar
+should live by the altar. The same principle would apply, but with much
+less force, to the twenty-four courses of priests, each of which in its
+turn officiated at the Temple. But, apart from the needs of the
+priesthood, their representative character demanded that they should be
+able to maintain a certain state. They were the ambassadors of Israel to
+Jehovah. Nations have always been anxious that the equipment and suite of
+their representative at a foreign court should be worthy of their power
+and wealth; moreover, the splendour of an embassy should be in proportion
+to the rank of the sovereign to whom it is accredited. In former times,
+when the social symbols were held of more account, a first-rate power
+would have felt itself insulted if asked to receive an envoy of inferior
+rank, attended by only a meagre train. Israel, by her lavish endowment of
+the priesthood, consulted her own dignity and expressed her sense of the
+homage due to Jehovah. The Jews could not express their devotion in the
+same way as other nations. They had to be content with a single sanctuary,
+and might not build a multitude of magnificent temples or adorn their
+cities with splendid, costly statues in honour of God. There were limits
+to their expenditure upon the sacrifices and buildings of the Temple; but
+the priesthood offered a large opportunity for pious generosity. The
+chronicler felt that loyal enthusiasm to Jehovah would always use this
+opportunity, and that the priests might consent to accept the distinction
+of wealth and splendour for the honour alike of Israel and Jehovah. Their
+dignity was not personal to themselves, but rather the livery of a
+self-effacing servitude. For the honour of the Church, Thomas a Becket
+kept up a great establishment, appeared in his robes of office, and
+entertained a crowd of guests with luxurious fare; while he himself wore a
+hair shirt next his skin and fasted like an ascetic monk. When the Jews
+stinted the ritual or the ministrants of Jehovah, they were doing what
+they could to put Him to open shame before the nations. Julian's
+experience in the grove of Daphne at Antioch was a striking illustration
+of the collapse of paganism: the imperial champion of the ancient gods
+must have felt his heart sink within him when he was welcomed to that once
+splendid sanctuary by one shabby priest dragging a solitary and reluctant
+goose to the deserted altar. Similarly Malachi saw that Israel's devotion
+to Jehovah was in danger of dying out when men chose the refuse of their
+flocks and herds and offered them grudgingly at the shrine.
+
+The application of these principles leads directly to the question of a
+paid ministry; but the connection is not so close as it appears at first
+sight, nor are we yet in possession of all the data which the chronicler
+furnishes for its discussion. Priestly duties form an essential, but not
+predominant, part of the work of most Christian ministers. Still the loyal
+believer must always be anxious that the buildings, the services, and the
+men which, for himself and for the world, represent his devotion to
+Christ, should be worthy of their high calling. But his ideas of the
+symbolism suitable for spiritual realities are not altogether those of the
+chronicler: he is less concerned with number, size, and weight, with tens
+of thousands of sheep and oxen, vast quantities of stone and timber, brass
+and iron, and innumerable talents of gold and silver. Moreover, in this
+special connection the secondary priestly function of representing God to
+man has been expressly transferred by Christ to the least of His brethren.
+Those who wish to honour God with their substance in the person of His
+earthly representatives are enjoined to seek for them in hospitals, and
+workhouses, and prisons, to find these representatives in the hungry, the
+thirsty, the friendless, the naked, the captives. No doubt Christ is
+dishonoured when those who dwell in "houses of cedar" are content to
+worship Him in a mean, dirty church, with a half-starved minister; but the
+most disgraceful proof of the Church's disloyalty to Christ is to be seen
+in the squalor and misery of men, and women, and children whose bodies
+were ordained of God to be the temples of His Holy Spirit.
+
+This is only one among many illustrations of the truth that in Christ the
+symbolism of religion took a new departure. His Church enjoys the
+spiritual realities prefigured by the Jewish temple and its ministry. Even
+where Christian symbols are parallel to those of Judaism, they are less
+conventional and richer in their direct spiritual suggestiveness.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX. The Prophets.
+
+
+One remarkable feature of Chronicles as compared with the book of Kings is
+the greater interest shown by the former in the prophets of Judah. The
+chronicler, by confining his attention to the southern kingdom, was
+compelled to omit almost all reference to Elijah and Elisha, and thus
+exclude from his work some of the most thrilling chapters in the history
+of the prophets of Israel. Nevertheless the prophets as a whole play
+almost as important a part in Chronicles as in the book of Kings.
+Compensation is made for the omission of the two great northern prophets
+by inserting accounts of several prophets whose messages were addressed to
+the kings of Judah.
+
+The chronicler's interest in the prophets was very different from the
+interest he took in the priests and Levites. The latter belonged to the
+institutions of his own time, and formed his own immediate circle. In
+dealing with their past, he was reconstructing the history of his own
+order; he was able to illustrate and supplement from observation and
+experience the information afforded by his sources.
+
+But when the chronicler wrote, prophets had ceased to be a living
+institution in Judah. The light that had shone so brightly in Isaiah and
+Jeremiah burned feebly in Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, and then went
+out. Not long after the chronicler's time the failure of prophecy is
+expressly recognised. The people whose synagogues have been burnt up
+complain,--
+
+
+    "We see not our signs;
+    There is no more any prophet."(288)
+
+
+When Judas Maccabaeus appointed certain priests to cleanse the Temple after
+its pollution by the Syrians, they pulled down the altar of burnt
+offerings because the heathen had defiled it, and laid up the stones in
+the mountain of the Temple in a convenient place, until there should come
+a prophet to show what should be done with them.(289) This failure of
+prophecy was not merely brief and transient. It marked the disappearance
+of the ancient order of prophets. A parallel case shows how the Jews had
+become aware that the high-priest no longer possessed the special gifts
+connected with the Urim and Thummim. When certain priests could not find
+their genealogies, they were forbidden "to eat of the most holy things
+till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim."(290) We have no
+record of any subsequent appearance of "a priest with Urim and with
+Thummim" or of any prophet of the old order.
+
+Thus the chronicler had never seen a prophet; his conception of the
+personality and office of the prophet was entirely based upon ancient
+literature, and he took no professional interest in the order. At the same
+time he had no prejudice against them; they had no living successors to
+compete for influence and endowments with the priests and Levites.
+Possibly the Levites, as the chief religious teachers of the people,
+claimed some sort of apostolic succession from the prophets; but there are
+very slight grounds for any such theory. The chronicler's information on
+the whole subject was that of a scholar with a taste for antiquarian
+research.
+
+Let us briefly examine the part played by the prophets in the history of
+Judah as given by Chronicles. We have first, as in the book of Kings, the
+references to Nathan and Gad: they make known to David the will of Jehovah
+as regards the building of the Temple and the punishment of David's pride
+in taking the census of Israel. David unhesitatingly accepts their
+messages as the word of Jehovah. It is important to notice that when
+Nathan is consulted about building the Temple he first answers, apparently
+giving a mere private opinion, "Do all that is in thine heart, for God is
+with thee"; but when "the word of God comes" to him, he retracts his
+former judgment and forbids David to build the Temple. Here again the plan
+of the chronicler's work leads to an important omission: his silence as to
+the murder of Uriah prevents him from giving the beautiful and instructive
+account of the way in which Nathan rebuked the guilty king. Later
+narratives exhibit other prophets in the act of rebuking most of the kings
+of Judah, but none of these incidents are equally striking and pathetic.
+At the end of the histories of David and of most of the later kings we
+find notes which apparently indicate that, in the chronicler's time, the
+prophets were credited with having written the annals of the kings with
+whom they were contemporary. In connection with Hezekiah's reformation we
+are incidentally told that Nathan and Gad were associated with David in
+making arrangements for the music of the Temple: "He set the Levites in
+the house of Jehovah, with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps,
+according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king's seer and
+Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was of Jehovah by His
+prophets."(291)
+
+In the account of Solomon's reign, the chronicler omits the interview of
+Ahijah the Shilonite with Jeroboam, but refers to it in the history of
+Rehoboam. From this point, in accordance with his general plan, he omits
+almost all missions of prophets to the northern kings.
+
+In Rehoboam's reign, we have recorded, as in the book of Kings, a message
+from Jehovah by Shemaiah forbidding the king and his two tribes of Judah
+and Benjamin to attempt to compel the northern tribes to return to their
+allegiance to the house of David. Later on, when Shishak invaded Judah,
+Shemaiah was commissioned to deliver to the king and princes the message,
+"Thus saith Jehovah: Ye have forsaken Me; therefore have I also left you
+in the hand of Shishak."(292) But when they repented and humbled
+themselves before Jehovah, Shemaiah announced to them the mitigation of
+their punishment.
+
+Asa's reformation was due to the inspired exhortations of a prophet called
+both Oded and Azariah the son of Oded. Later on Hanani the seer rebuked
+the king for his alliance with Benhadad, king of Syria. "Then Asa was
+wroth with the seer, and put him in the prison-house; for he was in a rage
+with him because of this thing."(293)
+
+Jehoshaphat's alliance with Ahab and his consequent visit to Samaria
+enabled the chronicler to introduce from the book of Kings the striking
+narrative of Micaiah the son of Imlah; but this alliance with Israel
+earned for the king the rebukes of Jehu the son of Hanani the seer and
+Eliezar the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah. However, on the occasion of the
+Moabite and Ammonite invasion Jehoshaphat and his people received the
+promise of Divine deliverance from "Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son
+of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah the Levite, of the sons
+of Asaph."(294)
+
+The punishment of the wicked king Jehoram was announced to him by a
+"writing from Elijah the prophet."(295) His son Ahaziah apparently
+perished without any prophetic warning; but when Joash and his princes
+forsook the house of Jehovah and served the Asherim and the idols, "He
+sent prophets to them to bring them again to Jehovah," among the rest
+Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest. Joash turned a deaf ear to the
+message, and put the prophet to death.(296)
+
+When Amaziah bowed down before the gods of Edom and burned incense unto
+them, Jehovah sent unto him a prophet whose name is not recorded. His
+mission failed, like that of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada; and Amaziah,
+like Joash, showed no respect for the person of the messenger of Jehovah.
+In this case the prophet escaped with his life. He began to deliver his
+message, but the king's patience soon failed, and he said unto the
+prophet, "Have we made thee of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest
+thou be smitten?" The prophet, we are told, "forbare"; but his forbearance
+did not prevent his adding one brief and bitter sentence: "I know that God
+hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this and hast not
+hearkened unto my counsel."(297) Then apparently he departed in peace and
+was not smitten.
+
+We have now reached the period of the prophets whose writings are extant.
+We learn from the headings of their works that Isaiah saw his "vision,"
+and that the word of Jehovah came unto Hosea, in the days of Uzziah,
+Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; that the word of Jehovah came to Micah in the
+days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; and that Amos "saw" his "words" in the
+days of Uzziah. But the chronicler makes no reference to any of these
+prophets in connection with either Uzziah, Jotham, or Ahaz. Their writings
+would have afforded the best possible materials for his history, yet he
+entirely neglected them. In view of his anxiety to introduce into his
+narrative all missions of prophets of which he found any record, we can
+only suppose that he was so little interested in the prophetical writings
+that he neither referred to them nor recollected their dates.
+
+To Ahaz in Chronicles, in spite of all his manifold and persistent
+idolatry, no prophet was sent. The absence of Divine warning marks his
+extraordinary wickedness. In the book of Samuel the culmination of
+Jehovah's displeasure against Saul is shown by His refusal to answer him
+either by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets. He sends no prophet to Ahaz,
+because the wicked king of Judah is utterly reprobate. Prophecy, the token
+of the Divine presence and favour, has abandoned a nation given over to
+idolatry, and has even taken a temporary refuge in Samaria. Jerusalem was
+no longer worthy to receive the Divine messages, and Oded was sent with
+his words of warning and humane exhortation to the children of Ephraim.
+There he met with a prompt and full obedience, in striking contrast to the
+reception accorded by Joash and Amaziah to the prophets of Jehovah.
+
+The chronicler's history of the reign of Hezekiah further illustrates his
+indifference to the prophets whose writings are extant. In the book of
+Kings great prominence is given to Isaiah. In the account of Sennacherib's
+invasion his messages to Hezekiah are given at considerable length.(298)
+He announces to the king his approaching death and Jehovah's gracious
+answers to Hezekiah's prayer for a respite and his request for a sign.
+When Hezekiah, in his pride of wealth, displayed his treasures to the
+Babylonian ambassadors, Isaiah brought the message of Divine rebuke and
+judgment. Chronicles characteristically devotes three long chapters to
+ritual and Levites, and dismisses Isaiah in half a sentence: "And Hezekiah
+the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of
+this"--_i.e._, the threatening language of Sennacherib--"and cried to
+Heaven."(299) In the accounts of Hezekiah's sickness and recovery and of
+the Babylonian embassy the references to Isaiah are entirely omitted.
+These omissions may be due to lack of space, so much of which had been
+devoted to the Levites that there was none to spare for the prophet.
+
+Indeed, at the very point where prophecy began to exercise a controlling
+influence over the religion of Judah the chronicler's interest in the
+subject altogether flags. He tells us that Jehovah spake to Manasseh and
+to his people, and refers to "the words of the seers that spake to him in
+the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel";(300) but he names no prophet and
+does not record the terms of any Divine message. In the case of Manasseh
+his sources may have failed him, but we have seen that in Hezekiah's reign
+he deliberately passes over most of the references to Isaiah.
+
+The chroniclers narrative of Josiah's reign adheres more closely to the
+book of Kings. He reproduces the mission from the king to the prophetess
+Huldah and her Divine message of present forbearance and future judgment.
+The other prophet of this reign is the heathen king Pharaoh Necho, through
+whose mouth the Divine warning is given to Josiah. Jeremiah is only
+mentioned as lamenting over the last good king.(301) In the parallel text
+of this passage in the apocryphal book of Esdras Pharaoh's remonstrance is
+given in a somewhat expanded form; but the editor of Esdras shrank from
+making the heathen king the mouthpiece of Jehovah. While Chronicles tells
+us that Josiah "hearkened not unto the words of Neco from the mouth of
+God," Esdras, glaringly inconsistent both with the context and the
+history, tells us that he did not regard "the words of the prophet
+Jeremiah spoken by the mouth of the Lord."(302) This amended statement is
+borrowed from the chronicler's account of Zedekiah, who "humbled not
+himself before Jeremiah the prophet, speaking from the mouth of Jehovah."
+But this king was not alone in his disobedience. As the inevitable ruin of
+Jerusalem drew near, the whole nation, priests and people alike, sank
+deeper and deeper in sin. In these last days, "where sin abounded, grace
+did yet more abound." Jehovah exhausted the resources of His mercy:
+"Jehovah, the God of their fathers, sent to them by His messengers, rising
+up early and sending, because He had compassion on His people and on His
+dwelling-place." It was all in vain: "They mocked the messengers of God,
+and despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of
+Jehovah arose against His people, till there was no remedy." There are two
+other references in the concluding paragraphs of Chronicles to the
+prophecies of Jeremiah; but the history of prophecy in Judah closes with
+this last great unavailing manifestation of prophetic activity.
+
+Before considering the general idea of the prophet that may be collected
+from the various notices in Chronicles, we may devote a little space to
+the chronicler's curious attitude towards our canonical prophets. For the
+most part he simply follows the book of Kings in making no reference to
+them; but his almost entire silence as to Isaiah suggests that his
+imitation of his authority in other cases is deliberate and intentional,
+especially as we find him inserting one or two references to Jeremiah not
+taken from the book of Kings. The chronicler had much more opportunity of
+using the canonical prophets than the author or authors of the book of
+Kings. The latter wrote before Hebrew literature had been collected and
+edited; but the chronicler had access to all the literature of the
+monarchy, Captivity, and even later times. His numerous extracts from
+almost the entire range of the Historical Books, together with the
+Pentateuch and Psalms, show that his plan included the use of various
+sources, and that he had both the means and ability to work out his plan.
+He makes two references to Haggai and Zechariah,(303) so that if he
+ignores Amos, Hosea, and Micah, and all but ignores Isaiah, we can only
+conclude that he does so of set purpose. Hosea and Amos might be excluded
+on account of their connection with the northern kingdom; possibly the
+strictures of Isaiah and Micah on the priesthood and ritual made the
+chronicler unwilling to give them special prominence. Such an attitude on
+the part of a typical representative of the prevailing school of religious
+thought has an important bearing on the textual and other criticism of the
+early prophets. If they were neglected by the authorities of the Temple in
+the interval between Ezra and the Maccabees, the possibility of late
+additions and alterations is considerably increased.
+
+Let us now turn to the picture of the prophets drawn for us by the
+chronicler. Both prophet and priest are religious personages, otherwise
+they differ widely in almost every particular; we cannot even speak of
+them as both holding religious offices. The term "office" has to be almost
+unjustifiably strained in order to apply it to the prophet, and to use it
+thus without explanation would be misleading. The qualifications, status,
+duties, and rewards of the priests are all fully prescribed by rigid and
+elaborate rules; but the prophets were the children of the Spirit: "The
+wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but
+knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is
+born of the Spirit." The priest was bound to be a physically perfect male
+of the house of Aaron; the prophet might be of any tribe and of either
+sex. The warlike Deborah found a more peaceful successor in Josiah's
+counsellor Huldah, and among the degenerate prophets of Nehemiah's time a
+prophetess Noadiah(304) is specially mentioned. The priestly or Levitical
+office did not exclude its holder from the prophetic vocation. The Levite
+Jahaziel delivered the message of Jehovah to Jehoshaphat; and the prophet
+Zechariah, whom Joash put to death, was the son of the high-priest
+Jehoiada, and therefore himself a priest. Indeed, upon occasion the
+prophetic gift was exercised by those whom we should scarcely call
+prophets at all. Pharaoh Necho's warning to Jehoshaphat is exactly
+parallel to the prophetic exhortations addressed to other kings. In the
+crisis of David's fortunes at Ziklag, when Judah and Benjamin came out to
+meet him with apparently doubtful intentions, their adhesion to the future
+king was decided by a prophetic word given to the mighty warrior Amasai:
+"Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, who was one of the thirty, and he said,
+Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace, be
+unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee."(305)
+In view of this wide distribution of the prophetic gift, we are not
+surprised to find it frequently exercised by the pious kings. They receive
+and communicate to the nation direct intimations of the Divine will. David
+gives to Solomon and the people the instructions which God has given him
+with regard to the Temple; God's promises are personally addressed to
+Solomon, without the intervention of either prophet or priest; Abijah
+rebukes and exhorts Jeroboam and the Israelites very much as other
+prophets address the wicked kings; the speeches of Hezekiah and Josiah
+might equally well have been delivered by one of the prophets. David
+indeed is expressly called a prophet by St. Peter(306); and though the
+immediate reference is to the Psalms, the chronicler's history both of
+David and of other kings gives them a valid claim to rank as prophets.
+
+The authority and status of the prophets rested on no official or material
+conditions, such as hedged in the priestly office on every side.
+Accordingly their ancestry, previous history, and social standing are
+matters with which the historian has no concern. If the prophet happens
+also to be a priest or Levite, the chronicler, of course, knows and
+records his genealogy. It was essential that the genealogy of a priest
+should be known, but there are no genealogies of the prophets; their order
+was like that of Melchizedek, standing on the page of history "without
+father, without mother, without genealogy"; they appear abruptly, with no
+personal introduction, they deliver their message, and then disappear with
+equal abruptness. Sometimes not even their names are given. They had the
+one qualification compared with which birth and sex, rank and reputation,
+were trivial and meaningless things. The living word of Jehovah was on
+their lips; the power of His Spirit controlled their hearers; messenger
+and message were alike their own credentials. The supreme religious
+authority of the prophet testified to the subordinate and accidental
+character of all rites and symbols. On the other hand, the combination of
+priest and prophet in the same system proved the loftiest spirituality,
+the most emphatic recognition of the direct communion of the soul with
+God, to be consistent with an elaborate and rigid system of ritual. The
+services and ministry of the Temple were like lamps whose flame showed
+pale and dim when earth and heaven were lit up by the lightnings of
+prophetic inspiration.
+
+The gifts and functions of the prophets did not lend themselves to any
+regular discipline or organisation; but we can roughly distinguish between
+two classes of prophets. One class seem to have exercised their gifts more
+systematically and continuously than others. Gad and Nathan, Isaiah and
+Jeremiah, became practically the domestic chaplains and spiritual advisers
+of David, Hezekiah, and the last kings of Judah. Others are only mentioned
+as delivering a single message; their ministry seems to have been
+occasional, perhaps confined to a single period of their lives. The Divine
+Spirit was free to take the whole life or to take a part only; He was not
+to be conditioned even by gifts of His own bestowal.
+
+Human organisation naturally attempted to classify the possessors of the
+prophetic gift, to set them apart as a regular order, perhaps even to
+provide them with a suitable training, and, still more impossible task, to
+select the proper recipients of the gift and to produce and foster the
+prophetic inspiration. We read elsewhere of "schools of the prophets" and
+"sons of the prophets." The chronicler omits all reference to such
+institutions or societies; he declines to assign them any place in the
+prophetic succession in Israel. The gift of prophecy was absolutely
+dependent on the Divine will, and could not be claimed as a necessary
+appurtenance of the royal court at Jerusalem or a regular order in the
+kingdom of Judah. The priests are included in the list of David's
+ministers, but not the prophets Gad and Nathan. Abijah mentions among the
+special privileges of Judah "priests ministering unto Jehovah, even the
+sons of Aaron and the Levites in their work"; it does not occur to him to
+name prophets among the regular and permanent ministers of Jehovah.
+
+The chronicler, in fact, does not recognise the professional prophet. The
+fifty sons of the prophets that watched Elisha divide the waters in the
+name of the God of Elijah were no more prophets for him than the four
+hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of the
+Asherah that ate at Jezebel's table. The true prophet, like Amos, need not
+be either a prophet or the son of a prophet in the professional sense.
+Long before the chronicler's time the history and teaching of the great
+prophets had clearly established the distinction between the professional
+prophet, who was appointed by man or by himself, and the inspired
+messenger, who received a direct commission from Jehovah.
+
+In describing the prophet's sole qualification we have also stated his
+function. He was the messenger of Jehovah, and declared His will. The
+priest in his ministrations represented Israel before God, and in a
+measure represented God to Israel. The rites and ceremonies over which he
+presided symbolised the permanent and unchanging features of man's
+religious experience and me eternal righteousness and mercy of Him who is
+the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. From generation to generation
+men received the good gifts of God, and brought the offerings of their
+gratitude; they sinned against God and came to seek forgiveness; and the
+house of Aaron met them generation after generation in the same priestly
+robes, with the same rites, in the one Temple, in token of the unchanging
+willingness of Jehovah to accept and forgive His children.
+
+The prophet, too, represented God to man; his words were the words of God;
+through him the Divine presence and the Divine Spirit exerted their
+influence over the hearts and consciences of his hearers. But while the
+priestly ministrations symbolised the fixity and permanence of God's
+eternal majesty, the prophets expressed the infinite variety of His Divine
+nature and its continual adaptation to all the changes of human life. They
+came to the individual and to the nation in each crisis of history with
+the Divine message that enabled them to suit themselves to altered
+circumstances, to grapple with new difficulties, and to solve new
+problems. The priest and the prophet together set forth the great paradox
+that the unchanging God is the source of all change.
+
+
+    "Lord God, by whom all change is wrought,
+    By whom new things to birth are brought,
+      In whom no change is known,
+
+    To Thee we rise, in Thee we rest;
+    We stay at home, we go in quest,
+        Still Thou art our abode:
+    The rapture swells, the wonder grows,
+    As full on us new life still flows
+      From our unchanging God."
+
+
+The prophetic utterances recorded by the chronicler illustrate the work of
+the prophets in delivering the message that met the present needs of the
+people. There is nothing in Chronicles to encourage the unspiritual notion
+that the main object of prophecy was to give exact and detailed
+information as to the remote future. There is prediction necessarily: it
+was impossible to declare the will of God without stating the punishment
+of sin and the victory of righteousness; but prediction is only part of
+the declaration of God's will. In Gad and Nathan prophecy appears as a
+means of communication between the inquiring soul and God; it does not,
+indeed, gratify curiosity, but rather gives guidance in perplexity and
+distress. The later prophets constantly intervene to initiate reform or to
+hinder the carrying out of an evil policy. Gad and Nathan lent their
+authority to David's organisation of the Temple music; Asa's reform
+originated in the exhortation of Oded the prophet; Jehoshaphat went out to
+meet the Moabite and Ammonite invaders in response to the inspiriting
+utterance of Jahaziel the Levite; Josiah consulted the prophetess Huldah
+before carrying out his reformation; the chiefs of Ephraim sent back the
+Jewish captives in obedience to another Oded. On the other hand, Shemaiah
+prevented Rehoboam from fighting against Israel; Micaiah warned Ahab and
+Jehoshaphat not to go up against Ramoth-gilead.
+
+Often, however, the prophetic message gives the interpretation of history,
+the Divine judgment upon conduct, with its sentence of punishment or
+reward. Hanani the seer, for instance, comes to Asa to show him the real
+value of his apparently satisfactory alliance with Benhadad, king of
+Syria: "Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and hast not relied
+on Jehovah thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out
+of thine hand.... Herein thou hast done foolishly; for from henceforth
+thou shalt have wars." Jehoshaphat is told why his ships were broken:
+"Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, Jehovah hath destroyed thy
+works." Thus the prophetic declaration of Divine judgment came to mean
+almost exclusively rebuke and condemnation. The witness of a good
+conscience may be left to speak for itself; God does not often need to
+send a prophet to His obedient servants in order to signify His approval
+of their righteous acts. But the censures of conscience need both the
+stimulus of external suggestion and the support of external authority.
+Upon the prophets was constantly laid the unwelcome task of rousing and
+bracing the conscience for its stern duty. They became the heralds of
+Divine wrath, the precursors of national misfortune. Often, too, the
+warnings that should have saved the people were neglected or resented, and
+thus became the occasion of new sin and severer punishment. We must not,
+however, lay too much stress on this aspect of the prophets' work. They
+were no mere Cassandras, announcing inevitable ruin at the hands of a
+blind destiny; they were not always, or even chiefly, the messengers of
+coming doom. If they declared the wrath of God, they also vindicated His
+justice; in the day of the Lord which they so often foretold, mercy and
+grace tempered and at last overcame judgment. They taught, even in their
+sternest utterances, the moral government of the world and the benevolent
+purpose of its Ruler. These are man's only hope, even in his sin and
+suffering, the only ground for effort, and the only comfort in misfortune.
+
+There are, however, one or two elements in the chronicler's notices of the
+prophets that scarcely harmonise with this general picture. The scanty
+references of the books of Samuel and Kings to the "schools" and sons of
+the prophets have suggested the theory that the prophets were the
+guardians of national education, culture, and literature. The chronicler
+expressly assigns the function to the Levites, and does not recognise that
+the "schools of the prophets" had any permanent significance for the
+religion of Israel, possibly because they chiefly appear in connection
+with the northern kingdom. At the same time, we find this idea of the
+literary character of the prophets in Chronicles in a new form. The
+authorities referred to in the subscriptions to each reign bear the names
+of the prophets who flourished during the reign. The primary significance
+of the tradition followed by the chronicler is the supreme importance of
+the prophet for his period; he, and not the king, gives it a distinctive
+character. Therefore the prophet gives his name to his period, as the
+consuls at Rome, the Archon Basileus at Athens, and the Assyrian priests
+gave their own names to their year of office. Probably by the time
+Chronicles was written the view had been adopted which we know prevailed
+later on, and it was supposed that the prophets wrote the Historical Books
+which bore their names. The ancient prophets had given the Divine
+interpretation of the course of events and pronounced the Divine judgment
+on history. The Historical Books were written for religious edification;
+they contained a similar interpretation and judgment. The religious
+instincts of later Judaism rightly classed them with the prophetic
+Scriptures.
+
+The striking contrast we have been able to trace between the priests and
+the prophets in their qualifications and duties extends also to their
+rewards. The book of Kings gives us glimpses of the way in which the
+reverent gratitude of the people made some provision for the maintenance
+of the prophets. We are all familiar with the hospitality of the
+Shunammite, and we read how "a man from Baal-shalishah" brought
+first-fruits to Elisha.(307) But the chronicler omits all such references
+as being connected with the northern kingdom, and does not give us any
+similar information as to the prophets of Judah. He is not usually
+indifferent as to ways and means. He devotes some space to the revenues of
+the kings of Judah, and delights to dwell on the sources of priestly
+income. But it never seems to occur to him that the prophets have any
+wants to be provided for. To use George Macdonald's phrase, he is quite
+content to leave them "on the lily and sparrow footing." The priesthood
+and the Levites must be richly endowed; the honour of Israel and of
+Jehovah is concerned in their having cities, tithes, first-fruits, and
+offerings. Prophets are sent to reproach the people when the priestly dues
+are withheld; but for themselves the prophets might have said with St.
+Paul, "We seek not yours, but you." No one supposed that the authority and
+dignity of the prophets needed to be supported by ecclesiastical status,
+splendid robes, and great incomes. Spiritual force so manifestly resided
+in them that they could afford to dispense with the most impressive
+symbols of power and authority. On the other hand, they received an honour
+that was never accorded to the priesthood: they suffered persecution for
+the cause of Jehovah. Zechariah the son of Jehoiada was put to death, and
+Micaiah the son of Imlah was imprisoned. We are never told that the priest
+as priest suffered persecution. Ahaz closed the Temple, Manasseh set up an
+idol in the house of God, but we do not read of either Ahaz or Manasseh
+that they slew the priests of Jehovah. The teaching of the prophets was
+direct and personal, and thus eminently calculated to excite resentment
+and provoke persecution; the priestly services, however, did not at all
+interfere with concurrent idolatry, and the priests were accustomed to
+receive and execute the orders of the kings. There is nothing to suggest
+that they sought to obtrude the worship of Jehovah upon unwilling
+converts; and it is not improbable that some, at any rate, of the priests
+allowed themselves to be made the tools of the wicked kings. On the eve of
+the Captivity we read that "the chiefs of the priests and the people
+trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the heathen, and
+they polluted the house of Jehovah." No such disloyalty is recorded of the
+prophets in Chronicles. The most splendid incomes cannot purchase loyalty.
+It is still true that "the hireling fleeth because he is a hireling";
+men's most passionate devotion is for the cause in which they have
+suffered.
+
+We have seen that the modern ministry presents certain parallels to the
+ancient priesthood. Where are we to look for an analogue to the prophet?
+If the minister be, in a sense, a priest when he leads the worship of the
+people, is he also a prophet when he preaches to them? Preaching is
+intended to be--perhaps we may venture to say that it mostly is--a
+declaration of the will of God. Moreover, it is not the exposition of a
+fixed and unchangeable ritual or even of a set of rigid theological
+formulae. The preacher, like the prophet, seeks to meet the demands for new
+light that are made by constantly changing circumstances; he seeks to
+adapt the eternal truth to the varying needs of individual lives. So far
+he is a prophet, but the essential qualifications of the prophet are still
+to be sought after. Isaiah and Jeremiah did not declare the word of
+Jehovah as they had learnt it from a Bible or any other book, nor yet
+according to the traditions of a school or the teaching of great
+authorities; such declaration might be made by the scribes and rabbis in
+later times. But the prophets of Chronicles received their message from
+Jehovah Himself; while they mused upon the needs of the people, the fire
+of inspiration burned within them; then they spoke. Moreover, like their
+great antitype, they spoke with authority, and not as the scribes; their
+words carried with them conviction even when they did not produce
+obedience. The reality of men's conviction of their Divine authority was
+shown by the persecution to which they were subjected. Are these tokens of
+the prophet also the notes of the Christian ministry of preaching?
+Prophets were found among the house of Aaron and from the tribe of Levi,
+but not every Levite or priest was a prophet. Every branch of the
+Christian Church has numbered among its official ministers men who
+delivered their message with an inspired conviction of its truth; in them
+the power and presence of the Spirit have compelled a belief in their
+authority to speak for God: this belief has received the twofold
+attestation of hearts and consciences submitted to the Divine will on the
+one hand or of bitter and rancorous hostility on the other. In every
+Church we find the record of men who have spoken, "not in words which
+man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth." Such were Wyclif
+and Latimer, Calvin and Luther, George Whitefield and the Wesleys; such,
+too, were Moffat and Livingstone. Nor need we suppose that in the modern
+Christian Church the gift of prophecy has been confined to men of
+brilliant genius who have been conspicuously successful. In the sacred
+canon Haggai and Obadiah stand side by side with Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
+Ezekiel. The chronicler recognises the prophetic calling of men too
+obscure to be mentioned by name. He whom God hath sent speaketh the words
+of God, not necessarily the orator whom men crowd to hear and whose name
+is recorded in history; and God giveth not the Spirit by measure. Many of
+the least distinguished of His servants are truly His prophets, speaking,
+by the conviction He has given them, a message which comes home with power
+to some hearts at any rate, and is a savour of life unto life and of death
+unto death. The seals of their ministry are to be found in redeemed and
+purified lives, and also only too often in the bitter and vindictive
+ill-will of those whom their faithfulness has offended.
+
+We naturally expect to find that the official ministry affords the most
+suitable sphere for the exercise of the gift of prophecy. Those who are
+conscious of a Divine message will often seek the special opportunities
+which the ministry affords. But our study of Chronicles reminds us that
+the vocation of the prophet cannot be limited to any external
+organisation; it was not confined to the official ministry of Israel; it
+cannot be conditioned by recognition by bishops, presbyteries,
+conferences, or Churches; it will often find its only external credential
+in a gracious influence over individual lives. Nay, the prophet may have
+his Divine vocation and be entirely rejected of men. In Chronicles we find
+prophets, like Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, whose one Divine message is
+received with scorn and defiance.
+
+In practice, if not in theory, the Churches have long since recognised
+that the prophetic gift is found outside any official ministry, and that
+they may be taught the will of God by men and women of all ranks and
+callings. They have provided opportunities for the free exercise of such
+gifts in lay preaching, missions, Sunday-schools, meetings of all kinds.
+
+We have here stumbled upon another modern controversy: the desirability of
+women preaching. Chronicles mentions prophetesses as well as prophets; on
+the other hand, there were no Jewish priestesses. The modern minister
+combines some priestly duties with the opportunity, at least, of
+exercising the gift of prophecy. The mention of only two or three
+prophetesses in the Old Testament shows that the possession of the gift by
+women was exceptional. These few instances, however, are sufficient to
+prove that God did not in old times limit the gift to men; they suggest at
+any rate the possibility of its being possessed by women now, and when
+women have a Divine message the Church will not venture to quench the
+Spirit. Of course the application of these broad principles would have to
+be adapted to the circumstances of individual Churches. Huldah, for
+instance, is not described as delivering any public address to the people;
+the king sent his ministers to consult her in her own house. Whatever
+hesitation may be felt about the public ministry of women, no one will
+question their Divine commission to carry the messages of God to the
+bedsides of the sick and the homes of the poor. Most of us have known
+women to whom men have gone, as Josiah's ministers went to Huldah, to
+"inquire of the Lord."
+
+Another practical question, the payment of the ministers of religion, has
+already been raised by the chronicler's account of the revenues of the
+priests. What more do we learn on the subject from his silence as to the
+maintenance of the prophets? The silence is, of course, eloquent as to the
+extent to which even a pious Levite may be preoccupied with his own
+worldly interests and quite indifferent to other people's; but it would
+not have been possible if the idea of revenues and endowments for the
+prophets had ever been very familiar to men's minds. It has been said that
+to-day the prophet sells his inspiration, but the gift of God can no more
+be bought and sold with money now than in ancient Israel. The purely
+spiritual character of true prophecy, its entire dependence on Divine
+inspiration, makes it impossible to hire a prophet at a fixed salary
+regulated by the quality and extent of his gifts. By the grace of God,
+there is an intimate practical connection between the work of the official
+ministry and the inspired declaration of the Divine will; and this
+connection has its bearing upon the payment of ministers. Men's gratitude
+is stirred when they have received comfort and help through the spiritual
+gifts of their minister, but in principle there is no connection between
+the gift of prophecy and the payment of the ministry. A Church can
+purchase the enjoyment of eloquence, learning, intellect, and industry; a
+high character has a pecuniary value for ecclesiastical as well as for
+commercial purposes. The prophet may be provided with leisure, society,
+and literature so that the Divine message may be delivered in its most
+attractive form; he may be installed in a large and well-appointed
+building, so that he may have the best possible opportunity of delivering
+his message; he will naturally receive a larger income when he surrenders
+obscure and limited opportunities to minister in some more suitable
+sphere. But when we have said all, it is still only the accessories that
+have to do with payment, not the Divine gift of prophecy itself. When the
+prophet's message is not comforting, when his words grate upon the
+theological and social prejudices of his hearers, especially when he is
+invited to curse and is Divinely compelled to bless, there is no question
+of payment for such ministry. It has been said of Christ, "For the minor
+details necessary to secure respect, and obedience, and the enthusiasm of
+the vulgar, for the tact, the finesse, the compromising faculty, the
+judicious ostentation of successful politicians--for these arts He was not
+prepared."(308) Those who imitate their Master often share His reward.
+
+The slight and accidental connection of the payment of ministers with
+their prophetic gifts is further illustrated by the free exercise of such
+gifts by men and women who have no ecclesiastical status and do not seek
+any material reward. Here again any exact adoption of ancient methods is
+impossible; we may accept from the chronicler the great principle that
+loyal believers will make all adequate provision for the service and work
+of Jehovah, and that they will be prepared to honour Him in the persons of
+those whom they choose to represent them before Him, and also of those
+whom they recognise as delivering to them His messages. On the other hand,
+the prophet--and for our present purpose we may extend the term to the
+humblest and least gifted Christian who in any way seeks to speak for
+Christ--the prophet speaks by the impulse of the Spirit and from no meaner
+motive.
+
+With regard to the functions of the prophet, the Spirit is as entirely
+free to dictate His own message as He is to choose His own messenger. The
+chronicler's prophets were concerned with foreign politics--alliances with
+Syria and Assyria, wars with Egypt and Samaria--as well as with the ritual
+of the Temple and the worship of Jehovah. They discerned a religious
+significance in the purely secular matter of a census. Jehovah had His
+purposes for the civil government and international policy of Israel as
+well as for its creed and services. If we lay down the principle that
+politics, whether local or national, are to be kept out of the pulpit, we
+must either exclude from the official ministry all who possess any measure
+of the prophetic gift, or else carefully stipulate that, if they be
+conscious of any obligation to declare the Lord's will in matters of
+public righteousness, they shall find some more suitable place than the
+Lord's house and some more suitable time than the Lord's day. When we
+suggest that the prophet should mind his own business by confining himself
+to questions of doctrine, worship, and the religious experiences of the
+individual, we are in danger of denying God's right to a voice in social
+and national affairs.
+
+Turning, however, to more directly ecclesiastical affairs, we have noted
+that Asa's reformation received its first impulse from the utterances of
+the prophet Azariah or Oded, and also that one feature of the prophet's
+work is to provide for the fresh needs developed by changing
+circumstances. A priesthood or any other official ministry is often
+wanting in elasticity; it is necessarily attached to an established
+organisation and trammelled by custom and tradition. The Holy Spirit in
+all ages has commissioned prophets as the free agents in new movements in
+the Divine government of the world. They may be ecclesiastics, like many
+of the Reformers and like the Wesleys; but they are not dominated by the
+official spirit. The initial impulse that moves such men is partly one of
+recoil from their environment; and the environment in return casts them
+out. Again, prophets may become ecclesiastics, like the tinker to whom
+English-speaking Christians owe one of their great religious classics and
+the cobbler who stirred up the Churches to missionary enthusiasm. Or they
+may remain from beginning to end without official status in any Church,
+like the apostle of the anti-slavery movement. In any case the impulse to
+a larger, purer, and nobler standard of life than that consecrated by long
+usage and ancient tradition does not come from the ecclesiastical official
+because of his official training and experience; the living waters that go
+out of Jerusalem in the day of the Lord are too wide, and deep, and strong
+to flow in the narrow rock-hewn aqueducts of tradition: they make new
+channels for themselves; and these channels are the men who do not demand
+that the Spirit shall speak according to familiar formulae and stereotyped
+ideas, but are willing to be the prophets of strange and even uncongenial
+truth. Or, to use the great metaphor of St. John's Gospel, with such men,
+both for themselves and for others, the water that the Lord gives them
+becomes a well of water springing up unto eternal life.
+
+But the chronicler's picture of the work of the prophets has its darker
+side. Few were privileged to give the signal for an immediate and happy
+reformation. Most of the prophets were charged with messages of rebuke and
+condemnation, so that they were ready to cry out with Jeremiah, "Woe is
+me, my mother, that thou hast borne me, a man of strife and a man of
+contention to the whole earth! I have not lent on usury, neither have men
+lent to me on usury, yet every one of them doth curse me."(309)
+
+Perhaps even to-day the prophetic spirit often charges its possessors with
+equally unwelcome duties. We trust that the Christian conscience is more
+sensitive than that of ancient Israel, and that the Church is more ready
+to profit by the warnings addressed to it; but the response to the sterner
+teaching of the Spirit is not always accompanied by a kindly feeling
+towards the teacher, and even where there is progress, the progress is
+slow compared to the eager longing of the prophet for the spiritual growth
+of his hearers. And yet the sequel of the chronicler's history suggests
+some relief to the gloomier side of the picture. Prophet after prophet
+utters his unavailing and seemingly useless rebuke, and delivers his
+announcement of coming ruin, and at last the ruin falls upon the nation.
+But that is not the end. Before the chronicler wrote there had arisen a
+restored Israel, purified from idolatry and delivered from many of its
+former troubles. The Restoration was only rendered possible through the
+continued testimony of the prophets to the Lord and His righteousness.
+However barren of immediate results such testimony may seem to-day, it is
+still the word of the Lord that cannot return unto Him void, but shall
+accomplish that which He pleaseth and shall prosper in the thing whereto
+He sent it.
+
+The chronicler's conception of the prophetic character of the historian,
+whereby his narrative sets forth God's win and interprets His purposes, is
+not altogether popular at present. The teleological view of history is
+somewhat at a discount. Yet the prophetic method, so to speak, of Carlyle
+and Ruskin is largely historical; and even in so unlikely a quarter as the
+works of George Eliot we can find an example of didactic history. _Romola_
+is largely taken up with the story of Savonarola, told so as to bring out
+its religious significance. But teleological history is sometimes a
+failure even from the standpoint of the Christian student, because it
+defeats its own ends. He who is bent on deducing lessons from history may
+lay undue stress on part of its significance and obscure the rest. The
+historian is perhaps most a prophet when he leaves history to speak for
+itself. In this sense, we may venture to attribute a prophetic character
+to purely scientific history; accurate and unbiassed narrative is the best
+starting-point for the study of the religious significance of the course
+of events.
+
+In concluding our inquiry as to how far modern Church life is illustrated
+by the work of the prophets, one is tempted to dwell for a moment on the
+methods they did not use and the subjects not dealt with in their
+utterances. This theme, however, scarcely belongs to the exposition of
+Chronicles; it would be more appropriate to a complete examination of the
+history and writings of the prophets. One point, however, may be noticed.
+Their utterances in Chronicles lay less direct stress on moral
+considerations than the writings of the canonical prophets, not because of
+any indifference to morality, but because, seen in the distance of a
+remote past, all other sins seemed to be summed up in faithlessness to
+Jehovah. Perhaps we may see in this a suggestion of a final judgment of
+history, which should be equally instructive to the religious man who has
+any inclination to disparage morality and to the moral man who wishes to
+ignore religion.
+
+Our review and discussion of the varied references of Chronicles to the
+prophets brings home to us with fresh force the keen interest felt in them
+by the chronicler and the supreme importance he attached to their work.
+The reverent homage of a Levite of the second Temple centuries after the
+golden age of prophecy is an eloquent testimony to the unique position of
+the prophets in Israel. His treatment of the subject shows that the lofty
+ideal of their office and mission had lost nothing in the course of the
+development of Judaism; his selection from the older material emphasises
+the independence of the true prophet of any professional status or
+consideration of material reward; his sense of the importance of the
+prophets to the State and Church in Judah is an encouragement to those
+"who look for redemption in Jerusalem," and who trust the eternal promise
+of God that in all times of His people's need He "will raise up a prophet
+from among their brethren, ... and I will put My words in his mouth, and
+he shall speak unto them all that I shall command them."(310) "The
+memorial of the prophets was blessed, ... for they comforted Jacob, and
+delivered them by assured hope."(311) Many prophets of the Church have
+also left a blessed memorial of comfort and deliverance, and God ever
+renews this more than apostolic succession.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter X. Satan. 1 Chron. xxi.-xxii. 1.
+
+
+    "And again the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and He
+    moved David against them saying, Go, number Israel and Judah."--2
+    SAM. xxiv. 1.
+
+    "And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number
+    Israel."--1 CHRON. xxi. 1.
+
+    "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God
+    cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempteth no man: but
+    each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and
+    enticed."--JAMES i, 13, 14.
+
+
+The census of David is found both in the book of Samuel and in Chronicles,
+in very much the same form; but the chronicler has made a number of small
+but important alterations and additions. Taken together, these changes
+involve a new interpretation of the history, and bring out lessons that
+cannot so easily be deduced from the narrative in the book of Samuel.
+Hence it is necessary to give a separate exposition of the narrative in
+Chronicles.
+
+As before, we will first review the alterations made by the chronicler and
+then expound the narrative in the form in which it left his hand, or
+rather in the form in which it stands in the Masoretic text. Any attempt
+to deal with the peculiarly complicated problem of the textual criticism
+of Chronicles would be out of place here. Probably there are no
+corruptions of the text that would appreciably affect the general
+exposition of this chapter.
+
+At the very outset the chronicler substitutes Satan for Jehovah, and thus
+changes the whole significance of the narrative. This point is too
+important to be dealt with casually, and must be reserved for special
+consideration later on. In ver. 2 there is a slight change that marks the
+different points of the views of the Chronicler and the author of the
+narrative in the book of Samuel. The latter had written that Joab numbered
+the people from Dan to Beersheba, a merely conventional phrase indicating
+the extent of the census. It might possibly, however, have been taken to
+denote that the census began in the north and was concluded in the south.
+To the chronicler, whose interests all centred in Judah, such an
+arrangement seemed absurd; and he carefully guarded against any mistake by
+altering "Dan to Beersheba" into "Beersheba to Dan." In ver. 3 the
+substance of Joab's words is not altered, but various slight touches are
+added to bring out more clearly and forcibly what is implied in the book
+of Samuel. Joab had spoken of the census as being the king's
+pleasure.(312) It was scarcely appropriate to speak of David "taking
+pleasure in" a suggestion of Satan. In Chronicles Joab's words are less
+forcible, "Why doth my lord require this thing?" Again, in the book of
+Samuel Joab protests against the census without assigning any reason. The
+context, it is true, readily supplies one; but in Chronicles all is made
+clear by the addition, "Why will he" (David) "be a cause of guilt unto
+Israel?" Further on the chronicler's special interest in Judah again
+betrays itself. The book of Samuel described, with some detail, the
+progress of the enumerators through Eastern and Northern Palestine by way
+of Beersheba to Jerusalem. Chronicles having already made them start from
+Beersheba, omits these details.
+
+In ver. 5 the numbers in Chronicles differ not only from those of the
+older narrative, but also from the chronicler's own statistics in chap.
+xxvii. In this last account the men of war are divided into twelve courses
+of twenty-four thousand each, making a total of two hundred and
+eighty-eight thousand; in the book of Samuel Israel numbers eight hundred
+thousand, and Judah five hundred thousand; but in our passage Israel is
+increased to eleven hundred thousand, and Judah is reduced to four hundred
+and seventy thousand. Possibly the statistics in chap. xxvii. are not
+intended to include all the fighting men, otherwise the figures cannot be
+harmonised. The discrepancy between our passage and the book of Samuel is
+perhaps partly explained by the following verse, which is an addition of
+the chronicler. In the book of Samuel the census is completed, but our
+additional verse states that Levi and Benjamin were not included in the
+census. The chronicler understood that the five hundred thousand assigned
+to Judah in the older narrative were the joint total of Judah and
+Benjamin; he accordingly reduced the total by thirty thousand, because,
+according to his view, Benjamin was omitted from the census. The increase
+in the number of the Israelites is unexpected. The chronicler does not
+usually overrate the northern tribes. Later on Jeroboam, eighteen years
+after the disruption, takes the field against Abijah with "eight hundred
+thousand chosen men," a phrase that implies a still larger number of
+fighting men, if all had been mustered. Obviously the rebel king would not
+be expected to be able to bring into the field as large a force as the
+entire strength of Israel in the most flourishing days of David. The
+chronicler's figures in these two passages are consistent, but the
+comparison is not an adequate reason for the alteration in the present
+chapter. Textual corruption is always a possibility in case of numbers,
+but on the whole this particular change does not admit of a satisfactory
+explanation.
+
+In ver. 7 we have a very striking alteration. According to the book of
+Samuel, David's repentance was entirely spontaneous: "David's heart smote
+him after that he had numbered the people"(313); but here God smites
+Israel, and then David's conscience awakes. In ver. 12 the chronicler
+makes a slight addition, apparently to gratify his literary taste. In the
+original narrative the third alternative offered to David had been
+described simply as "the pestilence," but in Chronicles the words "the
+sword of Jehovah" are added in antithesis to "the sword of Thine enemies"
+in the previous verse.
+
+Ver. 16, which describes David's vision of the angel with the drawn sword,
+is an expansion of the simple statement of the book of Samuel that David
+saw the angel. In ver. 18 we are not merely told that Gad spake to David,
+but that he spake by the command of the angel of Jehovah. Ver. 20, which
+tells us how Ornan saw the angel, is an addition of the chronicler's. All
+these changes lay stress upon the intervention of the angel, and
+illustrate the interest taken by Judaism in the ministry of angels.
+Zechariah, the prophet of the Restoration, received his messages by the
+dispensation of angels; and the title of the last canonical prophet,
+Malachi, probably means "the Angel." The change from Araunah to Ornan is a
+mere question of spelling. Possibly Ornan is a somewhat Hebraised form of
+the older Jebusite name Araunah.
+
+In ver. 22 the reference to "a full price" and other changes in the form
+of David's words are probably due to the influence of Gen. xxiii. 9. In
+ver. 23 the chronicler's familiarity with the ritual of sacrifice has led
+him to insert a reference to a meal offering, to accompany the burnt
+offering. Later on the chronicler omits the somewhat ambiguous words which
+seem to speak of Araunah as a king. He would naturally avoid anything like
+a recognition of the royal status of a Jebusite prince.
+
+In ver. 25 David pays much more dearly for Ornan's threshing-floor than in
+the book of Samuel. In the latter the price is fifty shekels of silver, in
+the former six hundred shekels of gold. Most ingenious attempts have been
+made to harmonise the two statements. It has been suggested that fifty
+shekels of silver means silver to the value of fifty shekels of gold and
+paid in gold, and that six hundred shekels of gold means the value of six
+hundred shekels of silver paid in gold. A more lucid but equally
+impossible explanation is that David paid fifty shekels for every tribe,
+six hundred in all.(314) The real reason for the change is that when the
+Temple became supremely important to the Jews the small price of fifty
+shekels for the site seemed derogatory to the dignity of the sanctuary;
+six hundred shekels of gold was a more appropriate sum. Abraham had paid
+four hundred shekels for a burying-place; and a site for the Temple, where
+Jehovah had chosen to put His name, must surely have cost more. The
+chronicler followed the tradition which had grown up under the influence
+of this feeling.
+
+Chaps. xxi. 27-xxii. 1 are an addition. According to the Levitical law,
+David was falling into grievous sin in sacrificing anywhere except before
+the Mosaic altar of burnt offering. The chronicler therefore states the
+special circumstances that palliated this offence against the exclusive
+privileges of the one sanctuary of Jehovah. He also reminds us that this
+threshing-floor became the site of the altar of burnt offering for
+Solomon's temple. Here he probably follows an ancient and historical
+tradition; the prominence given to the threshing-floor in the book of
+Samuel indicates the special sanctity of the site. The Temple is the only
+sanctuary whose site could be thus connected with the last days of David.
+When the book of Samuel was written, the facts were too familiar to need
+any explanation; every one knew that the Temple stood on the site of
+Araunah's threshing-floor. The chronicler, writing centuries later, felt
+it necessary to make an explicit statement on the subject.
+
+Having thus attempted to understand how our narrative assumed its present
+form, we will now tell the chronicler's story of these incidents. The long
+reign of David was drawing to a close. Hitherto he had been blessed with
+uninterrupted prosperity and success. His armies had been victorious over
+all the enemies of Israel, the borders of the land of Jehovah had been
+extended, David himself was lodged with princely splendour, and the
+services of the Ark were conducted with imposing ritual by a numerous
+array of priests and Levites. King and people alike were at the zenith of
+their glory. In worldly prosperity and careful attention to religious
+observances David and his people were not surpassed by Job himself.
+Apparently their prosperity provoked the envious malice of an evil and
+mysterious being, who appears only here in Chronicles: Satan, the
+persecutor of Job. The trial to which he subjected the loyalty of David
+was more subtle and suggestive than his assault upon Job. He harassed Job
+as the wind dealt with the traveller in the fable, and Job only wrapped
+the cloak of his faith closer about him; Satan allowed David to remain in
+the full sunshine of prosperity, and seduced him into sin by fostering his
+pride in being the powerful and victorious prince of a mighty people. He
+suggested a census. David's pride would be gratified by obtaining accurate
+information as to the myriads of his subjects. Such statistics would be
+useful for the civil organisation of Israel; the king would learn where
+and how to recruit his army or to find an opportunity to impose additional
+taxation. The temptation appealed alike to the king, the soldier, and the
+statesman, and did not appeal in vain. David at once instructed Joab and
+the princes to proceed with the enumeration; Joab demurred and protested:
+the census would be a cause of guilt unto Israel. But not even the great
+influence of the commander-in-chief could turn the king from his purpose.
+His word prevailed against Joab, wherefore Joab departed, and went
+throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. This brief general statement
+indicates a long and laborious task, simplified and facilitated in some
+measure by the primitive organisation of society and by rough and ready
+methods adopted to secure the very moderate degree of accuracy with which
+an ancient Eastern sovereign would be contented. When Xerxes wished to
+ascertain the number of the vast army with which he set out to invade
+Greece, his officers packed ten thousand men into as small a space as
+possible and built a wall round them; then they turned them out, and
+packed the space again and again; and so in time they ascertained how many
+tens of thousands of men there were in the army. Joab's methods would be
+different, but perhaps not much more exact. He would probably learn from
+the "heads of fathers' houses" the number of fighting men in each family.
+Where the hereditary chiefs of a district were indifferent, he might make
+some rough estimate of his own. We may be sure that both Joab and the
+local authorities would be careful to err on the safe side. The king was
+anxious to learn that he possessed a large number of subjects. Probably as
+the officers of Xerxes went on with their counting they omitted to pack
+the measured area as closely as they did at first; they might allow eight
+or nine thousand to pass for ten thousand. Similarly David's servants
+would, to say the least, be anxious not to underestimate the number of his
+subjects. The work apparently went on smoothly; nothing is said that
+indicates any popular objection or resistance to the census; the process
+of enumeration was not interrupted by any token of Divine displeasure
+against the "cause of guilt unto Israel." Nevertheless Joab's misgivings
+were not set at rest; he did what he could to limit the range of the
+census and to withdraw at least two of the tribes from the impending
+outbreak of Divine wrath. The tribe of Levi would be exempt from taxation
+and the obligation of military service; Joab could omit them without
+rendering his statistics less useful for military and financial purposes.
+In not including the Levites in the general census of Israel, Joab was
+following the precedent set by the numbering in the wilderness.
+
+Benjamin was probably omitted in order to protect the Holy City, the
+chronicler following that form of the ancient tradition which assigned
+Jerusalem to Benjamin.(315) Later on,(316) however, the chronicler seems
+to imply that these two tribes left to the last were not numbered because
+of the growing dissatisfaction of Joab with his task: "Joab the son of
+Zeruiah began to number, but finished not." But these different reasons
+for the omission of Levi and Benjamin do not mutually exclude each other.
+Another limitation is also stated in the later reference: "David took not
+the number of them twenty years old and under, because Jehovah had said
+that He would increase Israel like to the stars of heaven." This statement
+and explanation seems a little superfluous; the census was specially
+concerned with the fighting men, and in the book of Numbers only those
+over twenty are numbered. But we have seen elsewhere that the chronicler
+has no great confidence in the intelligence of his readers, and feels
+bound to state definitely matters that have only been implied and might be
+overlooked. Here, therefore, he calls our attention to the fact that the
+numbers previously given do not comprise the whole male population, but
+only the adults.
+
+At last the census, so far as it was carried out at all, was finished, and
+the results were presented to the king. They are meagre and bald compared
+to the volumes of tables which form the report of a modern census. Only
+two divisions of the country are recognised: "Judah" and "Israel," or the
+ten tribes. The total is given for each: eleven hundred thousand for
+Israel, four hundred and seventy thousand for Judah, in all fifteen
+hundred and seventy thousand. Whatever details may have been given to the
+king, he would be chiefly interested in the grand total. Its figures would
+be the most striking symbol of the extent of his authority and the glory
+of his kingdom.
+
+Perhaps during the months occupied in taking the census David had
+forgotten the ineffectual protests of Joab, and was able to receive his
+report without any presentiment of coming evil. Even if his mind were not
+altogether at ease, all misgivings would for the time be forgotten. He
+probably made or had made for him some rough calculation as to the total
+of men, women, and children that would correspond to the vast array of
+fighting men. His servants would not reckon the entire population at less
+than nine or ten millions. His heart would be uplifted with pride as he
+contemplated the statement of the multitudes that were the subjects of his
+crown and prepared to fight at his bidding. The numbers are moderate
+compared with the vast populations and enormous armies of the great powers
+of modern Europe; they were far surpassed by the Roman empire and the
+teeming populations of the valleys of the Nile, the Euphrates, and the
+Tigris; but during the Middle Ages it was not often possible to find in
+Western Europe so large a population under one government or so numerous
+an army under one banner. The resources of Cyrus may not have been greater
+when he started on his career of conquest; and when Xerxes gathered into
+one motley horde the warriors of half the known world, their total was
+only about double the number of David's robust and warlike Israelites.
+There was no enterprise that was likely to present itself to his
+imagination that he might not have undertaken with a reasonable
+probability of success. He must have regretted that his days of warfare
+were past, and that the unwarlike Solomon, occupied with more peaceful
+tasks, would allow this magnificent instrument of possible conquests to
+rust unused.
+
+But the king was not long left in undisturbed enjoyment of his greatness.
+In the very moment of his exaltation, some sense of the Divine displeasure
+fell upon him.(317) Mankind has learnt by a long and sad experience to
+distrust its own happiness. The brightest hours have come to possess a
+suggestion of possible catastrophe, and classic story loved to tell of the
+unavailing efforts of fortunate princes to avoid their inevitable
+downfall. Polycrates and Croesus, however, had not tempted the Divine anger
+by ostentatious pride; David's power and glory had made him neglectful of
+the reverent homage due to Jehovah, and he had sinned in spite of the
+express warnings of his most trusted minister.
+
+When the revulsion of feeling came, it was complete. The king at once
+humbled himself under the mighty hand of God, and made full acknowledgment
+of his sin and folly: "I have sinned greatly in that I have done this
+thing: but now put away, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of Thy servant, for
+I have done very foolishly."
+
+The narrative continues as in the book of Samuel. Repentance could not
+avert punishment, and the punishment struck directly at David's pride of
+power and glory. The great population was to be decimated either by
+famine, war, or pestilence. The king chose to suffer from the pestilence,
+"the sword of Jehovah": "Let me fall now into the hand of Jehovah, for
+very great are His mercies; and let me not fall into the hand of man. So
+Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel, and there fell of Israel seventy
+thousand men." Not three days since Joab handed in his report, and already
+a deduction of seventy thousand would have to be made from its total; and
+still the pestilence was not checked, for "God sent an angel unto
+Jerusalem to destroy it." If, as we have supposed, Joab had withheld
+Jerusalem from the census, his pious caution was now rewarded: "Jehovah
+repented Him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough;
+now stay thine hand." At the very last moment the crowning catastrophe was
+averted. In the Divine counsels Jerusalem was already delivered, but to
+human eyes its fate still trembled in the balance: "And David lifted up
+his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah stand between the earth and the
+heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem." So
+another great Israelite soldier lifted up his eyes beside Jericho and
+beheld the captain of the host of Jehovah standing over against him with
+his sword drawn in his hand.(318) Then the sword was drawn to smite the
+enemies of Israel, but now it was turned to smite Israel itself. David and
+his elders fell upon their faces as Joshua had done before them: "And
+David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered?
+even I it is that have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep,
+what have they done? Let Thine hand, I pray Thee, O Jehovah my God, be
+against me and against my father's house, but not against Thy people, that
+they should be plagued."
+
+The awful presence returned no answer to the guilty king, but addressed
+itself to the prophet Gad, and commanded _him_ to bid David go up and
+build an altar to Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
+The command was a message of mercy. Jehovah permitted David to build Him
+an altar; He was prepared to accept an offering at his hands. The king's
+prayers were heard, and Jerusalem was saved from the pestilence. But still
+the angel stretched out his drawn sword over Jerusalem; he waited till the
+reconciliation of Jehovah with His people should have been duly ratified
+by solemn sacrifices. At the bidding of the prophet, David went up to the
+threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Sorrow and reassurance, hope and
+fear, contended for the mastery. No sacrifice could call back to life the
+seventy thousand victims whom the pestilence had already destroyed, and
+yet the horror of its ravages was almost forgotten in relief at the
+deliverance of Jerusalem from the calamity that had all but overtaken it.
+Even now the uplifted sword might be only back for a time; Satan might yet
+bring about some heedless and sinful act, and the respite might end not in
+pardon, but in the execution of God's purpose of vengeance. Saul had been
+condemned because he sacrificed too soon; now perhaps delay would be
+fatal. Uzzah had been smitten because he touched the Ark; till the
+sacrifice was actually offered who could tell whether some thoughtless
+blunder would not again provoke the wrath of Jehovah? Under ordinary
+circumstances David would not have dared to sacrifice anywhere except upon
+the altar of burnt offering before the tabernacle at Gibeon; he would have
+used the ministry of priests and Levites. But ritual is helpless in great
+emergencies. The angel of Jehovah with the drawn sword seemed to bar the
+way to Gibeon, as once before he had barred Balaam's progress when he came
+to curse Israel. In his supreme need David builds his own altar and offers
+his own sacrifices; he receives the Divine answer without the intervention
+this time of either priest or prophet. By God's most merciful and
+mysterious grace, David's guilt and punishment, his repentance and pardon,
+broke down all barriers between himself and God.
+
+But, as he went up to the threshing-floor, he was still troubled and
+anxious. The burden was partly lifted from his heart, but he still craved
+full assurance of pardon. The menacing attitude of the destroying angel
+seemed to hold out little promise of mercy and forgiveness, and yet the
+command to sacrifice would be cruel mockery if Jehovah did not intend to
+be gracious to His people and His anointed.
+
+At the threshing-floor Ornan and his four sons were threshing wheat,
+apparently unmoved by the prospect of the threatened pestilence. In Egypt
+the Israelites were protected from the plagues with which their oppressors
+were punished. Possibly now the situation was reversed, and the remnant of
+the Canaanites in Palestine were not afflicted by the pestilence that fell
+upon Israel. But Ornan turned back and saw the angel; he may not have
+known the grim mission with which the Lord's messenger had been entrusted,
+but the aspect of the destroyer, his threatening attitude, and the lurid
+radiance of his unsheathed and outstretched sword must have seemed
+unmistakable tokens of coming calamity. Whatever might be threatened for
+the future, the actual appearance of this supernatural visitant was enough
+to unnerve the stoutest heart; and Ornan's four sons hid themselves.
+
+Before long, however, Ornan's terrors were somewhat relieved by the
+approach of less formidable visitors. The king and his followers had
+ventured to show themselves openly, in spite of the destroying angel; and
+they had ventured with impunity. Ornan went forth and bowed himself to
+David with his face to the ground. In ancient days the father of the
+faithful, oppressed by the burden of his bereavement, went to the Hittites
+to purchase a burying-place for his wife. Now the last of the Patriarchs,
+mourning for the sufferings of his people, came by Divine command to the
+Jebusite to purchase the ground on which to offer sacrifices, that the
+plague might be stayed from the people. The form of bargaining was
+somewhat similar in both cases. We are told that bargains are concluded in
+much the same fashion to-day. Abraham had paid four hundred shekels of
+silver for the field of Ephron in Machpelah, "with the cave which was
+therein, and all the trees that were in the field." The price of Ornan's
+threshing-floor was in proportion to the dignity and wealth of the royal
+purchaser and the sacred purpose for which it was designed. The fortunate
+Jebusite received no less than six hundred shekels of gold.
+
+David built his altar, and offered up his sacrifices and prayers to
+Jehovah. Then, in answer to David's prayers, as later in answer to
+Solomon's, fire fell from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering, and all
+this while the sword of Jehovah flamed across the heavens above Jerusalem,
+and the destroying angel remained passive, but to all appearances
+unappeased. But as the fire of God fell from heaven, Jehovah gave yet
+another final and convincing token that He would no longer execute
+judgment against His people. In spite of all that had happened to reassure
+them, the spectators must have been thrilled with alarm when they saw that
+the angel of Jehovah no longer remained stationary, and that his flaming
+sword was moving through the heavens. Their renewed terror was only for a
+moment: "the angel put up his sword again into the sheath thereof," and
+the people breathed more freely when they saw the instrument of Jehovah's
+wrath vanish out of their sight.
+
+The use of Machpelah as a patriarchal burying-place led to the
+establishment of a sanctuary at Hebron, which continued to be the seat of
+a debased and degenerate worship even after the coming of Christ. It is
+even now a Mohammedan holy place. But on the threshing-floor of Ornan the
+Jebusite there was to arise a more worthy memorial of the mercy and
+judgment of Jehovah. Without the aid of priestly oracle or prophetic
+utterance, David was led by the Spirit of the Lord to discern the
+significance of the command to perform an irregular sacrifice in a
+hitherto unconsecrated place. When the sword of the destroying angel
+interposed between David and the Mosaic tabernacle and altar of Gibeon,
+the way was not merely barred against the king and his court on one
+exceptional occasion. The incidents of this crisis symbolised the cutting
+off for ever of the worship of Israel from its ancient shrine and the
+transference of the Divinely appointed centre of the worship of Jehovah to
+the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, that is to say to Jerusalem,
+the city of David and the capital of Judah.
+
+The lessons of this incident, so far as the chronicler has simply borrowed
+from his authority, belong to the exposition of the book of Samuel. The
+main features peculiar to Chronicles are the introduction of the evil
+angel Satan, together with the greater prominence given to the angel of
+Jehovah, and the express statement that the scene of David's sacrifice
+became the site of Solomon's altar of burnt offering.
+
+The stress laid upon angelic agency is characteristic of later Jewish
+literature, and is especially marked in Zechariah and Daniel. It was no
+doubt partly due to the influence of the Persian religion, but it was also
+a development from the primitive faith of Israel, and the development was
+favoured by the course of Jewish history. The Captivity and the
+Restoration, with the events that preceded and accompanied these
+revolutions, enlarged the Jewish experience of nature and man. The
+captives in Babylon and the fugitives in Egypt saw that the world was
+larger than they had imagined. In Josiah's reign the Scythians from the
+far North swept over Western Asia, and the Medes and Persians broke in
+upon Assyria and Chaldaea from the remote East. The prophets claimed
+Scythians, Medes, and Persians as the instruments of Jehovah. The Jewish
+appreciation of the majesty of Jehovah, the Maker and Ruler of the world,
+increased as they learnt more of the world He had made and ruled; but the
+invasion of a remote and unknown people impressed them with the idea of
+infinite dominion and unlimited resources, beyond all knowledge and
+experience. The course of Israelite history between David and Ezra
+involved as great a widening of man's ideas of the universe as the
+discovery of America or the establishment of Copernican astronomy. A
+Scythian invasion was scarcely less portentous to the Jews than the
+descent of an irresistible army from the planet Jupiter would be to the
+civilised nations of the nineteenth century. The Jew began to shrink from
+intimate and familiar fellowship with so mighty and mysterious a Deity. He
+felt the need of a mediator, some less exalted being, to stand between
+himself and God. For the ordinary purposes of everyday life the Temple,
+with its ritual and priesthood, provided a mediation; but for unforeseen
+contingencies and exceptional crises the Jews welcomed the belief that a
+ministry of angels provided a safe means of intercourse between himself
+and the Almighty. Many men have come to feel to-day that the discoveries
+of science have made the universe so infinite and marvellous that its
+Maker and Governor is exalted beyond human approach. The infinite spaces
+of the constellations seem to intervene between the earth and the
+presence-chamber of God; its doors are guarded against prayer and faith by
+inexorable laws; the awful Being, who dwells within, has become
+"unmeasured in height, undistinguished into form." Intellect and
+imagination alike fail to combine the manifold and terrible attributes of
+the Author of nature into the picture of a loving Father. It is no new
+experience, and the present century faces the situation very much as did
+the chronicler's contemporaries. Some are happy enough to rest in the
+mediation of ritual priests; others are content to recognise, as of old,
+powers and forces, not now, however, personal messengers of Jehovah, but
+the physical agencies of "that which makes for righteousness." Christ came
+to supersede the Mosaic ritual and the ministry of angels; He will come
+again to bring those who are far off into renewed fellowship with His
+Father and theirs.
+
+On the other hand, the recognition of Satan, the evil angel, marks an
+equally great change from the theology of the book of Samuel. The
+primitive Israelite religion had not yet reached the stage at which the
+origin and existence of moral evil became an urgent problem of religious
+thought; men had not yet realised the logical consequences of the doctrine
+of Divine unity and omnipotence. Not only was material evil traced to
+Jehovah as the expression of His just wrath against sin, but "morally
+pernicious acts were quite frankly ascribed to the direct agency of
+God."(319) God hardens the heart of Pharaoh and the Canaanites; Saul is
+instigated by an evil spirit from Jehovah to make an attempt upon the life
+of David; Jehovah moves David to number Israel; He sends forth a lying
+spirit that Ahab's prophets may prophesy falsely and entice him to his
+ruin.(320) The Divine origin of moral evil implied in these passages is
+definitely stated in the book of Proverbs: "Jehovah hath made everything
+for its own end, yea even the wicked for the day of evil"; in
+Lamentations, "Out of the mouth of the Most High cometh there not evil and
+good?" and in the book of Isaiah, "I form the light, and create darkness;
+I make peace, and create evil; I am Jehovah, that doeth all these
+things."(321)
+
+The ultra-Calvinism, so to speak, of earlier Israelite religion was only
+possible so long as its full significance was not understood. An emphatic
+assertion of the absolute sovereignty of the one God was necessary as a
+protest against polytheism, and later on against dualism as well. For
+practical purposes men's faith needed to be protected by the assurance
+that God worked out His purposes in and through human wickedness. The
+earlier attitude of the Old Testament towards moral evil had a distinct
+practical and theological value.
+
+But the conscience of Israel could not always rest in this view of the
+origin of evil. As the standard of morality was raised, and its
+obligations were more fully insisted on, as men shrank from causing evil
+themselves and from the use of deceit and violence, they hesitated more
+and more to ascribe to Jehovah what they sought to avoid themselves. And
+yet no easy way of escape presented itself. The facts remained; the
+temptation to do evil was part of the punishment of the sinner and of the
+discipline of the saint. It was impossible to deny that sin had its place
+in God's government of the world; and in view of men's growing reverence
+and moral sensitiveness, it was becoming almost equally impossible to
+admit without qualification or explanation that God was Himself the Author
+of evil. Jewish thought found itself face to face with the dilemma against
+which the human intellect vainly beats its wings, like a bird against the
+bars of its cage.
+
+However, even in the older literature there were suggestions, not indeed
+of a solution of the problem, but of a less objectionable way of stating
+facts. In Eden the temptation to evil comes from the serpent; and, as the
+story is told, the serpent is quite independent of God; and the question
+of any Divine authority or permission for its action is not in any way
+dealt with. It is true that the serpent was one of the beasts of the field
+which the Lord God had made, but the narrator probably did not consider
+the question of any Divine responsibility for its wickedness. Again, when
+Ahab is enticed to his ruin, Jehovah does not act directly, but through
+the twofold agency first of the lying spirit and then of the deluded
+prophets. This tendency to dissociate God from any direct agency of evil
+is further illustrated in Job and Zechariah. When Job is to be tried and
+tempted, the actual agent is the malevolent Satan; and the same evil
+spirit stands forth to accuse the high-priest Joshua(322) as the
+representative of Israel. The development of the idea of angelic agency
+afforded new resources for the reverent exposition of the facts connected
+with the origin and existence of moral evil. If a sense of Divine majesty
+led to a recognition of the angel of Jehovah as the Mediator of
+revelation, the reverence for Divine holiness imperatively demanded that
+the immediate causation of evil should also be associated with angelic
+agency. This agent of evil receives the name of Satan, the adversary of
+man, the _advocatus diaboli_ who seeks to discredit man before God, the
+impeacher of Job's loyalty and of Joshua's purity. Yet Jehovah does not
+resign any of His omnipotence. In Job Satan cannot act without God's
+permission; he is strictly limited by Divine control: all that he does
+only illustrates Divine wisdom and effects the Divine purpose. In
+Zechariah there is no refutation of the charge brought by Satan; its truth
+is virtually admitted: nevertheless Satan is rebuked for his attempt to
+hinder God's gracious purposes towards His people. Thus later Jewish
+thought left the ultimate Divine sovereignty untouched, but attributed the
+actual and direct causation of moral evil to malign spiritual agency.
+
+Trained in this school, the chronicler must have read with something of a
+shock that Jehovah moved David to commit the sin of numbering Israel. He
+was familiar with the idea that in such matters Jehovah used or permitted
+the activity of Satan. Accordingly he carefully avoids reproducing any
+words from the book of Samuel that imply a direct Divine temptation of
+David, and ascribes it to the well-known and crafty animosity of Satan
+against Israel. In so doing, he has gone somewhat further than his
+predecessors: he is not careful to emphasise any Divine permission given
+to Satan or Divine control exercised over him. The subsequent narrative
+implies an overruling for good, and the chronicler may have expected his
+readers to understand that Satan here stood in the same relation to God as
+in Job and Zechariah; but the abrupt and isolated introduction of Satan to
+bring about the fall of David invests the arch-enemy with a new and more
+independent dignity.
+
+The progress of the Jews in moral and spiritual life had given them a
+keener appreciation both of good and evil, and of the contrast and
+opposition between them. Over against the pictures of the good kings, and
+of the angel of the Lord, the generation of the chronicler set the
+complementary pictures of the wicked kings and the evil angel. They had a
+higher ideal to strive after, a clearer vision of the kingdom of God; they
+also saw more vividly the depths of Satan and recoiled with horror from
+the abyss revealed to them.
+
+Our text affords a striking illustration of the tendency to emphasise the
+recognition of Satan as the instrument of evil and to ignore the question
+of the relation of God to the origin of evil. Possibly no more practical
+attitude can be assumed towards this difficult question. The absolute
+relation of evil to the Divine sovereignty is one of the problems of the
+ultimate nature of God and man. Its discussion may throw many sidelights
+upon other subjects, and will always serve the edifying and necessary
+purpose of teaching men the limitations of their intellectual powers.
+Otherwise theologians have found such controversies barren, and the
+average Christian has not been able to derive from them any suitable
+nourishment for his spiritual life. Higher intelligences than our own, we
+have been told,--
+
+
+                              "... reasoned high
+    Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate,
+    Fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute,
+    And found no end, in wandering mazes lost."
+
+
+On the other hand, it is supremely important that the believer should
+clearly understand the reality of temptation as an evil spiritual force
+opposed to Divine grace. Sometimes this power of Satan will show itself as
+"the alien law in his members, warring against the law of his mind and
+bringing him into captivity under the law of sin, which is in his
+members." He will be conscious that "he is drawn away by his own lust and
+enticed." But sometimes temptation will rather come from the outside. A
+man will find his "adversary" in circumstances, in evil companions, in
+"the sight of means to do ill deeds"; the serpent whispers in his ear, and
+Satan moves him to wrong-doing. Let him not imagine for a moment that he
+is delivered over to the powers of evil; let him realise clearly that with
+every temptation God provides a way of escape. Every man knows in his own
+conscience that speculative difficulties can neither destroy the sanctity
+of moral obligation nor hinder the operation of the grace of God.
+
+Indeed, the chronicler is at one with the books of Job and Zechariah in
+showing us the malice of Satan overruled for man's good and God's glory.
+In Job the affliction of the Patriarch only serves to bring out his faith
+and devotion, and is eventually rewarded by renewed and increased
+prosperity; in Zechariah the protest of Satan against God's gracious
+purposes for Israel is made the occasion of a singular display of God's
+favour towards His people and their priest. In Chronicles the malicious
+intervention of Satan leads up to the building of the Temple.
+
+Long ago Jehovah had promised to choose a place in Israel wherein to set
+His name; but, as the chronicler read in the history of his nation, the
+Israelites dwelt for centuries in Palestine, and Jehovah made no sign: the
+ark of God still dwelt in curtains. Those who still looked for the
+fulfilment of this ancient promise must often have wondered by what
+prophetic utterance or vision Jehovah would make known His choice. Bethel
+had been consecrated by the vision of Jacob, when he was a solitary
+fugitive from Esau, paying the penalty of his selfish craft; but the
+lessons of past history are not often applied practically, and probably no
+one ever expected that Jehovah's choice of the site for His one temple
+would be made known to His chosen king, the first true Messiah of Israel,
+in a moment of even deeper humiliation than Jacob's, or that the Divine
+announcement would be the climax of a series of events initiated by the
+successful machinations of Satan.
+
+Yet herein lies one of the main lessons of the incident. Satan's
+machinations are not really successful; he often attains his immediate
+object, but is always defeated in the end. He estranges David from Jehovah
+for a moment, but eventually Jehovah and His people are drawn into closer
+union, and their reconciliation is sealed by the long-expected choice of a
+site for the Temple. Jehovah is like a great general, who will sometimes
+allow the enemy to obtain a temporary advantage, in order to overwhelm him
+in some crushing defeat. The eternal purpose of God moves onward,
+unresting and unhasting; its quiet and irresistible persistence finds
+special opportunity in the hindrances that seem sometimes to check its
+progress. In David's case a few months showed the whole process complete:
+the malice of the Enemy; the sin and punishment of his unhappy victim; the
+Divine relenting and its solemn symbol in the newly consecrated altar. But
+with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
+day; and this brief episode in the history of a small people is a symbol
+alike of the eternal dealings of God in His government of the universe and
+of His personal care for the individual soul. How short-lived has been the
+victory of sin in many souls! Sin is triumphant; the tempter seems to have
+it all his own way, but his first successes only lead to his final rout;
+the devil is cast out by the Divine exorcism of chastisement and
+forgiveness; and he learns that his efforts have been made to subserve the
+training in the Christian warfare of such warriors as Augustine and John
+Bunyan. Or, to take a case more parallel to that of David, Satan catches
+the saint unawares, and entraps him into sin; and, behold, while the evil
+one is in the first flush of triumph, his victim is back again at the
+throne of grace in an agony of contrition, and before long the repentant
+sinner is bowed down into a new humility at the undeserved graciousness of
+the Divine pardon: the chains of love are riveted with a fuller constraint
+about his soul, and he is tenfold more the child of God than before.
+
+And in the larger life of the Church and the world Satan's triumphs are
+still the heralds of his utter defeat. He prompted the Jews to slay
+Stephen; and the Church were scattered abroad, and went about preaching
+the word; and the young man at whose feet the witnesses laid down their
+garments became the Apostle of the Gentiles. He tricked the reluctant
+Diocletian into ordering the greatest of the persecutions, and in a few
+years Christianity was an established religion in the empire. In more
+secular matters the apparent triumph of an evil principle is usually the
+signal for its downfall. In America the slave-holders of the Southern
+States rode rough-shod over the Northerners for more than a generation,
+and then came the Civil War.
+
+These are not isolated instances, and they serve to warn us against undue
+depression and despondency when for a season God seems to refrain from any
+intervention with some of the evils of the world. We are apt to ask in our
+impatience,--
+
+
+    "Is there not wrong too bitter for atoning?
+      What are these desperate and hideous years?
+    Hast Thou not heard Thy whole creation groaning,
+      Sighs of the bondsman, and a woman's tears?"
+
+
+The works of Satan are as earthly as they are devilish; they belong to the
+world; which passeth away, with the lust thereof: but the gracious
+providence of God has all infinity and all eternity to work in. Where
+to-day we can see nothing but the destroying angel with his flaming sword,
+future generations shall behold the temple of the Lord.
+
+David's sin, and penitence, and pardon were no inappropriate preludes to
+this consecration of Mount Moriah. The Temple was not built for the use of
+blameless saints, but the worship of ordinary men and women. Israel
+through countless generations was to bring the burden of its sins to the
+altar of Jehovah. The sacred splendour of Solomon's dedication festival
+duly represented the national dignity of Israel and the majesty of the God
+of Jacob; but the self-abandonment of David's repentance, the deliverance
+of Jerusalem from impending pestilence, the Divine pardon of presumptuous
+sin, constituted a still more solemn inauguration of the place where
+Jehovah had chosen to set His name. The sinner, seeking the assurance of
+pardon in atoning sacrifice, would remember how David had then received
+pardon for his sin, and how the acceptance of his offerings had been the
+signal for the disappearance of the destroying angel. So in the Middle
+Ages penitents founded churches to expiate their sins. Such sanctuaries
+would symbolise to sinners in after-times the possibility of forgiveness;
+they were monuments of God's mercy as well as of the founders' penitence.
+To-day churches, both in fabric and fellowship, have been made sacred for
+individual worshippers because in them the Spirit of God has moved them to
+repentance and bestowed upon them the assurance of pardon. Moreover, this
+solemn experience consecrates for God His most acceptable temples in the
+souls of those that love Him.
+
+One other lesson is suggested by the happy issues of Satan's malign
+interference in the history of Israel as understood by the chronicler. The
+inauguration of the new altar was a direct breach of the Levitical law,
+and involved the superseding of the altar and tabernacle that had hitherto
+been the only legitimate sanctuary for the worship of Jehovah. Thus the
+new order had its origin in the violation of existing ordinances and the
+neglect of an ancient sanctuary. Its early history constituted a
+declaration of the transient character of sanctuaries and systems of
+ritual. God would not eternally limit himself to any building, or His
+grace to the observance of any forms of external ritual. Long before the
+chronicler's time Jeremiah had proclaimed this lesson in the ears of
+Judah: "Go ye now unto My place which was in Shiloh, where I caused My
+name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of
+My people Israel.... I will do unto the house which is called by My name,
+wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and your fathers,
+as I have done to Shiloh.... I will make this house like Shiloh, and will
+make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth."(323) In the
+Tabernacle all things were made according to the pattern that was showed
+to Moses in the mount; for the Temple David was made to understand the
+pattern of all things "in writing from the hand of Jehovah."(324) If the
+Tabernacle could be set aside for the Temple, the Temple might in its turn
+give place to the universal Church. If God allowed David in his great need
+to ignore the one legitimate altar of the Tabernacle and to sacrifice
+without its officials, the faithful Israelite might be encouraged to
+believe that in extreme emergency Jehovah would accept his offering
+without regard to place or priest.
+
+The principles here involved are of very wide application. Every
+ecclesiastical system was at first a new departure. Even if its highest
+claims be admitted, they simply assert that within historic times God set
+aside some other system previously enjoying the sanction of His authority,
+and substituted for it a more excellent way. The Temple succeeded the
+Tabernacle; the synagogue appropriated in a sense part of the authority of
+the Temple; the Church superseded both synagogue and Temple. God's action
+in authorising each new departure warrants the expectation that He may yet
+sanction new ecclesiastical systems; the authority which is sufficient to
+establish is also adequate to supersede. When the Anglican Church broke
+away from the unity of Western Christendom by denying the supremacy of the
+Pope and refusing to recognise the orders of other Protestant Churches,
+she set an example of dissidence that was naturally followed by the
+Presbyterians and Independents. The revolt of the Reformers against the
+theology of their day in a measure justifies those who have repudiated the
+dogmatic systems of the Reformed Churches. In these and in other ways to
+claim freedom from authority, even in order to set up a new authority of
+one's own, involves in principle at least the concession to others of a
+similar liberty of revolt against one's self.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XI. Conclusion.
+
+
+In dealing with the various subjects of this book, we have reserved for
+separate treatment their relation to the Messianic hopes of the Jews and
+to the realisation of these hopes in Christ. The Messianic teaching of
+Chronicles is only complete when we collect and combine the noblest traits
+in its pictures of David and Solomon, of prophets, priests, and kings. We
+cannot ascribe to Chronicles any great influence on the subsequent
+development of the Jewish idea of the Messiah. In the first place, the
+chronicler does not point out the bearing which his treatment of history
+has upon the expectation of a future deliverer. He has no formal intention
+of describing the character and office of the Messiah; he merely wishes to
+write a history so as to emphasise the facts which most forcibly
+illustrated the sacred mission of Israel. And, in the second place,
+Chronicles never exercised any great influence over Jewish thought, and
+never attained to anything like the popularity of the books of Samuel and
+Kings. Many circumstances conspired to prevent the Temple ministry from
+obtaining an undivided authority over later Judaism. The growth of their
+power was broken in upon by the persecutions of Antiochus and the wars of
+the Maccabees. The ministry of the Temple under the Maccabaean high-priests
+must have been very different from that to which the chronicler belonged.
+Even if the priests and Levites still exercised any influence upon
+theology, they were overshadowed by the growing importance of the
+rabbinical schools of Babylon and Palestine. Moreover, the rise of
+Hellenistic Judaism and the translation of the Scriptures into Greek
+introduced another new and potent factor into the development of the
+Jewish religion. Of all the varied forces that were at work few or none
+tended to assign any special authority to Chronicles, nor has it left any
+very marked traces on later literature. Josephus indeed uses it for his
+history, but the New Testament is under very slight obligation to our
+author.
+
+But Chronicles reveals to us the position and tendencies of Jewish thought
+in the interval between Ezra and the Maccabees. The Messiah was expected
+to renew the ancient glories of the chosen people, "to restore the kingdom
+to Israel"; we learn from Chronicles what sort of a kingdom He was to
+restore. We see the features of the ancient monarchy that were dear to the
+memories of the Jews, the characters of the prophets, priests, and kings
+whom they delighted to honour. As their ideas of the past shaped and
+coloured their hopes for the future, their conception of what was noblest
+and best in the history of the monarchy was at the same time the measure
+of what they expected in the Messiah. However little influence Chronicles
+may have exerted as a piece of literature, the tendencies of which it is a
+monument continued to leaven the thought of Israel, and are everywhere
+manifest in the New Testament.
+
+We have to bear in mind that Messiah, "Anointed," was the familiar title
+of the Israelite kings; its use for the priests was late and secondary.
+The use of a royal title to denote the future Saviour of the nation shows
+us that He was primarily conceived of as an ideal king; and apart from any
+formal enunciation of this conception, the title itself would exercise a
+controlling influence upon the development of the Messianic idea.
+Accordingly in the New Testament we find that the Jews were looking for a
+king; and Jesus calls His new society the Kingdom of Heaven.
+
+But for the chronicler the Messiah, the Anointed of Jehovah, is no mere
+secular prince. We have seen how the chronicler tends to include religious
+duties and prerogatives among the functions of the king. David and Solomon
+and their pious successors are supreme alike in Church and state as the
+earthly representatives of Jehovah. The actual titles of priest and
+prophet are not bestowed upon the kings, but they are virtually priests in
+their care for and control over the buildings and ritual of the Temple,
+and they are prophets when, like David and Solomon, they hold direct
+fellowship with Jehovah and announce His will to the people. Moreover,
+David, as "the Psalmist of Israel," had become the inspired interpreter of
+the religious experience of the Jews. The ancient idea of the king as the
+victorious conqueror was gradually giving place to a more spiritual
+conception of his office; the Messiah was becoming more and more a
+definitely religious personage. Thus Chronicles prepared the way for the
+acceptance of Christ as a spiritual Deliverer, who was not only King, but
+also Priest and Prophet. In fact, we may claim the chronicler's own
+implied authority for including in the picture of the coming King the
+characteristics he ascribes to the priest and the prophet. Thus the
+Messiah of Chronicles is distinctly more spiritual and less secular than
+the Messiah of popular Jewish enthusiasm in our Lord's own time. Whereas
+in the chronicler's time the tendency was to spiritualise the idea of the
+king, the tenure of the office of high-priest by the Maccabaean princes
+tended rather to secularise the priesthood and to restore older and cruder
+conceptions of the Messianic King.
+
+Let us see how the chronicler's history of the house of David illustrates
+the person and work of the Son of David, who came to restore the ancient
+monarchy in the spiritual kingdom of which it was the symbol. The Gospels
+introduce our Lord very much as the chronicler introduces David: they give
+us His genealogy, and pass almost immediately to His public ministry. Of
+His training and preparation for that ministry, of the chain of earthly
+circumstances that determined the time and method of His entry upon the
+career of a public Teacher, they tell us next to nothing. We are only
+allowed one brief glimpse of the life of the holy Child; our attention is
+mainly directed to the royal Saviour when He has entered upon His kingdom;
+and His Divine nature finds expression in mature manhood, when none of the
+limitations of childhood detract from the fulness of His redeeming service
+and sacrifice.
+
+The authority of Christ rests on the same basis as that of the ancient
+kings: it is at once human and Divine. In Christ indeed this twofold
+authority is in one sense peculiar to Himself; but in the practical
+application of His authority to the hearts and consciences of men He
+treads in the footsteps of His ancestors. His kingdom rests on His own
+Divine commission and on the consent of His subjects. God has given Him
+the right to rule, but He will not reign in any heart till He receives its
+free submission. And still, as of old, Christ, thus chosen and well
+beloved of God and man, is King over the whole life of His people, and
+claims to rule over them in their homes, their business, their recreation,
+their social and political life, as well as in their public and private
+worship. If David and his pious successors were devoted to Jehovah and His
+temple, if they protected their people from foreign foes and wisely
+administered the affairs of Israel, Christ sets us the example of perfect
+obedience to the Father; He gives us deliverance and victory in our
+warfare against principalities and powers, against the world rulers of
+this darkness, and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly
+places; He administers in peace and holiness the inner kingdom of the
+believing heart. All that was foreshadowed both by David and Solomon is
+realised in Christ. The warlike David is a symbol of the holy warfare of
+Christ and the Church militant, of Him who came not to send peace on
+earth, but a sword; Solomon is the symbol of Christ, the Prince of peace
+in the Church triumphant. The tranquillity and splendour of the reign of
+the first son of David are types of the serene glory of Christ's kingdom
+as it is partly realised in the hearts of His children and as it will be
+fully realised in heaven; the God-given wisdom of Solomon prefigures the
+perfect knowledge and understanding of Him who is Himself the Word and
+Wisdom of God.
+
+The shadows that darken the history of the kings of Judah and even the
+life of David himself remind us that the Messiah moved upon a far higher
+moral and spiritual level than the monarchs whose royal dignity was a type
+of His own. Like David, He was exposed to the machinations of Satan; but,
+unlike David, He successfully resisted the tempter. He was in "all points
+tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
+
+The great priestly work of David and Solomon was the building of the
+Temple and the organisation of its ritual and ministry. By this work the
+kings made splendid provision for fellowship between Jehovah and His
+people, and for the system of sacrifices, whereby a sinful nation
+expressed their penitence and received the assurance of forgiveness. This
+has been the supreme work of Christ: through Him we have access to God; we
+enter into the holy place, into the Divine presence, by a new and living
+way, that is to say His flesh; He has brought us into the perpetual
+fellowship of the Spirit. And whereas Solomon could only build one temple,
+to which the believer paid occasional visits and obtained the sense of
+Divine fellowship through the ministry of the priests, Christ makes every
+faithful heart the temple of sacred service, and He has offered for us the
+one sacrifice, and provides a universal atonement.
+
+In His priesthood, as in His sacrifice, He represents us before God, and
+this representation is not merely technical and symbolic: in Him we find
+ourselves brought near to God, and our desires and aspirations are
+presented as petitions at the throne of the heavenly grace. But, on the
+other hand, in His love and righteousness He represents God to us, and
+brings the assurance of our acceptance.
+
+Other minor features of the office and rights of the priests and Levites
+find a parallel in Christ. He also is our Teacher and our Judge; to Him
+and to His service all worldly wealth may be consecrated. Christ is in all
+things the spiritual Heir of the house of Aaron as well as of the house of
+David; because He is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek, He,
+like Melchizedek, is also King of Salem; of His kingdom and of His
+priesthood there shall be no end. But while Christ is to the Kingdom of
+Heaven what David was to the Israelite monarchy, while in the different
+aspects of His work He is at once Temple, Priest, and Sacrifice, yet in
+the ministry of His earthly life He is above all a Prophet, the supreme
+successor of Elijah and Isaiah. It was only in a figure that He sat upon
+David's throne; it formed no part of His plan to exercise earthly
+dominion: His kingdom was not of this world. He did not belong to the
+priestly tribe, and performed none of the external acts of priestly
+ritual; He did not base His authority upon any genealogy with regard to
+priesthood, as the Epistle to the Hebrews says, "It is evident that our
+Lord hath sprung out of Judah, as to which tribe Moses spake nothing
+concerning priests."(325) His royal birth had its symbolic value, but He
+never asked men to believe in Him because of His human descent from David.
+He relied as little on the authority of office as on that of birth.
+Officially He was neither scribe nor rabbi. Like the prophets, His only
+authority was His Divine commission and the witness of the Spirit in the
+hearts of His hearers. The people recognised Him as a prophet; they took
+Him for Elijah or one of the prophets; He spoke of Himself as a prophet:
+"Not without honour, save in his own country." We have seen that, while
+the priests ministered to the regular and recurring needs of the people,
+the Divine guidance in special emergencies and the Divine authority for
+new departures were given by the prophets. By a prophet Jehovah brought
+Israel out of Egypt,(326) and Christ as a Prophet led His people out of
+the bondage of the Law into the liberty of the Gospel. By Him the Divine
+authority was given for the greatest religious revolution that the world
+has ever seen. And still He is the Prophet of the Church. He does not
+merely provide for the religious wants that are common to every race and
+to every generation: as the circumstances of His Church altar, and the
+believer is confronted with fresh difficulties and called upon to
+undertake new tasks, Christ reveals to His people the purpose and counsel
+of God. Even the record of His earthly teaching is constantly found to
+have anticipated the needs of our own time; His Spirit enables us to
+discover fresh applications of the truths He taught: and through Him
+special light is sought and granted for the guidance of individuals and of
+the Church in their need.
+
+But in Chronicles special stress is laid on the darker aspects of the work
+of the prophets. They constantly appear to administer rebukes and announce
+coming punishment. Both Christ and His apostles were compelled to assume
+the same attitude towards Israel. Like Jeremiah, their hearts sank under
+the burden of so stern a duty. Christ denounced the Pharisees, and wept
+over the city that knew not the things belonging to its peace; He declared
+the impending ruin of the Temple and the Holy City. Even so His Spirit
+still rebukes sin, and warns the impenitent of inevitable punishment.
+
+We have seen also in Chronicles that no stress was laid on any material
+rewards for the prophets, and that their fidelity was sometimes
+recompensed with persecution and death. Like Christ Himself, they had
+nothing to do with priestly wealth and splendour. The silence of the
+chronicler to the income of these prophets makes them fitting types of Him
+who had not where to lay His head. A discussion of the income of Christ
+would almost savour of blasphemy; we should shrink from inquiring how far
+"those who derived spiritual profit from His teaching gave Him substantial
+proofs of their appreciation of His ministry." Christ's recompense at the
+hands of the world and of the Jewish Church was that which former prophets
+had received. Like Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, He was persecuted and
+slain; He delivered a prophet's message, and died a prophet's death.
+
+But, besides the chronicler's treatment of the offices of prophet, priest,
+and king, there was another feature of his teaching which would prepare
+the way for a clear comprehension of the person and work of Christ. We
+have noticed how the growing sense of the power and majesty of Jehovah
+seemed to set Him at a distance from man, and how the Jews welcomed the
+idea of the mediation of an angelic ministry. And yet the angels were too
+vague and unfamiliar, too little known, and too imperfectly understood to
+satisfy men's longing for some means of fellowship between themselves and
+the remote majesty of an almighty God; while still their ministry served
+to maintain faith in the possibility of mediation, and to quicken the
+yearning after some better way of access to Jehovah. When Christ came He
+found this faith and yearning waiting to be satisfied; they opened a door
+through which Christ found His way into hearts prepared to receive Him. In
+Him the familiar human figures of priest and prophet were exalted into the
+supernatural dignity of the Angel of Jehovah. Men had long strained their
+eyes in vain to a far-off heaven; and, behold, a human voice recalled
+their gaze to the earth; and they turned and found God beside them, kindly
+and accessible, a Man with men. They realised the promise that a modern
+poet puts into David's mouth:--
+
+
+                                  "... O Saul, it shall be
+    A face like my face that receives thee; a Man like to me
+    Thou shalt love and be loved by for ever; a Hand like this hand
+    Shall throw open the gates of new life to thee! See the Christ
+                stand!"
+
+
+We have thus seen how the figures of the chronicler's history--prophet,
+priest, king, and angel--were types and foreshadowings of Christ. We may
+sum up this aspect of his teaching by a quotation from a modern exponent
+of Old Testament theology:--
+
+"Moses the prophet is the first type of the Mediator. By his side stands
+Aaron the priest, who connects the people with God, and consecrates it....
+But from the time of David both these figures pale in the imagination of
+the people before the picture of the Davidic king. His is the figure which
+appears the most indispensable condition of all true happiness for Israel.
+David is the third and by far the most perfect type of the
+Consummator."(327)
+
+This recurrence to the king as the most perfect type of the Redeemer
+suggests a last application of the Messianic teaching of the chronicler.
+In discussing his pictures of the kings, we have ventured to give them a
+meaning adapted to modern political life. In Israel the king stood for the
+state. When a community combined for common action to erect a temple or
+repel an invader, the united force was controlled and directed by the
+king; he was the symbol of national union and co-operation. To-day, when a
+community acts as a whole, its agent and instrument is the civil
+government; the state is the people organised for the common good,
+subordinating individual ends to the welfare of the whole nation. Where
+the Old Testament has "king," its modern equivalent may read the state or
+the civil government,--nay, even for special purposes the municipality, the
+county council, or the school board. Shall we obtain any helpful or even
+intelligible result if we apply this method of translation to the doctrine
+of the Messiah? Externally at any rate the translation bears a startling
+likeness to what has been regarded as a specially modern development.
+"Israel looked for salvation from the king," would read, "Modern society
+should seek salvation from the state." Assuredly there are many prophets
+who have taken up this burden without any idea that their new heresy was
+only a reproduction of old and forgotten orthodoxy. But the history of the
+growth of the Messianic idea supplies a correction to the primitive
+baldness of this principle of salvation by the state. In time the picture
+of the Messianic king came to include the attributes of the prophet and
+the priest. If we care to complete our modern application, we must affirm
+that the state can never be a saviour till it becomes sensitive to Divine
+influences and conscious of a Divine presence.
+
+When we see how the Messianic hope of Israel was purified and ennobled to
+receive a fulfilment glorious beyond its wildest dreams, we are encouraged
+to believe that the fantastic visions of the Socialist may be divinely
+guided to some reasonable ideal and may prepare the way for some further
+manifestation of the grace of God. But the Messianic state, like the
+Messiah, may be called upon to suffer and die for the salvation of the
+world, that it may receive a better resurrection.
+
+
+
+
+
+BOOK IV. THE INTERPRETATION OF HISTORY.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter I. The Last Prayer Of David. 1 Chron. xxix. 10-19.
+
+
+In order to do justice to the chronicler's method of presenting us with a
+number of very similar illustrations of the same principle, we have in the
+previous book grouped much of his material under a few leading subjects.
+There remains the general thread of the history, which is, of course, very
+much the same in Chronicles as in the book of Kings, and need not be dwelt
+on at any length. At the same time some brief survey is necessary for the
+sake of completeness and in order to bring out the different complexion
+given to the history by the chronicler's alterations and omissions.
+Moreover, there are a number of minor points that are most conveniently
+dealt with in the course of a running exposition.
+
+The special importance attached by the chronicler to David and Solomon has
+enabled us to treat their reigns at length in discussing his picture of
+the ideal king; and similarly the reign of Ahaz has served as an
+illustration of the character and fortunes of the wicked kings. We
+therefore take up the history at the accession of Rehoboam, and shall
+simply indicate very briefly the connection of the reign of Ahaz with what
+precedes and follows. But before passing on to Rehoboam we must consider
+"The Last Prayer of David," a devotional paragraph peculiar to Chronicles.
+The detailed exposition of this passage would have been out of proportion
+in a brief sketch of the chronicler's account of the character and reign
+of David, and would have had no special bearing on the subject of the
+ideal king. On the other hand, the "Prayer" states some of the leading
+principles which govern the chronicler in his interpretation of the
+history of Israel; and its exposition forms a suitable introduction to the
+present division of our subject.
+
+The occasion of this prayer was the great closing scene of David's life,
+which we have already described. The prayer is a thanksgiving for the
+assurance David had received that the accomplishment of the great purpose
+of his life, the erection of a temple to Jehovah, was virtually secured.
+He had been permitted to collect the materials for the building, he had
+received the plans of the Temple from Jehovah, and had placed them in the
+willing hands of his successor. The princes and the people had caught his
+own enthusiasm and lavishly supplemented the bountiful provision already
+made for the future work. Solomon had been accepted as king by popular
+acclamation. Every possible preparation had been made that could be made,
+and the aged king poured out his heart in praise to God for His grace and
+favour.
+
+The prayer falls naturally into four subdivisions: vv. 10-13 are a kind of
+doxology in honour of Jehovah; in vv. 14-16 David acknowledges that Israel
+is entirely dependent upon Jehovah for the means of rendering Him
+acceptable service; in ver. 17 he claims that he and his people have
+offered willingly unto Jehovah; and in vv. 18 and 19 he prays that Solomon
+and the people may build the Temple and abide in the Law.
+
+In the doxology God is addressed as "Jehovah, the God of Israel, our
+Father," and similarly in ver. 18 as "Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of
+Isaac, and of Israel." For the chronicler the accession of David is the
+starting-point of Israelite history and religion, but here, as in the
+genealogies, he links his narrative to that of the Pentateuch, and reminds
+his readers that the crowning dispensation of the worship of Jehovah in
+the Temple rested on the earlier revelations to Abraham, Isaac, and
+Israel.
+
+We are at once struck by the divergence from the usual formula: "Abraham,
+Isaac, and Jacob." Moreover, when God is referred to as the God of the
+Patriarch personally, the usual phrase is "the God of Jacob." The formula,
+"God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel," occurs again in Chronicles in the
+account of Hezekiah's reformation; it only occurs elsewhere in the history
+of Elijah in the book of Kings.(328) The chronicler avoids the use of the
+name "Jacob," and for the most part calls the Patriarch "Israel." "Jacob"
+only occurs in two poetic quotations, where its omission was almost
+impossible, because in each case "Israel" is used in the parallel
+clause.(329) This choice of names is an application of the same principle
+that led to the omission of the discreditable incidents in the history of
+David and Solomon. Jacob was the supplanter. The name suggested the
+unbrotherly craft of the Patriarch. It was not desirable that the Jews
+should be encouraged to think of Jehovah as the God of a grasping and
+deceitful man. Jehovah was the God of the Patriarch's nobler nature and
+higher life, the God of Israel, who strove with God and prevailed.
+
+In the doxology that follows the resources of language are almost
+exhausted in the attempt to set forth adequately "the greatness, and the
+power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty, ... the riches and
+honour, ... the power and might," of Jehovah. These verses read like an
+expansion of the simple Christian doxology, "Thine is the kingdom, the
+power, and the glory," but in all probability the latter is an
+abbreviation from our text. In both there is the same recognition of the
+ruling omnipotence of God; but the chronicler, having in mind the glory
+and power of David and his magnificent offerings for the building of the
+Temple, is specially careful to intimate that Jehovah is the source of all
+worldly greatness: "Both riches and honour come of Thee, ... and in Thy
+hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all."
+
+The complementary truth, the entire dependence of Israel on Jehovah, is
+dealt with in the next verses. David has learnt humility from the tragic
+consequences of his fatal census; his heart is no longer uplifted with
+pride at the wealth and glory of his kingdom; he claims no credit for the
+spontaneous impulse of generosity that prompted his munificence.
+Everything is traced back to Jehovah: "All things come of Thee, and of
+Thine own have we given Thee." Before, when David contemplated the vast
+population of Israel and the great array of his warriors, the sense of
+God's displeasure fell upon him; now, when the riches and honour of his
+kingdom were displayed before him, he may have felt the chastening
+influence of his former experience. A touch of melancholy darkened his
+spirit for a moment; standing upon the brink of the dim, mysterious Sheol,
+he found small comfort in barbaric abundance of timber and stone, jewels,
+talents, and darics; he saw the emptiness of all earthly splendour. Like
+Abraham before the children of Heth, he stood before Jehovah a stranger
+and a sojourner.(330) Bildad the Shuhite had urged Job to submit himself
+to the teaching of a venerable orthodoxy, because "we are of yesterday and
+know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow."(331) The same
+thought made David feel his insignificance, in spite of his wealth and
+royal dominion: "Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there no
+abiding."
+
+He turns from these sombre thoughts to the consoling reflection that in
+all his preparations he has been the instrument of a Divine purpose, and
+has served Jehovah willingly. To-day he can approach God with a clear
+conscience: "I know also, my God, that Thou triest the heart and hast
+pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have
+willingly offered all these things." He rejoiced, moreover, that the
+people had offered willingly. The chronicler anticipates the teaching of
+St. Paul that "the Lord loveth a cheerful giver." David gives of his
+abundance in the same spirit in which the widow gave her mite. The two
+narratives are mutually supplementary. It is possible to apply the story
+of the widow's mite so as to suggest that God values our offerings in
+inverse proportion to their amount. We are reminded by the willing
+munificence of David that the rich may give of his abundance as simply and
+humbly and as acceptably as the poor man gives of his poverty.
+
+But however grateful David might be for the pious and generous spirit by
+which his people were now possessed, he did not forget that they could
+only abide in that spirit by the continued enjoyment of Divine help and
+grace. His thanksgiving concludes with prayer. Spiritual depression is apt
+to follow very speedily in the train of spiritual exaltation; days of joy
+and light are granted to us that we may make provision for future
+necessity.
+
+David does not merely ask that Israel may be kept in external obedience
+and devotion: his prayer goes deeper. He knows that out of the heart are
+the issues of life, and he prays that the heart of Solomon and the
+thoughts of the heart of the people may be kept right with God. Unless the
+fountain of life were pure, it would be useless to cleanse the stream.
+David's special desire is that the Temple may be built, but this desire is
+only the expression of his loyalty to the Law. Without the Temple the
+commandments, and testimonies, and statutes of the Law could not be
+rightly observed. But he does not ask that the people may be constrained
+to build the Temple and keeping the Law in order that their hearts may be
+made perfect; their hearts are to be made perfect that they may keep the
+Law.
+
+Henceforward throughout his history the chronicler's criterion of a
+perfect heart, a righteous life, in king and people, is their attitude
+towards the Law and the Temple. Because their ordinances and worship
+formed the accepted standard of religion and morality, through which men's
+goodness would naturally express themselves. Similarly only under a
+supreme sense of duty to God and man may the Christian willingly violate
+the established canons of religious and social life.
+
+We may conclude by noticing a curious feature in the wording of David's
+prayer. In the nineteenth, as in the first, verse of this chapter the
+Temple, according to our English versions, is referred to as "the palace."
+The original word _bira_ is probably Persian, though a parallel form is
+quoted from the Assyrian. As a Hebrew word it belongs to the latest and
+most corrupt stage of the language as found in the Old Testament; and only
+occurs in Chronicles, Nehemiah, Esther, and Daniel. In putting this word
+into the mouth of David, the chronicler is guilty of an anachronism,
+parallel to his use of the word "darics." The word _bira_ appears to have
+first become familiar to the Jews as the name of a Persian palace or
+fortress in Susa; it is used in Nehemiah of the castle attached to the
+Temple, and in later times the derivative Greek name _Baris_ had the same
+meaning. It is curious to find the chronicler, in his effort to find a
+sufficiently dignified title for the temple of Jehovah, driven to borrow a
+word which belonged originally to the royal magnificence of a heathen
+empire, and which was used later on to denote the fortress whence a Roman
+garrison controlled the fanaticism of Jewish worship.(332) The
+chronicler's intention, no doubt, was to intimate that the dignity of the
+Temple surpassed that of any royal palace. He could not suppose that it
+was greater in extent or constructed of more costly materials; the living
+presence of Jehovah was its one supreme and unique distinction. The King
+gave honour to His dwelling-place.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II. Rehoboam And Abijah: The Importance Of Ritual. 2 Chron.
+x.-xiii.
+
+
+The transition from Solomon to Rehoboam brings to light a serious drawback
+of the chronicler's principle of selection. In the history of Solomon we
+read of nothing but wealth, splendour, unchallenged dominion, and
+superhuman wisdom; and yet the breath is hardly out of the body of the
+wisest and greatest king of Israel before his empire falls to pieces. We
+are told, as in the book of Kings, that the people met Rehoboam with a
+demand for release from "the grievous service of thy father," and yet we
+were expressly told only two chapters before that "of the children of
+Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of
+war, and chief of his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his
+horsemen."(333) Rehoboam apparently had been left by the wisdom of his
+father to the companionship of head-strong and featherbrained youths; he
+followed their advice rather than that of Solomon's grey-headed
+counsellors, with the result that the ten tribes successfully revolted and
+chose Jeroboam for their king. Rehoboam assembled an army to reconquer his
+lost territory, but Jehovah through the prophet Shemaiah forbade him to
+make war against Jeroboam.
+
+The chronicler here and elsewhere shows his anxiety not to perplex simple
+minds with unnecessary difficulties. They might be harassed and disturbed
+by the discovery that the king, who built the Temple and was specially
+endowed with Divine wisdom, had fallen into grievous sin and been visited
+with condign punishment. Accordingly everything that discredits Solomon
+and detracts from his glory is omitted. The general principle is sound; an
+earnest teacher, alive to his responsibility, will not wantonly obtrude
+difficulties upon his hearers; when silence does not involve disloyalty to
+truth, he will be willing that they should remain in ignorance of some of
+the more mysterious dealings of God in nature and history. But silence was
+more possible and less dangerous in the chronicler's time than in the
+nineteenth century. He could count upon a docile and submissive spirit in
+his readers; they would not inquire beyond what they were told: they would
+not discover the difficulties for themselves. Jewish youths were not
+exposed to the attacks of eager and militant sceptics, who would force
+these difficulties upon their notice in an exaggerated form, and at once
+demand that they should cease to believe in anything human or Divine.
+
+And yet, though the chronicler had great advantages in this matter, his
+own narrative illustrates the narrow limits within which the principle of
+the suppression of difficulties can be safely applied. His silence as to
+Solomon's sins and misfortunes makes the revolt of the ten tribes utterly
+inexplicable. After the account of the perfect wisdom, peace, and
+prosperity of Solomon's reign, the revolt comes upon an intelligent reader
+with a shock of surprise and almost of incredulity. If he could not test
+the chronicler's narrative by that of the book of Kings--and it was no part
+of the chronicler's purpose that his history should be thus tested--the
+violent transition from Solomon's unbroken prosperity to the catastrophe
+of the disruption would leave the reader quite uncertain as to the general
+credibility of Chronicles. In avoiding Scylla, our author has fallen into
+Charybdis; he has suppressed one set of difficulties only to create
+others. If we wish to help intelligent inquirers and to aid them to form
+an independent judgment, our safest plan will often be to tell them all we
+know ourselves and to believe that difficulties, which in no way mar our
+spiritual life, will not destroy their faith.
+
+In the next section(334) the chronicler tells how for three years Rehoboam
+administered his diminished kingdom with wisdom and success; he and his
+people walked in the way of David and Solomon, and his kingdom was
+established, and he was strong. He fortified fifteen cities in Judah and
+Benjamin, and put captains in them, and store of victuals, and oil and
+wine, and shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong. Rehoboam was
+further strengthened by deserters from the northern kingdom. Though the
+Pentateuch and the book of Joshua assigned to the priests and Levites
+cities in the territory held by Jeroboam, yet their intimate association
+with the Temple rendered it impossible for them to remain citizens of a
+state hostile to Jerusalem. The chronicler indeed tells us that "Jeroboam
+and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest's
+office unto Jehovah, and appointed others to be priests for the high
+places and the he-goats and for the calves which he had." It is difficult
+to understand what the chronicler means by this statement. On the face of
+it, we should suppose that Jeroboam refused to employ the house of Aaron
+and the tribe of Levi for the worship of his he-goats and calves, but the
+chronicler could not describe such action as casting "them off that they
+should not execute the priest's office unto Jehovah." The passage has been
+explained to mean that Jeroboam sought to hinder them from exercising
+their functions at the Temple by preventing them from visiting Judah; but
+to confine the priests and Levites to his own kingdom would have been a
+strange way of casting them off. However, whether driven out by Jeroboam
+or escaping from him, they came to Jerusalem and brought with them from
+among the ten tribes other pious Israelites, who were attached to the
+worship of the Temple. Judah and Jerusalem became the home of all true
+worshippers of Jehovah; and those who remained in the northern kingdom
+were given up to idolatry or the degenerate and corrupt worship of the
+high places. The chronicler then gives us some account of Rehoboam's harem
+and children, and tells that he dealt wisely, and dispersed his
+twenty-eight sons "throughout all the lands of Judah and Benjamin, unto
+every fenced city." He gave them the means of maintaining a luxurious
+table, and provided them with numerous wives, and trusted that, being thus
+happily circumstanced, they would lack leisure, energy, and ambition to
+imitate Absalom and Adonijah.
+
+Prosperity and security turned the head of Rehoboam as they had done that
+of David: "He forsook the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him." "All
+Israel" means all the subjects of Rehoboam; the chronicler treats the ten
+tribes as cut off from Israel. The faithful worshippers of Jehovah in
+Judah had been reinforced by the priests, Levites, and all other pious
+Israelites from the northern kingdom; and yet in three years they forsook
+the cause for which they had left their country and their fathers house.
+Punishment was not long delayed, for Shishak, king of Egypt, invaded Judah
+with an immense host and took away the treasures of the house of Jehovah
+and of the king's house.
+
+The chronicler explains why Rehoboam was not more severely punished.(335)
+Shishak appeared before Jerusalem with his immense host: Ethiopians, Lubim
+or Lybians, and Sukiim, a mysterious people only mentioned here. The LXX.
+and Vulgate translate Sukiim "Troglodytes," apparently identifying them
+with the cave-dwellers on the western or Ethiopian coast of the Red Sea.
+In order to find safety from these strange and barbarous enemies, Rehoboam
+and his princes were gathered together in Jerusalem. Shemaiah the prophet
+appeared before them, and declared that the invasion was Jehovah's
+punishment for their sin, whereupon they humbled themselves, and Jehovah
+accepted their penitent submission. He would not destroy Jerusalem, but
+the Jews should serve Shishak, "that they may know My service and the
+service of the kingdoms of the countries." When they threw off the yoke of
+Jehovah, they sold themselves into a worse bondage. There is no freedom to
+be gained by repudiating the restraints of morality and religion. If we do
+not choose to be the servants of obedience unto righteousness, our only
+alternative is to become the slaves "of sin unto death." The repentant
+sinner may return to his true allegiance, and yet he may still be allowed
+to taste something of the bitterness and humiliation of the bondage of
+sin. His Shishak may be some evil habit or propensity or special liability
+to temptation, that is permitted to harass him without destroying his
+spiritual life. In time the chastening of the Lord works out the peaceable
+fruits of righteousness, and the Christian is weaned for ever from the
+unprofitable service of sin.
+
+Unhappily the repentance inspired by trouble and distress is not always
+real and permanent. Many will humble themselves before the Lord in order
+to avert imminent ruin, and will forsake Him when the danger has passed
+away. Apparently Rehoboam soon fell away again into sin, for the final
+judgment upon him is, "He did that which was evil, because he set not his
+heart to seek Jehovah."(336) David in his last prayer had asked for a
+"perfect heart" for Solomon, but he had not been able to secure this
+blessing for his grandson, and Rehoboam was "the foolishness of the
+people, one that had no understanding, who turned away the people through
+his counsel."(337)
+
+Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijah, concerning whom we are told in
+the book of Kings that "he walked in all the sins of his father, which he
+had done before him; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God,
+as the heart of David his father." The chronicler omits this unfavourable
+verdict; he does not indeed classify Abijah among the good kings by the
+usual formal statement that "he did that which was good and right in the
+eyes of Jehovah," but Abijah delivers a hortatory speech and by Divine
+assistance obtains a great victory over Jeroboam. There is not a
+suggestion of any evil-doing on the part of Abijah; and yet we gather from
+the history of Asa that in Abijah's reign the cities of Judah were given
+up to idolatry, with all its paraphernalia of "strange altars, high
+places, Asherim, and sun-images." As in the case of Solomon, so here, the
+chronicler has sacrificed even the consistency of his own narrative to his
+care for the reputation of the house of David. How the verdict of ancient
+history upon Abijah came to be set aside we do not know. The charitable
+work of whitewashing the bad characters of history has always had an
+attraction for enterprising annalists; and Abijah was a more promising
+subject than Nero, Tiberius, or Henry VIII. The chronicler would rejoice
+to discover one more good king of Judah; but yet why should the record of
+Abijah's sins be expunged, while Ahaziah and Amon were still held up to
+the execration of posterity? Probably the chronicler was anxious that
+nothing should mar the effect of his narrative of Abijah's victory. If his
+later sources had recorded anything equally creditable of Ahaziah and
+Amon, he might have ignored the judgment of the book of Kings in their
+case also.
+
+The section(338) to which the chronicler attaches so much importance
+describes a striking episode in the chronic warfare between Judah and
+Israel. Here Israel is used, as in the older history, to mean the northern
+kingdom, and does not denote the spiritual Israel--_i.e._, Judah--as in the
+previous chapter. This perplexing variation in the use of the term
+"Israel" shows how far Chronicles has departed from the religious ideas of
+the book of Kings, and reminds us that the chronicler has only partially
+and imperfectly assimilated his older material.
+
+Abijah and Jeroboam had each gathered an immense army, but the army of
+Israel was twice as large as that of Judah: Jeroboam had eight hundred
+thousand to Abijah's four hundred thousand. Jeroboam advanced, confident
+in his overwhelming superiority and happy in the belief that Providence
+sides with the strongest battalions. Abijah, however, was nothing dismayed
+by the odds against him; his confidence was in Jehovah. The two armies met
+in the neighbourhood of Mount Zemaraim, upon which Abijah fixed his camp.
+Mount Zemaraim was in the hill-country of Ephraim, but its position cannot
+be determined with certainty; it was probably near the border of the two
+kingdoms. Possibly it was the site of the Benjamite city of the same name
+mentioned in the book of Joshua in close connection with Bethel.(339) If
+so, we should look for it in the neighbourhood of Bethel, a position which
+would suit the few indications of place given by the narrative.
+
+Before the battle, Abijah made an effort to induce his enemies to depart
+in peace. From the vantage-ground of his mountain camp he addressed
+Jeroboam and his army as Jotham had addressed the men of Shechem from
+Mount Gerizim.(340) Abijah reminded the rebels--for as such he regarded
+them--that Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given the kingdom over Israel to
+David for ever, even to him and to his sons, by a covenant of salt, by a
+charter as solemn and unalterable as that by which the heave-offerings had
+been given to the sons of Aaron.(341) The obligation of an Arab host to
+the guest who had sat at meat with him and eaten of his salt was not more
+binding than the Divine decree which had given the throne of Israel to the
+house of David. And yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat had dared to infringe
+the sacred rights of the elect dynasty. He, the slave of Solomon, had
+risen up and rebelled against his master.
+
+The indignant prince of the house of David not unnaturally forgets that
+the disruption was Jehovah's own work, and that Jeroboam rose up against
+his master, not at the instigation of Satan, but by the command of the
+prophet Ahijah.(342) The advocates of sacred causes even in inspired
+moments are apt to be one-sided in their statements of fact.
+
+While Abijah is severe upon Jeroboam and his accomplices and calls them
+"vain men, sons of Belial," he shows a filial tenderness for the memory of
+Rehoboam. That unfortunate king had been taken at a disadvantage, when he
+was young and tender-hearted and unable to deal sternly with rebels. The
+tenderness which could threaten to chastise his people with scorpions must
+have been of the kind--
+
+
+    "That dared to look on torture and could not look on war";
+
+
+it only appears in the history in Rehoboam's headlong flight to Jerusalem.
+No one, however, will censure Abijah for taking an unduly favourable view
+of his father's character.
+
+But whatever advantage Jeroboam may have found in his first revolt, Abijah
+warns him that now he need not think to withstand the kingdom of Jehovah
+in the hands of the sons of David. He is no longer opposed to an
+unseasoned youth, but to men who know their overwhelming advantage.
+Jeroboam need not think to supplement and complete his former achievements
+by adding Judah and Benjamin to his kingdom. Against his superiority of
+four hundred thousand soldiers Abijah can set a Divine alliance, attested
+by the presence of priests and Levites and the regular performance of the
+pentateuchal ritual, whilst the alienation of Israel from Jehovah is
+clearly shown by the irregular orders of their priests. But let Abijah
+speak for himself: "Ye be a great multitude, and there are with you the
+golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods." Possibly Abijah was able
+to point to Bethel, where the royal sanctuary of the golden calf was
+visible to both armies: "Have ye not driven out the priests of Jehovah,
+the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests in
+heathen fashion? When any one comes to consecrate himself with a young
+bullock and seven rams, ye make him a priest of them that are no gods. But
+as for us, Jehovah is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and we have
+priests, the sons of Aaron, ministering unto Jehovah, and the Levites,
+doing their appointed work: and they burn unto Jehovah morning and evening
+burnt offerings and sweet incense: the shewbread also they set in order
+upon the table that is kept free from all uncleanness; and we have the
+candlestick of gold, with its lamps, to burn every evening; for we observe
+the ordinances of Jehovah our God; but ye have forsaken Him. And, behold,
+God is with us at our head, and His priests, with the trumpets of alarm,
+to sound an alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against
+Jehovah, the God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper."
+
+This speech, we are told, "has been much admired. It was well suited to
+its object, and exhibits correct notions of the theocratical
+institutions." But, like much other admirable eloquence, in the House of
+Commons and elsewhere, Abijah's speech had no effect upon those to whom it
+was addressed. Jeroboam apparently utilised the interval to plant an
+ambush in the rear of the Jewish army.
+
+Abijah's speech is unique. There have been other instances in which
+commanders have tried to make oratory take the place of arms, and, like
+Abijah, they have mostly been unsuccessful; but they have usually appealed
+to lower motives. Sennacherib's envoys tried ineffectually to seduce the
+garrison of Jerusalem from their allegiance to Hezekiah, but they relied
+on threats of destruction and promises of "a land of corn and wine, a land
+of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and honey." There is, however,
+a parallel instance of more successful persuasion. When Octavian was at
+war with his fellow-triumvir Lepidus, he made a daring attempt to win over
+his enemy's army. He did not address them from the safe elevation of a
+neighbouring mountain, but rode openly into the hostile camp. He appealed
+to the soldiers by motives as lofty as those urged by Abijah, and called
+upon them to save their country from civil war by deserting Lepidus. At
+the moment his appeal failed, and he only escaped with a wound in his
+breast; but after a while his enemy's soldiers came over to him in
+detachments, and eventually Lepidus was compelled to surrender to his
+rival. But the deserters were not altogether influenced by pure
+patriotism. Octavian had carefully prepared the way for his dramatic
+appearance in the camp of Lepidus, and had used grosser means of
+persuasion than arguments addressed to patriotic feeling.
+
+Another instance of a successful appeal to a hostile force is found in the
+history of the first Napoleon, when he was marching on Paris after his
+return from Elba. Near Grenoble he was met by a body of royal troops. He
+at once advanced to the front, and exposing his breast, exclaimed to the
+opposing ranks, "Here is your emperor; if any one would kill me, let him
+fire." The detachment, which had been sent to arrest his progress, at once
+deserted to their old commander. Abijah's task was less hopeful: the
+soldiers whom Octavian and Napoleon won over had known these generals as
+lawful commanders of Roman and French armies respectively, but Abijah
+could not appeal to any old associations in the minds of Jeroboam's army;
+the Israelites were animated by ancient tribal jealousies, and Jeroboam
+was made of sterner stuff than Lepidus or Louis XVIII. Abijah's appeal is
+a monument of his humanity, faith, and devotion; and if it failed to
+influence the enemy, doubtless served to inspirit his own army.
+
+At first, however, things went hardly with Judah. They were outgeneralled
+as well as outnumbered; Jeroboam's main body attacked them in front, and
+the ambush assailed their rear. Like the men of Ai, "when Judah looked
+back, behold, the battle was before and behind them." But Jehovah, who
+fought against Ai, was fighting for Judah, and they cried unto Jehovah;
+and then, as at Jericho, "the men of Judah gave a shout, and when they
+shouted, God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah." The
+rout was complete, and was accompanied by terrible slaughter. No fewer
+than five hundred thousand Israelites were slain by the men of Judah. The
+latter pressed their advantage, and took the neighbouring city of Bethel
+and other Israelite towns. For the time Israel was "brought under," and
+did not recover from its tremendous losses during the three years of
+Abijah's reign. As for Jeroboam, Jehovah smote him, and he died; but
+"Abijah waxed mighty, and took unto himself fourteen wives, and begat
+twenty-and-two sons and sixteen daughters."(343) His history closes with
+the record of these proofs of Divine favour, and he "slept with his
+fathers, and they buried him in the city of David, and Asa his son reigned
+in his stead."
+
+The lesson which the chronicler intends to teach by his narrative is
+obviously the importance of ritual, not the importance of ritual apart
+from the worship of the true God; he emphasises the presence of Jehovah
+with Judah, in contrast to the Israelite worship of calves and those that
+are no gods. The chronicler dwells upon the maintenance of the legitimate
+priesthood and the prescribed ritual as the natural expression and clear
+proof of the devotion of the men of Judah to their God.
+
+It may help us to realise the significance of Abijah's speech, if we try
+to construct an appeal in the same spirit for a Catholic general in the
+Thirty Years' War addressing a hostile Protestant army. Imagine
+Wallenstein or Tilly, moved by some unwonted spirit of pious oratory,
+addressing the soldiers of Gustavus Adolphus:--
+
+"We have a pope who sits in Peter's chair, bishops and priests ministering
+unto the Lord, in the true apostolical succession. The sacrifice of the
+Mass is daily offered; matins, laud, vespers, and compline are all duly
+celebrated; our churches are fragrant with incense and glorious with
+stained glass and images; we have crucifixes, and lamps, and candles; and
+our priests are fitly clothed in ecclesiastical vestments; for we observe
+the traditions of the Church, but ye have forsaken the Divine order.
+Behold, God is with us at our head; and we have banners blessed by the
+Pope. O ye Swedes, ye fight against God; ye shall not prosper."
+
+As Protestants we may find it difficult to sympathise with the feelings of
+a devout Romanist or even with those of a faithful observer of the
+complicated Mosaic ritual. We could not construct so close a parallel to
+Abijah's speech in terms of any Protestant order of service, and yet the
+objections which any modern denomination feels to departures from its own
+forms of worship rest on the same principles as those of Abijah. In the
+abstract the speech teaches two main lessons: the importance of an
+official and duly accredited ministry and of a suitable and authoritative
+ritual. These principles are perfectly general, and are not confined to
+what is usually known as sacerdotalism and ritualism. Every Church has in
+practice some official ministry, even those Churches that profess to owe
+their separate existence to the necessity for protesting against an
+official ministry. Men whose chief occupation is to denounce priestcraft
+may themselves be saturated with the sacerdotal spirit. Every Church, too,
+has its ritual. The silence of a Friends' meeting is as much a rite as the
+most elaborate genuflexion before a highly ornamented altar. To regard
+either the absence or presence of rites as essential is equally
+ritualistic. The man who leaves his wonted place of worship because "Amen"
+is sung at the end of a hymn is as bigoted a ritualist as his brother who
+dare not pass an altar without crossing himself. Let us then consider the
+chronicler's two principles in this broad sense. The official ministry of
+Israel consisted of the priests and Levites, and the chronicler counted it
+a proof of the piety of the Jews that they adhered to this ministry and
+did not admit to the priesthood any one who could bring a young bullock
+and seven rams. The alternative was not between a hereditary priesthood
+and one open to any aspirant with special spiritual qualifications, but
+between a duly trained and qualified ministry on the one hand and a motley
+crew of the forerunners of Simon Magus on the other. It is impossible not
+to sympathise with the chronicler. To begin with, the property
+qualification was too low. If livings are to be purchased at all, they
+should bear a price commensurate with the dignity and responsibility of
+the sacred office. A mere entrance fee, so to speak, of a young bullock
+and seven rams must have flooded Jeroboam's priesthood with a host of
+adventurers, to whom the assumption of the office was a matter of social
+or commercial speculation. The private adventure system of providing for
+the ministry of the word scarcely tends to either the dignity or the
+efficiency of the Church. But, in any case, it is not desirable that mere
+worldly gifts, money, social position, or even intellect should be made
+the sole passports to Christian service; even the traditions and education
+of a hereditary priesthood would be more probable channels of spiritual
+qualifications.
+
+Another point that the chronicler objects to in Jeroboam's priests is the
+want of any other than a property qualification. Any one who chose could
+be a priest. Such a system combined what might seem opposite vices. It
+preserved an official ministry; these self-appointed priests formed a
+clerical order; and yet it gave no guarantee whatever of either fitness or
+devotion. The chronicler, on the other hand, by the importance he attaches
+to the Levitical priesthood, recognises the necessity of an official
+ministry, but is anxious that it should be guarded with jealous care
+against the intrusion of unsuitable persons. A conclusive argument for an
+official ministry is to be found in its formal adoption by most Churches
+and its uninvited appearance in the rest. We should not now be contented
+with the safeguards against unsuitable ministers to be found in hereditary
+succession; the system of the Pentateuch would be neither acceptable nor
+possible in the nineteenth century: and yet, if it had been perfectly
+administered, the Jewish priesthood would have been worthy of its high
+office, nor were the times ripe for the substitution of any better system.
+Many of the considerations which justify hereditary succession in a
+constitutional monarchy might be adduced in defence of a hereditary
+priesthood. Even now, without any pressure of law or custom, there is a
+certain tendency towards hereditary succession in the ministerial office.
+It would be easy to name distinguished ministers who were inspired for the
+high calling by their fathers' devoted service, and who received an
+invaluable preparation for their life-work from the Christian enthusiasm
+of a clerical household. The clerical ancestry of the Wesleys is only one
+among many illustrations of an inherited genius for the ministry.
+
+But though the best method of obtaining a suitable ministry varies with
+changing circumstances, the chronicler's main principle is of permanent
+and universal application. The Church has always felt a just concern that
+the official representatives of its faith and order should commend
+themselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. The prophet
+needs neither testimonials nor official status: the word of the Lord can
+have free course without either; but the appointment or election to
+ecclesiastical office entrusts the official with the honour of the Church
+and in a measure of its Master.
+
+The chronicler's other principle is the importance of a suitable and
+authoritative ritual. We have already noticed that any order of service
+that is fixed by the constitution or custom of a Church involves the
+principle of ritual. Abijah's speech does not insist that only the
+established ritual should be tolerated; such questions had not come within
+the chronicler's horizon. The merit of Judah lay in possessing and
+practising a legitimate ritual, that is to say in observing the Pauline
+injunction to do all things decently and in order. The present generation
+is not inclined to enforce any very stringent obedience to Paul's
+teaching, and finds it difficult to sympathise with Abijah's enthusiasm
+for the symbolism of worship. But men to-day are not radically different
+from the chronicler's contemporaries, and it is as legitimate to appeal to
+spiritual sensibility through the eye as through the ear; architecture and
+decoration are neither more nor less spiritual than an attractive voice
+and impressive elocution. Novelty and variety have, or should have, their
+legitimate place in public worship; but the Church has its obligations to
+those who have more regular spiritual wants. Most of us find much of the
+helpfulness of public worship in the influence of old and familiar
+spiritual associations, which can only be maintained by a measure of
+permanence and fixity in Divine service. The symbolism of the Lord's
+Supper never loses its freshness, and yet it is restful because familiar
+and impressive because ancient. On the other hand, the maintenance of this
+ritual is a constant testimony to the continuity of Christian life and
+faith. Moreover, in this rite the great bulk of Christendom finds the
+outward and visible sign of its unity.
+
+Ritual, too, has its negative value. By observing the Levitical ordinances
+the Jews were protected from the vagaries of any ambitious owner of a
+young bullock and seven rams. While we grant liberty to all to use the
+form of worship in which they find most spiritual profit, we need to have
+Churches whose ritual will be comparatively fixed. Christians who find
+themselves most helped by the more quiet and regular methods of devotion
+naturally look to a settled order of service to protect them from undue
+and distracting excitement.
+
+In spite of the wide interval that separates the modern Church from
+Judaism, we can still discern a unity of principle, and are glad to
+confirm the judgment of Christian experience from the lessons of an older
+and different dispensation. But we should do injustice to the chronicler's
+teaching if we forgot that for his own times his teaching was capable of
+much more definite and forcible application. Christianity and Islam have
+purified religious worship throughout Europe, America, and a large portion
+of Asia. We are no longer tempted by the cruel and loathsome rites of
+heathenism. The Jews knew the wild extravagance, gross immorality, and
+ruthless cruelty of Phoenician and Syrian worship. If we had lived in the
+chronicler's age and had shared his experience of idolatrous rites, we
+should have also shared his enthusiasm for the pure and lofty ritual of
+the Pentateuch. We should have regarded it as a Divine barrier between
+Israel and the abominations of heathenism, and should have been jealous
+for its strict observance.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III. Asa: Divine Retribution. 2 Chron. xiv.-xvi.
+
+
+Abijah, dying, as far as we can gather from Chronicles, in the odour of
+sanctity, was succeeded by his son Asa. The chronicler's history of Asa is
+much fuller than that which is given in the book of Kings. The older
+narrative is used as a framework into which material from later sources is
+freely inserted. The beginning of the new reign was singularly promising.
+Abijah had been a very David, he had fought the battles of Jehovah, and
+had assured the security and independence of Judah. Asa, like Solomon,
+entered into the peaceful enjoyment of his predecessor's exertions in the
+field. "In his days the land was quiet ten years," as in the days when the
+judges had delivered Israel, and he was able to exhort his people to
+prudent effort by reminding them that Jehovah had given them rest on every
+side.(344) This interval of quiet was used for both religious reform and
+military precautions.(345) The high places and heathen idols and symbols
+which had somehow survived Abijah's zeal for the Mosaic ritual were swept
+away, and Judah was commanded to seek Jehovah and observe the Law; and he
+built fortresses with towers, and gates, and bars, and raised a great army
+"that bare bucklers and spears,"--no mere hasty levy of half-armed peasants
+with scythes and axes. The mighty array surpassed even Abijah's great
+muster of four hundred thousand from Judah and Benjamin: there were five
+hundred and eighty thousand men, three hundred thousand out of Judah that
+bare bucklers and spears and two hundred and eighty thousand out of
+Benjamin that bare shields and drew bows. The great muster of Benjamites
+under Asa is in striking contrast to the meagre tale of six hundred
+warriors that formed the whole strength of Benjamin after its disastrous
+defeat in the days of the judges; and the splendid equipment of this
+mighty host shows the rapid progress of the nation from the desperate days
+of Shamgar and Jael or even of Saul's early reign, when "there was neither
+shield nor spear seen among forty thousand in Israel."
+
+These references to buildings, especially fortresses, to military stores
+and the vast numbers of Jewish and Israelite armies, form a distinct class
+amongst the additions made by the chronicler to the material taken from
+the book of Kings. They are found in the narratives of the reigns of
+David, Rehoboam, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Jotham, Manasseh, in fact in the
+reigns of nearly all the good kings; Manasseh's building was done after he
+had turned from his evil ways.(346) Hezekiah and Josiah were too much
+occupied with sacred festivals on the one hand and hostile invaders on the
+other to have much leisure for building, and it would not have been in
+keeping with Solomon's character as the prince of peace to have laid
+stress on his arsenals and armies. Otherwise the chronicler, living at a
+time when the warlike resources of Judah were of the slightest, was
+naturally interested in these reminiscences of departed glory; and the
+Jewish provincials would take a pride in relating these pieces of
+antiquarian information about their native towns, much as the servants of
+old manor-houses delight to point out the wing which was added by some
+famous Cavalier or by some Jacobite squire.
+
+Asa's warlike preparations were possibly intended, like those of the
+Triple Alliance, to enable him to maintain peace; but if so, their sequel
+did not illustrate the maxim, "Si vis pacem, para bellum." The rumour of
+his vast armaments reached a powerful monarch: "Zerah the Ethiopian."(347)
+The vagueness of this description is doubtless due to the remoteness of
+the chronicler from the times he is describing. Zerah has sometimes been
+identified with Shishak's successor, Osorkon I., the second king of the
+twenty-second Egyptian dynasty. Zerah felt that Asa's great army was a
+standing menace to the surrounding princes, and undertook the task of
+destroying this new military power: "He came out against them." Numerous
+as Asa's forces were, they still left him dependent upon Jehovah, for the
+enemy were even more numerous and better equipped. Zerah led to a battle
+an army of a million men, supported by three hundred war chariots. With
+this enormous host he came to Mareshah, at the foot of the Judaean
+highlands, in a direction south-west of Jerusalem. In spite of the
+inferiority of his army, Asa came out to meet him; "and they set the
+battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah." Like Abijah, Asa
+felt that, with his Divine Ally, he need not be afraid of the odds against
+him even when they could be counted by hundreds of thousands. Trusting in
+Jehovah, he had taken the field against the enemy; and now at the decisive
+moment he made a confident appeal for help: "Jehovah, there is none beside
+Thee to help between the mighty and him that hath no strength." Five
+hundred and eighty thousand men seemed nothing compared to the host
+arrayed against them, and outnumbering them in the proportion of nearly
+two to one. "Help us, Jehovah our God; for we rely on Thee, and in Thy
+name are we come against this multitude. Jehovah, Thou art our God; let
+not man prevail against Thee."
+
+Jehovah justified the trust reposed in Him. He smote the Ethiopians, and
+they fled towards the south-west in the direction of Egypt; and Asa and
+his army pursued them as far as Gerar, with fearful slaughter, so that of
+Zerah's million followers not one remained alive.(348) Of course this
+statement is hyperbolical. The carnage was enormous, and no living enemies
+remained in sight. Apparently Gerar and the neighbouring cities had aided
+Zerah in his advance and attempted to shelter the fugitives from Mareshah.
+Paralysed with fear of Jehovah, whose avenging wrath had been so terribly
+manifested, these cities fell an easy prey to the victorious Jews. They
+smote and spoiled all the cities about Gerar, and reaped a rich harvest,
+"for there was much spoil in them." It seems that the nomad tribes of the
+southern wilderness had also in some way identified themselves with the
+invaders; Asa attacked them in their turn. "They smote also the tents of
+cattle"; and as the wealth of these tribes lay in their flocks and herds;
+"they carried away sheep in abundance and camels, and returned to
+Jerusalem."
+
+This victory is closely parallel to that of Abijah over Jeroboam. In both
+the numbers of the armies are reckoned by hundreds of thousands; and the
+hostile host outnumbers the army of Judah in the one case by exactly two
+to one, in the other by nearly that proportion: in both the king of Judah
+trusts with calm assurance to the assistance of Jehovah, and Jehovah
+smites the enemy; the Jews then massacre the defeated army and spoil or
+capture the neighbouring cities.
+
+These victories over superior numbers may easily be paralleled or
+surpassed by numerous striking examples from secular history. The odds
+were greater at Agincourt, where at least sixty thousand French were
+defeated by not more than twenty thousand Englishmen; at Marathon the
+Greeks routed a Persian army ten times as numerous as their own; in India
+English generals have defeated innumerable hordes of native warriors, as
+when Wellesley--
+
+
+    "Against the myriads of Assaye
+    Clashed with his fiery few and won."
+
+
+For the most part victorious generals have been ready to acknowledge the
+succouring arm of the God of battles. Shakespeare's Henry V. after
+Agincourt speaks altogether in the spirit of Asa's prayer:--
+
+
+        "... O God, Thy arm was here;
+    And not to us, but to Thy arm alone,
+    Ascribe we all....
+                        ... Take it, God,
+    For it is only Thine."
+
+
+When the small craft that made up Elizabeth's fleet defeated the huge
+Spanish galleons and galleasses, and the storms of the northern seas
+finished the work of destruction, the grateful piety of Protestant England
+felt that its foes had been destroyed by the breath of the Lord; "Afflavit
+Deus et dissipantur."
+
+The principle that underlies such feelings is quite independent of the
+exact proportions of opposing armies. The victories of inferior numbers in
+a righteous cause are the most striking, but not the most significant,
+illustrations of the superiority of moral to material force. In the wider
+movements of international politics we may find even more characteristic
+instances. It is true of nations as well as of individuals that--
+
+
+    "The Lord killeth and maketh alive;
+    He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up:
+    The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich;
+    He bringeth low, He also lifteth up:
+    He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
+    He lifteth up the needy from the dunghill,
+    To make them sit with princes
+    And inherit the throne of glory."
+
+
+Italy in the eighteenth century seemed as hopelessly divided as Israel
+under the judges, and Greece as completely enslaved to the "unspeakable
+Turk" as the Jews to Nebuchadnezzar; and yet, destitute as they were of
+any material resources, these nations had at their disposal great moral
+forces: the memory of ancient greatness and the sentiment of nationality;
+and to-day Italy can count hundreds of thousands like the chronicler's
+Jewish kings, and Greece builds her fortresses by land and her ironclads
+to command the sea. The Lord has fought for Israel.
+
+But the principle has a wider application. A little examination of the
+more obscure and complicated movements of social life will show moral
+forces everywhere overcoming and controlling the apparently irresistible
+material forces opposed to them. The English and American pioneers of the
+movements for the abolition of slavery had to face what seemed an
+impenetrable phalanx of powerful interests and influences; but probably
+any impartial student of history would have foreseen the ultimate triumph
+of a handful of earnest men over all the wealth and political power of the
+slave-owners. The moral forces at the disposal of the abolitionists were
+obviously irresistible. But the soldier in the midst of smoke and tumult
+may still be anxious and despondent at the very moment when the spectator
+sees clearly that the battle is won; and the most earnest Christian
+workers sometimes falter when they realise the vast and terrible forces
+that fight against them. At such times we are both rebuked and encouraged
+by the simple faith of the chronicler in the overruling power of God.
+
+It may be objected that if victory were to be secured by Divine
+intervention, there was no need to muster five hundred and eighty thousand
+men or indeed any army at all. If in any and every case God disposes, what
+need is there for the devotion to His service of our best strength, and
+energy, and culture, or of any human effort at all? A wholesome spiritual
+instinct leads the chronicler to emphasise the great preparations of
+Abijah and Asa. We have no right to look for Divine co-operation till we
+have done our best; we are not to sit with folded hands and expect a
+complete salvation to be wrought for us, and then to continue as idle
+spectators of God's redemption of mankind: we are to tax our resources to
+the utmost to gather our hundreds of thousands of soldiers; we are to work
+out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh
+in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
+
+This principle may be put in another way. Even to the hundreds of
+thousands the Divine help is still necessary. The leaders of great hosts
+are as dependent upon Divine help as Jonathan and his armour-bearer
+fighting single-handed against a Philistine garrison, or David arming
+himself with a sling and stone against Goliath of Gath. The most competent
+Christian worker in the prime of his spiritual strength needs grace as
+much as the untried youth making his first venture in the Lord's service.
+
+At this point we meet with another of the chronicler's obvious
+self-contradictions. At the beginning of the narrative of Asa's reign we
+are told that the king did away with the high places and the symbols of
+idolatrous worship, and that, because Judah had thus sought Jehovah, He
+gave them rest. The deliverance from Zerah is another mark of Divine
+favour. And yet in the fifteenth chapter Asa, in obedience to prophetic
+admonition, takes away the abominations from his dominions, as if there
+had been no previous reformation, but we are told that the high places
+were not taken out of Israel. The context would naturally suggest that
+Israel here means Asa's kingdom, as the true Israel of God; but as the
+verse is borrowed from the book of Kings, and "out of Israel" is an
+editorial addition made by the chronicler, it is probably intended to
+harmonise the borrowed verse with the chronicler's previous statement that
+Asa did away with the high places. If so, we must understand that Israel
+means the northern kingdom, from which the high places had not been
+removed, though Judah had been purged from these abominations. But here,
+as often elsewhere, Chronicles taken alone affords no explanation of its
+inconsistencies.
+
+Again, in Asa's first reformation he commanded Judah to seek Jehovah and
+to do the Law and the commandments; and accordingly Judah sought the Lord.
+Moreover, Abijah, about seventeen years(349) before Asa's second
+reformation, made it his special boast that Judah had not forsaken
+Jehovah, but had priests ministering unto Jehovah, "the sons of Aaron and
+the Levites in their work." During Rehoboam's reign of seventeen years
+Jehovah was duly honoured for the first three years, and again after
+Shishak's invasion in the fifth year of Rehoboam. So that for the previous
+thirty or forty years the due worship of Jehovah had only been interrupted
+by occasional lapses into disobedience. But now the prophet Oded holds
+before this faithful people the warning example of the "long seasons" when
+Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and
+without law. And yet previously Chronicles supplies an unbroken list of
+high-priests from Aaron downwards. In response to Oded's appeal, the king
+and people set about the work of reformation as if they had tolerated some
+such neglect of God, the priests, and the Law as the prophet had
+described.
+
+Another minor discrepancy is found in the statement that "the heart of Asa
+was perfect all his days"; this is reproduced verbatim from the book of
+Kings. Immediately afterwards the chronicler relates the evil doings of
+Asa in the closing years of his reign.
+
+Such contradictions render it impossible to give a complete and continuous
+exposition of Chronicles that shall be at the same time consistent.
+Nevertheless they are not without their value for the Christian student.
+They afford evidence of the good faith of the chronicler. His
+contradictions are clearly due to his use of independent and discrepant
+sources, and not to any tampering with the statements of his authorities.
+They are also an indication that the chronicler attaches much more
+importance to spiritual edification than to historical accuracy. When he
+seeks to set before his contemporaries the higher nature and better life
+of the great national heroes, and thus to provide them with an ideal of
+kingship, he is scrupulously and painfully careful to remove everything
+that would weaken the force of the lesson which he is trying to teach; but
+he is comparatively indifferent to accuracy of historical detail. When his
+authorities contradict each other as to the number or the date of Asa's
+reformations, or even the character of his later years, he does not
+hesitate to place the two narratives side by side and practically to draw
+lessons from both. The work of the chronicler and its presence with the
+Pentateuch and the Synoptic Gospels in the sacred canon imply an emphatic
+declaration of the judgment of the Spirit and the Church that detailed
+historical accuracy is not a necessary consequence of inspiration. In
+expounding this second narrative of a reformation by Asa, we shall make no
+attempt at complete harmony with the rest of Chronicles; any inconsistency
+between the exposition here and elsewhere will simply arise from a
+faithful adherence to our text.
+
+The occasion then of Asa's second reformation(350) was as follows: Asa was
+returning in triumph from his great defeat of Zerah, bringing with him
+substantial fruits of victory in the shape of abundant spoil. Wealth and
+power had proved a snare to David and Rehoboam, and had involved them in
+grievous sin. Asa might also have succumbed to the temptations of
+prosperity; but, by a special Divine grace not vouchsafed to his
+predecessors, he was guarded against danger by a prophetic warning. At the
+very moment when Asa might have expected to be greeted by the acclamations
+of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, when the king would be elate with the
+sense of Divine favour, military success, and popular applause, the
+prophet's admonition checked the undue exaltation which might have hurried
+Asa into presumptuous sin. Asa and his people were not to presume upon
+their privilege; its continuance was altogether dependent upon their
+continued obedience: if they fell into sin, the rewards of their former
+loyalty would vanish like fairy gold. "Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and
+Benjamin: Jehovah is with you while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him, He
+will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you." This
+lesson was enforced from the earlier history of Israel. The following
+verses are virtually a summary of the history of the judges:--
+
+"Now for long seasons Israel was without the true God, and without
+teaching priest, and without law."
+
+Judges tells how again and again Israel fell away from Jehovah. "But when
+in their distress they turned unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, and sought
+Him, He was found of them."
+
+Oded's address is very similar to another and somewhat fuller summary of
+the history of the judges, contained in Samuel's farewell to the people,
+in which he reminded them how when they forgot Jehovah, their God, He sold
+them into the hand of their enemies, and when they cried unto Jehovah, He
+sent Zerubbabel, and Barak, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered them
+out of the hand of their enemies on every side, and they dwelt in
+safety.(351) Oded proceeds to other characteristics of the period of the
+judges: "There was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in;
+but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the lands. And they
+were broken in pieces, nation against nation and city against city, for
+God did vex them with all adversity."
+
+Deborah's song records great vexations: the highways were unoccupied, and
+the travellers walked through by-ways; the rulers ceased in Israel; Gideon
+"threshed wheat by the winepress to hide it from the Midianites." The
+breaking of nation against nation and city against city will refer to the
+destruction of Succoth and Penuel by Gideon, the sieges of Shechem and
+Thebez by Abimelech, the massacre of the Ephraimites by Jephthah, and the
+civil war between Benjamin and the rest of Israel and the consequent
+destruction of Jabesh-gilead.(352)
+
+"But," said Oded, "be ye strong, and let not your hands be slack, for your
+work shall be rewarded." Oded implies that abuses were prevalent in Judah
+which might spread and corrupt the whole people, so as to draw down upon
+them the wrath of God and plunge them into all the miseries of the times
+of the judges. These abuses were wide-spread, supported by powerful
+interests and numerous adherents. The queen-mother, one of the most
+important personages in an Eastern state, was herself devoted to heathen
+observances. Their suppression needed courage, energy, and pertinacity;
+but if they were resolutely grappled with, Jehovah would reward the
+efforts of His servants with success, and Judah would enjoy prosperity.
+Accordingly Asa took courage and put away the abominations out of Judah
+and Benjamin and the cities he held in Ephraim. The abominations were the
+idols and all the cruel and obscene accompaniments of heathen
+worship.(353) In the prophet's exhortation to be strong, and not be slack,
+and in the corresponding statement that Asa took courage, we have a hint
+for all reformers. Neither Oded nor Asa underrated the serious nature of
+the task before them. They counted the cost, and with open eyes and full
+knowledge confronted the evil they meant to eradicate. The full
+significance of the chronicler's language is only seen when we remember
+what preceded the prophet's appeal to Asa. The captain of half a million
+soldiers, the conqueror of a million Ethiopians with three hundred
+chariots, has to take courage before he can bring himself to put away the
+abominations out of his own dominions. Military machinery is more readily
+created than national righteousness; it is easier to slaughter one's
+neighbours than to let light into the dark places that are full of the
+habitations of cruelty; and vigorous foreign policy is a poor substitute
+for good administration. The principle has its application to the
+individual. The beam in our own eye seems more difficult to extract than
+the mote in our brother's, and a man often needs more moral courage to
+reform himself than to denounce other people's sins or urge them to accept
+salvation. Most ministers could confirm from their own experience Portia's
+saying, "I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done than be one
+of the twenty to follow mine own teaching."
+
+Asa's reformation was constructive as well as destructive; the toleration
+of "abominations" had diminished the zeal of the people for Jehovah, and
+even the altar of Jehovah before the porch of the Temple had suffered from
+neglect: it was now renewed, and Asa assembled the people for a great
+festival. Under Rehoboam many pious Israelites had left the northern
+kingdom to dwell where they could freely worship at the Temple; under Asa
+there was a new migration, "for they fell to him out of Israel in
+abundance when they saw that Jehovah his God was with him." And so it came
+about that in the great assembly which Asa gathered together at Jerusalem
+not only Judah and Benjamin, but also Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, were
+represented. The chronicler has already told us that after the return from
+the Captivity some of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh dwelt at
+Jerusalem with the children of Judah and Benjamin,(354) and he is always
+careful to note any settlement of members of the ten tribes in Judah or
+any acquisition of northern territory by the kings of Judah. Such facts
+illustrated his doctrine that Judah was the true spiritual Israel, the
+real {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, or twelve-tribed whole, of the chosen people.
+
+Asa's festival was held in the third month of his fifteenth year, the
+month Sivan, corresponding roughly to our June. The Feast of Weeks, at
+which first-fruits were offered, fell in this month; and his festival was
+probably a special celebration of this feast. The sacrifice of seven
+hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep out of the spoil taken from the
+Ethiopians and their allies might be considered a kind of first-fruits.
+The people pledged themselves most solemnly to permanent obedience to
+Jehovah; this festival and its offerings were to be first-fruits or
+earnest of future loyalty. "They entered into a covenant to seek Jehovah,
+the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul;
+... they sware unto Jehovah with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with
+trumpets, and with cornets." The observance of this covenant was not to be
+left to the uncertainties of individual loyalty; the community were to be
+on their guard against offenders, Achans who might trouble Israel.
+According to the stern law of the Pentateuch,(355) "whosoever would not
+seek Jehovah, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or
+great, whether man or woman." The seeking of Jehovah, so far as it could
+be enforced by penalties, must have consisted in external observances; and
+the usual proof that a man did not seek Jehovah would be found in his
+seeking other gods and taking part in heathen rites. Such apostacy was not
+merely an ecclesiastical offence: it involved immorality and a falling
+away from patriotism. The pious Jew could no more tolerate heathenism than
+we could tolerate in England religions that sanctioned polygamy or suttee.
+
+Having thus entered into covenant with Jehovah, "all Judah rejoiced at
+their oath because they had sworn with all their heart, and sought Him
+with their whole desire." At the beginning, no doubt, they, like their
+king, "took courage"; they addressed themselves with reluctance and
+apprehension to an unwelcome and hazardous enterprise. They now rejoiced
+over the Divine grace that had inspired their efforts and been manifested
+in their courage and devotion, over the happy issue of their enterprise,
+and over the universal enthusiasm for Jehovah; and He set the seal of His
+approval upon their gladness, He was found of them, and Jehovah gave them
+rest round about, so that there was no more war for twenty years: unto the
+thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign. It is an unsavoury task to put away
+abominations: many foul nests of unclean birds are disturbed in the
+process; men would not choose to have this particular cross laid upon
+them, but only those who take up their cross and follow Christ can hope to
+enter into the joy of the Lord.
+
+The narrative of this second reformation is completed by the addition of
+details borrowed from the book of Kings. The chronicler next recounts how
+in the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign Baasha began to fortify Ramah as
+an outpost against Judah, but was forced to abandon his undertaking by the
+intervention of the Syrian king, Benhadad, whom Asa hired with his own
+treasures and those of the Temple; whereupon Asa carried off Baasha's
+stones and timber and built Geba and Mizpah as Jewish outposts against
+Israel. With the exception of the date and a few minor changes, the
+narrative so far is taken verbatim from the book of Kings. The chronicler,
+like the author of the priestly document of the Pentateuch, was anxious to
+provide his readers with an exact and complete system of chronology; he
+was the Ussher or Clinton of his generation. His date of the war against
+Baasha is probably based upon an interpretation of the source used for
+chap. xv.; the first reformation secured a rest of ten years, the second
+and more thorough reformation a rest exactly twice as long as the first.
+In the interest of these chronological references, the chronicler has
+sacrificed a statement twice repeated in the book of Kings: that there was
+war between Asa and Baasha all their days. As Baasha came to the throne in
+Asa's third year, the statement of the book of Kings would have seemed to
+contradict the chronicler's assertion that there was no war from the
+fifteenth to the thirty-fifth year of Asa's reign.(356)
+
+After his victory over Zerah, Asa received a Divine message(357) which
+somewhat checked the exuberance of his triumph; a similar message awaited
+him after his successful expedition to Ramah. By Oded Jehovah had warned
+Asa, but now He commissioned Hanani the seer to pronounce a sentence of
+condemnation. The ground of the sentence was that Asa had not relied on
+Jehovah, but on the king of Syria.
+
+Here the chronicler echoes one of the key-notes of the great prophets.
+Isaiah had protested against the alliance which Ahaz concluded with
+Assyria in order to obtain assistance against the united onset of Rezin,
+king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, and had predicted that Jehovah
+would bring upon Ahaz, his people, and his dynasty days that had not come
+since the disruption, even the king of Assyria.(358) When this prediction
+was fulfilled, and the thundercloud of Assyrian invasion darkened all the
+land of Judah, the Jews, in their lack of faith, looked to Egypt for
+deliverance; and again Isaiah denounced the foreign alliance: "Woe to them
+that go down to Egypt for help, ... but they look not unto the Holy One of
+Israel, neither seek Jehovah; ... the strength of Pharaoh shall be your
+shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion."(359) So
+Jeremiah in his turn protested against a revival of the Egyptian alliance:
+"Thou shall be ashamed of Egypt also, as thou wast ashamed of
+Assyria."(360)
+
+In their successive calamities the Jews could derive no comfort from a
+study of previous history; the pretext upon which each of their oppressors
+had intervened in the affairs of Palestine had been an invitation from
+Judah. In their trouble they had sought a remedy worse than the disease;
+the consequences of this political quackery had always demanded still more
+desperate and fatal medicines. Freedom from the border raids of the
+Ephraimites was secured at the price of the ruthless devastations of
+Hazael; deliverance from Rezin only led to the wholesale massacres and
+spoliation of Sennacherib. Foreign alliance was an opiate that had to be
+taken in continually increasing doses, till at last it caused the death of
+the patient.
+
+Nevertheless these are not the lessons which the seer seeks to impress
+upon Asa. Hanani takes a loftier tone. He does not tell him that his
+unholy alliance with Benhadad was the first of a chain of circumstances
+that would end in the ruin of Judah. Few generations are greatly disturbed
+by the prospect of the ruin of their country in the distant future: "After
+us the Deluge." Even the pious king Hezekiah, when told of the coming
+captivity of Judah, found much comfort in the thought that there should be
+peace and truth in his days. After the manner of the prophets, Hanani's
+message is concerned with his own times. To his large faith the alliance
+with Syria presented itself chiefly as the loss of a great opportunity.
+Asa had deprived himself of the privilege of fighting with Syria, whereby
+Jehovah would have found fresh occasion to manifest His infinite power and
+His gracious favour towards Judah. Had there been no alliance with Judah,
+the restless and warlike king of Syria might have joined Baasha to attack
+Asa; another million of the heathen and other hundreds of their chariots
+would have been destroyed by the resistless might of the Lord of Hosts.
+And yet, in spite of the great object-lesson he had received in the defeat
+of Zerah, Asa had not thought of Jehovah as his Ally. He had forgotten the
+all-observing, all-controlling providence of Jehovah, and had thought it
+necessary to supplement the Divine protection by hiring a heathen king
+with the treasures of the Temple; and yet "the eyes of Jehovah run to and
+fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in behalf of them
+whose heart is perfect toward Him." With this thought, that the eyes of
+Jehovah run to and fro throughout the earth, Zechariah(361) comforted the
+Jews in the dark days between the Return and the rebuilding of the Temple.
+Possibly during Asa's twenty years of tranquillity his faith had become
+enfeebled for want of any severe discipline. It is only with a certain
+reserve that we can venture to pray that the Lord will "take from our
+lives the strain and stress." The discipline of helplessness and
+dependence preserves the consciousness of God's loving providence. The
+resources of Divine grace are not altogether intended for our personal
+comfort; we are to tax them to the utmost, in the assurance that God will
+honour all our drafts upon His treasury. The great opportunities of twenty
+years of peace and prosperity were not given to Asa to lay up funds with
+which to bribe a heathen king, and then, with this reinforcement of his
+accumulated resources to accomplish the mighty enterprise of stealing
+Baasha's stones and timber and building the walls of a couple of frontier
+fortresses. With such a history and such opportunities behind him, Asa
+should have felt himself competent, with Jehovah's help, to deal with both
+Baasha and Benhadad, and should have had courage to confront them both.
+
+Sin like Asa's has been the supreme apostacy of the Church in all her
+branches and through all her generations: Christ has been denied, not by
+lack of devotion, but by want of faith. Champions of the truth, reformers
+and guardians of the Temple, like Asa, have been eager to attach to their
+holy cause the cruel prejudices of ignorance and folly, the greed and
+vindictiveness of selfish men. They have feared lest these potent forces
+should be arrayed amongst the enemies of the Church and her Master. Sects
+and parties have eagerly contested the privilege of counselling a
+profligate prince how he should satisfy his thirst for blood and exercise
+his wanton and brutal insolence; the Church has countenanced almost every
+iniquity and striven to quench by persecution every new revelation of the
+Spirit, in order to conciliate vested interests and established
+authorities. It has even been suggested that national Churches and great
+national vices were so intimately allied that their supporters were
+content that they should stand or fall together. On the other hand, the
+advocates of reform have not been slow to appeal to popular jealousy and
+to aggravate the bitterness of social feuds. To Hanani the seer had come
+the vision of a larger and purer faith, that would rejoice to see the
+cause of Satan supported by all the evil passions and selfish interests
+that are his natural allies. He was assured that the greater the host of
+Satan, the more signal and complete would be Jehovah's triumph. If we had
+his faith, we should not be anxious to bribe Satan to cast out Satan, but
+should come to understand that the full muster of hell assailing us in
+front is less dangerous than a few companies of diabolic mercenaries in
+our own array. In the former case the overthrow of the powers of darkness
+is more certain and more complete.
+
+The evil consequences of Asa's policy were not confined to the loss of a
+great opportunity, nor were his treasures the only price he was to pay for
+fortifying Geba and Mizpah with Baasha's building materials. Hanani
+declared to him that from henceforth he should have wars. This purchased
+alliance was only the beginning, and not the end, of troubles. Instead of
+the complete and decisive victory which had disposed of the Ethiopians
+once for all, Asa and his people were harassed and exhausted by continual
+warfare. The Christian life would have more decisive victories, and would
+be less of a perpetual and wearing struggle, if we had faith to refrain
+from the use of doubtful means for high ends.
+
+Oded's message of warning had been accepted and obeyed, but Asa was now no
+longer docile to Divine discipline. David and Hezekiah submitted
+themselves to the censure of Gad and Isaiah; but Asa was wroth with Hanani
+and put him in prison, because the prophet had ventured to rebuke him. His
+sin against God corrupted even his civil administration; and the ally of a
+heathen king, the persecutor of God's prophet, also oppressed the people.
+Three years(362) after the repulse of Baasha a new punishment fell upon
+Asa: his feet became grievously diseased. Still he did not humble himself,
+but was guilty of further sin(363): he sought not Jehovah, but the
+physicians. It is probable that to seek Jehovah concerning disease was not
+merely a matter of worship. Reuss has suggested that the legitimate
+practice of medicine belonged to the schools of the prophets; but it seems
+quite as likely that in Judah, as in Egypt, any existing knowledge of the
+art of healing was to be found among the priests. Conversely physicians
+who were neither priests nor prophets of Jehovah were almost certain to be
+ministers of idolatrous worship and magicians. They failed apparently to
+relieve their patient: Asa lingered in pain and weakness for two years,
+and then died. Possibly the sufferings of his latter days had protected
+his people from further oppression, and had at once appealed to their
+sympathy and removed any cause for resentment. When he died, they only
+remembered his virtues and achievements; and buried him with royal
+magnificence, with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices; and made a
+very great burning for him, probably of aromatic woods.
+
+In discussing the chronicler's picture of the good kings, we have noticed
+that, while Chronicles and the book of Kings agree in mentioning the
+misfortunes which as a rule darkened their closing years, Chronicles in
+each case records some lapse into sin as preceding these misfortunes. From
+the theological standpoint of the chronicler's school, these invidious
+records of the sins of good kings were necessary in order to account for
+their misfortunes. The devout student of the book of Kings read with
+surprise that of the pious kings who had been devoted to Jehovah and His
+temple, whose acceptance by Him had been shown by the victories vouchsafed
+to them, one had died of a painful disease in his feet, another in a
+lazar-house, two had been assassinated, and one slain in battle. Why had
+faith and devotion been so ill rewarded? Was it not vain to serve God?
+What profit was there in keeping His ordinances? The chronicler felt
+himself fortunate in discovering amongst his later authorities additional
+information which explained these mysteries and justified the ways of God
+to man. Even the good kings had not been without reproach, and their
+misfortunes had been the righteous judgment on their sins.
+
+The principle which guided the chronicler in this selection of material
+was that sin was always punished by complete, immediate, and manifest
+retribution in this life, and that conversely all misfortune was the
+punishment of sin. There is a simplicity and apparent justice about this
+theory that has always made it the leading doctrine of a certain stage of
+moral development. It was probably the popular religious teaching in
+Israel from early days till the time when our Lord found it necessary to
+protest against the idea that the Galilaeans whose blood Pilate had mingled
+with their sacrifices were sinners above all Galilaeans because they had
+suffered these things, or that the eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam
+fell, and killed them, were offenders above all the inhabitants of
+Jerusalem. This doctrine of retribution was current among the Greeks. When
+terrible calamities fell upon men, their neighbours supposed these to be
+the punishment of specially heinous crimes. When the Spartan king
+Cleomenes committed suicide, the public mind in Greece at once inquired of
+what particular sin he had thus paid the penalty. The horrible
+circumstances of his death were attributed to the wrath of some offended
+deity, and the cause of the offence was sought for in one of his many acts
+of sacrilege. Possibly he was thus punished because he had bribed the
+priestess of the Delphic oracle. The Athenians, however, believed that his
+sacrilege had consisted in cutting down trees in their sacred grove at
+Eleusis; but the Argives preferred to hold that he came to an untimely end
+because he had set fire to a grove sacred to their eponymous hero Argos.
+Similarly, when in the course of the Peloponnesian war the AEginetans were
+expelled from their island, this calamity was regarded as a punishment
+inflicted upon them because fifty years before they had dragged away and
+put to death a suppliant who had caught hold of the handle of the door of
+the temple of Demeter Theomophorus. On the other hand, the wonderful way
+in which on four or five occasions the ravages of pestilence delivered
+Dionysius of Syracuse from his Carthaginian enemies was attributed by his
+admiring friends to the favour of the gods.
+
+Like many other simple and logical doctrines, this Jewish theory of
+retribution came into collision with obvious facts, and seemed to set the
+law of God at variance with the enlightened conscience. "Beneath the
+simplest forms of truth the subtlest error lurks." The prosperity of the
+wicked and the sufferings of the righteous were a standing religious
+difficulty to the devout Israelite. The popular doctrine held its ground
+tenaciously, supported not only by ancient prescription, but also by the
+most influential classes in society. All who were young, robust, wealthy,
+powerful, or successful were interested in maintaining a doctrine that
+made health, riches, rank, and success the outward and visible signs of
+righteousness. Accordingly the simplicity of the original doctrine was
+hedged about with an ingenious and elaborate apologetic. The prosperity of
+the wicked was held to be only for a season; before he died the judgment
+of God would overtake him. It was a mistake to speak of the sufferings of
+the righteous: these very sufferings showed that his righteousness was
+only apparent, and that in secret he had been guilty of grievous sin.
+
+Of all the cruelty inflicted in the name of orthodoxy there is little that
+can surpass the refined torture due to this Jewish apologetic. Its cynical
+teaching met the sufferer in the anguish of bereavement, in the pain and
+depression of disease, when he was crushed by sudden and ruinous losses or
+publicly disgraced by the unjust sentence of a venal law-court. Instead of
+receiving sympathy and help, he found himself looked upon as a moral
+outcast and pariah on account of his misfortunes; when he most needed
+Divine grace, he was bidden to regard himself as a special object of the
+wrath of Jehovah. If his orthodoxy survived his calamities, he would
+review his past life with morbid retrospection, and persuade himself that
+he had indeed been guilty above all other sinners.
+
+The book of Job is an inspired protest against the current theory of
+retribution, and the full discussion of the question belongs to the
+exposition of that book. But the narrative of Chronicles, like much Church
+history in all ages, is largely controlled by the controversial interests
+of the school from which it emanated. In the hands of the chronicler the
+story of the kings of Judah is told in such a way that it becomes a
+polemic against the book of Job. The tragic and disgraceful death of good
+kings presented a crucial difficulty to the chronicler's theology. A good
+man's other misfortunes might be compensated for by prosperity in his
+latter days; but in a theory of retribution which required a complete
+satisfaction of justice in this life there could be no compensation for a
+dishonourable death. Hence the chronicler's anxiety to record any lapses
+of good kings in their latter days.
+
+The criticism and correction of this doctrine belongs, as we have said, to
+the exposition of the book of Job. Here we are rather concerned to
+discover the permanent truth of which the theory is at once an imperfect
+and exaggerated expression. To begin with, there are sins which bring upon
+the transgressor a swift, obvious, and dramatic punishment. Human law
+deals thus with some sins; the laws of health visit others with a similar
+severity; at times the Divine judgment strikes down men and nations before
+an awe-stricken world. Amongst such judgments we might reckon the
+punishments of royal sins so frequent in the pages of Chronicles. God's
+judgments are not usually so immediate and manifest, but these striking
+instances illustrate and enforce the certain consequences of sin. We are
+dealing now with cases in which God was set at nought; and, apart from
+Divine grace, the votaries of sin are bound to become its slaves and
+victims. Ruskin has said, "Medicine often fails of its effect, but poison
+never; and while, in summing the observation of past life not unwatchfully
+spent, I can truly say that I have a thousand times seen Patience
+disappointed of her hope and Wisdom of her aim, I have never yet seen
+folly fruitless of mischief, nor vice conclude but in calamity."(364) Now
+that we have been brought into a fuller light and delivered from the
+practical dangers of the ancient Israelite doctrine, we can afford to
+forget the less satisfactory aspects of the chronicler's teaching, and we
+must feel grateful to him for enforcing the salutary and necessary lesson
+that sin brings inevitable punishment, and that therefore, whatever
+present appearances may suggest, "the world was certainly not framed for
+the lasting convenience of hypocrites, libertines, and oppressors."(365)
+
+Indeed, the consequences of sin are regular and exact; and the judgments
+upon the kings of Judah in Chronicles accurately symbolise the operations
+of Divine discipline. But pain, and ruin, and disgrace are only secondary
+elements in God's judgments; and most often they are not judgments at all.
+They have their uses as chastisements; but if we dwell upon them with too
+emphatic an insistence, men suppose that pain is a worse evil than sin,
+and that sin is only to be avoided because it causes suffering to the
+sinner. The really serious consequence of evil acts is the formation and
+confirmation of evil character. Herbert Spencer says in his _First
+Principles_(366) "that motion once set up along any line becomes itself a
+cause of subsequent motion along that line." This is absolutely true in
+moral and spiritual dynamics: every wrong thought, feeling, word, or act,
+every failure to think, feel, speak, or act rightly, at once alters a
+man's character for the worse. Henceforth he will find it easier to sin
+and more difficult to do right; he has twisted another strand into the
+cord of habit: and though each may be as fine as the threads of a spider's
+web, in time there will be cords strong enough to have bound Samson before
+Delilah shaved off his seven locks. This is the true punishment of sin: to
+lose the fine instincts, the generous impulses, and the nobler ambitions
+of manhood, and become every day more of a beast and a devil.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV. Jehoshaphat--The Doctrine Of Non-Resistance. 2 Chron. xvii.-xx.
+
+
+Asa was succeeded by his son Jehoshaphat, and his reign began even more
+auspiciously(367) than that of Asa. The new king had apparently taken
+warning from the misfortunes of Asa's closing years; and as he was
+thirty-five years old when he came to the throne, he had been trained
+before Asa fell under the Divine displeasure. He walked in the first ways
+of his father David, before David was led away by Satan to number Israel.
+Jehoshaphat's heart was lifted up, not with foolish pride, like
+Hezekiah's, but "in the ways of Jehovah." He sought the God of his father,
+and walked in God's commandments, and was not led astray by the evil
+example and influence of the kings of Israel, neither did he seek the
+Baals. While Asa had been enfeebled by illness and alienated from Jehovah,
+the high places and the Asherim had sprung up again like a crop of evil
+weeds; but Jehoshaphat once more removed them. According to the
+chronicler, this removing of high places was a very labour of Sisyphus:
+the stone was no sooner rolled up to the top of the hill than it rolled
+down again. Jehoshaphat seems to have had an inkling of this; he felt that
+the destruction of idolatrous sanctuaries and symbols was like mowing down
+weeds and leaving the roots in the soil. Accordingly he made an attempt to
+deal more radically with the evil: he would take away the inclination as
+well as the opportunity for corrupt rites. A commission of princes,
+priests, and Levites was sent throughout all the cities of Judah to
+instruct the people in the law of Jehovah. Vice will always find
+opportunities; it is little use to suppress evil institutions unless the
+people are educated out of evil propensities. If, for instance, every
+public-house in England were closed to-morrow, and there were still
+millions of throats craving for drink, drunkenness would still prevail,
+and a new administration would promptly reopen gin-shops.
+
+Because the new king thus earnestly and consistently sought the God of his
+fathers, Jehovah was with him, and established the kingdom in his hand.
+Jehoshaphat received all the marks of Divine favour usually bestowed upon
+good kings. He waxed great exceedingly; he had many fortresses, an immense
+army, and much wealth; he built castles and cities of store; he had
+arsenals for the supply of war material in the cities of Judah. And these
+cities, together with other defensible positions and the border cities of
+Ephraim occupied by Judah, were held by strong garrisons. While David had
+contented himself with two hundred and eighty-eight thousand men from all
+Israel, and Abijah had led forth four hundred thousand, and Asa five
+hundred and eighty thousand, there waited on Jehoshaphat, in addition to
+his numerous garrisons, _eleven hundred and sixty thousand men_. Of these
+seven hundred and eighty thousand were men of Judah in three divisions,
+and three hundred and eighty thousand were Benjamites in two divisions.
+Probably the steady increase of the armies of Abijah, Asa, and Jehoshaphat
+symbolises a proportionate increase of Divine favour.
+
+The chronicler records the names of the captains of the five divisions.
+Two of them are singled out for special commendation: Eliada the Benjamite
+is styled "a mighty man of valour," and of the Jewish captain Amaziah the
+son of Zichri it is said that he offered either himself or his possessions
+willingly to Jehovah, as David and his princes had offered, for the
+building of the Temple. The devout king had devout officers.
+
+He had also devoted subjects. All Judah brought him presents, so that he
+had great riches and ample means to sustain his royal power and splendour.
+Moreover, as in the case of Solomon and Asa, his piety was rewarded with
+freedom from war: "The fear of Jehovah fell upon all the kingdoms round
+about, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat." Some of his weaker
+neighbours were overawed by the spectacle of his great power; the
+Philistines brought him presents and tribute money, and the Arabians
+immense flocks of rams and he-goats, seven thousand seven hundred of each.
+
+Great prosperity had the usual fatal effect upon Jehoshaphat's character.
+In the beginning of his reign he had strengthened himself against Israel
+and had refused to walk in their ways; now power had developed ambition,
+and he sought and obtained the honour of marrying his son Jehoram to
+Athaliah the daughter of Ahab, the mighty and magnificent king of Israel,
+possibly also the daughter of the Phoenician princess Jezebel, the devotee
+of Baal. This family connection of course implied political alliance.
+After a time Jehoshaphat went down to visit his new ally, and was
+hospitably received.(368)
+
+Then follows the familiar story of Micaiah the son of Imlah, the
+disastrous expedition of the two kings, and the death of Ahab, almost
+exactly as in the book of Kings. There is one significant alteration: both
+narratives tell us how the Syrian captains attacked Jehoshaphat because
+they took him for the king of Israel and gave up their pursuit when he
+cried out, and they discovered their mistake; but the chronicler adds the
+explanation that Jehovah helped him and God moved them to depart from him.
+And so the master of more than a million soldiers was happy in being
+allowed to escape on account of his insignificance, and returned in peace
+to Jerusalem. Oded and Hanani had met his predecessors on their return
+from victory; now Jehu the son of Hanani(369) met Jehoshaphat when he came
+home defeated. Like his father, the prophet was charged with a message of
+rebuke. An alliance with the northern kingdom was scarcely less
+reprehensible than one with Syria: "Shouldest thou help the wicked, and
+love them that hate Jehovah? Jehovah is wroth with thee." Asa's previous
+reforms were not allowed to mitigate the severity of his condemnation, but
+Jehovah was more merciful to Jehoshaphat. The prophet makes mention of his
+piety and his destruction of idolatrous symbols, and no further punishment
+is inflicted upon him.
+
+The chronicler's addition to the account of the king's escape from the
+Syrian captains reminds us that God still watches over and protects His
+children even when they are in the very act of sinning against Him.
+Jehovah knew that Jehoshaphat's sinful alliance with Ahab did not imply
+complete revolt and apostacy. Hence doubtless the comparative mildness of
+the prophet's reproof.
+
+When Jehu's father Hanani rebuked Asa, the king flew into a passion, and
+cast the prophet into prison; Jehoshaphat received Jehu's reproof in a
+very different spirit(370): he repented himself, and found a new zeal in
+his penitence. Learning from his own experience the proneness of the human
+heart to go astray, he went out himself amongst his people to bring them
+back to Jehovah; and just as Asa in his apostacy oppressed his people,
+Jehoshaphat in his renewed loyalty to Jehovah showed himself anxious for
+good government. He provided judges in all the walled towns of Judah, with
+a court of appeal at Jerusalem; he solemnly charged them to remember their
+responsibility to Jehovah, to avoid bribery, and not to truckle to the
+rich and powerful. Being themselves faithful to Jehovah, they were to
+inculcate a like obedience and warn the people not to sin against the God
+of their fathers. Jehoshaphat's exhortation to his new judges concludes
+with a sentence whose martial resonance suggests trial by combat rather
+than the peaceful proceedings of a law-court: "Deal courageously, and
+Jehovah defend the right!"
+
+The principle that good government must be a necessary consequence of
+piety in the rulers has not been so uniformly observed in later times as
+in the pages of Chronicles. The testimony of history on this point is not
+altogether consistent. In spite of all the faults of the orthodox and
+devout Greek emperors Theodosius the Great and Marcian, their
+administration rendered important services to the empire. Alfred the Great
+was a distinguished statesman and warrior as well as zealous for true
+religion. St. Louis of France exercised a wise control over Church and
+state. It is true that when a woman reproached him in open court with
+being a king of friars, of priests, and of clerks, and not a true king of
+France, he replied with saintly meekness, "You say true! It has pleased
+the Lord to make me king; it had been well if it had pleased Him to make
+some one king who had better ruled the realm."(371) But something must be
+allowed for the modesty of the saint; apart from his unfortunate crusades,
+it would have been difficult for France or even Europe to have furnished a
+more beneficent sovereign. On the other hand, Charlemagne's successor, the
+Emperor Louis the Pious, and our own kings Edward the Confessor and the
+saintly Henry VI., were alike feeble and inefficient; the zeal of the
+Spanish kings and their kinswoman Mary Tudor is chiefly remembered for its
+ghastly cruelty; and in comparatively recent times the misgovernment of
+the States of the Church was a byword throughout Europe. Many causes
+combined to produce this mingled record. The one most clearly contrary to
+the chronicler's teaching was an immoral opinion that the Christian should
+cease to be a citizen, and that the saint has no duties to society. This
+view is often considered to be the special vice of monasticism, but it
+reappears in one form or another in every generation. The failure of the
+administration of Louis the Pious is partly explained when we read that he
+was with difficulty prevented from entering a monastery. In our own day
+there are those who think that a newspaper should have no interest for a
+really earnest Christian. According to their ideas, Jehoshaphat should
+have divided his time between a private oratory in his palace and the
+public services of the Temple, and have left his kingdom to the mercy of
+unjust judges at home and heathen enemies abroad, or else have abdicated
+in favour of some kinsman whose heart was not so perfect with Jehovah. The
+chronicler had a clearer insight into Divine methods, and this doctrine of
+his is not one that has been superseded together with the Mosaic ritual.
+
+Possibly the martial tone of the sentence that concludes the account of
+Jehoshaphat as the Jewish Justinian is due to the influence upon the
+chronicler's mind of the incident(372) which he now describes.
+
+Jehoshaphat's next experience was parallel to that of Asa with Zerah. When
+his new reforms were completed, he was menaced with a formidable invasion.
+His new enemies were almost as distant and strange as the Ethiopians and
+Lubim who had followed Zerah. We hear nothing about any king of Israel or
+Damascus, the usual leaders of assaults upon Judah; we hear instead of a
+triple alliance against Judah. Two of the allies are Moab and Ammon; but
+the Jewish kings were not wont to regard these as irresistible foes, so
+that the extreme dismay which takes possession of king and people must be
+due to the third ally: the "Meunim."(373) The Meunim we have already met
+with in connection with the exploits of the children of Simeon in the
+reign of Hezekiah; they are also mentioned in the reign of Uzziah,(374)
+and nowhere else, unless indeed they are identical with the Maonites, who
+are named with the Amalekites in Judges x. 12. They are thus a people
+peculiar to Chronicles, and appear from this narrative to have inhabited
+Mount Seir, by which term "Meunim" is replaced as the story proceeds.(375)
+Since the chronicler wrote so long after the events he describes, we
+cannot attribute to him any very exact knowledge of political geography.
+Probably the term "Meunim" impressed his contemporaries very much as it
+does a modern reader, and suggested countless hordes of Bedouin
+plunderers; Josephus calls them a great army of Arabians. This host of
+invaders came from Edom, and having marched round the southern end of the
+Dead Sea, were now at Engedi, on its western shore. The Moabites and
+Ammonites might have crossed the Jordan by the fords near Jericho; but
+this route would not have been convenient for their allies the Meunim, and
+would have brought them into collision with the forces of the northern
+kingdom.
+
+On this occasion Jehoshaphat does not seek any foreign alliance. He does
+not appeal to Syria, like Asa, nor does he ask Ahab's successor to repay
+in kind the assistance given to Ahab at Ramoth-gilead, partly perhaps
+because there was no time, but chiefly because he had learnt the truth
+which Hanani had sought to teach his father, and which Hanani's son had
+taught him. He does not even trust in his own hundreds of thousands of
+soldiers, all of whom cannot have perished at Ramoth-gilead; his
+confidence is placed solely and absolutely in Jehovah. Jehoshaphat and his
+people made no military preparations; subsequent events justified their
+apparent neglect: none were necessary. Jehoshaphat sought Divine help
+instead, and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah; and all Judah gathered
+themselves to Jerusalem to ask help of Jehovah. This great national
+assembly met "before the new court" of the Temple. The chronicler, who is
+supremely interested in the Temple buildings, has told us nothing about
+any new court, nor is it mentioned elsewhere; our author is probably
+giving the title of a corresponding portion of the second Temple: the
+place where the people assembled to meet Jehoshaphat would be the great
+court built by Solomon.(376)
+
+Here Jehoshaphat stood up as the spokesman of the nation, and prayed to
+Jehovah on their behalf and on his own. He recalls the Divine omnipotence;
+Jehovah is God of earth and heaven, God of Israel and Ruler of the
+heathen, and therefore able to help even in this great emergency:--
+
+"O Jehovah, God of our fathers, art Thou not God in heaven? Dost Thou not
+rule all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in Thy hand is power and might,
+so that none is able to withstand Thee."
+
+The land of Israel had been the special gift of Jehovah to His people, in
+fulfilment of His ancient promise to Abraham:--
+
+"Didst not Thou, O our God, dispossess the inhabitants of this land in
+favour of Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham Thy
+friend for ever?"
+
+And now long possession had given Israel a prescriptive right to the Land
+of Promise; and they had, so to speak, claimed their rights in the most
+formal and solemn fashion by erecting a temple to the God of Israel.
+Moreover, the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the Temple had been
+accepted by Jehovah as the basis of His covenant with Israel, and
+Jehoshaphat quotes a clause from that prayer or covenant which had
+expressly provided for such emergencies as the present:--
+
+"And they" (Israel) "dwelt in the land, and built Thee therein a sanctuary
+for Thy name, saying, If evil come upon us, the sword, judgment,
+pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before Thee
+(for Thy name is in this house), and cry unto Thee in our affliction; and
+Thou wilt hear and save."(377)
+
+Moreover, the present invasion was not only an attempt to set aside
+Jehovah's disposition of Palestine and the long-established rights of
+Israel: it was also gross ingratitude, a base return for the ancient
+forbearance of Israel towards her present enemies:--
+
+"And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom Thou
+wouldest not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt,
+but they turned aside from them and destroyed them not--behold how they
+reward us by coming to dispossess us of Thy possession which Thou hast
+caused us to possess."
+
+For this nefarious purpose the enemies of Israel had come up in
+overwhelming numbers, but Judah was confident in the justice of its cause
+and the favour of Jehovah:--
+
+"O our God, wilt Thou not execute judgment against them? for we have no
+might against this great company that cometh against us, neither know we
+what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee."
+
+Meanwhile the great assemblage stood in the attitude of supplication
+before Jehovah, not a gathering of mighty men of valour praying for
+blessing upon their strength and courage, but a mixed multitude, men and
+women, children and infants, seeking sanctuary, as it were, at the Temple,
+and casting themselves in their extremity upon the protecting care of
+Jehovah. Possibly when the king finished his prayer the assembly broke out
+into loud, wailing cries of dismay and agonised entreaty; but the silence
+of the narrative rather suggests that Jehoshaphat's strong, calm faith
+communicated itself to the people, and they waited quietly for Jehovah's
+answer, for some token or promise of deliverance. Instead of the confused
+cries of an excited crowd, there was a hush of expectancy, such as
+sometimes falls upon an assembly when a great statesman has risen to utter
+words which will be big with the fate of empires.
+
+And the answer came, not by fire from heaven or any visible sign, not by
+voice of thunder accompanied by angelic trumpets, nor by angel or
+archangel, but by a familiar voice hitherto unsuspected of any
+supernatural gifts, by a prophetic utterance whose only credentials were
+given by the influence of the Spirit upon the speaker and his audience.
+The chronicler relates with evident satisfaction how, in the midst of that
+great congregation, the Spirit of Jehovah came, not upon king, or priest,
+or acknowledged prophet, but upon a subordinate minister of the Temple, a
+Levite and member of the Temple choir like himself. He is careful to fix
+the identity of this newly called prophet and to gratify the family pride
+of existing Levitical families by giving the prophet's genealogy for
+several generations. He was Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of
+Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, of the sons of Asaph. The
+very names were encouraging. What more suitable names could be found for a
+messenger of Divine mercy than Jahaziel--"God gives prophetic vision"--the
+son of Zechariah--"Jehovah remembers"?
+
+Jahaziel's message showed that Jehoshaphat's prayer had been accepted;
+Jehovah responded without reserve to the confidence reposed in Him: He
+would vindicate His own authority by delivering Judah; Jehoshaphat should
+have blessed proof of the immense superiority of simple trust in Jehovah
+over an alliance with Ahab or the king of Damascus. Twice the prophet
+exhorts the king and people in the very words that Jehovah had used to
+encourage Joshua when the death of Moses had thrown upon him all the heavy
+responsibilities of leadership: "Fear not, nor be dismayed." They need no
+longer cling like frightened suppliants to the sanctuary, but are to go
+forth at once, the very next day, against the enemy. That they may lose no
+time in looking for them, Jehovah announces the exact spot where the enemy
+are to be found: "Behold, they are coming by the ascent of Hazziz,(378)
+and ye shall find them at the end of the ravine before the wilderness of
+Jeruel." This topographical description was doubtless perfectly
+intelligible to the chronicler's contemporaries, but it is no longer
+possible to fix exactly the locality of Hazziz or Jeruel. The ascent of
+Hazziz has been identified with the Wady Husasa, which leads up from the
+coast of the Dead Sea north of Engedi, in the direction of Tekoa; but the
+identification is by no means certain.
+
+The general situation, however, is fairly clear: the allied invaders would
+come up from the coast into the highlands of Judah by one of the wadies
+leading inland; they were to be met by Jehoshaphat and his people on one
+of the "wildernesses," or plateaus of pasture-land, in the neighbourhood
+of Tekoa.
+
+But the Jews went forth, not as an army, but in order to be the passive
+spectators of a great manifestation of the power of Jehovah. They had no
+concern with the numbers and prowess of their enemies; Jehovah Himself
+would lay bare His mighty arm, and Judah should see that no foreign ally,
+no millions of native warriors, were necessary for their salvation: "Ye
+shall not need to fight in this battle; take up your position, stand still
+and see the deliverance of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem."
+
+Thus had Moses addressed Israel on the eve of the passage of the Red Sea.
+Jehoshaphat and his people owned and honoured the Divine message as if
+Jahaziel were another Moses; they prostrated themselves on the ground
+before Jehovah. The sons of Asaph had already been privileged to provide
+Jehovah with His prophet; these Asaphites represented the Levitical clan
+of Gershom: but now the Kohathites, with their guild of singers, the sons
+of Korah, "stood up to praise Jehovah, the God of Israel, with an
+exceeding loud voice," as the Levites sang when the foundations of the
+second Temple were laid, and when Ezra and Nehemiah made the people enter
+into a new covenant with their God.
+
+Accordingly on the morrow the people rose early in the morning and went
+out to the wilderness of Tekoa, ten or twelve miles south of Jerusalem. In
+ancient times generals were wont to make a set speech to their armies
+before they led them into battle, so Jehoshaphat addresses his subjects as
+they pass out before him. He does not seek to make them confident in their
+own strength and prowess; he does not inflame their passions against Moab
+and Ammon, nor exhort them to be brave and remind them that they fight
+this day for the ashes of their fathers and the temple of their God. Such
+an address would have been entirely out of place, because the Jews were
+not going to fight at all. Jehoshaphat only bids them have faith in
+Jehovah and His prophets. It is a curious anticipation of Pauline
+teaching. Judah is to be "saved by faith" from Moab and Ammon, as the
+Christian is delivered by faith from sin and its penalty. The incident
+might almost seem to have been recorded in order to illustrate the truth
+that St. Paul was to teach. It is strange that there is no reference to
+this chapter in the epistles of St. Paul and St. James, and that the
+author of the Epistle to the Hebrews does not remind us how "by faith
+Jehoshaphat was delivered from Moab and Ammon."
+
+There is no question of military order, no reference to the five great
+divisions into which the armies of Judah and Benjamin are divided in chap.
+xvii. Here, as at Jericho, the captain of Israel is chiefly concerned to
+provide musicians to lead his army. When David was arranging for the
+musical services before the Ark, he took counsel with his captains. In
+this unique military expedition there is no mention of captains; they were
+not necessary, and if they were present, there was no opportunity for them
+to show their skill and prowess in battle. In an even more democratic
+spirit Jehoshaphat takes counsel with the people--that is, probably makes
+some proposition, which is accepted with universal acclamation.
+
+The Levitical singers, dressed in the splendid robes(379) in which they
+officiated at the Temple, were appointed to go before the people, and
+offer praises unto Jehovah, and sing the anthem, "Give thanks unto
+Jehovah, for His mercy endureth for ever." These words or their equivalent
+are the opening words, and the second clause the refrain, of the
+post-Exilic Psalms: cvi., cvii., cxviii., and cxxxvi. As the chronicler
+has already ascribed Psalm cvi. to David, he possibly ascribes all four to
+David, and intends us to understand that one or all of them were sung by
+the Levites on this occasion. Later Judaism was in the habit of denoting a
+book or section of a book by its opening words.
+
+And so Judah, a pilgrim caravan rather than an army, went on to its
+Divinely appointed tryst with its enemies, and at its head the Levitical
+choir sang the Temple hymns. It was not a campaign, but a sacred function,
+on a much larger scale a procession such as may be seen winding its way,
+with chants and incense, banners, images, and crucifixes, through the
+streets of Catholic cities.
+
+Meanwhile Jehovah was preparing a spectacle to gladden the eyes of His
+people and reward their implicit faith and exact obedience; He was working
+for those who were waiting for Him. Though Judah was still far from its
+enemies, yet, like the trumpet at Jericho, the strain of praise and
+thanksgiving was the signal for the Divine intervention: "When they began
+to sing and praise, Jehovah set liers in wait against the children of
+Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir." Who were these liers in wait? They could not
+be men of Judah: _they_ were not to fight, but to be passive spectators of
+their own deliverance. Did the allies set an ambush for Judah, and was it
+thus that they were afterwards led to mistake their own people for
+enemies? Or does the chronicler intend us to understand that these "liers
+in wait" were spirits; that the allied invaders were tricked and
+bewildered like the shipwrecked sailors in the _Tempest_; or that when
+they came to the wilderness of Jeruel there fell upon them a spirit of
+mutual distrust, jealousy, and hatred, that had, as it were, been waiting
+for them there? But, from whatever cause, a quarrel broke out amongst
+them; and they were smitten. When Ammonite, Moabite, and Edomite met,
+there were many private and public feuds waiting their opportunity; and
+such confederates were as ready to quarrel among themselves as a group of
+Highland clans engaged in a Lowland foray. "Ammon and Moab stood up
+against the inhabitants of Mount Seir utterly to slay and destroy them."
+But even Ammon and Moab soon dissolved their alliance; and at last, partly
+maddened by panic, partly intoxicated by a wild thirst for blood, a very
+Berserker frenzy, all ties of friendship and kindred were forgotten, and
+every man's hand was against his brother. "When they had made an end of
+the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another."
+
+While this tragedy was enacting, and the air was rent with the cruel yells
+of that death struggle, Jehoshaphat and his people moved on in tranquil
+pilgrimage to the cheerful sound of the songs of Zion. At last they
+reached an eminence, perhaps the long, low summit of some ridge
+overlooking the plateau of Jeruel. When they had gained this watchtower of
+the wilderness, the ghastly scene burst upon their gaze. Jehovah had kept
+His word: they had found their enemy. They "looked upon the multitude,"
+all those hordes of heathen tribes that had filled them with terror and
+dismay. They were harmless enough now: the Jews saw nothing but "dead
+bodies fallen to the earth"; and in that Aceldama lay all the multitude of
+profane invaders who had dared to violate the sanctity of the Promised
+Land: "There were none that escaped." So had Israel looked back after
+crossing the Red Sea and seen the corpses of the Egyptians washed up on
+the shore.(380) So when the angel of Jehovah smote Sennacherib,--
+
+
+    "Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
+    That host on the morrow lay withered and strown."
+
+
+There is no touch of pity for the wretched victims of their own sins.
+Greeks of every city and tribe could feel the pathos of the tragic end of
+the Athenian expedition against Syracuse; but the Jews had no ruth for the
+kindred tribes that dwelt along their frontier, and the age of the
+chronicler had not yet learnt that Jehovah had either tenderness or
+compassion for the enemies of Israel.
+
+The spectators of this carnage--we cannot call them victors--did not neglect
+to profit to the utmost by their great opportunity. They spent three days
+in stripping the dead bodies; and as Orientals delight in jewelled weapons
+and costly garments, and their chiefs take the field with barbaric
+ostentation of wealth, the spoil was both valuable and abundant: "riches,
+and raiment,(381) and precious jewels, ... more than they could carry
+away."
+
+In collecting the spoil, the Jews had become dispersed through all the
+wide area over which the fighting between the confederates must have
+extended; but on the fourth day they gathered together again in a
+neighbouring valley and gave solemn thanks for their deliverance: "There
+they blessed Jehovah; therefore the name of that place was called the
+valley of Berachah unto this day." West of Tekoa,(382) not too far from
+the scene of carnage, a ruin and a wady still bear the name "Bereikut";
+and doubtless in the chronicler's time the valley was called Berachah, and
+local tradition furnished our author with this explanation of the origin
+of the name.
+
+When the spoil was all collected, they returned to Jerusalem as they came,
+in solemn procession, headed, no doubt, by the Levites, with psalteries,
+and harps, and trumpets. They came back to the scene of their anxious
+supplications: to the house of Jehovah. But yesterday, as it were, they
+had assembled before Jehovah, terror-stricken at the report of an
+irresistible host of invaders; and to-day their enemies were utterly
+destroyed. They had experienced a deliverance that might rank with the
+Exodus; and as at that former deliverance they had spoiled the Egyptians,
+so now they had returned laden with the plunder of Moab, Ammon, and Edom.
+And all their neighbours were smitten with fear when they heard of the
+awful ruin which Jehovah had brought upon these enemies of Israel. No one
+would dare to invade a country where Jehovah laid a ghostly ambush of
+liers in wait for the enemies of His people. The realm of Jehoshaphat was
+quiet, not because he was protected by powerful allies or by the swords of
+his numerous and valiant soldiers, but because Judah had become another
+Eden, and cherubim with flaming swords guarded the frontier on every hand,
+and "his God gave him rest round about."
+
+Then follow the regular summary and conclusion of the history of the reign
+taken from the book of Kings, with the usual alterations in the reference
+to further sources of information. We are told here, in direct
+contradiction to xvii. 6 and to the whole tenor of the previous chapters,
+that the high places were not taken away, another illustration of the
+slight importance the chronicler attached to accuracy in details. He
+either overlooks the contradiction between passages borrowed from
+different sources, or else does not think it worth while to harmonise his
+inconsistent materials.
+
+But after the narrative of the reign is thus formally closed the
+chronicler inserts a postscript, perhaps by a kind of after-thought. The
+book of Kings narrates(383) how Jehoshaphat made ships to go to Ophir for
+gold, but they were broken at Ezion-geber; then Ahaziah the son of Ahab
+proposed to enter into partnership with Jehoshaphat, and the latter
+rejected his proposal. As we have seen, the chronicler's theory of
+retribution required some reason why so pious a king experienced
+misfortune. What sin had Jehoshaphat committed to deserve to have his
+ships broken? The chronicler has a new version of the story, which
+provides an answer to this question. Jehoshaphat did not build any ships
+by himself; his unfortunate navy was constructed in partnership with
+Ahaziah; and accordingly the prophet Eliezer rebuked him for allying
+himself a second time with a wicked king of Israel, and announced the
+coming wreck of the ships. And so it came about that the ships were
+broken, and the shadow of Divine displeasure rested on the last days of
+Jehoshaphat.
+
+We have next to notice the chronicler's most important omissions. The book
+of Kings narrates another alliance of Jehoshaphat with Jehoram, king of
+Israel, like his alliances with Ahab and Ahaziah. The narrative of this
+incident closely resembles that of the earlier joint expedition to
+Ramoth-gilead. As then Jehoshaphat marched out with Ahab, so now he
+accompanies Ahab's son Jehoram, taking with him his subject ally the king
+of Edom. Here also a prophet appears upon the scene; but on this occasion
+Elisha addresses no rebuke to Jehoshaphat for his alliance with Israel,
+but treats him with marked respect: and the allied army wins a great
+victory. If this narrative had been included in Chronicles, the reign of
+Jehoshaphat would not have afforded an altogether satisfactory
+illustration of the main lesson which the chronicler intended it to teach.
+
+This main lesson was that the chosen people should not look for protection
+against their enemies either to foreign alliances or to their own military
+strength, but solely to the grace and omnipotence of Jehovah. One negative
+aspect of this principle has been enforced by the condemnation of Asa's
+alliance with Syria and Jehoshaphat's with Ahab and Ahaziah. Later on the
+uselessness of an army apart from Jehovah is shown in the defeat of "the
+great host" of Joash by "a small company" of Syrians.(384) The positive
+aspect has been partially illustrated by the signal victories of Abijah
+and Asa against overwhelming odds and without the help of any foreign
+allies. But these were partial and unsatisfactory illustrations: Jehovah
+vouchsafed to share the glory of these victories with great armies that
+were numbered by the hundred thousand. And after all, the odds were not so
+very overwhelming. Scores of parallels may be found in which the odds were
+much greater. In the case of vast Oriental hosts a superiority of two to
+one might easily be counterbalanced by discipline and valour in the
+smaller army.
+
+The peculiar value to the chronicler of the deliverance from Moab, Ammon,
+and the Meunim lay in the fact that no human arm divided the glory with
+Jehovah. It was shown conclusively not merely that Judah could safely be
+contented with an army smaller than those of its neighbours, but that
+Judah would be equally safe with no army at all. We feel that this lesson
+is taught with added force when we remember that Jehoshaphat had a larger
+army than is ascribed to any Israelite or Jewish king after David. Yet he
+places no confidence in his eleven hundred and sixty thousand warriors,
+and he is not allowed to make any use of them. In the case of a king with
+small military resources, to trust in Jehovah might be merely making a
+virtue of necessity; but if Jehoshaphat, with his immense army, felt that
+his only real help was in his God, the example furnished an _a fortiori_
+argument which would conclusively show that it was always the duty and
+privilege of the Jews to say with the Psalmist, "Some trust in chariots,
+and some in horses; but we will remember the name of Jehovah our
+God."(385) The ancient literature of Israel furnished other illustrations
+of the principle: at the Red Sea the Israelites had been delivered without
+any exercise of their own warlike prowess; at Jericho, as at Jeruel, the
+enemy had been completely overthrown by Jehovah before His people rushed
+upon the spoil; and the same direct Divine intervention saved Jerusalem
+from Sennacherib. But the later history of the Jews had been a series of
+illustrations of enforced dependence upon Jehovah. A little
+semi-ecclesiastical community inhabiting a small province that passed from
+one great power to another like a counter in the game of international
+politics had no choice but to trust in Jehovah, if it were in any way to
+maintain its self-respect. For this community of the second Temple to have
+had confidence in its sword and bow would have seemed equally absurd to
+the Jews and to their Persian and Greek masters.
+
+When they were thus helpless, Jehovah wrought for Israel, as He had
+destroyed the enemies of Jehoshaphat in the wilderness of Jeruel. The Jews
+stood still and saw the working out of their deliverance; great empires
+wrestled together like Moab, Ammon, and Edom, in the agony of the death
+struggle: and over all the tumult of battle Israel heard the voice of
+Jehovah, "The battle is not yours, but God's; ... set yourselves, stand ye
+still, and see the deliverance of Jehovah with you, O Judah and
+Jerusalem." Before their eyes there passed the scenes of that great drama
+which for a time gave Western Asia Aryan instead of Semitic masters. For
+them the whole action had but one meaning: without calling Israel into the
+field, Jehovah was devoting to destruction the enemies of His people and
+opening up a way for His redeemed to return, like Jehoshaphat's
+procession, to the Holy City and the Temple. The long series of wars
+became a wager of battle, in which Israel, herself a passive spectator,
+appeared by her Divine Champion; and the assured issue was her triumphant
+vindication and restoration to her ancient throne in Zion.
+
+After the Restoration God's protecting providence asked no armed
+assistance from Judah. The mandates of a distant court authorised the
+rebuilding of the Temple and the fortifying of the city. The Jews solaced
+their national pride and found consolation for their weakness and
+subjection in the thought that their ostensible masters were in reality
+only the instruments which Jehovah used to provide for the security and
+prosperity of His children.
+
+We have already noticed that this philosophy of history is not peculiar to
+Israel. Every nation has a similar system, and regards its own interests
+as the supreme care of Providence. We have seen, too, that moral
+influences have controlled and checkmated material forces; God has fought
+against the biggest battalions. Similarly the Jews are not the only people
+for whom deliverances have been worked out almost without any co-operation
+on their own part. It was not a negro revolt, for instance, that set free
+the slaves of our colonies or of the Southern States. Italy regained her
+Eternal City as an incidental effect of a great war in which she herself
+took no part. Important political movements and great struggles involve
+consequences equally unforeseen and unintended by the chief actors in
+these dramas, consequences which would seem to them insignificant compared
+with more obvious results. Some obscure nation almost ready to perish is
+given a respite, a breathing space, in which it gathers strength; instead
+of losing its separate existence, it endures till time and opportunity
+make it one of the ruling influences in the world's history: some Geneva
+or Wittenberg becomes, just at the right time, a secure refuge and
+vantage-ground for one of the Lord's prophets. Our understanding of what
+God is doing in our time and our hopes for what He may yet do will indeed
+be small, if we think that God can do nothing for our cause unless our
+banner flies in the forefront of the battle, and the war-cry is "The sword
+of Gideon!" as well as "The sword of Jehovah!" There will be many battles
+fought in which we shall strike no blow and yet be privileged to divide
+the spoil. We sometimes "stand still and see the salvation of Jehovah."
+
+The chronicler has found disciples in these latter days of a kindlier
+spirit and more catholic sympathies. He and they have reached their common
+doctrines by different paths, but the chronicler teaches non-resistance as
+clearly as the Society of Friends. "When you have fully yielded yourself
+to the Divine teaching," he says, "you will neither fight yourself nor ask
+others to fight for you; you will simply stand still and watch a Divine
+providence protecting you and destroying your enemies." The Friends could
+almost echo this teaching, not perhaps laying quite so much stress on the
+destruction of the enemy, though among the visions of the earlier Friends
+there were many that revealed the coming judgments of the Lord; and the
+modern enthusiast is still apt to consider that his enemies, are the
+Lord's enemies and to call the gratification of his own revengeful spirit
+a vindicating of the honour of the Lord and a satisfaction of outraged
+justice.
+
+If the chronicler had lived to-day, the history of the Society of Friends
+might have furnished him with illustrations almost as apt as the
+destruction of the allied invaders of Judah. He would have rejoiced to
+tell us how a people that repudiated any resort to violence succeeded in
+conciliating savage tribes and founding the flourishing colony of
+Pennsylvania, and would have seen the hand of the Lord in the wealth and
+honour that have been accorded to a once despised and persecuted sect.
+
+We should be passing to matters that were still beyond the chronicler's
+horizon, if we were to connect his teaching with our Lord's injunction,
+"Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other
+also." Such a sentiment scarcely harmonises with the three days' stripping
+of dead bodies in the wilderness of Jeruel. But though the chronicler's
+motives for non-resistance were not touched and softened with the Divine
+gentleness of Jesus of Nazareth, and his object was not to persuade his
+hearers to patient endurance of wrong, yet he had conceived the
+possibility of a mighty faith that could put its fortunes unreservedly
+into the hands of God and trust Him with the issues. If we are ever to be
+worthy citizens of the kingdom of our Lord, it can only be by the
+sustaining power and inspiring influence of a like faith.
+
+When we come to ask how far the people for whom he wrote responded to his
+teaching and carried it into practical life, we are met with one of the
+many instances of the grim irony of history. Probably the chronicler's
+glowing vision of peaceful security, guarded on every hand by legions of
+angels, was partly inspired by the comparative prosperity of the time at
+which he wrote. Other considerations combine with this to suggest that the
+composition of his work beguiled the happy leisure of one of the brighter
+intervals between Ezra and the Maccabees.
+
+Circumstances were soon to test the readiness of the Jews, in times of
+national danger, to observe the attitude of passive spectators and wait
+for a Divine deliverance. It was not altogether in this spirit that the
+priests met the savage persecutions of Antiochus. They made no vain
+attempts to exorcise this evil spirit with hymns, and psalteries, and
+harps, and trumpets; but the priest Mattathias and his sons slew the
+king's commissioner and raised the standard of armed revolt. We do indeed
+find indications of something like obedience to the chronicler's
+principles. A body of the revolted Jews were attacked on the Sabbath Day;
+they made no attempt to defend themselves: "When they gave them battle
+with all speed, they answered them not, neither cast they a stone at them,
+nor stopped the places where they lay hid, ... and their enemies rose up
+against them on the sabbath, and slew them, with their wives, and their
+children, and their cattle, to the number of a thousand people."(386) No
+Divine intervention rewarded this devoted faith, nor apparently did the
+Jews expect it, for they had said, "Let us die all in our innocency;
+heaven and earth shall testify for us that ye put us to death wrongfully."
+This is, after all, a higher note than that of Chronicles: obedience may
+not bring invariable reward; nevertheless the faithful will not swerve
+from their loyalty. But the priestly leaders of the people looked with no
+favourable eye upon this offering up of human hecatombs in honour of the
+sanctity of the Sabbath. They were not prepared to die passively; and, as
+representatives of Jehovah and of the nation for the time being, they
+decreed that henceforth they would fight against those who attacked them,
+even on the Sabbath Day. Warfare on these more secular principles was
+crowned with that visible success which the chronicler regarded as the
+manifest sign of Divine approval; and a dynasty of royal priests filled
+the throne and led the armies of Israel, and assured and strengthened
+their authority by intrigues and alliances with every heathen sovereign
+within their reach.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V. Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Athaliah: The Consequences of a Foreign
+Marriage. 2 Chron. xxi.-xxiii.
+
+
+The accession of Jehoram is one of the instances in which a wicked son
+succeeded to a conspicuously pious father, but in this case there is no
+difficulty in explaining the phenomenon: the depraved character and evil
+deeds of Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Athaliah are at once accounted for when we
+remember that they were respectively the son-in-law, grandson, and
+daughter of Ahab, and possibly of Jezebel. If, however, Jezebel were
+really the mother of Athaliah, it is difficult to believe that the
+chronicler understood or at any rate realised the fact. In the books of
+Ezra and Nehemiah the chronicler lays great stress upon the iniquity and
+inexpediency of marriage with strange wives, and he has been careful to
+insert a note into the history of Jehoshaphat to call attention to the
+fact that the king of Judah had joined affinity with Ahab. If he had
+understood that this implied joining affinity with a Phoenician devotee of
+Baal, this significant fact would not have been passed over in silence.
+Moreover, the names Athaliah and Ahaziah are both compounded with the
+sacred name Jehovah. A Phoenician Baal-worshipper may very well have been
+sufficiently eclectic to make such use of the name sacred to the family
+into which she married, but on the whole those names rather tell against
+the descent of their owners from Jezebel and her Zidonian ancestors.
+
+We have seen that, after giving the concluding formula for the reign of
+Jehoshaphat, the chronicler adds a postscript narrating an incident
+discreditable to the king. Similarly he prefaces the introductory formula
+for the reign of Jehoram by inserting a cruel deed of the new king. Before
+telling us Jehoram's age at his accession and the length of his reign, the
+chronicler relates(387) the steps taken by Jehoram to secure himself upon
+his throne. Jehoshaphat, like Rehoboam, had disposed of his numerous sons
+in the fenced cities of Judah, and had sought to make them quiet and
+contented by providing largely for their material welfare: "Their father
+gave them great gifts: silver, gold, and precious things, with fenced
+cities in Judah." The sanguine judgment of paternal affection might expect
+that these gifts would make his younger sons loyal and devoted subjects of
+their elder brother; but Jehoram, not without reason, feared that treasure
+and cities might supply the means for a revolt, or that Judah might be
+split up into a number of small principalities. Accordingly when he had
+strengthened himself he slew all his brethren with the sword, and with
+them those princes of Israel whom he suspected of attachment to his other
+victims. He was following the precedent set by Solomon when he ordered the
+execution of Adonijah; and, indeed, the slaughter by a new sovereign of
+all those near relations who might possibly dispute his claim to the
+throne has usually been considered in the East to be a painful but
+necessary and perfectly justifiable act, being, in fact, regarded in much
+the same light as the drowning of superfluous kittens in domestic circles.
+Probably this episode is placed before the introductory formula for the
+reign because until these possible rivals were removed Jehoram's tenure of
+the throne was altogether unsafe.
+
+For the next few verses(388) the narrative follows the book of Kings with
+scarcely any alteration, and states the evil character of the new reign,
+accounting for Jehoram's depravity by his marriage with a daughter of
+Ahab. The successful revolt of Edom from Judah is next given, and the
+chronicler adds a note of his own to the effect that Jehoram experienced
+these reverses because he had forsaken Jehovah, the God of his fathers.
+
+Then the chronicler proceeds(389) to describe further sins and misfortunes
+of Jehoram. He mentions definitely, what is doubtless implied by the book
+of Kings, that Jehoram made high places in the cities of Judah(390) and
+seduced the people into taking part in a corrupt worship. The Divine
+condemnation of the king's wrong-doing came from an unexpected quarter and
+in an unusual fashion. The other prophetic messages specially recorded by
+the chronicler were uttered by prophets of Judah, some apparently
+receiving their inspiration for one particular occasion. The prophet who
+rebuked Jehoram was no less distinguished a personage than the great
+Israelite Elijah, who, according to the book of Kings, had long since been
+translated to heaven. In the older narrative Elijah's work is exclusively
+confined to the northern kingdom. But the chronicler entirely ignores
+Elijah, except when his history becomes connected for a moment with that
+of the house of David.
+
+The other prophets of Judah delivered their messages by word of mouth, but
+this communication is made by means of "a writing." This, however, is not
+without parallel: Jeremiah sent a letter to the captives in Babylon, and
+also sent a written collection of his prophecies to Jehoiakim.(391) In the
+latter case, however, the prophecies had been originally promulgated by
+word of mouth.
+
+Elijah writes in the name of Jehovah, the God of David, and condemns
+Jehoram because he was not walking in the ways of Asa and Jehoshaphat, but
+in the ways of the kings of Israel and the house of Ahab. It is pleasant
+to find that, in spite of the sins which marked the latter days of Asa and
+Jehoshaphat, their "ways" were as a whole such as could be held up as an
+example by the prophet of Jehovah. Here and elsewhere God appeals to the
+better feelings that spring from pride of birth. _Noblesse oblige._
+Jehoram held his throne as representative of the house of David, and was
+proud to trace his descent to the founder of the Israelite monarchy and to
+inherit the glory of the great reigns of Asa and Jehoshaphat; but this
+pride of race implied that to depart from their ways was dishonourable
+apostacy. There is no more pitiful spectacle than an effeminate libertine
+pluming himself on his noble ancestry.
+
+Elijah further rebukes Jehoram for the massacre of his brethren, who were
+better than himself. They had all grown up at their father's court, and
+till the other brethren were put in possession of their fenced cities had
+been under the same influences. It is the husband of Ahab's daughter who
+is worse than all the rest; the influence of an unsuitable marriage has
+already begun to show itself. Indeed, in view of Athaliah's subsequent
+history, we do her no injustice by supposing that, like Jezebel and Lady
+Macbeth, she had suggested her husband's crime. The fact that Jehoram's
+brethren were better men than himself adds to his guilt morally, but this
+undesirable superiority of the other princes of the blood to the reigning
+sovereign would seem to Jehoram and his advisers an additional reason for
+putting them out of the way; the massacre was an urgent political
+necessity.
+
+
+    "Truly the tender mercies of the weak,
+    As of the wicked, are but cruel."
+
+
+There is nothing so cruel as the terror of a selfish man. The Inquisition
+is the measure not only of the inhumanity, but also of the weakness, of
+the mediaeval Church; and the massacre of St. Bartholomew was due to the
+feebleness of Charles IX. as well as to the "revenge or the blind instinct
+of self-preservation"(392) of Mary de Medici.
+
+The chronicler's condemnation of Jehoram's massacre marks the superiority
+of the standard of later Judaism to the current Oriental morality. For his
+sins Jehoram was to be punished by sore disease and by a great "plague"
+which would fall upon his people, and his wives, and his children, and all
+his substance. From the following verses we see that "plague," here as in
+the case of some of the plagues of Egypt, has the sense of calamity
+generally, and not the narrower meaning of pestilence. This plague took
+the form of an invasion of the Philistines and of the Arabians "which are
+beside the Ethiopians." Divine inspiration prompted them to attack Judah;
+Jehovah stirred up their spirit against Jehoram. Probably here, as in the
+story of Zerah, the term Ethiopians is used loosely for the Egyptians, in
+which case the Arabs in question would be inhabitants of the desert
+between the south of Palestine and Egypt, and would thus be neighbours of
+their Philistine allies.
+
+These marauding bands succeeded where the huge hosts of Zerah had failed;
+they broke into Judah, and carried off all the king's treasure, together
+with his sons and his wives, only leaving him his youngest son: Jehoahaz
+or Ahaziah. They afterwards slew the princes they had taken captive.(393)
+The common people would scarcely suffer less severely than their king.
+Jehoram himself was reserved for special personal punishment: Jehovah
+smote him with a sore disease; and, like Asa, he lingered for two years
+and then died. The people were so impressed by his wickedness that "they
+made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers," whereas they
+had made a very great burning for Asa.(394)
+
+The chronicler's account of the reign of Ahaziah(395) does not differ
+materially from that given by the book of Kings, though it is considerably
+abridged, and there are other minor alterations. The chronicler sets forth
+even more emphatically than the earlier history the evil influence of
+Athaliah and her Israelite kinsfolk over Ahaziah's short reign of one
+year. The story of his visit to Jehoram, king of Israel, and the murder of
+the two kings by Jehu, is very much abridged. The chronicler carefully
+omits all reference to Elisha, according to his usual principle of
+ignoring the religious life of Northern Israel; but he expressly tells us
+that, like Jehoshaphat, Ahaziah suffered for consorting with the house of
+Omri: "His destruction or treading down was of God in that he went unto
+Jehoram." Our English versions have carefully reproduced an ambiguity in
+the original; but it seems probable that the chronicler does not mean that
+visiting Jehoram in his illness was a flagrant offence which God punished
+with death, but rather that, to punish Ahaziah for his imitation of the
+evil-doings of the house of Omri,(396) God allowed him to visit Jehoram in
+order that he might share the fate of the Israelite king.
+
+The book of Kings had stated that Jehu slew forty-two brethren of Ahaziah.
+It is, of course, perfectly allowable to take "brethren" in the general
+sense of "kinsmen"; but as the chronicler had recently mentioned the
+massacre of all Ahaziah's brethren, he avoids even the appearance of a
+contradiction by substituting "sons of the brethren of Ahaziah" for
+brethren. This alteration introduces new difficulties, but these
+difficulties simply illustrate the general confusion of numbers and ages
+which characterises the narrative at this point. In connection with the
+burial of Ahaziah, it may be noted that the popular recollection of
+Jehoshaphat endorsed the favourable judgment contained in the "writing of
+Elijah": "They said" of Ahaziah, "He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought
+Jehovah with all his heart."
+
+The chronicler next narrates Athaliah's murder of the seed royal of Judah
+and her usurpation of the throne of David, in terms almost identical with
+those of the narrative in the book of Kings. But his previous additions
+and modifications are hard to reconcile with the account he here borrows
+from his ancient authority. According to the chronicler, Jehoram had
+massacred all the other sons of Jehoshaphat, and the Arabians had slain
+all Jehoram's sons except Ahaziah, and Jehu had slain their sons; so that
+Ahaziah was the only living descendant in the male line of his grandfather
+Jehoshaphat; he himself apparently died at the age of twenty-three. It is
+intelligible enough that he should have a son Joash and possibly other
+sons; but still it is difficult to understand where Athaliah found "all
+the seed royal" and "the king's sons" whom she put to death. It is at any
+rate clear that Jehoram's slaughter of his brethren met with an
+appropriate punishment: all his own sons and grandsons were similarly
+slain, except the child Joash.
+
+The chronicler's narrative of the revolution by which Athaliah was slain,
+and the throne recovered for the house of David in the person of Joash,
+follows substantially the earlier history, the chief difference being, as
+we have already noticed,(397) that the chronicler substitutes the
+Levitical guard of the second Temple for the bodyguard of foreign
+mercenaries who were the actual agents in this revolution.
+
+A distinguished authority on European history is fond of pointing to the
+evil effects of royal marriages as one of the chief drawbacks to the
+monarchical system of government. A crown may at any time devolve upon a
+woman, and by her marriage with a powerful reigning prince her country may
+virtually be subjected to a foreign yoke. If it happens that the new
+sovereign professes a different religion from that of his wife's subjects,
+the evils arising from the marriage are seriously aggravated. Some such
+fate befell the Netherlands as the result of the marriage of Mary of
+Burgundy with the Emperor Maximilian, and England was only saved from the
+danger of transference to Catholic dominion by the caution and patriotism
+of Queen Elizabeth.
+
+Athaliah's usurpation was a bold attempt to reverse the usual process and
+transfer the husband's dominions to the authority and faith of the wife's
+family. It is probable that Athaliah's permanent success would have led to
+the absorption of Judah in the northern kingdom. This last misfortune was
+averted by the energy and courage of Jehoiada, but in the meantime the
+half-heathen queen had succeeded in causing untold harm and suffering to
+her adopted country. Our own history furnishes numerous illustrations of
+the evil influences that come in the train of foreign queens. Edward II.
+suffered grievously at the hands of his French queen; Henry VI.'s wife,
+Margaret of Anjou, contributed considerably to the prolonged bitterness of
+the struggle between York and Lancaster; and to Henry VIII.'s marriage
+with Catherine of Aragon the country owed the miseries and persecutions
+inflicted by Mary Tudor. But, on the other hand, many of the foreign
+princesses who have shared the English throne have won the lasting
+gratitude of the nation. A French queen of Kent, for instance, opened the
+way for Augustine's mission to England.
+
+But no foreign queen of England has had the opportunities for mischief
+that were enjoyed and fully utilised by Athaliah. She corrupted her
+husband and her son, and she was probably at once the instigator of their
+crimes and the instrument of their punishment. By corrupting the rulers of
+Judah and by her own misgovernment, she exercised an evil influence over
+the nation; and as the people suffered, not for their sins only, but also
+for those of their kings, Athaliah brought misfortunes and calamity upon
+Judah. Unfortunately such experiences are not confined to royal families;
+the peace and honour, and prosperity of godly families in all ranks of
+life have been disturbed and often destroyed by the marriage of one of
+their members with a woman of alien spirit and temperament. Here is a very
+general and practical application of the chronicler's objection to
+intercourse with the house of Omri.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI. Joash and Amaziah. 2 Chron. xxiv.-xxv.
+
+
+For Chronicles, as for the book of Kings, the main interest of the reign
+of Joash is the repairing of the Temple; but the later narrative
+introduces modifications which give a somewhat different complexion to the
+story. Both authorities tell us that Joash did that which was right in the
+eyes of Jehovah all the days of Jehoiada, but the book of Kings
+immediately adds that "the high places were not taken away: the people
+still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places."(398) Seeing that
+Jehoiada exercised the royal authority during the minority of Joash, this
+toleration of the high places must have had the sanction of the
+high-priest. Now the chronicler and his contemporaries had been educated
+in the belief that the Pentateuch was the ecclesiastical code of the
+monarchy; they found it impossible to credit a statement that the
+high-priest had sanctioned any other sanctuary besides the temple of Zion;
+accordingly they omitted the verse in question.
+
+In the earlier narrative of the repairing of the Temple the priests are
+ordered by Joash to use certain sacred dues and offerings to repair the
+breaches of the house; but after some time had elapsed it was found that
+the breaches had not been repaired: and when Joash remonstrated with the
+priests, they flatly refused to have anything to do with the repairs or
+with receiving funds for the purpose. Their objections were, however,
+overruled; and Jehoiada placed beside the altar a chest with a hole in the
+lid, into which "the priests put all the money that was brought into the
+house of Jehovah."(399) When it was sufficiently full, the king's scribe
+and the high-priest counted the money, and put it up in bags.
+
+There were several points in this earlier narrative which would have
+furnished very inconvenient precedents, and were so much out of keeping
+with the ideas and practices of the second Temple that, by the time the
+chronicler wrote, a new and more intelligible version of the story was
+current among the ministers of the Temple. To begin with, there was an
+omission which would have grated very unpleasantly on the feelings of the
+chronicler. In this long narrative, wholly taken up with the affairs of
+the Temple, nothing is said about the Levites. The collecting and
+receiving of money might well be supposed to belong to them; and
+accordingly in Chronicles the Levites are first associated with the
+priests in this matter, and then the priests drop out of the narrative,
+and the Levites alone carry out the financial arrangements.
+
+Again, it might be understood from the book of Kings that sacred dues and
+offerings, which formed the revenue of the priests and Levites, were
+diverted by the king's orders to the repair of the fabric. The chronicler
+was naturally anxious that there should be no mistake on this point; the
+ambiguous phrases are omitted, and it is plainly indicated that funds were
+raised for the repairs by means of a special tax ordained by Moses. Joash
+"assembled the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out into the
+cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of
+your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the
+Levites hastened it not." The remissness of the priests in the original
+narrative is here very faithfully and candidly transferred to the Levites.
+Then, as in the book of Kings, Joash remonstrates with Jehoiada, but the
+terms of his remonstrance are altogether different: here he complains
+because the Levites have not been required "to bring in out of Judah and
+out of Jerusalem the tax appointed by Moses the servant of Jehovah and by
+the congregation of Israel for the tent of the testimony,"_i.e._, the
+Tabernacle, containing the Ark and the tables of the Law. The reference
+apparently is to the law(400) that when a census was taken a poll-tax of a
+half-shekel a head should be paid for the service of the Tabernacle. As
+one of the main uses of a census was to facilitate the raising of taxes,
+this law might not unfairly be interpreted to mean that when occasion
+arose, or perhaps even every year, a census should be taken in order that
+this poll-tax might be levied. Nehemiah arranged for a yearly poll-tax of
+a third of a shekel for the incidental expenses of the Temple.(401) Here,
+however, the half-shekel prescribed in Exodus is intended; and it should
+be observed that this poll-tax was to be levied, not once only but "from
+year to year." The chronicler then inserts a note to explain why these
+repairs were necessary: "The sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had
+broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house
+of Jehovah they bestowed upon the Baals." Here we are confronted with a
+further difficulty. All Jehoram's sons except Ahaziah were murdered by the
+Arabs in their father's life-time. Who are these "sons of Athaliah" who
+broke up the Temple? Jehoram was about thirty-seven when his sons were
+massacred, so that some of them may have been old enough to break up the
+Temple. One would think that "the dedicated things" might have been
+recovered for Jehovah when Athaliah was overthrown; but possibly, when the
+people retaliated by breaking into the house of Baal, there were Achans
+among them, who appropriated the plunder.
+
+Having remonstrated with Jehoiada, the king took matters into his own
+hands; and he, not Jehoiada, had a chest made and placed, not beside the
+altar--such an arrangement savoured of profanity--but without at the gate of
+the Temple. This little touch is very suggestive. The noise and bustle of
+paying over money, receiving it, and putting it into the chest, would have
+mingled distractingly with the solemn ritual of sacrifice. In modern times
+the tinkle of threepenny pieces often tends to mar the effect of an
+impressive appeal and to disturb the quiet influences of a communion
+service. The Scotch arrangement, by which a plate covered with a fair
+white cloth is placed in the porch of a church and guarded by two modern
+Levites or elders, is much more in accordance with Chronicles.
+
+Then, instead of sending out Levites to collect the tax, proclamation was
+made that the people themselves should bring their offerings. Obedience
+apparently was made a matter of conscience, not of solicitation. Perhaps
+it was because the Levites felt that sacred dues should be given freely
+that they were not forward to make yearly tax-collecting expeditions. At
+any rate, the new method was signally successful. Day after day the
+princes and people gladly brought their offerings, and money was gathered
+in abundance. Other passages suggest that the chronicler was not always
+inclined to trust to the spontaneous generosity of the people for the
+support of the priests and Levites; but he plainly recognised that
+free-will offerings are more excellent than the donations which are
+painfully extracted by the yearly visits of official collectors. He would
+probably have sympathised with the abolition of pew-rents.
+
+As in the book of Kings, the chest was emptied at suitable intervals; but
+instead of the high-priest being associated with the king's scribe, as if
+they were on a level and both of them officials of the royal court, the
+chief priest's _officer_ assists the king's _scribe_, so that the chief
+priest is placed on a level with the king himself.
+
+The details of the repairs in the two narratives differ considerably in
+form, but for the most part agree in substance; the only striking point is
+that they are apparently at variance as to whether vessels of silver or
+gold were or were not made for the renovated Temple.
+
+Then follows the account(402) of the ingratitude and apostacy of Joash and
+his people. As long as Jehoiada lived, the services of the Temple were
+regularly performed, and Judah remained faithful to its God; but at last
+he died, full of days: a hundred and thirty years old. In his life-time he
+had exercised royal authority, and when he died he was buried like a king:
+"They buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done
+good in Israel and toward God and His house."(403) Like Nero when he shook
+off the control of Seneca and Burrhus, Joash changed his policy as soon as
+Jehoiada was dead. Apparently he was a weak character, always following
+some one's leading. His freedom from the influence that had made his early
+reign decent and honourable was not, as in Nero's case, his own act. The
+change of policy was adopted at the suggestion of the princes of Judah.
+Kings, princes, and people fell back into the old wickedness; they forsook
+the Temple and served idols. Yet Jehovah did not readily give them up to
+their own folly, nor hastily inflict punishment; He sent, not one prophet,
+but many, to bring them back to Himself, but they would not hearken. At
+last Jehovah made one last effort to win Joash back; this time He chose
+for His messenger a priest who had special personal claims on the
+favourable attention of the king. The prophet was Zechariah the son of
+Jehoiada, to whom Joash owed his life and his throne. The name was a
+favourite one in Israel, and was borne by two other prophets besides the
+son of Jehoiada. Its very etymology constituted an appeal to the
+conscience of Joash: it is compounded of the sacred name and a root
+meaning "to remember". The Jews were adepts at extracting from such a
+combination all its possible applications. The most obvious was that
+Jehovah would remember the sin of Judah, but the recent prophets sent to
+recall the sinners to their God showed that Jehovah also remembered their
+former righteousness and desired to recall it to them and them to it; they
+should remember Jehovah. Moreover, Joash should remember the teaching of
+Jehoiada and his obligations to the father of the man now addressing him.
+Probably Joash did remember all this when, in the striking Hebrew idiom,
+"the spirit of God clothed itself with Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the
+priest, and he stood above the people and said unto them, Thus saith God:
+Why transgress ye the commandments of Jehovah, to your hurt? Because ye
+have forsaken Jehovah, He hath also forsaken you." This is the burden of
+the prophetic utterances in Chronicles(404); the converse is stated by
+Irenaeus when he says that to follow the Saviour is to partake of
+salvation. Though the truth of this teaching had been enforced again and
+again by the misfortunes that had befallen Judah under apostate kings,
+Joash paid no heed to it, nor did he remember the kindness which Jehoiada
+had done him; that is to say, he showed no gratitude towards the house of
+Jehoiada. Perhaps an uncomfortable sense of obligation to the father only
+embittered him the more against his son. But the son of the high-priest
+could not be dealt with as summarily as Asa dealt with Hanani when he put
+him in prison. The king might have been indifferent to the wrath of
+Jehovah, but the son of the man who had for years ruled Judah and
+Jerusalem must have had a strong party at his back. Accordingly the king
+and his adherents conspired against Zechariah, and they stoned him with
+stones by the king's command. This Old Testament martyr died in a very
+different spirit from that of Stephen; his prayer was, not, "Lord, lay not
+this sin to their charge," but "Jehovah, look upon it and require it." His
+prayer did not long remain unanswered. Within a year the Syrians(405) came
+against Joash; he had a very great host, but he was powerless against a
+small company of the Divinely commissioned avengers of Zechariah. The
+tempters who had seduced the king into apostacy were a special mark for
+the wrath of Jehovah: the Syrians destroyed all the princes, and sent
+their spoil to the king of Damascus. Like Asa and Jehoram, Joash suffered
+personal punishment in the shape of "great diseases," but his end was even
+more tragic than theirs. One conspiracy avenged another: in his own
+household there were adherents of the family of Jehoiada: "Two of his own
+servants conspired against him for the blood of Zechariah, and slew him on
+his bed; and they buried him in the city of David, and not in the
+sepulchres of the kings."
+
+The chronicler's biography of Joash might have been specially designed to
+remind his readers that the most careful education must sometimes fail of
+its purpose. Joash had been trained from his earliest years in the Temple
+itself, under the care of Jehoiada and of his aunt Jehoshabeath, the
+high-priest's wife. He had no doubt been carefully instructed in the
+religion and sacred history of Israel, and had been continually surrounded
+by the best religious influences of his age. For Judah, in the
+chronicler's estimation, was even then the one home of the true faith.
+These holy influences had been continued after Joash had attained to
+manhood, and Jehoiada was careful to provide that the young king's harem
+should be enlisted in the cause of piety and good government. We may be
+sure that the two wives whom Jehoiada selected for his pupil were
+consistent worshippers of Jehovah and loyal to the Law and the Temple. No
+daughter of the house of Ahab, no "strange wife" from Egypt, Ammon, or
+Moab, would be allowed the opportunity of undoing the good effects of
+early training. Moreover, we might have expected the character developed
+by education to be strengthened by exercise. The early years of his reign
+were occupied by zealous activity in the service of the Temple. The pupil
+outstripped his master, and the enthusiasm of the youthful king found
+occasion to rebuke the tardy zeal of the venerable high-priest.
+
+And yet all this fair promise was blighted in a day. The piety carefully
+fostered for half a life-time gave way before the first assaults of
+temptation, and never even attempted to reassert itself. Possibly the
+brief and fragmentary records from which the chronicler had to make his
+selection unduly emphasise the contrast between the earlier and later
+years of the reign of Joash; but the picture he draws of the failure of
+best of tutors and governors is unfortunately only too typical. Julian the
+Apostate was educated by a distinguished Christian prelate, Eusebius of
+Nicomedia, and was trained in a strict routine of religious observances;
+yet he repudiated Christianity at the earliest safe opportunity. His
+apostacy, like that of Joash, was probably characterised by base
+ingratitude. At Constantine's death the troops in Constantinople massacred
+nearly all the princes of the imperial family, and Julian, then only six
+years old, is said to have been saved and concealed in a church by Mark,
+Bishop of Arethusa. When Julian became emperor, he repaid this obligation
+by subjecting his benefactor to cruel tortures because he had destroyed a
+heathen temple and refused to make any compensation. Imagine Joash
+requiring Jehoiada to make compensation for pulling down a high place!
+
+The parallel of Julian may suggest a partial explanation of the fall of
+Joash. The tutelage of Jehoiada may have been too strict, monotonous, and
+prolonged; in choosing wives for the young king, the aged priest may not
+have made an altogether happy selection; Jehoiada may have kept Joash
+under control until he was incapable of independence and could only pass
+from one dominant influence to another. When the high-priest's death gave
+the king an opportunity of changing his masters, a reaction from the too
+urgent insistence upon his duty to the Temple may have inclined Joash to
+listen favourably to the solicitations of the princes.
+
+But perhaps the sins of Joash are sufficiently accounted for by his
+ancestry. His mother was Zibiah of Beersheba, and therefore probably a
+Jewess. Of her we know nothing further good or bad. Otherwise his
+ancestors for two generations had been uniformly bad. His father and
+grandfather were the wicked kings Jehoram and Ahaziah; his grandmother was
+Athaliah; and he was descended from Ahab, and possibly from Jezebel. When
+we recollect that his mother Zibiah was a wife of Ahaziah and had probably
+been selected by Athaliah, we cannot suppose that the element she
+contributed to his character would do much to counteract the evil he
+inherited from his father.
+
+The chronicler's account of his successor Amaziah is equally
+disappointing; he also began well and ended miserably. In the opening
+formulae of the history of the new reign and in the account of the
+punishment of the assassins of Joash, the chronicler closely follows the
+earlier narrative, omitting, as usual, the statement that this good king
+did not take away the high places. Like his pious predecessors, Amaziah in
+his earlier and better years was rewarded with a great army(406) and
+military success; and yet the muster-roll of his forces shows how the sins
+and calamities of the recent wicked reigns had told on the resources of
+Judah. Jehoshaphat could command more than eleven hundred and sixty
+thousand soldiers; Amaziah has only three hundred thousand.
+
+These were not sufficient for the king's ambition; by the Divine grace, he
+had already amassed wealth, in spite of the Syrian ravages at the close of
+the preceding reign: and he laid out a hundred talents of silver in
+purchasing the services of as many thousand Israelites, thus falling into
+the sin for which Jehoshaphat had twice been reproved and punished.
+Jehovah, however, arrested Amaziah's employment of unholy allies at the
+outset. A man of God came to him and exhorted him not to let the army of
+Israel go with him, because "Jehovah is not with Israel"; if he had
+courage and faith to go with only his three hundred thousand Jews, all
+would be well, otherwise God would cast him down, as He had done Ahaziah.
+The statement that Jehovah was not with Israel might have been understood
+in a sense that would seem almost blasphemous to the chronicler's
+contemporaries; he is careful therefore to explain that here "Israel"
+simply means "the children of Ephraim."
+
+Amaziah obeyed the prophet, but was naturally distressed at the thought
+that he had spent a hundred talents for nothing: "What shall we do for the
+hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?" He did not
+realise that the Divine alliance would be worth more to him than many
+hundred talents of silver; or perhaps he reflected that Divine grace is
+free, and that he might have saved his money. One would like to believe
+that he was anxious to recover this silver in order to devote it to the
+service of the sanctuary; but he was evidently one of those sordid souls
+who like, as the phrase goes, "to get their religion for nothing." No
+wonder Amaziah went astray! We can scarcely be wrong in detecting a vein
+of contempt in the prophet's answer: "Jehovah can give thee much more than
+this."
+
+This little episode carries with it a great principle. Every crusade
+against an established abuse is met with the cry, "What shall we do for
+the hundred talents?"--for the capital invested in slaves or in gin-shops;
+for English revenues from alcohol or Indian revenues from opium? Few have
+faith to believe that the Lord can provide for financial deficits, or, if
+we may venture to indicate the method in which the Lord provides, that a
+nation will ever be able to pay its way by honest finance. Let us note,
+however, that Amaziah was asked to sacrifice his own talents, and not
+other people's.
+
+Accordingly Amaziah sent the mercenaries home; and they returned in great
+dudgeon, offended by the slight put upon them and disappointed at the loss
+of prospective plunder. The king's sin in hiring Israelite mercenaries was
+to suffer a severer punishment than the loss of money. While he was away
+at war, his rejected allies returned, and attacked the border cities,(407)
+killed three thousand Jews, and took much plunder.
+
+Meanwhile Amaziah and his army were reaping direct fruits of their
+obedience in Edom, where they gained a great victory, and followed it up
+by a massacre of ten thousand captives, whom they killed by throwing down
+from the top of a precipice. Yet, after all, Amaziah's victory over Edom
+was of small profit to him, for he was thereby seduced into idolatry.
+Amongst his other prisoners, he had brought away the gods of Edom; and
+instead of throwing them over a precipice, as a pious king should have
+done, "he set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them,
+and burned incense unto them."
+
+Then Jehovah, in His anger, sent a prophet to demand, "Why hast thou
+sought after foreign gods, which have not delivered their own people out
+of thine hand?" According to current ideas outside of Israel, a nation
+might very reasonably seek after the gods of their conquerors. Such
+conquest could only be attributed to the superior power and grace of the
+gods of the victors: the gods of the defeated were vanquished along with
+their worshippers, and were obviously incompetent and unworthy of further
+confidence. But to act like Amaziah--to go out to battle in the name of
+Jehovah, directed and encouraged by His prophet, to conquer by the grace
+of the God of Israel, and then to desert Jehovah of hosts, the Giver of
+victory, for the paltry and discredited idols of the conquered
+Edomites--this was sheer madness. And yet as Greece enslaved her Roman
+conquerors, so the victor has often been won to the faith of the
+vanquished. The Church subdued the barbarians who had overwhelmed the
+empire, and the heathen Saxons adopted at last the religion of the
+conquered Britons. Henry IV. of France is scarcely a parallel to Amaziah:
+he went to mass that he might hold his sceptre with a firmer grasp, while
+the king of Judah merely adopted foreign idols in order to gratify his
+superstition and love of novelty.
+
+Apparently Amaziah was at first inclined to discuss the question: he and
+the prophet talked together; but the king soon became irritated, and broke
+off the interview with abrupt discourtesy: "Have we made thee of the
+king's counsel? Forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten?" Prosperity seems
+to have been invariably fatal to the Jewish kings who began to reign well;
+the success that rewarded, at the same time destroyed their virtue. Before
+his victory Amaziah had been courteous and submissive to the messenger of
+Jehovah; now he defied Him and treated His prophet roughly. The latter
+disappeared, but not before he had declared the Divine condemnation of the
+stubborn king.
+
+The rest of the history of Amaziah--his presumptuous war with Joash, king
+of Israel, his defeat and degradation, and his assassination--is taken
+verbatim from the book of Kings, with a few modifications and editorial
+notes by the chronicler to harmonise these sections with the rest of his
+narrative. For instance, in the book of Kings the account of the war with
+Joash begins somewhat abruptly: Amaziah sends his defiance before any
+reason has been given for his action. The chronicler inserts a phrase
+which connects his new paragraph very suggestively with the one that goes
+before. The former concluded with the king's taunt that the prophet was
+not of his counsel, to which the prophet replied that the king should be
+destroyed because he had not hearkened to the Divine counsel proffered to
+him. Then Amaziah "took advice"; _i.e._, he consulted those who were of
+his counsel, and the sequel showed their incompetence. The chronicler also
+explains that Amaziah's rash persistence in his challenge to Joash "was of
+God, that He might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because
+they had sought after the gods of Edom." He also tells us that the name of
+the custodian of the sacred vessels of the Temple was Obed-edom. As the
+chronicler mentions five Levites of the name of Obed-edom, four of whom
+occur nowhere else, the name was probably common in some family still
+surviving in his own time. But, in view of the fondness of the Jews for
+significant etymology, it is probable that the name is recorded here
+because it was exceedingly appropriate. "The servant of Edom" suits the
+official who has to surrender his sacred charge to a conqueror because his
+own king had worshipped the gods of Edom. Lastly, an additional note
+explains that Amaziah's apostacy had promptly deprived him of the
+confidence and loyalty of his subjects; the conspiracy which led to his
+assassination was formed from the time that he turned away from following
+Jehovah, so that when he sent his proud challenge to Joash his authority
+was already undermined, and there were traitors in the army which he led
+against Israel. We are shown one of the means used by Jehovah to bring
+about his defeat.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII. Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz.(408) 2 Chron. xxvi.-xxviii.
+
+
+After the assassination of Amaziah, all the people of Judah took his son
+Uzziah, a lad of sixteen, called in the book of Kings Azariah, and made
+him king. The chronicler borrows from the older narrative the statement
+that "Uzziah did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to
+all that his father Amaziah had done." In the light of the sins attributed
+both to Amaziah and Uzziah in Chronicles, this is a somewhat doubtful
+compliment. Sarcasm, however, is not one of the chronicler's failings; he
+simply allows the older history to speak for itself, and leaves the reader
+to combine its judgment with the statement of later tradition as best he
+can. But yet we might modify this verse, and read that Uzziah did good and
+evil, prospered and fell into misfortune, according to all that his father
+Amaziah had done, or an even closer parallel might be drawn between what
+Uzziah did and suffered and the chequered character and fortunes of Joash.
+
+Though much older than the latter, at his accession Uzziah was young
+enough to be very much under the control of ministers and advisers; and as
+Joash was trained in loyalty to Jehovah by the high-priest Jehoiada, so
+Uzziah "set himself to seek God during the life-time" of a certain
+prophet, who, like the son of Jehoiada, was named Zechariah, "who had
+understanding or gave instruction in the fear of Jehovah,"(409) _i.e._, a
+man versed in sacred learning, rich in spiritual experience, and able to
+communicate his knowledge, such a one as Ezra the scribe in later days.
+
+Under the guidance of this otherwise unknown prophet, the young king was
+led to conform his private life and public administration to the will of
+God. In "seeking God," Uzziah would be careful to maintain and attend the
+Temple services, to honour the priests of Jehovah and make due provision
+for their wants; and "as long as he sought Jehovah God gave him
+prosperity."
+
+Uzziah received all the rewards usually bestowed upon pious kings: he was
+victorious in war, and exacted tribute from neighbouring states; he built
+fortresses, and had abundance of cattle and slaves, a large and
+well-equipped army, and well-supplied arsenals. Like other powerful kings
+of Judah, he asserted his supremacy over the tribes along the southern
+frontier of his kingdom. God helped him against the Philistines, the
+Arabians of Gur-baal, and the Meunim. He destroyed the fortifications of
+Gath, Jabne, and Ashdod, and built forts of his own in the country of the
+Philistines. Nothing is known about Gur-baal; but the Arabian allies of
+the Philistines would be, like Jehoram's enemies "the Arabians who dwelt
+near the Ethiopians," nomads of the deserts south of Judah. These
+Philistines and Arabians had brought tribute to Jehoshaphat without
+waiting to be subdued by his armies; so now the Ammonites gave gifts to
+Uzziah, and his name spread abroad "even to the entering in of Egypt,"
+possibly a hundred or even a hundred and fifty miles from Jerusalem. It is
+evident that the chronicler's ideas of international politics were of very
+modest dimensions.
+
+Moreover, Uzziah added to the fortifications of Jerusalem; and because he
+loved husbandry and had cattle, and husbandmen, and vine-dressers in the
+open country and outlying districts of Judah, he built towers for their
+protection. His army was of about the same strength as that of Amaziah,
+three hundred thousand men, so that in this, as in his character and
+exploits, he did according to all that his father had done, except that he
+was content with his own Jewish warriors and did not waste his talents in
+purchasing worse than useless reinforcements from Israel. Uzziah's army
+was well disciplined, carefully organised, and constantly employed; they
+were men of mighty power, and went out to war by bands, to collect the
+king's tribute and enlarge his dominions and revenue by new conquests. The
+war material in his arsenals is described at greater length than that of
+any previous king: shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows and
+stones for slings. The great advance of military science in Uzziah's reign
+was marked by the invention of engines of war for the defence of
+Jerusalem; some, like the Roman _catapulta_, were for arrows, and others,
+like the _ballista_, to hurl huge stones. Though the Assyrian sculptures
+show us that battering-rams were freely employed by them against the walls
+of Jewish cities,(410) and the _ballista_ is said by Pliny to have been
+invented in Syria,(411) no other Hebrew king is credited with the
+possession of this primitive artillery. The chronicler or his authority
+seems profoundly impressed by the great skill displayed in this invention;
+in describing it, he uses the root hashabh, to devise, three times in
+three consecutive words. The engines were "_hishshebhonoth mahashebheth
+hoshebh_"--"engines engineered by the ingenious." Jehovah not only provided
+Uzziah with ample military resources of every kind, but also blessed the
+means which He Himself had furnished; Uzziah "was marvellously helped,
+till he was strong, and his name spread far abroad." The neighbouring
+states heard with admiration of his military resources.
+
+The student of Chronicles will by this time be prepared for the invariable
+sequel to God-given prosperity. Like David, Rehoboam, Asa, and Amaziah,
+when Uzziah "was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction." The
+most powerful of the kings of Judah died a leper. An attack of leprosy
+admitted of only one explanation: it was a plague inflicted by Jehovah
+Himself as the punishment of sin; and so the book of Kings tells us that
+"Jehovah smote the king," but says nothing about the sin thus punished.
+The chronicler was able to supply the omission: Uzziah had dared to go
+into the Temple and with irregular zeal to burn incense on the altar of
+incense. In so doing, he was violating the Law, which made the priestly
+office and all priestly functions the exclusive prerogative of the house
+of Aaron and denounced the penalty of death against any one who usurped
+priestly functions.(412) But Uzziah was not allowed to carry out his
+unholy design; the high-priest Azariah went in after him with eighty
+stalwart colleagues, rebuked his presumption, and bade him leave the
+sanctuary. Uzziah was no more tractable to the admonitions of the priest
+than Asa and Amaziah had been to those of the prophets. The kings of Judah
+were accustomed, even in Chronicles, to exercise an unchallenged control
+over the Temple and to regard the high-priests very much in the light of
+private chaplains. Uzziah was wroth; he was at the zenith of his power and
+glory; his heart was lifted up. Who were these priests, that they should
+stand between him and Jehovah and dare to publicly check and rebuke him in
+his own temple? Henry II.'s feelings towards Becket must have been mild
+compared to those of Uzziah towards Azariah, who, if the king could have
+had his way, would doubtless have shared the fate of Zechariah the son of
+Jehoiada. But a direct intervention of Jehovah protected the priests, and
+preserved Uzziah from further sacrilege. While his features were convulsed
+with anger, leprosy brake forth in his forehead. The contest between king
+and priest was at once ended; the priests thrust him out, and he himself
+hasted to go, recognising that Jehovah had smitten him. Henceforth he
+lived apart, cut off from fellowship alike with man and God, and his son
+Jotham governed in his stead. The book of Kings simply makes the general
+statement that Uzziah was buried with his fathers in the city of David;
+but the chronicler is anxious that his readers should not suppose that the
+tombs of the sacred house of David were polluted by the presence of a
+leprous corpse: he explains that the leper was buried, not in the royal
+sepulchre, but in the field attached to it.
+
+The moral of this incident is obvious. In attempting to understand its
+significance, we need not trouble ourselves about the relative authority
+of kings and priests; the principle vindicated by the punishment of Uzziah
+was the simple duty of obedience to an express command of Jehovah. However
+trivial the burning of incense may be in itself, it formed part of an
+elaborate and complicated system of ritual. To interfere with the Divine
+ordinances in one detail would mar the significance and impressiveness of
+the whole Temple service. One arbitrary innovation would be a precedent
+for others, and would constitute a serious danger for a system whose value
+lay in continuous uniformity. Moreover, Uzziah was stubborn in
+disobedience. His attempt to burn incense might have been sufficiently
+punished by the public and humiliating reproof of the high-priest. His
+leprosy came upon him because when thwarted in an unholy purpose he gave
+way to ungoverned passion.
+
+In its consequences we see a practical application of the lessons of the
+incident. How often is the sinner only provoked to greater wickedness by
+the obstacles which Divine grace opposes to his wrongdoing! How few men
+will tolerate the suggestion that their intentions are cruel, selfish, or
+dishonourable! Remonstrance is an insult, an offence against their
+personal dignity; they feel that their self-respect demands that they
+should persevere in their purpose, and that they should resent and punish
+any one who has tried to thwart them. Uzziah's wrath was perfectly
+natural; few men have been so uniformly patient of reproof as not
+sometimes to have turned in anger upon those who warned them against sin.
+The most dramatic feature of this episode, the sudden frost of leprosy in
+the king's forehead, is not without its spiritual antitype. Men's anger at
+well-merited reproof has often blighted their lives once for all with
+ineradicable moral leprosy. In the madness of passion they have broken
+bonds which have hitherto restrained them and committed themselves beyond
+recall to evil pursuits and fatal friendships. Let us take the most
+lenient view of Uzziah's conduct, and suppose that he believed himself
+entitled to offer incense; he could not doubt that the priests were
+equally confident that Jehovah had enjoined the duty on them, and them
+alone. Such a question was not to be decided by violence, in the heat of
+personal bitterness. Azariah himself had been unwisely zealous in bringing
+in his eighty priests; Jehovah showed him that they were quite
+unnecessary, because at the last Uzziah "himself hasted to go out." When
+personal passion and jealousy are eliminated from Christian polemics, the
+Church will be able to write the epitaph of the _odium theologicum_.
+
+Uzziah was succeeded by Jotham, who had already governed for some time as
+regent. In recording the favourable judgment of the book of Kings, "He did
+that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his
+father Uzziah had done," the chronicler is careful to add, "Howbeit he
+entered not into the temple of Jehovah"; the exclusive privilege of the
+house of Aaron had been established once for all. The story of Jotham's
+reign comes like a quiet and pleasant oasis in the chronicler's dreary
+narrative of wicked rulers, interspersed with pious kings whose piety
+failed them in their latter days. Jotham shares with Solomon the
+distinguished honour of being a king of whom no evil is recorded either in
+Kings or Chronicles, and who died in prosperity, at peace with Jehovah. At
+the same time it is probable that Jotham owes the blameless character he
+bears in Chronicles to the fact that the earlier narrative does not
+mention any misfortunes of his, especially any misfortune towards the
+close of his life. Otherwise the theological school from whom the
+chronicler derived his later traditions would have been anxious to
+discover or deduce some sin to account for such misfortune. At the end of
+the short notice of his reign, between two parts of the usual closing
+formula, an editor of the book of Kings has inserted the statement that
+"in those days Jehovah began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria
+and Pekah the son of Remaliah." This verse the chronicler has omitted;
+neither the date(413) nor the nature of this trouble was clear enough to
+cast any slur upon the character of Jotham.
+
+Jotham, again, had the rewards of a pious king: he added a gate to the
+Temple, and strengthened the wall of Ophel(414), and built cities and
+castles in Judah; he made successful war upon Ammon, and received from
+them an immense tribute--a hundred talents of silver, ten thousand measures
+of wheat, and as much barley--for three successive years. What happened
+afterwards we are not told. It has been suggested that the amounts
+mentioned were paid in three yearly instalments, or that the three years
+were at the end of the reign, and the tribute came to an end when Jotham
+died or when the troubles with Pekah and Rezin began.
+
+We have had repeated occasion to notice that in his accounts of the good
+kings the chronicler almost always omits the qualifying clause to the
+effect that they did not take away the high places. He does so here; but,
+contrary to his usual practice, he inserts a qualifying clause of his own:
+"The people did yet corruptly." He probably had in view the unmitigated
+wickedness of the following reign, and was glad to retain the evidence
+that Ahaz found encouragement and support in his idolatry; he is careful,
+however, to state the fact so that no shadow of blame falls upon Jotham.
+
+The life of Ahaz has been dealt with elsewhere. Here we need merely repeat
+that for the sixteen years of his reign Judah was to all appearance
+utterly given over to every form of idolatry, and was oppressed and
+brought low by Israel, Syria, and Assyria.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII. Hezekiah: The Religious Value Of Music. 2 Chron.
+xxix.-xxxii.
+
+
+The bent of the chroniclers mind is well illustrated by the proportion of
+space assigned to ritual by him and by the book of Kings respectively. In
+the latter a few lines only are devoted to ritual, and the bulk of the
+space is given to the invasion of Sennacherib, the embassy from Babylon,
+etc., while in Chronicles ritual occupies about three times as many verses
+as personal and public affairs.
+
+Hezekiah, though not blameless, was all but perfect in his loyalty to
+Jehovah. The chronicler reproduces the customary formula for a good king:
+"He did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that
+David his father had done"; but his cautious judgment rejects the somewhat
+rhetorical statement in Kings that "after him was none like him among all
+the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him."
+
+Hezekiah's policy was made clear immediately after his accession. His zeal
+for reformation could tolerate no delay; the first month(415) of the first
+year of his reign saw him actively engaged in the good work.(416) It was
+no light task that lay before him. Not only were there altars in every
+corner of Jerusalem and idolatrous high places in every city of Judah, but
+the Temple services had ceased, the lamps were put out, the sacred vessels
+cut in pieces, the Temple had been polluted and then closed, and the
+priests and Levites were scattered. Sixteen years of licensed idolatry
+must have fostered all that was vile in the country, have put wicked men
+in authority, and created numerous vested interests connected by close
+ties with idolatry, notably the priests of all the altars and high places.
+On the other hand, the reign of Ahaz had been an unbroken series of
+disasters; the people had repeatedly endured the horrors of invasion. His
+government as time went on must have become more and more unpopular, for
+when he died he was not buried in the sepulchres of the kings. As idolatry
+was a prominent feature of his policy, there would be a reaction in favour
+of the worship of Jehovah, and there would not be wanting true believers
+to tell the people that their sufferings were a consequence of idolatry.
+To a large party in Judah Hezekiah's reversal of his father's religious
+policy would be as welcome as Elizabeth's declaration against Rome was to
+most Englishmen.
+
+Hezekiah began by opening and repairing the doors of the Temple. Its
+closed doors had been a symbol of the national repudiation of Jehovah; to
+reopen them was necessarily the first step in the reconciliation of Judah
+to its God, but only the first step. The doors were open as a sign that
+Jehovah was invited to return to His people and again to manifest His
+presence in the Holy of holies, so that through those open doors Israel
+might have access to Him by means of the priests. But the Temple was as
+yet no fit place for the presence of Jehovah. With its lamps extinguished,
+its sacred vessels destroyed, its floors and walls thick with dust and
+full of all filthiness, it was rather a symbol of the apostacy of Judah.
+Accordingly Hezekiah sought the help of the Levites. It is true that he is
+first said to have collected together priests and Levites, but from that
+point onward the priests are almost entirely ignored.
+
+Hezekiah reminded the Levites of the misdoings of Ahaz and his adherents
+and the wrath which they had brought upon Judah and Jerusalem; he told
+them it was his purpose to conciliate Jehovah by making a covenant with
+Him; he appealed to them as the chosen ministers of Jehovah and His temple
+to co-operate heartily in this good work.
+
+The Levites responded to his appeal apparently rather in acts than words.
+No spokesman replies to the king's speech, but with prompt obedience they
+set about their work forthwith; they arose, Kohathites, sons of Merari,
+Gershonites, sons of Elizaphan, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun--the chronicler
+has a Homeric fondness for catalogues of high-sounding names--the leaders
+of all these divisions are duly mentioned. Kohath, Gershon, and Merari are
+well known as the three great clans of the house of Levi; and here we find
+the three guilds of singers--Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun--placed on a level
+with the older clans. Elizaphan was apparently a division of the clan
+Kohath,(417) which, like the guilds of singers, had obtained an
+independent status. The result is to recognise seven divisions of the
+tribe.
+
+The chiefs of the Levites gathered their brethren together, and having
+performed the necessary rites of ceremonial cleansing for themselves, went
+in to cleanse the Temple; that is to say, the priests went into the holy
+place and the Holy of holies and brought out "all the uncleanness" into
+the court, and the Levites carried it away to the brook Kidron: but before
+the building itself could be reached eight days were spent in cleansing
+the courts, and then the priests went into the Temple itself and spent
+eight days in cleansing it, in the manner described above. Then they
+reported to the king that the cleansing was finished, and especially that
+"all the vessels which King Ahaz cast away" had been recovered and
+reconsecrated with due ceremony. We were told in the previous chapter that
+Ahaz had cut to pieces the vessels of the Temple, but these may have been
+other vessels.
+
+Then Hezekiah celebrated a great dedication feast; seven bullocks, seven
+rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats were offered as a sin-offering for
+the dynasty,(418) for the Temple, for Judah, and (by special command of
+the king) for all Israel, _i.e._ for the northern tribes as well as for
+Judah and Benjamin. Apparently this sin-offering was made in silence, but
+afterwards the king set the Levites and priests in their places with their
+musical instruments, and when the burnt offering began "the song of
+Jehovah began with the trumpets together with the instruments of David
+king of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang,
+and the trumpeters sounded," and all this continued till the burnt
+offering was finished.
+
+When the people had been formally reconciled to Jehovah by this
+representative national sacrifice, and thus purified from the uncleanness
+of idolatry and consecrated afresh to their God, they were permitted and
+invited to make individual sacrifices, thank-offerings and burnt
+offerings. Each man might enjoy for himself the renewed privilege of
+access to Jehovah, and obtain the assurance of pardon for his sins, and
+offer thanksgiving for his own special blessings. And they brought
+offerings in abundance: seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, and two hundred
+lambs for a burnt offering; and six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep
+for thank-offerings. Thus were the Temple services restored and
+reinaugurated; and Hezekiah and the people rejoiced because they felt that
+this unpremeditated outburst of enthusiasm was due to the gracious
+influence of the Spirit of Jehovah.
+
+The chronicler's narrative is somewhat marred by a touch of professional
+jealousy. According to the ordinary ritual,(419) the offerer flayed the
+burnt offerings; but for some special reason, perhaps because of the
+exceptional solemnity of the occasion, this duty now devolved upon the
+priests. But the burnt offerings were abundant beyond all precedent; the
+priests were too few for the work, and the Levites were called in to help
+them, "for the Levites were more upright in heart to purify themselves
+than the priests." Apparently even in the second Temple brethren did not
+always dwell together in unity.
+
+Hezekiah had now provided for the regular services of the Temple, and had
+given the inhabitants of Jerusalem a full opportunity of returning to
+Jehovah; but the people of the provinces were chiefly acquainted with the
+Temple through the great annual festivals. These, too, had long been in
+abeyance; and special steps had to be taken to secure their future
+observance. In order to do this, it was necessary to recall the
+provincials to their allegiance to Jehovah. Under ordinary circumstances
+the great festival of the Passover would have been observed in the first
+month, but at the time appointed for the paschal feast the Temple was
+still unclean, and the priests and Levites were occupied in its
+purification. But Hezekiah could not endure that the first year of his
+reign should be marked by the omission of this great feast. He took
+counsel with the princes and public assembly--nothing is said about the
+priests--and they decided to hold the Passover in the second month instead
+of the first. We gather from casual allusions in vv. 6-8 that the kingdom
+of Samaria had already come to an end; the people had been carried into
+captivity, and only a remnant were left in the land.(420) From this point
+the kings of Judah act as religious heads of the whole nation and
+territory of Israel. Hezekiah sent invitations to all Israel from Dan to
+Beersheba. He made special efforts to secure a favourable response from
+the northern tribes, sending letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, _i.e._, to
+the ten tribes under their leadership. He reminded them that their
+brethren had gone into captivity because the northern tribes had deserted
+the Temple; and held out to them the hope that, if they worshipped at the
+Temple and served Jehovah, they should themselves escape further calamity,
+and their brethren and children who had gone into captivity should return
+to their own land.
+
+"So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and
+Manasseh, even unto Zebulun." Either Zebulun is used in a broad sense for
+all the Galilean tribes, or the phrase "from Beersheba to Dan" is merely
+rhetorical, for to the north, between Zebulun and Dan, lay the territories
+of Asher and Naphtali. It is to be noticed that the tribes beyond Jordan
+are nowhere referred to; they had already fallen out of the history of
+Israel, and were scarcely remembered in the time of the chronicler.
+
+Hezekiah's appeal to the surviving communities of the northern kingdom
+failed: they laughed his messengers to scorn, and mocked them; but
+individuals responded to his invitation in such numbers that they are
+spoken of as "a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and
+Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun." There were also men of Asher among the
+northern pilgrims.(421)
+
+The pious enthusiasm of Judah stood out in vivid contrast to the stubborn
+impenitence of the majority of the ten tribes. By the grace of God, Judah
+was of one heart to observe the feast appointed by Jehovah through the
+king and princes, so that there was gathered in Jerusalem a very great
+assembly of worshippers, surpassing even the great gatherings which the
+chronicler had witnessed at the annual feasts.
+
+But though the Temple had been cleansed, the Holy City was not yet free
+from the taint of idolatry. The character of the Passover demanded that
+not only the Temple, but the whole city, should be pure. The paschal lamb
+was eaten at home, and the doorposts of the house were sprinkled with its
+blood. But Ahaz had set up altars at every corner of the city; no devout
+Israelite could tolerate the symbols of idolatrous worship close to the
+house in which he celebrated the solemn rites of the Passover. Accordingly
+before the Passover was killed these altars were removed.(422)
+
+Then the great feast began; but after long years of idolatry neither the
+people nor the priests and Levites were sufficiently familiar with the
+rites of the festival to be able to perform them without some difficulty
+and confusion. As a rule each head of a household killed his own lamb; but
+many of the worshippers, especially those from the north, were not
+ceremonially clean: and this task devolved upon the Levites. The immense
+concourse of worshippers and the additional work thrown upon the Temple
+ministry must have made extraordinary demands on their zeal and
+energy.(423) At first apparently they hesitated, and were inclined to
+abstain from discharging their usual duties. A passover in a month not
+appointed by Moses, but decided on by the civil authorities without
+consulting the priesthood, might seem a doubtful and dangerous innovation.
+Recollecting Azariah's successful assertion of hierarchical prerogative
+against Uzziah, they might be inclined to attempt a similar resistance to
+Hezekiah. But the pious enthusiasm of the people clearly showed that the
+Spirit of Jehovah inspired their somewhat irregular zeal; so that the
+ecclesiastical officials were shamed out of their unsympathetic attitude,
+and came forward to take their full share and even more than their full
+share in this glorious rededication of Israel to Jehovah.
+
+But a further difficulty remained: uncleanness not only disqualified from
+killing the paschal lambs, but from taking any part in the Passover; and a
+multitude of the people were unclean. Yet it would have been ungracious
+and even dangerous to discourage their newborn zeal by excluding them from
+the festival; moreover, many of them were worshippers from among the ten
+tribes, who had come in response to a special invitation, which most of
+their fellow-countrymen had rejected with scorn and contempt. If they had
+been sent back because they had failed to cleanse themselves according to
+a ritual of which they were ignorant, and of which Hezekiah might have
+known they would be ignorant, both the king and his guests would have
+incurred measureless ridicule from the impious northerners. Accordingly
+they were allowed to take part in the Passover despite their uncleanness.
+But this permission could only be granted with serious apprehensions as to
+its consequences. The Law threatened with death any one who attended the
+services of the sanctuary in a state of uncleanness.(424) Possibly there
+were already signs of an outbreak of pestilence; at any rate, the dread of
+Divine punishment for sacrilegious presumption would distress the whole
+assembly and mar their enjoyment of Divine fellowship. Again it is no
+priest or prophet, but the king, the Messiah, who comes forward as the
+mediator between God and man. Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "Jehovah,
+in His grace and mercy,(425) pardon every one that setteth his heart to
+seek Elohim Jehovah, the God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed
+according to the ritual of the Temple. And Jehovah hearkened to Hezekiah,
+and healed the people," _i.e._, either healed them from actual disease or
+relieved them from the fear of pestilence.
+
+And so the feast went on happily and prosperously, and was prolonged by
+acclamation for an additional seven days. During fourteen days king and
+princes, priests and Levites, Jews and Israelites, rejoiced before
+Jehovah; thousands of bullocks and sheep smoked upon the altar; and now
+the priests were not backward: great numbers purified themselves to serve
+the popular devotion. The priests and Levites sang and made melody to
+Jehovah, so that the Levites earned the king's special commendation. The
+great festival ended with a solemn benediction: "The priests(426) arose
+and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came
+to His holy habitation, even unto heaven." The priests, and through them
+the people, received the assurance that their solemn and prolonged worship
+had met with gracious acceptance.
+
+We have already more than once had occasion to consider the chronicler's
+main theme: the importance of the Temple, its ritual, and its ministers.
+Incidentally and perhaps unconsciously, he here suggests another lesson,
+which is specially significant as coming from an ardent ritualist, namely
+the necessary limitations of uniformity in ritual. Hezekiah's celebration
+of the Passover is full of irregularities: it is held in the wrong month;
+it is prolonged to twice the usual period; there are amongst the
+worshippers multitudes of unclean persons, whose presence at these
+services ought to have been visited with terrible punishment. All is
+condoned on the ground of emergency, and the ritual laws are set aside
+without consulting the ecclesiastical officials. Everything serves to
+emphasise the lesson we touched on in connection with David's sacrifices
+at the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite: ritual is made for man, and
+not man for ritual. Complete uniformity may be insisted on in ordinary
+times, but can be dispensed with in any pressing emergency; necessity
+knows no law, not even the Torah of the Pentateuch. Moreover, in such
+emergencies it is not necessary to wait for the initiative or even the
+sanction of ecclesiastical officials; the supreme authority in the Church
+in all its great crises resides in the whole body of believers. No one is
+entitled to speak with greater authority on the limitations of ritual than
+a strong advocate of the sanctity of ritual like the chronicler; and we
+may well note, as one of the most conspicuous marks of his inspiration,
+the sanctified common sense shown by his frank and sympathetic record of
+the irregularities of Hezekiah's passover. Doubtless emergencies had
+arisen even in his own experience of the great feasts of the Temple that
+had taught him this lesson; and it says much for the healthy tone of the
+Temple community in his day that he does not attempt to reconcile the
+practice of Hezekiah with the law of Moses by any harmonistic quibbles.
+
+The work of purification and restoration, however, was still incomplete:
+the Temple had been cleansed from the pollutions of idolatry, the heathen
+altars had been removed from Jerusalem, but the high places remained in
+all the cities of Judah. When the Passover was at last finished, the
+assembled multitude, "all Israel that were present," set out, like the
+English or Scotch Puritans, on a great iconoclastic expedition. Throughout
+the length and breadth of the Land of Promise, throughout Judah and
+Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh, they brake in pieces the sacred pillars,
+and hewed down the Asherim, and brake down the high places and altars;
+then they went home.
+
+Meanwhile Hezekiah was engaged in reorganising the priests and Levites and
+arranging for the payment and distribution of the sacred dues. The king
+set an example of liberality by making provision for the daily, weekly,
+monthly, and festival offerings. The people were not slow to imitate him;
+they brought first-fruits and tithes in such abundance that four months
+were spent in piling up heaps of offerings.
+
+"Thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah; and he wrought that which was
+good, and right, and faithful before Jehovah his God; and in every work
+that he began in the service of the Temple, and in the Law, and in the
+commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and brought
+it to a successful issue."
+
+Then follow an account of the deliverance from Sennacherib and of
+Hezekiah's recovery from sickness, a reference to his undue pride in the
+matter of the embassy from Babylon, and a description of the prosperity of
+his reign, all for the most part abridged from the book of Kings. The
+prophet Isaiah, however, is almost ignored. A few of the more important
+modifications deserve some little attention. We are told that the Assyrian
+invasion was "after these things and this faithfulness," in order that we
+may not forget that the Divine deliverance was a recompense for Hezekiah's
+loyalty to Jehovah. While the book of Kings tells us that Sennacherib took
+all the fenced cities of Judah, the chronicler feels that even this
+measure of misfortune would not have been allowed to befall a king who had
+just reconciled Israel to Jehovah, and merely says that Sennacherib
+purposed to break these cities up.
+
+The chronicler(427) has preserved an account of the measures taken by
+Hezekiah for the defence of his capital: how he stopped up the fountains
+and watercourses outside the city, so that a besieging army might not find
+water, and repaired and strengthened the walls, and encouraged his people
+to trust in Jehovah.
+
+Probably the stopping of the water supply outside the walls was connected
+with an operation mentioned at the close of the narrative of Hezekiah's
+reign: "Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and
+brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David."(428)
+Moreover, the chronicler's statements are based upon 2 Kings xx. 20, where
+it is said that "Hezekiah made the pool and the conduit and brought water
+into the city." The chronicler was of course intimately acquainted with
+the topography of Jerusalem in his own days, and uses his knowledge to
+interpret and expand the statement in the book of Kings. He was possibly
+guided in part by Isa. xxii. 9, 11, where the "gathering together the
+waters of the lower pool" and the "making a reservoir between the two
+walls for the water of the old pool" are mentioned as precautions taken in
+view of a probable Assyrian siege. The recent investigations of the
+Palestine Exploration Fund have led to the discovery of aqueducts, and
+stoppages, and diversions of watercourses which are said to correspond to
+the operations mentioned by the chronicler. If this be the case, they show
+a very accurate knowledge on his part of the topography of Jerusalem in
+his own day, and also illustrate his care to utilise all existing evidence
+in order to obtain a clear and accurate interpretation of the statements
+of his authority.
+
+The reign of Hezekiah appears a suitable opportunity to introduce a few
+remarks on the importance which the chronicler attaches to the music of
+the Temple services. Though the music is not more prominent with him than
+with some earlier kings, yet in the case of David, Solomon, and
+Jehoshaphat other subjects presented themselves for special treatment; and
+Hezekiah's reign being the last in which the music of the sanctuary is
+specially dwelt upon, we are able here to review the various references to
+this subject. For the most part the chronicler tells his story of the
+virtuous days of the good kings to a continual accompaniment of Temple
+music. We hear of the playing and singing when the Ark was brought to the
+house of Obed-edom; when it was taken into the city of David; at the
+dedication of the Temple; at the battle between Abijah and Jeroboam; at
+Asa's reformation; in connection with the overthrow of the Ammonites,
+Moabites, and Meunim in the reign of Jehoshaphat; at the coronation of
+Joash; at Hezekiah's feasts; and again, though less emphatically, at
+Josiah's passover. No doubt the special prominence given to the subject
+indicates a professional interest on the part of the author. If, however,
+music occupies an undue proportion of his space, and he has abridged
+accounts of more important matters to make room for his favourite theme,
+yet there is no reason to suppose that his actual statements overrate the
+extent to which music was used in worship or the importance attached to
+it. The older narratives refer to the music in the case of David and
+Joash, and assign psalms and songs to David and Solomon. Moreover, Judaism
+is by no means alone in its fondness for music, but shares this
+characteristic with almost all religions.
+
+We have spoken of the chronicler so far chiefly as a professional
+musician, but it should be clearly understood that the term must be taken
+in its best sense. He was by no means so absorbed in the technique of his
+art as to forget its sacred significance; he was not less a worshipper
+himself because he was the minister or agent of the common worship. His
+accounts of the festivals show a hearty appreciation of the entire ritual;
+and his references to the music do not give us the technical circumstances
+of its production, but rather emphasise its general effect. The
+chronicler's sense of the religious value of music is largely that of a
+devout worshipper, who is led to set forth for the benefit of others a
+truth which is the fruit of his own experience. This experience is not
+confined to trained musicians; indeed, a scientific knowledge of the art
+may sometimes interfere with its devotional influence. Criticism may take
+the place of worship; and the hearer, instead of yielding to the sacred
+suggestions of hymn or anthem, may be distracted by his aesthetic judgment
+as to the merits of the composition and the skill shown by its rendering.
+In the same way critical appreciation of voice, elocution, literary style,
+and intellectual power does not always conduce to edification from a
+sermon. In the truest culture, however, sensitiveness to these secondary
+qualities has become habitual and automatic, and blends itself
+imperceptibly with the religious consciousness of spiritual influence. The
+latter is thus helped by excellence and only slightly hindered by minor
+defects in the natural means. But the very absence of any great scientific
+knowledge of music may leave the spirit open to the spell which sacred
+music is intended to exercise, so that all cheerful and guileless souls
+may be "moved with concord of sweet sounds," and sad and weary hearts find
+comfort in subdued strains that breathe sympathy of which words are
+incapable.
+
+Music, as a mode of utterance moving within the restraints of a regular
+order, naturally attaches itself to ritual. As the earliest literature is
+poetry, the earliest liturgy is musical. Melody is the simplest and most
+obvious means by which the utterances of a body of worshippers can be
+combined into a seemly act of worship. The mere repetition of the same
+words by a congregation in ordinary speech is apt to be wanting in
+impressiveness or even in decorum; the use of tune enables a congregation
+to unite in worship even when many of its members are strangers to each
+other.
+
+Again, music may be regarded as an expansion of language: not new dialect,
+but a collection of symbols that can express thought, and more especially
+emotion, for which mere speech has no vocabulary. This new form of
+language naturally becomes an auxiliary of religion. Words are clumsy
+instruments for the expression of the heart, and are least efficient when
+they undertake to set forth moral and spiritual ideas. Music can transcend
+mere speech in touching the soul to fine issues, suggesting visions of
+things ineffable and unseen.
+
+Browning makes Abt Vogler say of the most enduring and supreme hopes that
+God has granted to men, "'Tis we musicians know"; but the message of music
+comes home with power to many who have no skill in its art.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX. Manasseh: Repentance And Forgiveness. 2 Chron. xxxiii.
+
+
+In telling the melancholy story of the wickedness of Manasseh in the first
+period of his reign, the chronicler reproduces the book of Kings, with one
+or two omissions and other slight alterations. He omits the name of
+Manasseh's mother; she was called Hephzi-bah--"My pleasure is in her." In
+any case, when the son of a godly father turns out badly, and nothing is
+known about the mother, uncharitable people might credit her with his
+wickedness. But the chronicler's readers were familiar with the great
+influence of the queen-mother in Oriental states. When they read that the
+son of Hezekiah came to the throne at the age of twelve and afterwards
+gave himself up to every form of idolatry, they would naturally ascribe
+his departure from his father's ways to the suggestions of his mother. The
+chronicler is not willing that the pious Hezekiah should lie under the
+imputation of having taken delight in an ungodly woman, and so her name is
+omitted.
+
+The contents of 2 Kings xxi. 10-16 are also omitted; they consist of a
+prophetic utterance and further particulars as to the sins of Manasseh;
+they are virtually replaced by the additional information in Chronicles.
+
+From the point of view of the chronicler, the history of Manasseh in the
+book of Kings was far from satisfactory. The earlier writer had not only
+failed to provide materials from which a suitable moral could be deduced,
+but he had also told the story so that undesirable conclusions might be
+drawn. Manasseh sinned more wickedly than any other king of Judah: Ahaz
+merely polluted and closed the Temple, but Manasseh "built altars for all
+the host of heaven in the two courts of the Temple," and set up in it an
+idol. And yet in the earlier narrative this most wicked king escaped
+without any personal punishment at all. Moreover, length of days was one
+of the rewards which Jehovah was wont to bestow upon the righteous; but
+while Ahaz was cut off at thirty-six, in the prime of manhood, Manasseh
+survived to the mature age of sixty-seven, and reigned fifty-five years.
+
+However, the history reached the chronicler in a more satisfactory form.
+Manasseh was duly punished, and his long reign fully accounted for.(429)
+When, in spite of Divine warning, Manasseh and his people persisted in
+their sin, Jehovah sent against them "the captains of the host of the king
+of Assyria, which took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with
+fetters,(430) and carried him to Babylon."
+
+The Assyrian invasion referred to here is partially confirmed by the fact
+that the name of Manasseh occurs amongst the tributaries of Esarhaddon and
+his successor, Assur-bani-pal. The mention of Babylon as his place of
+captivity rather than Nineveh may be accounted for by supposing that
+Manasseh was taken prisoner in the reign of Esarhaddon. This king of
+Assyria rebuilt Babylon, and spent much of his time there. He is said to
+have been of a kindly disposition and to have exercised towards other
+royal captives the same clemency which he extended to Manasseh. For the
+Jewish king's misfortunes led him to repentance: "When he was in trouble,
+he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of
+his fathers, and prayed unto him." Amongst the Greek Apocrypha is found a
+"Prayer of Manasses," doubtless intended by its author to represent the
+prayer referred to in Chronicles. In it Manasseh celebrates the Divine
+glory, confesses his great wickedness, and asks that his penitence may be
+accepted and that he may obtain deliverance.
+
+If these were the terms of Manasseh's prayers, they were heard and
+answered; and the captive king returned to Jerusalem a devout worshipper
+and faithful servant of Jehovah. He at once set to work to undo the evil
+he had wrought in the former period of his reign. He took away the idol
+and the heathen altars from the Temple, restored the altar of Jehovah, and
+re-established the Temple services. In earlier days he had led the people
+into idolatry; now he commanded them to serve Jehovah, and the people
+obediently followed the king's example. Apparently he found it
+impracticable to interfere with the high places; but they were so far
+purified from corruption that, though the people still sacrificed at these
+illegal sanctuaries, they worshipped exclusively Jehovah, the God of
+Israel.
+
+Like most of the pious kings, his prosperity was partly shown by his
+extensive building operations. Following in the footsteps of Jotham, he
+strengthened or repaired the fortifications of Jerusalem, especially about
+Ophel. He further provided for the safety of his dominions by placing
+captains, and doubtless also garrisons, in the fenced cities of Judah. The
+interest taken by the Jews of the second Temple in the history of Manasseh
+is shown by the fact that the chronicler is able to mention, not only the
+"Acts of the Kings of Israel," but a second authority: "The History of the
+Seers." The imagination of the Targumists and other later writers
+embellished the history of Manasseh's captivity and release with many
+striking and romantic circumstances.
+
+The life of Manasseh practically completes the chronicler's series of
+object-lessons in the doctrine of retribution; the history of the later
+kings only provides illustrations similar to those already given. These
+object-lessons are closely connected with the teaching of Ezekiel. In
+dealing with the question of heredity in guilt, the prophet is led to set
+forth the character and fortunes of four different classes of men.
+First(431) we have two simple cases: the righteousness of the righteous
+shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
+These have been respectively illustrated by the prosperity of Solomon and
+Jotham and the misfortunes of Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, and Ahaz. Again,
+departing somewhat from the order of Ezekiel--"When the righteous turneth
+away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according
+to all the abominations of the wicked man, shall he live? None of his
+righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered; in his trespass
+that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath sinned he shall
+die"--here we have the principle that in Chronicles governs the Divine
+dealings with the kings who began to reign well and then fell away into
+sin: Asa, Joash, Amaziah, and Uzziah.
+
+We reached this point in our discussion of the doctrine of retribution in
+connection with Asa. So far the lessons taught were salutary: they might
+deter from sin; but they were gloomy and depressing: they gave little
+encouragement to hope for success in the struggle after righteousness, and
+suggested that few would escape terrible penalties of failure. David and
+Solomon formed a class by themselves; an ordinary man could not aspire to
+their almost supernatural virtue. In his later history the chronicler is
+chiefly bent on illustrating the frailty of man and the wrath of God. The
+New Testament teaches a similar lesson when it asks, "If the righteous is
+scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?"(432) But in
+Chronicles not even the righteous is saved. Again and again we are told at
+a king's accession that he "did that which was good and right in the eyes
+of Jehovah"; and yet before the reign closes he forfeits the Divine
+favour, and at last dies ruined and disgraced.
+
+But this sombre picture is relieved by occasional gleams of light. Ezekiel
+furnishes a fourth type of religious experience: "If the wicked turn from
+all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that
+which is lawful and right, he shall live; he shall not die. None of his
+transgressions that he hath committed shall be remembered against him; in
+his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in
+the death of the wicked, saith the Lord Jehovah, and not rather that he
+should return from his way and live?"(433) The one striking and complete
+example of this principle is the history of Manasseh. It is true that
+Rehoboam also repented, but the chronicler does not make it clear that his
+repentance was permanent. Manasseh is unique alike in extreme wickedness,
+sincere penitence, and thorough reformation. The reformation of Julius
+Caesar or of our Henry V., or, to take a different class of instance, the
+conversion of St. Paul, was nothing compared to the conversion of
+Manasseh. It was as though Herod the Great or Caesar Borgia had been
+checked midway in a career of cruelty and vice, and had thenceforward
+lived pure and holy lives, glorifying God by ministering to their
+fellow-men. Such a repentance gives us hope for the most abandoned. In the
+forgiveness of Manasseh the penitent sinner receives assurance that God
+will forgive even the most guilty. The account of his closing years shows
+that even a career of desperate wickedness in the past need not hinder the
+penitent from rendering acceptable service to God and ending his life in
+the enjoyment of Divine favour and blessing. Manasseh becomes in the Old
+Testament what the Prodigal Son is in the New: the one great symbol of the
+possibilities of human nature and the infinite mercy of God.
+
+The chronicler's theology is as simple and straightforward as that of
+Ezekiel. Manasseh repents, submits himself, and is forgiven. His captivity
+apparently had expiated his guilt, as far as expiation was necessary.
+Neither prophet nor chronicler was conscious of the moral difficulties
+that have been found in so simple a plan of salvation. The problems of an
+objective atonement had not yet risen above their horizon.
+
+These incidents afford another illustration of the necessary limitations
+of ritual. In the great crisis of Manasseh's spiritual life, the Levitical
+ordinances played no part; they moved on a lower level, and ministered to
+less urgent needs. Probably the worship of Jehovah was still suspended
+during Manasseh's captivity; none the less Manasseh was able to make his
+peace with God. Even if they were punctually observed, of what use were
+services at the Temple in Jerusalem to a penitent sinner at Babylon? When
+Manasseh returned to Jerusalem, he restored the Temple worship, and
+offered sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving; nothing is said
+about sin-offerings. His sacrifices were not the condition of his pardon,
+but the seal and token of a reconciliation already effected. The
+experience of Manasseh anticipated that of the Jews of the Captivity: he
+discovered the possibility of fellowship with Jehovah, far away from the
+Holy Land, without temple, priest, or sacrifice. The chronicler, perhaps
+unconsciously already foreshadows the coming of the hour when men should
+worship the Father neither in the holy mountain of Samaria nor yet in
+Jerusalem.
+
+Before relating the outward acts which testified the sincerity of
+Manasseh's repentance, the chronicler devotes a single sentence to the
+happy influence of forgiveness and deliverance upon Manasseh himself. When
+his prayer had been heard, and his exile was at an end, then Manasseh knew
+and acknowledged that Jehovah was God. Men first begin to know God when
+they have been forgiven. The alienated and disobedient, if they think of
+Him at all, merely have glimpses of His vengeance and try to persuade
+themselves that He is a stern Tyrant. By the penitent not yet assured of
+the possibility of reconciliation God is chiefly thought of as a righteous
+Judge. What did the Prodigal Son know about his father when he asked for
+the portion of goods that fell to him or while he was wasting his
+substance in riotous living? Even when he came to himself, he thought of
+the father's house as a place where there was bread enough and to spare;
+and he supposed that his father might endure to see him living at home in
+permanent disgrace, on the footing of a hired servant. When he reached
+home, after he had been met a great way on with compassion and been
+welcomed with an embrace, he began for the first time to understand his
+father's character. So the knowledge of God's love dawns upon the soul in
+the blessed experience of forgiveness; and because love and forgiveness
+are more strange and unearthly than rebuke and chastisement, the sinner is
+humbled by pardon far more than by punishment; and his trembling
+submission to the righteous Judge deepens into profounder reverence and
+awe for the God who can forgive, who is superior to all vindictiveness,
+whose infinite resources enable Him to blot out the guilt, to cancel the
+penalty, and annul the consequences of sin.
+
+
+    "There is forgiveness with Thee,
+    That Thou mayest be feared."(434)
+
+
+The words that stand in the forefront of the Lord's Prayer, "Hallowed be
+Thy name," are virtually a petition that sinners may repent, and be
+converted, and obtain forgiveness.
+
+In seeking for a Christian parallel to the doctrine expounded by Ezekiel
+and illustrated by Chronicles, we have to remember that the permanent
+elements in primitive doctrine are often to be found by removing the
+limitations which imperfect faith has imposed on the possibilities of
+human nature and Divine mercy. We have already suggested that the
+chronicler's somewhat rigid doctrine of temporal rewards and punishments
+symbolises the inevitable influence of conduct on the development of
+character. The doctrine of God's attitude towards backsliding and
+repentance seems somewhat arbitrary as set forth by Ezekiel and
+Chronicles. A man apparently is not to be judged by his whole life, but
+only by the moral period that is closed by his death. If his last years be
+pious, his former transgressions are forgotten; if his last years be evil,
+his righteous deeds are equally forgotten. While we gratefully accept the
+forgiveness of sinners, such teaching as to backsliders seems a little
+cynical; and though, by God's grace and discipline, a man may be led
+through and out of sin into righteousness, we are naturally suspicious of
+a life of "righteous deeds" which towards its close lapses into gross and
+open sin. "Nemo repente turpissimus fit." We are inclined to believe that
+the final lapse reveals the true bias of the whole character. But the
+chronicler suggests more than this: by his history of the almost uniform
+failure of the pious kings to persevere to the end, he seems to teach that
+the piety of early and mature life is either unreal or else is unable to
+survive as body and mind wear out. This doctrine has sometimes,
+inconsiderately no doubt, been taught from Christian pulpits; and yet the
+truth of which the doctrine is a misrepresentation supplies a correction
+of the former principle that a life is to be judged by its close. Putting
+aside any question of positive sin, a man's closing years sometimes seem
+cold, narrow, and selfish when once he was full of tender and considerate
+sympathy; and yet the man is no Asa or Amaziah who has deserted the living
+God for idols of wood and stone. The man has not changed, only our
+impression of him. Unconsciously we are influenced by the contrast between
+his present state and the splendid energy and devotion of self-sacrifice
+that marked his prime; we forget that inaction is his misfortune, and not
+his fault; we overrate his ardour in the days when vigorous action was a
+delight for its own sake; and we overlook the quiet heroism with which
+remnants of strength are still utilised in the Lord's service, and do not
+consider that moments of fretfulness are due to decay and disease that at
+once increase the need of patience and diminish the powers of endurance.
+Muscles and nerves slowly become less and less efficient; they fail to
+carry to the soul full and clear reports of the outside world; they are no
+longer satisfactory instruments by which the soul can express its feelings
+or execute its will. We are less able than ever to estimate the inner life
+of such by that which we see and hear. While we are thankful for the sweet
+serenity and loving sympathy which often make the hoary head a crown of
+glory, we are also entitled to judge some of God's more militant children
+by their years of arduous service, and not by their impatience of enforced
+inactivity.
+
+If our author's statement of these truths seem unsatisfactory, we must
+remember that his lack of a doctrine of the future life placed him at a
+serious disadvantage. He wished to exhibit a complete picture of God's
+dealings with the characters of his history, so that their lives should
+furnish exact illustrations of the working of sin and righteousness. He
+was controlled and hampered by the idea that underlies many discussions in
+the Old Testament: that God's righteous judgment upon a man's actions is
+completely manifested during his earthly life. It may be possible to
+assert an _eternal_ providence; but conscience and heart have long since
+revolted against the doctrine that God's justice, to say nothing of His
+love, is declared by the misery of lives that might have been innocent, if
+they had ever had the opportunity of knowing what innocence meant. The
+chronicler worked on too small a scale for his subject. The entire Divine
+economy of Him with whom a thousand years are as one day cannot be even
+outlined for a single soul in the history of its earthly existence. These
+narratives of Jewish kings are only imperfect symbols of the infinite
+possibilities of the eternal providence. The moral of Chronicles is very
+much that of the Greek sage, "Call no man happy till he is dead"; but
+since Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel,
+we no longer pass final judgment upon either the man or his happiness by
+what we know of his life here. The decisive revelation of character, the
+final judgment upon conduct, the due adjustment of the gifts and
+discipline of God, are deferred to a future life. When these are
+completed, and the soul has attained to good or evil beyond all reversal,
+then we shall feel, with Ezekiel and the chronicler, that there is no
+further need to remember either the righteous deeds or the transgressions
+of earlier stages of its history.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter X. The Last Kings Of Judah. 2 Chron. xxxiv.-xxxvi.
+
+
+Whatever influence Manasseh's reformation exercised over his people
+generally, the taint of idolatry was not removed from his own family. His
+son Amon succeeded him at the age of two-and-twenty. Into his reign of two
+years he compressed all the varieties of wickedness once practised by his
+father, and undid the good work of Manasseh's later years. He recovered
+the graven images which Manasseh had discarded, replaced them in their
+shrines, and worshipped them instead of Jehovah. But in his case there was
+no repentance, and he was cut off in his youth.
+
+In the absence of any conclusive evidence as to the date of Manasseh's
+reformation, we cannot determine with certainty whether Amon received his
+early training before or after his father returned to the worship of
+Jehovah. In either case Manasseh's earlier history would make it difficult
+for him to counteract any evil influence that drew Amon towards idolatry.
+Amon could set the example and perhaps the teaching of his father's former
+days against any later exhortations to righteousness. When a father has
+helped to lead his children astray, he cannot be sure that he will carry
+them with him in his repentance.
+
+After Amon's assassination the people placed his son Josiah on the throne.
+Like Joash and Manasseh, Josiah was a child, only eight years old. The
+chronicler follows the general line of the history in the book of Kings,
+modifying, abridging, and expanding, but introducing no new incidents; the
+reformation, the repairing of the Temple, the discovery of the book of the
+Law, the Passover, Josiah's defeat and death at Megiddo, are narrated by
+both historians. We have only to notice differences in a somewhat similar
+treatment of the same subject.
+
+Beyond the general statement that Josiah "did that which was right in the
+eyes of Jehovah" we hear nothing about him in the book of Kings till the
+eighteenth year of his reign, and his reformation and putting away of
+idolatry is placed in that year. The chronicler's authorities corrected
+the statement that the pious king tolerated idolatry for eighteen years.
+They record how in the eighth year of his reign, when he was sixteen, he
+began to seek after the God of David; and in his twelfth year he set about
+the work of utterly destroying idols throughout the whole territory of
+Israel, in the cities and ruins of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, even
+unto Naphtali, as well as in Judah and Benjamin. Seeing that the cities
+assigned to Simeon were in the south of Judah, it is a little difficult to
+understand why they appear with the northern tribes, unless they are
+reckoned with them technically to make up the ancient number.
+
+The consequence of this change of date is that in Chronicles the
+reformation precedes the discovery of the book of the Law, whereas in the
+older history this discovery is the cause of the reformation. The
+chronicler's account of the idols and other apparatus of false worship
+destroyed by Josiah is much less detailed than that of the book of Kings.
+To have reproduced the earlier narrative in full would have raised serious
+difficulties. According to the chronicler, Manasseh had purged Jerusalem
+of idols and idol altars; and Amon alone was responsible for any that
+existed there at the accession of Josiah: but in the book of Kings Josiah
+found in Jerusalem the altars erected by the kings of Judah and the horses
+they had given to the sun. Manasseh's altars still stood in the courts of
+the Temple; and over against Jerusalem there still remained the high
+places that Solomon had built for Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom. As the
+chronicler in describing Solomon's reign carefully omitted all mention of
+his sins, so he omits this reference to his idolatry. Moreover, if he had
+inserted it, he would have had to explain how these high places escaped
+the zeal of the many pious kings who did away with the high places.
+Similarly, having omitted the account of the man of God who prophesied the
+ruin of Jeroboam's sanctuary at Bethel, he here omits the fulfilment of
+that prophecy.
+
+The account of the repairing of the Temple is enlarged by the insertion of
+various details as to the names, functions, and zeal of the Levites,
+amongst whom those who had skill in instruments of music seem to have had
+the oversight of the workmen. We are reminded of the walls of Thebes,
+which rose out of the ground while Orpheus played upon his flute.
+Similarly in the account of the assembly called to hear the contents of
+the book of the Law the Levites are substituted for the prophets. This
+book of the Law is said in Chronicles to have been given by Moses, but his
+name is not connected with the book in the parallel narrative in the book
+of Kings.
+
+The earlier authority simply states that Josiah held a great passover;
+Chronicles, as usual, describes the festival in detail. First of all, the
+king commanded the priests and Levites to purify themselves and take their
+places in due order, so that they might be ready to perform their sacred
+duties. The narrative is very obscure, but it seems that either during the
+apostacy of Amon or on account of the recent Temple repairs the Ark had
+been removed from the Holy of holies. The Law had specially assigned to
+the Levites the duty of carrying the Tabernacle and its furniture, and
+they seem to have thought that they were only bound to exercise the
+function of carrying the Ark; they perhaps proposed to bear it in solemn
+procession round the city as part of the celebration of the Passover,
+forgetting the words of David(435) that the Levites should no more carry
+the Tabernacle and its vessels. They would have been glad to substitute
+this conspicuous and honourable service for the laborious and menial work
+of flaying the victims. Josiah, however, commanded them to put the Ark
+into the Temple and attend to their other duties.
+
+Next, the king and his nobles provided beasts of various kinds for the
+sacrifices and the Passover meal. Josiah's gifts were even more munificent
+than those of Hezekiah. The latter had given a thousand bullocks and ten
+thousand sheep; Josiah gave just three times as many. Moreover, at
+Hezekiah's passover no offerings of the princes are mentioned, but now
+they added their gifts to those of the king. The heads of the priesthood
+provided three hundred oxen and two thousand six hundred small cattle for
+the priests, and the chiefs of the Levites five hundred oxen and five
+thousand small cattle for the Levites. But numerous as were the victims at
+Josiah's passover, they still fell far short of the great sacrifice(436)
+of twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep which
+Solomon offered at the dedication of the Temple.
+
+Then began the actual work of the sacrifices: the victims were killed and
+flayed, and their blood was sprinkled on the altar; the burnt offerings
+were distributed among the people; the Passover lambs were roasted, and
+the other offerings boiled, and the Levites "carried them quickly to all
+the children of the people." Apparently private individuals could not find
+the means of cooking the bountiful provision made for them; and, to meet
+the necessity of the case, the Temple courts were made kitchen as well as
+slaughterhouse for the assembled worshippers. The other offerings would
+not be eaten with the Passover lamb, but would serve for the remaining
+days of the feast.
+
+The Levites not only provided for the people, for themselves, and the
+priests, but the Levites who ministered in the matter of the sacrifices
+also prepared for their brethren who were singers and porters, so that the
+latter were enabled to attend undisturbed to their own special duties; all
+the members of the guild of porters were at the gates maintaining order
+among the crowd of worshippers; and the full strength of the orchestra and
+choir contributed to the beauty and solemnity of the services. It was the
+greatest Passover held by any Israelite king.
+
+Josiah's passover, like that of Hezekiah, was followed by a formidable
+foreign invasion; but whereas Hezekiah was rewarded for renewed loyalty by
+a triumphant deliverance, Josiah was defeated and slain. These facts
+subject the chronicler's theory of retribution to a severe strain. His
+perplexity finds pathetic expression in the opening words of the new
+section, "After all this," after all the idols had been put away, after
+the celebration of the most magnificent Passover the monarchy had ever
+seen. After all this, when we looked for the promised rewards of piety--for
+fertile seasons, peace and prosperity at home, victory and dominion
+abroad, tribute from subject peoples, and wealth from successful
+commerce--after all this, the rout of the armies of Jehovah at Megiddo, the
+flight and death of the wounded king, the lamentation over Josiah, the
+exaltation of a nominee of Pharaoh to the throne, and the payment of
+tribute to the Egyptian king. The chronicler has no complete explanation
+of this painful mystery, but he does what he can to meet the difficulties
+of the case. Like the great prophets in similar instances, he regards the
+heathen king as charged with a Divine commission. Pharaoh's appeal to
+Josiah to remain neutral should have been received by the Jewish king as
+an authoritative message from Jehovah. It was the failure to discern in a
+heathen king the mouthpiece and prophet of Jehovah that cost Josiah his
+life and Judah its liberty.
+
+The chronicler had no motive for lingering over the last sad days of the
+monarchy; the rest of his narrative is almost entirely abridged from the
+book of Kings. Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah pass over the
+scene in rapid and melancholy succession. In the case of Jehoahaz, who
+only reigned three months, the chronicler omits the unfavourable judgment
+recorded in the book of Kings; but he repeats it for the other three, even
+for the poor lad of eight(437) who was carried away captive after a reign
+of three months and ten days. The chronicler had not learnt that kings can
+do no wrong; on the other hand, the ungodly policy of Jehoiachin's
+ministers is labelled with the name of the boy-sovereign.
+
+Each of these kings in turn was deposed and carried away into captivity,
+unless indeed Jehoiakim is an exception. In the book of Kings we are told
+that he slept with his fathers, _i.e._, that he died and was buried in the
+royal tombs at Jerusalem, a statement which the LXX. inserts here also,
+specifying, however, that he was buried in the garden of Uzza. If the
+pious Josiah were punished for a single error by defeat and death, why was
+the wicked Jehoiakim allowed to reign till the end of his life and then
+die in his bed? The chronicler's information differed from that of the
+earlier narrative in a way that removed, or at any rate suppressed the
+difficulty. He omits the statement that Jehoiakim slept with his fathers,
+and tells us(438) that Nebuchadnezzar bound him in fetters to carry him to
+Babylon. Casual readers would naturally suppose that this purpose was
+carried out, and that the Divine justice was satisfied by Jehoiakim's
+death in captivity; and yet if they compared this passage with that in the
+book of Kings, it might occur to them that after the king had been put in
+chains something might have led Nebuchadnezzar to change his mind, or,
+like Manasseh, Jehoiakim might have repented and been allowed to return.
+But it is very doubtful whether the chronicler's authorities contemplated
+the possibility of such an interpretation; it is scarcely fair to credit
+them with all the subtle devices of modern commentators.
+
+The real conclusion of the chronicler's history of the kings of the house
+of David is a summary of the sins of the last days of the monarchy and of
+the history of its final ruin in xxxvi. 14-20.(439) All the chief of the
+priests and of the people were given over to the abominations of idolatry;
+and in spite of constant and urgent admonitions from the prophets of
+Jehovah, they hardened their hearts, and mocked the messengers of God, and
+despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of Jehovah
+arose against His people, and there was no healing.
+
+However, to this peroration a note is added that the length of the
+Captivity was fixed at seventy years, in order that the land might "enjoy
+her sabbaths." This note rests upon Lev. xxv. 1-7, according to which the
+land was to be left fallow every seventh year. The seventy years captivity
+would compensate for seventy periods of six years each during which no
+sabbatical years had been observed. Thus the Captivity, with the four
+hundred and twenty previous years of neglect, would be equivalent to
+seventy sabbatical periods. There is no economy in keeping back what is
+due to God.
+
+Moreover, the editor who separated Chronicles from the book of Ezra and
+Nehemiah was loath to allow the first part of the history to end in a
+gloomy record of sin and ruin. Modern Jews, in reading the last chapter of
+Isaiah, rather than conclude with the ill-omened words of the last two
+verses, repeat a previous portion of the chapter. So here to the history
+of the ruin of Jerusalem the editor has appended two verses from the
+opening of the book of Ezra, which contain the decree of Cyrus authorising
+the return from the Captivity. And thus Chronicles concludes in the middle
+of a sentence which is completed in the book of Ezra: "Who is there among
+you of all his people? Jehovah his God be with him, and let him go up...."
+
+Such a conclusion suggests two considerations which will form a fitting
+close to our exposition. Chronicles is not a finished work; it has no
+formal end; it rather breaks off abruptly like an interrupted diary. In
+like manner the book of Kings concludes with a note as to the treatment of
+the captive Jehoiachin at Babylon: the last verse runs, "And for his
+allowance there was a continual allowance given him of the king, every day
+a portion, all the days of his life." The book of Nehemiah has a short
+final prayer: "Remember me, O my God, for good"; but the preceding
+paragraph is simply occupied with the arrangements for the wood offering
+and the first-fruits. So in the New Testament the history of the Church
+breaks off with the statement that St. Paul abode two whole years in his
+own hired house, preaching the kingdom of God. The sacred writers
+recognise the continuity of God's dealings with His people; they do not
+suggest that one period can be marked off by a clear dividing line or
+interval from another. Each historian leaves, as it were, the loose ends
+of his work ready to be taken up and continued by his successors. The Holy
+Spirit seeks to stimulate the Church to a forward outlook, that it may
+expect and work for a future wherein the power and grace of God will be no
+less manifest than in the past. Moreover, the final editor of Chronicles
+has shown himself unwilling that the book should conclude with a gloomy
+record of sin and ruin, and has appended a few lines to remind his readers
+of the new life of faith and hope that lay beyond the Captivity. In so
+doing, he has echoed the key-note of prophecy: ever beyond man's
+transgression and punishment the prophets saw the vision of his
+forgiveness and restoration to God.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+    1 Cf. _Ezra_; _Nehemiah_; _Esther_, by Professor Adeney, in
+      "Expositor's Bible."
+
+    2 Ezra iii. 12.
+
+    3 Isa. lxvi. 22.
+
+    4 Quoted for _Asa_ (2 Chron. xvi. 11); _Amaziah_ (2 Chron. xxv. 26);
+      _Ahaz_ (2 Chron. xxviii. 26).
+
+    5 Quoted for _Jotham_ (2 Chron. xxvii. 7); _Josiah_ (2 Chron. xxxv.
+      26, 27).
+
+    6 Quoted for _Manasseh_ (2 Chron. xxxiii, 18).
+
+    7 Quoted for _David_ (1 Chron. xxix. 29).
+
+    8 Quoted for _David_ (1 Chron. xxix. 29) and _Solomon_ (2 Chron. ix.
+      29).
+
+    9 Quoted for _David_ (1 Chron. xxix. 29).
+
+   10 Quoted for _Rehoboam_ (2 Chron. xii. 15).
+
+   11 Quoted for _Jehoshaphat_ (2 Chron. xx. 34).
+
+   12 Quoted for _Manasseh_ (2 Chron. xxxiii. 19). "Seers," A.V., R.V.
+      Marg., with LXX.; R.V., with Hebrew text, "Hozai." The passage is
+      probably corrupt.
+
+   13 Quoted for _Solomon_ (2 Chron. ix. 29).
+
+   14 Quoted for _Hezekiah_ (2 Chron. xxxii. 32).
+
+   15 Quoted for _Joash_ (2 Chron. xxiv. 27).
+
+   16 Quoted for _Abijah_ (2 Chron. xiii, 22).
+
+   17 Quoted for _Uzziah_ (2 Chron. xxvi. 22).
+
+   18 Quoted for _Solomon_ (2 Chron. ix. 29).
+
+   19 Cf. pp. 17, 18.
+
+   20 2 Chron. xx. 34.
+
+   21 Chron. xxxii. 32.
+
+   22 R.V. marg.
+
+   23 R.V.
+
+_   24 E.g._, the wars of Jotham (2 Chron. xxvii. 7).
+
+   25 2 Chron. xiii. 22; xxiv. 27. The LXX., however, does not read
+      "Midrash" in either case; and it is quite possible that glosses have
+      attached themselves to the text of Chronicles.
+
+   26 Cf. 2 Sam. vi. 12-20 with 1 Chron. xv., xvi.
+
+   27 Cf. 2 Kings xi.; 2 Chron. xxiii.
+
+   28 The last two classes are not easily distinguished; but the additions
+      which introduce the Levitical system into earlier history are
+      clearly the work of the chronicler or his immediate predecessor, if
+      such a predecessor be assumed, or were found in somewhat late
+      sources. This is also probably true of other explanatory matter.
+
+   29 Cf. 2 Sam. iv. with 1 Chron. viii. 34, also 2 Sam. vii. 7 with 1
+      Chron. xvii. 6, and 2 Sam. xvii. 25 with 1 Chron. ii. 17. In both
+      these instances Chronicles preserves the correct text.
+
+   30 Cf. Book II., Chap. IV.
+
+   31 Oehler, _Old Testament Theology_, i. 283 (Eng. trans.).
+
+   32 Nestle, _Die Israelitischen Eigennamen_, p. 27. The present chapter
+      is largely indebted to this standard monograph.
+
+   33 Nestle.
+
+   34 1 Chron. vii. 14.
+
+   35 Philo, _De Cong. Quaer. Erud. Grat._, 8.
+
+   36 Hiller's _Onomasticon ap._, Nestle 11.
+
+   37 vii. 8.
+
+   38 i. 35.
+
+   39 xviii. 15.
+
+   40 i. 20.
+
+   41 viii. 36.
+
+   42 ii. 18.
+
+   43 iii. 20.
+
+   44 iv. 3.
+
+   45 Bertheau, i. 1.
+
+   46 iv. 22.
+
+   47 iv. 22.
+
+   48 The translation of these words is not quite certain.
+
+   49 Nestle, p. 68.
+
+   50 Num. i. 10.
+
+   51 Num. i. 12.
+
+   52 Num. i. 6.
+
+   53 Cf. p. 40.
+
+   54 xi. 30; vii. 25 (Nestle).
+
+   55 Nestle.
+
+   56 Joel i. 15; Isa. xiii. 6. It is not necessary here to discuss either
+      the etymological or the theological history of these words in their
+      earliest usage, nor need we do more than recall the fact that
+      Jehovah was the term in common use as the personal name of the God
+      of Israel, while El was rare and sometimes generic.
+
+   57 Ezra ii. 61-63; Neh. vii, 63-65.
+
+   58 Acts xvii. 26.
+
+   59 Col. iii. 11.
+
+   60 Josh. xiv. 6.
+
+   61 1 Sam. xxvii 10.
+
+   62 Ver. 55.
+
+   63 The occurrence of Caleb the son of Jephunneh in iv, 15, vi. 56, in
+      no way militates against this view: the chronicler, like other
+      redactors, is simply inserting borrowed material without correcting
+      it. _Chelubai_ in ii. 9 stands for _Caleb_; cf. ii. 18.
+
+   64 viii. 33-40; ix. 35-44. We have used Mephibosheth as more familiar,
+      but Chronicles reads Meribbaal, which is more correct.
+
+   65 Psalm lxxviii. 59, 60, 67-69.
+
+   66 iv. 14, 21-23.
+
+   67 1 Chron. xv.
+
+   68 Cf. 2 Chron. xxix. 12 and xxx. 22.
+
+   69 2 Chron. xvii. 8.
+
+   70 Exod. xxv-xxxix.; 1 Kings vi.; 1 Chron. xxix.; 2 Chron. iii., v.
+
+   71 1 Chron. xv. 4-10.
+
+   72 1 Chron. xii. 23-37.
+
+   73 John iii. 8.
+
+   74 i. 10.
+
+   75 i. 19.
+
+   76 i. 46.
+
+   77 Cf. Gen. xxxvi. 24 and 1 Chron. i. 40.
+
+_   78 I.e._, Achan (ii. 3, 7).
+
+   79 1 Sam. ii. 7, 8.
+
+   80 Vv. 17, 18, as they stand, do not make sense. The second sentence of
+      ver. 18 should be read before "and she bare Miriam" in ver. 17.
+      Mered and Bithiah formed a tempting subject for the rabbis, and gave
+      occasion for some of their usual grotesque fancies. Mered has been
+      identified by them both with Caleb and Moses.
+
+   81 Deut. vii. 3; Josh. xxiii. 12; Ezra ix. 1, x.; Neh. xiii. 23.
+
+   82 iv. 9, 10.
+
+   83 The reading on which this translation is based is obtained by an
+      alteration of the vowels of the Masoretic text; cf. Bertheau, i. 1.
+
+   84 Gen. xxviii. 20; xxxiii. 20.
+
+   85 This translation is obtained by slightly altering the Masoretic
+      text.
+
+   86 iv. 41; cf. R.V.
+
+   87 1 Sam. xv.
+
+   88 Judges i. 17.
+
+   89 Judges i. 22-26.
+
+   90 Judges xviii.
+
+   91 Vv. 7-10, 18-22.
+
+   92 Deut. xxxiii. 20; 1 Chron. xii. 8, 21.
+
+   93 Gen. xxv. 15.
+
+   94 Gen. xvi. 12.
+
+_   95 Lay of the Last Minstrel_, iv. 3.
+
+   96 Vv. 25, 26. Note the curious spelling _Tilgath-pilneser_ for the
+      more usual _Tiglath-pileser_.
+
+   97 Cf. Bertheau, i. 1.
+
+   98 In Josh. xix. 42, xxi. 24, Aijalon is given to Dan; in Judges i. 34
+      it is given to Dan, but we are told that Amorites retained
+      possession of it, but became tributary to the house of Joseph; in 2
+      Chron. xi. 10 it is given to "Judah and Benjamin." As a frontier
+      town, it frequently changed hands.
+
+   99 2 Chron. xvi. 9.
+
+  100 2 Chron. xx. 20.
+
+  101 2 Chron. xxix. 6.
+
+  102 1 Chron. vi. 31-48, xv. 16-20; cf. psalm titles.
+
+  103 1 Chron. vi. 33, 37; cf. Psalm lxxxviii. (title).
+
+  104 1 Chron. xvi. 38, 42.
+
+  105 1 Chron. ix. 26-32; cf. 1 Chron. xxiii. 24-32.
+
+  106 2 Chron. xxix.-xxxi.; xxxiv.; xxxv.
+
+  107 2 Chron. xxix. 27, 28.
+
+  108 Num. iv. 3, 23, 35.
+
+  109 1 Chron. xxiii. 24, 27. Probably "twenty" should be read for
+      "thirty" in ver. 3.
+
+  110 1 Chron. xxiv. 6.
+
+  111 2 Chron. xxxiv. 13; xxxv. 3.
+
+  112 2 Chron. xxxv. 3; cf. 1 Chron. xxiii 26.
+
+  113 1 Chron. xxvi. 29.
+
+  114 2 Chron. xvii. 7, 9.
+
+  115 Wellhausen, _History of Israel_, p. 191; cf. 2 Chron. xix. 4-11.
+
+  116 1 Chron. ix. 31, 32.
+
+  117 Ezra ii. 36-39.
+
+  118 1 Chron. xxiv. 1-19.
+
+  119 Luke i. 5.
+
+_  120 Bell. Jud._, IV. iii. 8.
+
+  121 1 Chron. xxiv. 20-31; 2 Chron. xxxi. 2.
+
+  122 1 Chron. xxv.
+
+  123 1 Chron. xxvi.; Ezra vi. 18; Neh. xi. 36.
+
+  124 Recently a complaint was received at the General Post-office that
+      some newspapers sent from France had failed to arrive. It was stated
+      that the names of the papers were--_Il me manque_; _Plusieurs;
+      Journaux_; _i.e._, I am short of "Several" "Papers."
+
+  125 1 Chron. ix. 3.
+
+  126 Luke ii. 36.
+
+  127 Levi of course excepted.
+
+  128 1 Chron. iii.
+
+  129 ii. 55.
+
+  130 iv. 21-23.
+
+  131 Maspero, _Ancient Egypt and Assyria_, p. 60.
+
+  132 Craddock, _Despot of Bromsgrove Edge_. Teck Jepson is, of course, an
+      imaginary character, but none the less representative.
+
+  133 Cave, _Scripture Doctrine of Sacrifice_, p. 163.
+
+  134 George Eliot, _Janet's Repentance_, chap. xix.
+
+  135 2 Chron. xii. 1, 6.
+
+  136 2 Chron. xxxiii. 18.
+
+  137 Ezra ii. 2.
+
+  138 Isa. xlix. 6.
+
+  139 Isa. ix. 7.
+
+  140 Isa. xvi. 5.
+
+  141 Isa. xxxvii. 35.
+
+  142 Isa. xxxviii. 5.
+
+  143 Acts ii 29.
+
+  144 Hos. iii. 5.
+
+  145 Amos ix. 11.
+
+  146 Micah v. 2.
+
+  147 Jer. xxiii. 5, 6; cf. xxxiii. 15 and Isa. iv. 2, xi. 1. The Hebrew
+      word used in the last passage is different from that in the
+      preceding.
+
+  148 Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24; xxxvii. 24, 25.
+
+  149 Zech. iii. 8; the text in vi. 12 is probably corrupt.
+
+  150 Hag. ii. 23.
+
+  151 Zech. xii. 8.
+
+  152 Written after the death of Pompey.
+
+  153 Schultz, _Old Testament Theology_, ii. 444.
+
+  154 An incidental reference is made to these facts in 1 Chron. xii. 19.
+
+  155 2 Sam. iii. 39.
+
+  156 2 Sam. v. 21; 1 Chron. xiv. 12.
+
+  157 Deut. xxiv. 16, quoted in 2 Chron. xxv. 4.
+
+  158 2 Sam. xxi. 19; 1 Chron. xx. 5.
+
+  159 1 Chron. x. 14.
+
+  160 Cf. xi. 1-9; xii. 23-xiii. 14; xv.
+
+  161 1 Chron. xi. 2.
+
+  162 1 Chron. ii. 15.
+
+  163 1 Chron. xii. 1, 19. There is no certain indication of the date of
+      the events in xi. 10-25. The fact that a "hold" is mentioned in xi.
+      16, as in xii. 8, 16, is not conclusive proof that they refer to the
+      same period.
+
+  164 xii. 20.
+
+  165 1 Chron. xxix. 27.
+
+  166 xi. 10-47; xx. 4-8.
+
+  167 xiii. 14-xvi.
+
+  168 xvii.
+
+  169 xviii.; xx. 3.
+
+_  170 I.e._, virtually Jehovah our God and the only true God.
+
+  171 For a more detailed treatment of this incident see chap. ix.
+
+  172 xxi.-xxix.
+
+  173 xxix. 20-22, 28.
+
+  174 xvi. 8-36.
+
+  175 xvii. 16-27.
+
+  176 For a short exposition of this passage see Book. IV., Chap. i.
+
+  177 1 Chron. xi. 15-19.
+
+  178 xxix. 20.
+
+  179 Rom. xiv. 22.
+
+  180 2 Sam. xii. 31; 1 Chron. xx. 3.
+
+  181 Hodgkin, _Italy and her Invaders_, i. 205.
+
+  182 x. 14; xi. 3.
+
+  183 xii. 38.
+
+  184 xxix. 1, 22.
+
+  185 xiii. 2-4.
+
+  186 1 Sam. xxiii. 9-13; xxx. 7, 8.
+
+  187 xxv. 1, 2.
+
+  188 xiii. 1.
+
+  189 xxviii. 1.
+
+  190 xxix. 22.
+
+  191 But cf. 2 Chr. xxvi.
+
+  192 Cf. xvii. 4-15 and xxviii. 2-10.
+
+  193 xiii. 1-14.
+
+  194 The casual reference in Jer. lii. 20 is only an apparent exception.
+      The passage is really historical, and not prophetic.
+
+  195 Deut. xvii. 16, 17; cf. 2 Chron. i. 14-17 and 1 Kings xi. 3-8.
+
+  196 Psalms lxxii. and cxxvii. are attributed to him, the latter,
+      however, only in the Hebrew Bible.
+
+  197 Ecclus. xlvii. 12-21.
+
+  198 Matt. xii. 42.
+
+  199 Matt. vi. 29.
+
+  200 Acts vii. 47.
+
+  201 1 Chron. xxix. 25.
+
+  202 2 Chron. ix. 22, 23.
+
+  203 2 Chron. viii. 11.
+
+  204 Neh. xiii. 26.
+
+  205 Such changes occur throughout, and need not be further noticed
+      unless some special interest attaches to them.
+
+  206 Kings v. 13; ix. 22, which seems to contradict this, is an editorial
+      note.
+
+  207 2 Chron. ii. 2, 17, 18; viii. 7-10.
+
+  208 1 Kings ix. 11, 12.
+
+  209 2 Chron. viii. 1, 2, R.V.
+
+  210 1 Chron. xxii. 9.
+
+  211 1 Chron. xxix. 23, 24.
+
+  212 2 Chron. i. 7-13.
+
+  213 2 Chron. i. 14-17.
+
+  214 v. 11, 12, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  215 vi. 41, 42, peculiar to Chronicles, apparently based on Psalm
+      cxxxii. 8-10.
+
+  216 1 Chron. xxi. 26; 2 Chron. vii. 1-3, both peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  217 vii. 8-10, mostly peculiar to Chronicles. The text in 1 Kings viii.
+      65 has been interpolated from Chronicles.
+
+  218 vii. 13-15, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  219 viii. 3, 4, peculiar to Chronicles. Hamath is apparently referred to
+      as a possession of Judah in 2 Kings xiv. 28.
+
+  220 viii. 12-16, peculiar in this form to Chronicles, but based upon 1
+      Kings ix. 25.
+
+  221 ix., as in 1 Kings x. 1-13.
+
+  222 ix. 31.
+
+  223 ix. 28.
+
+  224 It is not suggested that the chronicler intended to convey this
+      impression, or that it would be felt by most of his readers.
+
+  225 xiv. 3, 5, contradicting 1 Kings xv. 14 and apparently 2 Chron. xv.
+      17.
+
+  226 xv. 8-14, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  227 xv. 18, 19.
+
+  228 xvii. 6 contradicts 1 Kings xxii. 43 and 2 Chron. xx. 33.
+
+  229 xvii. 7-9, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  230 xxiv. 1-14.
+
+  231 xxi. 11, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  232 xxv. 4.
+
+  233 2 Chron. xxviii. 24-xxxi., mostly peculiar to Chronicles; but
+      compare Kings xviii. 4-7, which mentions the taking away of the high
+      places.
+
+  234 xxxiii. 16.
+
+  235 xxxiv.; xxxv.
+
+  236 xxx. 2.
+
+  237 xxii. 1; xxiii. 1-15; xxvi. 1; xxxiii. 25; xxxvi. 1.
+
+  238 xxv. 12.
+
+  239 xvi. 12.
+
+  240 xx. 37.
+
+  241 xxiv. 20-27.
+
+  242 xxv. 14-27.
+
+  243 xxvi. 16-23.
+
+  244 xxxii. 25-33.
+
+  245 xxxv. 20-27.
+
+  246 Milton, Hymn to the Nativity.
+
+  247 Tennyson, In Memoriam.
+
+  248 2 Chron. ix. 1.
+
+  249 Prov. xxxi. 1-9.
+
+  250 Articles XXI. and XXXVII.
+
+  251 Eph. ii. 12.
+
+  252 2 Chron. xii. 12, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  253 1 Kings xv. 3.
+
+  254 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11-20, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  255 2 Kings xxiii. 32.
+
+  256 2 Kings xvi. 5.
+
+  257 Isa. viii. 2.
+
+  258 2 Chron. xxxiii. 9.
+
+  259 2 Chron. xxxvi. 5, 8, 11.
+
+  260 2 Chron. xxviii. 5-15, peculiar to Chronicles; cf. 2 Kings xvi. 5,
+      6.
+
+  261 2 Chron. xxviii. 16-25, peculiar to Chronicles; cf. 2 Kings xvi.
+      7-18.
+
+  262 xxviii. 27, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  263 2 Chron. xi. 13, 14, xxix. 34, xxx. 27, all peculiar to Chronicles.
+      In xxx. 27 the text is doubtful; many authorities have "the priests
+      and the Levites."
+
+_  264 I.e._, in the view given us by the chronicler of the period of the
+      monarchy, after the Return the priests were far more numerous than
+      the Levites.
+
+  265 1 Chron. xxvi. 30-32.
+
+  266 2 Chron. xix. 4-11.
+
+  267 2 Chron. xv. 3. In the older literature the phrase would bear a more
+      special and technical meaning.
+
+  268 Exod. xxxii. 26-35.
+
+  269 Num. xxv. 3.
+
+  270 Psalm cvi. 30, 31.
+
+  271 1 Chron. xii. 23-28.
+
+  272 1 Chron. xxvii. 5; cf. however, R.V. marg.
+
+  273 2 Chron. xiii. 12.
+
+  274 2 Chron. xxiii. 7. All the passages referred to in this paragraph
+      are peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  275 Neh. iv. 17.
+
+  276 1 Macc. v. 67.
+
+  277 1 Chron. xiii. 8; xvi. 2.
+
+  278 1 Chron. xxix. 10-19.
+
+  279 2 Chron. vi.
+
+  280 2 Chron. xx. 4-13; xxx. 6-9, 18-21, 27.
+
+  281 2 Chron. xxxv.
+
+  282 1 Chron. xiii. 10.
+
+  283 2 Chron. xxvi. 16-23.
+
+  284 2 Chron. xxxi. 3-5.
+
+  285 Mal. i. 8; iii. 4, 10.
+
+  286 2 Chron. xxxi. 10.
+
+  287 Exod. xv. 3.
+
+  288 Psalm lxxiv. 8, 9. This psalm is commonly regarded as Maccabaean, but
+      may be as early as the chronicler or even earlier.
+
+  289 1 Macc. iv. 46.
+
+  290 Ezra ii. 63.
+
+  291 2 Chron. xxix. 25, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  292 2 Chron. xii. 5-8, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  293 2 Chron. xv.-xvi. 10, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  294 2 Chron. xix. 2, 3, xx. 14-18, 37, all peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  295 xxi. 12-15, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  296 xxiv. 18-22, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  297 xiv. 15, 16, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  298 2 Kings xix. 5-7, 20-34.
+
+  299 xxxii. 20.
+
+  300 xxxiii. 10, 18.
+
+  301 xxxv. 21, 22, 25, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  302 1 Esdras i. 28.
+
+  303 Ezra v. 1; vi. 14.
+
+  304 Neh. vi. 14.
+
+  305 1 Chron. xii. 18, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  306 Acts ii. 30.
+
+  307 2 Kings iv. 42.
+
+  308 Abbott, _Through Nature to Christ_, p. 295.
+
+  309 Jer. xv. 10.
+
+  310 Deut. xviii. 18.
+
+  311 Ecclus. xlix. 10.
+
+  312 R.V. "delight in" is somewhat too strong.
+
+  313 It is, however, possible that the text in Samuel is a corruption of
+      text more closely parallel to that of Chronicles.
+
+  314 Noldius and R. Salom. _apud_ Bertheau i. 1.
+
+  315 Josh. xviii. 28; Judges i. 21, as against Josh. xv. 63; Judges i. 8,
+      which assign the city to Judah.
+
+  316 1 Chron. xxvii. 23, 24.
+
+  317 Ver. 7 is apparently a general anticipation of the narrative in vv.
+      9-15.
+
+  318 Josh. v. 13.
+
+  319 Schultz, _Old Testament Theology_, ii. 270.
+
+  320 Exod. iv. 21; Josh. xi. 20; 1 Sam. xix. 9, 10; 2 Sam. xxiv. 1; 1
+      Kings xxii. 20-23.
+
+  321 Prov. xvi. 4; Lam. iii. 38; Isa. xlv. 7.
+
+  322 Zech. iii. 1.
+
+  323 Jer. vii. 12-14; xxvi. 6.
+
+  324 1 Chron. xxviii. 19.
+
+  325 Heb. vii. 14.
+
+  326 Hos. xii. 13.
+
+  327 Schultz, _Old Testament Theology_, ii. 353.
+
+  328 2 Chron. xxx. 6; 1 Kings xviii. 36.
+
+  329 1 Chron. xvi. 13, 17; Gen. xxxii. 28.
+
+  330 Gen. xxiii. 4; cf. Psalms xxxix. 13, cxix. 19.
+
+  331 Job viii. 9.
+
+  332 Called, however, at that time Antonia.
+
+  333 viii. 9.
+
+  334 xi. 5-xii. 1, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  335 xii. 2-8, 12, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  336 xii. 14, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  337 Ecclus. xlvii. 23.
+
+  338 xiii. 3-22, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  339 Josh. xviii. 22.
+
+  340 Judges ix. 8.
+
+  341 Num. xviii. 19.
+
+  342 2 Chron. x. 15.
+
+  343 This verse must of course be understood to give his whole family
+      history, and not merely that of his three years' reign.
+
+  344 xiv. 1, 7, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  345 xiv. 3-9, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  346 1 Chron. xii., etc.; 2 Chron. xi. 5 ff., xvii. 12 ff., xxvi. 9 ff.
+      xxvii. 4 ff., xxxiii. 14.
+
+  347 xiv. 9-15.
+
+  348 So R.V. marg.; R.V. text (with which A.V. is in substantial
+      agreement): "There fell of the Ethiopians so many that they could
+      not recover themselves"; _i.e._, the routed army were never able to
+      rally.
+
+  349 The second reformation is dated early in Asa's fifteenth year, and
+      Abijah only reigned three years.
+
+  350 xv., based upon 1 Kings xv. 13-15, but the great bulk of the chapter
+      is peculiar to Chronicles; the original passage from Kings is
+      reproduced, with slight changes in vv. 16-18.
+
+  351 2 Sam. xii. 9-11. "Barak" with LXX. and Peshite; Masoretic text has
+      "Bedan."
+
+  352 Judges v. 6, 7; vi. 11; viii. 15-17; ix.; xii. 1-7; xx.; xxi.
+
+  353 Cf. 1 Kings xv. 12.
+
+  354 1 Chron. ix. 3.
+
+  355 Exod. xxii. 20; Deut. xiii. 5, 9, 15.
+
+  356 1 Kings xv. 16, 32, 33.
+
+  357 xvi. 7-10, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  358 Isa. vii. 17.
+
+  359 Isa. xxxi. 1; xxx. 3.
+
+  360 Jer. ii. 36.
+
+  361 Zech. iv. 10.
+
+  362 The date, as before, is peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  363 xvi. 12_b_, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+_  364 Time and Tide_, xii. 67.
+
+  365 George Eliot, _Romola_, xxi.
+
+  366 Part II., Chap. IX.
+
+  367 xvii., peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  368 1 Chron. xviii. 1-3.
+
+  369 xix. 1-3, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  370 xix. 4-11, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  371 Milman, _Latin Christianity_, Book XI., Chap. I.
+
+  372 xx. 1-30, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  373 So R.V. marg., with the LXX. The Targum has "Edomites," the A.V. is
+      not justified by the Hebrew, and the R.V. does not make sense.
+
+  374 Cf. 1 Chron. iv. 41, R.V.; and 2 Chron. xxvi. 7.
+
+  375 One Hebrew manuscript is quoted as having this reading. A.R.V., with
+      the ordinary Masoretic text, have "Syria"; but it is simply absurd
+      to suppose that a multitude from beyond the sea from Syria would
+      first make their appearance on the western shore of the Dead Sea.
+
+  376 2 Chron. iv. 9.
+
+  377 Ver. 9; cf. 2 Chron. vi. 28, and the whole paragraph (vv. 22-30) of
+      which our verse is a brief abstract.
+
+  378 Not Ziz, as A.R.V.
+
+  379 {~HEBREW LETTER HE~}{~HEBREW LETTER DALET~}{~HEBREW LETTER RESH~}{~HEBREW LETTER TAV~} {~HEBREW LETTER QOF~}{~HEBREW LETTER DALET~}{~HEBREW LETTER SHIN~}, literally, as A.R.V., "beauty of holiness"; _i.e._, sacred
+      robes. Translate with R.V. marg. "praise in the beauty of holiness,"
+      not, as A.R.V., "praise the beauty of holiness."
+
+  380 Exod. xiv. 30.
+
+  381 With R.V. marg.
+
+  382 The identification of the valley of Berachah with the valley of
+      Jehoshaphat, close to Jerusalem and mentioned by Josephus, is a mere
+      theory, quite at variance with the topographical evidence.
+
+  383 Kings xxii. 48, 49.
+
+  384 2 Chron. xxiv. 24, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  385 Psalm xx. 7.
+
+  386 1 Macc. ii. 35-38.
+
+  387 xxi. 2-4, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  388 Vv. 5-10; cf. 2 Kings viii. 17-22.
+
+  389 xxi. 11-19, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  390 So R.V. marg., with LXX. and Vulgate A.R.V. have "mountains," with
+      Masoretic text.
+
+  391 Jer. xxix.; xxxvi.
+
+  392 Green's _Shorter History_, p. 404.
+
+  393 xxii. 1_b_, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  394 The Hebrew original of the A.R.V., "departed without being desired,"
+      is as obscure as the English of our versions. The most probable
+      translation is, "He behaved so as to please no one." The A.R.V.
+      apparently mean that no one regretted his death.
+
+  395 We need not discuss in detail the question of Ahaziah's age at his
+      accession. The age of forty-two, given in 2 Chron. xxii. 2, is
+      simply impossible, seeing that his father was only forty years old
+      when he died. The Peshito and Arabic versions have followed 2 Kings
+      viii. 26, and altered forty-two to twenty-two; and the LXX. reads
+      twenty years. But twenty-two years still presents difficulties.
+      According to this reading, Ahaziah, Jehoram's youngest son, was born
+      when his father was only eighteen, and Jehoram having had several
+      sons before the age of eighteen, had none afterwards.
+
+  396 xiii. 7_a_, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  397 Cf. p. 20.
+
+  398 Cf. xxv. 2 with 2 Kings xiv. 4, xxvi. 4 with 2 Kings xv. 4, xxvii. 2
+      with 2 Kings xv. 34, where similar statements are omitted by the
+      chronicler.
+
+  399 2 Kings xii. 9.
+
+  400 Exod. xxx. 11-16.
+
+  401 Neh. x. 32.
+
+  402 xxiv. 14-22, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  403 Curiously enough, Jehoiada's name does not occur in the list of
+      high-priests in 1 Chron. vi. 1-12.
+
+  404 1 Chron. xxviii. 9; 2 Chron. vii. 19, xii. 5, xiii. 10, xv. 2, xxi.
+      10, xxviii. 6, xxix. 6, xxxiv. 25.
+
+  405 Cf. 2 Kings xii. 17, 18, of which this narrative is probably an
+      adaptation.
+
+  406 xxv. 5-13, peculiar to Chronicles, except that the account of the
+      war with Edom is expanded from the brief note in Kings. Cf. ver.
+      11_b_ with 2 Kings xiv. 7.
+
+  407 In the phrase "from Samaria to Beth-horon," "Samaria" apparently
+      means the northern kingdom, and not the city, _i.e._, from the
+      borders of Samaria; the chronicler has fallen into the nomenclature
+      of his own age.
+
+  408 For the discussion of the chronicler's account of Ahaz see Book
+      III., Chap. VII.
+
+  409 So R.V. marg., with LXX., Targum, Syriac and Arabic versions,
+      Talmud, Rashi, Kimchi, and some Hebrew manuscripts (Bertheau, i. 1).
+      A.R.V., "had understanding in the visions" (R.V. vision) "of God."
+      The difference between the two Hebrew readings is very slight. Vv.
+      5-20, with the exception of the bare fact of the leprosy are
+      peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  410 Cf. Ezek. xxvi. 9.
+
+  411 Pliny, vii. 56 _apud_ Smith's _Bible Dictionary_.
+
+  412 Num. xviii. 7; Exod. xxx. 7.
+
+  413 Kimchi interprets "those days" as meaning "after the death of
+      Jotham."
+
+  414 The reference to the wall of Ophel is peculiar to Chronicles:
+      indeed, Ophel is only mentioned in Chronicles and Nehemiah; it was
+      the southern spur of Mount Moriah (Neh. iii. 26, 27). Vv. 3_b_-7 are
+      also peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  415 This is usually understood as Nisan, the first month of the
+      ecclesiastical year.
+
+  416 xxix. 3-xxxi. 21 (the cleansing of the Temple and accompanying
+      feast, Passover, organisation of the priests and Levites) are
+      substantially peculiar to Chronicles, though in a sense they expand
+      2 Kings xviii. 4-7, because they fulfil the commandments which
+      Jehovah commanded Moses.
+
+  417 Exod. vi. 18, 22; Num. iii. 30, mention Elizaphan as a descendant of
+      Kohath.
+
+  418 So Strack-Zockler, i. 1.
+
+  419 Lev. i. 6.
+
+  420 According to 2 Kings xviii. 10, Samaria was not taken till the sixth
+      year of Hezekiah's reign. It is not necessary for an expositor of
+      Chronicles to attempt to harmonise the two accounts.
+
+  421 Cf xxx. 11, 18.
+
+  422 xxx. 14; cf. 2 Kings xviii. 4. The chronicler omits the statement
+      that Hezekiah destroyed Moses's brazen serpent, which the people had
+      hitherto worshipped. His readers would not have understood how this
+      corrupt worship survived the reforms of pious kings and priests who
+      observed the law of Moses.
+
+  423 Cf. xxix. 34, xxx. 3.
+
+  424 Lev. xv. 31.
+
+  425 So Bertheau, i. 1, slightly paraphrasing.
+
+  426 A.R.V., with Masoretic text, "the priests the Levites"; LXX., Vulg.
+      Syr., "the priests and the Levites." The former is more likely to be
+      correct. The verse is partly an echo of Deut. xxvi. 15, so that the
+      chronicler naturally uses the Deuteronomic phrase "the priests the
+      Levites"; but he probably does so unconsciously, without intending
+      to make any special claim for the Levites: hence I have omitted the
+      word in the text.
+
+  427 xxxii. 2-8, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  428 xxxii. 30.
+
+  429 xxxiii. 11-19, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  430 So R.V.: A.V., "among the thorns"; R.V. marg., "with hooks", if so
+      in a figurative sense. Others take the word as a proper name: Hohim.
+
+  431 Ezek. xviii. 20.
+
+  432 Peter iv. 18.
+
+  433 Ezek. xviii. 21-23.
+
+  434 Psalm cxxx. 4, probably belonging to about the same period as
+      Chronicles.
+
+  435 1 Chron. xxiii. 26, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  436 2 Chron. vii. 5. The figures are peculiar to Chronicles; 1 Kings
+      viii. 5 says that the victims could not be counted.
+
+  437 Jehoiachin. The ordinary reading in 2 Kings xxiv. makes him
+      eighteen.
+
+  438 2 xxxvi. 6_b_, peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+  439 Mostly peculiar to Chronicles.
+
+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE: THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES***
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