2 Kings 15:37

In those days,.... At the end of the days of Jotham, or after his death, things might be in design, and preparations made before, but nothing of what follows came to pass in his life, but in the

In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.

In those days i.e. towards the end of Jotham’ s reign. The Lord began to send, i.e. disposed their hearts to unite their forces together, and to make preparation for a war against Judah; which yet they did not execute till Ahaz’ s reign.

2 Kings 15:37 In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.Ver. 37. In those days.] But not till good Jotham was laid up in peace.

(32-38) THE REIGN OF JOTHAM IN .(Comp. 2 Chronicles 27) (32) In the second year of Pekah.—Who came to the throne in the last year of Uzziah (Azariah, 2 Kings 15:27). (34) According to all that his father Uzziah had done.—The chronicler qualifies this general statement by adding that Jotham did not, like his father, invade the Holy Place. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 27:2, with 2 Chronicles 26:16.) (35) Howbeit the high places.—The chronicler generalises this statement: “And the people did yet corruptly.” He built.—Rather, He it was who built For “the higher gate,” see Note on 2 Chronicles 27:3. Thenius considers that the term higher denotes rank rather than local position. (See Jeremiah 20:2; Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 8:5; Ezekiel 8:14; Ezekiel 8:16; Ezekiel 9:2; Ezekiel 40:38-43; and comp. 2 Kings 12:9.) (36) Now the rest of the acts of Jotham.—Some of these are related in 2 Chronicles 27:4-6. We read there how Jotham built towns and castles, and towers of refuge, and how he fought victoriously against Ammon, and exacted from that nation a heavy tribute three years running. Ewald and Thenius admit the historical value of this brief narrative, which is indeed evident on the face of it. (37) In those days—i.e., in the last year of Jotham. The attacks of the allies at first took the form of isolated raids. In the next reign the country was invaded by them in full force. (See 2 Kings 16:5, seq., and the Notes there.) Rezin.—Comp. Rezon, Heb., Rĕ ?zôn (1 Kings 11:23), the founder of the dynasty. The present name is spelt in the Hebrew of Kings and Isaiah (Isaiah 7:1) Rĕ ?çín. The Assyrian spelling in the records of Tiglath Pileser, who conquered and slew Rezin, suggests that the right spelling was Raçôn (Assyrian, Bagunnu). The first and last kings of the Syrian monarchy thus bore similar names, both, perhaps, meaning “prince.”

Verse 37. In those days the Lord began to send] It was about this time that the Assyrian wars, so ruinous to the Jews, began; but it was in the following reigns that they arrived at their highest pitch of disaster to those unfaithful and unfortunate people. However much we may blame the Jews for their disobedience and obstinacy, yet we cannot help feeling for them under their severe afflictions. Grievously they have sinned, and grievously have they suffered for it. And if they be still objects of God's judgments, there is revelation to believe that they will yet be objects of God's goodness. Many think the signs of the times are favourable to this ingathering; but there is no evidence among the people themselves that the day of their redemption is at hand. They do not humble themselves; they do not seek the Lord.

37. In those days] In the days of Jotham the confederacy between Israel and Syria against Judah was formed, though the effects were not felt to the full till the days of Jotham’s son Ahaz. In Isaiah 7 we find that Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel, had come up against Jerusalem to fight against it, and were minded to set up a king in Judah of their own choosing, who is there spoken of as ‘the son of Tabeel’. At that time for the consolation and encouragement of Ahaz the oracle concerning ‘Immanuel’ was sent to him through Isaiah. the Lord began to send] Though He began to send enemies upon Judah, yet the Lord did not, as Isaiah’s prophecy shews us, leave His people without hope, but in the midst of their chastisement He was thinking upon mercy, and spake by the mouth of the prophet concerning that greatest mercy, the sending of His Son. Rezin the king of Syria] The name of this king appears several times in the Assyrian records. His country had before this time been made tributary to Assyria. The policy of Rezin appears not only to have embraced a conquest of Judah in alliance with Pekah, but also, after making himself more powerful in that way, the shaking off the yoke of Assyria. For this reason the Assyrian power was the more easily induced to help Ahaz in resisting Israel and Syria. The history of that help is given in the next chapter where the acts of Pekah against Judah are more fully dwelt upon.

The recent invasions of Pul and Tiglath-Pileser had effectually alarmed Pekah and Rezin, and had induced them to put aside the traditional jealousies which naturally kept them apart, and to make a league offensive and defensive.

REIGN OF JOTHAM, KING OF JUDAH, 2 Kings 15:32-38. 37. In those days — Evidently near the close of Jotham’s reign. Began to send… Rezin… and Pekah — That is, the Syro-Israelitish war against Judah only began in Jotham’s day.