2 Kings 15:5

And the Lord smote the king,.... With leprosy; the reason of it was, because he intruded into the priest's office, and went into the temple to burn incense on the altar of incense, 2 Chronicles

Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem. No JFB commentary on these verses.

He was a leper; the cause whereof see . Dwelt in a several house; separated from conversation with others by virtue of that law, , which being the law of the King of kings, bound kings no less than subjects. Over the house, judging the people of the land, i.e. he governed the king’ s court and whole kingdom, in his name, and as his vicegerent.

2 Kings 15:5 And the LORD smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king’ s son [was] over the house, judging the people of the land.Ver. 5. And the Lord smote the king.] For his arrogancy and impudency in invading the priest’ s office; God spat in his face, that he might be ashamed and humbled, and that others might be warned. And Jotham the king’ s son was over the house, &c.] He did not thrust out his father: but ruled all as his substitute. This was some comfort to the diseased king.

(5) And the Lord smote the king.—The chronicler relates the reason—viz., because of his usurpation of priestly functions in the sanctuary. This happened towards the end of the reign. Jotham, the regent, was only twenty-five when Azariah died (2 Kings 15:33). Smote.—Or, struck. So we speak of a paralytic stroke, and the word plague literally means stroke.In a several house.—Rather, in the sickhouse (or, hospital)—i.e., a royal residence outside of Jerusalem (Leviticus 13:46; 2 Kings 7:3) set apart for such cases. (Strictly, in the house of freedom; because lepers were emancipated from all social relations and duties. Gesenius explains the word from an Arabic root said to mean prostration, weakness; but Lane gives for that term the special meaning smallness (or, narrowness) of the eye; weakness of sight. See his Arabic Lexicon, Bk. I., Pt. II., p. 772. Over the house.—Not apparently as prefect of the palace (comp. 1 Kings 4:6; 1 Kings 18:3), but as dwelling in the palace instead of his father. Judging the people of the land.—As his father’s representative. (Comp. 1 Samuel 8:6; 1 Samuel 8:20; 1 Kings 3:9.) This passage is strong evidence against the assumption of joint sovereignties of princes with their fathers, so often made by way of escaping chronological difficulties in Hebrew history. Jotham is not co-regent but viceroy of Azariah until the latter dies.

Verse 5. The Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper] The reason of this plague is well told in the above quoted chapter, 2 Chronicles 26:16. That his heart being elated, he went into the temple to burn incense upon the altar, assuming to himself the functions of the high priest; that Azariah the priest, with fourscore others, went in after him, to prevent him; and that while they were remonstrating against his conduct, the Lord struck him with the leprosy, which immediately appeared on his forehead; that they thrust him out as an unclean person; and that he himself hurried to get out, feeling that the Lord had smitten him; that he was obliged to dwell in a house by himself, being leprous, to the day of his death; and that during this time the affairs of the kingdom were administered by his son Jotham. A poet, ridiculing the conduct of those who, without an episcopal ordination, think they have authority from God to dispense all the ordinances of the Church, expresses himself thus: - But now the warm enthusiast cries, The office to myself I take; Offering the Christian sacrifice, Myself a lawful priest I make: To me this honour appertains, No need of man when GOD ordains. [Some go into the contrary extreme, and in affect say, no need of GOD when MAN ordains.] Though kings may not so far presume, "Tis no presumption in a clown, And, lo, without a call from Rome, My flail or hammer I lay down; And if my order's name ye seek, Come, see a new Melchisedek! Ye upstart (men-made) priests, your sentence know, The marks you can no longer hide; Your daring deeds too plainly show The loathsome leprosy of pride; And if ye still your crime deny, Who lepers live shall lepers die. CHARLES WESLEY. This is very severe, but applies to every man who, through pride, presumption, or the desire of gain, enters into the priest's office, though he have the utmost authority that the highest ecclesiastical officer can confer.

5. And the Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper] The more political history in Kings tells us nothing about the reason why Azariah was smitten. The Chronicler however says that the king’s successes caused his heart to be lifted up, and he presumed to go into the temple, and to take upon him the priest’s office of burning incense. He was withstood by the priest (also called Azariah) and by fourscore other priests, but in his anger he persisted, and then it was that the leprosy rose up in his forehead. Whereupon he hasted to go forth from the temple because the Lord had smitten him. and dwelt in a several house] The noun here is connected with the adjective that signifies ‘free’ and which is used of manumitted slaves. It has been suggested that the meaning here is that the place was one where those lived who could no longer mix with their fellows, and take part in the ordinary business of life. But in that case the building would be a public one or it would not have been so called. It appears therefore better to consider that the house was ‘free’ in the sense of ‘standing apart’, not mixed up among other dwellings. It was perhaps some place in the country to which the king confined himself after the disease had broken out upon him. The R.V. gives ‘lazar-house’ on the margin, but we must not suppose that the king went into a home devoted to such sufferers. He would live alone. The LXX. makes a sort of transliteration of the word but does not translate. The Vulgate has in domo libera seorsum. For the English word ‘several’ in the sense of ‘separate’, cf. Pilkington’s Works (Parker Society) p. 64 where the author speaks of people ‘buried not in hallowed churchyards by any bishops, but in a several place appointed for the same purpose without the city’, and further down on the same page he describes a burial-ground as ‘an honest place to be kept several from beasts and unreverent using the same’. the king’s son was over the house] R.V. household. From 1 Kings 4:6 where Ahishar is spoken of as being over Solomon’s household, and 2 Kings 19:2 where the same office is assigned to Eliakim in the time of Hezekiah, it is clear that the post was one of great dignity, but it was in no way connected with a regency. Eliakim is mentioned as the most prominent person among those who were sent to confer with Rabshakeh, and to consult the prophet Isaiah, but the duties he performed were those of a subject. And though Jotham is here said to have judged the people of the land, we cannot from this conclude that he was joint ruler with his father.

The Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper - The circumstances under which this terrible affliction befel one of the greatest of the Jewish kings, are given at some length by the author of

5. The Lord smote the king — For burning incense, and thereby usurping priestly functions. See in Chronicles.