2 Kings 21:26

And he was buried in his sepulchre, in the garden of Uzza,.... Where his father Manasseh was buried, 2 Kings 21:18, and Josiah his son reigned in his stead; of whom many things are said in the two following chapters.

2 Kings 21:26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.Ver. 26. And he was buried.] But not lamented, as his son Josiah afterwards was by all the people.

(26) In his sepulchre . . .—Which he had caused to be prepared near his father’s (2 Kings 21:16).

Verse 26. The garden of Uzza] The family sepulchre or burying-place. IT is said 2Kg 21:3; 2Kg 21:7, that "Manasseh made a grove; and he set a graven image of the grove," c. וישם את פסל האשרה אשר עשה vaiyasem eth pesel haasherah, asher asah: "And he put the graven image of Asherah, which he had made," into the house. Asherah, which we translate grove, is undoubtedly the name of an idol and probably of one which was carved out of wood. R. S. Jarchi, on Genesis 12:3, says, "that אשרה asherah means a tree which was worshipped by the Gentiles;" like as the oak was worshipped by the ancient Druids in Britain. Castel, in Lex. Hept. sub voce אשר, defines אשרה asherah thus, Simulacrum ligneum Astartae dicatum; "A wooden image dedicated to Astrate or Venus." The Septuagint render the words by αλσος; and Flamminius Nobilis, on 2Kg 23:4, says Rursus notat Theodoretus τοαλσος esse Astartem et Venerem, et ab aliis interpretibus dictum Ashatroth; i.e. "Again Theodoret observes, αλσος is Astarte and Venus; and by other interpreters called Ashtaroth." The Targum of Ben Uzziel, on Deuteronomy 7:5, ואשירהם תגדעון vaasheyrehem tegaddeun; i.e., "Their groves shall ye cut down" - translates the place thus, ואילני סיגדיהון תקצצון veilaney sigedeyhon tekatsetsun; "And the oaks of their adoration shall ye cut down." From the above it is pretty evident that idols, not groves, are generally intended where אשרה asherah and its derivatives are used. Here follow proofs: - In 2Kg 23:6, it is said that "Josiah brought out the grove from the house of the Lord." This translation seems very absurd; for what grove could there be in the temple? There was none planted there, nor was there room for any. The plain meaning of ויצא את השרה מבית יהוה vaiyotse eth haasherah mibbeyth Jehovah, is, "And he brought out the (goddess) Asherah from the house of the Lord, and burnt it," c. That this is the true meaning of the place appears farther from 2Kg 23:7, where it is said, "He broke down the houses of the sodomites," (הקדשים hakkedeshim, of the whoremongers,) "where the women wove hangings for the grove" (בתים לאשרה bottim laasherah, "houses or shrines for Asherah.") Similar perhaps to those which the silversmiths made for Diana, Acts 19:24. It is rather absurd to suppose that the women were employed in making curtains to encompass a grove. The Syriac and Arabic versions countenance the interpretation I have given above. In 2Kg 23:6, the former says, "He cast out the idol, [Syriac] dechlotho, from the house of the Lord" and in 2Kg 23:7: "He threw down the houses, [Syriac] dazoine, of the prostitutes; and the women who wove garments, [Syriac] ledechlotho, for the idols which were there." The Arabic is exactly the same. From the whole it is evident that Asherah was no other than Venus; the nature of whose worship is plain enough from the mention of whoremongers and prostitutes.

26. in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza] See above, verse 18. This was evidently a new burial-place contrived for themselves by the kings, in close neighbourhood to the royal palace.

26. In his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza — That is, by the side of his father in the family tomb. See note on 2 Kings 21:18.