,the ,expositor's ,bible ,the ,books of ,chronicles ,by ,william ,henry ,bennett ,professor of ,old ,testament ,languages and ,literature1 ,mackney and ,new ,colleges2 ,sometime ,fellow of ,st4 ,john's ,college1 ,cambridge ,hodder ,stoughton ,new ,york ,george ,h1 ,doran ,company ,,contents ,preface ,book ,i4 ,introduction4 ,chapter ,i4 ,date ,and ,authorship4 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,historical ,setting4 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,sources ,and ,mode ,of ,composition4 ,chapter ,,iv4 ,the ,importance of ,chronicles4 ,book ,,ii4 ,genealogies4 ,chapter ,i4 ,names4 #a ,chron4 i-ix4 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,heredity4 #a ,chron4 i4-ix4 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,statistics4 ,chapter ,,iv4 ,family ,traditions4 #a ,chron4 i4 #aj1 #ai1 #df2 ii4 #c1 #g1 #cd2 iv4 #i1 #aj1 #ah1 #bb1 #bg1 #cd-dc2 v4 #aj1 #ah-bb2 vii4 #ba-bc2 viii4 #ac4 ,chapter ,v4 ,the ,jewish ,community ,in ,the ,time ,of ,the ,chronicler4 ,chapter ,,vi4 ,teaching ,by ,anachronism4 #a ,chron4 ix4 7cf4 xv41 xvi41 xxiii4-xxvii41 etc474 ,book ,,iii4 ,messianic ,and ,other ,types4 ,chapter ,i4 ,teaching ,by ,types4 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,david--,i4 ,his ,tribe ,and ,dynasty4 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,david--,,ii4 ,his ,personal ,history4 ,chapter ,,iv4 ,david--,,iii4 ,his ,official ,dignity4 ,chapter ,v4 ,solomon4 ,chapter ,,vi4 ,solomon 7continued74 ,chapter ,,vii4 ,the ,wicked ,kings4 #b ,chron4 xxviii41 etc4 ,chapter ,,viii4 ,the ,priests4 ,chapter ,,ix4 ,the ,prophets4 ,chapter ,x4 ,satan4 #a ,chron4 xxi4-xxii4 #a4 ,chapter ,,xi4 ,conclusion4 ,book ,,iv4 ,the ,interpretation ,of ,history4 ,chapter ,i4 ,the ,last ,prayer ,of ,david4 #a ,chron4 xxix4 #aj-ai4 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,rehoboam ,and ,abijah3 ,the ,importance ,of ,ritual4 #b ,chron4 x4-xiii4 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,asa3 ,divine ,retribution4 #b ,chron4 xiv4-xvi4 ,chapter ,,iv4 ,jehoshaphat--,the ,doctrine ,of ,non-,resistance4 #b ,chron4 xvii4-xx4 ,chapter ,v4 ,jehoram1 ,ahaziah1 and ,athaliah3 ,the ,consequences of a ,foreign ,marriage4 #b ,chron4 xxi4-xxiii4 ,chapter ,,vi4 ,joash and ,amaziah4 #b ,chron4 xxiv4-xxv4 ,chapter ,,vii4 ,uzziah1 ,jotham1 and ,ahaz4 #b ,chron4 xxvi4-xxviii4 ,chapter ,,viii4 ,hezekiah3 ,the ,religious ,value ,of ,music4 #b ,chron4 xxix4-xxxii4 ,chapter ,,ix4 ,manasseh3 ,repentance ,and ,forgiveness4 #b ,chron4 xxxiii4 ,chapter ,x4 ,the ,last ,kings ,of ,judah4 #b ,chron4 xxxiv4-xxxvi4 ,footnotes ,,preface ,to expound ,chronicles in a series which has dealt with ,samuel1 ,kings1 ,ezra1 and ,nehemiah is to glean scattered ears from a field already harvested4 ,sections common to ,chronicles with the older histories have therefore been treated as briefly as is consistent with preserving the continuity of the narrative4 ,moreover1 an exposition of ,chronicles does not demand or warrant an attempt to write the history of ,judah4 ,to recombine with ,chronicles matter which its author deliberately omitted would only obscure the characteristic teaching he intended to convey4 ,on the one hand1 his selection of material has a religious significance1 which must be ascertained by careful comparison with ,samuel and ,kings2 on the other hand1 we can only do justice to the chronicler as we ourselves adopt1 for the time being1 his own attitude towards the history of ,hebrew politics1 literature1 and religion4 ,in the more strictly expository parts of this volume ,i have sought to confine myself to the carrying out of these principles4 ,amongst other obligations to friends1 ,i must specially mention my indebtedness to the ,rev4 ,t4 ,h4 ,darlow1 ,m4,a41 for a careful reading of the proof-sheets and many very valuable suggestions4 ,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 ,chronicles4 ,,book ,i4 ,,introduction4 ,chapter ,i4 ,date ,and ,authorship4 ,chronicles is a curious literary torso4 ,a comparison with ,ezra and ,nehemiah shows that the three originally formed a single whole4 ,they are written in the same peculiar late ,hebrew style2 they use their sources in the same mechanical way2 they are all saturated with the ecclesiastical spirit2 and their ,church order and doctrine rest upon the complete ,pentateuch1 and especially upon the ,priestly ,code4 ,they take the same keen interest in genealogies1 statistics1 building operations1 ,temple ritual1 priests and ,levites1 and most of all in the ,levitical doorkeepers and singers4 ,ezra and ,nehemiah form an obvious continuation of ,chronicles2 the latter work breaks off in the middle of a paragraph intended to introduce the account of the return from the ,captivity2 ,ezra repeats the beginning of the paragraph and gives its conclusion4 ,similarly the register of the high-priests is begun in #a ,chron4 vi4 #d-ae and completed in ,neh4 xii4 #aj1 #aa4 ,we may compare the whole work to the image in ,daniel's vision whose head was of fine gold1 his breast and arms of silver1 his belly and his thighs of brass1 his legs of iron1 his feet part of iron and part of clay4 ,ezra and ,nehemiah preserve some of the finest historical material in the ,old ,testament1 and are our only authority for a most important crisis in the religion of ,israel4 ,the torso that remains when these two books are removed is of very mixed character1 partly borrowed from the older historical books1 partly taken down from late tradition1 and partly constructed according to the current philosophy of history4 ,the date7#a7 of this work lies somewhere between the conquest of the ,persian empire by ,alexander and the revolt of the ,maccabees1 i4e41 between ,b4,c4 #ccb and ,b4,c4 #aff4 ,the register in ,neh4 xii4 #aj1 #aa1 closes with ,jaddua1 the well-known high-priest of ,alexander's time2 the genealogy of the house of ,david in #a ,chron4 iii4 extends to about the same date1 or1 according to the ancient versions1 even down to about ,b4,c4 #bjj4 ,the ecclesiastical system of the priestly code1 established by ,ezra and ,nehemiah ,b4,c4 #ddd1 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 monarchy4 ,another feature which even more clearly indicates a late date is the use of the term 8king of ,persia0 instead of simply 8the ,king0 or 8the ,great ,king40 ,the latter were the customary designations of the ,persian kings while the empire lasted2 after its fall1 the title needed to be qualified by the name 8,persia40 ,these facts1 together with the style and language1 would be best accounted for by a date somewhere between ,b4,c4 #cjj and ,b4,c4 #bej4 ,on the other hand1 the ,maccaban struggle revolutionised the national and ecclesiastical system which ,chronicles everywhere takes for granted1 and the silence of the author as to this revolution is conclusive proof that he wrote before it began4 ,there is no evidence whatever as to the name of the author2 but his intense interest in the ,levites and in the musical service of the ,temple1 with its orchestra and choir1 renders it extremely probable that he was a ,levite and a ,temple-singer or musician4 ,we might compare the ,temple1 with its extensive buildings and numerous priesthood1 to an ,english cathedral establishment1 and the author of ,chronicles to some vicar-choral1 or1 perhaps better1 to the more dignified precentor4 ,he would be enthusiastic over his music1 a cleric of studious habits and scholarly tastes1 not a man of the world1 but absorbed in the affairs of the ,temple1 as a monk in the life of his convent or a minor canon in the politics and society of the minster close4 ,the times were uncritical1 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 kings2 the narrow range of his interests and experience gave him an appetite for innocent gossip1 professional or otherwise4 ,but his sterling religious character is shown by the earnest piety and serene faith which pervade his work4 ,if we venture to turn to ,english fiction for a rough illustration of the position and history of our chronicler1 the name that at once suggests itself is that of ,mr4 ,harding1 the precentor in ,barchester ,towers4 ,we must however remember that there is very little to distinguish the chronicler from his later authorities2 and the term 8chronicler0 is often used for 8the chronicler or one of his predecessors40 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,historical ,setting4 ,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 part1 and to go over again ground already covered in the volume on ,ezra and ,nehemiah2 but from this point we can confine our attention to ,chronicles and treat it as a separate book4 ,such a course is not merely justified1 it is necessitated1 by the different relations of the chronicler to his subject in ,ezra and ,nehemiah on the one hand and in ,chronicles on the other4 ,in the former case he is writing the history of the social and ecclesiastical order to which he himself belonged1 but he is separated by a deep and wide gulf from the period of the kingdom of ,judah4 ,about three hundred years intervened between the chronicler and the death of the last king of ,judah4 ,a similar interval separates us from ,queen ,elizabeth2 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 empire4 ,this interval included the ,babylonian captivity and the return1 the establishment of the ,law1 the use of the ,persian empire1 and the conquests of ,alexander4 ,the first three of these events were revolutions of supreme importance to the internal development of ,judaism2 the last two rank in the history of the world with the fall of the ,roman empire and the ,french ,revolution4 ,let us consider them briefly in detail4 ,the ,captivity1 the rise of the ,persian empire1 and the ,return are closely connected1 and can only be treated as features of one great social1 political1 and religious convulsion1 an upheaval which broke the continuity of all the strata1 of ,eastern life and opened an impassable gulf between the old order and the new4 ,for a time1 men who had lived through these revolutions were still able to carry across this gulf the loosely twisted strands of memory1 but when they died the threads snapped2 only here and there a lingering tradition supplemented the written records4 ,hebrew slowly ceased to be the vernacular language1 and was supplanted by ,aramaic2 the ancient history only reached the people by means of an oral translation4 ,under this new dispensation the ideas of ancient ,israel were no longer intelligible2 its circumstances could not be realised by those who lived under entirely different conditions4 ,various causes contributed to bring about this change4 ,first1 there was an interval of fifty years1 during which ,jerusalem lay a heap of ruins4 ,after the recapture of ,rome by ,totila the ,visigoth in ,a4,d4 #edf the city was abandoned during forty days to desolate and dreary solitude4 ,even this temporary depopulation of the ,eternal ,city is emphasised by historians as full of dramatic interest1 but the fifty years' desolation of ,jerusalem involved important practical results4 ,most of the returning exiles must have either been born in ,babylon or else have spent all their earliest years in exile4 ,very few can have been old enough to have grasped the meaning or drunk in the spirit of the older national life4 ,when the restored community set to work to rebuild their city and their temple1 few of them had any adequate knowledge of the old ,jerusalem1 with its manners1 customs1 and traditions4 8,the ancient men1 that had seen the first house1 wept with a loud voice07#b7 when the foundation of the second ,temple was laid before their eyes4 ,in their critical and disparaging attitude towards the new building1 we may see an early trace of the tendency to glorify and idealise the monarchical period1 which culminated in ,chronicles4 ,the breach with the past was widened by the novel and striking surroundings of the exiles in ,babylon4 ,for the first time since the ,exodus1 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 city4 ,nearly a century and a half elapsed between the first captivity under ,jehoiachin 7,b4,c4 #eih7 and the mission of ,ezra 7,b4,c4 #deh72 no doubt in the succeeding period ,jews still continued to return from ,babylon to ,juda1 and thus the new community at ,jerusalem1 amongst whom the chronicler grew up1 counted ,babylonian ,jews amongst their ancestors for two or even for many generations4 ,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 it4 ,if a community of ,russian ,jews went to their old home after a few years' sojourn in ,whitechapel1 the old life resumed would be very different from what it was before their migration4 ,now the ,babylonian ,jews were neither uncivilised ,african savages nor stupefied ,russian helots2 they were not shut up in an exhibition or in a ghetto2 they settled in ,babylon1 not for a year or two1 but for half a century or even a century2 and they did not return to a population of their own race1 living the old life1 but to empty homes and a ruined city4 ,they had tasted the tree of new knowledge1 and they could no more live and think as their fathers had done than ,adam and ,eve could find their way back into paradise4 ,a large and prosperous colony of ,jews still remained at ,babylon1 and maintained close and constant relations with the settlement in ,juda4 ,the influence of ,babylon1 begun during the ,exile1 continued permanently in this indirect form4 ,later still the ,jews felt the influence of a great ,greek city1 through their colony at ,alexandria4 ,besides these external changes1 the ,captivity was a period of important and many-sided development of ,jewish literature and religion4 ,men had leisure to study the prophecies of ,jeremiah and the legislation of ,deuteronomy2 their attention was claimed for ,ezekiel's suggestions as to ritual1 and for the new theology1 variously expounded by ,ezekiel1 the later ,isaiah1 the book of ,job1 and the psalmists4 ,the ,deuteronomic school systematised and interpreted the records of the national history4 ,in its wealth of ,divine revelation the period from ,josiah to ,ezra is only second to the apostolic age4 ,thus the restored ,jewish community was a new creation1 baptised into a new spirit2 the restored city was as much a new ,jerusalem as that which ,st4 ,john beheld descending out of heaven2 and1 in the words of the prophet of the ,restoration1 the ,jews returned to a 8new heaven and a new earth407#c7 ,the rise of the ,persian empire changed the whole international system of ,western ,asia and ,egypt4 ,the robber monarchies of ,nineveh and ,babylon1 whose energies had been chiefly devoted to the systematic plunder of their neighbours1 were replaced by a great empire1 that stretched out one hand to ,greece and the other to ,india4 ,the organisation of this great empire was the most successful attempt at government on a large scale that the world had yet seen4 ,both through the ,persians themselves and through their dealings with the ,greeks1 ,aryan philosophy and religion began to leaven ,asiatic thought2 old things were passing away3 all things were becoming new4 ,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 ,babylon1 though not necessarily within the half-century specially called the ,captivity4 ,their triumph was retrospective3 it not only established a rigid and elaborate system unknown to the monarchy1 but1 by identifying this system with the law traditionally ascribed to ,moses1 it led men very widely astray as to the ancient history of ,israel4 ,a later generation naturally assumed that the good kings must have kept this law1 and that the sin of the bad kings was their failure to observe its ordinances4 ,the events of the century and a half or thereabouts between ,ezra and the chronicler have only a minor importance for us4 ,the change of language from ,hebrew to ,aramaic1 the ,samaritan schism1 the few political incidents of which any account has survived1 are all trivial compared to the literature and history crowded into the century after the fall of the monarchy4 ,even the far-reaching results of the conquests of ,alexander do not materially concern us here4 ,josephus indeed tells us that the ,jews served in large numbers in the ,macedonian army1 and gives a very dramatic account of ,alexander's visit to ,jerusalem2 but the historical value of these stories is very doubtful1 and in any case it is clear that between ,b4,c4 #ccc and ,b4,c4 #bej ,jerusalem was very little affected by ,greek influences1 and that1 especially for the ,temple community to which the chronicler belonged1 the change from ,darius to the ,ptolemies was merely a change from one foreign dominion to another4 ,nor need much be said of the relation of the chronicler to the later ,jewish literature of the ,apocalypses and ,wisdom4 ,if the spirit of this literature were already stirring in some ,jewish circles1 the chronicler himself was not moved by it4 ,ecclesiastes1 as far as he could have understood it1 would have pained and shocked him4 ,but his work lay in that direct line of subtle rabbinic teaching which1 beginning with ,ezra1 reached its climax in the ,talmud4 ,chronicles is really an anthology gleaned from ancient historic sources and supplemented by early specimens of ,midrash and ,hagada4 ,in order to understand the book of ,chronicles1 we have to keep two or three simple facts constantly and clearly in mind4 ,in the first place1 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 order3 instead of a nation there was a ,church2 instead of a king there were a high-priest and a foreign governor4 ,secondly1 the effects of these changes had been at work for two or three hundred years1 effacing all trustworthy recollection of the ancient order and schooling men to regard the ,levitical dispensation as their one original and antique ecclesiastical system4 ,lastly1 the chronicler himself belonged to the ,temple community1 which was the very incarnation of the spirit of the new order4 ,with such antecedents and surroundings1 he set to work to revise the national history recorded in ,samuel and ,kings4 ,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 ,bede4 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,sources ,and ,mode ,of ,composition4 ,our impressions as to the sources of ,chronicles are derived from the general character of its contents1 from a comparison with other books of the ,old ,testament1 and from the actual statements of ,chronicles itself4 ,to take the last first3 there are numerous references to authorities in ,chronicles which at first sight seem to indicate a dependence on rich and varied sources4 ,to begin with1 there are 8,the ,book of the ,kings of ,judah and ,israel107#d7 8,the ,book of the ,kings of ,israel and ,judah107#e7 and 8,the ,acts of the ,kings of ,israel407#f7 ,these1 however1 are obviously different forms of the title of the same work4 ,other titles furnish us with an imposing array of prophetic authorities4 ,there are 8,the ,words0 of ,samuel the ,seer7#g71 of ,nathan the ,prophet17#h7 of ,gad the ,seer17#i7 of ,shemaiah the ,prophet and of ,iddo the ,seer17#aj7 of ,jehu the son of ,hanani17#aa7 and of the ,seers7#ab72 8,the ,vision0 of ,iddo the ,seer7#ac7 and of ,isaiah the ,prophet7#ad72 8,the ,midrash0 of the ,book of ,kings7#ae7 and of the ,prophet ,iddo7#af72 8,the ,acts of ,uzziah10 written by ,isaiah the ,prophet7#ag72 and 8,the ,prophecy0 of ,ahijah the ,shilonite47#ah7 ,there are also less formal allusions to other works4 ,further examination1 however1 soon discloses the fact that these prophetic titles merely indicate different sections of 8,the ,book of the ,kings of ,israel and ,judah40 ,on turning to our book of ,kings1 we find that from ,rehoboam onwards each of the references in ,chronicles corresponds to a reference by the book of ,kings to the 8,chronicles7#ai7 of the ,kings of ,judah40 ,in the case of ,ahaziah1 ,athaliah1 and ,amon1 the reference to an authority is omitted both in the books of ,kings and ,chronicles4 ,this close correspondence suggests that both our canonical books are referring to the same authority or authorities4 ,kings refers to the 8,chronicles of the ,kings of ,judah0 for ,judah1 and to the 8,chronicles of the ,kings of ,israel0 for the northern kingdom2 ,chronicles1 though only dealing with ,judah1 combines these two titles in one3 8,the ,book of the ,kings of ,israel and ,judah40 ,in two instances ,chronicles clearly states that its prophetic authorities were found as sections of the larger work4 8,the ,words of ,jehu the son of ,hanani0 were 8inserted in the ,book of the ,kings of ,israel107#bj7 and 8,the ,vision of ,isaiah the ,prophet1 the son of ,amoz10 is in the ,book of the ,kings of ,judah and ,israel47#ba7 ,it is a natural inference that the other 8,words0 and 8,visions0 were also found as sections of this same 8,book of ,kings40 ,these conclusions may be illustrated and supported by what we know of the arrangement of the contents of ancient books4 ,our convenient modern subdivisions of chapter and verse did not exist1 but the ,jews were not without some means of indicating the particular section of a book to which they wished to refer4 ,instead of numbers they used names1 derived from the subject of a section or from the most important person mentioned in it4 ,for the history of the monarchy the prophets were the most important personages1 and each section of the history is named after its leading prophet or prophets4 ,this nomenclature naturally encouraged the belief that the history had been originally written by these prophets4 ,instances of the use of such nomenclature are found in the ,new ,testament1 e4g41 ,rom4 xi4 #b3 8,wot ye not what the ,scripture saith in ,elijah07#bb7--;i4e41 in the section about ,elijah--and ,mark xii4 #bf3 8,have ye not read in the book of ,moses in the place concerning the bush807#bc7 ,while1 however1 most of the references to 8,words10 8,visions10 etc41 are to sections of the larger work1 we need not at once conclude that all references to authorities in ,chronicles are to this same book4 ,the genealogical register in #a ,chron4 v4 #ag and the 8lamentations0 of #b ,chron4 xxxv4 #be may very well be independent works4 ,having recognised the fact that the numerous authorities referred to by ,chronicles were for the most part contained in one comprehensive 8,book of ,kings10 a new problem presents itself3 ,what are the respective relations of our ,kings and ,chronicles to the 8,chronicles0 and 8,kings0 cited by them8 ,what are the relations of these original authorities to each other8 ,what are the relations of our ,kings to our ,chronicles8 ,our present nomenclature is about as confusing as it well could be2 and we are obliged to keep clearly in mind1 first1 that the 8,chronicles0 mentioned in ,kings is not our ,chronicles1 and then that the 8,kings0 referred to by ,chronicles is not our ,kings4 ,the first fact is obvious2 the second is shown by the terms of the references1 which state that information not furnished in ,chronicles may be found in the 8,book of ,kings10 but the information in question is often not given in the canonical ,kings47#bd7 ,and yet the connection between ,kings and ,chronicles is very close and extensive4 ,a large amount of material occurs either identically or with very slight variations in both books4 ,it is clear that either ,chronicles uses ,kings1 or ,chronicles uses a work which used ,kings1 or both ,chronicles and ,kings use the same source or sources4 ,each of these three views has been held by important authorities1 and they are also capable of various combinations and modifications4 ,reserving for a moment the view which specially commends itself to us1 we may note two main tendencies of opinion4 ,first1 it is maintained that ,chronicles either goes back directly to the actual sources of ,kings1 citing them1 for the sake of brevity1 under a combined title1 or is based upon a combination of the main sources of ,kings made at a very early date4 ,in either case ,chronicles as compared with ,kings would be an independent and parallel authority on the contents of these early sources1 and to that extent would rank with ,kings as first-class history4 ,this view1 however1 is shown to be untenable by the numerous traces of a later age which are almost invariably present wherever ,chronicles supplements or modifies ,kings4 ,the second view is that either ,chronicles used ,kings1 or that the 8,book of the ,kings of ,israel and ,judah0 used by ,chronicles was a post-,exilic work1 incorporating statistical matter and dealing with the history of the two kingdoms in a spirit congenial to the temper and interests of the restored community4 ,this 8post-,exilic0 predecessor of ,chronicles is supposed to have been based upon ,kings itself1 or upon the sources of ,kings1 or upon both2 but in any case it was not much earlier than ,chronicles and was written under the same influences and in a similar spirit4 ,being virtually an earlier edition of ,chronicles1 it could claim no higher authority1 and would scarcely deserve either recognition or treatment as a separate work4 ,chronicles would still rest substantially on the authority of ,kings4 ,it is possible to accept a somewhat simpler view1 and to dispense with this shadowy and ineffectual first edition of ,chronicles4 ,in the first place1 the chronicler does not appeal to the 8,words0 and 8,visions0 and the rest of his 8,book of ,kings0 as authorities for his own statements2 he merely refers his reader to them for further information which he himself does not furnish4 ,this 8,book of ,kings0 so often mentioned is therefore neither a source nor an authority of ,chronicles4 ,there is nothing to prove that the chronicler himself was actually acquainted with the book4 ,again1 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 latter1 and the chronicler had never seen the book he referred to4 ,the ,books of ,kings had stated where additional information could be found1 and ,chronicles simply repeated the reference without verifying it4 ,as some sections of ,kings had come to be known by the names of certain prophets1 the chronicler transferred these names back to the corresponding sections of the sources used by ,kings4 ,in these cases he felt he could give his readers not merely the somewhat vague reference to the original work as a whole1 but the more definite and convenient citation of a particular paragraph4 ,his descriptions of the additional subjects dealt with in the original authority may possibly1 like other of his statements1 have been constructed in accordance with his ideas of what that authority should contain2 or more probably they refer to this authority the floating traditions of later times and writers4 ,possibly these references and notes of ,chronicles are copied from the glosses which some scribe had written in the margin of his copy of ,kings4 ,if this be so1 we can understand why we find references to the ,midrash of ,iddo and the ,midrash of the book of ,kings47#be7 ,in any case1 whether directly or through the medium of a preliminary edition1 called 8,the ,book of the ,kings of ,israel and ,judah10 our book of ,kings was used by the chronicler4 ,the supposition that the original sources of ,kings were used by the chronicler or this immediate predecessor is fairly supported both by evidence and authority1 but on the whole it seems an unnecessary complication4 ,thus we fail to find in these various references to the 8,book of ,kings10 etc41 any clear indication of the origin of matter peculiar to ,chronicles2 nevertheless it is not difficult to determine the nature of the sources from which this material was derived4 ,doubtless some of it was still current in the form of oral tradition when the chronicler wrote1 and owed to him its permanent record4 ,some he borrowed from manuscripts1 which formed part of the scanty and fragmentary literature of the later period of the ,restoration4 ,his genealogies and statistics suggest the use of public and ecclesiastical archives1 as well as of family records1 in which ancient legend and anecdote lay embedded among lists of forgotten ancestors4 ,apparently the chronicler harvested pretty freely from that literary aftermath that sprang up when the ,pentateuch and the earlier historical books had taken final shape4 ,but it is to these earlier books that the chronicler owes most4 ,his work is very largely a mosaic of paragraphs and phrases taken from the older books4 ,his chief sources are ,samuel and ,kings2 he also lays the ,pentateuch1 ,joshua1 and ,ruth under contribution4 ,much is taken over without even verbal alteration1 and the greater part is unaltered in substance2 yet1 as is the custom in ancient literature1 no acknowledgment is made4 ,the literary conscience was not yet aware of the sin of plagiarism4 ,indeed1 neither an author nor his friends took any pains to secure the permanent association of his name with his work1 and no great guilt can attach to the plagiarism of one anonymous writer from another4 ,this absence of acknowledgment where the chronicler is plainly borrowing from elder scribes is another reason why his references to the 8,book of the ,kings of ,israel and ,judah0 are clearly not statements of sources to which he is indebted1 but simply what they profess to be3 indications of the possible sources of further information4 ,chronicles1 however1 illustrates ancient methods of historical composition1 not only by its free appropriation of the actual form and substance of older works1 but also by its curious blending of identical reproduction with large additions of quite heterogeneous matter1 or with a series of minute but significant alterations4 ,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 additions4 ,the vivid and picturesque narrative of the bringing of the ,ark to ,zion is interpolated with uninteresting statistics of the names1 numbers1 and musical instruments of the ,levites47#bf7 ,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 ,kings2 but it is adapted to the ,temple order of the ,pentateuch by a series of alterations which substitute ,levites for foreign mercenaries1 and otherwise guard the sanctity of the ,temple from the intrusion1 not only of foreigners1 but even of the common people47#bg7 ,a careful comparison of ,chronicles with ,samuel and ,kings is a striking object lesson in ancient historical composition4 ,it is an almost indispensable introduction to the criticism of the ,pentateuch and the older historical books4 ,the 8redactor0 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 another4 ,chapter ,,iv4 ,the ,importance of ,chronicles4 ,before attempting to expound in detail the religious significance of ,chronicles1 we may conclude our introduction by a brief general statement of the leading features which render the book interesting and valuable to the ,christian student4 ,the material of ,chronicles may be divided into three parts3 the matter taken directly from the older historical books2 material derived from traditions and writings of the chronicler's own age2 the various additions and modifications which are the chronicler's own work47#bh7 ,each of these divisions has its special value1 and important lessons may be learnt from the way in which the author has selected and combined these materials4 ,the excerpts from the older histories are1 of course1 by far the best material in the book for the period of the monarchy4 ,if ,samuel and ,kings had perished1 we should have been under great obligations to the chronicler for preserving to us large portions of their ancient records4 ,as it is1 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 ,kings4 ,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 text4 ,the two texts1 ,samuel and ,kings on the one hand and ,chronicles on the other1 have been modified under different influences2 they have not always been altered in the same way1 so that where one has been corrupted the other has often preserved the correct reading4 ,probably because ,chronicles is less interesting and picturesque1 its text has been subject to less alteration than that of ,samuel and ,kings4 ,the more interested scribes or readers become1 the more likely they are to make corrections and add glosses to the narrative4 ,we may note1 for example1 that the name 8,meribbaal0 given by ,chronicles for one of ,saul's sons is more likely to be correct than 8,mephibosheth10 the form given by ,samuel47#bi7 ,the material derived from traditions and writings of the chronicler's own age is of uncertain historical value1 and cannot be clearly discriminated from the author's free composition4 ,much of it was the natural product of the thought and feeling of the late ,persian and early ,greek period1 and shares the importance which attaches to the chronicler's own work4 ,this material1 however1 includes a certain amount of neutral matter3 genealogies1 family histories and anecdotes1 and notes on ancient life and custom4 ,we have no parallel authorities to test this material1 we cannot prove the antiquity of the sources from which it is derived1 and yet it may contain fragments of very ancient tradition4 ,some of the notes and narratives have an archaic flavour which can scarcely be artificial2 their very lack of importance is an argument for their authenticity1 and illustrates the strange tenacity with which local and domestic tradition perpetuates the most insignificant episodes47#cj7 ,but naturally the most characteristic1 and therefore the most important1 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 predecessors4 ,it is unnecessary to point out that these do not add much to our knowledge of the history of the monarchy2 their significance consists in the light that they throw upon the period towards whose close the chronicler lived3 the period between the final establishment of ,pentateuchal ,judaism and the attempt of ,antiochus ,epiphanes to stamp it out of existence2 the period between ,ezra and ,judas ,maccabus4 ,the chronicler is no exceptional and epoch-making writer1 has little personal importance1 and is therefore all the more important as a typical representative of the current ideas of his class and generation4 ,he translates the history of the past into the ideas and circumstances of his own age1 and thus gives us almost as much information about the civil and religious institutions he lived under as if he had actually described them4 ,moreover1 in stating its estimate of past history1 each generation pronounces unconscious judgment upon itself4 ,the chronicler's interpretation and philosophy of history mark the level of his moral and spiritual ideas4 ,he betrays these quite as much by his attitude towards earlier authorities as in the paragraphs which are his own composition2 we have seen how his use of materials illustrates the ancient1 and for that matter the modern1 ,eastern methods of historical composition1 and we have shown the immense importance of ,chronicles to ,old ,testament criticism4 ,but the way in which the chronicler uses his older sources also indicates his relation towards the ancient morality1 ritual1 and theology of ,israel4 ,his methods of selection are most instructive as to the ideas and interests of his time4 ,we see what was thought worthy to be included in this final and most modern edition of the religious history of ,israel4 ,but in truth the omissions are among the most significant features of ,chronicles2 its silence is constantly more eloquent than its speech1 and we measure the spiritual progress of ,judaism by the paragraphs of ,kings which ,chronicles leaves out4 ,in subsequent chapters we shall seek to illustrate the various ways in which ,chronicles illuminates the period preceding the ,maccabees4 ,any gleams of light on the ,hebrew monarchy are most welcome1 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 ,maccaban struggle4 ,,book ,,ii4 ,,genealogies4 ,chapter ,i4 ,names4 #a ,chron4 i-ix4 ,the first nine chapters of ,chronicles form1 with a few slight exceptions1 a continuous list of names4 ,it is the largest extant collection of ,hebrew names4 ,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 collectively4 ,old ,testament genealogies have often exercised the ingenuity of the preacher1 and the student of homiletics will readily recollect the methods of extracting a moral from what at first sight seems a barren theme4 ,for instance1 those names of which little or nothing is recorded are held up as awful examples of wasted lives4 ,we are asked to take warning from ,mahalalel and ,methuselah1 who spent their long centuries so ineffectually that there was nothing to record except that they begat sons and daughters and died4 ,such teaching is not fairly derived from its text4 ,the sacred writers implied no reflection upon the ,patriarchs of whom they gave so short and conventional an account4 ,least of all could such teaching be based upon the lists in ,chronicles1 because the men who are there merely mentioned by name include ,adam1 ,noah1 ,abraham1 and other heroes of sacred story4 ,moreover1 such teaching is unnecessary and not altogether wholesome4 ,very few men who are at all capable of obtaining a permanent place in history need to be spurred on by sermons2 and for most people the suggestion that a man's life is a failure unless he secures posthumous fame is false and mischievous4 ,the ,lamb's book of life is the only record of the vast majority of honourable and useful lives2 and the tendency to self-advertisement is sufficiently wide-spread and spontaneous already3 it needs no pulpit stimulus4 ,we do not think any worse of a man because his tombstone simply states his name and age1 or any better because it catalogues his virtues and mentions that he attained the dignity of alderman or author4 ,the significance of these lists of names is rather to be looked for in an opposite direction4 ,it is not that a name and one or two commonplace incidents mean so little1 but that they suggest so much4 ,a mere parish register is not in itself attractive1 but if we consider even such a list1 the very names interest us and kindle our imagination4 ,it is almost impossible to linger in a country churchyard1 reading the half-effaced inscriptions upon the headstones1 without forming some dim picture of the character and history and even the outward semblance of the men and women who once bore the names4 8,for though a name is neither 444 hand1 nor foot1 ,nor arm1 nor face1 nor any other part ,belonging to a man10 yet1 to use a somewhat technical phrase1 it connotes a man4 ,a name implies the existence of a distinct personality1 with a peculiar and unique history1 and yet1 on the other hand1 a being with whom we are linked in close sympathy by a thousand ties of common human nature and everyday experience4 ,in its lists of what are now mere names1 the ,bible seems to recognise the dignity and sacredness of bare human life4 ,but the names in these nine chapters have also a collective significance3 they stand for more than their individual owners4 ,they are typical and representative1 the names of kings1 and priests1 and captains2 they sum up the tribes of ,israel1 both as a ,church and a nation1 down all the generations of its history4 ,the inclusion of these names in the sacred record1 as the express introduction to the annals of the ,temple1 and the sacred city1 and the elect house of ,david1 is the formal recognition of the sanctity of the nation and of national life4 ,we are entirely in the spirit of the ,bible when we see this same sanctity in all organised societies3 in the parish1 the municipality1 and the state2 when we attach a ,divine significance to registers of electors and census returns1 and claim all such lists as symbols of religious privilege and responsibility4 ,but names do not merely suggest individuals and communities3 the meanings of the names reveal the ideas of the people who used them4 ,it has been well said that 8the names of every nation are an important monument of national spirit and manners1 and thus the ,hebrew names bear important testimony to the peculiar vocation of this nation4 ,no nation of antiquity has such a proportion of names of religious import407#ca7 ,amongst ourselves indeed the religious meaning of names has almost wholly faded away2 8,christian name0 is a mere phrase1 and children are named after relations1 or according to prevailing fashion1 or after the characters of popular novels4 ,but the religious motive can still be traced in some modern names2 in certain districts of ,germany the name 8,ursula0 or 8,apollonia0 is a sure indication that a girl is a ,roman ,catholic and has been named after a popular saint47#cb7 ,the ,bible constantly insists upon this religious significance1 which would frequently be in the mind of the devout ,israelite in giving names to his children4 ,the ,old ,testament contains more than a hundred etymologies7#cc7 of personal names1 most of which attach a religious meaning to the words explained4 ,the etymologies of the patriarchal names--8,abraham10 father of a multitude of nations2 8,isaac10 laughter2 8,jacob10 supplanter2 8,israel10 prince with ,god--are specially familiar4 ,the ,biblical interest in edifying etymologies was maintained and developed by early commentators4 ,their philology was far from accurate1 and very often they were merely playing upon the forms of words4 ,but the allegorising tendencies of ,jewish and ,christian expositors found special opportunities in proper names4 ,on the narrow foundation of an etymology mostly doubtful and often impossible1 ,philo1 and ,origen1 and ,jerome loved to erect an elaborate structure theological or philosophical doctrine4 ,philo has only one quotation from our author3 8,manasseh had sons1 whom his ,syrian concubine bare to him1 ,machir2 and ,machir begat ,gilead407#cd7 ,he quotes this verse to show that recollection is associated in a subordinate capacity with memory4 ,the connection is not very clearly made out1 but rests in some way on the meaning of ,manasseh1 the root of which means to forget4 ,as forgetfulness with recollection restores our knowledge1 so ,manasseh with his ,syrian concubine begets ,machir4 ,recollection therefore is a concubine1 an inferior and secondary quality47#ce7 ,this ingenious trifling has a certain charm in spite of its extravagance1 but in less dexterous hands the method becomes clumsy as well as extravagant4 ,it has1 however1 the advantage of readily adapting itself to all tastes and opinions1 so that we are not surprised when an eighteenth-century author discovers in ,old ,testament etymology a compendium of ,trinitarian theology47#cf7 ,ahiah7#cg7 is derived from 'ehad1 one1 and yah1 ,jehovah1 and is thus an assertion of the ,divine unity2 ,reuel7#ch7 is resolved into a plural verb with a singular ,divine name for its subject3 this is an indication of trinity in unity2 ,ahilud7#ci7 is derived from 'ehad1 one1 and galud1 begotten1 and signifies that the ,son is only-begotten4 ,modern scholarship is more rational in its methods1 but attaches no less importance to these ancient names1 and finds in them weighty evidence on problems of criticism and theology2 and before proceeding to more serious matters1 we may note a few somewhat exceptional names4 ,as pointed in the present ,hebrew text1 ,hazarmaveth7#dj7 and ,azmaveth7#da7 have a certain grim suggestiveness4 ,hazarmaveth1 court of death1 is given as the name of a descendant of ,shem4 ,it is1 however1 probably the name of a place transferred to an eponymous ancestor1 and has been identified with ,hadramawt1 a district in the south of ,arabia4 ,as1 however1 ,hadramawt1 is a fertile district of ,arabia ,felix1 the name does not seem very appropriate4 ,on the other hand ,azmaveth1 8strength of death10 would be very suitable for some strong1 death-dealing soldier4 ,azubah17#db7 8forsaken10 the name of ,caleb's wife1 is capable of a variety of romantic explanations4 ,hazelelponi7#dc7 is remarkable in its mere form2 and ,ewald's interpretation1 8,give shade1 ,thou who turnest to me ,thy countenance10 seems rather a cumbrous signification for the name of a daughter of the house of ,judah4 ,jushab-hesed17#dd7 8,mercy will be renewed10 as the name of a son of ,zerubbabel1 doubtless expresses the gratitude and hope of the ,jews on their return from ,babylon47#de7 ,jashubi-lehem17#df7 however1 is curious and perplexing4 ,the name has been interpreted 8giving bread0 or 8turning back to ,bethlehem10 but the text is certainly corrupt1 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 confusion4 ,but the most remarkable set of names is found in #a ,chron4 xxv4 #d1 where ,giddalti and ,romantiezer1 ,joshbekashah1 ,mallothi1 ,hothir1 ,mahazioth1 are simply a ,hebrew sentence meaning1 8,i have magnified and exalted help2 sitting in distress17#dg7 ,i have spoken7#dh7 visions in abundance40 ,we may at once set aside the cynical suggestion that the author lacked names to complete a genealogy and1 to save the trouble of inventing them separately1 took the first sentence that came to hand and cut it up into suitable lengths1 nor is it likely that a father would spread the same process over several years and adopt it for his family4 ,this remarkable combination of names is probably due to some misunderstanding of his sources on the part of the chronicler4 ,his parchment rolls must often have been torn and fragmentary1 the writing blurred and half illegible2 and his attempts to piece together obscure and ragged manuscripts naturally resulted at times in mistakes and confusion4 ,these examples of interesting etymologies might easily be multiplied2 they serve1 at any rate1 to indicate a rich mine of suggestive teaching4 ,it must1 however1 be remembered that a name is not necessarily a personal name because it occurs in a genealogy2 cities1 districts1 and tribes mingle freely with persons in these lists4 ,in the same connection we note that the female names are few and far between1 and that of those which do occur the 8sisters0 probably stand for allied and related families1 and not for individuals4 ,as regards ,old ,testament theology1 we may first notice the light thrown by personal names on the relation of the religion of ,israel to that of other ,semitic peoples4 ,of the names in these chapters and elsewhere1 a large proportion are compounded of one or other of the ,divine names4 ,el is the first element in ,elishama1 ,eliphelet1 ,eliada1 etc42 it is the second in ,othniel1 ,jehaleleel1 ,asareel1 etc4 ,similarly ,jehovah is represented by the initial ,jeho- in ,jehoshaphat1 ,jehoiakim1 ,jehoram1 etc41 by the final -iah in ,amaziah1 ,azariah1 ,hezekiah1 etc4 ,it has been calculated that there are a hundred and ninety names7#di7 beginning or ending with the equivalent of ,jehovah1 including most of the kings of ,judah and many of the kings of ,israel4 ,moreover1 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 name4 ,ahaz1 for instance1 is mentioned in ,assyrian inscriptions as ,jahuhazi--i4e41 ,jehoahaz--and ,nathan is probably a contracted form of ,nethaniah4 ,there are also numerous compounds of other ,divine names4 ,zur1 rock1 is found in ,pedahzur17#ej7 ,shaddai1 ,a4,v4 ,almighty1 in ,ammishaddai7#ea72 the two are combined in ,zurishaddai47#eb7 ,melech is a ,divine name in ,malchi-ram and ,malchi-shua4 ,baal occurs as a ,divine name in ,eshbaal and ,meribbaal4 ,abi1 father1 is a ,divine name in ,abiram1 ,abinadab1 etc41 and probably also ,ahi in ,ahiram and ,ammi in ,amminadab47#ec7 ,possibly1 too1 the apparently simple names ,melech1 ,zur1 ,baal1 are contractions of longer forms in which these ,divine names were prefixes or affixes4 ,this use of ,divine names is capable of very varied illustration4 ,modern languages have ,christian and ,christopher1 ,emmanuel1 ,theodosius1 ,theodora1 etc42 names like ,hermogenes and ,heliogabalus are found in the classical languages4 ,but the practice is specially characteristic of ,semitic languages4 ,mohammedan princes are still called ,abdurrahman1 servant of the ,merciful1 and ,abdallah1 servant of ,god2 ancient ,phnician kings were named ,ethbaal and ,abdalonim1 where alonim is a plural ,divine name1 and the bal in ,hannibal and ,hasdrubal baal4 ,the ,assyrian and ,chaldan kings were named after the gods ,sin1 ,nebo1 ,assur1 ,merodach1 e4g41 ,sin-akki-irib 7,sennacherib72 ,nebuchadnezzar2 ,assur-bani-pal2 ,merodach-baladan4 ,of these ,divine names ,el and ,baal are common to ,israel and other ,semitic peoples1 and it has been held that the ,hebrew personal names preserve traces of polytheism4 ,in any case1 however1 the ,baal-names are comparatively few1 and do not necessarily indicate that ,israelites worshipped a ,baal distinct from ,jehovah2 they may be relics of a time when ,baal 7,lord7 was a title or equivalent of ,jehovah1 like the later ,adonai4 ,other possible traces of polytheism are few and doubtful4 ,in ,baanah and ,resheph we may perhaps find the obscure7#ed7 ,phnician deities ,anath and ,reshaph4 ,on the whole1 ,hebrew names as compared1 for instance1 with ,assyrian afford little or no evidence of the prevalence of polytheism4 ,another question concerns the origin and use of the name ,jehovah4 ,our lists conclusively prove its free use during the monarchy and its existence under the judges4 ,on the other hand1 its apparent presence in ,jochebed1 the name of the mother of ,moses1 seems to carry it back beyond ,moses4 ,possibly it was a ,divine name peculiar to his family or clan4 ,its occurrence in ,yahubidi1 a king of ,hamath1 in the time of ,sargon may be due to direct ,israelite influence4 ,hamath had frequent relations with ,israel and ,judah4 ,turning to matters of practical religion1 how far do these names help us to understand the spiritual life of ancient ,israel8 ,the ,israelites made constant use of ,el and ,jehovah in their names1 and we have no parallel practice4 ,were they then so much more religious than we are8 ,probably in a sense they were4 ,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 forgotten4 ,a man may go through a life-time bearing the name of ,christopher and never know its etymological meaning4 ,at ,cambridge and ,oxford sacred names like 8,jesus0 and 8,trinity0 are used constantly and familiarly without suggesting anything beyond the colleges so called4 ,the edifying phrase1 8,god encompasseth us10 is altogether lost in the grotesque tavern sign 8,the ,goat and ,compasses40 ,nor can we suppose that the ,israelite or the ,assyrian often dwelt on the religious significance of the ,jeho- or -iah1 the ,nebo1 ,sin1 or ,merodach1 of current proper names4 ,as we have seen1 the sense of -iah1 -el1 or ,jeho- was often so little present to men's minds that contractions were formed by omitting them4 ,possibly because these prefixes and affixes were so common1 they came to be taken for granted2 it was scarcely necessary to write them1 because in any case they would be understood4 ,probably in historic times ,abi-1 ,ahi-1 and ,ammi- were no longer recognised as ,divine names or titles2 and yet the names which could still be recognised as compounded of ,el and ,jehovah must have had their influence on popular feeling4 ,they were part of the religiousness1 so to speak1 of the ancient ,east2 they symbolised the constant intertwining of religious acts1 and words1 and thoughts with all the concerns of life4 ,the quality of this ancient religion was very inferior to that of a devout and intelligent modern ,christian2 it was perhaps inferior to that of ,russian peasants belonging to the ,greek ,church2 but ancient religion pervaded life and society more consciously than modern ,christianity does2 it touched all classes and occasions more directly1 if also more mechanically4 ,and1 again1 these names were not the fossil relics of obsolete habits of thought and feeling1 like the names of our churches and colleges2 they were the memorials of comparatively recent acts of faith4 ,the name 8,elijah0 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 8,jehovah is my ,god40 ,this name-giving was also a prayer3 the child was placed under the protection of the deity whose name it bore4 ,the practice might be tainted with superstition2 the name would often be regarded as a kind of amulet2 and yet we may believe that it could also serve to express a parent's earnest and simple-minded faith4 ,modern ,englishmen have developed a habit of almost complete reticence and reserve on religious matters1 and this habit is illustrated by our choice of proper names4 ,mary1 and ,thomas1 and ,james are so familiar that their ,scriptural origin is forgotten1 and therefore they are tolerated2 but the use of distinctively ,scriptural ,christian names is virtually regarded as bad taste4 ,this reticence is not merely due to increased delicacy of spiritual feeling3 it is partly the result of the growth of science and of literary and historical criticism4 ,we have become absorbed in the wonderful revelations of methods and processes2 we are fascinated by the ingenious mechanism of nature and society4 ,we have no leisure to detach our thoughts from the machinery and carry them further on to its ,maker and ,director4 ,indeed1 because there is so much mechanism and because it is so wonderful1 we are sometimes asked to believe that the machine made itself4 ,but this is a mere phase in the religious growth of mankind3 humanity will tire of some of its new toys1 and will become familiar with the rest2 deeper needs and instincts will reassert themselves2 and men will find themselves nearer in sentiment than they supposed to the ancient people who named their children after their ,god4 ,in this and other matters the ,east to-day is the same as of old2 the permanence of its custom is no inapt symbol of the permanence of ,divine truth1 which revolution and conquest are powerless to change4 8,the ,east bowed low before the blast ,in patient1 deep disdain2 ,she let the legions thunder past1 ,and plunged in thought again40 ,but the ,christian ,church is mistress of a more compelling magic than even ,eastern patience and tenacity3 out of the storms that threaten her1 she draws new energies for service1 and learns a more expressive language in which to declare the glory of ,god4 ,let us glance for a moment at the meanings of the group of ,divine names given above4 ,we have said that1 in addition to ,melech in ,malchi-1 ,abi1 ,ahi1 and ,ammi are to be regarded as ,divine names4 ,one reason for this is that their use as prefixes is strictly analogous to that of ,el and ,jeho-4 ,we have ,abijah and ,ahijah as well as ,elijah1 ,abiel and ,ammiel as well as ,eliel1 ,abiram and ,ahiram as well as ,jehoram2 ,ammishaddai compares with ,zurishaddai1 and ,ammizabad with ,jehozabad1 nor would it be difficult to add many other examples4 ,if this view be correct1 ,ammi will have nothing to do with the ,hebrew word for 8people10 but will rather be connected with the corresponding ,arabic word for 8uncle407#ee7 ,as the use of such terms as 8brother0 and 8uncle0 for ,divine names is not consonant with ,hebrew theology in its historic period1 the names which contain these prefixes must have come down from earlier ages1 and were used in later times without any consciousness of their original sense4 ,probably they were explained by new etymologies more in harmony with the spirit of the times2 compare the etymology 8father of a multitude of nations0 given to ,abraham4 ,even ,abi-1 father1 in the early times to which its use as a prefix must be referred1 cannot have had the full spiritual meaning which now attaches to it as a ,divine title4 ,it probably only signified the ultimate source of life4 ,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 religion4 ,how many of the millions who use our ,english names for the days of the week ever give a thought to ,thor or ,freya8 ,such phenomena have more than an antiquarian interest4 ,they remind us that religious terms1 and phrases1 and formul derive their influence and value from their adaptation to the age which accepts them2 and therefore many of them will become unintelligible or even misleading to later generations4 ,language varies continuously1 circumstances change1 experience widens1 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 expression4 ,many of the simple truths that are most essential to salvation admit of being stated once for all2 but dogmatic theology fossilises fast1 and the bread of one generation may become a stone to the next4 ,the history of these names illustrates yet another phenomenon4 ,in some narrow and imperfect sense the early ,semitic peoples seem to have called ,god 8,father0 and 8,brother40 ,because the terms were limited to a narrow sense1 the ,israelites grew to a level of religious truth at which they could no longer use them2 but as they made yet further progress they came to know more of what was meant by fatherhood and brotherhood1 and gained also a deeper knowledge of ,god4 ,at length the ,church resumed these ancient ,semitic terms2 and ,christians call ,god 8,abba1 ,father10 and speak of the ,eternal ,son as their elder ,brother4 ,and thus sometimes1 but not always1 an antique phrase may for a time seem unsuitable and misleading1 and then again may prove to be the best expression for the newest and fullest truth4 ,our criticism of a religious formula may simply reveal our failure to grasp the wealth of meaning which its words and symbols can contain4 ,turning from these obsolete names to those in common use--,el2 ,jehovah2 ,shaddai2 ,zur2 ,melech--probably the prevailing idea popularly associated with them all was that of strength3 ,el1 strength in the abstract2 ,jehovah1 strength shown in permanence and independence2 ,shaddai1 the strength that causes terror1 the ,almighty from whom cometh destruction7#ef72 ,zur1 rock1 the material symbol of strength1 ,melech1 king1 the possessor of authority4 ,in early times the first and most essential attribute of ,deity is power1 but with this idea of strength a certain attribute of beneficence is soon associated4 ,the strong ,god is the ,ally of ,his people2 ,his permanence is the guarantee of their national existence2 ,he destroys their enemies4 ,the rock is a place of refuge2 and1 again1 ,jehovah's people may rejoice in the shadow of a great rock in a weary land4 ,the ,king leads them to battle1 and gives them their enemies for a spoil4 ,we must not1 however1 suppose that pious ,israelites would consciously and systematically discriminate between these names1 any more than ordinary ,christians do between ,god1 ,lord1 ,father1 ,christ1 ,saviour1 ,jesus4 ,their usage would be governed by changing currents of sentiment very difficult to understand and explain after the lapse of thousands of years4 ,in the year ,a4,d4 #cjjj1 for instance1 it will be difficult for the historian of dogmatics to explain accurately why some nineteenth-century ,christians preferred to speak of 8dear ,jesus0 and others of 8the ,christ40 ,but the simple ,divine names reveal comparatively little2 much more may be learnt from the numerous compounds they help to form4 ,some of the more curious have already been noticed1 but the real significance of this nomenclature is to be looked for in the more ordinary and natural names4 ,here1 as before1 we can only select from the long and varied list4 ,let us take some of the favourite names and some of the roots most often used1 almost always1 be it remembered1 in combination with ,divine names4 ,the different varieties of these sacred names rendered it possible to construct various personal names embodying the same idea4 ,also the same ,divine name might be used either as prefix or affix4 ,for instance1 the idea that 8,god knows0 is equally well expressed in the names ,eliada 7,el-yada'71 ,jediael 7,yada'-el71 ,jehoiada 7,jeho-yada'71 and ,jedaiah 7,yada'-yah74 8,god remembers0 is expressed alike by ,zachariah and ,jozachar2 8,god hears0 by ,elishama 7,el-shama'71 ,samuel 7if for ,shama'-el71 ,ishmael 7also from ,shama'-el71 ,shemaiah1 and ,ishmaiah 7both from ,shama' and ,yah72 8,god gives0 by ,elnathan1 ,nethaneel1 ,jonathan1 and ,nethaniah2 8,god helps0 by ,eliezer1 ,azareel1 ,joezer1 and ,azariah2 8,god is gracious0 by ,elhanan1 ,hananeel1 ,johanan1 ,hananiah1 ,baal-hanan1 and1 for a ,carthaginian1 ,hannibal1 giving us a curious connection between the ,apostle of love1 ,john 7,johanan71 and the deadly enemy of ,rome4 ,the way in which the changes are rung upon these ideas shows how the ancient ,israelites loved to dwell upon them4 ,nestle reckons that in the ,old ,testament sixty-one persons have names formed from the root nathan1 to give2 fifty-seven from shama1 to hear2 fifty-six from 'azar1 to help2 forty-five from hanan1 to be gracious2 forty-four from zakhar1 to remember4 ,many persons1 too1 bear names from the root yada'1 to know4 ,the favourite name is ,zechariah1 which is borne by twenty-five different persons4 ,hence1 according to the testimony of names1 the ,israelites' favourite ideas about ,god were that ,he heard1 and knew1 and remembered2 that ,he was gracious1 and helped men1 and gave them gifts3 but they loved best to think of ,him as ,god the ,giver4 ,their nomenclature recognises many other attributes1 but these take the first place4 ,the value of this testimony is enhanced by its utter unconsciousness and naturalness2 it brings us nearer to the average man in his religious moments than any psalm or prophetic utterance4 ,men's chief interest in ,god was as the ,giver4 ,the idea has proved very permanent2 ,st4 ,james amplifies it3 ,god is the ,giver of every good and perfect gift4 ,it lies latent in names3 ,theodosius1 ,theodore1 ,theodora1 and ,dorothea4 ,the other favourite ideas are all related to this4 ,god hears men's prayers1 and knows their needs1 and remembers them2 ,he is gracious1 and helps them by ,his gifts4 ,could anything be more pathetic than this artless self-revelation8 ,men's minds have little leisure for sin and salvation2 they are kept down by the constant necessity of preserving and providing for a bare existence4 ,their cry to ,god is like the prayer of ,jacob1 8,if ,thou wilt give me bread to eat and raiment to put on60 ,the very confidence and gratitude that the names express imply periods of doubt and fear1 when they said1 8,can ,god prepare a table in the wilderness80 times when it seemed to them impossible that ,god could have heard their prayer or that ,he knew their misery1 else why was there no deliverance8 ,had ,god forgotten to be gracious8 ,did ,he indeed remember8 ,the names come to us as answers of faith to these suggestions of despair4 ,possibly these old-world saints were not more preoccupied with their material needs than most modern ,christians4 ,perhaps it is necessary to believe in a ,god who rules on earth before we can understand the ,father who is in heaven4 ,does a man really trust in ,god for eternal life if he cannot trust ,him for daily bread8 ,but in any case these names provide us with very comprehensive formul1 which we are at liberty to apply as freely as we please3 the ,god who knows1 and hears1 and remembers1 who is gracious1 and helps men1 and gives them gifts4 ,to begin with1 note how in a great array of ,old ,testament names ,god is the ,subject1 ,actor1 and ,worker2 the supreme facts of life are ,god and ,god's doings1 not man and man's doings1 what ,god is to man1 not what man is to ,god4 ,this is a foreshadowing of the ,christian doctrines of grace and of the ,divine sovereignty4 ,and again we are left to fill in the objects of the sentences for ourselves3 ,god hears1 and remembers1 and gives--what8 ,all that we have to say to ,him and all that we are capable of receiving from ,him4 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,heredity4 #a ,chron4 i4-ix4 ,it has been said that ,religion is the great discoverer of truth1 while ,science follows her slowly and after a long interval4 ,heredity1 so much discussed just now1 is sometimes treated as if its principles were a great discovery of the present century4 ,popular science is apt to ignore history and to mistake a fresh nomenclature for an entirely new system of truth1 and yet the immense and far-reaching importance of heredity has been one of the commonplaces of thought ever since history began4 ,science has been anticipated1 not merely by religious feeling1 but by a universal instinct4 ,in the old world political and social systems have been based upon the recognition of the principle of heredity1 and religion has sanctioned such recognition4 ,caste in ,india is a religious even more than a social institution2 and we use the term figuratively in reference to ancient and modern life1 even when the institution has not formally existed4 ,without the aid of definite civil or religious law the force of sentiment and circumstances suffices to establish an informal system of caste4 ,thus the feudal aristocracy and guilds of the ,middle ,ages were not without their rough counterparts in the ,old ,testament4 ,moreover1 the local divisions of the ,hebrew kingdoms corresponded in theory1 at any rate1 to blood relationships2 and the tribe1 the clan1 and the family had even more fixity and importance than now belong to the parish or the municipality4 ,a man's family history or genealogy was the ruling factor in determining his home1 his occupation1 and his social position4 ,in the chronicler's time this was especially the case with the official ministers of religion1 the ,temple establishment to which he himself belonged4 ,the priests1 the ,levites1 the singers1 and doorkeepers formed castes in the strict sense of the word4 ,a man's birth definitely assigned him to one of these classes1 to which none but the members of certain families could belong4 ,but the genealogies had a deeper significance4 ,israel was ,jehovah's chosen people1 ,his son1 to whom special privileges were guaranteed by solemn covenant4 ,a man's claim to share in this covenant depended on his genuine ,israelite descent1 and the proof of such descent was an authentic genealogy4 ,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 ,israel4 ,his interest in this research was not merely antiquarian3 he was investigating matters of the greatest social and religious importance to all the members of the ,jewish community1 and especially to his colleagues and friends in the ,temple service4 ,these chapters1 which seem to us so dry and useless1 were probably regarded by the chronicler's contemporaries as the most important part of his work4 ,the preservation or discovery of a genealogy was almost a matter of life and death4 ,witness the episode in ,ezra and ,nehemiah7#eg73 8,and of the priests3 the children of ,hobaiah1 the children of ,hakkoz1 the children of ,barzillai1 which took a wife of the daughters of ,barzillai the ,gileadite1 and was called after their name4 ,these sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy1 but it was not found2 therefore they were deemed polluted and put from the priesthood4 ,and the governor said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things1 till there stood up a priest with ,urim and ,thummim40 ,cases like these would stimulate our author's enthusiasm4 ,as he turned over dusty receptacles1 and unrolled frayed parchments1 and painfully deciphered crabbed and faded script1 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 priests4 ,doubtless he had already acquired in some measure the subtle exegesis and minute casuistry that were the glory of later ,rabbinism4 ,ingenious interpretation of obscure writing or the happy emendation of half-obliterated words might lend opportune aid in the recovery of a genealogy4 ,on the other hand1 there were vested interests ready to protest against the too easy acceptance of new claims4 ,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 ,temple4 ,this part of our author's task was as delicate as it was important4 ,we will now briefly consider the genealogies in these chapters in the order in which they are given4 ,chap4 i4 contains genealogies of the patriarchal period selected from ,genesis4 ,the existing races of the world are all traced back through ,shem1 ,ham1 and ,japheth to ,noah1 and through him to ,adam4 ,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 earth47#eh7 ,all mankind1 8,greek and ,jew1 circumcision and uncircumcision1 barbarian1 ,scythian1 bondman1 freeman107#ei7 were alike descended from ,noah1 who was saved from the ,flood by the special care of ,god2 from ,enoch1 who walked with ,god2 from ,adam1 who was created by ,god in ,his own image and likeness4 ,the ,israelites did not claim1 like certain ,greek clans1 to be the descendants of a special god of their own1 or1 like the ,athenians1 to have sprung miraculously from sacred soil4 ,their genealogies testified that not merely ,israelite nature1 but human nature1 is moulded on a ,divine pattern4 ,these apparently barren lists of names enshrine the great principles of the universal brotherhood of men and the universal ,fatherhood of ,god4 ,the chronicler wrote when the broad universalism of the prophets was being replaced by the hard exclusiveness of ,judaism2 and yet1 perhaps unconsciously1 he reproduces the genealogies which were to be one weapon of ,st4 ,paul in his struggle with that exclusiveness4 ,the opening chapters of ,genesis and ,chronicles are among the foundations of the catholicity of the ,church of ,christ4 ,for the antediluvian period only the ,sethite genealogy is given4 ,the chronicler's object was simply to give the origin of existing races2 and the descendants of ,cain were omitted1 as entirely destroyed by the ,flood4 ,following the example of ,genesis1 the chronicler gives the genealogies of other races at the points at which they diverged from the ancestral line of ,israel1 and then continues the family history of the chosen race4 ,in this way the descendants of ,japheth and ,ham1 the non-,abrahamic ,semites1 the ,ishmaelites1 the sons of ,keturah1 and the ,edomites are successively mentioned4 ,the relations of ,israel with ,edom were always close and mostly hostile4 ,the ,edomites had taken advantage of the overthrow of the southern kingdom to appropriate the south of ,judah1 and still continued to occupy it4 ,the keen interest felt by the chronicler in ,edom is shown by the large space devoted to the ,edomites4 ,the close contiguity of the ,jews and ,idumans tended to promote mutual intercourse between them1 and even threatened an eventual fusion of the two peoples4 ,as a matter of fact1 the ,iduman ,herods became rulers of ,juda4 ,to guard against such dangers to the separateness of the ,jewish people1 the chronicler emphasises the historical distinction of race between them and the ,edomites4 ,from the beginning of the second chapter onwards the genealogies are wholly occupied with ,israelites4 ,the author's special interest in ,judah is at once manifested4 ,after giving the list of the twelve ,patriarchs he devotes two and a half chapters to the families of ,judah4 ,here again the materials have been mostly obtained from the earlier historical books4 ,they are1 however1 combined with more recent traditions1 so that in this chapter matter from different sources is pieced together in a very confusing fashion4 ,one source of this confusion was the principle that the ,jewish community could only consist of families of genuine ,israelite descent4 ,now a large number of the returned exiles traced their descent to two brothers1 ,caleb and ,jerahmeel2 but in the older narratives ,caleb and ,jerahmeel are not ,israelites4 ,caleb is a ,kenizzite17#fj7 and his descendants and those of ,jerahmeel appear in close connection with the ,kenites47#fa7 ,even in this chapter certain of the ,calebites are called ,kenites and connected in some strange way with the ,rechabites47#fb7 ,though at the close of the monarchy the ,calebites and ,jerahmeelites had become an integral part of the tribe of ,judah1 their separate origin had not been forgotten1 and ,caleb and ,jerahmeel had not been included in the ,israelite genealogies4 ,but after the ,exile men came to feel more and more strongly that a common faith implied unity of race4 ,moreover1 the practical unity of the ,jews with these ,kenizzites overbore the dim and fading memory of ancient tribal distinctions4 ,jews and ,kenizzites had shared the ,captivity1 the ,exile1 and the ,return2 they worked1 and fought1 and worshipped side by side2 and they were to all intents and purposes one nation1 alike the people of ,jehovah4 ,this obvious and important practical truth was expressed as such truths were then wont to be expressed4 ,the children of ,caleb and ,jerahmeel were finally and formally adopted into the chosen race4 ,caleb and ,jerahmeel are no longer the sons of ,jephunneh the ,kenizzite2 they are the sons of ,hezron1 the son of ,perez1 the son of ,judah47#fc7 ,a new genealogy was formed as a recognition rather than an explanation of accomplished facts4 ,of the section containing the genealogies of ,judah1 the lion's share is naturally given to the house of ,david1 to which a part of the second chapter and the whole of the third are devoted4 ,next follow genealogies of the remaining tribes1 those of ,levi and ,benjamin being by far the most complete4 ,chap4 vi41 which is devoted to ,levi1 affords evidence of the use by the chronicler of independent and sometimes inconsistent sources1 and also illustrates his special interest in the priesthood and the ,temple choir4 ,a list of high-priests from ,aaron to ,ahimaaz is given twice over 7vv4 #d-h and #di-ec71 but only one line of high-priests is recognised1 the house of ,zadok1 whom ,josiah's reforms had made the one priestly family in ,israel4 ,their ancient rivals the high-priests of the house of ,eli are as entirely ignored as the antediluvian ,cainites4 ,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 ,israel4 ,the pedigree of the three ,levitical families of ,gershom1 ,kohath1 and ,merari is also given twice over3 in vv4 #af-cj and #ca-di4 ,the former pedigree begins with the sons of ,levi1 and proceeds to their descendants2 the latter begins with the founders of the guilds of singers1 ,heman1 ,asaph1 and ,ethan1 and traces back their genealogies to ,kohath1 ,gershom1 and ,merari respectively4 ,but the pedigrees do not agree2 compare1 for instance1 the lists of the ,kohathites3-- #bb-bd4 #cf-ch4 ,kohath ,kohath ,amminadab ,izhar ,korah ,korah ,assir ,elkanah ,ebiasaph ,ebiasaph ,assir ,assir ,tahath ,tahath ,uriel ,zephaniah ,uzziah ,azariah ,shaul etc4 ,we have here one of many illustrations of the fact that the chronicler used materials of very different value4 ,to attempt to prove the absolute consistency of all his genealogies would be mere waste of time4 ,it is by no means certain that he himself supposed them to be consistent4 ,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 kind4 ,in reading the genealogies of the tribe of ,benjamin1 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 ,saul47#fd7 ,apparently the chronicler and his contemporaries shared this special interest in the fortunes of a fallen dynasty1 for the genealogy is given twice over4 ,these circumstances are the more striking because in the actual history of ,chronicles ,saul is all but ignored4 ,the rest of the ninth chapter deals with the inhabitants of ,jerusalem and the ministry of the ,temple after the return from the ,captivity1 and is partly identical with sections of ,ezra and ,nehemiah4 ,it closes the family history1 as it were1 of ,israel1 and its position indicates the standpoint and ruling interests of the chronicler4 ,thus the nine opening chapters of genealogies and kindred matter strike the key-notes of the whole book4 ,some are personal and professional2 some are religious4 ,on the one hand1 we have the origin of existing families and institutions2 on the other hand1 we have the election of the tribe of ,judah and the house of ,david1 of the tribe of ,levi and the house of ,aaron4 ,let us consider first the hereditary character of the ,jewish religion and priesthood4 ,here1 as elsewhere1 the formal doctrine only recognised and accepted actual facts4 ,the conditions which received the sanction of religion were first imposed by the force of circumstances4 ,in primitive times1 if there was to be any religion at all1 it had to be national2 if ,god was to be worshipped at all1 ,his worship was necessarily national1 and ,he became in some measure a national ,god4 ,sympathies are limited by knowledge and by common interest4 ,the ordinary ,israelite knew very little of any other people than his own4 ,there was little international comity in primitive times1 and nations were slow to recognise that they had common interests4 ,it was difficult for an ,israelite to believe that his beloved ,jehovah1 in whom he had been taught to trust1 was also the ,god of the ,arabs and ,syrians1 who periodically raided his crops1 and cattle1 and slaves1 and sometimes carried off his children1 or of the ,chaldans1 who made deliberate and complete arrangements for plundering the whole country1 rasing its cities to the ground1 and carrying away the population into distant exile4 ,by a supreme act of faith1 the prophets claimed the enemies and oppressors of ,israel as instruments of the will of ,jehovah1 and the chronicler's genealogies show that he shared this faith2 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 experience4 ,jehovah was ,god of heaven and earth2 but ,israelites knew ,him through the deliverance ,he had wrought for ,israel1 the punishments ,he had inflicted on her sins1 and the messages ,he had entrusted to her prophets4 ,as far as their knowledge and practical experience went1 they knew ,him as the ,god of ,israel4 ,the course of events since the fall of ,samaria narrowed still further the local associations of ,hebrew worship4 8,god was wroth1 ,and greatly abhorred ,israel1 ,so that ,he forsook the tabernacle of ,shiloh1 ,the tent which ,he placed among men2 ,he refused the tent of ,joseph1 ,and chose not the tribe of ,ephraim1 ,but chose the tribe of ,judah1 ,the ,mount ,zion which ,he loved3 ,and ,he built ,his sanctuary like the heights1 ,like the earth1 which ,he hath established for ever407#fe7 ,we are doubtless right in criticising those ,jews whose limitations led them to regard ,jehovah as a kind of personal possession1 the inheritance of their own nation1 and not of other peoples4 ,but even here we can only blame their negations4 ,jehovah was their inheritance and personal possession2 but then ,he was also the inheritance of other nations4 ,this ,jewish heresy is by no means extinct3 white men do not always believe that their ,god is equally the ,god of the negro2 ,englishmen are inclined to think that ,god is the ,god of ,england in a more especial way than ,he is the ,god of ,france4 ,when we discourse concerning ,god in history1 we mostly mean our own history4 ,we can see the hand of ,providence in the wreck of the ,armada and the overthrow of ,napoleon2 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 tyranny4 ,we scarcely realise that ,god cares as much for the ,continent as ,he does for our island4 ,we have great and perhaps sufficient excuses1 but we must let the ,jews have the benefit of them4 ,god is as much the ,god of one nation as of another2 but ,he fulfils ,himself to different nations in different ways1 by a various providential discipline4 ,each people is bound to believe that ,god has specially adapted ,his dealings to its needs1 nor can we be surprised if men forget or fail to observe that ,god has done no less for their neighbours4 ,each nation rightly regards its religious ideas1 and life1 and literature as a precious inheritance peculiarly its own2 and it should not be too severely blamed for being ignorant that other nations have their inheritance also4 ,such considerations largely justify the interest in heredity shown by the chronicler's genealogies4 ,on the positive1 practical side1 religion is largely a matter of heredity1 and ought to be4 ,the ,christian sacrament of baptism is a continual profession of this truth3 our children are 8clean02 they are within the covenant of grace2 we claim for them the privileges of the ,church to which we belong4 ,that was also part of the meaning of the genealogies4 ,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 science4 ,practical effects can be considered without attempting an accurate analysis of causes4 ,family history not only determines physical constitution1 mental gifts1 and moral character1 but also fixes for the most part country1 home1 education1 circumstances1 and social position4 ,all these were a man's inheritance more peculiarly in ,israel than with us2 and in many cases in ,israel a man was often trained to inherit a family profession4 ,apart from the ministry of the ,temple1 we read of a family of craftsmen1 of other families that were potters1 of others who dwelt with the king for his work1 and of the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen47#ff7 ,religion is largely involved in the manifold inheritance which a man receives from his fathers4 ,his birth determines his religious education1 the examples of religious life set before him1 the forms of worship in which as a child he takes part4 ,most men live and die in the religion of their childhood2 they worship the ,god of their fathers2 ,romanist remains ,romanist3 ,protestant remains ,protestant4 ,they may fail to grasp any living faith1 or may lose all interest in religion2 but such religion as most men have is part of their inheritance4 ,in the ,israel of the chronicler faith and devotion to ,god were almost always and entirely inherited4 ,they were part of the great debt which a man owed to his fathers4 ,the recognition of these facts should tend to foster our humility and reverence1 to encourage patriotism and philanthropy4 ,we are the creatures and debtors of the past1 though we are slow to own our obligations4 ,we have nothing that we have not received2 but we are apt to consider ourselves self-made men1 the architects and builders of our own fortunes1 who have the right to be self-satisfied1 self-assertive1 and selfish4 ,the heir of all the ages1 in the full vigour of youth1 takes his place in the foremost ranks of time1 and marches on in the happy consciousness of profound and multifarious wisdom1 immense resources1 and magnificent opportunity4 ,he forgets or even despises the generations of labour and anguish that have built up for him his great inheritance4 ,the genealogies are a silent protest against such insolent ingratitude4 ,they remind us that in bygone days a man derived his gifts and received his opportunities from his ancestors2 they show us men as the links in a chain1 tenants for life1 as it were1 of our estate1 called upon to pay back with interest to the future the debt which they have incurred to the past4 ,we see that the chain is a long one1 with many links2 and the slight estimate we are inclined to put upon the work of individuals in each generation recoils upon our own pride4 ,we also are but individuals of a generation that is only one of the thousands needed to work out the ,divine purpose for mankind4 ,we are taught the humility that springs from a sense of obligation and responsibility4 ,we learn reverence for the workers and achievements of the past1 and most of all for ,god4 ,we are reminded of the scale of the ,divine working3-- 8,a thousand years in ,thy sight ,are but as yesterday when it is past ,and as a watch in the night40 ,a genealogy is a brief and pointed reminder that ,god has been working through all the countless generations behind us4 ,the bare series of names is an expressive diagram of ,his mighty process4 ,each name in the earlier lists stands for a generation or even for several generations4 ,the genealogies go back into dim1 prehistoric periods2 they suggest a past too remote for our imagining4 ,and yet they take us back to ,adam1 to the very beginning of human life4 ,from that beginning1 however many thousands or tens of thousands of years ago1 the life of man has been sacred1 the object of the ,divine care and love1 the instrument of the ,divine purpose4 ,later on we see the pedigree of our race dividing into countless branches1 all of which are represented in this sacred diagram of humanity4 ,the ,divine working not only extends over all time1 but also embraces all the complicated circumstances and relationships of the families of mankind4 ,these genealogies suggest a lesson probably not intended by the chronicler4 ,we recognise the unique character of the history of ,israel1 but in some measure we discern in this one full and detailed narrative of the chosen people a type of the history of every race4 ,others had not the election of ,israel1 but each had its own vocation4 ,god's power1 and wisdom1 and love are manifested in the history of one chosen people on a scale commensurate with our limited faculties1 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 named4 ,another principle closely allied to heredity and also discussed in modern times is the solidarity of the race4 ,humanity is supposed to possess something akin to a common consciousness1 personality1 or individuality4 ,such a quality evidently becomes more intense as we narrow its scope from the race to the nation1 the clan1 and the family2 it has its roots in family relationships4 ,tribal1 national1 humanitarian feelings indicate that the larger societies have taken upon themselves something of the character of the family4 ,thus the common feelings and mutual sympathies of mankind are due ultimately to blood relationship4 ,the genealogies that set forth family histories are the symbols of this brotherhood or solidarity of our race4 ,the chart of converging lines of ancestors in ,israel carried men's minds back from the separate families to their common ancestor2 again1 the ancestry of ancestors led back to a still earlier common origin1 and the process continued till all the lines met in ,noah4 ,each stage of the process enlarged the range of every man's kinship1 and broadened the natural area of mutual help and affection4 ,it is true that the ,jews failed to learn this larger lesson from their genealogies1 but within their own community they felt intensely the bond of kinship and brotherhood4 ,modern patriotism reproduces the strong ,jewish national feeling1 and our humanitarianism is beginning to extend it to the whole world4 ,by this time the facts of heredity have been more carefully studied and are better understood4 ,if we drew up typical genealogies now1 they would more fully and accurately represent the mutual relationships of our people4 ,as far as they go1 the chronicler's genealogies form a clear and instructive diagram of the mutual dependence of man on man and family on family4 ,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 ,c1 ,d ,e ,f4 ,these genealogies are in any case a true symbol of the facts of family relations2 but they are drawn1 so to speak1 in one dimension only1 backwards and forwards in time4 ,yet the real family life exists in three dimensions4 ,there are numerous cross-relations1 cousinship of all degrees1 as well as sonship and brotherhood4 ,a man has not merely his male ancestors in the directly ascending line--father1 grandfather1 great-grandfather1 etc4--but he has female ancestors as well4 ,by going back three or four generations a man is connected with an immense number of cousins2 and if the complete network of ten or fifteen generations could be worked out1 it would probably show some blood bond throughout a whole nation4 ,thus the ancestral roots of a man's life and character have wide ramifications in the former generations of his people4 ,the further we go back the larger is the element of ancestry common to the different individuals of the same community4 ,the chronicler's genealogies only show us individuals as links in a set of chains4 ,the more complete genealogical scheme would be better illustrated by the ganglia of the nervous system1 each of which is connected by numerous nerve fibres with the other ganglia4 ,the ,church has been compared to the body1 8which is one1 and hath many members1 and all the members of the body1 being many1 are one body40 ,humanity1 by its natural kinship1 is also such a body2 the nation is still more truly 8one body40 ,patriotism and humanity are instincts as natural and as binding as those of the family2 and the genealogies express or symbolise the wider family ties1 that they may commend the virtues and enforce the duties that arise out of these ties4 ,before closing this chapter something may be said on one or two special points4 ,women are virtually ignored in these genealogies1 a fact that rather indicates a failure to recognise their influence than the absence of such influence4 ,here and there a woman is mentioned for some special reason4 ,for instance1 the names of ,zeruiah and ,abigail are inserted in order to show that ,joab1 ,abishai1 and ,asahel1 together with ,amasa1 were all cousins of ,david4 ,the same keen interest in ,david leads the chronicler to record the names of his wives4 ,it is noteworthy that of the four women who are mentioned in ,st4 ,matthew's genealogy of our ,lord only two--,tamar and ,bath-shua 7i4e41 ,bath-sheba7--are mentioned here4 ,probably ,st4 ,matthew was careful to complete the list because ,rahab and ,ruth1 like ,tamar and possibly ,bath-sheba1 were foreigners1 and their names in the genealogy indicated a connection between ,christ and the ,gentiles1 and served to emphasise ,his mission to be the ,saviour of the world4 ,again1 much caution is necessary in applying any principle of heredity4 ,a genealogy1 as we have seen1 suggests our dependence in many ways upon our ancestry4 ,but a man's relations to his kindred are many and complicated2 a quality1 for instance1 may be latent for one or more generations and then reappear1 so that to all appearance a man inherits from his grandfather or from a more remote ancestor rather than from his father or mother4 ,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 parent4 ,neither must the influence of circumstances be confounded with that of heredity4 ,moreover1 very large allowance must be made for our ignorance of the laws that govern the human will1 an ignorance that will often baffle our attempts to find in heredity any simple explanation of men's characters and actions4 ,thomas ,fuller has a quaint 8,scripture observation0 that gives an important practical application of these principles3-- 8,lord1 ,i find the genealogy of my ,saviour strangely chequered with four remarkable changes in four immediate generations3 8#a4 #8,rehoboam begat ,abiam'2 that is1 a bad father begat a bad son4 8#b4 #8,abiam begat ,asa'2 that is1 a bad father a good son4 8#c4 #8,asa begat ,jehosaphat'2 that is1 a good father a good son4 8#d4 #8,jehosaphat begat ,joram'2 that is1 a good father a bad son4 8,i see1 ,lord1 from hence that my father's piety cannot be entailed2 that is bad news for me4 ,but ,i see also that actual impiety is not always hereditary2 that is good news for my son40 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,statistics4 ,statistics play an important part in ,chronicles and in the ,old ,testament generally4 ,to begin with1 there are the genealogies and other lists of names1 such as the lists of ,david's counsellors and the roll of honour of his mighty men4 ,the chronicler specially delights in lists of names1 and most of all in lists of ,levitical choristers4 ,he gives us lists of the orchestras and choirs who performed when the ,ark was brought to ,zion7#fg7 and at ,hezekiah's passover17#fh7 also a list of ,levites whom ,jehoshaphat sent out to teach in ,judah47#fi7 ,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 religion4 ,possibly they supplied him with the information from which these lists were compiled4 ,an incidental result of the celibacy of the ,romanist clergy has been to render ancient ecclesiastical genealogies impossible2 modern clergymen cannot trace their descent to the monks who landed with ,augustine4 ,our genealogies might enable a historian to construct lists of the combatants at ,agincourt and ,hastings2 but the ,crusades are the only wars of the ,church militant for which modern pedigrees could furnish a muster-roll4 ,we find also in the ,old ,testament the specifications and subscription-lists for the ,tabernacle and for ,solomon's temple47#gj7 ,these statistics1 however1 are not furnished for the second ,temple1 probably for the same reason that in modern subscription-lists the donors of shillings and half-crowns are to be indicated by initials1 or described as 8friends0 and 8sympathisers10 or massed together under the heading 8smaller sums40 ,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 composed4 ,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 ,ezra2 there is a census of the ,levites in ,david's time according to their several families7#ga72 there are the numbers of the tribal contingents that came to ,hebron to make ,david king17#gb7 and much similar information4 ,statistics therefore occupy a conspicuous position in the inspired record of ,divine revelation1 and yet we often hesitate to connect such terms as 8inspiration0 and 8revelation0 with numbers1 and names1 and details of civil and ecclesiastical organisation4 ,we are afraid lest any stress laid on purely accidental details should distract men's attention from the eternal essence of the ,gospel1 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 some4 ,concerning such matters there have been many foolish questions of genealogies1 profane and vain babblings1 which have increased unto more ungodliness4 ,quite apart from these1 even in the ,old ,testament a sanctity attaches to the number seven1 but there is no warrant for any considerable expenditure of time and thought upon mystical arithmetic4 ,a symbolism runs through the details of the building1 furniture1 and ritual alike of the ,tabernacle and the ,temple1 and this symbolism possesses a legitimate religious significance2 but its exposition is not specially suggested by the book of ,chronicles4 ,the exposition of such symbolism is not always sufficiently governed by a sense of proportion4 ,ingenuity in supplying subtle interpretations of minute details often conceals the great truths which the symbols are really intended to enforce4 ,moreover1 the sacred writers did not give statistics merely to furnish materials for ,cabbala and ,gematria or even to serve as theological types and symbols4 ,sometimes their purpose was more simple and practical4 ,if we knew all the history of the ,tabernacle and ,temple subscription-lists1 we should doubtless find that they had been used to stimulate generous gifts towards the erection of the second ,temple4 ,preachers for building funds can find abundance of suitable texts in ,exodus1 ,kings1 and ,chronicles4 ,but ,biblical statistics are also examples in accuracy and thoroughness of information1 and recognitions of the more obscure and prosaic manifestations of the higher life4 ,indeed1 in these and other ways the ,bible gives an anticipatory sanction to the exact sciences4 ,the mention of accuracy in connection with ,chronicles may be received by some readers with a contemptuous smile4 ,but we are indebted to the chronicler for exact and full information about the ,jews who returned from ,babylon2 and in spite of the extremely severe judgment passed upon ,chronicles by many critics1 we may still venture to believe that the chronicler's statistics are as accurate as his knowledge and critical training rendered possible4 ,he may sometimes give figures obtained by calculation from uncertain data1 but such a practice is quite consistent with honesty and a desire to supply the best available information4 ,modern scholars are quite ready to present us with figures as to the membership of the ,christian ,church under ,antoninus ,pius or ,constantine2 and some of these figures are not much more probable than the most doubtful in ,chronicles4 ,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 truth1 and this they undoubtedly are4 ,this ,biblical example is the more useful because statistics are often evil spoken of1 and they have no outward attractiveness to shield them from popular prejudice4 ,we are told that 8nothing is so false as statistics10 and that 8figures will prove anything02 and the polemic is sustained by works like ,hard ,times and the awful example of ,mr4 ,gradgrind4 ,properly understood1 these proverbs illustrate the very general impatience of any demand for exact thought and expression4 ,if 8figures0 will prove anything1 so will texts4 ,though this popular prejudice cannot be altogether ignored1 yet it need not be taken too seriously4 ,the opposite principle1 when stated1 will at once be seen to be a truism4 ,for it amounts to this3 exact and comprehensive knowledge is the basis of a right understanding of history1 and is a necessary condition of right action4 ,this principle is often neglected because it is obvious4 ,yet1 to illustrate it from our author1 a knowledge of the size and plan of the ,temple greatly adds to the vividness of our pictures of ,hebrew religion4 ,we apprehend later ,jewish life much more clearly with the aid of the statistics as to the numbers1 families1 and settlements of the returning exiles2 and similarly the account-books of the bailiff of an ,english estate in the fourteenth century are worth several hundred pages of contemporary theology4 ,these considerations may encourage those who perform the thankless task of compiling the statistics1 subscription-lists1 and balance-sheets of missionary and philanthropic societies4 ,the zealous and intelligent historian of ,christian life and service will need these dry records to enable him to understand his subject1 and the highest literary gifts may be employed in the eloquent exposition of these apparently uninteresting facts and figures4 ,moreover1 upon the accuracy of these records depends the possibility of determining a true course for the future4 ,neither societies nor individuals1 for instance1 can afford to live beyond their income without knowing it4 ,statistics1 too1 are the only form in which many acts of service can be recognised and recorded4 ,literature can only deal with typical instances1 and naturally it selects the more dramatic4 ,the missionary report can only tell the story of a few striking conversions2 it may give the history of the exceptional self-denial involved in one or two of its subscriptions2 for the rest we must be content with tables and subscription-lists4 ,but these dry statistics represent an infinitude of patience and self-denial1 of work and prayer1 of ,divine grace and blessing4 ,the city missionary may narrate his experiences with a few inquirers and penitents1 but the great bulk of his work can only be recorded in the statement of visits paid and services conducted4 ,we are tempted sometimes to disparage these statements1 to ask how many of the visits and services had any result2 we are impatient sometimes because ,christian work is estimated by any such numerical line and measure4 ,no doubt the method has many defects1 and must not be used too mechanically2 but we cannot give it up without ignoring altogether much earnest and successful labour4 ,our chronicler's interest in statistics lays healthy emphasis on the practical character of religion4 ,there is a danger of identifying spiritual force with literary and rhetorical gifts2 to recognise the religious value of statistics is the most forcible protest against such identification4 ,the permanent contribution of any age to religious thought will naturally take a literary form1 and the higher the literary qualities of religious writing1 the more likely it is to survive4 ,shakespeare1 ,milton1 and ,bunyan have probably exercised a more powerful direct religious influence on subsequent generations than all the theologians of the seventeenth century4 ,but the supreme service of the ,church in any age is its influence on its own generation1 by which it moulds the generation immediately following4 ,that influence can only be estimated by a careful study of all possible information1 and especially of statistics4 ,we cannot assign mathematical values to spiritual effects and tabulate them like ,board of ,trade returns2 but real spiritual movements will before long have practical issues1 that can be heard1 and seen1 and felt1 and even admit of being put into tables4 8,the wind bloweth where it listeth1 and thou hearest the voice thereof1 but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth07#gc72 and yet the boughs and the corn bend before the wind1 and the ships are carried across the sea to their desired haven4 ,tables may be drawn up of the tonnage and the rate of sailing4 ,so is every one that is born of the ,spirit4 ,you cannot tell when and how ,god breathes upon the soul2 but if the ,divine ,spirit be indeed at work in any society1 there will be fewer crimes and quarrels1 less scandal1 and more deeds of charity4 ,we may justly suspect a revival which has no effect upon the statistical records of national life4 ,subscription-lists are very imperfect tests of enthusiasm1 but any widespread ,christian fervour would be worth little if it did not swell subscription-lists4 ,chronicles is not the most important witness to a sympathetic relationship between the ,bible and exact science4 ,the first chapter of ,genesis is the classic example of the appropriation by an inspired writer of the scientific spirit and method4 ,some chapters in ,job show a distinctly scientific interest in natural phenomena4 ,moreover1 the direct concern of ,chronicles is in the religious aspects of social science4 ,and yet there is a patient accumulation of data with no obvious dramatic value3 names1 dates1 numbers1 specifications1 and ritual which do not improve the literary character of the narrative4 ,this conscientious recording of dry facts1 this noting down of anything and everything that connects with the subject1 is closely akin to the initial processes of the inductive sciences4 ,true1 the chronicler's interests are in some directions narrowed by personal and professional feeling2 but within these limits he is anxious to make a complete record1 which1 as we have seen1 sometimes leads to repetition4 ,now inductive science is based on unlimited statistics4 ,the astronomer and biologist share the chronicler's appetite for this kind of mental food4 ,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 sociology2 but the chronicler becomes in a certain sense the forerunner of ,darwin1 ,spencer1 and ,galton4 ,the differences are indeed immense4 ,the interval of two thousand odd years between the ancient annalist and the modern scientists has not been thrown away4 ,in estimating the value of evidence and interpreting its significance1 the chronicler was a mere child compared with his modern successors4 ,his aims and interests were entirely different from theirs4 ,but yet he was moved by a spirit which they may be said to inherit4 ,his careful collection of facts1 even his tendency to read the ideas and institutions of his own time into ancient history1 are indications of a reverence for the past and of an anxiety to base ideas and action upon a knowledge of that past4 ,this foreshadows the reverence of modern science for experience1 its anxiety to base its laws and theories upon observation of what has actually occurred4 ,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 thinkers4 ,the conservative spirit1 like the chronicler1 is apt to suffer its inherited prepossessions and personal interests to hinder a true observation and understanding of the past4 ,but the chronicler's opportunities and experience were narrow indeed compared with those of theological students to-day2 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 horizon4 ,chapter ,,iv4 ,family ,traditions4 #a ,chron4 i4 #aj1 #ai1 #df2 ii4 #c1 #g1 #cd2 iv4 #i1 #aj1 #ah1 #bb1 #bg1 #cd-dc2 v4 #aj1 #ah-bb2 vii4 #ba-bc2 viii4 #ac4 ,chronicles is a miniature ,old ,testament1 and may have been meant as a handbook for ordinary people1 who had no access to the whole library of sacred writings4 ,it contains nothing corresponding to the books of ,wisdom or the apocalyptic literature2 but all the other types of ,old ,testament literature are represented4 ,there are genealogies1 statistics1 ritual1 history1 psalms1 and prophecies4 ,the interest shown by ,chronicles in family traditions harmonises with the stress laid by the ,hebrew ,scriptures upon family life4 ,the other historical books are largely occupied with the family history of the ,patriarchs1 of ,moses1 of ,jephthah1 ,gideon1 ,samson1 ,saul1 and ,david4 ,the chronicler intersperses his genealogies with short anecdotes about the different families and tribes4 ,some of these are borrowed from the older books2 but others are peculiar to our author1 and were doubtless obtained by him from the family records and traditions of his contemporaries4 ,the statements that 8,nimrod began to be mighty upon the earth07#gd72 that 8the name of one0 of ,eber's sons 8was ,peleg1 because in his days the earth was divided07#ge72 and that ,hadad 8smote ,moab in the field of ,midian107#gf7 are borrowed from ,genesis4 ,as he omits events much more important and more closely connected with the history of ,israel1 and gives no account of ,babel1 or of ,abraham1 or of the conquest of ,canaan1 these little notes are probably retained by accident1 because at times the chronicler copied his authorities somewhat mechanically4 ,it was less trouble to take the genealogies as they stood than to exercise great care in weeding out everything but the bare names4 ,in one instance17#gg7 however1 the chronicler has erased a curious note to a genealogy in ,genesis4 ,a certain ,anah is mentioned both in ,genesis and ,chronicles among the ,horites1 who inhabited ,mount ,seir before it was conquered by ,edom4 ,most of us1 in reading the ,authorised ,version1 have wondered what historical or religious interest secured a permanent record for the fact that 8,anah found the mules in the wilderness1 as he fed the asses of ,zibeon his father40 ,a possible solution seemed to be that this note was preserved as the earliest reference to the existence of mules1 which animals played an important part in the social life of ,palestine2 but the ,revised ,version sets aside this explanation by substituting 8hot springs0 for 8mules10 as these hot springs are only mentioned here1 the passage becomes a greater puzzle than ever4 ,the chronicler could hardly overlook this curious piece of information1 but he naturally felt that this obscure archological note about the aboriginal ,horites did not fall within the scope of his work4 ,on the other hand1 the tragic fates of ,er and ,achar7#gh7 had a direct genealogical significance4 ,they are referred to in order to explain why the lists contain no descendants of these members of the tribe of ,judah4 ,the notes to these names illustrate the more depressing aspects of history4 ,the men who lived happy1 honourable lives can be mentioned one after another without any comment2 but even the compiler of pedigrees pauses to note the crimes and misfortunes that broke the natural order of life4 ,the annals of old families dwell with melancholy pride on murders1 and fatal duels1 and suicides4 ,history1 like an ancient mansion1 is haunted with unhappy ghosts4 ,yet our interest in tragedy is a testimony to the blessedness of life2 comfort and enjoyment are too monotonously common to be worth recording1 but we are attracted and excited by exceptional instances of suffering and sin4 ,let us turn to the episodes of family life only found in ,chronicles4 ,they may mostly be arranged in little groups of two or three1 and some of the groups present us with an interesting contrast4 ,we learn from ii4 #cd-da and iv4 #ah that two ,jewish families traced their descent from ,egyptian ancestors4 ,sheshan1 according to ,chronicles1 was eighth in descent from ,judah and fifth from ,jerahmeel1 the brother of ,caleb4 ,having daughters but no son1 he gave one of his daughters in marriage to an ,egyptian slave named ,jarha4 ,the descendants of this union are traced for thirteen generations4 ,genealogies1 however1 are not always complete2 and our other data do not suffice to determine even approximately the date of this marriage4 ,but the five generations between ,jerahmeel and ,sheshan indicate a period long after the ,exodus2 and as ,egypt plays no recorded part in the history of ,israel between the ,exodus and the reign of ,solomon1 the marriage may have taken place under the monarchy4 ,the story is a curious parallel to that of ,joseph1 with the parts of ,israelite and ,egyptian reversed4 ,god is no respecter of persons2 it is not only when the desolate and afflicted in strange lands belong to the chosen people that ,jehovah relieves and delivers them4 ,it is true of the ,egyptian1 as well as of the ,israelite1 that 8the ,lord maketh poor and maketh rich40 8,he bringeth low1 ,he also lifteth up2 ,he raiseth up the poor out of the dust3 ,he lifteth up the needy from the dunghill1 ,to make them sit with princes ,and inherit the throne of glory407#gi7 ,this song might have been sung at ,jarha's wedding as well as at ,joseph's4 ,both these marriages throw a sidelight upon the character of ,eastern slavery4 ,they show how sharply and deeply it was divided from the hopeless degradation of negro slavery in ,america4 ,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 loathing4 ,an ,american considers himself disgraced by a slight taint of negro blood in his ancestry1 but a noble ,jewish family was proud to trace its descent from an ,egyptian slave4 ,the other story is somewhat different1 and rests upon an obscure and corrupt passage in iv4 #ah4 ,the confusion makes it impossible to arrive at any date1 even by rough approximation4 ,the genealogical relations of the actors are by no means certain1 but some interesting points are tolerably clear4 ,some time after the conquest of ,canaan1 a descendant of ,caleb married two wives1 one a ,jewess1 the other an ,egyptian4 ,the ,egyptian was ,bithiah1 a daughter of ,pharaoh1 i4e41 of the contemporary king of ,egypt4 ,it appears probable that the inhabitants of ,eshtemoa traced their descent to this ,egyptian princess1 while those of ,gedor1 ,soco1 and ,zanoah claimed ,mered as their ancestor by his ,jewish wife47#hj7 ,here again we have the bare outline of a romance1 which the imagination is at liberty to fill in4 ,it has been suggested that ,bithiah may have been the victim of some ,jewish raid into ,egypt1 but surely a king of ,egypt would have either ransomed his daughter or recovered her by force of arms4 ,the story rather suggests that the chiefs of the clans of ,judah were semi-independent and possessed of considerable wealth and power1 so that the royal family of ,egypt could intermarry with them1 as with reigning sovereigns4 ,but if so1 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 ,babylon4 ,both ,egyptian alliances occur among the ,kenizzites1 the descendants of the brothers ,caleb and ,jerahmeel4 ,in one case a ,jewess marries an ,egyptian slave2 in the other a ,jew marries an ,egyptian princess4 ,doubtless these marriages did not stand alone1 and there were others with foreigners of varying social rank4 ,the stories show that even after the ,captivity the tradition survived that the clans in the south of ,judah had been closely connected with ,egypt1 and that ,solomon was not the only member of the tribe who had taken an ,egyptian wife4 ,now intermarriage with foreigners is partly forbidden by the ,pentateuch2 and the prohibition was extended and sternly enforced by ,ezra and ,nehemiah47#ha7 ,in the time of the chronicler there was a growing feeling against such marriages4 ,hence the traditions we are discussing cannot have originated after the ,return1 but must be at any rate earlier than the publication of ,deuteronomy under ,josiah4 ,such marriages with ,egyptians must have had some influence on the religion of the south of ,judah1 but probably the foreigners usually followed the example of ,ruth1 and adopted the faith of the families into which they came4 ,when they said1 8,thy people shall be my people10 they did not fail to add1 8and thy ,god shall be my ,god40 ,when the ,egyptian princess married the head of a ,jewish clan1 she became one of ,jehovah's people2 and her adoption into the family of the ,god of ,israel was symbolised by a new name3 8,bithiah10 8daughter of ,jehovah40 ,whether later ,judaism owed anything to ,egyptian influences can only be matter of conjecture2 at any rate1 they did not pervert the southern clans from their old faith4 ,the ,calebites and ,jerahmeelites were the backbone of ,judah both before and after the ,captivity4 ,the remaining traditions relate to the warfare of the ,israelites with their neighbours4 ,the first is a colourless reminiscence1 that might have been recorded of the effectual prayer of any pious ,israelite4 ,the genealogies of chap4 iv4 are interrupted by a paragraph entirely unconnected with the context4 ,the subject of this fragment is a certain ,jabez never mentioned elsewhere1 and1 so far as any record goes1 as entirely 8without father1 without mother1 without genealogy10 as ,melchizedek himself4 ,as chap4 iv4 deals with the families of ,judah1 and in ii4 #ee there is a town ,jabez also belonging to ,judah1 we may suppose that the chronicler had reasons for assigning ,jabez to that tribe2 but he has neither given these reasons1 nor indicated how ,jabez was connected therewith4 ,the paragraph runs as follows7#hb73 8,and ,jabez was honoured above his brethren1 and his mother called his name ,jabez0 7,ya'b71 8saying1 ,in pain0 7'eb7 8,i bore him4 ,and ,jabez called upon the ,god of ,israel1 saying1-- #8,if ,thou wilt indeed bless me ,by enlarging my possessions1 ,and ,thy hand be with me ,to provide pasture17#hc7 that ,i be not in distress' 7'eb74 ,and ,god brought about what he asked40 ,the chronicler has evidently inserted here a broken and disconnected fragment from one of his sources2 and we are puzzled to understand why he gives so much1 and no more4 ,surely not merely to introduce the etymologies of ,jabez2 or if ,jabez were so important that it was worth while to interrupt the genealogies to furnish two derivations of his name1 why are we not told more about him8 ,who was he1 when and where did he live1 and at whose expense were his possessions enlarged and pasture provided for him8 ,everything that could give colour and interest to the narrative is withheld1 and we are merely told that he prayed for earthly blessing and obtained it4 ,the spiritual lesson is obvious1 but it is very frequently enforced and illustrated in the ,old ,testament4 ,why should this episode about an utterly unknown man be thrust by main force into an unsuitable context1 if it is only one example of a most familiar truth8 ,it has been pointed out that ,jacob vowed a similar vow and built an altar to ,el1 the ,god of ,israel7#hd72 but this is one of many coincidences4 ,the paragraph certainly tells us something about the chronicler's views on prayer1 but nothing that is not more forcibly stated and exemplified in many other passages2 it is mainly interesting to us because of the light it throws on his methods of composition4 ,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 extracts4 ,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 reader4 ,we have next a series of much more definite statements about ,israelite prowess and success in wars against ,moab and other enemies4 ,in iv4 #ba1 #bb1 we read1 8,the sons of ,shelah the son of ,judah3 ,er the father of ,lecah1 and ,laadah the father of ,mareshah1 and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen1 of the house of ,ashbea2 and ,jokim1 and the men of ,cozeba1 and ,joash1 and ,saraph1 who had dominion in ,moab and returned to ,bethlehem407#he7 ,here again the information is too vague to enable us to fix any date1 nor is it quite certain who had dominion in ,moab4 ,the verb 8had dominion0 is plural in ,hebrew1 and may refer to all or any of the sons of ,shelah4 ,but1 in spite of uncertainties1 it is interesting to find chiefs or clans of ,judah ruling in ,moab4 ,possibly this immigration took place when ,david conquered and partly depopulated the country4 ,the men of ,judah may have returned to ,bethlehem when ,moab passed to the northern kingdom at the disruption1 or when ,moab regained its independence4 ,the incident in iv4 #cd-dc differs from the preceding in having a definite date assigned to it4 ,in the time of ,hezekiah some ,simeonite clans had largely increased in number and found themselves straitened for room for their flocks4 ,they accordingly went in search of new pasturage4 ,one company went to ,gedor1 another to ,mount ,seir4 ,the situation of ,gedor is not clearly known4 ,it cannot be the ,gedor of ,josh4 xv4 #eh1 which lay in the heart of ,judah4 ,the ,,lxx4 has ,gerar1 a town to the south of ,gaza1 and this may be the right reading2 but whether we read ,gedor or ,gerar1 the scene of the invasion will be in the country south of ,judah4 ,here the children of ,simeon found what they wanted1 8fat pasture1 and good10 and abundant1 for 8the land was wide40 ,there was the additional advantage that the inhabitants were harmless and inoffensive and fell an easy prey to their invaders3 8,the land was quiet and peaceable1 for they that dwelt there aforetime were of ,ham40 ,as ,ham in the genealogies is the father of ,cainan1 these peaceable folk would be ,cainanites2 and among them were a people called ,meunim1 probably not connected with any of the ,maons mentioned in the ,old ,testament1 but with some other town or district of the same name4 ,so 8these written by name came in the days of ,hezekiah1 king of ,judah1 and smote their tents1 and the ,meunim that were found there1 and devoted them to destruction as accursed1 so that none are left unto this day4 ,and the ,simeonites dwelt in their stead407#hf7 ,then follows in the simplest and most unconscious way the only justification that is offered for the behaviour of the invaders3 8because there was pasture there for their flocks40 ,the narrative takes for granted-- 8,the good old rule1 the simple plan1 ,that they should take who have the power1 ,and they should keep who can40 ,the expedition to ,mount ,seir appears to have been a sequel to the attack on ,gedor4 ,five hundred of the victors emigrated into ,edom1 and smote the remnant of the ,amalekites who had survived the massacre under ,saul7#hg72 8and they also dwelt there unto this day40 ,in substance1 style1 and ideas this passage closely resembles the books of ,joshua and ,judges1 where the phrase 8unto this day0 frequently occurs4 ,here1 of course1 the 8day0 in question is the time of the chronicler's authority4 ,when ,chronicles was written the ,simeonites in ,gedor and ,mount ,seir had long ago shared the fate of their victims4 ,the conquest of ,gedor reminds us how in the early days of the ,israelite occupation of ,palestine 8,judah went with ,simeon his brother into the same southern lands10 and they smote the ,canaanites that inhabited ,zephath1 and devoted them to destruction as accursed7#hh72 and how the house of ,joseph took ,bethel by treachery47#hi7 ,but the closest parallel is the ,danite conquest of ,laish47#ij7 ,the ,danite spies said that the people of ,laish 8dwelt in security1 after the manner of the ,zidonians1 quiet and secure10 harmless and inoffensive1 like the ,gedorites4 ,nor were they likely to receive succour from the powerful city of ,zidon or from other allies1 for 8they were far from the ,zidonians1 and had no dealings with any man40 ,accordingly1 having observed the prosperous but defenceless position of this peaceable people1 they returned and reported to their brethren1 8,arise1 and let us go up against them1 for we have seen the land1 and1 behold1 it is very good2 and are ye still8 ,be not slothful to go and to enter in to possess the land4 ,when ye go1 ye shall come unto a people secure1 and the land10 like that of ,gedor1 8is large1 for ,god hath given it into your hand1 a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth40 ,the moral of these incidents is obvious4 ,when a prosperous people is peaceable and defenceless1 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 opportunities4 ,the chronicler1 however1 is not responsible for this morality1 but he does not feel compelled to make any protest against the ethical views of his source4 ,there is a refreshing frankness about these ancient narratives4 ,the wolf devours the lamb without inventing any flimsy pretext about troubled waters4 ,but in criticising these ,hebrew clans who lived in the dawn of history and religion we condemn ourselves4 ,if we make adequate allowance for the influence of ,christ1 and the ,new ,testament1 and centuries of ,christian teaching1 ,simeon and ,dan do not compare unfavourably with modern nations4 ,as we review the wars of ,christendom1 we shall often be puzzled to find any ground for the outbreak of hostilities other than the defencelessness of the weaker combatant4 ,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 ,testament4 ,even to-day the independence of the smaller ,european states is mainly guaranteed by the jealousies of the ,great ,powers4 ,still there has been progress in international morality2 we have got at last to the stage of sop's fable4 ,public opinion condemns wanton aggression against a weak state2 and the stronger power employs the resources of civilised diplomacy in showing that not only the absent1 but also the helpless1 are always wrong4 ,there has also been a substantial advance in humanity towards conquered peoples4 ,christian warfare even since the ,middle ,ages has been stained with the horrors of the ,thirty ,years' ,war and many other barbarities2 the treatment of the ,american ,indians by settlers has often been cruel and unjust2 but no civilised nation would now systematically massacre men1 women1 and children in cold blood4 ,we are thankful for any progress towards better things1 but we cannot feel that men have yet realised that ,christ has a message for nations as well as for individuals4 ,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 ,christ4 ,the next incident is more honourable to the ,israelites4 8,the sons of ,reuben1 and the ,gadites1 and the half-tribe of ,manasseh0 did not merely surprise and slaughter quiet and peaceable people3 they conquered formidable enemies in fair fight47#ia7 ,there are two separate accounts of a war with the ,hagrites1 one appended to the genealogy of ,reuben and one to that of ,gad4 ,the former is very brief and general1 comprising nothing but a bare statement that there was a successful war and a consequent appropriation of territory4 ,probably the two paragraphs are different forms of the same narrative1 derived by the chronicler from independent sources4 ,we may therefore confine our attention to the more detailed account4 ,here1 as elsewhere1 these ,transjordanic tribes are spoken of as 8valiant7#ib7 men10 8men able to bear buckler and sword and to shoot with the bow1 and skilful in war40 ,their numbers were considerable4 ,while five hundred ,simeonites were enough to destroy the ,amalekites on ,mount ,seir1 these eastern tribes mustered 8forty and four thousand seven hundred and threescore that were able to go forth to war40 ,their enemies were not 8quiet and peaceable people10 but the wild ,bedouin of the desert1 8the ,hagrites1 with ,jetur and ,naphish and ,nodab40 ,nodab is mentioned only here2 ,jetur and ,naphish occur together in the lists of the sons of ,ishmael47#ic7 ,itura probably derived its name from the tribe of ,jetur4 ,the ,hagrites or ,hagarenes were ,arabs closely connected with the ,ishmaelites1 and they seem to have taken their name from ,hagar4 ,in ,psalm lxxxiii4 #f-h we find a similar confederacy on a larger scale3-- 8,the tents of ,edom and the ,ishmaelites1 ,moab and the ,hagarenes ,gebal and ,ammon and ,amalek1 ,philistia with the inhabitants of ,tyre1 ,assyria also is joined with them2 ,they have holpen the children of ,lot40 ,there could be no question of unprovoked aggression against these children of ,ishmael1 that 8wild ass of a man1 whose hand was against every man1 and every man's hand against him407#id7 ,the narrative implies that the ,israelites were the aggressors1 but to attack the robber tribes of the desert would be as much an act of self-defence as to destroy a hornet's nest4 ,we may be quite sure that when ,reuben and ,gad marched eastward they had heavy losses to retrieve and bitter wrongs to avenge4 ,we might find a parallel in the campaigns by which robber tribes are punished for their raids within our ,indian frontier1 only we must remember that ,reuben and ,gad were not very much more law-abiding or unselfish than their ,arab neighbours4 ,they were not engaged in maintaining a pax ,britannica for the benefit of subject nations2 they were carrying on a struggle for existence with persistent and relentless foes4 ,another partial parallel would be the border feuds on the ,northumbrian marches1 when-- 8444 over border1 dale1 and fell ,full wide and far was terror spread2 ,for pathless marsh and mountain cell ,the peasant left his lowly shed3 ,the frightened flocks and herds were pent ,beneath the peel's rude battlement1 ,and maids and matrons dropped the tear ,while ready warriors seized the spear2 444 the watchman's eye ,dun wreaths of distant smoke can spy407#ie7 ,but the ,israelite expedition was on a larger scale than any 8warden raid10 and ,eastern passions are fiercer and shriller than those sung by the ,last ,minstrel3 the maids and matrons of the desert would shriek and wail instead of 8dropping a tear40 ,in this great raid of ancient times 8the war was of ,god10 not1 as at ,laish1 because ,god found for them helpless and easy victims1 but because ,he helped them in a desperate struggle4 ,when the fierce ,israelite and ,arab borderers joined battle1 the issue was at first doubtful2 and then 8they cried to ,god1 and ,he was entreated of them1 because they put their trust in ,him10 8and they were helped against0 their enemies2 8and the ,hagrites were delivered into their hand1 and all that were with them1 and there fell many slain1 because the war was of ,god02 8and they took away their cattle3 of their camels fifty thousand1 and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand1 and of asses two thousand1 and of slaves a hundred thousand40 8,and they dwelt in their stead until the captivity40 ,this 8captivity0 is the subject of another short note4 ,the chronicler apparently was anxious to distribute his historical narratives equally among the tribes4 ,the genealogies of ,reuben and ,gad each conclude with a notice of a war1 and a similar account follows that of ,eastern ,manasseh3--8,and they trespassed against the ,god of their fathers1 and went a-whoring after the gods of the peoples of the land1 whom ,god destroyed before them4 ,and the ,god of ,israel stirred up the spirit of ,pul1 king of ,assyria1 and the spirit of ,tilgath-pilneser1 king of ,assyria1 and he carried them away1 even the ,reubenites1 and the ,gadites1 and the half-tribe of ,manasseh1 and brought them unto ,halah1 and ,habor1 and ,hara1 and to the river of ,gozan1 unto this day407#if7 ,and this war also was 8of ,god40 ,doubtless the descendants of the surviving ,hagrites and ,ishmaelites were among the allies of the ,assyrian king1 and saw in the ruin of ,eastern ,israel a retribution for the sufferings of their own people2 but the later ,jews and probably the exiles in 8,halah1 ,habor1 and ,hara10 and by 8the river of ,gozan10 far away in ,north-eastern ,mesopotamia1 found the cause of their sufferings in too great an intimacy with their heathen neighbours3 they had gone a-whoring after their gods4 ,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 skein4 ,we shall see further how ready ancient writers were to represent a tribe by the ancestor from whom it traced its descent4 ,we read in vii4 #bj1 #ba1 8,the sons of ,ephraim3 ,shuthelah1 and ,bered his son1 and ,tahath his son1 and ,eleadah his son1 and ,zabad his son1 and ,shuthelah his son1 and ,ezer and ,elead1 whom the men of ,gath that were born in the land slew1 because they came down to take away their cattle40 ,ezer and ,elead are apparently brothers of the second ,shuthelah2 at any rate1 as six generations are mentioned between them and ,ephraim1 they would seem to have lived long after the ,patriarch4 ,moreover1 they came down to ,gath1 so that they must have lived in some hill-country not far off1 presumably the hill-country of ,ephraim4 ,but in the next two verses 7#bb and #bc7 we read1 8,and ,ephraim their father mourned many days1 and his brethren came to comfort him4 ,and he went in to his wife1 and she conceived1 and bare a son2 and he called his name ,beriah1 because it went evil with his house40 ,taking these words literally1 ,ezer and ,elead were the actual sons of ,ephraim2 and as ,ephraim and his family were born in ,egypt and lived there all their days1 these patriarchal cattle-lifters did not come down from any neighbouring highlands1 but must have come up from ,egypt1 all the way from the land of ,goshen1 across the desert and past several ,philistine and ,canaanite towns4 ,this literal sense is simply impossible4 ,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 off1 and the fact that a new clan named ,beriah was formed to take their place4 ,possibly we are not without information as to how this new clan arose4 ,in viii4 #ac we read of two ,benjamites1 8,beriah and ,shema1 who were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of ,aijalon1 who put to flight the inhabitants of ,gath40 ,beriah and ,shema probably1 coming to the aid of ,ephraim1 avenged the defeat of ,ezer and ,elead2 and in return received the possessions of the clans1 who had been cut off1 and ,beriah was thus reckoned among the children of ,ephraim47#ig7 ,the language of ver4 #bb is very similar to that of ,gen4 xxxvii4 #cd1 #ce3 8,and ,jacob mourned for his son many days4 ,and all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him02 and the personification of the tribe under the name of its ancestor may be paralleled from ,judges xxi4 #f3 8,and the children of ,israel repented them for ,benjamin their brother40 ,let us now reconstruct the story and consider its significance4 ,two ,ephraimite clans1 ,ezer and ,elead1 set out to drive the cattle 8of the men of ,gath1 who were born in the land10 i4e41 of the aboriginal ,avvites1 who had been dispossessed by the ,philistines1 but still retained some of the pasture-lands4 ,falling into an ambush or taken by surprise when encumbered with their plunder1 the ,ephraimites were cut off1 and nearly all the fighting men of the clans perished4 ,the ,avvites1 reinforced by the ,philistines of ,gath1 pressed their advantage1 and invaded the territory of ,ephraim1 whose border districts1 stripped of their defenders1 lay at the mercy of the conquerors4 ,from this danger they were rescued by the ,benjamite clans ,shema and ,beriah1 then occupying ,aijalon7#ih72 and the men of ,gath in their turn were defeated and driven back4 ,the grateful ,ephraimites invited their allies to occupy the vacant territory and in all probability to marry the widows and daughters of their slaughtered kinsmen4 ,from that time onwards ,beriah was reckoned as one of the clans of ,ephraim4 ,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 ,benjamin4 ,both the chronicler and his authority recorded it because of its genealogical significance1 not because they were anxious to perpetuate the memory of the unfortunate raid4 ,in the ancient days to which the episode belonged1 a frontier cattle foray seemed as natural and meritorious an enterprise as it did to ,william of ,deloraine4 ,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 uncircumcised2 but the fact that he gives the record without comment does not show that he condoned cattle-stealing4 ,men to-day relate with pride the lawless deeds of noble ancestors1 but they would be dismayed if their own sons proposed to adopt the moral code of medival barons or ,elizabethan buccaneers4 ,in reviewing the scanty religious ideas involved in this little group of family traditions1 we have to remember that they belong to a period of ,israelite history much older than that of the chronicler2 in estimating their value1 we have to make large allowance for the conventional ethics of the times4 ,religion not only serves to raise the standard of morality1 but also to keep the average man up to the conventional standard2 it helps and encourages him to do what he believes to be right as well as gives him a better understanding of what right means4 ,primitive religion is not to be disparaged because it did not at once convert the rough ,israelite clansmen into ,havelocks and ,gordons4 ,in those early days1 courage1 patriotism1 and loyalty to one's tribesmen were the most necessary and approved virtues4 ,they were fostered and stimulated by the current belief in a ,god of battles1 who gave victory to ,his faithful people4 ,moreover1 the idea of ,deity implied in these traditions1 though inadequate1 is by no means unworthy4 ,god is benevolent2 ,he enriches and succours ,his people2 ,he answers prayer1 giving to ,jabez the land and pasture for which he asked4 ,he is a righteous ,god2 ,he responds to and justifies ,his people's faith3 8,he was entreated of the ,reubenites and ,gadites because they put their trust in ,him40 ,on the other hand1 ,he is a jealous ,god2 ,he punishes ,israel when they 8trespass against the ,god of their fathers and go a-whoring after the gods of the peoples of the land40 ,but the feeling here attributed to ,jehovah is not merely one of personal jealousy4 ,loyalty to ,him meant a great deal more than a preference for a god called ,jehovah over a god called ,chemosh4 ,it involved a special recognition of morality and purity1 and gave a religious sanction to patriotism and the sentiment of national unity4 ,worship of ,moabite or ,syrian gods weakened a man's enthusiasm for ,israel and his sense of fellowship with his countrymen1 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 feeling4 ,he who went astray after other gods did not merely indulge his individual taste in doctrine and ritual3 he was a traitor to the social order1 to the prosperity and national union1 of ,israel4 ,such disloyalty broke up the nation1 and sent ,israel and ,judah into captivity piecemeal4 ,chapter ,v4 ,the ,jewish ,community ,in ,the ,time ,of ,the ,chronicler4 ,we have already referred to the light thrown by ,chronicles on this subject4 ,besides the direct information given in ,ezra and ,nehemiah1 and sometimes in ,chronicles itself1 the chronicler by describing the past in terms of the present often unconsciously helps us to reconstruct the picture of his own day4 ,we shall have to make occasional reference to the books of ,ezra and ,nehemiah1 but the age of the chronicler is later than the events which they describe1 and we shall be traversing different ground from that covered by the volume of the 8,expositor's ,bible0 which deals with them4 ,chronicles is full of evidence that the civil and ecclesiastical system of the ,pentateuch had become fully established long before the chronicler wrote4 ,its gradual origin had been forgotten1 and it was assumed that the ,law in its final and complete form had been known and observed from the time of ,david onwards4 ,at every stage of the history ,levites are introduced1 occupying the subordinate position and discharging the menial duties assigned to them by the latest documents of the ,pentateuch4 ,in other matters small and great1 especially those concerning the ,temple and its sanctity1 the chronicler shows himself so familiar with the ,law that he could not imagine ,israel without it4 ,picture the life of ,judah as we find it in #b ,kings and the prophecies of the eighth century1 put this picture side by side with another of the ,judaism of the ,new ,testament1 and remember that ,chronicles is about a century nearer to the latter than to the former4 ,it is not difficult to trace the effect of this absorption in the system of the ,pentateuch4 ,the community in and about ,jerusalem had become a ,church1 and was in possession of a ,bible4 ,but the hardening1 despiritualising processes which created later ,judaism were already at work4 ,a building1 a system of ritual1 and a set of officials were coming to be regarded as the essential elements of the ,church4 ,the ,bible was important partly because it dealt with these essential elements1 partly because it provided a series of regulations about washings and meats1 and thus enabled the layman to exalt his everyday life into a round of ceremonial observances4 ,the habit of using the ,pentateuch chiefly as a handbook of external and technical ritual seriously influenced the current interpretation of the ,bible4 ,it naturally led to a hard literalism and a disingenuous exegesis4 ,this interest in externals is patent enough in the chronicler1 and the tendencies of ,biblical exegesis are illustrated by his use of ,samuel and ,kings4 ,on the other hand1 we must allow for great development of this process in the interval between ,chronicles and the ,new ,testament4 ,the evils of later ,judaism were yet far from mature1 and religious life and thought in ,palestine were still much more elastic than they became later on4 ,we have also to remember that at this period the zealous observers of the ,law can only have formed a portion of the community1 corresponding roughly to the regular attendants at public worship in a ,christian country4 ,beyond and beneath the pious legalists were 8the people of the land10 those who were too careless or too busy to attend to ceremonial2 but for both classes the popular and prominent ideal of religion was made up of a magnificent building1 a dignified and wealthy clergy1 and an elaborate ritual1 alike for great public functions and for the minuti of daily life4 ,besides all these the ,jewish community had its sacred writings4 ,as one of the ministers of the ,temple1 and1 moreover1 both a student of the national literature and himself an author1 the chronicler represents the best literary knowledge of contemporary ,palestinian ,judaism2 and his somewhat mechanical methods of composition make it easy for us to discern his indebtedness to older writers4 ,we turn his pages with interest to learn what books were known and read by the most cultured ,jews of his time4 ,first and foremost1 and overshadowing all the rest1 there appears the ,pentateuch4 ,then there is the whole array of earlier ,historical ,books3 ,joshua1 ,ruth1 ,samuel1 and ,kings4 ,the plan of ,chronicles excludes a direct use of ,judges1 but it must have been well known to our author4 ,his appreciation of the ,psalms is shown by his inserting in his history of ,david a cento of passages from ,psalms xcvi41 cv41 and cvi42 on the other hand1 ,psalm xviii4 and other lyrics given in the books of ,samuel are omitted by the chronicler4 ,the later ,exilic ,psalms were more to his taste than ancient hymns1 and he unconsciously carries back into the history of the monarchy the poetry as well as the ritual of later times4 ,both omissions and insertions indicate that in this period the ,jews possessed and prized a large collection of psalms4 ,there are also traces of the ,prophets4 ,hanani the seer in his address to ,asa7#ii7 quotes ,zech4 iv4 #aj3 8,the eyes of the ,lord1 which run to and fro through the whole earth40 ,jehoshaphat's exhortation to his people1 8,believe in the ,lord your ,god2 so shall ye be established107#ajj7 is based on ,isa4 vii4 #i3 8,if ye will not believe1 surely ye shall not be established40 ,hezekiah's words to the ,levites1 8,our fathers 444 have turned away their faces from the habitation of the ,lord1 and turned their backs107#aja7 are a significant variation of ,jer4 ii4 #bg3 8,they have turned their back unto ,me1 and not their face40 ,the ,temple is substituted for ,jehovah4 ,there are of course references to ,isaiah and ,jeremiah and traces of other prophets2 but when account is taken of them all1 it is seen that the chronicler makes scanty use1 on the whole1 of the ,prophetical ,books4 ,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 historians2 but if the chronicler had taken a tithe of the interest in the ,prophets that he took in the ,pentateuch and the ,psalms1 his work would show many more distinct marks of their influence4 ,an apocalypse like ,daniel and works like ,job1 ,proverbs1 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 them4 ,our brief review suggests that the literary concern of the chronicler and his circle was chiefly in the books most closely connected with the ,temple2 viz41 the ,historical ,books1 which contained its history1 the ,pentateuch1 which prescribed its ritual1 and the ,psalms1 which served as its liturgy4 ,the ,prophets occupy a secondary place1 and ,chronicles furnishes no clear evidence as to other ,old ,testament books4 ,we also find in ,chronicles that the ,hebrew language had degenerated from its ancient classical purity1 and that ,jewish writers had already come very much under the influence of ,aramaic4 ,we may next consider the evidence supplied by the chronicler as to the elements and distribution of the ,jewish community in his time4 ,in ,ezra and ,nehemiah we find the returning exiles divided into the men of ,judah1 the men of ,benjamin1 and the priests1 ,levites1 etc4 ,in ,ezra ii4 we are told that in all there returned #db1cfj1 with #g1ccg slaves and #bjj 8singing men and singing women40 ,the priests numbered #d1bhi2 there were #gd ,levites1 #abh singers of the children of ,asaph1 #aci porters1 and #cib ,nethinim and children of ,solomon's servants4 ,the singers1 porters1 ,nethinim1 and children of ,solomon's servants are not reckoned among the ,levites1 and there is only one guild of singers3 8the children of ,asaph40 ,the ,nethinim are still distinguished from the ,levites in the list of those who returned with ,ezra1 and in various lists which occur in ,nehemiah4 ,we see from the ,levitical genealogies and the ,levites in #a ,chron4 vi41 ix41 etc1 that in the time of the chronicler these arrangements had been altered4 ,there were now three guilds of singers1 tracing their descent to ,heman1 ,asaph1 and ,ethan7#ajb7 or ,jeduthun1 and reckoned by descent among the ,levites4 ,the guild of ,heman seems to have been also known as 8the sons of ,korah407#ajc7 ,the porters and probably eventually the ,nethinim were also reckoned among the ,levites47#ajd7 ,we see therefore that in the interval between ,nehemiah and the chronicler the inferior ranks of the ,temple ministry had been reorganised1 the musical staff had been enlarged and doubtless otherwise improved1 and the singers1 porters1 ,nethinim1 and other ,temple servants had been promoted to the position of ,levites4 ,under the monarchy many of the ,temple servants had been slaves of foreign birth2 but now a sacred character was given to the humblest menial who shared in the work of the house of ,god4 ,in after-times ,herod the ,great had a number of priests trained as masons1 in order that no profane hand might take part in the building of his temple4 ,some details have been preserved of the organisation of the ,levites4 ,we read how the porters were distributed among the different gates1 and of ,levites who were over the chambers and the treasuries1 and of other ,levites how-- 8,they lodged round about the house of ,god1 because the charge was upon them1 and to them pertained the opening thereof morning by morning4 8,and certain of them had charge of the vessels of service2 for by tale were they brought in1 and by tale were they taken out4 8,some of them also were appointed over the furniture1 and over all the vessels of the sanctuary1 and over the fine flour1 and the wine1 and the oil1 and the frankincense1 and the spices4 8,and some of the sons of the priests prepared the confection of the spices4 8,and ,mattithiah1 one of the ,levites who was the first-born of ,shallum the ,korahite1 had the set office over the things that were baked in pans4 8,and some of their brethren1 of the sons of the ,kohathites1 were over the shewbread to prepare it every sabbath407#aje7 ,this account is found in a chapter partly identical with ,neh4 xi41 and apparently refers to the period of ,nehemiah2 but the picture in the latter part of the chapter was probably drawn by the chronicler from his own knowledge of ,temple routine4 ,so1 too1 in his graphic accounts of the sacrifices by ,hezekiah and ,josiah17#ajf7 we seem to have an eyewitness describing familiar scenes4 ,doubtless the chronicler himself had often been one of the ,temple choir 8when the burnt-offering began1 and the song of ,jehovah began also1 together with the instruments of ,david1 king of ,israel2 and all the congregation worshipped1 and the singers sang1 and the trumpeters sounded2 and all this continued till the burnt-offering was finished407#ajg7 ,still the scale of these sacrifices1 the hundreds of oxen and thousands of sheep1 may have been fixed to accord with the splendour of the ancient kings4 ,such profusion of victims probably represented rather the dreams than the realities of the chronicler's ,temple4 ,our author's strong feeling for his own ,levitical order shows itself in his narrative of ,hezekiah's great sacrifices4 ,the victims were so numerous that there were not priests enough to flay them2 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 festival4 ,in zeal they were even superior to the priests3 8,the ,levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests40 ,possibly here the chronicler is describing an incident which he could have paralleled from his own experience4 ,the priests of his time may often have yielded to a natural temptation to shirk the laborious and disagreeable parts of their duty2 they would catch at any plausible pretext to transfer their burdens to the ,levites1 which the latter would be eager to accept for the sake of a temporary accession of dignity4 ,learned ,jews were always experts in the art of evading the most rigid and minute regulations of the ,law4 ,for instance1 the period of service appointed for the ,levites in the ,pentateuch was from the age of thirty to that of fifty47#ajh7 ,but we gather from ,ezra and ,nehemiah that comparatively few ,levites could be induced to throw in their lot with the returning exiles2 there were not enough to perform the necessary duties4 ,to make up for paucity of numbers1 this period of service was increased2 and they were required to serve from twenty years old and upward47#aji7 ,as the former arrangement had formed part of the law attributed to ,moses1 in course of time the later innovation was supposed to have originated with ,david4 ,there were1 too1 other reasons for increasing the efficiency of the ,levitical order by lengthening their term of service and adding to their numbers4 ,the establishment of the ,pentateuch as the sacred code of ,judaism imposed new duties on priests and ,levites alike4 ,the people needed teachers and interpreters of the numerous minute and complicated rules by which they were to govern their daily life4 ,judges were needed to apply the laws in civil and criminal cases4 ,the ,temple ministers were the natural authorities on the ,torah2 they had a chief interest in expounding and enforcing it4 ,but in these matters also the priests seem to have left the new duties to the ,levites4 ,apparently the first 8scribes10 or professional students of the ,law1 were mainly ,levites4 ,there were priests among them1 notably the great father of the order1 8,ezra the priest the scribe10 but the priestly families took little share in this new work4 ,the origin of the educational and judicial functions of the ,levites had also come to be ascribed to the great kings of ,judah4 ,a ,levitical scribe is mentioned in the time of ,david47#aaj7 ,in the account of ,josiah's reign we are expressly told that 8of the ,levites there were scribes1 and officers1 and porters02 and they are described as 8the ,levites that taught all ,israel407#aaa7 ,in the same context we have the traditional authority and justification for this new departure4 ,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 wilderness4 ,josiah1 however1 bids the ,levites 8put the holy ark in the house which ,solomon the son of ,david1 king of ,israel1 did build2 there shall no more be a burden upon your shoulders2 now serve the ,lord your ,god and ,his people ,israel407#aab7 ,in other words1 8,you are relieved of a large part of your old duties1 and therefore have time to undertake new ones40 ,the immediate application of this principle seems to be that a section of the ,levites should do all the menial work of the sacrifices1 and so leave the priests1 and singers1 and porters free for their own special service2 but the same argument would be found convenient and conclusive whenever the priests desired to impose any new functions on the ,levites4 ,still the task of expounding and enforcing the ,law brought with it compensations in the shape of dignity1 influence1 and emolument2 and the ,levites would soon be reconciled to their work as scribes1 and would discover with regret that they could not retain the exposition of the ,law in their own hands4 ,traditions were cherished in certain ,levitical families that their ancestors had been 8officers and judges0 under ,david7#aac72 and it was believed that ,jehoshaphat had organised a commission largely composed of ,levites to expound and administer the ,law in country districts47#aad7 ,this commission consisted of five princes1 nine ,levites1 and two priests2 8and they taught in ,judah1 having the book of the law of the ,lord with them2 and they went about throughout all the cities of ,judah and taught among the people40 ,as the subject of their teaching was the ,pentateuch1 their mission must have been rather judicial than religious4 ,with regard to a later passage1 it has been suggested that 8probably it is the organisation of justice as existing in his own day that he0 7the chronicler7 8here carries back to ,jehoshaphat1 so that here most likely we have the oldest testimony to the synedrium of ,jerusalem as a court of highest instance over the provincial synedria1 as also to its composition and presidency407#aae7 ,we can scarcely doubt that the form the chronicler has given to the tradition is derived from the institutions of his own age1 and that his friends the ,levites were prominent among the doctors of the ,law1 and not only taught and judged in ,jerusalem1 but also visited the country districts4 ,it will appear from this brief survey that the ,levites were very completely organised4 ,there were not only the great classes1 the scribes1 officers1 porters1 singers1 and the ,levites proper1 so to speak1 who assisted the priests1 but special families had been made responsible for details of service3 8,mattithiah had the set office over the things that were baked in pans2 and some of their brethren1 of the sons of the ,kohathites1 were over the shewbread1 to prepare it every sabbath407#aaf7 ,the priests were organised quite differently4 ,the small number of ,levites necessitated careful arrangements for using them to the best advantage2 of priests there were enough and to spare4 ,the four thousand two hundred and eighty-nine priests who returned with ,zerubbabel were an extravagant and impossible allowance for a single temple1 and we are told that the numbers increased largely as time went on4 ,the problem was to devise some means by which all the priests should have some share in the honours and emoluments of the ,temple1 and its solution was found in the 8courses40 ,the priests who returned with ,zerubbabel are registered in four families3 8the children of ,jedaiah1 of the house of ,jeshua2 444 the children of ,immer2 444 the children of ,pashhur2 444 the children of ,harim407#aag7 ,but the organisation of the chronicler's time is1 as usual1 to be found among the arrangements ascribed to ,david1 who is said to have divided the priests into their twenty-four courses47#aah7 ,amongst the heads of the courses we find ,jedaiah1 ,jeshua1 ,harim1 and ,immer1 but not ,pashhur4 ,post-,biblical authorities mention twenty-four courses in connection with the second ,temple4 ,zacharias1 the father of ,john the ,baptist1 belonged to the course of ,abijah7#aai72 and ,josephus mentions a course 8,eniakim407#abj7 ,abijah was the head of one of ,david's courses2 and ,eniakim is almost certainly a corruption of ,eliakim1 of which name ,jakim in ,chronicles is a contraction4 ,these twenty-four courses discharged the priestly duties each in its turn4 ,one was busy at the temple while the other twenty-three were at home1 some perhaps living on the profits of their office1 others at work on their farms4 ,the high-priest1 of course1 was always at the ,temple2 and the continuity of the ritual would necessitate the appointment of other priests as a permanent staff4 ,the high-priest and the staff1 being always on the spot1 would have great opportunities for improving their own position at the expense of the other members of the courses1 who were only there occasionally for a short time4 ,accordingly we are told later on that a few families had appropriated nearly all the priestly emoluments4 ,courses of the ,levites are sometimes mentioned in connection with those of the priests1 as if the ,levites had an exactly similar organisation47#aba7 ,indeed1 twenty-four courses of the singers are expressly named47#abb7 ,but on examination we find that 8course0 for the ,levites in all cases where exact information is given7#abc7 does not mean one of a number of divisions which took work in turn1 but a division to which a definite piece of work was assigned1 e4g41 the care of the shewbread or of one of the gates4 ,the idea that in ancient times there were twenty-four alternating courses of ,levites was not derived from the arrangements of the chronicler's age1 but was an inference from the existence of priestly courses4 ,according to the current interpretation of the older history1 there must have been under the monarchy a very great many more ,levites than priests1 and any reasons that existed for organising twenty-four priestly courses would apply with equal force to the ,levites4 ,it is true that the names of twenty-four courses of singers are given1 but in this list occurs the remarkable and impossible group of names already discussed3-- 8,i-have-magnified1 ,i-have-exalted-help2 ,sitting-in-distress1 ,i-have-spoken ,in-abundance ,visions07#abd7 which are in themselves sufficient proof that these twenty-four courses of singers did not exist in the time of the chronicler4 ,thus the chronicler provides material for a fairly complete account of the service and ministers of the ,temple2 but his interest in other matters was less close and personal1 so that he gives us comparatively little information about civil persons and affairs4 ,the restored ,jewish community was1 of course1 made up of descendants of the members of the old kingdom of ,judah4 ,the new ,jewish state1 like the old1 is often spoken of as 8,judah02 but its claim to fully represent the chosen people of ,jehovah is expressed by the frequent use of the name 8,israel40 ,yet within this new ,judah the old tribes of ,judah and ,benjamin are still recognised4 ,it is true that in the register of the first company of returning exiles the tribes are ignored1 and we are not told which families belonged to ,judah or which to ,benjamin2 but we are previously told that the chiefs of ,judah and ,benjamin rose up to return to ,jerusalem4 ,part of this register arranges the companies according to the towns in which their ancestors had lived before the ,captivity1 and of these some belong to ,judah and some to ,benjamin4 ,we also learn that the ,jewish community included certain of the children of ,ephraim and ,manasseh47#abe7 ,there may also have been families from the other tribes2 ,st4 ,luke1 for instance1 describes ,anna as of the tribe of ,asher47#abf7 ,but the mass of genealogical matter relating to ,judah and ,benjamin far exceeds what is given as to the other tribes17#abg7 and proves that ,judah and ,benjamin were co-ordinate members of the restored community1 and that no other tribe contributed any appreciable contingent1 except a few families from ,ephraim and ,manasseh4 ,it has been suggested that the chronicler shows special interest in the tribes which had occupied ,galilee--,asher1 ,naphtali1 ,zebulun1 and ,issachar--and that this special interest indicates that the settlement of ,jews in ,galilee had attained considerable dimensions at the time when he wrote4 ,but this special interest is not very manifest2 and later on1 in the time of the ,maccabees1 the ,jews in ,galilee were so few that ,simon took them all away with him1 together with their wives and their children and all that they had1 and brought them into ,juda4 ,the genealogies seem to imply that no descendants of the ,transjordanic tribes or of ,simeon were found in ,judah in the age of the chronicler4 ,concerning the tribe of ,judah1 we have already noted that it included two families which traced their descent to ,egyptian ancestors1 and that the ,kenizzite clans of ,caleb and ,jerahmeel had been entirely incorporated in ,judah and formed the most important part of the tribe4 ,a comparison of the parallel genealogies of the house of ,caleb gives us important information as to the territory occupied by the ,jews4 ,in ii4 #db-di we find the ,calebites at ,hebron and other towns of the south country1 in accordance with the older history2 but in ii4 #ej-ee they occupy ,bethlehem and ,kirjath-jearim and other towns in the neighbourhood of ,jerusalem4 ,the two paragraphs are really giving their territory before and after the ,exile2 during the ,captivity ,southern ,judah had been occupied by the ,edomites4 ,it is indeed stated in ,neh4 xi4 #be-cj that the children of ,judah dwelt in a number of towns scattered over the whole territory of the ancient tribe2 but the list concludes with the significant sentence1 8,so they encamped from ,beer-sheba unto the valley of ,hinnom40 ,we are thus given to understand that the occupation was not permanent4 ,we have already noted that much of the space allotted to the genealogies of ,judah is devoted to the house of ,david47#abh7 ,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 state4 ,during the monarchy only the kings are given as heads of the family in each generation3 8,solomon's son was ,rehoboam1 ,abijah his son1 ,asa his son10 etc41 etc42 but after the ,captivity the first-born no longer occupied so unique a position4 ,we have all the sons of each successive head of the family4 ,the genealogies of ,judah include one or two references which throw a little light on the social organisation of the times4 ,there were 8families of scribes which dwelt at ,jabez07#abi7 as well as the ,levitical scribes4 ,in the appendix7#acj7 to the genealogies of chap4 iv4 we read of a house whose families wrought fine linen1 and of other families who were porters to the king and lived on the royal estates4 ,the immediate reference of these statements is clearly to the monarchy1 and we are told that 8the records are ancient02 but these ancient records were probably obtained by the chronicler from contemporary members of the families1 who still pursued their hereditary calling4 ,as regards the tribe of ,benjamin1 we have seen that there was a family claiming descent from ,saul4 ,the slight and meagre information given about ,judah and ,benjamin cannot accurately represent their importance as compared with the priests and ,levites1 but the general impression conveyed by the chronicler is confirmed by our other authorities4 ,in his time the supreme interests of the ,jews were religious4 ,the one great institution was the ,temple2 the highest order was the priesthood4 ,all ,jews were in a measure servants of the ,temple2 ,ephesus indeed was proud to be called the temple-keeper of the great ,diana1 but ,jerusalem was far more truly the temple-keeper of ,jehovah4 ,devotion to the ,temple gave to the ,jews a unity which neither of the older ,hebrew states had ever possessed4 ,the kernel of this later ,jewish territory seems to have been a comparatively small district of which ,jerusalem was the centre4 ,the inhabitants of this district carefully preserved the records of their family history1 and loved to trace their descent to the ancient clans of ,judah and ,benjamin2 but for practical purposes they were all ,jews1 without distinction of tribe4 ,even the ministry of the ,temple had become more homogeneous2 the non-,levitical descent of some classes of the ,temple servants was first ignored and then forgotten1 so that assistants at the sacrifices1 singers1 musicians1 scribes1 and porters1 were all included in the tribe of ,levi4 ,the ,temple conferred its own sanctity upon all its ministers4 ,in a previous chapter the ,temple and its ministry were compared to a medival monastery or the establishment of a modern cathedral4 ,in the same way ,jerusalem might be compared to cities1 like ,ely or ,canterbury1 which exist mainly for the sake of their cathedrals1 only both the sanctuary and city of the ,jews came to be on a larger scale4 ,or1 again1 if the ,temple be represented by the great abbey of ,st4 ,edmundsbury1 ,bury ,st4 ,edmunds itself might stand for ,jerusalem1 and the wide lands of the abbey for the surrounding districts1 from which the ,jewish priests derived their free-will offerings1 and first-fruits1 and tithes4 ,still in both these ,english instances there was a vigorous and independent secular life far beyond any that existed in ,juda4 ,a closer parallel to the temple on ,zion is to be found in the immense establishments of the ,egyptian temples4 ,it is true that these were numerous in ,egypt1 and the authority and influence of the priesthood were checked and controlled by the power of the kings2 yet on the fall of the twentieth dynasty the high-priest of the great temple of ,amen at ,thebes succeeded in making himself king1 and ,egypt1 like ,judah1 had its dynasty of priest-kings4 ,the following is an account of the possessions of the ,theban temple of ,amen1 supposed to be given by an ,egyptian living about ,b4,c4 #acej7aca73-- 8,since the accession of the eighteenth dynasty1 ,amen has profited more than any other god1 perhaps even more than ,pharaoh himself1 by the ,egyptian victories over the peoples of ,syria and ,ethiopia4 ,each success has brought him a considerable share of the spoil collected upon the battle-fields1 indemnities levied from the enemy1 prisoners carried into slavery4 ,he possesses lands and gardens by the hundred in ,thebes and the rest of ,egypt1 fields and meadows1 woods1 hunting-grounds1 and fisheries2 he has colonies in ,ethiopia or in the oases of the ,libyan desert1 and at the extremity of the land of ,canaan there are cities under vassalage to him1 for ,pharaoh allows him to receive the tribute from them4 ,the administration of these vast properties requires as many officials and departments as that of a kingdom4 ,it includes innumerable bailiffs for the agriculture2 overseers for the cattle and poultry2 treasurers of twenty kinds for the gold1 silver1 and copper1 the vases and valuable stuffs2 foremen for the workshops and manufactures2 engineers2 architects2 boatmen2 a fleet and an army which often fight by the side of ,pharaoh's fleet and army4 ,it is really a state within the state40 ,many of the details of this picture would not be true for the temple of ,zion2 but the ,jews were even more devoted to ,jehovah than the ,thebans to ,amen1 and the administration of the ,jewish temple was more than 8a state within the state03 it was the state itself4 ,chapter ,,vi4 ,teaching ,by ,anachronism4 #a ,chron4 ix4 7cf4 xv41 xvi41 xxiii4-xxvii41 etc474 8,and ,david the king said1 444 ,who then offereth willingly8444 ,and they gave for the service of the house of ,god 444 ten thousand darics40--#a ,,chron4 xxix4 #a1 #e1 #g4 ,teaching by anachronism is a very common and effective form of religious instruction2 and ,chronicles1 as the best ,scriptural example of this method1 affords a good opportunity for its discussion and illustration4 ,all history is more or less guilty of anachronism2 every historian perforce imports some of the ideas and circumstances of his own time into his narratives and pictures of the past3 but we may distinguish three degrees of anachronism4 ,some writers or speakers make little or no attempt at archological accuracy2 others temper the generally anachronistic character of their compositions by occasional reference to the manners and customs of the period they are describing2 and1 again1 there are a few trained students who succeed in drawing fairly accurate and consistent pictures of ancient life and history4 ,we will briefly consider the last two classes before returning to the first1 in which we are chiefly interested4 ,accurate archology is1 of course1 part of the ideal of the scientific historian4 ,by long and careful study of literature and monuments and by the exercise of a lively and well-trained imagination1 the student obtains a vision of ancient societies4 ,nineveh and ,babylon1 ,thebes and ,memphis1 rise from their ashes and stand before him in all their former splendour2 he walks their streets and mixes with the crowds in the market-place and the throng of worshippers at the temple1 each 8in his habit as he lived40 ,rameses and ,sennacherib1 ,ptolemy and ,antiochus1 all play their proper parts in this drama of his fancy4 ,he can not only recall their costumes and features3 he can even think their thoughts and feel their emotions2 he actually lives in the past4 ,in ,marius the ,epicurean1 in ,ebers's ,uarda1 in ,maspero's ,sketches of ,assyrian and ,egyptian ,life1 and in other more serious works we have some of the fruits of this enlightened study of antiquity1 and are enabled to see the visions at second hand and in some measure to live at once in the present and the past1 to illustrate and interpret the one by the other1 to measure progress and decay1 and to understand the ,divine meaning of all history4 ,our more recent histories and works on life and manners and even our historical romances1 especially those of ,walter ,scott1 have rendered a similar service to students of ,english history4 ,and yet at its very best such realisation of the past is imperfect2 the gaps in our information are unconsciously filled in from our experience1 and the ideas of the present always colour our reproduction of ancient thought and feeling4 ,the most accurate history is only a rough approximation to exact truth2 but1 like many other rough approximations1 it is exact enough for many important practical purposes4 ,but scholarly familiarity with the past has its drawbacks4 ,the scholar may come to live so much amongst ancient memories that he loses touch with his own present4 ,he may gain large stores of information about ancient ,israelite life1 and yet not know enough of his own generation to be able to make them sharers of his knowledge4 ,their living needs and circumstances lie outside his practical experience2 he cannot explain the past to them because he does not sympathise with their present2 he cannot apply its lessons to difficulties and dangers which he does not understand4 ,nor is the usefulness of the archologist merely limited by his own lack of sympathy and experience4 ,he may have both1 and yet find that there are few of his contemporaries who can follow him in his excursions into bygone time4 ,these limitations and drawbacks do not seriously diminish the value of archology1 but they have to be taken into account in discussing teaching by anachronism1 and they have an important bearing on the practical application of archological knowledge4 ,we shall return to these points later on4 ,the second degree of anachronism is very common4 ,we are constantly hearing and reading descriptions of ,bible scenes and events in which the centuries before and after ,christ are most oddly blended4 ,here and there will be a costume after an ancient monument1 a ,biblical description of ,jewish customs1 a few ,scriptural phrases2 but these are embedded in paragraphs which simply reproduce the social and religious ideas of the nineteenth century4 ,for instance1 in a recent work1 amidst much display of archological knowledge1 we have the very modern ideas that ,joseph and ,mary went up to ,bethlehem at the census1 because ,joseph and perhaps ,mary also had property in ,bethlehem1 and that when ,joseph died 8he left her a small but independent fortune40 ,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 ,christianity2 and yet an air of historical accuracy is assumed by occasional touches of archology4 ,similarly in medival miracle-plays characters from the ,bible appeared in the dress of the period1 and uttered a grotesque mixture of ,scriptural phrases and vernacular jargon4 ,much of such work as this may for all practical purposes be classed under the third degree of anachronism4 ,sometimes1 however1 the spiritual significance of a passage or an incident turns upon a simple explanation of some ancient custom1 so that the archological detail makes a clear addition to its interest and instructiveness4 ,but in other cases a little archology is a dangerous thing4 ,scattered fragments of learned information do not enable the reader in any way to revive the buried past2 they only remove the whole subject further from his interest and sympathy4 ,he is not reading about his own day1 nor does he understand that the events and personages of the narrative ever had anything in common with himself and his experience4 ,the antique garb1 the strange custom1 the unusual phrase1 disguise that real humanity which the reader shares with these ancient worthies4 ,they are no longer men of like passions with himself1 and he finds neither warning nor encouragement in their story4 ,he is like a spectator of a drama played by poor actors with a limited stock of properties4 ,the scenery and dresses show that the play does not belong to his own time1 but they fail to suggest that it ever belonged to any period4 ,he has a languid interest in the performance as a spectacle1 but his feelings are not touched1 and he is never carried away by the acting4 ,we have laid so much stress on the drawbacks attaching to a little archology because they will emphasise what we have to say about the use of pure anachronism4 ,our last illustration1 however1 reminds us that these drawbacks detract but little from the influence of earnest men4 ,if the acting be good1 we forget the scenery and costumes2 the genius of a great preacher more than atones for poor archology1 because1 in spite of dress and custom1 he makes his hearers feel that the characters of the ,bible were instinct with rich and passionate life4 ,we thus arrive at our third degree of pure anachronism4 ,most people read their ,bible without any reference to archology4 ,if they dramatise the stories1 they do so in terms of their own experience4 ,the characters are dressed like the men and women they know3 ,nazareth is like their native village1 and ,jerusalem is like the county town2 the conversations are carried on in the ,english of the ,authorised ,version4 ,this reading of ,scripture is well illustrated by the description in a recent writer of a modern prophet in ,tennessee7#acb73-- 8,there was nought in the scene to suggest to a mind familiar with the facts an ,oriental landscape--nought akin to the hills of ,juda4 ,it was essentially of the ,new ,world1 essentially of the ,great ,smoky ,mountains4 ,yet ignorance has its licence4 ,it never occurred to ,teck ,jepson that his ,bible heroes had lived elsewhere4 ,their history had to him an intimate personal relation1 as of the story of an ancestor1 in the homestead ways and closely familiar4 ,he brooded upon these narratives1 instinct with dramatic interest1 enriched with poetic colour1 and localised in his robust imagination1 till he could trace ,hagar's wild wanderings in the fastnesses1 could show where ,jacob slept and piled his altar of stones1 could distinguish the bush1 of all others on the #8bald1' that blazed with fire from heaven when the angel of the ,lord stood within it4 ,somehow1 even in their grotesque variation1 they lost no dignity in their transmission to the modern conditions of his fancy4 ,did the facts lack significance because it was along the gullied red clay roads of ,piomingo ,cove that he saw ,david1 the smiling stripling1 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 ,mountain8 ,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 ,thunderhead1 that ,elijah might thence ascend into heaven80 ,another and more familiar example of 8singular alterations in date and circumstances0 is the version in ,ivanhoe of the war between ,benjamin and the other tribes3-- 8,how long since in ,palestine a deadly feud arose between the tribe of ,benjamin and the rest of the ,israelitish nation2 and how they cut to pieces well-nigh all the chivalry of that tribe2 and how they swore by our blessed ,lady that they would not permit those who remained to marry in their lineage2 and how they became grieved for their vow1 and sent to consult his ,holiness the ,pope how they might be absolved from it2 and how1 by the advice of the ,holy ,father1 the youth of the tribe of ,benjamin carried off from a superb tournament all the ladies who were there present1 and thus won them wives without the consent either of their brides or their brides' families40 ,it is needless to say that the chronicler was not thus hopelessly at sea about the circumstances of ancient ,hebrew history2 but he wrote in the same simple1 straightforward1 childlike spirit4 ,israel had always been the ,israel of his own experience1 and it never occurred to him that its institutions under the kings had been other than those with which he was familiar4 ,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 ago4 ,he attributes to the pious kings of ,judah the observance of the ritual of his own times4 ,their prophets use phrases taken from post-,exilic writings4 ,david is regarded as the author of the existing ecclesiastical system in almost all matters that do not date back to ,moses1 and especially as the organiser of the familiar music of the ,temple4 ,david's choristers sing the hymns of the second ,temple4 ,amongst the contributions of his nobles towards the building of the ,temple1 we read of ten thousand darics1 the daric being a coin introduced by the ,persian king ,darius4 ,but we must be careful to recognise that the chronicler writes in perfect good faith4 ,these views of the monarchy were common to all educated and thoughtful men of his time2 they were embodied in current tradition1 and were probably already to be met with in writing4 ,to charge him with inventing them is absurd2 they already existed1 and did not need to be invented4 ,he cannot have coloured his narrative in the interests of the ,temple and the priesthood4 ,when he lived1 these interests were guaranteed by ancient custom and by the authoritative sanction of the ,pentateuchal ,law4 ,the chronicler does not write with the strong feeling of a man who maintains a doubtful cause2 there is no hint of any alternative view which needs to be disproved and rejected in favour of his own4 ,he expatiates on his favourite themes with happy1 leisurely serenity1 and is evidently confident that his treatment of them will meet with general and cordial approval4 ,and doubtless the author of ,chronicles 8served his own generation by the will of ,god10 and served them in the way he intended4 ,he made the history of the monarchy more real and living to them1 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 religion4 ,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 facts4 ,they had no idea of any piety that was not expressed in the current observances of the ,law1 and ,samuel and ,kings did not ascribe such observances to the earlier kings of ,judah4 ,but the chronicler and his authorities were able to discern in the ancient ,scriptures the genuine piety of ,david and ,hezekiah and other kings1 and drew what seemed to them the obvious conclusion that these pious kings observed the ,law4 ,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 people4 ,the only piety which the chronicler could conceive was combined with observance of the ,law2 naturally therefore it was only thus that he could describe piety4 ,his work would be read with eager interest1 and would play a definite and useful part in the religious education of the people4 ,it would bring home to them1 as the older histories could not1 the abiding presence of ,jehovah with ,israel and its leaders4 ,chronicles interpreted history to its own generation by translating older records into the circumstances and ideas of its own time4 ,and in this it remains our example4 ,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 generation4 ,the ideal history no doubt would tell the story with archological precision1 and then interpret it by modern parallels2 the historian would show us what we should actually have seen and heard if we had lived in the period he is describing2 he would also help our weak imagination by pointing us to such modern events or persons as best illustrate those ancient times4 ,no doubt ,chronicles fails to bring before our eyes an accurate vision of the history of the monarchy2 but1 as we have said1 all history fails somewhat in this respect4 ,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 planet4 ,chronicles1 however1 fails more seriously than most history1 and on the whole rather more than most commentaries and sermons4 ,but this lack of archological 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 times1 and that its personages were actual men and women1 with a full equipment of body1 mind1 and soul4 ,there have been many teachers and preachers1 innocent of archology1 who have yet been able to apply ,bible narratives with convincing power to the hearts and consciences of their hearers4 ,they may have missed some points and misunderstood others1 but they have brought out clearly the main1 practical teaching of their subject2 and we must not allow amusement at curious anachronisms to blind us to their great gifts in applying ancient history to modern circumstances4 ,for instance1 the little captive maid in the story of ,naaman has been described by a local preacher as having illuminated texts hung up in her bedroom1 and 7perambulators not being then in use7 as having constructed a go-cart for the baby out of an old tea-chest and four cotton reels4 ,we feel inclined to smile2 but1 after all1 such a picture would make children feel that the captive maid was a girl whom they could understand and might even imitate4 ,a more correct version of the story1 told with less human interest1 might leave the impression that she was a mere animated doll in a quaint costume1 who made impossibly pious remarks4 ,enlightened and well-informed ,christian teachers may still learn something from the example of the chronicler4 ,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 generation4 ,but we are reminded that permanently significant stories have their parallels in every age4 ,there are always prodigal sons1 and foolish virgins1 importunate widows1 and good ,samaritans4 ,the ancient narratives are interesting as quaint and picturesque stories of former times2 but it is our duty as teachers to discover the modern parallels of their eternal meaning3 their lessons are often best enforced by telling them afresh as they would have been told if their authors had lived in our time1 in other words by a frank use of anachronism4 ,it may be objected that the result in the case of ,chronicles is not encouraging4 ,chronicles is far less interesting than ,kings1 and far less useful in furnishing materials for the historian4 ,these facts1 however1 are not inconsistent with the usefulness of the book for its own age4 ,teaching by anachronism simply seeks to render a service to its own generation2 its purpose is didactic1 and not historical4 ,how many people read the sermons of eighteenth-century divines8 ,but each generation has a right to this special service4 ,the first duty of the religious teacher is for the men and women that look to him for spiritual help and guidance4 ,he may incidentally produce literary work of permanent value for posterity2 but a ,church whose ministry sacrificed practical usefulness in the attempt to be learned and literary would be false to its most sacred functions4 ,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 unimaginative4 ,authors themselves are sometimes led to make a similar sacrifice2 they write to help the many to-day when they might have written to delight men of literary taste in all ages4 ,few things are so ephemeral as popular religious literature2 it is as quickly and entirely forgotten as last year's sunsets3 but it is as necessary and as useful as the sunshine and the clouds1 which are being always spent and always renewed4 ,chronicles is a specimen of this class of literature1 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 generation4 ,,book ,,iii4 ,,messianic ,,and ,,other ,,types4 ,chapter ,i4 ,teaching ,by ,types4 ,a more serious charge has been brought against ,chronicles than that dealt with in the last chapter4 ,besides anachronisms1 additions1 and alterations1 the chronicler has made omissions that give an entirely new complexion to the history4 ,he omits1 for instance1 almost everything that detracts from the character and achievements of ,david and ,solomon2 he almost entirely ignores the reigns of ,saul and ,ishbosheth1 and of all the northern kings4 ,these facts are obvious to the most casual reader1 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 ,kings4 ,the latter ,david has noble qualities1 but displays great weakness and falls into grievous sin2 the ,david of ,chronicles is almost always an hero and a blameless saint4 ,all this is unquestionably true1 and yet the purpose and spirit of ,chronicles are honest and praiseworthy4 ,our judgment must be governed by the relation which the chronicler intended his work to sustain towards the older history4 ,did he hope that ,samuel and ,kings would be altogether superseded by this new version of the history of the monarchy1 and so eventually be suppressed and forgotten8 ,there were precedents that might have encouraged such a hope4 ,the ,pentateuch and the books from ,joshua to ,kings derived their material from older works2 but the older works were superseded by these books1 and entirely disappeared4 ,the circumstances1 however1 were different when the chronicler wrote3 ,samuel and ,kings had been established for centuries4 ,moreover1 the ,jewish community in ,babylon still exercised great influence over the ,palestinian ,jews4 ,copies of ,samuel and ,kings must have been preserved at ,babylon1 and their possessors could not be eager to destroy them1 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 ,levites4 ,we may therefore put aside the theory that ,chronicles was intended altogether to supersede ,samuel and ,kings4 ,another possible theory is that the chronicler1 after the manner of medival historians1 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 period4 ,this theory has some truth in it1 but does not explain the fact that ,chronicles is disproportionately long if it be merely such an introduction4 ,probably the chronicler's main object was to compose a text-book1 which could safely and usefully be placed in the hands of the common people4 ,there were obvious objections to the popular use of ,samuel and ,kings4 ,in making a selection from his material1 the chronicler had no intention of falsifying history4 ,scholars1 he knew1 would be acquainted with the older books1 and could supplement his narrative from the sources which he himself had used4 ,in his own work he was anxious to confine himself to the portions of the history which had an obvious religious significance1 and could readily be used for purposes of edification4 ,he was only applying more thoroughly a principle that had guided his predecessors4 ,the ,pentateuch itself is the result of a similar selection1 only there and in the other earlier histories a very human interest in dramatic narrative has sometimes interfered with an exclusive attention to edification4 ,indeed1 the principles of selection adopted by the chronicler are common to many historians4 ,a school history does not dwell on the domestic vices of kings or on the private failings of statesmen4 ,it requires no great stretch of imagination to conceive of a ,royalist history of ,england1 that should entirely ignore the ,commonwealth4 ,indeed1 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 kingdom4 ,the work of the chronicler may also be compared to monographs which confine themselves to some special aspect of their subject4 ,we have every reason to be thankful that the ,divine providence has preserved for us the richer and fuller narrative of ,samuel and ,kings1 but we cannot blame the chronicler because he has observed some of the ordinary canons for the composition of historical text-books4 ,the chronicler's selective method1 however1 is carried so far that the historical value of his work is seriously impaired2 yet in this respect also he is kept in countenance by very respectable authorities4 ,we are more concerned1 however1 to point out the positive results of the method4 ,instead of historical portraits1 we are presented with a gallery of ideals1 types of character which we are asked either to admire or to condemn4 ,on the one hand1 we have ,david and ,solomon1 ,jehoshaphat and ,hezekiah1 and the rest of the reforming kings of ,judah2 on the other hand1 there are ,jeroboam1 and ,ahab1 and ,ahaz1 the kings of ,israel1 and the bad kings of ,judah4 ,all these are very sharply defined in either white or black4 ,the types of ,chronicles are ideals1 and not studies of ordinary human character1 with its mingled motives and subtle gradations of light and shade4 ,the chronicler has nothing in common with the authors of modern realistic novels or anecdotal memoirs4 ,his subject is not human nature as it is so much as human nature as it ought to be4 ,there is obviously much to be learnt from such ideal pictures1 and this form of inspired teaching is by no means the least effective2 it may be roughly compared with our ,lord's method of teaching by parables1 without1 however1 at all putting the two upon the same level4 ,before examining these types in detail1 we may devote a little space to some general considerations upon teaching by types4 ,for the present we will confine ourselves to a non-theological sense of type1 using the word to mean any individual who is representative or typical of a class4 ,but the chronicler's individuals do not represent classes of actual persons1 but good men as they seem to their most devoted admirers and bad men as they seem to their worst enemies4 ,they are ideal types4 ,chronicles is not the only literature in which such ideal types are found4 ,they occur in the funeral sermons and obituary notices of popular favourites1 and in the pictures which politicians draw in election speeches of their opponents1 only in these there is a note of personal feeling from which the chronicler is free4 ,in fact1 all biography tends to idealise2 human nature as it is has generally to be looked for in the pages of fiction4 ,when we have been blessed with a good and brave man1 we wish to think of him at his best2 we are not anxious to have thrust upon our notice the weaknesses and sins which he regretted and for the most part controlled4 ,some one who loved and honoured him is asked to write the biography1 with a tacit understanding that he is not to give us a picture of the real man in the dshabille1 as it were1 of his own inner consciousness4 ,he is to paint us a portrait of the man as he strove to fashion himself after his own high ideal4 ,the true man1 as ,god knows him and as his fellows should remember him1 was the man in his higher nature and nobler aspirations4 ,the rest1 surely1 was but the vanishing remnant of a repudiated self4 ,the biographer idealises1 because he believes that the ideal best represents the real man4 ,this is what the chronicler1 with a large faith and liberal charity1 has done for ,david and ,solomon4 ,such an ideal picture appeals to us with pathetic emphasis4 ,it seems to say1 8,in spite of temptation1 and sin1 and grievous falls1 this is what ,i ever aimed at and desired to be4 ,do not thou content thyself with any lower ideal4 ,my higher nature had its achievements as well as its aspirations4 ,remember that in thy weakness thou mayest also achieve40 8,what ,i aspired to be1 ,and was not1 comforts me2 ,all ,i could never be1 ,all men ignored in me1 ,this ,i was worth to ,god44440 ,but we may take these ideals as types1 not only in a general sense1 but also in a modification of the dogmatic meaning of the word4 ,we are not concerned here with the type as the mere external symbol of truth yet to be revealed2 such types are chiefly found in the ritual of the ,pentateuch4 ,the circumstances of a man's life may also serve as a type in the narrower sense1 but we venture to apply the theological idea of type to the significance of the higher nature in a good man4 ,it has been said in reference to types in the theological sense that 8a type is neither a prophecy1 nor a symbol1 nor an allegory1 yet it has relations with each of these4 ,a prophecy is a prediction in words1 a type a prediction in things4 ,a symbol is a sensuous representation of a thing2 a type is such a representation having a distinctly predictive aspect3 444 a type is an enacted prophecy1 a kind of prophecy by action407#acc7 ,we cannot1 of course1 include in our use of the term type 8sensuous representation0 and some other ideas connected with 8type0 in a theological sense4 ,our type is a prediction in persons rather than in things4 ,but the use of the term is justified as including the most essential point3 that 8a type is an enacted prophecy1 a kind of prophecy by action40 ,these personal types are the most real and significant2 they have no mere arbitrary or conventional relation to their antitype4 ,the enacted prophecy is the beginning of its own fulfilment1 the first-fruits of the greater harvest that is to be4 ,the better moments of the man who is hungering and thirsting after righteousness are a type1 a promise1 and prophecy of his future satisfaction4 ,they have also a wider and deeper meaning3 they show what is possible for humanity1 and give an assurance of the spiritual progress of the world4 ,the elect remnant of ,israel were the type of the great ,christian ,church2 the spiritual aspirations and persistent faith of a few believers were a prophecy that 8the earth should be full of the knowledge of the ,lord1 as the waters cover the sea40 8,the kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed1 444 which is less than all seeds2 but when it is grown1 it is greater than the herbs1 and becometh a tree40 ,when therefore the chronicler ignores the evil in ,david and ,solomon and only records the good1 he treats them as types4 ,he takes what was best in them and sets it forth as a standard and prophecy for the future1 a pattern in the mount to be realised hereafter in the structure of ,god's spiritual temple upon earth4 ,but the ,holy ,spirit guided the hopes and intuitions of the sacred writers to a special fulfilment4 ,we can see that their types have one antitype in the growth of the ,church and the progress of mankind2 but the ,old ,testament looked for their chief fulfilment in a ,divine ,messenger and ,deliverer3 its ideals are types of the ,messiah4 ,the higher life of a good man was a revelation of ,god and a promise of ,his highest and best manifestation in ,christ4 ,we shall endeavour to show in subsequent chapters how ,chronicles served to develop the idea of the ,messiah4 ,but the chronicler's types are not all prophecies of future progress or ,messianic glory4 ,the brighter portions of his picture are thrown into relief by a dark background4 ,the good in ,jeroboam is as completely ignored as the evil in ,david4 ,apart from any question of historical accuracy1 the type is unfortunately a true one4 ,there is a leaven of the ,pharisees and of ,herod1 as well as a leaven of the kingdom4 ,if the base leaven be left to work by itself1 it will leaven the whole mass2 and in a final estimate of the character of those who do evil 8with both hands earnestly10 little allowance needs to be made for redeeming features4 ,even if we are still able to believe that there is a seed of goodness in things evil1 we are forced to admit that the seed has remained dead and unfertilised1 has had no growth and borne no fruit4 ,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 itself4 ,the strange power of teaching by types has been well expressed by one who was herself a great mistress of the art3 8,ideas are often poor ghosts3 our sun-filled eyes cannot discern them2 they pass athwart us in thin vapour1 and cannot make themselves felt2 they breathe upon us with warm breath1 they touch us with soft1 responsive hands2 they look at us with sad1 sincere eyes1 and speak to us in appealing tones2 they are clothed in a living human soul2 444 their presence is a power407#acd7 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,david--,i4 ,his ,tribe ,and ,dynasty4 ,king and kingdom were so bound up in ancient life that an ideal for the one implied an ideal for the other2 all distinction and glory possessed by either was shared by both4 ,the tribe and kingdom of ,judah were exalted by the fame of ,david and ,solomon2 but1 on the other hand1 a specially exalted position is accorded to ,david in the ,old ,testament because he is the representative of the people of ,jehovah4 ,david himself had been anointed by ,divine command to be king of ,israel1 and he thus became the founder of the only legitimate dynasty of ,hebrew kings4 ,saul and ,ishbosheth had no significance for the later religious history of the nation4 ,apparently to the chronicler the history of true religion in ,israel was a blank between ,joshua and ,david2 the revival began when the ,ark was brought to ,zion1 and the first steps were taken to rear the ,temple in succession to the ,mosaic tabernacle4 ,he therefore omits the history of the ,judges and ,saul4 ,but the battle of ,gilboa is given to introduce the reign of ,david1 and incidental condemnation is passed on ,saul3 8,so ,saul died for his trespass which he committed against the ,lord1 because of the word of the ,lord1 which he kept not1 and also for that he asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit1 to inquire thereby1 and inquired not of the ,lord2 therefore ,he slew him and turned the kingdom unto ,david the son of ,jesse40 ,the reign of ,saul had been an unsuccessful experiment2 its only real value had been to prepare the way for ,david4 ,at the same time the portrait of ,saul is not given at full length1 like those of the wicked kings1 partly perhaps because the chronicler had little interest for anything before the time of ,david and the ,temple1 but partly1 we may hope1 because the record of ,david's affection for ,saul kept alive a kindly feeling towards the founder of the monarchy4 ,inasmuch as ,jehovah had 8turned the kingdom unto ,david10 the reign of ,ishbosheth was evidently the intrusion of an illegitimate pretender2 and the chronicler treats it as such4 ,if we had only ,chronicles1 we should know nothing about the reign of ,ishbosheth1 and should suppose that1 on the death of ,saul1 ,david succeeded at once to an undisputed sovereignty over all ,israel4 ,the interval of conflict is ignored because1 according to the chronicler's views1 ,david was1 from the first1 king de jure over the whole nation4 ,complete silence as to ,ishbosheth was the most effective way of expressing this fact4 ,the same sentiment of hereditary legitimacy1 the same formal and exclusive recognition of a de jure sovereign1 has been shown in modern times by titles like ,louis ,,xviii4 and ,napoleon ,,iii4 ,for both schools of ,legitimists the absence of de facto sovereignty did not prevent ,louis ,,xvii4 and ,napoleon ,,ii4 from having been lawful rulers of ,france4 ,in ,israel1 moreover1 the ,divine right of the one chosen dynasty had religious as well as political importance4 ,we have already seen that ,israel claimed a hereditary title to its special privileges2 it was therefore natural that a hereditary qualification should be thought necessary for the kings4 ,they represented the nation2 they were the ,divinely appointed guardians of its religion2 they became in time the types of the ,messiah1 its promised ,saviour4 ,in all this ,saul and ,ishbosheth had neither part nor lot2 the promise to ,israel had always descended in a direct line1 and the special promise that was given to its kings and through them to their people began with ,david4 ,there was no need to carry the history further back4 ,we have already noticed that1 in spite of this general attitude towards ,saul1 the genealogy of some of his descendants is given twice over in the earlier chapters4 ,no doubt the chronicler made this concession to gratify friends or to conciliate an influential family4 ,it is interesting to note how personal feeling may interfere with the symmetrical development of a theological theory4 ,at the same time we are enabled to discern a practical reason for rigidly ignoring the kingship of ,saul and ,ishbosheth4 ,to have recognised ,saul as the ,lord's anointed1 like ,david1 would have complicated contemporary dogmatics1 and might possibly have given rise to jealousies between the descendants of ,saul and those of ,david4 ,within the narrow limits of the ,jewish community such quarrels might have been inconvenient and even dangerous4 ,the reasons for denying the legitimacy of the northern kings were obvious and conclusive4 ,successful rebels who had destroyed the political and religious unity of ,israel could not inherit 8the sure mercies of ,david0 or be included in the covenant which secured the permanence of his dynasty4 ,the exclusive association of ,messianic ideas with a single family emphasises their antiquity1 continuity1 and development4 ,the hope of ,israel had its roots deep in the history of the people2 it had grown with their growth and maintained itself through their changing fortunes4 ,as the hope centred in a single family1 men were led to expect an individual personal ,messiah2 they were being prepared to see in ,christ the fulfilment of all righteousness4 ,but the choice of the house of ,david involved the choice of the tribe of ,judah and the rejection of the kingdom of ,samaria4 ,the ten tribes1 as well as the kings of ,israel1 had cut themselves off both from the ,temple and the sacred dynasty1 and therefore from the covenant into which ,jehovah had entered with 8the man after his own heart40 ,such a limitation of the chosen people was suggested by many precedents4 ,chronicles1 following the ,pentateuch1 tells how the call came to ,abraham1 but only some of the descendants of one of his sons inherited the promise4 ,why should not a selection be made from among the sons of ,jacob8 ,but the twelve tribes had been explicitly and solemnly included in the unity of ,israel1 largely through ,david himself4 ,the glory of ,david and ,solomon consisted in their sovereignty over a united people4 ,the national recollection of this golden age loved to dwell on the union of the twelve tribes4 ,the ,pentateuch added legal sanction to ancient sentiment4 ,the twelve tribes were associated together in national lyrics1 like the 8,blessing of ,jacob0 and the 8,blessing of ,moses40 ,the song of ,deborah told how the northern tribes 8came to the help of the ,lord against the mighty40 ,it was simply impossible for the chronicler to absolutely repudiate the ten tribes2 and so they are formally included in the genealogies of ,israel1 and are recognised in the history of ,david and ,solomon4 ,then the recognition stops4 ,from the time of the disruption the northern kingdom is quietly but persistently ignored4 ,its prophets and sanctuaries were as illegitimate as its kings4 ,the great struggle of ,elijah and ,elisha for the honour of ,jehovah is omitted1 with all the rest of their history4 ,elijah is only mentioned as sending a letter to ,jehoram1 king of ,judah2 ,elisha is never even named4 ,on the other hand1 it is more than once implied that ,judah1 with the ,levites1 and the remnants of ,simeon and ,benjamin1 are the true ,israel4 ,when ,rehoboam 8was strong he forsook the law of the ,lord1 and all ,israel with him40 ,after ,shishak's invasion1 8the princes of ,israel and the king humbled themselves407#ace7 ,the annals of ,manasseh1 king of ,judah1 are said to be 8written among the acts of the kings of ,israel407#acf7 ,the register of the exiles1 who returned with ,zerubbabel is headed 8,the number of the men of the people of ,israel407#acg7 ,the chronicler tacitly anticipates the position of ,st4 ,paul3 8,they are not all ,israel which are of ,israel02 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 ,israel1 and that the true ,israel would then be found in an elect remnant4 ,the ,jews of the second ,temple naturally and inevitably came to ignore the ten tribes and to regard themselves as constituting this true ,israel4 ,as a matter of history1 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 ,jerusalem2 but in the chronicler's time the very existence of the ten tribes was ancient history4 ,then1 at any rate1 it was true that ,god's ,israel was to be found in the ,jewish community1 at and around ,jerusalem4 ,they inherited the religious spirit of their fathers1 and received from them the sacred writings and traditions1 and carried on the sacred ritual4 ,they preserved the truth and transmitted it from generation to generation1 till at last it was merged in the mightier stream of ,christian revelation4 ,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 ,israel2 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 nation4 ,the chronicler's attitude is also open to criticism on another side4 ,he is dominated by his own surroundings1 and in his references to the ,judaism of his own time there is no formal recognition of the ,jewish community in ,babylon2 and yet even his own casual allusions confirm what we know from other sources1 namely that the wealth and learning of the ,jews in ,babylon were an important factor in ,judaism until a very late date4 ,this point perhaps rather concerns ,ezra and ,nehemiah than ,chronicles1 but it is closely connected with our present subject1 and is most naturally treated along with it4 ,the chronicler might have justified himself by saying that the true home of ,israel must be in ,palestine1 and that a community in ,babylon could only be considered as subsidiary to the nation in its own home and worshipping at the ,temple4 ,such a sentiment1 at any rate1 would have met with universal approval amongst ,palestinian ,jews4 ,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 tribes4 ,in all probability some ,palestinian ,jews would have been willing to class their ,babylonian kinsmen with the ten tribes4 ,voluntary exiles from the ,temple1 the ,holy ,city1 and the ,land of ,promise had in great measure cut themselves off from the full privileges of the people of ,jehovah4 ,if1 however1 we had a ,babylonian book of ,chronicles1 we should see both ,jerusalem and ,babylon in another light4 ,the chronicler was possessed and inspired by the actual living present round about him2 he was content to let the dead past bury its dead4 ,he was probably inclined to believe that the absent are mostly wrong1 and that the men who worked with him for the ,lord and ,his temple were the true ,israel and the ,church of ,god4 ,he was enthusiastic in his own vocation and loyal to his brethren4 ,if his interests were somewhat narrowed by the urgency of present circumstances1 most men suffer from the same limitations4 ,few ,englishmen realise that the battle of ,agincourt is part of the history of the ,united ,states1 and that ,canterbury ,cathedral is a monument of certain stages in the growth of the religion of ,new ,england4 ,we are not altogether willing to admit that these voluntary exiles from our ,holy ,land belong to the true ,anglo-,saxon ,israel4 ,churches are still apt to ignore their obligations to teachers who1 like the prophets of ,samaria1 seem to have been associated with alien or hostile branches of the family of ,god4 ,a religious movement which fails to secure for itself a permanent monument is usually labelled heresy4 ,if it has neither obtained recognition within the ,church nor yet organised a sect for itself1 its services are forgotten or denied4 ,even the orthodoxy of one generation is sometimes contemptuous of the older orthodoxy which made it possible2 and yet ,gnostics1 ,arians and ,athanasians1 ,arminians and ,calvinists1 have all done something to build up the temple of faith4 ,the nineteenth century prides itself on a more liberal spirit4 ,but ,romanist historians are not eager to acknowledge the debt of their ,church to the ,reformers2 and there are ,protestant partisans who deny that we are the heirs of the ,christian life and thought of the medival ,church and are anxious to trace the genealogy of pure religion exclusively through a supposed succession of obscure and half-mythical sects4 ,limitations like those of the chronicler still narrow the sympathies of earnest and devout ,christians4 ,but it is time to return to the more positive aspects of the teaching of ,chronicles1 and to see how far we have already traced its exposition of the ,messianic idea4 ,the plan of the book implies a spiritual claim on behalf of the ,jewish community of the ,restoration4 ,because they believed in ,jehovah1 whose providence had in former times controlled the destinies of ,israel1 they returned to their ancestral home that they might serve and worship the ,god of their fathers4 ,their faith survived the ruin of ,judah and their own captivity2 they recognised the power1 and wisdom1 and love of ,god alike in the prosperity and in the misfortunes of their race4 8,they believed ,god1 and it was counted unto them for righteousness40 ,the great prophet of the ,restoration had regarded this new ,israel as itself a ,messianic people1 perhaps even 8a light to the ,gentiles0 and 8salvation unto the ends of the earth407#ach7 ,the chronicler's hopes were more modest2 the new ,jerusalem had been seen by the prophet as an ideal vision2 the historian knew it by experience as an imperfect human society3 but he believed none the less in its high spiritual vocation and prerogatives4 ,he claimed the future for those who were able to trace the hand of ,god in their past4 ,under the monarchy the fortunes of ,jerusalem had been bound up with those of the house of ,david4 ,the chronicler brings out all that was best in the history of the ancient kings of ,judah1 that this ideal picture of the state and its rulers might encourage and inspire to future hope and effort4 ,the character and achievements of ,david and his successors were of permanent significance4 ,the grace and favour accorded to them symbolised the ,divine promise for the future1 and this promise was to be realised through a ,son of ,david4 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,david--,,ii4 ,his ,personal ,history4 ,in order to understand why the chronicler entirely recasts the graphic and candid history of ,david given in the book of ,samuel1 we have to consider the place that ,david had come to fill in ,jewish religion4 ,it seems probable that among the sources used by the author of the book of ,samuel was a history of ,david1 written not long after his death1 by some one familiar with the inner life of the court4 8,no one10 says the proverb1 8is an hero to his valet02 very much what a valet is to a private gentleman courtiers are to a king3 their knowledge of their master approaches to the familiarity which breeds contempt4 ,not that ,david was ever a subject for contempt or less than an hero even to his own courtiers2 but they knew him as a very human hero1 great in his vices as well as in his virtues1 daring in battle and wise in counsel1 sometimes also reckless in sin1 yet capable of unbounded repentance1 loving not wisely1 but too well4 ,and as they knew him1 so they described him2 and their picture is an immortal possession for all students of sacred life and literature4 ,but it is not the portrait of a ,messiah2 when we think of the 8,son of ,david10 we do not want to be reminded of ,bath-sheba4 ,during the six or seven centuries that elapsed between the death of ,david and the chronicler1 the name of ,david had come to have a symbolic meaning1 which was largely independent of the personal character and career of the actual king4 ,his reign had become idealised by the magic of antiquity2 it was a glory of 8the good old times40 ,his own sins and failures were obscured by the crimes and disasters of later kings4 ,and yet1 in spite of all its shortcomings1 the 8house of ,david0 still remained the symbol alike of ancient glory and of future hopes4 ,we have seen from the genealogies how intimate the connection was between the family and its founder4 ,ephraim and ,benjamin may mean either patriarchs or tribes4 ,a ,jew was not always anxious to distinguish between the family and the founder4 8,david0 and 8the house of ,david0 became almost interchangeable terms4 ,even the prophets of the eighth century connect the future destiny of ,israel with ,david and his house4 ,the child1 of whom ,isaiah prophesied1 was to sit 8upon the throne of ,david0 and be 8over his kingdom1 to establish it and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever407#aci7 ,and1 again1 the king who is to 8sit 444 in truth1 444 judging1 and seeking judgment1 and swift to do righteousness10 is to have 8his throne 444 established in mercy in the tent of ,david407#adj7 ,when ,sennacherib attacked ,jerusalem1 the city was defended7#ada7 for ,jehovah's own sake and for ,his servant ,david's sake4 ,in the word of the ,lord that came to ,isaiah for ,hezekiah1 ,david supersedes1 as it were1 the sacred fathers of the ,hebrew race2 ,jehovah is not spoken of as 8the ,god of ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob10 but 8the ,god of ,david407#adb7 ,as founder of the dynasty1 he takes rank with the founders of the race and religion of ,israel3 he is 8the patriarch ,david407#adc7 ,the northern prophet ,hosea looks forward to the time when 8the children of ,israel shall return1 and seek the ,lord their ,god and ,david their king07#add72 when ,amos wishes to set forth the future prosperity of ,israel1 he says that the ,lord 8will raise up the tabernacle of ,david07#ade72 in ,micah 8the ruler in ,israel0 is to come forth from ,bethlehem ,ephrathah1 the birthplace of ,david7#adf72 in ,jeremiah such references to ,david are frequent1 the most characteristic being those relating to the 8righteous branch1 whom the ,lord will raise up unto ,david10 who 8shall reign as king and deal wisely1 and shall execute judgment and justice in the land1 in whose days ,judah shall be saved1 and ,israel shall dwell safely07#adg72 in ,ezekiel 8,my servant ,david0 is to be the shepherd and prince of ,jehovah's restored and reunited people7#adh72 ,zechariah1 writing at what we may consider the beginning of the chronicler's own period1 follows the language of his predecessors3 he applies ,jeremiah's prophecy of 8the righteous branch0 to ,zerubbabel1 the prince of the house of ,david7#adi73 similarly in ,haggai ,zerubbabel is the chosen of ,jehovah7#aej72 in the appendix to ,zechariah it is said that when 8the ,lord defends the inhabitants of ,jerusalem0 8the house of ,david shall be as ,god1 as the angel of the ,lord before them407#aea7 ,in the later literature1 ,biblical and apocryphal1 the ,davidic origin of the ,messiah is not conspicuous till it reappears in the ,psalms of ,solomon7#aeb7 and the ,new ,testament1 but the idea had not necessarily been dormant meanwhile4 ,the chronicler and his school studied and meditated on the sacred writings1 and must have been familiar with this doctrine of the prophets4 ,the interest in such a subject would not be confined to scholars4 ,doubtless the downtrodden people cherished with ever-growing ardour the glorious picture of the ,davidic king4 ,in the synagogues it was not only ,moses1 but the ,prophets1 that were read2 and they could never allow the picture of the ,messianic king to grow faint and pale47#aec7 ,david's name was also familiar as the author of many psalms4 ,the inhabitants of ,jerusalem would often hear them sung at the ,temple1 and they were probably used for private devotion4 ,in this way especially the name of ,david had become associated with the deepest and purest spiritual experiences4 ,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 pages4 ,large omissions were absolutely necessary4 ,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 murder1 and had offered himself to the ,philistines as an ally against the people of ,jehovah4 ,from this point of view let us consider the chronicler's omissions somewhat more in detail4 ,in the first place1 with one or two slight exceptions1 he omits the whole of ,david's life before his accession to the throne1 for two reasons3 partly because he is anxious that his readers should think of ,david as king1 the anointed of ,jehovah1 the ,messiah2 partly that they may not be reminded of his career as an outlaw and a freebooter and of his alliance with the ,philistines47#aed7 ,it is probably only an unintentional result of this omission that it enables the chronicler to ignore the important services rendered to ,david by ,abiathar1 whose family were rivals of the house of ,zadok in the priesthood4 ,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 king4 ,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 crime4 8,i am this day weak1 though anointed king2 and these men the sons of ,zeruiah are too hard for me107#aee7 are scarcely words that become an ideal king4 ,the next point to notice is one of those significant alterations that mark the chronicler's industry as a redactor4 ,in #b ,sam4 v4 #ba we read that after the ,philistines had been defeated at ,baal-perazim they left their images there1 and ,david and his men took them away4 ,why did they take them away8 ,what did ,david and his men want with images8 ,missionaries bring home images as trophies1 and exhibit them triumphantly1 like soldiers who have captured the enemy's standards4 ,no one1 not even an unconverted native1 supposes that they have been brought away to be used in worship4 ,but the worship of images was no improbable apostacy on the part of an ,israelite king4 ,the chronicler felt that these ambiguous words were open to misconstruction2 so he tells us what he assumes to have been their ultimate fate3 8,and they left their gods there2 and ,david gave commandment1 and they were burnt with fire407#aef7 ,the next omission was obviously a necessary one2 it is the incident of ,uriah and ,bath-sheba4 ,the name ,bath-sheba never occurs in ,chronicles4 ,when it is necessary to mention the mother of ,solomon1 she is called ,bath-shua1 possibly in order that the disgraceful incident might not be suggested even by the use of the name4 ,the ,new ,testament genealogies differ in this matter in somewhat the same way as ,samuel and ,chronicles4 ,st4 ,matthew expressly mentions ,uriah's wife as an ancestress of our ,lord1 but ,st4 ,luke does not mention her or any other ancestress4 ,the next omission is equally extensive and important4 ,it includes the whole series of events connected with the revolt of ,absalom1 from the incident of ,tamar to the suppression of the rebellion of ,sheba the son of ,bichri4 ,various motives may have contributed to this omission4 ,the narrative contains unedifying incidents1 which are passed over as lightly as possible by modern writers like ,stanley4 ,it was probably a relief to the chronicler to be able to omit them altogether4 ,there is no heinous sin like the murder of ,uriah1 but the story leaves a general impression of great weakness on ,david's part4 ,joab murders ,amasa as he had murdered ,abner1 and this time there is no record of any protest even on the part of ,david4 ,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 reign4 ,the touching story of ,rizpah is omitted2 the hanging of her sons does not exhibit ,david in a very amiable light4 ,the ,gibeonites propose that 8they shall hang them up unto the ,lord in ,gibeah of ,saul1 the chosen of the ,lord10 and ,david accepts the proposal4 ,this punishment of the children for the sin of their father was expressly against the ,law7#aeg72 and the whole incident was perilously akin to human sacrifice4 ,how could they be hung up before ,jehovah in ,gibeah unless there was a sanctuary of ,jehovah in ,gibeah8 ,and why should ,saul at such a time and in such a connection be called emphatically 8the chosen of ,jehovah08 ,on many grounds1 it was a passage which the chronicler would be glad to omit4 ,in #b ,sam4 xxi4 #ae-ag we are told that ,david waxed faint and had to be rescued by ,abishai4 ,this is omitted by ,chronicles probably because it detracts from the character of ,david as the ideal hero4 ,the next paragraph in ,samuel also tended to depreciate ,david's prowess4 ,it stated that ,goliath was slain by ,elhanan4 ,the chronicler introduces a correction4 ,it was not ,goliath whom ,elhanan slew1 but ,lahmi1 the brother of ,goliath4 ,however1 the text in ,samuel is evidently corrupt2 and possibly this is one of the cases in which ,chronicles has preserved the correct text47#aeh7 ,then follow two omissions that are not easily accounted for4 #b ,sam4 xxii41 xxiii41 contain two psalms1 ,psalm xviii4 and 8the ,last ,words of ,david10 the latter not included in the ,psalter4 ,these psalms are generally considered a late addition to the book of ,samuel1 and it is barely possible that they were not in the copy used by the chronicler2 but the late date of ,chronicles makes against this supposition4 ,the psalms may be omitted for the sake of brevity1 and yet elsewhere a long cento of passages from post-,exilic psalms is added to the material derived from the book of ,samuel4 ,possibly something in the omitted section jarred upon the theological sensibilities of the chronicler1 but it is not clear what4 ,he does not as a rule look below the surface for obscure suggestions of undesirable views4 ,the grounds of his alterations and omissions are usually sufficiently obvious2 but these particular omissions are not at present susceptible of any obvious explanation4 ,further research into the theology of ,judaism may perhaps provide us with one hereafter4 ,finally1 the chronicler omits the attempt of ,adonijah to seize the throne1 and ,david's dying commands to ,solomon4 ,the opening chapters of the book of ,kings present a graphic and pathetic picture of the closing scenes of ,david's life4 ,the king is exhausted with old age4 ,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 harem4 ,the scene is partly a parallel and partly a contrast to the last days of ,queen ,elizabeth2 for when her bodily strength failed1 the obstinate ,tudor spirit refused to be guided by the suggestions of her courtiers4 ,the chronicler was depicting a person of almost ,divine dignity1 in whom incidents of human weakness would have been out of keeping2 and therefore they are omitted4 ,david's charge to ,solomon is equally human4 ,solomon is to make up for ,david's weakness and undue generosity by putting ,joab and ,shimei to death2 on the other hand1 he is to pay ,david's debt of gratitude to the son of ,barzillai4 ,but the chronicler felt that ,david's mind in those last days must surely have been occupied with the temple which ,solomon was to build1 and the less edifying charge is omitted4 ,constantine is reported to have said that1 for the honour of the ,church1 he would conceal the sin of a bishop with his own imperial purple4 ,david was more to the chronicler than the whole ,christian episcopate to ,constantine4 ,his life of ,david is compiled in the spirit and upon the principles of lives of saints generally1 and his omissions are made in perfect good faith4 ,let us now consider the positive picture of ,david as it is drawn for us in ,chronicles4 ,chronicles would be published separately1 each copy written out on a roll of its own4 ,there may have been ,jews who had ,chronicles1 but not ,samuel and ,kings1 and who knew nothing about ,david except what they learned from ,chronicles4 ,possibly the chronicler and his friends would recommend the work as suitable for the education of children and the instruction of the common people4 ,it would save its readers from being perplexed by the religious difficulties suggested by ,samuel and ,kings4 ,there were many obstacles1 however1 to the success of such a scheme2 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 statesmen4 ,the latter perhaps felt more drawn to the real ,david than to the ideal1 and the new priestly dynasty would not be anxious to emphasise the ,messianic hopes of the house of ,david4 ,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 information4 ,our first impression as we read the book is that ,david comes into the history as abruptly as ,elijah or ,melchizedek4 ,jehovah slew ,saul 8and turned the kingdom unto ,david the son of ,jesse407#aei7 ,apparently the ,divine appointment is promptly and enthusiastically accepted by the nation2 all the twelve tribes come at once in their tens and hundreds of thousands to ,hebron to make ,david king4 ,they then march straight to ,jerusalem and take it by storm1 and forthwith attempt to bring up the ,ark to ,zion4 ,an unfortunate accident necessitates a delay of three months1 but at the end of that time the ,ark is solemnly installed in a tent at ,jerusalem47#afj7 ,we are not told who ,david the son of ,jesse was1 or why the ,divine choice fell upon him1 or how he had been prepared for his responsible position1 or how he had so commended himself to ,israel as to be accepted with universal acclaim4 ,he must1 however1 have been of noble family and high character2 and it is hinted that he had had a distinguished career as a soldier47#afa7 ,we should expect to find his name in the introductory genealogies2 and if we have read these lists of names with conscientious attention1 we shall remember that there are sundry incidental references to ,david1 and that he was the seventh son of ,jesse17#afb7 who was descended from the ,patriarch ,judah1 through ,boaz1 the husband of ,ruth4 ,as we read further we come to other references which throw some light on ,david's early career1 and at the same time somewhat mar the symmetry of the opening narrative4 ,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 plan4 ,we gather that there was a time when ,david was in rebellion against his predecessor1 and maintained himself at ,ziklag and elsewhere1 keeping 8himself close1 because of ,saul the son of ,kish10 and even that he came with the ,philistines against ,saul to battle1 but was prevented by the jealousy of the ,philistine chiefs from actually fighting against ,saul4 ,there is nothing to indicate the occasion or circumstances of these events47#afc7 ,but it appears that even at this period1 when ,david was in arms against the king of ,israel and an ally of the ,philistines1 he was the chosen leader of ,israel4 ,men flocked to him from ,judah and ,benjamin1 ,manasseh and ,gad1 and doubtless from the other tribes as well3 8,from day to day there came to ,david to help him1 until it was a great host like the host of ,god407#afd7 ,this chapter partly explains ,david's popularity after ,saul's death2 but it only carries the mystery a stage further back4 ,how did this outlaw and apparently unpatriotic rebel get so strong a hold on the affections of ,israel8 ,chap4 xii4 also provides material for plausible explanations of another difficulty4 ,in chap4 x4 the army of ,israel is routed1 the inhabitants of the land take to flight1 and the ,philistines occupy their cities2 in xi4 and xii4 #bc-dj all ,israel come straightway to ,hebron in the most peaceful and unconcerned fashion to make ,david king4 ,are we to understand that his ,philistine allies1 mindful of that 8great host1 like the host of ,god10 all at once changed their minds and entirely relinquished the fruits of their victory8 ,elsewhere1 however1 we find a statement that renders other explanations possible4 ,david reigned seven years in ,hebron17#afe7 so that our first impression as to the rapid sequence of events at the beginning of his reign is apparently not correct1 and there was time in these seven years for a more gradual expulsion of the ,philistines4 ,it is doubtful1 however1 whether the chronicler intended his original narrative to be thus modified and interpreted4 ,the main thread of the history is interrupted here and later on7#aff7 to insert incidents which illustrate the personal courage and prowess of ,david and his warriors4 ,we are also told how busily occupied ,david was during the three months' sojourn of the ,ark in the house of ,obed-edom the ,gittite4 ,he accepted an alliance with ,hiram1 king of ,tyre2 he added to his harem2 he successfully repelled two inroads of the ,philistines1 and made him houses in the city of ,david47#afg7 ,the narrative returns to its main subject3 the history of the sanctuary at ,jerusalem4 ,as soon as the ,ark was duly installed in its tent1 and ,david was established in his new palace1 he was struck by the contrast between the tent and the palace3 8,lo1 ,i dwell in a house of cedar1 but the ark of the covenant of the ,lord dwelleth under curtains40 ,he proposed to substitute a temple for the tent1 but was forbidden by his prophet ,nathan1 through whom ,god promised him that his son should build the ,temple1 and that his house should be established for ever47#afh7 ,then we read of the wars1 victories1 and conquests of ,david4 ,he is no longer absorbed in the defence of ,israel against the ,philistines4 ,he takes the aggressive and conquers ,gath2 he conquers ,edom1 ,moab1 ,ammon1 and ,amalek2 he and his armies defeat the ,syrians in several battles1 the ,syrians become tributary1 and ,david occupies ,damascus with a garrison4 8,and the ,lord gave victory to ,david whithersoever he went40 ,the conquered were treated after the manner of those barbarous times4 ,david and his generals carried off much spoil1 especially brass1 and silver1 and gold2 and when he conquered ,rabbah1 the capital of ,ammon1 8he brought forth the people that were therein1 and cut them with saws1 and with harrows of iron1 and with axes4 ,and thus did ,david unto all the cities of the children of ,ammon40 ,meanwhile his home administration was as honourable as his foreign wars were glorious3 8,he executed judgment and justice unto all his people02 and the government was duly organised with commanders of the host and the bodyguard1 with priests and scribes47#afi7 ,then follows a mysterious and painful dispensation of ,providence1 which the historian would gladly have omitted1 if his respect for the memory of his hero had not been overruled by his sense of the supreme importance of the ,temple4 ,david1 like ,job1 was given over for a season to ,satan1 and while possessed by this evil spirit displeased ,god by numbering ,israel4 ,his punishment took the form of a great pestilence1 which decimated his people1 until1 by ,divine command1 ,david erected an altar in the threshing-floor of ,ornan the ,jebusite and offered sacrifices upon it1 whereupon the plague was stayed4 ,david at once perceived the significance of this incident3 ,jehovah had indicated the site of the future ,temple4 8,this is the house of ,jehovah ,elohim17#agj7 and this is the altar of burnt offering for ,israel407#aga7 ,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 ,solomon1 which occupied all his energies for the remainder of his life47#agb7 ,he gathered funds and materials1 and gave his son full instructions about the building2 he organised the priests and ,levites1 the ,temple orchestra and choir1 the doorkeepers1 treasurers1 officers1 and judges2 he also organised the army1 the tribes1 and the royal exchequer on the model of the corresponding arrangements for the ,temple4 ,then follows the closing scene of ,david's life4 ,the sun of ,israel sets amid the flaming glories of the western sky4 ,no clouds or mists rob him of accustomed splendour4 ,david calls a great assembly of princes and warriors2 he addresses a solemn exhortation to them and to ,solomon2 he delivers to his son instructions for 8all the works0 which 8,i have been made to understand in writing from the hand of ,jehovah40 ,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 ,himself1 and ,david were even greater than ,moses4 ,he reminds ,solomon of all the preparations he had made1 and appeals to the princes and the people for further gifts2 and they render willingly--thousands of talents of gold1 and silver1 and brass1 and iron4 ,david offers prayer and thanksgiving to the ,lord3 8,and ,david said to all the congregation1 ,now bless ,jehovah our ,god4 ,and all the congregation blessed ,jehovah1 the ,god of their fathers1 and bowed down their heads1 and worshipped ,jehovah and the king4 ,and they sacrificed sacrifices unto ,jehovah1 and offered burnt offerings unto ,jehovah1 on the morrow after that day1 even a thousand bullocks1 a thousand rams1 and a thousand lambs1 with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all ,israel1 and did eat and drink before ,jehovah on that day with great gladness4 ,and they made ,solomon king2 444 and ,david died in a good old age1 full of days1 riches1 and honour1 and ,solomon his son reigned in his stead407#agc7 ,the ,roman expressed his idea of a becoming death more simply3 8,an emperor should die standing40 ,the chronicler has given us the same view at greater length2 this is how the chronicler would have wished to die if he had been ,david1 and how1 therefore1 he conceives that ,god honoured the last hours of the man after ,his own heart4 ,it is a strange contrast to the companion picture in the book of ,kings4 ,there the king is bedridden1 dying slowly of old age2 the life-blood creeps coldly through his veins4 ,the quiet of the sick-room is invaded by the shrill outcry of an aggrieved woman1 and the dying king is roused to hear that once more eager hands are clutching at his crown4 ,if the chronicler has done nothing else1 he has helped us to appreciate better the gloom and bitterness of the tragedy that was enacted in the last days of ,david4 ,what idea does ,chronicles give us of the man and his character8 ,he is first and foremost a man of earnest piety and deep spiritual feeling4 ,like the great religious leaders of the chronicler's own time1 his piety found its chief expression in ritual4 ,the main business of his life was to provide for the sanctuary and its services2 that is1 for the highest fellowship of ,god and man1 according to the ideas then current4 ,but ,david is no mere formalist2 the psalm of thanksgiving for the return of the ,ark to ,jerusalem is a worthy tribute to the power and faithfulness of ,jehovah47#agd7 ,his prayer after ,god had promised to establish his dynasty is instinct with devout confidence and gratitude47#age7 ,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 ,temple47#agf7 ,next to ,david's enthusiasm for the ,temple1 his most conspicuous qualities are those of a general and soldier3 he has great personal strength and courage1 and is uniformly successful in wars against numerous and powerful enemies2 his government is both able and upright2 his great powers as an organiser and administrator are exercised both in secular and ecclesiastical matters2 in a word1 he is in more senses than one an ideal king4 ,moreover1 like ,alexander1 ,marlborough1 ,napoleon1 and other epoch-making conquerors1 he had a great charm of personal attractiveness2 he inspired his officers and soldiers with enthusiasm and devotion to himself4 ,the pictures of all ,israel flocking to him in the first days of his reign and even earlier1 when he was an outlaw1 are forcible illustrations of this wonderful gift2 and the same feature of his character is at once illustrated and partly explained by the romantic episode at ,adullam4 ,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 ,bethlehem8 ,how better could ,david have accepted and ratified their devotion than by pouring out this water as a most precious libation to ,god87#agg7 ,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 king47#agh7 ,in drawing an ideal picture1 our author has naturally omitted incidents that might have revealed the defects of his hero4 ,such omissions deceive no one1 and are not meant to deceive any one4 ,yet ,david's failings are not altogether absent from this history4 ,he has those vices which were characteristic alike of his own age and of the chronicler's1 and which indeed are not yet wholly extinct4 ,he could treat his prisoners with barbarous cruelty4 ,his pride led him to number ,israel1 but his repentance was prompt and thorough2 and the incident brings out alike both his faith in ,god and his care for his people4 ,when the whole episode is before us1 it does not lessen our love and respect for ,david4 ,the reference to his alliance with the ,philistines is vague and incidental4 ,if this were our only account of the matter1 we should interpret it by the rest of his life1 and conclude that if all the facts were known1 they would justify his conduct4 ,in forming a general estimate of ,david according to ,chronicles1 we may fairly neglect these less satisfactory episodes4 ,briefly ,david is perfect saint and perfect king1 beloved of ,god and man4 ,a portrait reveals the artist as well as the model and the chronicler in depicting ,david gives indications of the morality of his own times4 ,we may deduce from his omissions a certain progress in moral sensitiveness4 ,the book of ,samuel emphatically condemns ,david's treachery towards ,uriah1 and is conscious of the discreditable nature of many incidents connected with the revolts of ,absalom and ,adonijah2 but the silence of ,chronicles implies an even severer condemnation4 ,in other matters1 however1 the chronicler 8judges himself in that which he approveth407#agi7 ,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 neighbours4 ,the urgency of these duties may excuse1 but not justify1 the neglect of the more peaceful departments of the administration4 ,the modern reader is struck by the little stress laid by the narrative upon good government at home2 it is just mentioned1 and that is about all4 ,as the sentiment of international morality is even now only in its infancy1 we cannot wonder at its absence from ,chronicles2 but we are a little surprised to find that cruelty towards prisoners is included without comment in the character of the ideal king47#ahj7 ,it is curious that the account in the book of ,samuel is slightly ambiguous and might possibly admit of a comparatively mild interpretation2 but ,chronicles1 according to the ordinary translation1 says definitely1 8,he cut them with saws40 ,the mere reproduction of this passage need not imply full and deliberate approval of its contents2 but it would not have been allowed to remain in the picture of the ideal king1 if the chronicler had felt any strong conviction as to the duty of humanity towards one's enemies4 ,unfortunately we know from the book of ,esther and elsewhere that later ,judaism had not attained to any wide enthusiasm of humanity4 ,chapter ,,iv4 ,david--,,iii4 ,his ,official ,dignity4 ,in estimating the personal character of ,david1 we have seen that one element of it was his ideal kingship4 ,apart from his personality1 his name is significant for ,old ,testament theology1 as that of the typical king4 ,from the time when the royal title 8,messiah0 began to be a synonym for the hope of ,israel1 down to the period when the ,anglican ,church taught the ,divine right of kings1 and ,calvinists insisted on the ,divine sovereignty or royal authority of ,god1 the dignity and power of the ,king of kings have always been illustrated by1 and sometimes associated with1 the state of an earthly monarch--whereof ,david is the most striking example4 ,the times of the chronicler were favourable to the development of the idea of the perfect king of ,israel1 the prince of the house of ,david4 ,there was no king in ,israel2 and1 as far as we can gather1 the living representatives of the house of ,david held no very prominent position in the community4 ,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 ,hezekiah4 ,in earlier times the prophetic hopes for the house of ,david had often been rudely disappointed1 but there had been ample space to forget the past and to revive the old hopes in fresh splendour and magnificence4 ,lack of experience helped to commend the idea of the ,davidic king to the chronicler4 ,enthusiasm for a benevolent despot is mostly confined to those who have not enjoyed the privilege of living under such autocratic government4 ,on the other hand1 there was no temptation to flatter any living ,davidic king1 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 sultans4 ,it is indeed said that the people worshipped ,jehovah and the king2 but the essential character of ,jewish thought made it impossible that the ideal king should sit 8in the temple of ,god1 setting himself forth as ,god40 ,david and ,solomon could not share with the pagan emperors the honours of ,divine worship in their life-time and apotheosis after their death4 ,nothing addressed to any ,hebrew king parallels the panegyric to the ,christian emperor ,theodosius1 in which allusion is made to his 8sacred mind10 and he is told that 8as the ,fates are said to assist with their tablets that ,god who is the partner in your majesty1 so does some ,divine power serve your bidding1 which writes down and in due time suggests to your memory the promises which you have made407#aha7 ,nor does ,chronicles adorn the kings of ,judah with extravagant ,oriental titles1 such as 8,king of kings of kings of kings40 ,devotion to the house of ,david never oversteps the bounds of a due reverence1 but the ,hebrew idea of monarchy loses nothing by this salutary reserve4 ,indeed1 the title of the royal house of ,judah rested upon ,divine appointment4 8,jehovah 444 turned the kingdom unto ,david2 444 and they anointed ,david king over ,israel1 according to the word of ,jehovah by the hand of ,samuel407#ahb7 ,but the ,divine choice was confirmed by the cordial consent of the nation2 the sovereigns of ,judah1 like those of ,england1 ruled by the grace of ,god and the will of the people4 ,even before ,david's accession the ,israelites had flocked to his standard2 and after the death of ,saul a great array of the twelve tribes came to ,hebron to make ,david king1 8and all the rest also of ,israel were of one heart to make ,david king407#ahc7 ,similarly ,solomon is the king 8whom ,god hath chosen10 and all the congregation make him king and anoint him to be prince47#ahd7 ,the double election of ,david by ,jehovah and by the nation is clearly set forth in the book of ,samuel1 and in ,chronicles the omission of ,david's early career emphasises this election4 ,in the book of ,samuel we are shown the natural process that brought about the change of dynasty2 we see how the ,divine choice took effect through the wars between ,saul and the ,philistines and through ,david's own ability and energy4 ,chronicles is mostly silent as to secondary causes1 and fixes our attention on the ,divine choice as the ultimate ground for ,david's elevation4 ,the authority derived from ,god and the people continued to rest on the same basis4 ,david sought ,divine direction alike for the building of the ,temple and for his campaigns against the ,philistines4 ,at the same time1 when he wished to bring up the ,ark to ,jerusalem1 he 8consulted with the captains of thousands and of hundreds1 even with every leader2 and ,david said unto all the assembly of ,israel1 ,if it seem good unto you1 and if it be of ,jehovah our ,god1 444 let us bring again the ark of our ,god to us2 444 and all the assembly said that they would do so1 for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people407#ahe7 ,of course the chronicler does not intend to describe a constitutional monarchy1 in which an assembly of the people had any legal status4 ,apparently in his own time the ,jews exercised their measure of local self-government through an informal oligarchy1 headed by the high-priest2 and these authorities occasionally appealed to an assembly of the people4 ,the administration under the monarchy was carried on in a somewhat similar fashion1 only the king had greater authority than the high-priest1 and the oligarchy of notables were not so influential as the colleagues of the latter4 ,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 sanction4 ,it is interesting to see how a member of a great ecclesiastical community1 imbued1 as we should suppose1 with all the spirit of priestcraft1 yet insists upon the royal supremacy both in state and ,church4 ,but to have done otherwise would have been to go in the teeth of all history2 even in the ,pentateuch the 8king in ,jeshurun0 is greater than the priest4 ,moreover1 the chronicler was not a priest1 but a ,levite2 and there are indications that the ,levites' ancient jealousy of the priests had by no means died out4 ,in ,chronicles1 at any rate1 there is no question of priests interfering with the king's secular administration4 ,they are not even mentioned as obtaining oracles for ,david as ,abiathar did before his accession47#ahf7 ,this was doubtless implied in the original account of the ,philistine raids in chap4 xiv41 but the chronicler may not have understood that 8inquiring of ,god0 meant obtaining an oracle from the priests4 ,the king is equally supreme also in ecclesiastical affairs2 we might even say that the civil authorities generally shared this supremacy4 ,somewhat after the fashion of ,cromwell and his major-generals1 ,david utilised 8the captains of the host0 as a kind of ministry of public worship2 they joined with him in organising the orchestra and choir for the services of the sanctuary7#ahg73 probably ,napoleon and his marshals would have had no hesitation in selecting anthems for ,notre ,dame if the idea had occurred to them4 ,david also consulted his captains17#ahh7 and not the priests1 about bringing the ,ark to ,jerusalem4 ,when he gathered the great assembly to make his final arrangements for the building of the ,temple1 the princes and captains1 the rulers and mighty men1 are mentioned1 but no priests47#ahi7 ,and1 last1 all the congregation apparently anoint7#aij7 ,zadok to be priest4 ,the chronicler was evidently a pronounced ,erastian47#aia7 ,david is no mere nominal head of the ,church2 he takes the initiative in all important matters1 and receives the ,divine commands either directly or through his prophets ,nathan and ,gad4 ,now these prophets are not ecclesiastical authorities2 they have nothing to do with the priesthood1 and do not correspond to the officials of an organised ,church4 ,they are rather the domestic chaplains or confessors of the king1 differing from modern chaplains and confessors in having no ecclesiastical superiors4 ,they were not responsible to the bishop of any diocese or the general of any order2 they did not manipulate the royal conscience in the interests of any party in the ,church2 they served ,god and the king1 and had no other masters4 ,they did not beard ,david before his people1 as ,ambrose confronted ,theodosius or as ,chrysostom rated ,eudoxia2 they delivered their message to ,david in private1 and on occasion he communicated it to the people47#aib7 ,the king's spiritual dignity is rather enhanced than otherwise by this reception of prophetic messages specially delivered to himself4 ,there is another aspect of the royal supremacy in religion4 ,in this particular instance its object is largely the exaltation of ,david2 to arrange for public worship is the most honourable function of the ideal king4 ,at the same time the care of the sanctuary is his most sacred duty1 and is assigned to him that it may be punctually and worthily discharged4 ,state establishment of the ,church is combined with a very thorough control of the ,church by the state4 ,we see then that the monarchy rested on ,divine and national election1 and was guided by the will of ,god and of the people4 ,indeed1 in bringing up the ,ark7#aic7 the consent of the people is the only recorded indication of the will of ,god4 8,vox populi vox ,dei40 ,the king and his government are supreme alike over the state and the sanctuary1 and are entrusted with the charge of providing for public worship4 ,let us try to express the modern equivalents of these principles4 ,civil government is of ,divine origin1 and should obtain the consent of the people2 it should be carried on according to the will of ,god1 freely accepted by the nation4 ,the civil authority is supreme both in ,church and state1 and is responsible for the maintenance of public worship4 ,one at least of these principles is so widely accepted that it is quite independent of any ,scriptural sanction from ,chronicles4 ,the consent of the people has long been accepted as an essential condition of any stable government4 ,the sanctity of civil government and the sacredness of its responsibilities are coming to be recognised1 at present perhaps rather in theory than in practice4 ,we have not yet fully realised how the truth underlying the doctrine of the ,divine right of kings applies to modern conditions4 ,formerly the king was the representative of the state1 or even the state itself2 that is to say1 the king directly or indirectly maintained social order1 and provided for the security of life and property4 ,the ,divine appointment and authority of the king expressed the sanctity of law and order as the essential conditions of moral and spiritual progress4 ,the king is no longer the state4 ,his ,divine right1 however1 belongs to him1 not as a person or as a member of a family1 but as the embodiment of the state1 the champion of social order against anarchy4 ,the 8,divinity that doth hedge a king0 is now shared by the sovereign with all the various departments of government4 ,the state--that is to say1 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 authority4 8,the ,lord has turned the kingdom to0 the people4 ,this revolution is so tremendous that it would not be safe to apply to the modern state the remaining principles of the chronicler4 ,before we could do so we should need to enter into a discussion which would be out of place here1 even if we had space for it4 ,in one point the new democracies agree with the chronicler3 they are not inclined to submit secular affairs to the domination of ecclesiastical officials4 ,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 chronicler4 ,but his picture of the ideal king suggests one idea that is in harmony with some modern aspirations4 ,in ,chronicles the king1 as the representative of the state1 is the special agent in providing for the highest spiritual needs of the people4 ,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 ,god8 ,human cruelty is the greatest stumbling-block to belief and fellowship2 when the state has somewhat mitigated the misery of 8man's inhumanity to man10 faith in ,god will be easier4 ,chapter ,v4 ,solomon4 ,the chronicler's history of ,solomon is constructed on the same principles as that of ,david1 and for similar reasons4 ,the builder of the first ,temple commanded the grateful reverence of a community whose national and religious life centred in the second ,temple4 ,while the ,davidic king became the symbol of the hope of ,israel1 the ,jews could not forget that this symbol derived much of its significance from the widespread dominion and royal magnificence of ,solomon4 ,the chronicler1 indeed1 attributes great splendour to the court of ,david1 and ascribes to him a lion's share in the ,temple itself4 ,he provided his successor with treasure and materials and even the complete plans1 so that on the principle1 8,qui facit per alium1 facit per se10 ,david might have been credited with the actual building4 ,solomon was almost in the position of a modern engineer who puts together a steamer that has been built in sections4 ,but1 with all these limitations1 the clear and obvious fact remained that ,solomon actually built and dedicated the ,temple4 ,moreover1 the memory of his wealth and grandeur kept a firm hold on the popular imagination2 and these conspicuous blessings were received as certain tokens of the favour of ,jehovah4 ,solomon's fame1 however1 was threefold3 he was not only the ,divinely appointed builder of the ,temple and1 by the same ,divine grace1 the richest and most powerful king of ,israel3 he had also received from ,jehovah the gift of 8wisdom and knowledge40 ,in his royal splendour and his sacred buildings he only differed in degree from other kings2 but in his wisdom he stood alone1 not only without equal1 but almost without competitor4 ,herein he was under no obligation to his father1 and the glory of ,solomon could not be diminished by representing that he had been anticipated by ,david4 ,hence the name of ,solomon came to symbolise ,hebrew learning and philosophy4 ,in religious significance1 however1 ,solomon cannot rank with ,david4 ,the dynasty of ,judah could have only one representative1 and the founder and eponym of the royal house was the most important figure for the subsequent theology4 ,the interest that later generations felt in ,solomon lay apart from the main line of ,jewish orthodoxy1 and he is never mentioned by the prophets47#aid7 ,moreover1 the darker aspects of ,solomon's reign made more impression upon succeeding generations than even ,david's sins and misfortunes4 ,occasional lapses into vice and cruelty might be forgiven or even forgotten2 but the systematic oppression of ,solomon rankled for long generations in the hearts of the people1 and the prophets always remembered his wanton idolatry4 ,his memory was further discredited by the disasters which marked the close of his own reign and the beginning of ,rehoboam's4 ,centuries later these feelings still prevailed4 ,the prophets who adapted the ,mosaic law for the closing period of the monarchy exhort the king to take warning by ,solomon1 and to multiply neither horses1 nor wives1 nor gold and silver47#aie7 ,but as time went on ,judah fell into growing poverty and distress1 which came to a head in the ,captivity1 and were renewed with the ,restoration4 ,the ,jews were willing to forget ,solomon's faults in order that they might indulge in fond recollections of the material prosperity of his reign4 ,their experience of the culture of ,babylon led them to feel greater interest and pride in his wisdom1 and the figure of ,solomon began to assume a mysterious grandeur1 which has since become the nucleus for ,jewish and ,mohammedan legends4 ,the chief monument of his fame in ,jewish literature is the book of ,proverbs1 but his growing reputation is shown by the numerous ,biblical and apocryphal works ascribed to him4 ,his name was no doubt attached to ,canticles because of a feature in his character which the chronicler ignores4 ,his supposed authorship of ,ecclesiastes and of the ,wisdom of ,solomon testifies to the fame of his wisdom1 while the titles of the 8,psalms of ,solomon0 and even of some canonical psalms credit him with spiritual feeling and poetic power47#aif7 ,when the ,wisdom of ,jesus the ,son of ,sirach proposes to 8praise famous men10 it dwells upon ,solomon's temple and his wealth1 and especially upon his wisdom2 but it does not forget his failings47#aig7 ,josephus celebrates his glory at great length4 ,the ,new ,testament has comparatively few notices of ,solomon2 but these include references to his wisdom17#aih7 his splendour17#aii7 and his temple47#bjj7 ,the ,koran1 however1 far surpasses the ,new ,testament in its interest in ,solomon2 and his name and his seal play a leading part in ,jewish and ,arabian magic4 ,the bulk of this literature is later than the chronicler1 but the renewed interest in the glory of ,solomon must have begun before his time4 ,perhaps1 by connecting the building of the ,temple as far as possible with ,david1 the chronicler marks his sense of ,solomon's unworthiness4 ,on the other hand1 there were many reasons why he should welcome the aid of popular sentiment to enable him to include ,solomon among the ideal ,hebrew kings4 ,after all1 ,solomon had built and dedicated the ,temple2 he was the 8pious founder10 and the beneficiaries of the foundation would wish to make the most of his piety4 8,jehovah0 had 8magnified ,solomon exceedingly in the sight of all ,israel1 and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in ,israel407#bja7 8,king ,solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom2 and all the kings of the earth sought the presence of ,solomon1 to hear his wisdom1 which ,god had put in his heart407#bjb7 ,the chronicler would naturally wish to set forth the better side of ,solomon's character as an ideal of royal wisdom and splendour1 devoted to the service of the sanctuary4 ,let us briefly compare ,chronicles and ,kings to see how he accomplished his purpose4 ,the structure of the narrative in ,kings rendered the task comparatively easy3 it could be accomplished by removing the opening and closing sections and making a few minor changes in the intermediate portion4 ,the opening section is the sequel to the conclusion of ,david's reign2 the chronicler omitted this conclusion1 and therefore also its sequel4 ,but the contents of this section were objectionable in themselves4 ,solomon's admirers willingly forget that his reign was inaugurated by the execution of ,shimei1 of his brother ,adonijah1 and of his father's faithful minister ,joab1 and by the deposition of the high-priest ,abiathar4 ,the chronicler narrates with evident approval the strong measures of ,ezra and ,nehemiah against foreign marriages1 and he is therefore not anxious to remind his readers that ,solomon married ,pharaoh's daughter4 ,he does not1 however1 carry out his plan consistently4 ,elsewhere he wishes to emphasise the sanctity of the ,ark and tells us that 8,solomon brought up the daughter of ,pharaoh out of the city of ,david unto the house that he had built for her1 for he said1 ,my wife shall not dwell in the house of ,david1 king of ,israel1 because the places are holy whereunto the ark of the ,lord hath come407#bjc7 ,in ,kings the history of ,solomon closes with a long account of his numerous wives and concubines1 his idolatry and consequent misfortunes4 ,all this is omitted by the chronicler2 but later on1 with his usual inconsistency1 he allows ,nehemiah to point the moral of a tale he has left untold3 8,did not ,solomon1 king of ,israel1 sin by these things8444 ,even him did strange women cause to sin407#bjd7 ,in the intervening section he omits the famous judgment of ,solomon1 probably on account of the character of the women concerned4 ,he introduces sundry changes which naturally follow from his belief that the ,levitical law was then in force47#bje7 ,his feeling for the dignity of the chosen people and their king comes out rather curiously in two minor alterations4 ,both authorities agree in telling us that ,solomon had recourse to forced labour for his building operations2 in fact1 after the usual ,eastern fashion from the ,pyramids down to the ,suez ,canal1 ,solomon's temple and palaces were built by the corve4 ,according to the oldest narrative1 he 8raised a levy out of all ,israel407#bjf7 ,this suggests that forced labour was exacted from the ,israelites themselves1 and it would help to account for ,jeroboam's successful rebellion4 ,the chronicler omits this statement as open to an interpretation derogatory to the dignity of the chosen people1 and not only inserts a later explanation which he found in the book of ,kings1 but also another express statement that ,solomon raised his levy of the 8strangers that were in the land of ,israel407#bjg7 ,these statements may have been partly suggested by the existence of a class of ,temple slaves called ,solomon's servants4 ,the other instance relates to ,solomon's alliance with ,hiram1 king of ,tyre4 ,in the book of ,kings we are told that 8,solomon gave ,hiram twenty cities in the land of ,galilee407#bjh7 ,there were indeed redeeming features connected with the transaction2 the cities were not a very valuable possession for ,hiram3 8they pleased him not02 yet he 8sent to the ,king six score talents of gold40 ,however1 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 inheritance4 ,he emends the text of his authority so as to convert it into a casual reference to certain cities which ,hiram had given to ,solomon47#bji7 ,we will now reproduce the story of ,solomon as given by the chronicler4 ,solomon was the youngest of four sons born to ,david at ,jerusalem by ,bath-shua1 the daughter of ,ammiel4 ,besides these three brothers1 he had at least six other elder brothers4 ,as in the cases of ,isaac1 ,jacob1 ,judah1 and ,david himself1 the birthright fell to a younger son4 ,in the prophetic utterance which foretold his birth1 he was designated to succeed to his father's throne and to build the ,temple4 ,at the great assembly which closed his father's reign he received instructions as to the plans and services of the ,temple17#baj7 and was exhorted to discharge his duties faithfully4 ,he was declared king according to the ,divine choice1 freely accepted by ,david and ratified by popular acclamation4 ,at ,david's death no one disputed his succession to the throne3 8,all ,israel obeyed him2 and all the princes and the mighty men and all the sons likewise of ,king ,david submitted themselves unto ,solomon the king407#baa7 ,his first act after his accession was to sacrifice before the brazen altar of the ancient ,tabernacle at ,gibeon4 ,that night ,god appeared unto him 8and said unto him1 ,ask what ,i shall give thee40 ,solomon chose wisdom and knowledge to qualify him for the arduous task of government4 ,having thus 8sought first the kingdom of ,god and ,his righteousness10 all other things--8riches1 wealth1 and honour0--were added unto him47#bab7 ,he returned to ,jerusalem1 gathered a great array of chariots and horses by means of traffic with ,egypt1 and accumulated great wealth1 so that silver1 and gold1 and cedars became abundant at ,jerusalem47#bac7 ,he next proceeded with the building of the ,temple1 collected workmen1 obtained timber from ,lebanon and an artificer from ,tyre4 ,the ,temple was duly erected and dedicated1 the king taking the chief and most conspicuous part in all the proceedings4 ,special reference1 however1 is made to the presence of the priests and ,levites at the dedication4 ,on this occasion the ministry of the sanctuary was not confined to the course whose turn it was to officiate1 but 8all the priests that were present had sanctified themselves and did not keep their courses2 also the ,levites1 which were the singers1 all of them1 even ,asaph1 ,heman1 ,jeduthun1 and their sons and their brethren1 arrayed in fine linen1 with cymbals1 and psalteries1 and harps1 stood at the east end of the altar1 and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets407#bad7 ,solomon's dedication prayer concludes with special petitions for the priests1 the saints1 and the king3 8,now therefore arise1 ,o ,jehovah ,elohim1 into ,thy resting-place1 ,thou and the ark of ,thy strength2 let ,thy priests1 ,o ,jehovah ,elohim1 be clothed with salvation1 and let ,thy saints rejoice in goodness4 ,o ,jehovah ,elohim1 turn not away the face of ,thine anointed2 remember the mercies of ,david ,thy servant407#bae7 ,when ,david sacrificed at the threshing-floor of ,ornan the ,jebusite1 the place had been indicated as the site of the future ,temple by the descent of fire from heaven2 and now1 in token that the mercy shown to ,david should be continued to ,solomon1 the fire again fell from heaven1 and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices2 and the glory of ,jehovah 8filled the house of ,jehovah107#baf7 as it had done earlier in the day1 when the ,ark was brought into the ,temple4 ,solomon concluded the opening ceremonies by a great festival3 for eight days the ,feast of ,tabernacles was observed according to the ,levitical law1 and seven days more were specially devoted to a dedication feast47#bag7 ,afterwards ,jehovah appeared again to ,solomon1 as ,he had before at ,gibeon1 and told him that this prayer was accepted4 ,taking up the several petitions that the king had offered1 ,he promised1 8,if ,i shut up heaven that there be no rain1 or if ,i send pestilence among ,my people2 if ,my people1 which are called by ,my name1 shall humble themselves1 and pray1 and seek ,my face1 and turn from their wicked ways2 then will ,i hear from heaven1 and will forgive their sin1 and will heal their land4 ,now ,mine eyes shall be open1 and ,mine ears attent1 unto the prayer that is made in this place40 ,thus ,jehovah1 in ,his gracious condescension1 adopts ,solomon's own words7#bah7 to express ,his answer to the prayer4 ,he allows ,solomon to dictate the terms of the agreement1 and merely appends ,his signature and seal4 ,besides the ,temple1 ,solomon built palaces for himself and his wife1 and fortified many cities1 among the rest ,hamath-zobah1 formerly allied to ,david47#bai7 ,he also organised the people for civil and military purposes4 ,as far as the account of his reign is concerned1 the ,solomon of ,chronicles appears as 8the husband of one wife02 and that wife is the daughter of ,pharaoh4 ,a second1 however1 is mentioned later on as the mother of ,rehoboam2 she too was a 8strange woman10 an ,ammonitess1 ,naamah by name4 ,meanwhile ,solomon was careful to maintain all the sacrifices and festivals ordained in the ,levitical law1 and all the musical and other arrangements for the sanctuary commanded by ,david1 the man of ,god47#bbj7 ,we read next of his commerce by sea and land1 his great wealth and wisdom1 and the romantic visit of the queen of ,sheba47#bba7 ,and so the story of ,solomon closes with this picture of royal state1-- 8,the wealth of ,ormus and of ,ind1 ,or where the gorgeous ,east with richest hand ,showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold40 ,wealth was combined with imperial power and ,divine wisdom4 ,here1 as in the case of ,plato's own pupils ,dionysius and ,dion of ,syracuse1 ,plato's dream came true2 the prince was a philosopher1 and the philosopher a prince4 ,at first sight it seems as if this marriage of authority and wisdom had happier issue at ,jerusalem than at ,syracuse4 ,solomon's history closes as brilliantly as ,david's1 and ,solomon was subject to no ,satanic possession and brought no pestilence upon ,israel4 ,but testimonials are chiefly significant in what they omit2 and when we compare the conclusions of the histories of ,david and ,solomon1 we note suggestive differences4 ,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 injunctions4 ,there are no 8last words0 of the wise king2 and it is not said of him that 8he died in a good old age1 full of days1 riches1 and honour40 8,solomon slept with his fathers1 and he was buried in the city of ,david his father2 and ,rehoboam his son reigned in his stead07#bbb73 that is all4 ,when the chronicler1 the professed panegyrist of the house of ,david1 brings his narrative of this great reign to so lame and impotent a conclusion1 he really implies as severe a condemnation upon ,solomon as the book of ,kings does by its narrative of his sins4 ,thus the ,solomon of ,chronicles shows the same piety and devotion to the ,temple and its ritual which were shown by his father4 ,his prayer at the dedication of the ,temple is parallel to similar utterances of ,david4 ,instead of being a general and a soldier1 he is a scholar and a philosopher4 ,he succeeded to the administrative abilities of his father2 and his prayer displays a deep interest in the welfare of his subjects4 ,his record--in ,chronicles--is even more faultless than that of ,david4 ,and yet the careful student with nothing but ,chronicles1 even without ,ezra and ,nehemiah1 might somehow get the impression that the story of ,solomon1 like that of ,cambuscan1 had been 8left half told40 ,in addition to the points suggested by a comparison with the history of ,david1 there is a certain abruptness about its conclusion4 ,the last fact noted of ,solomon1 before the formal statistics about 8the rest of his acts0 and the years of his reign1 is that horses were brought for him 8out of ,egypt and out of all lands40 ,elsewhere the chronicler's use of his materials shows a feeling for dramatic effect4 ,we should not have expected him to close the history of a great reign by a reference to the king's trade in horses47#bbc7 ,perhaps we are apt to read into ,chronicles what we know from the book of ,kings2 yet surely this abrupt conclusion would have raised a suspicion that there were omissions1 that facts had been suppressed because they could not bear the light4 ,upon the splendid figure of the great king1 with his wealth and wisdom1 his piety and devotion1 rests the vague shadow of unnamed sins and unrecorded misfortunes4 ,a suggestion of unhallowed mystery attaches itself to the name of the builder of the ,temple1 and ,solomon is already on the way to become the ,master of the ,genii and the chief of magicians47#bbd7 ,chapter ,,vi4 ,solomon 7continued74 ,when we turn to consider the spiritual significance of this ideal picture of the history and character of ,solomon1 we are confronted by a difficulty that attends the exposition of any ideal history4 ,an author's ideal of kingship in the early stages of literature is usually as much one and indivisible as his ideal of priesthood1 of the office of the prophet1 and of the wicked king4 ,his authorities may record different incidents in connection with each individual2 but he emphasises those which correspond with his ideal1 or even anticipates the higher criticism by constructing incidents which seem required by the character and circumstances of his heroes4 ,on the other hand1 where the priest1 or the prophet1 or the king departs from the ideal1 the incidents are minimised or passed over in silence4 ,there will still be a certain variety because different individuals may present different elements of the ideal1 and the chronicler does not insist on each of his good kings possessing all the characteristics of royal perfection4 ,still the tendency of the process is to make all the good kings alike4 ,it would be monotonous to take each of them separately and deduce the lessons taught by their virtues1 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 view4 ,david has a unique position1 and has to be taken by himself2 but in considering the features that must be added to the picture of ,david in order to complete the picture of the good king1 it is convenient to group ,solomon with the reforming kings of ,judah4 ,we shall therefore defer for more consecutive treatment the chronicler's account of their general characters and careers4 ,here we shall merely gather up the suggestions of the different narratives as to the chronicler's ideal ,hebrew king4 ,the leading points have already been indicated from the chronicler's history of ,david4 ,the first and most indispensable feature is devotion to the temple at ,jerusalem and the ritual of the ,pentateuch4 ,this has been abundantly illustrated from the account of ,solomon4 ,taking the reforming kings in their order3-- ,asa removed the high places which were rivals of the ,temple17#bbe7 renewed the altar of ,jehovah1 gathered the people together for a great sacrifice17#bbf7 and made munificent donations to the ,temple treasury47#bbg7 ,similarly ,jehoshaphat took away the high places17#bbh7 and sent out a commission to teach the ,law47#bbi7 ,joash repaired the ,temple7#bcj72 but1 curiously enough1 though ,jehoram had restored the high places7#bca7 and ,joash was acting under the direction of the high-priest ,jehoiada1 it is not stated that the high places were done away with4 ,this is one of the chronicler's rather numerous oversights4 ,perhaps1 however1 he expected that so obvious a reform would be taken for granted4 ,amaziah was careful to observe 8the law in the book of ,moses0 that 8the children should not die for the fathers107#bcb7 but ,amaziah soon turned away from following ,jehovah4 ,this is perhaps the reason why in his case also nothing is said about doing away with the high places4 ,hezekiah had a special opportunity of showing his devotion to the ,temple and the ,law4 ,the ,temple had been polluted and closed by ,ahaz1 and its services discontinued4 ,hezekiah purified the ,temple1 reinstated the priests and ,levites1 and renewed the services2 he made arrangements for the payment of the ,temple revenues according to the provisions of the ,levitical law1 and took away the high places4 ,he also held a reopening festival and a passover with numerous sacrifices47#bcc7 ,manasseh's repentance is indicated by the restoration of the ,temple ritual47#bcd7 ,josiah took away the high places1 repaired the ,temple1 made the people enter into a covenant to observe the rediscovered ,law1 and1 like ,hezekiah1 held a great passover47#bce7 ,the reforming kings1 like ,david and ,solomon1 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 ,levites4 ,their enthusiasm for the exclusive rights of the one ,temple symbolises their loyalty to the one ,god1 ,jehovah1 and their hatred of idolatry4 ,zeal for ,jehovah and ,his temple is still combined with uncompromising assertion of the royal supremacy in matters of religion4 ,the king1 and not the priest1 is the highest spiritual authority in the nation4 ,solomon1 ,hezekiah1 and ,josiah control the arrangements for public worship as completely as ,moses or ,david4 ,solomon receives ,divine communications without the intervention of either priest or prophet2 he himself offers the great dedication prayer1 and when he makes an end of praying1 fire comes down from heaven4 ,under ,hezekiah the civil authorities decide when the passover shall be observed3 8,for the king had taken counsel1 and his princes1 and all the congregation in ,jerusalem1 to keep the passover in the second month407#bcf7 ,the great reforms of ,josiah are throughout initiated and controlled by the king4 ,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 ,jehovah4 ,the chronicler still adheres to the primitive idea of the theocracy1 according to which the chief1 or judge1 or king is the representative of ,jehovah4 ,the title to the crown rests throughout on the grace of ,god and the will of the people4 ,in ,judah1 however1 the principle of hereditary succession prevails throughout4 ,athaliah is not really an exception3 she reigned as the widow of a ,davidic king4 ,the double election of ,david by ,jehovah and by ,israel carried with it the election of his dynasty4 ,the permanent rule of the house of ,david was secured by the ,divine promise to its founder4 ,yet the title is not allowed to rest on mere hereditary right4 ,divine choice and popular recognition are recorded in the case of ,solomon and other kings4 8,all ,israel came to ,shechem to make ,rehoboam king10 and yet revolted from him when he refused to accept their conditions2 but the obstinacy which caused the disruption 8was brought about of ,god1 that ,jehovah might establish ,his word which ,he spake by the hand of ,ahijah the ,shilonite40 ,ahaziah1 ,joash1 ,uzziah1 ,josiah1 ,jehoahaz1 were all set upon the throne by the inhabitants of ,judah and ,jerusalem47#bcg7 ,after ,solomon the ,divine appointment of kings is not expressly mentioned2 ,jehovah's control over the tenure of the throne is chiefly shown by the removal of unworthy occupants4 ,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 kings3 ,jehoiakim was the nominee of ,pharaoh ,neco1 king of ,egypt2 and the last king of all1 ,zedekiah1 was appointed by ,nebuchadnezzar1 king of ,babylon4 ,in like manner1 the ,herods1 the last rulers of the restored kingdom of ,judah1 were the nominees of the ,roman emperors4 ,such nominations forcibly illustrate the degradations and ruin of the theocratic monarchy4 ,but yet1 according to the teaching of the prophets1 ,pharaoh and ,nebuchadnezzar were tools in the hand of ,jehovah2 and their nomination was still an indirect ,divine appointment4 ,in the chronicler's time1 however1 ,judah was thoroughly accustomed to receive her governors from a ,persian or ,greek king2 and ,jewish readers would not be scandalised by a similar state of affairs in the closing years of the earlier kingdom4 ,thus the reforming kings illustrate the ideal kingship set forth in the history of ,david and ,solomon3 the royal authority originates in1 and is controlled by1 the will of ,god and the consent of the people2 the king's highest duty is the maintenance of the worship of ,jehovah2 but the king and people are supreme both in ,church and state4 ,the personal character of the good kings is also very similar to that of ,david and ,solomon4 ,jehoshaphat1 ,hezekiah1 and ,josiah are men of spiritual feeling as well as careful observers of correct ritual4 ,none of the good kings1 with the exception of ,joash and ,josiah1 are unsuccessful in war2 and good reasons are given for the exceptions4 ,they all display administrative ability by their buildings1 the organisation of the ,temple services and the army1 and the arrangements for the collection of the revenue1 especially the dues of the priests and ,levites4 ,there is nothing1 however1 to indicate that the personal charm of ,david's character was inherited by his descendants2 but when biography is made merely a means of edification1 it often loses those touches of nature which make the whole world kin1 and are capable of exciting either admiration or disgust4 ,the later narrative affords another illustration of the absence of any sentiment of humanity towards enemies4 ,as in the case of ,david1 the chronicler records the cruelty of a good king as if it were quite consistent with loyalty to ,jehovah4 ,before he turned away from following ,jehovah1 ,amariah defeated the ,edomites and smote ten thousand of them4 ,others were treated like some of the ,malagasy martyrs3 8,and other ten thousand did the children of ,judah carry away alive1 and brought them unto the top of the rock1 and cast them down from the top of the rock1 that they all were broken in pieces407#bch7 ,in this case1 however1 the chronicler is not simply reproducing ,kings3 he has taken the trouble to supplement his main authority from some other source1 probably local tradition4 ,his insertion of this verse is another testimony to the undying hatred of ,israel for ,edom4 ,but in one respect the reforming kings are sharply distinguished from ,david and ,solomon4 ,the record of their lives is by no means blameless1 and their sins are visited by condign chastisement4 ,they all1 with the single exception of ,jotham1 come to a bad end4 ,asa consulted physicians1 and was punished by being allowed to die of a painful disease47#bci7 ,the last event of ,jehoshaphat's life was the ruin of the navy1 which he had built in unholy alliance with ,ahaziah1 king of ,israel1 who did very wickedly47#bdj7 ,joash murdered the prophet ,zechariah1 the son of the high-priest ,jehoiada2 his great host was routed by a small company of ,syrians1 and ,joash himself was assassinated by his servants47#bda7 ,amaziah turned away from following ,jehovah1 and 8brought the gods of the children of ,seir1 and set them up to be his gods1 and bowed down himself before them1 and burned incense unto them40 ,he was accordingly defeated by ,joash1 king of ,israel1 and assassinated by his own people47#bdb7 ,uzziah insisted on exercising the priestly function of burning incense to ,jehovah1 and so died a leper47#bdc7 8,even ,hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him1 for his heart was lifted up in the business of ambassadors of the princes of ,babylon2 therefore there was wrath upon him and upon ,judah and ,jerusalem4 ,notwithstanding ,hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart1 both he and the inhabitants of ,jerusalem1 so that the wrath of ,jehovah came not upon them in the days of ,hezekiah40 ,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 ,david47#bdd7 ,josiah refused to heed the warning sent to him by ,god through the king of ,egypt3 8,he hearkened not unto the words of ,neco from the mouth of ,god1 and came to fight in the valley of ,megiddo02 and so ,josiah died like ,ahab3 he was wounded by the archers1 carried out of the battle in his chariot1 and died at ,jerusalem47#bde7 ,the melancholy record of the misfortunes of the good kings in their closing years is also found in the book of ,kings4 ,there too ,asa in his old age was diseased in his feet1 ,jehoshaphat's ships were wrecked1 ,joash and ,amaziah were assassinated1 ,uzziah became a leper1 ,hezekiah was rebuked for his pride1 and ,josiah slain at ,megiddo4 ,but1 except in the case of ,hezekiah1 the book of ,kings says nothing about the sins which1 according to ,chronicles1 occasioned these sufferings and catastrophes4 ,the narrative in the book of ,kings carries upon the face of it the lesson that piety is not usually rewarded with unbroken prosperity1 and that a pious career does not necessarily ensure a happy deathbed4 ,the significance of the chronicler's additions will be considered elsewhere2 what concerns us here is his departure from the principles he observed in dealing with the lives of ,david and ,solomon4 ,they also sinned and suffered2 but the chronicler omits their sins and sufferings1 especially in the case of ,solomon4 ,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 ,kings1 instead of confining his record to the happier incidents of their career8 ,many considerations may have influenced him4 ,the violent deaths of ,joash1 ,amaziah1 and ,josiah could neither be ignored nor explained away4 ,hezekiah's sin and repentance are closely parallel to ,david's in the matter of the census4 ,although ,asa's disease1 ,jehoshaphat's alliance with ,israel1 and ,uzziah's leprosy might easily have been omitted1 yet1 if some reformers must be allowed to remain imperfect1 there was no imperative necessity to ignore the infirmities of the rest4 ,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 other4 ,the piety of the latter is conformed to the chronicler's ideal2 but the glory and devotion of the former are enhanced by the crimes and humiliation of the best of their successors4 ,hezekiah1 doubtless1 is not more culpable than ,david1 but ,david's pride was the first of a series of events which terminated in the building of the ,temple2 while the uplifting of ,hezekiah's heart was a precursor of its destruction4 ,besides1 ,hezekiah ought to have prompted by ,david's experience4 ,by developing this contrast1 the chronicler renders the position of ,david and ,solomon even more unique1 illustrious1 and full of religious significance4 ,thus as illustrations of ideal kingship the accounts of the good kings of ,judah are altogether subordinate to the history of ,david and ,solomon4 ,while these kings of ,judah remain loyal to ,jehovah1 they further illustrate the virtues of their great predecessors by showing how these virtues might have been exercised under different circumstances3 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 stopped4 ,but no essential feature is added to the earlier pictures4 ,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 ,solomon4 ,abrupt transitions within the limits of the individual lives of ,asa1 ,joash1 and ,amaziah bring out the contrast between piety and apostacy with startling1 dramatic effect4 ,we return from this brief survey to consider the significance of the life of ,solomon according to ,chronicles4 ,its relation to the life of ,david is summed up in the name ,solomon1 the ,prince of peace4 ,david is the ideal king1 winning by force of arms for ,israel empire and victory1 security at home and tribute from abroad4 ,utterly subdued by his prowess1 the natural enemies of ,israel no longer venture to disturb her tranquillity4 ,his successor inherits wide dominion1 immense wealth1 and assured peace4 ,solomon1 the ,prince of peace1 is the ideal king1 administering a great inheritance for the glory of ,jehovah and ,his temple4 ,his history in ,chronicles is one of unbroken calm4 ,he has a great army and many strong fortresses1 but he never has occasion to use them4 ,he implores ,jehovah to be merciful to ,israel when they suffer from the horrors of war2 but he is interceding1 not for his own subjects1 but for future generations4 ,in his time-- 8,no war or battle's sound ,was heard the world around3 ,the idle spear and shield were high uphung2 ,the hookd chariot stood ,unstained with hostile blood2 ,the trumpet spake not to the armd throng407#bdf7 ,perhaps1 to use a paradox1 the greatest proof of ,solomon's wisdom was that he asked for wisdom4 ,he realised at the outset of his career that a wide dominion is more easily won than governed1 that to use great wealth honourably requires more skill and character than are needed to amass it4 ,to-day the world can boast half a dozen empires surpassing not merely ,israel1 but even ,rome1 in extent of dominion2 the aggregate wealth of the world is far beyond the wildest dreams of the chronicler3 but still the people perish for lack of knowledge4 ,the physical and moral foulness of modern cities taints all the culture and tarnishes all the splendour of our civilisation2 classes and trades1 employers and employed1 maim and crush one another in blind struggles to work out a selfish salvation2 newly devised organisations move their unwieldy masses-- 8444 like dragons of the prime ,that tare each other407#bdg7 ,they have a giant's strength1 and use it like a giant4 ,knowledge comes1 but wisdom lingers2 and the world waits for the reign of the ,prince of peace who is not only the wise king1 but the incarnate wisdom of ,god4 ,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 empire4 ,too much stress1 however1 must not be laid on the twofold personality of the ideal king4 ,this feature is adopted from the history1 and does not express any opinion of the chronicler that the characteristic gifts of ,david and ,solomon could not be combined in a single individual4 ,many great generals have also been successful administrators4 ,before ,julius ,csar was assassinated he had already shown his capacity to restore order and tranquillity to the ,roman world2 ,alexander's plans for the civil government of his conquests were as far-reaching as his warlike ambition2 ,diocletian reorganised the empire which his sword had re-established2 ,cromwell's schemes of reform showed an almost prophetic insight into the future needs of the ,english people2 the glory of ,napoleon's victories is a doubtful legacy to ,france compared with the solid benefits of his internal reforms4 ,but even these instances1 which illustrate the union of military genius and administrative ability1 remind us that the assignment of success in war to one king and a reign of peace to the next is1 after all1 typical4 ,the limits of human life narrow its possibilities4 ,csar's work had to be completed by ,augustus2 the great schemes of ,alexander and ,cromwell fell to the ground because no one arose to play ,solomon to their ,david4 ,the chronicler has specially emphasised the indebtedness of ,solomon to ,david4 ,according to his narrative1 the great achievement of ,solomon's reign1 the building of the ,temple1 has been rendered possible by ,david's preparations4 ,quite apart from plans and materials1 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 ,israel4 ,whoever provided the timber and stone1 the silver and gold1 for the ,temple1 ,david won for ,jehovah the land and the city that were the outer courts of the sanctuary1 and roused the national spirit that gave to ,zion its most solemn consecration4 ,solomon's temple was alike the symbol of ,david's achievements and the coping-stone of his work4 ,by compelling our attention to the dependence of the ,prince of ,peace upon the man who 8had shed much blood10 the chronicler admonishes us against forgetting the price that has been paid for liberty and culture4 ,the splendid courtiers whose 8apparel0 specially pleased the feminine tastes of the queen of ,sheba might feel all the contempt of the superior person for ,david's war-worn veterans4 ,the latter probably were more at home in the 8store cities0 than at ,jerusalem4 ,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 palaces4 ,the blessings of peace are not likely to be preserved unless men still appreciate and cherish the stern virtues that flourish in troubled times4 ,if our own times become troubled1 and their serenity be invaded by fierce conflict1 it will be ours to remember that the rugged life of 8the hold in the wilderness0 and the struggles with the ,philistines may enable a later generation to build its temple to the ,lord and to learn the answers to 8hard questions407#bdh7 ,moses and ,joshua1 ,david and ,solomon1 remind us again how the ,divine work is handed on from generation to generation3 ,moses leads ,israel through the wilderness1 but ,joshua brings them into the ,land of ,promise2 ,david collects the materials1 but ,solomon builds the ,temple4 ,the settlement in ,palestine and the building of the ,temple were only episodes in the working out of the 8one increasing purpose10 but one leader and one life-time did not suffice for either episode4 ,we grow impatient of the scale upon which ,god works3 we want it reduced to the limits of our human faculties and of our earthly lives2 yet all history preaches patience4 ,in our demand for ,divine interventions whereby-- 8444 sudden in a minute ,all is accomplished1 and the work is done10 we are very ,esaus1 eager to sell the birthright of the future for a mess of pottage to-day4 ,and the continuity of the ,divine purpose is only realised through the continuity of human effort4 ,we must indeed serve our own generation2 but part of that service consists in providing that the next generation shall be trained to carry on the work1 and that after ,david shall come ,solomon--the ,solomon of ,chronicles1 and not the ,solomon of ,kings--and that1 if possible1 ,solomon shall not be succeeded by ,rehoboam4 ,as we attain this larger outlook1 we shall be less tempted to employ doubtful means1 which are supposed to be justified by their end2 we shall be less enthusiastic for processes that bring 8quick returns10 but give very 8small profits0 in the long run4 ,christian workers are a little too fond of spiritual jerry-building1 as if sites in the kingdom of heaven were let out on ninety-nine-year leases2 but ,god builds for eternity1 and we are fellow-workers together with ,him4 ,to complete the chronicler's picture of the ideal king1 we have to add ,david's warlike prowess and ,solomon's wisdom and splendour to the piety and graces common to both4 ,the result is unique among the many pictures that have been drawn by historians1 philosophers1 and poets4 ,it has a value of its own1 because the chronicler's gifts in the way of history1 philosophy1 and poetry were entirely subordinated to his interest in theology2 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 patron4 ,the full-length portrait in ,chronicles contrasts curiously with the little vignette preserved in the book which bears the name of ,solomon4 ,there1 in the oracle which ,king ,lemuel's mother taught him1 the king is simply admonished to avoid strange women and strong drink1 to 8judge righteously1 and minister judgment to the poor and needy407#bdi7 ,to pass to more modern theology1 the theory of the king that is implied in ,chronicles has much in common with ,wyclif's doctrine of dominion3 they both recognise the sanctity of the royal power and its temporal supremacy1 and they both hold that obedience to ,god is the condition of the continued exercise of legitimate rule4 ,but the priest of ,lutterworth was less ecclesiastical and more democratic than our ,levite4 ,a more orthodox authority on the ,protestant doctrine of the king would be the ,thirty-nine ,articles4 ,these1 however1 deal with the subject somewhat slightly4 ,as far as they go1 they are in harmony with the chronicler4 ,they assert the unqualified supremacy of the king1 both ecclesiastical and civil4 ,even 8general councils may not be gathered together without the commandment and will of princes407#bej7 ,on the other hand1 princes are not to imitate ,uzziah in presuming to exercise the priestly function of offering incense3 they are not to minister ,god's word or sacraments4 ,outside theology the ideal of the king has been stated with greater fulness and freedom1 but not many of the pictures drawn have much in common with the chronicler's ,david and ,solomon4 ,machiavelli's prince and ,bolingbroke's patriot king belong to a different world2 moreover1 their method is philosophical1 and not historical3 they state a theory rather than draw a picture4 ,tennyson's ,arthur is1 what he himself calls him1 an 8ideal knight0 rather than an ideal king4 ,perhaps the best parallels to ,david are to be found in the ,cyrus of the ,greek historians and philosophers and the ,alfred of ,english story4 ,alfred indeed combines many of the features both of ,david and ,solomon3 he secured ,english unity1 and was the founder of ,english culture and literature2 he had a keen interest in ecclesiastical affairs1 great gifts of administration1 and much personal attractiveness4 ,cyrus1 again1 specially illustrates what we may call the posthumous fortunes of ,david3 his name stood for the ideal of kingship with both ,greeks and ,persians1 and in the ,cyropdia his life and character are made the basis of a picture of the ideal king4 ,many points are of course common to almost all such pictures2 they portray the king as a capable and benevolent ruler and a man of high personal character4 ,the distinctive characteristic of ,chronicles is the stress laid on the piety of the king1 his care for the honour of ,god and the spiritual welfare of his subjects4 ,if the practical influence of this teaching has not been altogether beneficent1 it is because men have too invariably connected spiritual profit with organisation1 and ceremonies1 and forms of words1 sound or otherwise4 ,but to-day the doctrine of the state takes the place of the doctrine of the king4 ,instead of ,cyropdias we have ,utopias4 ,we are asked sometimes to look back1 not to an ideal king1 but to an ideal commonwealth1 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 8most happy and prosperous02 oftener we are invited to contemplate an imaginary future4 ,we may add to those already made one or two further applications of the chronicler's principles to the modern state4 ,his method suggests that the perfect society will have the virtues of our actual life without its vices1 and that the possibilities of the future are best divined from a careful study of the past4 ,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 will4 ,chapter ,,vii4 ,the ,wicked ,kings4 #b ,chron4 xxviii41 etc4 ,the type of the wicked king is not worked out with any fulness in ,chronicles4 ,there are wicked kings1 but no one is raised to the 8bad eminence0 of an evil counterpart to ,david2 there is no anti-,david1 so to speak1 no prototype of antichrist4 ,the story of ,ahaz1 for instance1 is not given at the same length and with the same wealth of detail as that of ,david4 ,the subject was not so congenial to the kindly heart of the chronicler4 ,he was not imbued with the unhappy spirit of modern realism1 which loves to dwell on all that is foul and ghastly in life and character2 he lingered affectionately over his heroes1 and contented himself with brief notices of his villains4 ,in so doing he was largely following his main authority3 the books of ,samuel and ,kings4 ,there too the stories of ,david and ,solomon1 of ,elijah and ,elisha1 are told much more fully than those of ,jeroboam and ,ahab4 ,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 king4 ,if it had been part of the chronicler's plan to tell the story of ,ahab1 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 ,david4 ,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 ,ahab4 ,but these schismatic kings were 8alienated from the commonwealth of ,israel and strangers from the covenants of the promise1 having no hope and without ,god in the world407#bea7 ,the disobedient sons of the house of ,david were still children within the home1 who might be rebuked and punished2 but the ,samaritan kings1 as the chronicler might style them1 were outcasts1 left to the tender mercies of the dogs1 and sorcerers1 and murderers that were without the ,holy ,city1 ,cains without any protecting mark upon their forehead4 ,hence the wicked kings in ,chronicles are of the house of ,david4 ,therefore the chronicler has a certain tenderness for them1 partly for the sake of their great ancestor1 partly because they are kings of ,judah1 partly because of the sanctity and religious significance of the ,messianic dynasty4 ,these kings are not ,esaus1 for whom there is no place of repentance4 ,the chronicler is happy in being able to discover and record the conversion1 as we should term it1 of some kings whose reigns began in rebellion and apostacy4 ,by a curious compensation1 the kings who begin well end badly1 and those who begin badly end well2 they all tend to about the same average4 ,we read of ,rehoboam7#beb7 that 8when he humbled himself the wrath of the ,lord turned from him1 that he would not destroy him altogether2 and1 moreover1 in ,judah there were good things found02 the wickedness of ,abijah1 which is plainly set forth in the book of ,kings17#bec7 is ignored in ,chronicles2 ,manasseh 8humbled himself greatly before the ,god of his fathers10 and turned altogether from the error of his ways7#bed72 the unfavourable judgment on ,jehoahaz recorded in the book of ,kings1 8,and he did that which was evil in the sight of the ,lord1 according to all that his fathers had done107#bee7 is omitted in ,chronicles4 ,there remain seven wicked kings of whom nothing but evil is recorded3 ,jehoram1 ,ahaziah1 ,ahaz1 ,amon1 ,jehoiakim1 ,jehoiachin1 and ,zedekiah4 ,of these we may take ,ahaz as the most typical instance4 ,as in the cases of ,david and ,solomon1 we will first see how the chronicler has dealt with the material derived from the book of ,kings2 then we will give his account of the career of ,ahaz2 and finally1 by a brief comparison of what is told of ,ahaz with the history of the other wicked kings1 we will try to construct the chronicler's idea of the wicked king and to deduce its lessons4 ,the importance of the additions made by the chronicler to the history in the book of ,kings will appear later on4 ,in his account of the attack made upon ,ahaz by ,rezin1 king of ,damascus1 and ,pekah1 king of ,israel1 he emphasises the incidents most discreditable to ,ahaz4 ,the book of ,kings simply states that the two allies 8came up to ,jerusalem to war2 and they besieged ,ahaz1 but could not overcome him07#bef72 ,chronicles dwells upon the sufferings and losses inflicted on ,judah by this invasion4 ,the book of ,kings might have conveyed the impression that the wicked king had been allowed to triumph over his enemies2 ,chronicles guards against this dangerous error by detailing the disasters that ,ahaz brought upon his country4 ,the book of ,kings also contains an interesting account of alterations made by ,ahaz in the ,temple and its furniture4 ,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 ,damascus4 ,as ,chronicles narrates the closing of the ,temple by ,ahaz1 it naturally omits these previous alterations4 ,moreover1 ,urijah appears in the book of ,isaiah as a friend of the prophet1 and is referred to by him as a 8faithful witness407#beg7 ,the chronicler would not wish to perplex his readers with the problem1 ,how could the high-priest1 whom ,isaiah trusted as a faithful witness1 become the agent of a wicked king1 and construct an altar for ,jehovah after a heathen pattern8 ,the chronicler's story of ,ahaz runs thus4 ,this wicked king had been preceded by three good kings3 ,amaziah1 ,uzziah1 and ,jotham4 ,amaziah indeed had turned away from following ,jehovah at the end of his reign1 but ,uzziah had been zealous for ,jehovah throughout1 not wisely1 but too well2 and ,jotham shares with ,solomon the honour of a blameless record4 ,without counting ,amaziah's reign1 king and people had been loyal to ,jehovah for sixty or seventy years4 ,the court of the good kings would be the centre of piety and devotion4 ,ahaz1 no doubt1 had been carefully trained in obedience to the law of ,jehovah1 and had grown up in the atmosphere of true religion4 ,possibly he had known his grandfather ,uzziah in the days of his power and glory2 but at any rate1 while ,ahaz was a child1 ,uzziah was living as a leper in his 8several house10 and ,ahaz must have been familiar with this melancholy warning against presumptuous interference with the ,divine ordinances of worship4 ,ahaz was twenty years old when he came to the throne1 so that he had time to profit by a complete education1 and should scarcely have found opportunity to break away from its influence4 ,his mother's name is not mentioned1 so that we cannot say whether1 as may have been the case with ,rehoboam1 some ,ammonite woman led him astray from the ,god of his fathers4 ,as far as we can learn from our author1 ,ahaz sinned against light and knowledge2 with every opportunity and incentive to keep in the right path1 he yet went astray4 ,this is a common feature in the careers of the wicked kings4 ,it has often been remarked that the first great specialist on education failed utterly in the application of his theories to his own son4 ,jehoshaphat1 ,hezekiah1 and ,josiah were the most distinguished and the most virtuous of the reforming kings1 yet ,jehoshaphat was succeeded by ,jehoram1 who was almost as wicked as ,ahaz2 ,hezekiah's son 8,manasseh made ,judah and the inhabitants of ,jerusalem to err1 so that they did evil more than did the nations whom the ,lord destroyed before the children of ,israel027#beh7 ,josiah's son and grandsons 8did evil in the sight of the ,lord407#bei7 ,many reasons may be suggested for this too familiar spectacle3 the impious son of a godly father1 the bad successor of a good king4 ,heirs-apparent have always been inclined to head an opposition to their fathers' policy1 and sometimes on their accession they have reversed that policy4 ,when the father himself has been a zealous reformer1 the interests that have been harassed by reform are eager to encourage his successor in a retrograde policy2 and reforming zeal is often tinged with an inconsiderate harshness that provokes the opposition of younger and brighter spirits4 ,but1 after all1 this atavism in kings is chiefly an illustration of the slow growth of the higher nature in man4 ,practically each generation starts afresh with an unregenerate nature of its own1 and often nature is too strong for education4 ,moreover1 a young king of ,judah was subject to the evil influence of his northern neighbour4 ,judah was often politically subservient to ,samaria1 and politics and religion have always been very intimately associated4 ,at the accession of ,ahaz the throne of ,samaria was filled by ,pekah1 whose twenty years' tenure of authority indicates ability and strength of character4 ,it is not difficult to understand how ,ahaz was led 8to walk in the ways of the kings of ,israel0 and 8to make molten images for the ,baals40 ,nothing is told us of the actual circumstances of these innovations4 ,the new reign was probably inaugurated by the dismissal of ,jotham's ministers and the appointment of the personal favourites of the new king4 ,the restoration of old idolatrous cults would be a natural advertisement of a new departure in the government4 ,so when the establishment of ,christianity was a novelty in the empire1 and men were not assured of its permanence1 ,julian's accession was accompanied by an apostacy to paganism2 and later aspirants to the purple promised to follow his example4 ,but the worship of ,jehovah was not at once suppressed4 ,he was not deposed from ,his throne as the ,divine ,king of ,judah2 ,he was only called upon to share ,his royal authority with the ,baals of the neighbouring peoples4 ,but although the ,temple services might still be performed1 the king was mainly interested in introducing and observing a variety of heathen rites4 ,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 patronage4 ,but the king's apostacy was not confined to the milder forms of idolatry4 ,his weak mind was irresistibly attracted by the morbid fascination of the cruel rites of ,moloch3 8,he burnt incense in the valley of the son of ,hinnom1 and burnt his children in the fire1 according to the abomination of the heathen1 whom the ,lord cast out before the children of ,israel40 ,the king's devotions to his new gods were rudely interrupted4 ,the insulted majesty of ,jehovah was vindicated by two disastrous invasions4 ,first1 ,ahaz was defeated by ,rezin1 king of ,syria1 who carried away a great multitude of captives to ,damascus2 the next enemy was one of those kings of ,israel in whose idolatrous ways ,ahaz had chosen to walk4 ,the delicate flattery implied by ,ahaz becoming ,pekah's proselyte failed to conciliate that monarch4 ,he too defeated the ,jews with great slaughter4 ,amongst his warriors was a certain ,zichri1 whose achievements recalled the prowess of ,david's mighty men3 he slew ,maaseiah the king's son and ,azrikam1 the ruler of the house1 the ,lord ,high ,chamberlain1 and ,elkanah1 that was next unto the king1 the ,prime ,minister4 ,with these notables1 there perished in a single day a hundred and twenty thousand ,jews1 all of them valiant men4 ,their wives and children1 to the number of two hundred thousand1 were carried captive to ,samaria4 ,all these misfortunes happened to ,judah 8because they had forsaken ,jehovah1 the ,god of their fathers40 ,and yet ,jehovah in wrath remembered mercy4 ,the ,israelite army approached ,samaria with their endless train of miserable captives1 women and children1 ragged and barefoot1 some even naked1 filthy and footsore with forced marches1 left hungry and thirsty after prisoners' scanty rations4 ,multiply a thousandfold the scenes depicted on ,egyptian and ,assyrian monuments1 and you have the picture of this great slave caravan4 ,the captives probably had no reason to fear the barbarities which the ,assyrians loved to inflict upon their prisoners1 but yet their prospects were sufficiently gloomy4 ,before them lay a life of drudgery and degradation in ,samaria4 ,the more wealthy might hope to be ransomed by their friends2 others1 again1 might be sold to the ,phnician traders1 to be carried by them to the great slave marts of ,nineveh and ,babylon or even oversea to ,greece4 ,but in a moment all was changed4 8,there was a prophet of ,jehovah1 whose name was ,oded1 and he went out to meet the army and said unto them1 ,behold1 because ,jehovah1 the ,god of your fathers1 was wroth with ,judah1 ,he hath delivered them into your hand2 and ye have slain them in a rage which hath reached up unto heaven4 ,and now ye purpose to keep the children of ,judah and of ,jerusalem for male and female slaves2 but are there not even with you trespasses of your own against ,jehovah your ,god8 ,now hear me therefore1 and send back the captives1 for the fierce wrath of ,jehovah is upon you40 ,meanwhile 8the princes and all the congregation of ,samaria0 were waiting to welcome their victorious army1 possibly in 8the void place at the entering in of the gate of ,samaria40 ,oded's words1 at any rate1 had been uttered in their presence4 ,the army did not at once respond to the appeal2 the two hundred thousand slaves were the most valuable part of their spoil1 and they were not eager to make so great a sacrifice4 ,but the princes made ,oded's message their own4 ,four heads of the children of ,ephraim are mentioned by name as the spokesmen of the 8congregation10 the king being apparently absent on some other warlike expedition4 ,these four were ,azariah the son of ,johanan1 ,berechiah the son of ,meshillemoth1 ,jehizkiah the son of ,shallum1 and ,amasa the son of ,hadlai4 ,possibly among the children of ,ephraim who dwelt in ,jerusalem after the ,return there were descendants of these men1 from whom the chronicler obtained the particulars of this incident4 ,the princes 8stood up against them that came from the war10 and forbade their bringing the captives into the city4 ,they repeated and expanded the words of the prophet3 8,ye purpose that which will bring upon us a trespass against ,jehovah1 to add unto our sins and to our trespass1 for our trespass is great1 and there is fierce wrath against ,israel40 ,the army were either convinced by the eloquence or overawed by the authority of the prophet and the princes3 8,they left the captives and the spoil before all the princes and the congregation40 ,and the four princes 8rose up1 and took the captives1 and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them1 and arrayed them1 and shod them1 and gave them to eat and to drink1 and anointed them1 and carried all the feeble of them upon asses1 and brought them to ,jericho1 the city of palm trees1 unto their brethren2 then they returned to ,samaria40 ,apart from incidental allusions1 this is the last reference in ,chronicles to the northern kingdom4 ,the long history of division and hostility closes with this humane recognition of the brotherhood of ,israel and ,judah4 ,the sun1 so to speak1 did not go down upon their wrath4 ,but the king of ,israel had no personal share in this gracious act4 ,at the first it was ,jeroboam that made ,israel to sin2 throughout the history the responsibility for the continued division would specially rest upon the kings1 and at the last there is no sign of ,pekah's repentance and no prospect of his pardon4 ,the various incidents of the invasions of ,rezin and ,pekah were alike a solemn warning and an impressive appeal to the apostate king of ,judah4 ,he had multiplied to himself gods of the nations round about1 and yet had been left without an ally1 at the mercy of a hostile confederation1 against whom his new gods either could not or would not defend him4 ,the wrath of ,jehovah had brought upon ,ahaz one crushing defeat after another1 and yet the only mitigation of the sufferings of ,judah had also been the work of ,jehovah4 ,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 home4 ,the princes and people of ,samaria had hearkened to his message1 and the two hundred thousand captives stood there as the monument of ,jehovah's compassion and of the obedient piety of ,israel4 ,sin was bound to bring punishment2 and yet ,jehovah waited to be gracious4 ,wherever there was room for mercy1 ,he would show mercy4 ,his wrath and ,his compassion had alike been displayed before ,ahaz4 ,other gods could not protect their worshippers against ,him2 ,he only could deliver and restore ,his people4 ,he had not even waited for ,ahaz to repent before ,he had given him proof of ,his willingness to forgive47#bfj7 ,such ,divine goodness was thrown away upon ,ahaz2 there was no token of repentance1 no promise of amendment2 and so ,jehovah sent further judgments upon the king and his unhappy people4 ,the ,edomites came and smote ,judah1 and carried away captives2 the ,philistines also invaded the cities of the lowland and of the south of ,judah1 and took ,beth-shemesh1 ,aijalon1 ,gederoth1 ,soco1 ,timnah1 ,gimzo1 and their dependent villages1 and dwelt in them2 and ,jehovah brought ,judah low because of ,ahaz4 ,and the king hardened his heart yet more against ,jehovah1 and cast away all restraint1 and trespassed sore against ,jehovah4 ,instead of submitting himself1 he sought the aid of the kings of ,assyria1 only to receive another proof of the vanity of all earthly help so long as he remained unreconciled to ,heaven4 ,tilgath-pilneser1 king of ,assyria1 welcomed this opportunity of interfering in the affairs of ,western ,asia1 and saw attractive prospects of levying blackmail impartially on his ally and his enemies4 ,he came unto ,ahaz1 8and distressed him1 but strengthened him not40 ,these new troubles were the occasion of fresh wickedness on the part of the king3 to pay the price of this worse than useless intervention1 he took away a portion not only from his own treasury and from the princes1 but also from the treasury of the ,temple1 and gave it to the king of ,assyria4 ,thus betrayed and plundered by his new ally1 he trespassed 8yet more against ,jehovah1 this same king ,ahaz40 ,it is almost incredible that one man could be guilty of so much sin2 the chronicler is anxious that his readers should appreciate the extraordinary wickedness of this man1 this same king ,ahaz4 ,in him the chastening of the ,lord yielded no peaceable fruit of righteousness2 he would not see that his misfortunes were sent from the offended ,god of ,israel4 ,with perverse ingenuity1 he found in them an incentive to yet further wickedness4 ,his pantheon was not large enough4 ,he had omitted to worship the gods of ,damascus4 ,these must be powerful deities1 whom it would be worth while to conciliate1 because they had enabled the kings of ,syria to overrun and pillage ,judah4 ,therefore ,ahaz sacrificed to the gods of ,syria1 that they might help him4 8,but10 says the chronicler1 8they were the ruin of him and of all ,israel40 ,still ,ahaz went on consistently with his policy of comprehensive eclecticism4 ,he made ,jerusalem a very ,athens for altars1 which were set up at every street corner2 he discovered yet other gods whom it might be advisable to adore3 8,and in every several city of ,judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods40 ,hitherto ,jehovah had still received some share of the worship of this most religious king1 but apparently ,ahaz came to regard ,him as the least powerful of his many supernatural allies4 ,he attributed his misfortunes1 not to the anger1 but to the helplessness1 of ,jehovah4 ,jehovah was specially the ,god of ,israel2 if disaster after disaster fell upon ,his people1 ,he was evidently less potent than ,baal1 or ,moloch1 or ,rimmon4 ,it was a useless expense to maintain the worship of so impotent a deity4 ,perhaps the apostate king was acting in the blasphemous spirit of the savage who flogs his idol when his prayers are not answered4 ,jehovah1 he thought1 should be punished for ,his neglect of the interests of ,judah4 8,ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of ,god1 and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of ,god1 and shut up the doors of the house of ,jehovah027#bfa7 he had filled up the measure of his iniquities4 ,and thus it came to pass that in the ,holy ,city1 8which ,jehovah had chosen to cause ,his name to dwell there10 almost the only deity who was not worshipped was ,jehovah4 ,ahaz did homage to the gods of all the nations before whom he had been humiliated2 the royal sacrifices smoked upon a hundred altars1 but no sweet savour of burnt offering ascended to ,jehovah4 ,the fragrance of the perpetual incense no longer filled the holy place morning and evening2 the seven lamps of the golden candlestick were put out1 and the ,temple was given up to darkness and desolation4 ,ahaz had contented himself with stripping the sanctuary of its treasures2 but the building itself1 though closed1 suffered no serious injury4 ,a stranger visiting the city1 and finding it full of idols1 could not fail to notice the great pile of the ,temple and to inquire what image1 splendid above all others1 occupied that magnificent shrine4 ,like ,pompey1 he would learn with surprise that it was not the dwelling-place of any image1 but the symbol of an almighty and invisible presence4 ,even if the stranger were some ,moabite worshipper of ,chemosh1 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 ancestors4 ,the annals of ,egypt and ,babylon told of the misfortunes which had befallen those monarchs who were unfaithful to their national gods4 ,the pious heathen would anticipate disaster as the punishment of ,ahaz's apostacy4 ,meanwhile the ministers of the ,temple shared its ruin and degradation2 but they could feel the assurance that ,jehovah would yet recall ,his people to their allegiance and manifest ,himself once more in the ,temple4 ,the house of ,aaron and the tribe of ,levi possessed their souls in patience till the final judgment of ,jehovah should fall upon the apostate4 ,they had not long to wait3 after a reign of only sixteen years1 ,ahaz died at the early age of thirty-six4 ,we are not told that he died in battle or by the visitation of ,god4 ,his health may have been broken by his many misfortunes1 or by vicious practices that would naturally accompany his manifold idolatries2 but in any case his early death would be regarded as a ,divine judgment4 ,the breath was scarcely out of his body before his religious innovations were swept away by a violent reaction4 ,the people at once passed sentence of condemnation on his memory3 8,they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of ,israel407#bfb7 ,his successor inaugurated his reign by reopening the ,temple1 and brought back ,judah to the obedience of ,jehovah4 ,the monuments of the impious worship of the wicked king1 his multitudinous idols1 and their ritual passed away like an evil dream1 like 8the track of a ship in the sea or a bird in the air40 ,the leading features of this career are common to most of the wicked kings and to the evil days of the good kings 8,walking in the ways of the kings of ,israel0 was the great crime of ,jehoshaphat and his successors ,jehoram and ,ahaziah4 ,other kings1 like ,manasseh1 built high places and followed after the abominations of the heathen whom ,jehovah cast out before the children of ,israel4 ,asa's lapse into wickedness began by plundering the ,temple treasury to purchase an alliance with a heathen king1 the king of ,syria1 against whose successor ,ahaz in his turn hired the king of ,assyria4 ,amaziah adopted the gods of ,edom1 as ,ahaz the gods of ,syria1 but with less excuse1 for ,amaziah had conquered ,edom4 ,other crimes are recorded among the evil doings of the kings3 ,asa had recourse to physicians1 that is1 probably to magic2 ,jehoram slew his brethren2 ,joash murdered the son of his benefactor ,jehoiada2 but the supreme sin was disloyalty to ,jehovah and the ,temple1 and of this sin the chronicler's brief history of ,ahaz is the most striking illustration4 ,ahaz is the typical apostate3 he hardens his heart alike against the mercy of ,jehovah and against ,his repeated judgment4 ,he is a very ,pharaoh among the kings of ,judah4 ,the discipline that should have led to repentance is continually perverted to be the occasion of new sin1 and at last the apostate dies in his iniquity4 ,the effect of the picture is heightened by its insistence on this one sin of apostacy2 other sins are illustrated and condemned elsewhere1 but here the chronicler would have us concentrate our attention on the rise1 progress1 and ruin of the apostate4 ,indeed1 this one sin implied and involved all others2 the man who suppressed the worship of ,jehovah1 and revelled in the obscene superstitions of heathen cults1 was obviously capable of any enormity4 ,the chronicler is not indifferent to morality as compared with ritual1 and he sees in the neglect of ,divinely appointed ritual an indication of a character rotten through and through4 ,in his time neglect of ritual on the part of the average man or the average king implied neglect of religion1 or rather adherence to an alien and immoral faith4 ,thus the supreme sin of the wicked kings naturally contrasts with the highest virtue of the good kings4 ,the standing of both is determined by their attitude towards ,jehovah4 ,the character of the good kings is developed in greater detail than that of their wicked brethren2 but we should not misrepresent the chronicler's views1 if we ascribed to the wicked kings all the vices antithetic to the virtues of his royal ideal4 ,nevertheless the picture actually drawn fixes our attention upon their impious denial of the ,god of ,israel4 ,much ,church history has been written on the same principle3 ,constantine is a saint because he established ,christianity2 ,julian is an incarnation of wickedness because he became an apostate2 we praise the orthodox ,theodosius1 and blame the ,arian ,valens4 ,protestant historians have canonised ,henry ,,viii4 and ,elizabeth1 and have prefixed an unholy epithet to the name of their kinswoman1 while ,romanist writers interchange these verdicts4 ,but underlying even such opposite judgments there is the same valid principle1 the principle that was in the mind of the chronicler3 that the king's relation to the highest and purest truth accessible to him1 whatever that truth may be1 is a just criterion of his whole character4 ,the historian may err in applying the criterion1 but its general principle is none the less sound4 ,for the character of the wicked nation we are not left to the general suggestions that may be derived from the wicked king4 ,the prophets show us that it was by no vicarious condemnation that priests and people shared the ruin of their sovereign4 ,in their pages the subject is treated from many points of view3 ,israel and ,judah1 ,edom and ,tyre1 ,egypt1 ,assyria1 and ,babylon1 serve in their turn as models for the picture of the wicked nation4 ,in the ,apocalypse the ancient picture is adapted to new circumstances1 and the ,city of the ,seven ,hills takes the place of ,babylon4 ,modern prophets have further adapted the treatment of the subject to their own times1 and for the most part to their own people4 ,with stern and uncompromising patriotism1 ,carlyle and ,ruskin have sought righteousness for ,england even at the expense of its reputation2 they have emphasised its sin and selfishness in order to produce repentance and reform4 ,for other teachers the history of foreign peoples has furnished the picture of the wicked nation1 and the ,france of the ,revolution or the 8unspeakable0 ,turk has been held up as an example of all that is abominable in national life4 ,any detailed treatment of this theme in ,scripture would need an exposition1 not merely of ,chronicles1 but of the whole ,bible4 ,we may1 however1 make one general application of the chronicler's principle that the wicked nation is the nation that forgets ,god4 ,we do not now measure a people's religion by the number and magnificence of its priests and churches1 or by the amount of money devoted to the maintenance of public worship4 ,the most fatal symptoms of national depravity are the absence of a healthy public opinion1 indifference to character in politics1 neglect of education as a means of developing character1 and the stifling of the spirit of brotherhood in a desperate struggle for existence4 ,when ,god is thus forgotten1 and the gracious influences of ,his ,spirit are no longer recognised in public and private life1 a country may well be degraded into the ranks of the wicked nations4 ,the perfectly general terms in which the doings and experiences of ,ahaz are described facilitate the application of their warnings to the ordinary individual4 ,his royal station only appears in the form and scale of his wickedness1 which in its essence is common to him with the humblest sinner4 ,every young man enters1 like ,ahaz1 upon a royal inheritance2 character and career are as all-important to a peasant or a shopgirl as they are to an emperor or a queen4 ,when a girl of seventeen or a youth of twenty succeeds to some historic throne1 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 womanhood4 ,alas1 this heavy burden and these grave issues are but the common lot4 ,the young sovereign is happy in the fierce light that beats upon his throne1 for he is not allowed to forget the dignity and importance of life4 ,history1 with its stories of good and wicked kings1 has obviously been written for his instruction2 if the time be out of joint1 as it mostly is1 he has been born to set it right4 ,it is all true1 yet it is equally true for every one of his subjects4 ,his lot is only the common lot set upon a hill1 in the full sunlight1 to illustrate1 interpret1 and influence lower and obscurer lives4 ,people take such eager interest in the doings of royal families1 their christenings1 weddings1 and funerals1 because therein the common experience is1 as it were1 glorified into adequate dignity and importance4 8,ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign1 and he reigned sixteen years in ,jerusalem02 but most men and women begin to reign before they are twenty4 ,the history of ,judah for those sixteen years was really determined long before ,ahaz was invested with crown and sceptre4 ,men should all be educated to reign1 to respect themselves and appreciate their opportunities4 ,we do in some measure adopt this principle with promising lads4 ,their energies are stimulated by the prospect of making a fortune or a name1 or the more soaring imagination dreams of a seat on the woolsack or on one of the ,front ,benches4 ,gifted girls are also encouraged1 as becomes their gifts1 to achieve a brilliant marriage or a popular novel4 ,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 people4 ,it may then be possible to induce the ordinary young man to take a serious interest in his own future4 ,the stress laid on the sanctity and supreme value of the individual soul has always been a vital element of evangelical teaching2 like most other evangelical truths1 it is capable of deeper meaning and wider application than are commonly recognised in systematic theology4 ,we have kept our sovereign waiting too long on the threshold of his kingdom2 his courtiers and his people are impatient to know the character and intentions of their new master4 ,so with every heir who succeeds to his royal inheritance4 ,the fortunes of millions may depend upon the will of some young ,czar or ,kaiser2 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 factory2 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 8turn out0 when they take their destinies into their own hands and begin to reign4 ,already perhaps some tender maiden watches in hope and fear1 in mingled pride and misgiving1 the rapidly unfolding character of the youth to whom she has promised to commit all the happiness of a life-time4 ,and to each one in turn there comes the choice of ,hercules2 according to the chronicler's phrase1 the young king may either 8do right in the eyes of ,jehovah1 like ,david his father10 or he may walk 8in the ways of the kings of ,israel1 and make molten images for the ,baals40 ,the 8right doings of ,david his father0 may point to family traditions1 which set a high standard of noble conduct for each succeeding generation4 ,the teaching and influence of the pious ,jotham are represented by the example of godliness set in many a ,christian home1 by the wise and loving counsel of parents and friends4 ,and ,ahaz has many modern parallels1 sons and daughters upon whom every good influence seems spent in vain4 ,they are led astray into the ways of the kings of ,israel1 and make molten images for the ,baals4 ,there were several dynasties of the kings of ,israel1 and the ,baals were many and various2 there are many tempters who deliberately or unconsciously lay snares for souls1 and they serve different powers of evil4 ,israel was for the most part more powerful1 wealthy1 and cultured than ,judah4 ,when ,ahaz came to the throne as a mere youth1 ,pekah was apparently in the prime of life and the zenith of power4 ,he is no inapt symbol of what the modern tempter at any rate desires to appear3 the showy1 pretentious man of the world1 who parades his knowledge of life1 and impresses the inexperienced youth with his shrewdness and success1 and makes his victim eager to imitate him1 to walk in the ways of the kings of ,israel4 ,moreover1 the prospect of making molten images for the ,baals is an insidious temptation4 ,ahaz perhaps found the decorous worship of the one ,god dull and monotonous4 ,baals meant new gods and new rites1 with all the excitement of novelty and variety4 ,jotham may not have realised that this youth of twenty was a man3 the heir-apparent may have been treated as a child and left too much to the women of the harem4 ,responsible activity might have saved ,ahaz4 ,the ,church needs to recognise that healthy1 vigorous youth craves interesting occupation and even excitement4 ,if a father wishes to send his son to the devil1 he cannot do better than make that son's life1 both secular and religious1 a routine of monotonous drudgery4 ,then any pinchbeck king of ,israel will seem a marvel of wit and good fellowship1 and the making of molten images a most pleasing diversion4 ,a molten image is something solid1 permanent1 and conspicuous1 a standing advertisement of the enterprise and artistic taste of the maker2 he engraves his name on the pedestal1 and is proud of the honourable distinction4 ,many of our modern molten images are duly set forth in popular works1 for instance the reputation for impure life1 or hard drinking1 or reckless gambling1 to achieve which some men have spent their time1 and money1 and toil4 ,other molten images are dedicated to another class of ,baals3 ,mammon the respectable and ,belial the polite4 ,the next step in the history of ,ahaz is also typical of many a rake's progress4 ,the king of ,israel1 in whose ways he has walked1 turns upon him and plunders him2 the experienced man of the world gives his pupil painful proof of his superiority1 and calls in his confederates to share the spoil4 ,now surely the victim's eyes will be opened to the life he is leading and the character of his associates4 ,by no means4 ,ahaz has been conquered by ,syria1 and therefore he will worship the gods of ,syria1 and he will have a confederate of his own in the ,assyrian king4 ,the victim tries to master the arts by which he has been robbed and ill-treated2 he will become as unscrupulous as his masters in wickedness4 ,he seeks the profit and distinction of being the accomplice of bold and daring sinners1 men as pre-eminent in evil as ,tilgath-pilneser in ,western ,asia2 and they1 like the ,assyrian king1 take his money and accept his flattery3 they use him and then cast him off more humiliated and desperate than ever4 ,he sinks into a prey of meaner scoundrels3 the ,edomites and ,philistines of fast life2 and then1 in his extremity1 he builds new high places and sacrifices to more new gods2 he has recourse to all the shifty expedients and sordid superstitions of the devotees of luck and chance4 ,all this while he has still paid some external homage to religion2 he has observed the conventions of honour and good breeding4 ,there have been services1 as it were1 in the temple of ,jehovah4 ,now he begins to feel that this deference has not met with an adequate reward2 he has been no better treated than the flagrantly disreputable3 indeed1 these men have often got the better of him4 8,it is vain to serve ,god2 what profit is there in keeping ,his charge and in walking mournfully before the ,lord of hosts8 ,the proud are called happy2 they that work wickedness are built up3 they tempt ,god1 and are delivered40 ,his moods vary2 and1 with reckless inconsistency1 he sometimes derides religion as worthless and unmeaning1 and sometimes seeks to make ,god responsible for his sins and misfortunes4 ,at one time he says he knows all about religion and has seen through it2 he was brought up to pious ways1 and his mature judgment has shown him that piety is a delusion2 he will no longer countenance its hypocrisy and cant3 at another time he complains that he has been exposed to special temptations and has not been provided with special safeguards2 the road that leads to life has been made too steep and narrow1 and he has been allowed without warning and remonstrance to tread 8the primrose path that leads to the everlasting bonfire02 he will cast off altogether the dull formalities and irksome restraints of religion2 he will work wickedness with a proud heart and a high hand4 ,his happiness and success have been hindered by pedantic scruples2 now he will be built up and delivered from his troubles4 ,he gets rid of the few surviving relics of the old honourable life4 ,the service of prayer and praise ceases2 the lamp of truth is put out2 the incense of holy thought no longer perfumes the soul2 and the temple of the ,spirit is left empty1 and dark1 and desolate4 ,at last1 in what should be the prime of manhood1 the sinner1 broken-hearted1 worn out in mind and body1 sinks into a dishonoured grave4 ,the career and fate of ,ahaz may have other parallels besides this1 but it is sufficiently clear that the chronicler's picture of the wicked king is no mere antiquarian study of a vanished past4 ,it lends itself with startling facility to illustrate the fatal downward course of any man who1 entering on the royal inheritance of human life1 allies himself with the powers of darkness and finally becomes their slave4 ,chapter ,,viii4 ,the ,priests4 ,the ,israelite priesthood must be held to include the ,levites4 ,their functions and status differed from those of the house of ,aaron in degree1 and not in kind4 ,they formed a hereditary caste set apart for the service of the sanctuary1 and as such they shared the revenues of the ,temple with the sons of ,aaron4 ,the priestly character of the ,levites is more than once implied in ,chronicles4 ,after the disruption1 we are told that 8the priests and the ,levites that were in all ,israel resorted to ,rehoboam10 because 8,jeroboam and his sons cast them off1 that they should not exercise the priest's office unto ,jehovah40 ,on an emergency1 as at ,hezekiah's great feast at the reopening of the ,temple1 the ,levites might even discharge priestly functions4 ,moreover1 the chronicler seems to recognise the priestly character of the whole tribe of ,levi by retaining in a similar connection the old phrase 8the priests the ,levites407#bfc7 ,the relation of the ,levites to the priests1 the sons of ,aaron1 was not that of laymen to clergy1 but of an inferior clerical order to their superiors4 ,when ,charlotte ,bront has occasion to devote a chapter to curates1 she heads it 8,levitical40 ,the ,levites1 again1 like deacons in the ,church of ,england1 were forbidden to perform the most sacred ritual of ,divine service4 ,technically their relation to the sons of ,aaron might be compared to that of deacons to priests or of priests to bishops4 ,from the point of view of numbers17#bfd7 revenues1 and social standing1 the sons of ,aaron might be compared to the dignitaries of the ,church3 archbishops1 bishops1 archdeacons1 deans1 and incumbents of livings with large incomes and little work2 while the ,levites would correspond to the more moderately paid and fully occupied clergy4 ,thus the nature of the distinction between the priests and the ,levites shows that they were essentially only two grades of the same order2 and this corresponds roughly to what has been generally denoted by the term 8priesthood40 ,priest-hood1 however1 had a more limited meaning in ,israel than in later times4 ,in some branches of the ,christian ,church1 the priests exercise or claim to exercise functions which in ,israel belonged to the prophets or the king4 ,before considering the central and essential idea of the priest as a minister of public worship1 we will notice some of his minor duties4 ,we have seen that the sanctity of civil government is emphasised by the religious supremacy of the king2 the same truth is also illustrated by the fact that the priests and ,levites were sometimes the king's officers for civil affairs4 ,under ,david1 certain ,levites of ,hebron are spoken of as having the oversight of all ,israel1 both east and west of ,jordan1 not only 8for all the business of ,jehovah10 but also 8for the service of the king407#bfe7 ,the business of the law-courts was recognised by ,jehoshaphat as the judgment of ,jehovah1 and accordingly amongst the judges there were priests and ,levites47#bff7 ,similarly the medival governments often found their most efficient and trustworthy administrators in the bishops and clergy1 and were glad to reinforce their secular authority by the sanction of the ,church2 and even to-day bishops sit in ,parliament3 incumbents preside over vestries1 and sometimes act as county magistrates4 ,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 denominations4 ,the chronicler refers more than once to the educational work of the priests1 and especially of the ,levites4 ,the ,english version probably gives his real meaning when it attributes to him the phrase 8teaching priest407#bfg7 ,jehoshaphat's educational commission was largely composed of priests and ,levites1 and ,levites are spoken of as scribes4 ,jewish education was largely religious1 and naturally fell into the hands of the priesthood1 just as the learning of ,egypt and ,babylon was chiefly in the hands of priests and magi4 ,the ,christian ministry maintained the ancient traditions3 the monasteries were the homes of medival learning1 and till recently ,england and ,scotland mainly owed their schools to the ,churches1 and almost all schoolmasters of any position were in holy orders--priests and ,levites4 ,under our new educational system the free choice of the people places many ministers of religion on the school boards4 ,the next characteristic of the priesthood is not so much in accordance with ,christian theory and practice4 ,the house of ,aaron and the tribe of ,levi were a ,church militant in a very literal sense4 ,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-countrymen47#bfh7 ,later on1 when 8,israel joined himself unto ,baal-peor1 and the anger of ,jehovah was kindled against ,israel107#bfi7 then stood up ,phinehas1 8the ancestor of the house of ,zadok10 and executed judgment4 8,and so the plague was stayed1 ,and that was counted unto him for righteousness ,unto all generations for evermore407#bgj7 ,but the militant character of the priesthood was not confined to its early history4 ,amongst those who 8came armed for war to ,david to ,hebron to turn the kingdom of ,saul to him1 according to the word of ,jehovah10 were four thousand six hundred of the children of ,levi and three thousand seven hundred of the house of ,aaron1 8and ,zadok1 a young man mighty of valour1 and twenty-two captains of his father's house407#bga7 8,the third captain of ,david's army for the third month was ,benaiah the son of ,jehoiada the priest407#bgb7 ,david's ,hebronite overseers were all 8mighty men of valour40 ,when ,judah went out to war1 the trumpets of the priests gave the signal for battle7#bgc72 when the high-priest ,jehoiada recovered the kingdom for ,joash1 the ,levites compassed the king round about1 every man with his weapons in his hand7#bgd72 when ,nehemiah rebuilt the wall of ,jerusalem1 8every one with one of his hands wrought in the work1 and with the other held his weapon107#bge7 and amongst the rest the priests4 ,later on1 when ,jehovah delivered ,israel from the hand of ,antiochus ,epiphanes1 the priestly family of the ,maccabees1 in the spirit of their ancestor ,phinehas1 fought and died for the ,law and the ,temple4 ,there were priestly soldiers as well as priestly generals1 for we read how 8at that time certain priests1 desirous to show their valour1 were slain in battle1 for that they went out to fight inadvisedly407#bgf7 ,in the ,jewish war the priest ,josephus was ,jewish commander in ,galilee4 ,christianity has aroused a new sentiment with regard to war4 ,we believe that the servant of the ,lord must not strive in earthly battles4 ,arms may be lawful for the ,christian citizen1 but it is felt to be unseemly that the ministers who are the ambassadors of the ,prince of ,peace should themselves be men of blood4 ,even in the ,middle ,ages fighting prelates like ,odo1 ,bishop of ,bayeux1 were felt to be exceptional anomalies2 and the prince-bishops and electoral archbishops were often ecclesiastics only in name4 ,to-day the ,catholic ,church in ,france resents the conscription of its seminarists as an act of vindictive persecution4 ,and yet the growth of ,christian sentiment in favour of peace has not prevented the occasional combination of the soldier and the ecclesiastic4 ,if ,islam has had its armies of dervishes1 ,cyril's monks fought for orthodoxy at ,alexandria and at ,constantinople with all the ferocity of wild beasts4 ,the ,crusaders1 the ,templars1 the ,knights of ,st4 ,john1 were in varying degrees partly priests and partly soldiers4 ,cromwell's ,ironsides1 when they were wielding carnal weapons in their own defence or in any other good cause1 were as expert as any ,levites at exhortations and psalms and prayers2 and in our own day certain generals and admirals are fond of playing the amateur ecclesiastic4 ,in this1 as in so much else1 while we deny the form of ,judaism1 we retain its spirit4 ,havelock and ,gordon were no unworthy successors of the ,maccabees4 ,the characteristic function1 however1 of the ,jewish priesthood was their ministry in public worship1 in which they represented the people before ,jehovah4 ,in this connection public worship does not necessarily imply that the public were present1 or that the worship in question was the united act of a great assembly4 ,such worshipping assemblies were not uncommon1 especially at the feasts2 but ordinary public worship was worship on behalf of the people1 not by the people4 ,the priests and ,levites were part of an elaborate system of symbolic ritual4 ,worshippers might gather in the ,temple courts1 but the ,temple itself was not a place in which public meetings for worship were held1 and the people were not admitted into it4 ,the ,temple was ,jehovah's house1 and ,his presence there was symbolised by the ,ark4 ,in this system of ritual the priests and ,levites represented ,israel2 their sacrifices and ministrations were the acceptable offerings of the nation to ,god4 ,if the sacrifices were duly offered by the priests 8according to all that was written in the law of ,jehovah1 and if the priests with trumpets and the ,levites with psalteries1 and harps1 and cymbals duly ministered before the ark of ,jehovah to celebrate1 and thank1 and praise ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel10 then the ,divine service of ,israel was fully performed4 ,the whole people could not be regularly present at a single sanctuary1 nor would they be adequately represented by the inhabitants of ,jerusalem and casual visitors from the rest of the country4 ,three times a year the nation was fully and naturally represented by those who came up to the feasts1 but usually the priests and ,levites stood in their place4 ,when an assembly gathered for public worship at a feast or any other time1 the priests and ,levites expressed the devotion of the people4 ,they performed the sacrificial rites1 they blew the trumpets and played upon the psalteries1 and harps1 and cymbals1 and sang the praises of ,jehovah4 ,the people were dismissed by the priestly blessing4 ,when an individual offered a sacrifice as an act of private worship1 the assistance of the priests and ,levites was still necessary4 ,at the same time the king as well as the priesthood might lead the people in praise and prayer1 and the ,temple psalmody was not confined to the ,levitical choir4 ,when the ,ark was brought away from ,kirjath-jearim1 8,david and all ,israel played before ,god with all their might1 even with songs1 and with harps1 and with psalteries1 and with timbrels1 and with cymbals1 and with trumpets02 and when at last the ,ark had been safely housed in ,jerusalem1 and the due sacrifices had all been offered1 ,david dismissed the people in priestly fashion by blessing them in the name of ,jehovah47#bgg7 ,at the two solemn assemblies which celebrated the beginning and the close of the great enterprise of building the ,temple1 public prayer was offered1 not by the priests1 but by ,david7#bgh7 and ,solomon47#bgi7 ,similarly ,jehoshaphat led the prayers of the ,jews when they gathered to seek deliverance from the invading ,moabites and ,ammonites4 ,hezekiah at his great passover both exhorted the people and interceded for them1 and ,jehovah accepted his intercession2 but on this occasion1 when the festival was over1 it was not the king1 but 8the priests the ,levites107#bhj7 who 8arose and blessed the people3 and their voice was heard1 and their prayer came up to ,his holy habitation1 even unto heaven40 ,in the descriptions of ,hezekiah's and ,josiah's festivals1 the orchestra and choir1 of course1 are busy with the music and singing2 otherwise the main duty of the priests and ,levites is to sacrifice4 ,in his graphic account of ,josiah's passover1 the chronicler no doubt reproduces on a larger scale the busy scenes in which he himself had often taken part4 ,the king1 the princes1 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 sacrifices2 and the resources of the establishment of the ,temple were taxed to the utmost4 8,so the service was prepared1 and the priests stood in their place1 and the ,levites by the courses1 according to the king's commandment4 ,and they killed the passover1 and the priests sprinkled the blood1 which they received of their hand1 and the ,levites flayed the sacrifices4 ,and they removed the burnt offerings1 that they might give them according to the divisions of the fathers' houses of the children of the people1 to offer unto ,jehovah1 as it is written in the law of ,moses2 and so they did with the oxen4 ,and they roasted the passover according to the ordinance2 and they boiled the holy offerings in pots1 and caldrons1 and pans1 and carried them quickly to all the children of the people4 ,and afterward they prepared for themselves and for the priests1 because the priests the sons of ,aaron were busied in offering the burnt offerings and the fat until night2 therefore the ,levites prepared for themselves and for the priests the sons of ,aaron4 ,and the singers were in their place1 and the porters were at their several gates2 they needed not to depart from their service1 for their brethren the ,levites prepared for them4 ,so all the service of ,jehovah was prepared the same day1 to keep the passover1 and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of ,jehovah407#bha7 ,thus even in the accounts of great public gatherings for worship the main duty of the priests and ,levites is to perform the sacrifices4 ,the music and singing naturally fall into their hands1 because the necessary training is only possible to a professional choir4 ,otherwise the now symbolic portions of the service1 prayer1 exhortation1 and blessing1 were not exclusively reserved to ecclesiastics4 ,the priesthood1 like the ,ark1 the ,temple1 and the ritual1 belonged essentially to the system of religious symbolism4 ,this was their peculiar domain1 into which no outsider might intrude4 ,only the ,levites could touch the ,ark4 ,when the unhappy ,uzzah 8put forth his hand to the ,ark10 8the anger of ,jehovah was kindled against him2 and he smote ,uzzah so that he died there before ,god407#bhb7 ,the king might offer up public prayer2 but when ,uzziah ventured to go into the ,temple to burn incense upon the altar of incense1 leprosy broke forth in his forehead1 and the priests thrust him out quickly from the ,temple47#bhc7 ,thus the symbolic and representative character of the priesthood and ritual gave the sacrifices and other ceremonies a value in themselves1 apart alike from the presence of worshippers and the feelings or 8intention0 of the officiating minister4 ,they were the provision made by ,israel for the expression of its prayer1 its penitence and thanksgiving4 ,when sin had estranged ,jehovah from ,his people1 the sons of ,aaron made atonement for ,israel2 they performed the ,divinely appointed ritual by which the nation made submission to its offended ,king and cast itself upon ,his mercy4 ,the ,jewish sacrifices had features which have survived in the sacrifice of the ,mass1 and the multiplication of sacrifices arose from motives similar to those that lead to the offering up of many masses4 ,one would expect1 as has happened in the ,christian ,church1 that the ministrants of the symbolic ritual would annex the other acts of public worship1 not only praise1 but also prayer and exhortation4 ,considerations of convenience would suggest such an amalgamation of functions2 and among the priests1 while the more ambitious would see in preaching a means of extending their authority1 the more earnest would be anxious to use their unique position to promote the spiritual life of the people4 ,chronicles1 however1 affords few traces of any such tendency2 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 ritual4 ,the development of the ,temple service was checked by its exclusive privileges2 it was simply impossible that the single sanctuary should continue to provide for all the religious wants of the ,jews1 and thus supplementary and inferior places of worship grew up to appropriate the non-ritual elements of service4 ,probably even in the chronicler's time the division of religious services between the ,temple and the synagogue had already begun1 with the result that the representative and symbolic character of the priesthood is almost exclusively emphasised4 ,the representative character of the priesthood has another aspect4 ,strictly the priest represented the nation before ,jehovah2 but in doing so it was inevitable that he should also in some measure represent ,jehovah to the nation4 ,he could not be the channel of worship offered to ,god without being also the channel of ,divine grace to man4 ,from the priest the worshipper learnt the will of ,god as to correct ritual1 and received the assurance that the atoning sacrifice was duly accepted4 ,the high-priest entered within the veil to make atonement for ,israel2 he came forth as the bearer of ,divine forgiveness and renewed grace1 and as he blessed the people he spoke in the name of ,jehovah4 ,we have been able to discern the presence of these ideas in ,chronicles1 but they are not very conspicuous4 ,the chronicler was not a layman2 he was too familiar with priests to feel any profound reverence for them4 ,on the other hand1 he was not himself a priest1 but was specially preoccupied with the musicians1 the ,levites1 and the doorkeepers2 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 people4 ,organists and choirmasters1 it is said1 seldom take an exalted view of their minister's office4 ,the chronicler deals more fully with a matter in which priests and ,levites were alike interested3 the revenues of the ,temple4 ,he was doubtless aware of the bountiful provision made by the ,law for his order1 and loved to hold up this liberality of kings1 princes1 and people in ancient days for his contemporaries to admire and imitate4 ,he records again and again the tens of thousands of sheep and oxen provided for sacrifice1 not altogether unmindful of the rich dues that must have accrued to the priests out of all this abundance2 he tells us how ,hezekiah first set the good example of appointing 8a portion of his substance for the burnt offerings10 and then 8commanded 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 ,lord4 ,and as soon as the commandment came abroad the children of ,israel gave in abundance the first-fruits of corn1 wine1 and oil1 and honey1 and of all the increase of the field2 and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly407#bhd7 ,these were the days of old1 the ancient years when the offering of ,judah and ,jerusalem was pleasant to ,jehovah2 when the people neither dared nor desired to offer on ,god's altar a scanty tale of blind1 lame1 and sick victims2 when the tithes were not kept back1 and there was meat in the house of ,god7#bhe72 when1 as ,hezekiah's high-priest testified1 they could eat and have enough and yet leave plenty47#bhf7 ,the manner in which the chronicler tells the tale of ancient abundance suggests that his days were like the days of ,malachi4 ,he was no pampered ecclesiastic1 revelling in present wealth and luxury1 but a man who suffered hard times1 and looked back wistfully to the happier experiences of his predecessors4 ,let us now restore the complete picture of the chronicler's priest from his scattered references to the subject4 ,the priest represents the nation before ,jehovah1 and in a less degree represents ,jehovah to the nation2 he leads their public worship1 especially at the great festal gatherings2 he teaches the people the ,law4 ,the high character1 culture1 and ability of the priests and ,levites occasions their employment as judges and in other responsible civil offices4 ,if occasion required1 they could show themselves mighty men of valour in their country's wars4 ,under pious kings1 they enjoyed ample revenues which gave them independence1 added to their importance in the eyes of the people1 and left them at leisure to devote themselves exclusively to their sacred duties4 ,in considering the significance of this picture1 we can pass over without special notice the exercise by priests and ,levites of the functions of leadership in public worship1 teaching1 and civil government4 ,they are not essential to the priesthood1 but are entirely consistent with the tenure of the priestly office1 and naturally become associated with it4 ,warlike prowess was certainly no part of the priesthood2 but1 whatever may be true of ,christian ministers1 it is difficult to charge the priests of the ,lord of hosts with inconsistency because1 like ,jehovah ,himself1 they were men of war7#bhg7 and went forth to battle in the armies of ,israel4 ,when a nation was continually fighting for its very existence1 it was impossible for one tribe out of the twelve to be non-combatant4 ,with regard to the representative character of the priests1 it would be out of place here to enter upon the burning questions of sacerdotalism2 but we may briefly point out the permanent truth underlying the ancient idea of the priesthood4 ,the ideal spiritual life in every ,church is one of direct fellowship between ,god and the believer4 8,speak to ,him1 thou1 for ,he hears1 and spirit with spirit can meet2 ,closer is ,he than breathing1 and nearer than hands and feet40 ,and yet a man may be truly religious and not realise this ideal1 or only realise it very imperfectly4 ,the gift of an intense and real spiritual life may belong to the humblest and poorest1 to men of little intellect and less learning2 but1 none the less1 it is not within the immediate reach of every believer1 or indeed of any believer at every time4 ,the descendants of ,mr4 ,little-faith and ,mr4 ,ready-to-halt are amongst us still1 and there is no immediate prospect of their race becoming extinct4 ,times come when we are all glad to put ourselves under the safe conduct of ,mr4 ,great-heart4 ,there are many whose prayers seem to themselves too feebly winged to rise to the throne of grace2 they are encouraged and helped when their petitions are borne upwards on the strong pinions of another's faith4 ,george ,eliot has pictured the ,florentines as awed spectators of ,savonarola's audiences with ,heaven4 ,to a congregation sometimes the minister's prayers are a sacred and solemn spectacle2 his spiritual feeling is beyond them2 he intercedes for blessings they neither desire nor understand2 they miss the heavenly vision which stirs his soul4 ,he is not their spokesman1 but their priest2 he has entered the holy place1 bearing with him the sins that crave forgiveness1 the fears that beg for deliverance1 the hopes that yearn to be fulfilled4 ,though the people may remain in the outer court1 yet they are fully assured that he has passed into the very presence of ,god4 ,they listen to him as to one who has had actual speech with the ,king and received the assurance of ,his goodwill towards them4 ,when the vanguard of the ,ten ,thousand first sighted the ,euxine1 the cry of 8,thalassa6 ,thalassa60 78,the sea6 the sea607 rolled backward along the line of march2 the rearguard saw the long-hoped-for sight with the eyes of the pioneers4 ,much unnecessary self-reproach would be avoided if we accepted this as one of ,god's methods of spiritual education1 and understood that we all have in a measure to experience this discipline in humility4 ,the priesthood of the believer is not merely his right to enter for himself into the immediate presence of ,god3 it becomes his duty and privilege to represent others4 ,but times will also come when he himself will need the support of a priestly intercession in the ,divine presence-chamber1 when he will seek out some one of quick sympathy and strong faith and say1 8,brother1 pray for me40 ,apart from any ecclesiastical theory of the priesthood1 we all recognise that there are ,god-ordained priests1 men and women1 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 help4 ,if one in ten among the official priests of the historic ,churches had possessed these supreme gifts1 the world would have accepted the most extravagant sacerdotalism without a murmur4 ,as it is1 every minister1 every one who leads the worship of a congregation1 assumes for the time being functions and should possess the corresponding qualifications4 ,in his prayers he speaks for the people2 he represents them before ,god2 on their behalf he enters into the ,divine presence2 they only enter with him1 if1 as their spokesman and representative1 he has grasped their feelings and raised them to the level of ,divine fellowship4 ,he may be an untutored labourer in his working garments2 but if he can do this1 this spiritual gift makes him a priest of ,god4 ,but this ,christian priesthood is not confined to public service2 as the priest offered sacrifice for the individual ,jew1 so the man of spiritual sympathies helps the individual to draw near his ,maker4 8,to pray with people0 is a well-known ministry of ,christian service1 and it involves this priestly function of presenting another's prayers to ,god4 ,this priesthood for individuals is exercised by many a ,christian who has no gifts of public utterance4 ,the ancient priest held a representative position in a symbolic ritual1 a position partly independent of his character and spiritual powers4 ,where symbolic ritual is best suited for popular needs1 there may be room for a similar priesthood to-day4 ,otherwise the ,christian priesthood is required to represent the people not in symbol1 but in reality1 to carry not the blood of dead victims into a material ,holy of holies1 but living souls into the heavenly temple4 ,there remains one feature of the ,jewish priestly system upon which the chronicler lays great stress3 the endowments and priestly dues4 ,in the case of the high-priest and the ,levites1 whose whole time was devoted to sacred duties1 it was obviously necessary that those who served the altar should live by the altar4 ,the same principle would apply1 but with much less force1 to the twenty-four courses of priests1 each of which in its turn officiated at the ,temple4 ,but1 apart from the needs of the priesthood1 their representative character demanded that they should be able to maintain a certain state4 ,they were the ambassadors of ,israel to ,jehovah4 ,nations have always been anxious that the equipment and suite of their representative at a foreign court should be worthy of their power and wealth2 moreover1 the splendour of an embassy should be in proportion to the rank of the sovereign to whom it is accredited4 ,in former times1 when the social symbols were held of more account1 a first-rate power would have felt itself insulted if asked to receive an envoy of inferior rank1 attended by only a meagre train4 ,israel1 by her lavish endowment of the priesthood1 consulted her own dignity and expressed her sense of the homage due to ,jehovah4 ,the ,jews could not express their devotion in the same way as other nations4 ,they had to be content with a single sanctuary1 and might not build a multitude of magnificent temples or adorn their cities with splendid1 costly statues in honour of ,god4 ,there were limits to their expenditure upon the sacrifices and buildings of the ,temple2 but the priesthood offered a large opportunity for pious generosity4 ,the chronicler felt that loyal enthusiasm to ,jehovah would always use this opportunity1 and that the priests might consent to accept the distinction of wealth and splendour for the honour alike of ,israel and ,jehovah4 ,their dignity was not personal to themselves1 but rather the livery of a self-effacing servitude4 ,for the honour of the ,church1 ,thomas ,becket kept up a great establishment1 appeared in his robes of office1 and entertained a crowd of guests with luxurious fare2 while he himself wore a hair shirt next his skin and fasted like an ascetic monk4 ,when the ,jews stinted the ritual or the ministrants of ,jehovah1 they were doing what they could to put ,him to open shame before the nations4 ,julian's experience in the grove of ,daphne at ,antioch was a striking illustration of the collapse of paganism3 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 altar4 ,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 shrine4 ,the application of these principles leads directly to the question of a paid ministry2 but the connection is not so close as it appears at first sight1 nor are we yet in possession of all the data which the chronicler furnishes for its discussion4 ,priestly duties form an essential1 but not predominant1 part of the work of most ,christian ministers4 ,still the loyal believer must always be anxious that the buildings1 the services1 and the men which1 for himself and for the world1 represent his devotion to ,christ1 should be worthy of their high calling4 ,but his ideas of the symbolism suitable for spiritual realities are not altogether those of the chronicler3 he is less concerned with number1 size1 and weight1 with tens of thousands of sheep and oxen1 vast quantities of stone and timber1 brass and iron1 and innumerable talents of gold and silver4 ,moreover1 in this special connection the secondary priestly function of representing ,god to man has been expressly transferred by ,christ to the least of ,his brethren4 ,those who wish to honour ,god with their substance in the person of ,his earthly representatives are enjoined to seek for them in hospitals1 and workhouses1 and prisons1 to find these representatives in the hungry1 the thirsty1 the friendless1 the naked1 the captives4 ,no doubt ,christ is dishonoured when those who dwell in 8houses of cedar0 are content to worship ,him in a mean1 dirty church1 with a half-starved minister2 but the most disgraceful proof of the ,church's disloyalty to ,christ is to be seen in the squalor and misery of men1 and women1 and children whose bodies were ordained of ,god to be the temples of ,his ,holy ,spirit4 ,this is only one among many illustrations of the truth that in ,christ the symbolism of religion took a new departure4 ,his ,church enjoys the spiritual realities prefigured by the ,jewish temple and its ministry4 ,even where ,christian symbols are parallel to those of ,judaism1 they are less conventional and richer in their direct spiritual suggestiveness4 ,chapter ,,ix4 ,the ,prophets4 ,one remarkable feature of ,chronicles as compared with the book of ,kings is the greater interest shown by the former in the prophets of ,judah4 ,the chronicler1 by confining his attention to the southern kingdom1 was compelled to omit almost all reference to ,elijah and ,elisha1 and thus exclude from his work some of the most thrilling chapters in the history of the prophets of ,israel4 ,nevertheless the prophets as a whole play almost as important a part in ,chronicles as in the book of ,kings4 ,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 ,judah4 ,the chronicler's interest in the prophets was very different from the interest he took in the priests and ,levites4 ,the latter belonged to the institutions of his own time1 and formed his own immediate circle4 ,in dealing with their past1 he was reconstructing the history of his own order2 he was able to illustrate and supplement from observation and experience the information afforded by his sources4 ,but when the chronicler wrote1 prophets had ceased to be a living institution in ,judah4 ,the light that had shone so brightly in ,isaiah and ,jeremiah burned feebly in ,haggai1 ,zechariah1 and ,malachi1 and then went out4 ,not long after the chronicler's time the failure of prophecy is expressly recognised4 ,the people whose synagogues have been burnt up complain1-- 8,we see not our signs2 ,there is no more any prophet407#bhh7 ,when ,judas ,maccabus appointed certain priests to cleanse the ,temple after its pollution by the ,syrians1 they pulled down the altar of burnt offerings because the heathen had defiled it1 and laid up the stones in the mountain of the ,temple in a convenient place1 until there should come a prophet to show what should be done with them47#bhi7 ,this failure of prophecy was not merely brief and transient4 ,it marked the disappearance of the ancient order of prophets4 ,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 ,thummim4 ,when certain priests could not find their genealogies1 they were forbidden 8to eat of the most holy things till there stood up a priest with ,urim and with ,thummim407#bij7 ,we have no record of any subsequent appearance of 8a priest with ,urim and with ,thummim0 or of any prophet of the old order4 ,thus the chronicler had never seen a prophet2 his conception of the personality and office of the prophet was entirely based upon ancient literature1 and he took no professional interest in the order4 ,at the same time he had no prejudice against them2 they had no living successors to compete for influence and endowments with the priests and ,levites4 ,possibly the ,levites1 as the chief religious teachers of the people1 claimed some sort of apostolic succession from the prophets2 but there are very slight grounds for any such theory4 ,the chronicler's information on the whole subject was that of a scholar with a taste for antiquarian research4 ,let us briefly examine the part played by the prophets in the history of ,judah as given by ,chronicles4 ,we have first1 as in the book of ,kings1 the references to ,nathan and ,gad3 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 ,israel4 ,david unhesitatingly accepts their messages as the word of ,jehovah4 ,it is important to notice that when ,nathan is consulted about building the ,temple he first answers1 apparently giving a mere private opinion1 8,do all that is in thine heart1 for ,god is with thee02 but when 8the word of ,god comes0 to him1 he retracts his former judgment and forbids ,david to build the ,temple4 ,here again the plan of the chronicler's work leads to an important omission3 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 king4 ,later narratives exhibit other prophets in the act of rebuking most of the kings of ,judah1 but none of these incidents are equally striking and pathetic4 ,at the end of the histories of ,david and of most of the later kings we find notes which apparently indicate that1 in the chronicler's time1 the prophets were credited with having written the annals of the kings with whom they were contemporary4 ,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 ,temple3 8,he set the ,levites in the house of ,jehovah1 with cymbals1 with psalteries1 and with harps1 according to the commandment of ,david and of ,gad the king's seer and ,nathan the prophet1 for the commandment was of ,jehovah by ,his prophets407#bia7 ,in the account of ,solomon's reign1 the chronicler omits the interview of ,ahijah the ,shilonite with ,jeroboam1 but refers to it in the history of ,rehoboam4 ,from this point1 in accordance with his general plan1 he omits almost all missions of prophets to the northern kings4 ,in ,rehoboam's reign1 we have recorded1 as in the book of ,kings1 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 ,david4 ,later on1 when ,shishak invaded ,judah1 ,shemaiah was commissioned to deliver to the king and princes the message1 8,thus saith ,jehovah3 ,ye have forsaken ,me2 therefore have ,i also left you in the hand of ,shishak407#bib7 ,but when they repented and humbled themselves before ,jehovah1 ,shemaiah announced to them the mitigation of their punishment4 ,asa's reformation was due to the inspired exhortations of a prophet called both ,oded and ,azariah the son of ,oded4 ,later on ,hanani the seer rebuked the king for his alliance with ,benhadad1 king of ,syria4 8,then ,asa was wroth with the seer1 and put him in the prison-house2 for he was in a rage with him because of this thing407#bic7 ,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 ,imlah2 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 ,mareshah4 ,however1 on the occasion of the ,moabite and ,ammonite invasion ,jehoshaphat and his people received the promise of ,divine deliverance from 8,jahaziel the son of ,zechariah1 the son of ,benaiah1 the son of ,jeiel1 the son of ,mattaniah the ,levite1 of the sons of ,asaph407#bid7 ,the punishment of the wicked king ,jehoram was announced to him by a 8writing from ,elijah the prophet407#bie7 ,his son ,ahaziah apparently perished without any prophetic warning2 but when ,joash and his princes forsook the house of ,jehovah and served the ,asherim and the idols1 8,he sent prophets to them to bring them again to ,jehovah10 among the rest ,zechariah the son of ,jehoiada the priest4 ,joash turned a deaf ear to the message1 and put the prophet to death47#bif7 ,when ,amaziah bowed down before the gods of ,edom and burned incense unto them1 ,jehovah sent unto him a prophet whose name is not recorded4 ,his mission failed1 like that of ,zechariah the son of ,jehoiada2 and ,amaziah1 like ,joash1 showed no respect for the person of the messenger of ,jehovah4 ,in this case the prophet escaped with his life4 ,he began to deliver his message1 but the king's patience soon failed1 and he said unto the prophet1 8,have we made thee of the king's counsel8 forbear2 why shouldest thou be smitten80 ,the prophet1 we are told1 8forbare02 but his forbearance did not prevent his adding one brief and bitter sentence3 8,i know that ,god hath determined to destroy thee1 because thou hast done this and hast not hearkened unto my counsel407#big7 ,then apparently he departed in peace and was not smitten4 ,we have now reached the period of the prophets whose writings are extant4 ,we learn from the headings of their works that ,isaiah saw his 8vision10 and that the word of ,jehovah came unto ,hosea1 in the days of ,uzziah1 ,jotham1 ,ahaz1 and ,hezekiah2 that the word of ,jehovah came to ,micah in the days of ,jotham1 ,ahaz1 and ,hezekiah2 and that ,amos 8saw0 his 8words0 in the days of ,uzziah4 ,but the chronicler makes no reference to any of these prophets in connection with either ,uzziah1 ,jotham1 or ,ahaz4 ,their writings would have afforded the best possible materials for his history1 yet he entirely neglected them4 ,in view of his anxiety to introduce into his narrative all missions of prophets of which he found any record1 we can only suppose that he was so little interested in the prophetical writings that he neither referred to them nor recollected their dates4 ,to ,ahaz in ,chronicles1 in spite of all his manifold and persistent idolatry1 no prophet was sent4 ,the absence of ,divine warning marks his extraordinary wickedness4 ,in the book of ,samuel the culmination of ,jehovah's displeasure against ,saul is shown by ,his refusal to answer him either by dreams1 by ,urim1 or by prophets4 ,he sends no prophet to ,ahaz1 because the wicked king of ,judah is utterly reprobate4 ,prophecy1 the token of the ,divine presence and favour1 has abandoned a nation given over to idolatry1 and has even taken a temporary refuge in ,samaria4 ,jerusalem was no longer worthy to receive the ,divine messages1 and ,oded was sent with his words of warning and humane exhortation to the children of ,ephraim4 ,there he met with a prompt and full obedience1 in striking contrast to the reception accorded by ,joash and ,amaziah to the prophets of ,jehovah4 ,the chronicler's history of the reign of ,hezekiah further illustrates his indifference to the prophets whose writings are extant4 ,in the book of ,kings great prominence is given to ,isaiah4 ,in the account of ,sennacherib's invasion his messages to ,hezekiah are given at considerable length47#bih7 ,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 sign4 ,when ,hezekiah1 in his pride of wealth1 displayed his treasures to the ,babylonian ambassadors1 ,isaiah brought the message of ,divine rebuke and judgment4 ,chronicles characteristically devotes three long chapters to ritual and ,levites1 and dismisses ,isaiah in half a sentence3 8,and ,hezekiah the king and ,isaiah the prophet1 the son of ,amoz1 prayed because of this0--i4e41 the threatening language of ,sennacherib--8and cried to ,heaven407#bii7 ,in the accounts of ,hezekiah's sickness and recovery and of the ,babylonian embassy the references to ,isaiah are entirely omitted4 ,these omissions may be due to lack of space1 so much of which had been devoted to the ,levites that there was none to spare for the prophet4 ,indeed1 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 flags4 ,he tells us that ,jehovah spake to ,manasseh and to his people1 and refers to 8the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel027#cjj7 but he names no prophet and does not record the terms of any ,divine message4 ,in the case of ,manasseh his sources may have failed him1 but we have seen that in ,hezekiah's reign he deliberately passes over most of the references to ,isaiah4 ,the chroniclers narrative of ,josiah's reign adheres more closely to the book of ,kings4 ,he reproduces the mission from the king to the prophetess ,huldah and her ,divine message of present forbearance and future judgment4 ,the other prophet of this reign is the heathen king ,pharaoh ,necho1 through whose mouth the ,divine warning is given to ,josiah4 ,jeremiah is only mentioned as lamenting over the last good king47#cja7 ,in the parallel text of this passage in the apocryphal book of ,esdras ,pharaoh's remonstrance is given in a somewhat expanded form2 but the editor of ,esdras shrank from making the heathen king the mouthpiece of ,jehovah4 ,while ,chronicles tells us that ,josiah 8hearkened not unto the words of ,neco from the mouth of ,god10 ,esdras1 glaringly inconsistent both with the context and the history1 tells us that he did not regard 8the words of the prophet ,jeremiah spoken by the mouth of the ,lord407#cjb7 ,this amended statement is borrowed from the chronicler's account of ,zedekiah1 who 8humbled not himself before ,jeremiah the prophet1 speaking from the mouth of ,jehovah40 ,but this king was not alone in his disobedience4 ,as the inevitable ruin of ,jerusalem drew near1 the whole nation1 priests and people alike1 sank deeper and deeper in sin4 ,in these last days1 8where sin abounded1 grace did yet more abound40 ,jehovah exhausted the resources of ,his mercy3 8,jehovah1 the ,god of their fathers1 sent to them by ,his messengers1 rising up early and sending1 because ,he had compassion on ,his people and on ,his dwelling-place40 ,it was all in vain3 8,they mocked the messengers of ,god1 and despised ,his words and scoffed at ,his prophets1 until the wrath of ,jehovah arose against ,his people1 till there was no remedy40 ,there are two other references in the concluding paragraphs of ,chronicles to the prophecies of ,jeremiah2 but the history of prophecy in ,judah closes with this last great unavailing manifestation of prophetic activity4 ,before considering the general idea of the prophet that may be collected from the various notices in ,chronicles1 we may devote a little space to the chronicler's curious attitude towards our canonical prophets4 ,for the most part he simply follows the book of ,kings in making no reference to them2 but his almost entire silence as to ,isaiah suggests that his imitation of his authority in other cases is deliberate and intentional1 especially as we find him inserting one or two references to ,jeremiah not taken from the book of ,kings4 ,the chronicler had much more opportunity of using the canonical prophets than the author or authors of the book of ,kings4 ,the latter wrote before ,hebrew literature had been collected and edited2 but the chronicler had access to all the literature of the monarchy1 ,captivity1 and even later times4 ,his numerous extracts from almost the entire range of the ,historical ,books1 together with the ,pentateuch and ,psalms1 show that his plan included the use of various sources1 and that he had both the means and ability to work out his plan4 ,he makes two references to ,haggai and ,zechariah17#cjc7 so that if he ignores ,amos1 ,hosea1 and ,micah1 and all but ignores ,isaiah1 we can only conclude that he does so of set purpose4 ,hosea and ,amos might be excluded on account of their connection with the northern kingdom2 possibly the strictures of ,isaiah and ,micah on the priesthood and ritual made the chronicler unwilling to give them special prominence4 ,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 prophets4 ,if they were neglected by the authorities of the ,temple in the interval between ,ezra and the ,maccabees1 the possibility of late additions and alterations is considerably increased4 ,let us now turn to the picture of the prophets drawn for us by the chronicler4 ,both prophet and priest are religious personages1 otherwise they differ widely in almost every particular2 we cannot even speak of them as both holding religious offices4 ,the term 8office0 has to be almost unjustifiably strained in order to apply it to the prophet1 and to use it thus without explanation would be misleading4 ,the qualifications1 status1 duties1 and rewards of the priests are all fully prescribed by rigid and elaborate rules2 but the prophets were the children of the ,spirit3 8,the wind bloweth where it listeth1 and thou hearest the voice thereof1 but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth2 so is every one that is born of the ,spirit40 ,the priest was bound to be a physically perfect male of the house of ,aaron2 the prophet might be of any tribe and of either sex4 ,the warlike ,deborah found a more peaceful successor in ,josiah's counsellor ,huldah1 and among the degenerate prophets of ,nehemiah's time a prophetess ,noadiah7#cjd7 is specially mentioned4 ,the priestly or ,levitical office did not exclude its holder from the prophetic vocation4 ,the ,levite ,jahaziel delivered the message of ,jehovah to ,jehoshaphat2 and the prophet ,zechariah1 whom ,joash put to death1 was the son of the high-priest ,jehoiada1 and therefore himself a priest4 ,indeed1 upon occasion the prophetic gift was exercised by those whom we should scarcely call prophets at all4 ,pharaoh ,necho's warning to ,jehoshaphat is exactly parallel to the prophetic exhortations addressed to other kings4 ,in the crisis of ,david's fortunes at ,ziklag1 when ,judah and ,benjamin came out to meet him with apparently doubtful intentions1 their adhesion to the future king was decided by a prophetic word given to the mighty warrior ,amasai3 8,then the ,spirit came upon ,amasai1 who was one of the thirty1 and he said1 ,thine are we1 ,david1 and on thy side1 thou son of ,jesse3 peace1 peace1 be unto thee1 and peace be to thine helpers2 for thy ,god helpeth thee407#cje7 ,in view of this wide distribution of the prophetic gift1 we are not surprised to find it frequently exercised by the pious kings4 ,they receive and communicate to the nation direct intimations of the ,divine will4 ,david gives to ,solomon and the people the instructions which ,god has given him with regard to the ,temple2 ,god's promises are personally addressed to ,solomon1 without the intervention of either prophet or priest2 ,abijah rebukes and exhorts ,jeroboam and the ,israelites very much as other prophets address the wicked kings2 the speeches of ,hezekiah and ,josiah might equally well have been delivered by one of the prophets4 ,david indeed is expressly called a prophet by ,st4 ,peter7#cjf72 and though the immediate reference is to the ,psalms1 the chronicler's history both of ,david and of other kings gives them a valid claim to rank as prophets4 ,the authority and status of the prophets rested on no official or material conditions1 such as hedged in the priestly office on every side4 ,accordingly their ancestry1 previous history1 and social standing are matters with which the historian has no concern4 ,if the prophet happens also to be a priest or ,levite1 the chronicler1 of course1 knows and records his genealogy4 ,it was essential that the genealogy of a priest should be known1 but there are no genealogies of the prophets2 their order was like that of ,melchizedek1 standing on the page of history 8without father1 without mother1 without genealogy02 they appear abruptly1 with no personal introduction1 they deliver their message1 and then disappear with equal abruptness4 ,sometimes not even their names are given4 ,they had the one qualification compared with which birth and sex1 rank and reputation1 were trivial and meaningless things4 ,the living word of ,jehovah was on their lips2 the power of ,his ,spirit controlled their hearers2 messenger and message were alike their own credentials4 ,the supreme religious authority of the prophet testified to the subordinate and accidental character of all rites and symbols4 ,on the other hand1 the combination of priest and prophet in the same system proved the loftiest spirituality1 the most emphatic recognition of the direct communion of the soul with ,god1 to be consistent with an elaborate and rigid system of ritual4 ,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 inspiration4 ,the gifts and functions of the prophets did not lend themselves to any regular discipline or organisation2 but we can roughly distinguish between two classes of prophets4 ,one class seem to have exercised their gifts more systematically and continuously than others4 ,gad and ,nathan1 ,isaiah and ,jeremiah1 became practically the domestic chaplains and spiritual advisers of ,david1 ,hezekiah1 and the last kings of ,judah4 ,others are only mentioned as delivering a single message2 their ministry seems to have been occasional1 perhaps confined to a single period of their lives4 ,the ,divine ,spirit was free to take the whole life or to take a part only2 ,he was not to be conditioned even by gifts of ,his own bestowal4 ,human organisation naturally attempted to classify the possessors of the prophetic gift1 to set them apart as a regular order1 perhaps even to provide them with a suitable training1 and1 still more impossible task1 to select the proper recipients of the gift and to produce and foster the prophetic inspiration4 ,we read elsewhere of 8schools of the prophets0 and 8sons of the prophets40 ,the chronicler omits all reference to such institutions or societies2 he declines to assign them any place in the prophetic succession in ,israel4 ,the gift of prophecy was absolutely dependent on the ,divine will1 and could not be claimed as a necessary appurtenance of the royal court at ,jerusalem or a regular order in the kingdom of ,judah4 ,the priests are included in the list of ,david's ministers1 but not the prophets ,gad and ,nathan4 ,abijah mentions among the special privileges of ,judah 8priests ministering unto ,jehovah1 even the sons of ,aaron and the ,levites in their work02 it does not occur to him to name prophets among the regular and permanent ministers of ,jehovah4 ,the chronicler1 in fact1 does not recognise the professional prophet4 ,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 table4 ,the true prophet1 like ,amos1 need not be either a prophet or the son of a prophet in the professional sense4 ,long before the chronicler's time the history and teaching of the great prophets had clearly established the distinction between the professional prophet1 who was appointed by man or by himself1 and the inspired messenger1 who received a direct commission from ,jehovah4 ,in describing the prophet's sole qualification we have also stated his function4 ,he was the messenger of ,jehovah1 and declared ,his will4 ,the priest in his ministrations represented ,israel before ,god1 and in a measure represented ,god to ,israel4 ,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 yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever4 ,from generation to generation men received the good gifts of ,god1 and brought the offerings of their gratitude2 they sinned against ,god and came to seek forgiveness2 and the house of ,aaron met them generation after generation in the same priestly robes1 with the same rites1 in the one ,temple1 in token of the unchanging willingness of ,jehovah to accept and forgive ,his children4 ,the prophet1 too1 represented ,god to man2 his words were the words of ,god2 through him the ,divine presence and the ,divine ,spirit exerted their influence over the hearts and consciences of his hearers4 ,but while the priestly ministrations symbolised the fixity and permanence of ,god's eternal majesty1 the prophets expressed the infinite variety of ,his ,divine nature and its continual adaptation to all the changes of human life4 ,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 circumstances1 to grapple with new difficulties1 and to solve new problems4 ,the priest and the prophet together set forth the great paradox that the unchanging ,god is the source of all change4 8,lord ,god1 by whom all change is wrought1 ,by whom new things to birth are brought1 ,in whom no change is known1 ,to ,thee we rise1 in ,thee we rest2 ,we stay at home1 we go in quest1 ,still ,thou art our abode3 ,the rapture swells1 the wonder grows1 ,as full on us new life still flows ,from our unchanging ,god40 ,the prophetic utterances recorded by the chronicler illustrate the work of the prophets in delivering the message that met the present needs of the people4 ,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 future4 ,there is prediction necessarily3 it was impossible to declare the will of ,god without stating the punishment of sin and the victory of righteousness2 but prediction is only part of the declaration of ,god's will4 ,in ,gad and ,nathan prophecy appears as a means of communication between the inquiring soul and ,god2 it does not1 indeed1 gratify curiosity1 but rather gives guidance in perplexity and distress4 ,the later prophets constantly intervene to initiate reform or to hinder the carrying out of an evil policy4 ,gad and ,nathan lent their authority to ,david's organisation of the ,temple music2 ,asa's reform originated in the exhortation of ,oded the prophet2 ,jehoshaphat went out to meet the ,moabite and ,ammonite invaders in response to the inspiriting utterance of ,jahaziel the ,levite2 ,josiah consulted the prophetess ,huldah before carrying out his reformation2 the chiefs of ,ephraim sent back the ,jewish captives in obedience to another ,oded4 ,on the other hand1 ,shemaiah prevented ,rehoboam from fighting against ,israel2 ,micaiah warned ,ahab and ,jehoshaphat not to go up against ,ramoth-gilead4 ,often1 however1 the prophetic message gives the interpretation of history1 the ,divine judgment upon conduct1 with its sentence of punishment or reward4 ,hanani the seer1 for instance1 comes to ,asa to show him the real value of his apparently satisfactory alliance with ,benhadad1 king of ,syria3 8,because thou hast relied on the king of ,syria1 and hast not relied on ,jehovah thy ,god1 therefore is the host of the king of ,syria escaped out of thine hand4444 ,herein thou hast done foolishly2 for from henceforth thou shalt have wars40 ,jehoshaphat is told why his ships were broken3 8,because thou hast joined thyself with ,ahaziah1 ,jehovah hath destroyed thy works40 ,thus the prophetic declaration of ,divine judgment came to mean almost exclusively rebuke and condemnation4 ,the witness of a good conscience may be left to speak for itself2 ,god does not often need to send a prophet to ,his obedient servants in order to signify ,his approval of their righteous acts4 ,but the censures of conscience need both the stimulus of external suggestion and the support of external authority4 ,upon the prophets was constantly laid the unwelcome task of rousing and bracing the conscience for its stern duty4 ,they became the heralds of ,divine wrath1 the precursors of national misfortune4 ,often1 too1 the warnings that should have saved the people were neglected or resented1 and thus became the occasion of new sin and severer punishment4 ,we must not1 however1 lay too much stress on this aspect of the prophets' work4 ,they were no mere ,cassandras1 announcing inevitable ruin at the hands of a blind destiny2 they were not always1 or even chiefly1 the messengers of coming doom4 ,if they declared the wrath of ,god1 they also vindicated ,his justice2 in the day of the ,lord which they so often foretold1 mercy and grace tempered and at last overcame judgment4 ,they taught1 even in their sternest utterances1 the moral government of the world and the benevolent purpose of its ,ruler4 ,these are man's only hope1 even in his sin and suffering1 the only ground for effort1 and the only comfort in misfortune4 ,there are1 however1 one or two elements in the chronicler's notices of the prophets that scarcely harmonise with this general picture4 ,the scanty references of the books of ,samuel and ,kings to the 8schools0 and sons of the prophets have suggested the theory that the prophets were the guardians of national education1 culture1 and literature4 ,the chronicler expressly assigns the function to the ,levites1 and does not recognise that the 8schools of the prophets0 had any permanent significance for the religion of ,israel1 possibly because they chiefly appear in connection with the northern kingdom4 ,at the same time1 we find this idea of the literary character of the prophets in ,chronicles in a new form4 ,the authorities referred to in the subscriptions to each reign bear the names of the prophets who flourished during the reign4 ,the primary significance of the tradition followed by the chronicler is the supreme importance of the prophet for his period2 he1 and not the king1 gives it a distinctive character4 ,therefore the prophet gives his name to his period1 as the consuls at ,rome1 the ,archon ,basileus at ,athens1 and the ,assyrian priests gave their own names to their year of office4 ,probably by the time ,chronicles was written the view had been adopted which we know prevailed later on1 and it was supposed that the prophets wrote the ,historical ,books which bore their names4 ,the ancient prophets had given the ,divine interpretation of the course of events and pronounced the ,divine judgment on history4 ,the ,historical ,books were written for religious edification2 they contained a similar interpretation and judgment4 ,the religious instincts of later ,judaism rightly classed them with the prophetic ,scriptures4 ,the striking contrast we have been able to trace between the priests and the prophets in their qualifications and duties extends also to their rewards4 ,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 prophets4 ,we are all familiar with the hospitality of the ,shunammite1 and we read how 8a man from ,baal-shalishah0 brought first-fruits to ,elisha47#cjg7 ,but the chronicler omits all such references as being connected with the northern kingdom1 and does not give us any similar information as to the prophets of ,judah4 ,he is not usually indifferent as to ways and means4 ,he devotes some space to the revenues of the kings of ,judah1 and delights to dwell on the sources of priestly income4 ,but it never seems to occur to him that the prophets have any wants to be provided for4 ,to use ,george ,macdonald's phrase1 he is quite content to leave them 8on the lily and sparrow footing40 ,the priesthood and the ,levites must be richly endowed2 the honour of ,israel and of ,jehovah is concerned in their having cities1 tithes1 first-fruits1 and offerings4 ,prophets are sent to reproach the people when the priestly dues are withheld2 but for themselves the prophets might have said with ,st4 ,paul1 8,we seek not yours1 but you40 ,no one supposed that the authority and dignity of the prophets needed to be supported by ecclesiastical status1 splendid robes1 and great incomes4 ,spiritual force so manifestly resided in them that they could afford to dispense with the most impressive symbols of power and authority4 ,on the other hand1 they received an honour that was never accorded to the priesthood3 they suffered persecution for the cause of ,jehovah4 ,zechariah the son of ,jehoiada was put to death1 and ,micaiah the son of ,imlah was imprisoned4 ,we are never told that the priest as priest suffered persecution4 ,ahaz closed the ,temple1 ,manasseh set up an idol in the house of ,god1 but we do not read of either ,ahaz or ,manasseh that they slew the priests of ,jehovah4 ,the teaching of the prophets was direct and personal1 and thus eminently calculated to excite resentment and provoke persecution2 the priestly services1 however1 did not at all interfere with concurrent idolatry1 and the priests were accustomed to receive and execute the orders of the kings4 ,there is nothing to suggest that they sought to obtrude the worship of ,jehovah upon unwilling converts2 and it is not improbable that some1 at any rate1 of the priests allowed themselves to be made the tools of the wicked kings4 ,on the eve of the ,captivity we read that 8the chiefs of the priests and the people trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the heathen1 and they polluted the house of ,jehovah40 ,no such disloyalty is recorded of the prophets in ,chronicles4 ,the most splendid incomes cannot purchase loyalty4 ,it is still true that 8the hireling fleeth because he is a hireling02 men's most passionate devotion is for the cause in which they have suffered4 ,we have seen that the modern ministry presents certain parallels to the ancient priesthood4 ,where are we to look for an analogue to the prophet8 ,if the minister be1 in a sense1 a priest when he leads the worship of the people1 is he also a prophet when he preaches to them8 ,preaching is intended to be--perhaps we may venture to say that it mostly is--a declaration of the will of ,god4 ,moreover1 it is not the exposition of a fixed and unchangeable ritual or even of a set of rigid theological formul4 ,the preacher1 like the prophet1 seeks to meet the demands for new light that are made by constantly changing circumstances2 he seeks to adapt the eternal truth to the varying needs of individual lives4 ,so far he is a prophet1 but the essential qualifications of the prophet are still to be sought after4 ,isaiah and ,jeremiah did not declare the word of ,jehovah as they had learnt it from a ,bible or any other book1 nor yet according to the traditions of a school or the teaching of great authorities2 such declaration might be made by the scribes and rabbis in later times4 ,but the prophets of ,chronicles received their message from ,jehovah ,himself2 while they mused upon the needs of the people1 the fire of inspiration burned within them2 then they spoke4 ,moreover1 like their great antitype1 they spoke with authority1 and not as the scribes2 their words carried with them conviction even when they did not produce obedience4 ,the reality of men's conviction of their ,divine authority was shown by the persecution to which they were subjected4 ,are these tokens of the prophet also the notes of the ,christian ministry of preaching8 ,prophets were found among the house of ,aaron and from the tribe of ,levi1 but not every ,levite or priest was a prophet4 ,every branch of the ,christian ,church has numbered among its official ministers men who delivered their message with an inspired conviction of its truth2 in them the power and presence of the ,spirit have compelled a belief in their authority to speak for ,god3 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 other4 ,in every ,church we find the record of men who have spoken1 8not in words which man's wisdom teacheth1 but which the ,spirit teacheth40 ,such were ,wyclif and ,latimer1 ,calvin and ,luther1 ,george ,whitefield and the ,wesleys2 such1 too1 were ,moffat and ,livingstone4 ,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 successful4 ,in the sacred canon ,haggai and ,obadiah stand side by side with ,isaiah1 ,jeremiah1 and ,ezekiel4 ,the chronicler recognises the prophetic calling of men too obscure to be mentioned by name4 ,he whom ,god hath sent speaketh the words of ,god1 not necessarily the orator whom men crowd to hear and whose name is recorded in history2 and ,god giveth not the ,spirit by measure4 ,many of the least distinguished of ,his servants are truly ,his prophets1 speaking1 by the conviction ,he has given them1 a message which comes home with power to some hearts at any rate1 and is a savour of life unto life and of death unto death4 ,the seals of their ministry are to be found in redeemed and purified lives1 and also only too often in the bitter and vindictive ill-will of those whom their faithfulness has offended4 ,we naturally expect to find that the official ministry affords the most suitable sphere for the exercise of the gift of prophecy4 ,those who are conscious of a ,divine message will often seek the special opportunities which the ministry affords4 ,but our study of ,chronicles reminds us that the vocation of the prophet cannot be limited to any external organisation2 it was not confined to the official ministry of ,israel2 it cannot be conditioned by recognition by bishops1 presbyteries1 conferences1 or ,churches2 it will often find its only external credential in a gracious influence over individual lives4 ,nay1 the prophet may have his ,divine vocation and be entirely rejected of men4 ,in ,chronicles we find prophets1 like ,zechariah the son of ,jehoiada1 whose one ,divine message is received with scorn and defiance4 ,in practice1 if not in theory1 the ,churches have long since recognised that the prophetic gift is found outside any official ministry1 and that they may be taught the will of ,god by men and women of all ranks and callings4 ,they have provided opportunities for the free exercise of such gifts in lay preaching1 missions1 ,sunday-schools1 meetings of all kinds4 ,we have here stumbled upon another modern controversy3 the desirability of women preaching4 ,chronicles mentions prophetesses as well as prophets2 on the other hand1 there were no ,jewish priestesses4 ,the modern minister combines some priestly duties with the opportunity1 at least1 of exercising the gift of prophecy4 ,the mention of only two or three prophetesses in the ,old ,testament shows that the possession of the gift by women was exceptional4 ,these few instances1 however1 are sufficient to prove that ,god did not in old times limit the gift to men2 they suggest at any rate the possibility of its being possessed by women now1 and when women have a ,divine message the ,church will not venture to quench the ,spirit4 ,of course the application of these broad principles would have to be adapted to the circumstances of individual ,churches4 ,huldah1 for instance1 is not described as delivering any public address to the people2 the king sent his ministers to consult her in her own house4 ,whatever hesitation may be felt about the public ministry of women1 no one will question their ,divine commission to carry the messages of ,god to the bedsides of the sick and the homes of the poor4 ,most of us have known women to whom men have gone1 as ,josiah's ministers went to ,huldah1 to 8inquire of the ,lord40 ,another practical question1 the payment of the ministers of religion1 has already been raised by the chronicler's account of the revenues of the priests4 ,what more do we learn on the subject from his silence as to the maintenance of the prophets8 ,the silence is1 of course1 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's2 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 minds4 ,it has been said that to-day the prophet sells his inspiration1 but the gift of ,god can no more be bought and sold with money now than in ancient ,israel4 ,the purely spiritual character of true prophecy1 its entire dependence on ,divine inspiration1 makes it impossible to hire a prophet at a fixed salary regulated by the quality and extent of his gifts4 ,by the grace of ,god1 there is an intimate practical connection between the work of the official ministry and the inspired declaration of the ,divine will2 and this connection has its bearing upon the payment of ministers4 ,men's gratitude is stirred when they have received comfort and help through the spiritual gifts of their minister1 but in principle there is no connection between the gift of prophecy and the payment of the ministry4 ,a ,church can purchase the enjoyment of eloquence1 learning1 intellect1 and industry2 a high character has a pecuniary value for ecclesiastical as well as for commercial purposes4 ,the prophet may be provided with leisure1 society1 and literature so that the ,divine message may be delivered in its most attractive form2 he may be installed in a large and well-appointed building1 so that he may have the best possible opportunity of delivering his message2 he will naturally receive a larger income when he surrenders obscure and limited opportunities to minister in some more suitable sphere4 ,but when we have said all1 it is still only the accessories that have to do with payment1 not the ,divine gift of prophecy itself4 ,when the prophet's message is not comforting1 when his words grate upon the theological and social prejudices of his hearers1 especially when he is invited to curse and is ,divinely compelled to bless1 there is no question of payment for such ministry4 ,it has been said of ,christ1 8,for the minor details necessary to secure respect1 and obedience1 and the enthusiasm of the vulgar1 for the tact1 the finesse1 the compromising faculty1 the judicious ostentation of successful politicians--for these arts ,he was not prepared407#cjh7 ,those who imitate their ,master often share ,his reward4 ,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 reward4 ,here again any exact adoption of ancient methods is impossible2 we may accept from the chronicler the great principle that loyal believers will make all adequate provision for the service and work of ,jehovah1 and that they will be prepared to honour ,him in the persons of those whom they choose to represent them before ,him1 and also of those whom they recognise as delivering to them ,his messages4 ,on the other hand1 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 motive4 ,with regard to the functions of the prophet1 the ,spirit is as entirely free to dictate ,his own message as ,he is to choose ,his own messenger4 ,the chronicler's prophets were concerned with foreign politics--alliances with ,syria and ,assyria1 wars with ,egypt and ,samaria--as well as with the ritual of the ,temple and the worship of ,jehovah4 ,they discerned a religious significance in the purely secular matter of a census4 ,jehovah had ,his purposes for the civil government and international policy of ,israel as well as for its creed and services4 ,if we lay down the principle that politics1 whether local or national1 are to be kept out of the pulpit1 we must either exclude from the official ministry all who possess any measure of the prophetic gift1 or else carefully stipulate that1 if they be conscious of any obligation to declare the ,lord's will in matters of public righteousness1 they shall find some more suitable place than the ,lord's house and some more suitable time than the ,lord's day4 ,when we suggest that the prophet should mind his own business by confining himself to questions of doctrine1 worship1 and the religious experiences of the individual1 we are in danger of denying ,god's right to a voice in social and national affairs4 ,turning1 however1 to more directly ecclesiastical affairs1 we have noted that ,asa's reformation received its first impulse from the utterances of the prophet ,azariah or ,oded1 and also that one feature of the prophet's work is to provide for the fresh needs developed by changing circumstances4 ,a priesthood or any other official ministry is often wanting in elasticity2 it is necessarily attached to an established organisation and trammelled by custom and tradition4 ,the ,holy ,spirit in all ages has commissioned prophets as the free agents in new movements in the ,divine government of the world4 ,they may be ecclesiastics1 like many of the ,reformers and like the ,wesleys2 but they are not dominated by the official spirit4 ,the initial impulse that moves such men is partly one of recoil from their environment2 and the environment in return casts them out4 ,again1 prophets may become ecclesiastics1 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 enthusiasm4 ,or they may remain from beginning to end without official status in any ,church1 like the apostle of the anti-slavery movement4 ,in any case the impulse to a larger1 purer1 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 experience2 the living waters that go out of ,jerusalem in the day of the ,lord are too wide1 and deep1 and strong to flow in the narrow rock-hewn aqueducts of tradition3 they make new channels for themselves2 and these channels are the men who do not demand that the ,spirit shall speak according to familiar formul and stereotyped ideas1 but are willing to be the prophets of strange and even uncongenial truth4 ,or1 to use the great metaphor of ,st4 ,john's ,gospel1 with such men1 both for themselves and for others1 the water that the ,lord gives them becomes a well of water springing up unto eternal life4 ,but the chronicler's picture of the work of the prophets has its darker side4 ,few were privileged to give the signal for an immediate and happy reformation4 ,most of the prophets were charged with messages of rebuke and condemnation1 so that they were ready to cry out with ,jeremiah1 8,woe is me1 my mother1 that thou hast borne me1 a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth6 ,i have not lent on usury1 neither have men lent to me on usury1 yet every one of them doth curse me407#cji7 ,perhaps even to-day the prophetic spirit often charges its possessors with equally unwelcome duties4 ,we trust that the ,christian conscience is more sensitive than that of ancient ,israel1 and that the ,church is more ready to profit by the warnings addressed to it2 but the response to the sterner teaching of the ,spirit is not always accompanied by a kindly feeling towards the teacher1 and even where there is progress1 the progress is slow compared to the eager longing of the prophet for the spiritual growth of his hearers4 ,and yet the sequel of the chronicler's history suggests some relief to the gloomier side of the picture4 ,prophet after prophet utters his unavailing and seemingly useless rebuke1 and delivers his announcement of coming ruin1 and at last the ruin falls upon the nation4 ,but that is not the end4 ,before the chronicler wrote there had arisen a restored ,israel1 purified from idolatry and delivered from many of its former troubles4 ,the ,restoration was only rendered possible through the continued testimony of the prophets to the ,lord and ,his righteousness4 ,however barren of immediate results such testimony may seem to-day1 it is still the word of the ,lord that cannot return unto ,him void1 but shall accomplish that which ,he pleaseth and shall prosper in the thing whereto ,he sent it4 ,the chronicler's conception of the prophetic character of the historian1 whereby his narrative sets forth ,god's win and interprets ,his purposes1 is not altogether popular at present4 ,the teleological view of history is somewhat at a discount4 ,yet the prophetic method1 so to speak1 of ,carlyle and ,ruskin is largely historical2 and even in so unlikely a quarter as the works of ,george ,eliot we can find an example of didactic history4 ,romola is largely taken up with the story of ,savonarola1 told so as to bring out its religious significance4 ,but teleological history is sometimes a failure even from the standpoint of the ,christian student1 because it defeats its own ends4 ,he who is bent on deducing lessons from history may lay undue stress on part of its significance and obscure the rest4 ,the historian is perhaps most a prophet when he leaves history to speak for itself4 ,in this sense1 we may venture to attribute a prophetic character to purely scientific history2 accurate and unbiassed narrative is the best starting-point for the study of the religious significance of the course of events4 ,in concluding our inquiry as to how far modern ,church life is illustrated by the work of the prophets1 one is tempted to dwell for a moment on the methods they did not use and the subjects not dealt with in their utterances4 ,this theme1 however1 scarcely belongs to the exposition of ,chronicles2 it would be more appropriate to a complete examination of the history and writings of the prophets4 ,one point1 however1 may be noticed4 ,their utterances in ,chronicles lay less direct stress on moral considerations than the writings of the canonical prophets1 not because of any indifference to morality1 but because1 seen in the distance of a remote past1 all other sins seemed to be summed up in faithlessness to ,jehovah4 ,perhaps we may see in this a suggestion of a final judgment of history1 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 religion4 ,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 work4 ,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 ,israel4 ,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 ,judaism2 his selection from the older material emphasises the independence of the true prophet of any professional status or consideration of material reward2 his sense of the importance of the prophets to the ,state and ,church in ,judah is an encouragement to those 8who look for redemption in ,jerusalem10 and who trust the eternal promise of ,god that in all times of ,his people's need ,he 8will raise up a prophet from among their brethren1 444 and ,i will put ,my words in his mouth1 and he shall speak unto them all that ,i shall command them407#caj7 8,the memorial of the prophets was blessed1 444 for they comforted ,jacob1 and delivered them by assured hope407#caa7 ,many prophets of the ,church have also left a blessed memorial of comfort and deliverance1 and ,god ever renews this more than apostolic succession4 ,chapter ,x4 ,satan4 #a ,chron4 xxi4-xxii4 #a4 8,and again the anger of ,jehovah was kindled against ,israel1 and ,he moved ,david against them saying1 ,go1 number ,israel and ,judah40--#b ,,sam4 xxiv4 #a4 8,and ,satan stood up against ,israel1 and moved ,david to number ,israel40--#a ,,chron4 xxi4 #a4 8,let no man say when he is tempted1 ,i am tempted of ,god2 for ,god cannot be tempted with evil1 and ,he ,himself tempteth no man3 but each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed40--,,james i1 #ac1 #ad4 ,the census of ,david is found both in the book of ,samuel and in ,chronicles1 in very much the same form2 but the chronicler has made a number of small but important alterations and additions4 ,taken together1 these changes involve a new interpretation of the history1 and bring out lessons that cannot so easily be deduced from the narrative in the book of ,samuel4 ,hence it is necessary to give a separate exposition of the narrative in ,chronicles4 ,as before1 we will first review the alterations made by the chronicler and then expound the narrative in the form in which it left his hand1 or rather in the form in which it stands in the ,masoretic text4 ,any attempt to deal with the peculiarly complicated problem of the textual criticism of ,chronicles would be out of place here4 ,probably there are no corruptions of the text that would appreciably affect the general exposition of this chapter4 ,at the very outset the chronicler substitutes ,satan for ,jehovah1 and thus changes the whole significance of the narrative4 ,this point is too important to be dealt with casually1 and must be reserved for special consideration later on4 ,in ver4 #b 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 ,samuel4 ,the latter had written that ,joab numbered the people from ,dan to ,beersheba1 a merely conventional phrase indicating the extent of the census4 ,it might possibly1 however1 have been taken to denote that the census began in the north and was concluded in the south4 ,to the chronicler1 whose interests all centred in ,judah1 such an arrangement seemed absurd2 and he carefully guarded against any mistake by altering 8,dan to ,beersheba0 into 8,beersheba to ,dan40 ,in ver4 #c the substance of ,joab's words is not altered1 but various slight touches are added to bring out more clearly and forcibly what is implied in the book of ,samuel4 ,joab had spoken of the census as being the king's pleasure47#cab7 ,it was scarcely appropriate to speak of ,david 8taking pleasure in0 a suggestion of ,satan4 ,in ,chronicles ,joab's words are less forcible1 8,why doth my lord require this thing80 ,again1 in the book of ,samuel ,joab protests against the census without assigning any reason4 ,the context1 it is true1 readily supplies one2 but in ,chronicles all is made clear by the addition1 8,why will he0 7,david7 8be a cause of guilt unto ,israel80 ,further on the chronicler's special interest in ,judah again betrays itself4 ,the book of ,samuel described1 with some detail1 the progress of the enumerators through ,eastern and ,northern ,palestine by way of ,beersheba to ,jerusalem4 ,chronicles having already made them start from ,beersheba1 omits these details4 ,in ver4 #e the numbers in ,chronicles differ not only from those of the older narrative1 but also from the chronicler's own statistics in chap4 xxvii4 ,in this last account the men of war are divided into twelve courses of twenty-four thousand each1 making a total of two hundred and eighty-eight thousand2 in the book of ,samuel ,israel numbers eight hundred thousand1 and ,judah five hundred thousand2 but in our passage ,israel is increased to eleven hundred thousand1 and ,judah is reduced to four hundred and seventy thousand4 ,possibly the statistics in chap4 xxvii4 are not intended to include all the fighting men1 otherwise the figures cannot be harmonised4 ,the discrepancy between our passage and the book of ,samuel is perhaps partly explained by the following verse1 which is an addition of the chronicler4 ,in the book of ,samuel the census is completed1 but our additional verse states that ,levi and ,benjamin were not included in the census4 ,the chronicler understood that the five hundred thousand assigned to ,judah in the older narrative were the joint total of ,judah and ,benjamin2 he accordingly reduced the total by thirty thousand1 because1 according to his view1 ,benjamin was omitted from the census4 ,the increase in the number of the ,israelites is unexpected4 ,the chronicler does not usually overrate the northern tribes4 ,later on ,jeroboam1 eighteen years after the disruption1 takes the field against ,abijah with 8eight hundred thousand chosen men10 a phrase that implies a still larger number of fighting men1 if all had been mustered4 ,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 ,david4 ,the chronicler's figures in these two passages are consistent1 but the comparison is not an adequate reason for the alteration in the present chapter4 ,textual corruption is always a possibility in case of numbers1 but on the whole this particular change does not admit of a satisfactory explanation4 ,in ver4 #g we have a very striking alteration4 ,according to the book of ,samuel1 ,david's repentance was entirely spontaneous3 8,david's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people07#cac72 but here ,god smites ,israel1 and then ,david's conscience awakes4 ,in ver4 #ab the chronicler makes a slight addition1 apparently to gratify his literary taste4 ,in the original narrative the third alternative offered to ,david had been described simply as 8the pestilence10 but in ,chronicles the words 8the sword of ,jehovah0 are added in antithesis to 8the sword of ,thine enemies0 in the previous verse4 ,ver4 #af1 which describes ,david's vision of the angel with the drawn sword1 is an expansion of the simple statement of the book of ,samuel that ,david saw the angel4 ,in ver4 #ah we are not merely told that ,gad spake to ,david1 but that he spake by the command of the angel of ,jehovah4 ,ver4 #bj1 which tells us how ,ornan saw the angel1 is an addition of the chronicler's4 ,all these changes lay stress upon the intervention of the angel1 and illustrate the interest taken by ,judaism in the ministry of angels4 ,zechariah1 the prophet of the ,restoration1 received his messages by the dispensation of angels2 and the title of the last canonical prophet1 ,malachi1 probably means 8the ,angel40 ,the change from ,araunah to ,ornan is a mere question of spelling4 ,possibly ,ornan is a somewhat ,hebraised form of the older ,jebusite name ,araunah4 ,in ver4 #bb the reference to 8a full price0 and other changes in the form of ,david's words are probably due to the influence of ,gen4 xxiii4 #i4 ,in ver4 #bc the chronicler's familiarity with the ritual of sacrifice has led him to insert a reference to a meal offering1 to accompany the burnt offering4 ,later on the chronicler omits the somewhat ambiguous words which seem to speak of ,araunah as a king4 ,he would naturally avoid anything like a recognition of the royal status of a ,jebusite prince4 ,in ver4 #be ,david pays much more dearly for ,ornan's threshing-floor than in the book of ,samuel4 ,in the latter the price is fifty shekels of silver1 in the former six hundred shekels of gold4 ,most ingenious attempts have been made to harmonise the two statements4 ,it has been suggested that fifty shekels of silver means silver to the value of fifty shekels of gold and paid in gold1 and that six hundred shekels of gold means the value of six hundred shekels of silver paid in gold4 ,a more lucid but equally impossible explanation is that ,david paid fifty shekels for every tribe1 six hundred in all47#cad7 ,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 sanctuary2 six hundred shekels of gold was a more appropriate sum4 ,abraham had paid four hundred shekels for a burying-place2 and a site for the ,temple1 where ,jehovah had chosen to put ,his name1 must surely have cost more4 ,the chronicler followed the tradition which had grown up under the influence of this feeling4 ,chaps4 xxi4 #bg-xxii4 #a are an addition4 ,according to the ,levitical law1 ,david was falling into grievous sin in sacrificing anywhere except before the ,mosaic altar of burnt offering4 ,the chronicler therefore states the special circumstances that palliated this offence against the exclusive privileges of the one sanctuary of ,jehovah4 ,he also reminds us that this threshing-floor became the site of the altar of burnt offering for ,solomon's temple4 ,here he probably follows an ancient and historical tradition2 the prominence given to the threshing-floor in the book of ,samuel indicates the special sanctity of the site4 ,the ,temple is the only sanctuary whose site could be thus connected with the last days of ,david4 ,when the book of ,samuel was written1 the facts were too familiar to need any explanation2 every one knew that the ,temple stood on the site of ,araunah's threshing-floor4 ,the chronicler1 writing centuries later1 felt it necessary to make an explicit statement on the subject4 ,having thus attempted to understand how our narrative assumed its present form1 we will now tell the chronicler's story of these incidents4 ,the long reign of ,david was drawing to a close4 ,hitherto he had been blessed with uninterrupted prosperity and success4 ,his armies had been victorious over all the enemies of ,israel1 the borders of the land of ,jehovah had been extended1 ,david himself was lodged with princely splendour1 and the services of the ,ark were conducted with imposing ritual by a numerous array of priests and ,levites4 ,king and people alike were at the zenith of their glory4 ,in worldly prosperity and careful attention to religious observances ,david and his people were not surpassed by ,job himself4 ,apparently their prosperity provoked the envious malice of an evil and mysterious being1 who appears only here in ,chronicles3 ,satan1 the persecutor of ,job4 ,the trial to which he subjected the loyalty of ,david was more subtle and suggestive than his assault upon ,job4 ,he harassed ,job as the wind dealt with the traveller in the fable1 and ,job only wrapped the cloak of his faith closer about him2 ,satan allowed ,david to remain in the full sunshine of prosperity1 and seduced him into sin by fostering his pride in being the powerful and victorious prince of a mighty people4 ,he suggested a census4 ,david's pride would be gratified by obtaining accurate information as to the myriads of his subjects4 ,such statistics would be useful for the civil organisation of ,israel2 the king would learn where and how to recruit his army or to find an opportunity to impose additional taxation4 ,the temptation appealed alike to the king1 the soldier1 and the statesman1 and did not appeal in vain4 ,david at once instructed ,joab and the princes to proceed with the enumeration2 ,joab demurred and protested3 the census would be a cause of guilt unto ,israel4 ,but not even the great influence of the commander-in-chief could turn the king from his purpose4 ,his word prevailed against ,joab1 wherefore ,joab departed1 and went throughout all ,israel1 and came to ,jerusalem4 ,this brief general statement indicates a long and laborious task1 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 contented4 ,when ,xerxes wished to ascertain the number of the vast army with which he set out to invade ,greece1 his officers packed ten thousand men into as small a space as possible and built a wall round them2 then they turned them out1 and packed the space again and again2 and so in time they ascertained how many tens of thousands of men there were in the army4 ,joab's methods would be different1 but perhaps not much more exact4 ,he would probably learn from the 8heads of fathers' houses0 the number of fighting men in each family4 ,where the hereditary chiefs of a district were indifferent1 he might make some rough estimate of his own4 ,we may be sure that both ,joab and the local authorities would be careful to err on the safe side4 ,the king was anxious to learn that he possessed a large number of subjects4 ,probably as the officers of ,xerxes went on with their counting they omitted to pack the measured area as closely as they did at first2 they might allow eight or nine thousand to pass for ten thousand4 ,similarly ,david's servants would1 to say the least1 be anxious not to underestimate the number of his subjects4 ,the work apparently went on smoothly2 nothing is said that indicates any popular objection or resistance to the census2 the process of enumeration was not interrupted by any token of ,divine displeasure against the 8cause of guilt unto ,israel40 ,nevertheless ,joab's misgivings were not set at rest2 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 wrath4 ,the tribe of ,levi would be exempt from taxation and the obligation of military service2 ,joab could omit them without rendering his statistics less useful for military and financial purposes4 ,in not including the ,levites in the general census of ,israel1 ,joab was following the precedent set by the numbering in the wilderness4 ,benjamin was probably omitted in order to protect the ,holy ,city1 the chronicler following that form of the ancient tradition which assigned ,jerusalem to ,benjamin47#cae7 ,later on17#caf7 however1 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 task3 8,joab the son of ,zeruiah began to number1 but finished not40 ,but these different reasons for the omission of ,levi and ,benjamin do not mutually exclude each other4 ,another limitation is also stated in the later reference3 8,david took not the number of them twenty years old and under1 because ,jehovah had said that ,he would increase ,israel like to the stars of heaven40 ,this statement and explanation seems a little superfluous2 the census was specially concerned with the fighting men1 and in the book of ,numbers only those over twenty are numbered4 ,but we have seen elsewhere that the chronicler has no great confidence in the intelligence of his readers1 and feels bound to state definitely matters that have only been implied and might be overlooked4 ,here1 therefore1 he calls our attention to the fact that the numbers previously given do not comprise the whole male population1 but only the adults4 ,at last the census1 so far as it was carried out at all1 was finished1 and the results were presented to the king4 ,they are meagre and bald compared to the volumes of tables which form the report of a modern census4 ,only two divisions of the country are recognised3 8,judah0 and 8,israel10 or the ten tribes4 ,the total is given for each3 eleven hundred thousand for ,israel1 four hundred and seventy thousand for ,judah1 in all fifteen hundred and seventy thousand4 ,whatever details may have been given to the king1 he would be chiefly interested in the grand total4 ,its figures would be the most striking symbol of the extent of his authority and the glory of his kingdom4 ,perhaps during the months occupied in taking the census ,david had forgotten the ineffectual protests of ,joab1 and was able to receive his report without any presentiment of coming evil4 ,even if his mind were not altogether at ease1 all misgivings would for the time be forgotten4 ,he probably made or had made for him some rough calculation as to the total of men1 women1 and children that would correspond to the vast array of fighting men4 ,his servants would not reckon the entire population at less than nine or ten millions4 ,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 bidding4 ,the numbers are moderate compared with the vast populations and enormous armies of the great powers of modern ,europe2 they were far surpassed by the ,roman empire and the teeming populations of the valleys of the ,nile1 the ,euphrates1 and the ,tigris2 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 banner4 ,the resources of ,cyrus may not have been greater when he started on his career of conquest2 and when ,xerxes gathered into one motley horde the warriors of half the known world1 their total was only about double the number of ,david's robust and warlike ,israelites4 ,there was no enterprise that was likely to present itself to his imagination that he might not have undertaken with a reasonable probability of success4 ,he must have regretted that his days of warfare were past1 and that the unwarlike ,solomon1 occupied with more peaceful tasks1 would allow this magnificent instrument of possible conquests to rust unused4 ,but the king was not long left in undisturbed enjoyment of his greatness4 ,in the very moment of his exaltation1 some sense of the ,divine displeasure fell upon him47#cag7 ,mankind has learnt by a long and sad experience to distrust its own happiness4 ,the brightest hours have come to possess a suggestion of possible catastrophe1 and classic story loved to tell of the unavailing efforts of fortunate princes to avoid their inevitable downfall4 ,polycrates and ,crsus1 however1 had not tempted the ,divine anger by ostentatious pride2 ,david's power and glory had made him neglectful of the reverent homage due to ,jehovah1 and he had sinned in spite of the express warnings of his most trusted minister4 ,when the revulsion of feeling came1 it was complete4 ,the king at once humbled himself under the mighty hand of ,god1 and made full acknowledgment of his sin and folly3 8,i have sinned greatly in that ,i have done this thing3 but now put away1 ,i beseech ,thee1 the iniquity of ,thy servant1 for ,i have done very foolishly40 ,the narrative continues as in the book of ,samuel4 ,repentance could not avert punishment1 and the punishment struck directly at ,david's pride of power and glory4 ,the great population was to be decimated either by famine1 war1 or pestilence4 ,the king chose to suffer from the pestilence1 8the sword of ,jehovah03 8,let me fall now into the hand of ,jehovah1 for very great are ,his mercies2 and let me not fall into the hand of man4 ,so ,jehovah sent a pestilence upon ,israel1 and there fell of ,israel seventy thousand men40 ,not three days since ,joab handed in his report1 and already a deduction of seventy thousand would have to be made from its total2 and still the pestilence was not checked1 for 8,god sent an angel unto ,jerusalem to destroy it40 ,if1 as we have supposed1 ,joab had withheld ,jerusalem from the census1 his pious caution was now rewarded3 8,jehovah repented ,him of the evil1 and said to the destroying angel1 ,it is enough2 now stay thine hand40 ,at the very last moment the crowning catastrophe was averted4 ,in the ,divine counsels ,jerusalem was already delivered1 but to human eyes its fate still trembled in the balance3 8,and ,david lifted up his eyes1 and saw the angel of ,jehovah stand between the earth and the heaven1 having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over ,jerusalem40 ,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 hand47#cah7 ,then the sword was drawn to smite the enemies of ,israel1 but now it was turned to smite ,israel itself4 ,david and his elders fell upon their faces as ,joshua had done before them3 8,and ,david said unto ,god1 ,is it not ,i that commanded the people to be numbered8 even ,i it is that have sinned and done very wickedly2 but these sheep1 what have they done8 ,let ,thine hand1 ,i pray ,thee1 ,o ,jehovah my ,god1 be against me and against my father's house1 but not against ,thy people1 that they should be plagued40 ,the awful presence returned no answer to the guilty king1 but addressed itself to the prophet ,gad1 and commanded him to bid ,david go up and build an altar to ,jehovah in the threshing-floor of ,ornan the ,jebusite4 ,the command was a message of mercy4 ,jehovah permitted ,david to build ,him an altar2 ,he was prepared to accept an offering at his hands4 ,the king's prayers were heard1 and ,jerusalem was saved from the pestilence4 ,but still the angel stretched out his drawn sword over ,jerusalem2 he waited till the reconciliation of ,jehovah with ,his people should have been duly ratified by solemn sacrifices4 ,at the bidding of the prophet1 ,david went up to the threshing-floor of ,ornan the ,jebusite4 ,sorrow and reassurance1 hope and fear1 contended for the mastery4 ,no sacrifice could call back to life the seventy thousand victims whom the pestilence had already destroyed1 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 it4 ,even now the uplifted sword might be only back for a time2 ,satan might yet bring about some heedless and sinful act1 and the respite might end not in pardon1 but in the execution of ,god's purpose of vengeance4 ,saul had been condemned because he sacrificed too soon2 now perhaps delay would be fatal4 ,uzzah had been smitten because he touched the ,ark2 till the sacrifice was actually offered who could tell whether some thoughtless blunder would not again provoke the wrath of ,jehovah8 ,under ordinary circumstances ,david would not have dared to sacrifice anywhere except upon the altar of burnt offering before the tabernacle at ,gibeon2 he would have used the ministry of priests and ,levites4 ,but ritual is helpless in great emergencies4 ,the angel of ,jehovah with the drawn sword seemed to bar the way to ,gibeon1 as once before he had barred ,balaam's progress when he came to curse ,israel4 ,in his supreme need ,david builds his own altar and offers his own sacrifices2 he receives the ,divine answer without the intervention this time of either priest or prophet4 ,by ,god's most merciful and mysterious grace1 ,david's guilt and punishment1 his repentance and pardon1 broke down all barriers between himself and ,god4 ,but1 as he went up to the threshing-floor1 he was still troubled and anxious4 ,the burden was partly lifted from his heart1 but he still craved full assurance of pardon4 ,the menacing attitude of the destroying angel seemed to hold out little promise of mercy and forgiveness1 and yet the command to sacrifice would be cruel mockery if ,jehovah did not intend to be gracious to ,his people and ,his anointed4 ,at the threshing-floor ,ornan and his four sons were threshing wheat1 apparently unmoved by the prospect of the threatened pestilence4 ,in ,egypt the ,israelites were protected from the plagues with which their oppressors were punished4 ,possibly now the situation was reversed1 and the remnant of the ,canaanites in ,palestine were not afflicted by the pestilence that fell upon ,israel4 ,but ,ornan turned back and saw the angel2 he may not have known the grim mission with which the ,lord's messenger had been entrusted1 but the aspect of the destroyer1 his threatening attitude1 and the lurid radiance of his unsheathed and outstretched sword must have seemed unmistakable tokens of coming calamity4 ,whatever might be threatened for the future1 the actual appearance of this supernatural visitant was enough to unnerve the stoutest heart2 and ,ornan's four sons hid themselves4 ,before long1 however1 ,ornan's terrors were somewhat relieved by the approach of less formidable visitors4 ,the king and his followers had ventured to show themselves openly1 in spite of the destroying angel2 and they had ventured with impunity4 ,ornan went forth and bowed himself to ,david with his face to the ground4 ,in ancient days the father of the faithful1 oppressed by the burden of his bereavement1 went to the ,hittites to purchase a burying-place for his wife4 ,now the last of the ,patriarchs1 mourning for the sufferings of his people1 came by ,divine command to the ,jebusite to purchase the ground on which to offer sacrifices1 that the plague might be stayed from the people4 ,the form of bargaining was somewhat similar in both cases4 ,we are told that bargains are concluded in much the same fashion to-day4 ,abraham had paid four hundred shekels of silver for the field of ,ephron in ,machpelah1 8with the cave which was therein1 and all the trees that were in the field40 ,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 designed4 ,the fortunate ,jebusite received no less than six hundred shekels of gold4 ,david built his altar1 and offered up his sacrifices and prayers to ,jehovah4 ,then1 in answer to ,david's prayers1 as later in answer to ,solomon's1 fire fell from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering1 and all this while the sword of ,jehovah flamed across the heavens above ,jerusalem1 and the destroying angel remained passive1 but to all appearances unappeased4 ,but as the fire of ,god fell from heaven1 ,jehovah gave yet another final and convincing token that ,he would no longer execute judgment against ,his people4 ,in spite of all that had happened to reassure them1 the spectators must have been thrilled with alarm when they saw that the angel of ,jehovah no longer remained stationary1 and that his flaming sword was moving through the heavens4 ,their renewed terror was only for a moment3 8the angel put up his sword again into the sheath thereof10 and the people breathed more freely when they saw the instrument of ,jehovah's wrath vanish out of their sight4 ,the use of ,machpelah as a patriarchal burying-place led to the establishment of a sanctuary at ,hebron1 which continued to be the seat of a debased and degenerate worship even after the coming of ,christ4 ,it is even now a ,mohammedan holy place4 ,but on the threshing-floor of ,ornan the ,jebusite there was to arise a more worthy memorial of the mercy and judgment of ,jehovah4 ,without the aid of priestly oracle or prophetic utterance1 ,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 place4 ,when the sword of the destroying angel interposed between ,david and the ,mosaic tabernacle and altar of ,gibeon1 the way was not merely barred against the king and his court on one exceptional occasion4 ,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 ,jebusite1 that is to say to ,jerusalem1 the city of ,david and the capital of ,judah4 ,the lessons of this incident1 so far as the chronicler has simply borrowed from his authority1 belong to the exposition of the book of ,samuel4 ,the main features peculiar to ,chronicles are the introduction of the evil angel ,satan1 together with the greater prominence given to the angel of ,jehovah1 and the express statement that the scene of ,david's sacrifice became the site of ,solomon's altar of burnt offering4 ,the stress laid upon angelic agency is characteristic of later ,jewish literature1 and is especially marked in ,zechariah and ,daniel4 ,it was no doubt partly due to the influence of the ,persian religion1 but it was also a development from the primitive faith of ,israel1 and the development was favoured by the course of ,jewish history4 ,the ,captivity and the ,restoration1 with the events that preceded and accompanied these revolutions1 enlarged the ,jewish experience of nature and man4 ,the captives in ,babylon and the fugitives in ,egypt saw that the world was larger than they had imagined4 ,in ,josiah's reign the ,scythians from the far ,north swept over ,western ,asia1 and the ,medes and ,persians broke in upon ,assyria and ,chalda from the remote ,east4 ,the prophets claimed ,scythians1 ,medes1 and ,persians as the instruments of ,jehovah4 ,the ,jewish appreciation of the majesty of ,jehovah1 the ,maker and ,ruler of the world1 increased as they learnt more of the world ,he had made and ruled2 but the invasion of a remote and unknown people impressed them with the idea of infinite dominion and unlimited resources1 beyond all knowledge and experience4 ,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 astronomy4 ,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 century4 ,the ,jew began to shrink from intimate and familiar fellowship with so mighty and mysterious a ,deity4 ,he felt the need of a mediator1 some less exalted being1 to stand between himself and ,god4 ,for the ordinary purposes of everyday life the ,temple1 with its ritual and priesthood1 provided a mediation2 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 ,almighty4 ,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 approach4 ,the infinite spaces of the constellations seem to intervene between the earth and the presence-chamber of ,god2 its doors are guarded against prayer and faith by inexorable laws2 the awful ,being1 who dwells within1 has become 8unmeasured in height1 undistinguished into form40 ,intellect and imagination alike fail to combine the manifold and terrible attributes of the ,author of nature into the picture of a loving ,father4 ,it is no new experience1 and the present century faces the situation very much as did the chronicler's contemporaries4 ,some are happy enough to rest in the mediation of ritual priests2 others are content to recognise1 as of old1 powers and forces1 not now1 however1 personal messengers of ,jehovah1 but the physical agencies of 8that which makes for righteousness40 ,christ came to supersede the ,mosaic ritual and the ministry of angels2 ,he will come again to bring those who are far off into renewed fellowship with ,his ,father and theirs4 ,on the other hand1 the recognition of ,satan1 the evil angel1 marks an equally great change from the theology of the book of ,samuel4 ,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 thought2 men had not yet realised the logical consequences of the doctrine of ,divine unity and omnipotence4 ,not only was material evil traced to ,jehovah as the expression of ,his just wrath against sin1 but 8morally pernicious acts were quite frankly ascribed to the direct agency of ,god407#cai7 ,god hardens the heart of ,pharaoh and the ,canaanites2 ,saul is instigated by an evil spirit from ,jehovah to make an attempt upon the life of ,david2 ,jehovah moves ,david to number ,israel2 ,he sends forth a lying spirit that ,ahab's prophets may prophesy falsely and entice him to his ruin47#cbj7 ,the ,divine origin of moral evil implied in these passages is definitely stated in the book of ,proverbs3 8,jehovah hath made everything for its own end1 yea even the wicked for the day of evil02 in ,lamentations1 8,out of the mouth of the ,most ,high cometh there not evil and good80 and in the book of ,isaiah1 8,i form the light1 and create darkness2 ,i make peace1 and create evil2 ,i am ,jehovah1 that doeth all these things407#cba7 ,the ultra-,calvinism1 so to speak1 of earlier ,israelite religion was only possible so long as its full significance was not understood4 ,an emphatic assertion of the absolute sovereignty of the one ,god was necessary as a protest against polytheism1 and later on against dualism as well4 ,for practical purposes men's faith needed to be protected by the assurance that ,god worked out ,his purposes in and through human wickedness4 ,the earlier attitude of the ,old ,testament towards moral evil had a distinct practical and theological value4 ,but the conscience of ,israel could not always rest in this view of the origin of evil4 ,as the standard of morality was raised1 and its obligations were more fully insisted on1 as men shrank from causing evil themselves and from the use of deceit and violence1 they hesitated more and more to ascribe to ,jehovah what they sought to avoid themselves4 ,and yet no easy way of escape presented itself4 ,the facts remained2 the temptation to do evil was part of the punishment of the sinner and of the discipline of the saint4 ,it was impossible to deny that sin had its place in ,god's government of the world2 and in view of men's growing reverence and moral sensitiveness1 it was becoming almost equally impossible to admit without qualification or explanation that ,god was ,himself the ,author of evil4 ,jewish thought found itself face to face with the dilemma against which the human intellect vainly beats its wings1 like a bird against the bars of its cage4 ,however1 even in the older literature there were suggestions1 not indeed of a solution of the problem1 but of a less objectionable way of stating facts4 ,in ,eden the temptation to evil comes from the serpent2 and1 as the story is told1 the serpent is quite independent of ,god2 and the question of any ,divine authority or permission for its action is not in any way dealt with4 ,it is true that the serpent was one of the beasts of the field which the ,lord ,god had made1 but the narrator probably did not consider the question of any ,divine responsibility for its wickedness4 ,again1 when ,ahab is enticed to his ruin1 ,jehovah does not act directly1 but through the twofold agency first of the lying spirit and then of the deluded prophets4 ,this tendency to dissociate ,god from any direct agency of evil is further illustrated in ,job and ,zechariah4 ,when ,job is to be tried and tempted1 the actual agent is the malevolent ,satan2 and the same evil spirit stands forth to accuse the high-priest ,joshua7#cbb7 as the representative of ,israel4 ,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 evil4 ,if a sense of ,divine majesty led to a recognition of the angel of ,jehovah as the ,mediator of revelation1 the reverence for ,divine holiness imperatively demanded that the immediate causation of evil should also be associated with angelic agency4 ,this agent of evil receives the name of ,satan1 the adversary of man1 the advocatus diaboli who seeks to discredit man before ,god1 the impeacher of ,job's loyalty and of ,joshua's purity4 ,yet ,jehovah does not resign any of ,his omnipotence4 ,in ,job ,satan cannot act without ,god's permission2 he is strictly limited by ,divine control3 all that he does only illustrates ,divine wisdom and effects the ,divine purpose4 ,in ,zechariah there is no refutation of the charge brought by ,satan2 its truth is virtually admitted3 nevertheless ,satan is rebuked for his attempt to hinder ,god's gracious purposes towards ,his people4 ,thus later ,jewish thought left the ultimate ,divine sovereignty untouched1 but attributed the actual and direct causation of moral evil to malign spiritual agency4 ,trained in this school1 the chronicler must have read with something of a shock that ,jehovah moved ,david to commit the sin of numbering ,israel4 ,he was familiar with the idea that in such matters ,jehovah used or permitted the activity of ,satan4 ,accordingly he carefully avoids reproducing any words from the book of ,samuel that imply a direct ,divine temptation of ,david1 and ascribes it to the well-known and crafty animosity of ,satan against ,israel4 ,in so doing1 he has gone somewhat further than his predecessors3 he is not careful to emphasise any ,divine permission given to ,satan or ,divine control exercised over him4 ,the subsequent narrative implies an overruling for good1 and the chronicler may have expected his readers to understand that ,satan here stood in the same relation to ,god as in ,job and ,zechariah2 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 dignity4 ,the progress of the ,jews in moral and spiritual life had given them a keener appreciation both of good and evil1 and of the contrast and opposition between them4 ,over against the pictures of the good kings1 and of the angel of the ,lord1 the generation of the chronicler set the complementary pictures of the wicked kings and the evil angel4 ,they had a higher ideal to strive after1 a clearer vision of the kingdom of ,god2 they also saw more vividly the depths of ,satan and recoiled with horror from the abyss revealed to them4 ,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 evil4 ,possibly no more practical attitude can be assumed towards this difficult question4 ,the absolute relation of evil to the ,divine sovereignty is one of the problems of the ultimate nature of ,god and man4 ,its discussion may throw many sidelights upon other subjects1 and will always serve the edifying and necessary purpose of teaching men the limitations of their intellectual powers4 ,otherwise theologians have found such controversies barren1 and the average ,christian has not been able to derive from them any suitable nourishment for his spiritual life4 ,higher intelligences than our own1 we have been told1-- 8444 reasoned high ,of providence1 foreknowledge1 will1 and fate1 ,fixed fate1 free-will1 foreknowledge absolute1 ,and found no end1 in wandering mazes lost40 ,on the other hand1 it is supremely important that the believer should clearly understand the reality of temptation as an evil spiritual force opposed to ,divine grace4 ,sometimes this power of ,satan will show itself as 8the alien law in his members1 warring against the law of his mind and bringing him into captivity under the law of sin1 which is in his members40 ,he will be conscious that 8he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed40 ,but sometimes temptation will rather come from the outside4 ,a man will find his 8adversary0 in circumstances1 in evil companions1 in 8the sight of means to do ill deeds02 the serpent whispers in his ear1 and ,satan moves him to wrong-doing4 ,let him not imagine for a moment that he is delivered over to the powers of evil2 let him realise clearly that with every temptation ,god provides a way of escape4 ,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 ,god4 ,indeed1 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 glory4 ,in ,job the affliction of the ,patriarch only serves to bring out his faith and devotion1 and is eventually rewarded by renewed and increased prosperity2 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 priest4 ,in ,chronicles the malicious intervention of ,satan leads up to the building of the ,temple4 ,long ago ,jehovah had promised to choose a place in ,israel wherein to set ,his name2 but1 as the chronicler read in the history of his nation1 the ,israelites dwelt for centuries in ,palestine1 and ,jehovah made no sign3 the ark of ,god still dwelt in curtains4 ,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 choice4 ,bethel had been consecrated by the vision of ,jacob1 when he was a solitary fugitive from ,esau1 paying the penalty of his selfish craft2 but the lessons of past history are not often applied practically1 and probably no one ever expected that ,jehovah's choice of the site for ,his one temple would be made known to ,his chosen king1 the first true ,messiah of ,israel1 in a moment of even deeper humiliation than ,jacob's1 or that the ,divine announcement would be the climax of a series of events initiated by the successful machinations of ,satan4 ,yet herein lies one of the main lessons of the incident4 ,satan's machinations are not really successful2 he often attains his immediate object1 but is always defeated in the end4 ,he estranges ,david from ,jehovah for a moment1 but eventually ,jehovah and ,his people are drawn into closer union1 and their reconciliation is sealed by the long-expected choice of a site for the ,temple4 ,jehovah is like a great general1 who will sometimes allow the enemy to obtain a temporary advantage1 in order to overwhelm him in some crushing defeat4 ,the eternal purpose of ,god moves onward1 unresting and unhasting2 its quiet and irresistible persistence finds special opportunity in the hindrances that seem sometimes to check its progress4 ,in ,david's case a few months showed the whole process complete3 the malice of the ,enemy2 the sin and punishment of his unhappy victim2 the ,divine relenting and its solemn symbol in the newly consecrated altar4 ,but with the ,lord one day is as a thousand years1 and a thousand years as one day2 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 soul4 ,how short-lived has been the victory of sin in many souls6 ,sin is triumphant2 the tempter seems to have it all his own way1 but his first successes only lead to his final rout2 the devil is cast out by the ,divine exorcism of chastisement and forgiveness2 and he learns that his efforts have been made to subserve the training in the ,christian warfare of such warriors as ,augustine and ,john ,bunyan4 ,or1 to take a case more parallel to that of ,david1 ,satan catches the saint unawares1 and entraps him into sin2 and1 behold1 while the evil one is in the first flush of triumph1 his victim is back again at the throne of grace in an agony of contrition1 and before long the repentant sinner is bowed down into a new humility at the undeserved graciousness of the ,divine pardon3 the chains of love are riveted with a fuller constraint about his soul1 and he is tenfold more the child of ,god than before4 ,and in the larger life of the ,church and the world ,satan's triumphs are still the heralds of his utter defeat4 ,he prompted the ,jews to slay ,stephen2 and the ,church were scattered abroad1 and went about preaching the word2 and the young man at whose feet the witnesses laid down their garments became the ,apostle of the ,gentiles4 ,he tricked the reluctant ,diocletian into ordering the greatest of the persecutions1 and in a few years ,christianity was an established religion in the empire4 ,in more secular matters the apparent triumph of an evil principle is usually the signal for its downfall4 ,in ,america the slave-holders of the ,southern ,states rode rough-shod over the ,northerners for more than a generation1 and then came the ,civil ,war4 ,these are not isolated instances1 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 world4 ,we are apt to ask in our impatience1-- 8,is there not wrong too bitter for atoning8 ,what are these desperate and hideous years8 ,hast ,thou not heard ,thy whole creation groaning1 ,sighs of the bondsman1 and a woman's tears80 ,the works of ,satan are as earthly as they are devilish2 they belong to the world2 which passeth away1 with the lust thereof3 but the gracious providence of ,god has all infinity and all eternity to work in4 ,where to-day we can see nothing but the destroying angel with his flaming sword1 future generations shall behold the temple of the ,lord4 ,david's sin1 and penitence1 and pardon were no inappropriate preludes to this consecration of ,mount ,moriah4 ,the ,temple was not built for the use of blameless saints1 but the worship of ordinary men and women4 ,israel through countless generations was to bring the burden of its sins to the altar of ,jehovah4 ,the sacred splendour of ,solomon's dedication festival duly represented the national dignity of ,israel and the majesty of the ,god of ,jacob2 but the self-abandonment of ,david's repentance1 the deliverance of ,jerusalem from impending pestilence1 the ,divine pardon of presumptuous sin1 constituted a still more solemn inauguration of the place where ,jehovah had chosen to set ,his name4 ,the sinner1 seeking the assurance of pardon in atoning sacrifice1 would remember how ,david had then received pardon for his sin1 and how the acceptance of his offerings had been the signal for the disappearance of the destroying angel4 ,so in the ,middle ,ages penitents founded churches to expiate their sins4 ,such sanctuaries would symbolise to sinners in after-times the possibility of forgiveness2 they were monuments of ,god's mercy as well as of the founders' penitence4 ,to-day churches1 both in fabric and fellowship1 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 pardon4 ,moreover1 this solemn experience consecrates for ,god ,his most acceptable temples in the souls of those that love ,him4 ,one other lesson is suggested by the happy issues of ,satan's malign interference in the history of ,israel as understood by the chronicler4 ,the inauguration of the new altar was a direct breach of the ,levitical law1 and involved the superseding of the altar and tabernacle that had hitherto been the only legitimate sanctuary for the worship of ,jehovah4 ,thus the new order had its origin in the violation of existing ordinances and the neglect of an ancient sanctuary4 ,its early history constituted a declaration of the transient character of sanctuaries and systems of ritual4 ,god would not eternally limit himself to any building1 or ,his grace to the observance of any forms of external ritual4 ,long before the chronicler's time ,jeremiah had proclaimed this lesson in the ears of ,judah3 8,go ye now unto ,my place which was in ,shiloh1 where ,i caused ,my name to dwell at the first1 and see what ,i did to it for the wickedness of ,my people ,israel4444 ,i will do unto the house which is called by ,my name1 wherein ye trust1 and unto the place which ,i gave to you and your fathers1 as ,i have done to ,shiloh4444 ,i will make this house like ,shiloh1 and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth407#cbc7 ,in the ,tabernacle all things were made according to the pattern that was showed to ,moses in the mount2 for the ,temple ,david was made to understand the pattern of all things 8in writing from the hand of ,jehovah407#cbd7 ,if the ,tabernacle could be set aside for the ,temple1 the ,temple might in its turn give place to the universal ,church4 ,if ,god allowed ,david in his great need to ignore the one legitimate altar of the ,tabernacle and to sacrifice without its officials1 the faithful ,israelite might be encouraged to believe that in extreme emergency ,jehovah would accept his offering without regard to place or priest4 ,the principles here involved are of very wide application4 ,every ecclesiastical system was at first a new departure4 ,even if its highest claims be admitted1 they simply assert that within historic times ,god set aside some other system previously enjoying the sanction of ,his authority1 and substituted for it a more excellent way4 ,the ,temple succeeded the ,tabernacle2 the synagogue appropriated in a sense part of the authority of the ,temple2 the ,church superseded both synagogue and ,temple4 ,god's action in authorising each new departure warrants the expectation that ,he may yet sanction new ecclesiastical systems2 the authority which is sufficient to establish is also adequate to supersede4 ,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 ,churches1 she set an example of dissidence that was naturally followed by the ,presbyterians and ,independents4 ,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 ,churches4 ,in these and in other ways to claim freedom from authority1 even in order to set up a new authority of one's own1 involves in principle at least the concession to others of a similar liberty of revolt against one's self4 ,chapter ,,xi4 ,conclusion4 ,in dealing with the various subjects of this book1 we have reserved for separate treatment their relation to the ,messianic hopes of the ,jews and to the realisation of these hopes in ,christ4 ,the ,messianic teaching of ,chronicles is only complete when we collect and combine the noblest traits in its pictures of ,david and ,solomon1 of prophets1 priests1 and kings4 ,we cannot ascribe to ,chronicles any great influence on the subsequent development of the ,jewish idea of the ,messiah4 ,in the first place1 the chronicler does not point out the bearing which his treatment of history has upon the expectation of a future deliverer4 ,he has no formal intention of describing the character and office of the ,messiah2 he merely wishes to write a history so as to emphasise the facts which most forcibly illustrated the sacred mission of ,israel4 ,and1 in the second place1 ,chronicles never exercised any great influence over ,jewish thought1 and never attained to anything like the popularity of the books of ,samuel and ,kings4 ,many circumstances conspired to prevent the ,temple ministry from obtaining an undivided authority over later ,judaism4 ,the growth of their power was broken in upon by the persecutions of ,antiochus and the wars of the ,maccabees4 ,the ministry of the ,temple under the ,maccaban high-priests must have been very different from that to which the chronicler belonged4 ,even if the priests and ,levites still exercised any influence upon theology1 they were overshadowed by the growing importance of the rabbinical schools of ,babylon and ,palestine4 ,moreover1 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 religion4 ,of all the varied forces that were at work few or none tended to assign any special authority to ,chronicles1 nor has it left any very marked traces on later literature4 ,josephus indeed uses it for his history1 but the ,new ,testament is under very slight obligation to our author4 ,but ,chronicles reveals to us the position and tendencies of ,jewish thought in the interval between ,ezra and the ,maccabees4 ,the ,messiah was expected to renew the ancient glories of the chosen people1 8to restore the kingdom to ,israel02 we learn from ,chronicles what sort of a kingdom ,he was to restore4 ,we see the features of the ancient monarchy that were dear to the memories of the ,jews1 the characters of the prophets1 priests1 and kings whom they delighted to honour4 ,as their ideas of the past shaped and coloured their hopes for the future1 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 ,messiah4 ,however little influence ,chronicles may have exerted as a piece of literature1 the tendencies of which it is a monument continued to leaven the thought of ,israel1 and are everywhere manifest in the ,new ,testament4 ,we have to bear in mind that ,messiah1 8,anointed10 was the familiar title of the ,israelite kings2 its use for the priests was late and secondary4 ,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 king2 and apart from any formal enunciation of this conception1 the title itself would exercise a controlling influence upon the development of the ,messianic idea4 ,accordingly in the ,new ,testament we find that the ,jews were looking for a king2 and ,jesus calls ,his new society the ,kingdom of ,heaven4 ,but for the chronicler the ,messiah1 the ,anointed of ,jehovah1 is no mere secular prince4 ,we have seen how the chronicler tends to include religious duties and prerogatives among the functions of the king4 ,david and ,solomon and their pious successors are supreme alike in ,church and state as the earthly representatives of ,jehovah4 ,the actual titles of priest and prophet are not bestowed upon the kings1 but they are virtually priests in their care for and control over the buildings and ritual of the ,temple1 and they are prophets when1 like ,david and ,solomon1 they hold direct fellowship with ,jehovah and announce ,his will to the people4 ,moreover1 ,david1 as 8the ,psalmist of ,israel10 had become the inspired interpreter of the religious experience of the ,jews4 ,the ancient idea of the king as the victorious conqueror was gradually giving place to a more spiritual conception of his office2 the ,messiah was becoming more and more a definitely religious personage4 ,thus ,chronicles prepared the way for the acceptance of ,christ as a spiritual ,deliverer1 who was not only ,king1 but also ,priest and ,prophet4 ,in fact1 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 prophet4 ,thus the ,messiah of ,chronicles is distinctly more spiritual and less secular than the ,messiah of popular ,jewish enthusiasm in our ,lord's own time4 ,whereas in the chronicler's time the tendency was to spiritualise the idea of the king1 the tenure of the office of high-priest by the ,maccaban princes tended rather to secularise the priesthood and to restore older and cruder conceptions of the ,messianic ,king4 ,let us see how the chronicler's history of the house of ,david illustrates the person and work of the ,son of ,david1 who came to restore the ancient monarchy in the spiritual kingdom of which it was the symbol4 ,the ,gospels introduce our ,lord very much as the chronicler introduces ,david3 they give us ,his genealogy1 and pass almost immediately to ,his public ministry4 ,of ,his training and preparation for that ministry1 of the chain of earthly circumstances that determined the time and method of ,his entry upon the career of a public ,teacher1 they tell us next to nothing4 ,we are only allowed one brief glimpse of the life of the holy ,child2 our attention is mainly directed to the royal ,saviour when ,he has entered upon ,his kingdom2 and ,his ,divine nature finds expression in mature manhood1 when none of the limitations of childhood detract from the fulness of ,his redeeming service and sacrifice4 ,the authority of ,christ rests on the same basis as that of the ancient kings3 it is at once human and ,divine4 ,in ,christ indeed this twofold authority is in one sense peculiar to ,himself2 but in the practical application of ,his authority to the hearts and consciences of men ,he treads in the footsteps of ,his ancestors4 ,his kingdom rests on ,his own ,divine commission and on the consent of ,his subjects4 ,god has given ,him the right to rule1 but ,he will not reign in any heart till ,he receives its free submission4 ,and still1 as of old1 ,christ1 thus chosen and well beloved of ,god and man1 is ,king over the whole life of ,his people1 and claims to rule over them in their homes1 their business1 their recreation1 their social and political life1 as well as in their public and private worship4 ,if ,david and his pious successors were devoted to ,jehovah and ,his temple1 if they protected their people from foreign foes and wisely administered the affairs of ,israel1 ,christ sets us the example of perfect obedience to the ,father2 ,he gives us deliverance and victory in our warfare against principalities and powers1 against the world rulers of this darkness1 and against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places2 ,he administers in peace and holiness the inner kingdom of the believing heart4 ,all that was foreshadowed both by ,david and ,solomon is realised in ,christ4 ,the warlike ,david is a symbol of the holy warfare of ,christ and the ,church militant1 of ,him who came not to send peace on earth1 but a sword2 ,solomon is the symbol of ,christ1 the ,prince of peace in the ,church triumphant4 ,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 heaven2 the ,god-given wisdom of ,solomon prefigures the perfect knowledge and understanding of ,him who is ,himself the ,word and ,wisdom of ,god4 ,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 own4 ,like ,david1 ,he was exposed to the machinations of ,satan2 but1 unlike ,david1 ,he successfully resisted the tempter4 ,he was in 8all points tempted like as we are1 yet without sin40 ,the great priestly work of ,david and ,solomon was the building of the ,temple and the organisation of its ritual and ministry4 ,by this work the kings made splendid provision for fellowship between ,jehovah and ,his people1 and for the system of sacrifices1 whereby a sinful nation expressed their penitence and received the assurance of forgiveness4 ,this has been the supreme work of ,christ3 through ,him we have access to ,god2 we enter into the holy place1 into the ,divine presence1 by a new and living way1 that is to say ,his flesh2 ,he has brought us into the perpetual fellowship of the ,spirit4 ,and whereas ,solomon could only build one temple1 to which the believer paid occasional visits and obtained the sense of ,divine fellowship through the ministry of the priests1 ,christ makes every faithful heart the temple of sacred service1 and ,he has offered for us the one sacrifice1 and provides a universal atonement4 ,in ,his priesthood1 as in ,his sacrifice1 ,he represents us before ,god1 and this representation is not merely technical and symbolic3 in ,him we find ourselves brought near to ,god1 and our desires and aspirations are presented as petitions at the throne of the heavenly grace4 ,but1 on the other hand1 in ,his love and righteousness ,he represents ,god to us1 and brings the assurance of our acceptance4 ,other minor features of the office and rights of the priests and ,levites find a parallel in ,christ4 ,he also is our ,teacher and our ,judge2 to ,him and to ,his service all worldly wealth may be consecrated4 ,christ is in all things the spiritual ,heir of the house of ,aaron as well as of the house of ,david2 because ,he is a ,priest for ever after the order of ,melchizedek1 ,he1 like ,melchizedek1 is also ,king of ,salem2 of ,his kingdom and of ,his priesthood there shall be no end4 ,but while ,christ is to the ,kingdom of ,heaven what ,david was to the ,israelite monarchy1 while in the different aspects of ,his work ,he is at once ,temple1 ,priest1 and ,sacrifice1 yet in the ministry of ,his earthly life ,he is above all a ,prophet1 the supreme successor of ,elijah and ,isaiah4 ,it was only in a figure that ,he sat upon ,david's throne2 it formed no part of ,his plan to exercise earthly dominion3 ,his kingdom was not of this world4 ,he did not belong to the priestly tribe1 and performed none of the external acts of priestly ritual2 ,he did not base ,his authority upon any genealogy with regard to priesthood1 as the ,epistle to the ,hebrews says1 8,it is evident that our ,lord hath sprung out of ,judah1 as to which tribe ,moses spake nothing concerning priests407#cbe7 ,his royal birth had its symbolic value1 but ,he never asked men to believe in ,him because of ,his human descent from ,david4 ,he relied as little on the authority of office as on that of birth4 ,officially ,he was neither scribe nor rabbi4 ,like the prophets1 ,his only authority was ,his ,divine commission and the witness of the ,spirit in the hearts of ,his hearers4 ,the people recognised ,him as a prophet2 they took ,him for ,elijah or one of the prophets2 ,he spoke of ,himself as a prophet3 8,not without honour1 save in his own country40 ,we have seen that1 while the priests ministered to the regular and recurring needs of the people1 the ,divine guidance in special emergencies and the ,divine authority for new departures were given by the prophets4 ,by a prophet ,jehovah brought ,israel out of ,egypt17#cbf7 and ,christ as a ,prophet led ,his people out of the bondage of the ,law into the liberty of the ,gospel4 ,by ,him the ,divine authority was given for the greatest religious revolution that the world has ever seen4 ,and still ,he is the ,prophet of the ,church4 ,he does not merely provide for the religious wants that are common to every race and to every generation3 as the circumstances of ,his ,church altar1 and the believer is confronted with fresh difficulties and called upon to undertake new tasks1 ,christ reveals to ,his people the purpose and counsel of ,god4 ,even the record of ,his earthly teaching is constantly found to have anticipated the needs of our own time2 ,his ,spirit enables us to discover fresh applications of the truths ,he taught3 and through ,him special light is sought and granted for the guidance of individuals and of the ,church in their need4 ,but in ,chronicles special stress is laid on the darker aspects of the work of the prophets4 ,they constantly appear to administer rebukes and announce coming punishment4 ,both ,christ and ,his apostles were compelled to assume the same attitude towards ,israel4 ,like ,jeremiah1 their hearts sank under the burden of so stern a duty4 ,christ denounced the ,pharisees1 and wept over the city that knew not the things belonging to its peace2 ,he declared the impending ruin of the ,temple and the ,holy ,city4 ,even so ,his ,spirit still rebukes sin1 and warns the impenitent of inevitable punishment4 ,we have seen also in ,chronicles that no stress was laid on any material rewards for the prophets1 and that their fidelity was sometimes recompensed with persecution and death4 ,like ,christ ,himself1 they had nothing to do with priestly wealth and splendour4 ,the silence of the chronicler to the income of these prophets makes them fitting types of ,him who had not where to lay ,his head4 ,a discussion of the income of ,christ would almost savour of blasphemy2 we should shrink from inquiring how far 8those who derived spiritual profit from ,his teaching gave ,him substantial proofs of their appreciation of ,his ministry40 ,christ's recompense at the hands of the world and of the ,jewish ,church was that which former prophets had received4 ,like ,zechariah the son of ,jehoiada1 ,he was persecuted and slain2 ,he delivered a prophet's message1 and died a prophet's death4 ,but1 besides the chronicler's treatment of the offices of prophet1 priest1 and king1 there was another feature of his teaching which would prepare the way for a clear comprehension of the person and work of ,christ4 ,we have noticed how the growing sense of the power and majesty of ,jehovah seemed to set ,him at a distance from man1 and how the ,jews welcomed the idea of the mediation of an angelic ministry4 ,and yet the angels were too vague and unfamiliar1 too little known1 and too imperfectly understood to satisfy men's longing for some means of fellowship between themselves and the remote majesty of an almighty ,god2 while still their ministry served to maintain faith in the possibility of mediation1 and to quicken the yearning after some better way of access to ,jehovah4 ,when ,christ came ,he found this faith and yearning waiting to be satisfied2 they opened a door through which ,christ found ,his way into hearts prepared to receive ,him4 ,in ,him the familiar human figures of priest and prophet were exalted into the supernatural dignity of the ,angel of ,jehovah4 ,men had long strained their eyes in vain to a far-off heaven2 and1 behold1 a human voice recalled their gaze to the earth2 and they turned and found ,god beside them1 kindly and accessible1 a ,man with men4 ,they realised the promise that a modern poet puts into ,david's mouth3-- 8444 ,o ,saul1 it shall be ,a face like my face that receives thee2 a ,man like to me ,thou shalt love and be loved by for ever2 a ,hand like this hand ,shall throw open the gates of new life to thee6 ,see the ,christ stand60 ,we have thus seen how the figures of the chronicler's history--prophet1 priest1 king1 and angel--were types and foreshadowings of ,christ4 ,we may sum up this aspect of his teaching by a quotation from a modern exponent of ,old ,testament theology3-- 8,moses the prophet is the first type of the ,mediator4 ,by his side stands ,aaron the priest1 who connects the people with ,god1 and consecrates it4444 ,but from the time of ,david both these figures pale in the imagination of the people before the picture of the ,davidic king4 ,his is the figure which appears the most indispensable condition of all true happiness for ,israel4 ,david is the third and by far the most perfect type of the ,consummator407#cbg7 ,this recurrence to the king as the most perfect type of the ,redeemer suggests a last application of the ,messianic teaching of the chronicler4 ,in discussing his pictures of the kings1 we have ventured to give them a meaning adapted to modern political life4 ,in ,israel the king stood for the state4 ,when a community combined for common action to erect a temple or repel an invader1 the united force was controlled and directed by the king2 he was the symbol of national union and co-operation4 ,to-day1 when a community acts as a whole1 its agent and instrument is the civil government2 the state is the people organised for the common good1 subordinating individual ends to the welfare of the whole nation4 ,where the ,old ,testament has 8king10 its modern equivalent may read the state or the civil government1--nay1 even for special purposes the municipality1 the county council1 or the school board4 ,shall we obtain any helpful or even intelligible result if we apply this method of translation to the doctrine of the ,messiah8 ,externally at any rate the translation bears a startling likeness to what has been regarded as a specially modern development4 8,israel looked for salvation from the king10 would read1 8,modern society should seek salvation from the state40 ,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 orthodoxy4 ,but the history of the growth of the ,messianic idea supplies a correction to the primitive baldness of this principle of salvation by the state4 ,in time the picture of the ,messianic king came to include the attributes of the prophet and the priest4 ,if we care to complete our modern application1 we must affirm that the state can never be a saviour till it becomes sensitive to ,divine influences and conscious of a ,divine presence4 ,when we see how the ,messianic hope of ,israel was purified and ennobled to receive a fulfilment glorious beyond its wildest dreams1 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 ,god4 ,but the ,messianic state1 like the ,messiah1 may be called upon to suffer and die for the salvation of the world1 that it may receive a better resurrection4 ,,book ,,iv4 ,,the ,,interpretation ,,of ,,history4 ,chapter ,i4 ,the ,last ,prayer ,of ,david4 #a ,chron4 xxix4 #aj-ai4 ,in order to do justice to the chronicler's method of presenting us with a number of very similar illustrations of the same principle1 we have in the previous book grouped much of his material under a few leading subjects4 ,there remains the general thread of the history1 which is1 of course1 very much the same in ,chronicles as in the book of ,kings1 and need not be dwelt on at any length4 ,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 omissions4 ,moreover1 there are a number of minor points that are most conveniently dealt with in the course of a running exposition4 ,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 king2 and similarly the reign of ,ahaz has served as an illustration of the character and fortunes of the wicked kings4 ,we therefore take up the history at the accession of ,rehoboam1 and shall simply indicate very briefly the connection of the reign of ,ahaz with what precedes and follows4 ,but before passing on to ,rehoboam we must consider 8,the ,last ,prayer of ,david10 a devotional paragraph peculiar to ,chronicles4 ,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 ,david1 and would have had no special bearing on the subject of the ideal king4 ,on the other hand1 the 8,prayer0 states some of the leading principles which govern the chronicler in his interpretation of the history of ,israel2 and its exposition forms a suitable introduction to the present division of our subject4 ,the occasion of this prayer was the great closing scene of ,david's life1 which we have already described4 ,the prayer is a thanksgiving for the assurance ,david had received that the accomplishment of the great purpose of his life1 the erection of a temple to ,jehovah1 was virtually secured4 ,he had been permitted to collect the materials for the building1 he had received the plans of the ,temple from ,jehovah1 and had placed them in the willing hands of his successor4 ,the princes and the people had caught his own enthusiasm and lavishly supplemented the bountiful provision already made for the future work4 ,solomon had been accepted as king by popular acclamation4 ,every possible preparation had been made that could be made1 and the aged king poured out his heart in praise to ,god for ,his grace and favour4 ,the prayer falls naturally into four subdivisions3 vv4 #aj-ac are a kind of doxology in honour of ,jehovah2 in vv4 #ad-af ,david acknowledges that ,israel is entirely dependent upon ,jehovah for the means of rendering ,him acceptable service2 in ver4 #ag he claims that he and his people have offered willingly unto ,jehovah2 and in vv4 #ah and #ai he prays that ,solomon and the people may build the ,temple and abide in the ,law4 ,in the doxology ,god is addressed as 8,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel1 our ,father10 and similarly in ver4 #ah as 8,jehovah1 the ,god of ,abraham1 of ,isaac1 and of ,israel40 ,for the chronicler the accession of ,david is the starting-point of ,israelite history and religion1 but here1 as in the genealogies1 he links his narrative to that of the ,pentateuch1 and reminds his readers that the crowning dispensation of the worship of ,jehovah in the ,temple rested on the earlier revelations to ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,israel4 ,we are at once struck by the divergence from the usual formula3 8,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob40 ,moreover1 when ,god is referred to as the ,god of the ,patriarch personally1 the usual phrase is 8the ,god of ,jacob40 ,the formula1 8,god of ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,israel10 occurs again in ,chronicles in the account of ,hezekiah's reformation2 it only occurs elsewhere in the history of ,elijah in the book of ,kings47#cbh7 ,the chronicler avoids the use of the name 8,jacob10 and for the most part calls the ,patriarch 8,israel40 8,jacob0 only occurs in two poetic quotations1 where its omission was almost impossible1 because in each case 8,israel0 is used in the parallel clause47#cbi7 ,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 ,solomon4 ,jacob was the supplanter4 ,the name suggested the unbrotherly craft of the ,patriarch4 ,it was not desirable that the ,jews should be encouraged to think of ,jehovah as the ,god of a grasping and deceitful man4 ,jehovah was the ,god of the ,patriarch's nobler nature and higher life1 the ,god of ,israel1 who strove with ,god and prevailed4 ,in the doxology that follows the resources of language are almost exhausted in the attempt to set forth adequately 8the greatness1 and the power1 and the glory1 and the victory1 and the majesty1 444 the riches and honour1 444 the power and might10 of ,jehovah4 ,these verses read like an expansion of the simple ,christian doxology1 8,thine is the kingdom1 the power1 and the glory10 but in all probability the latter is an abbreviation from our text4 ,in both there is the same recognition of the ruling omnipotence of ,god2 but the chronicler1 having in mind the glory and power of ,david and his magnificent offerings for the building of the ,temple1 is specially careful to intimate that ,jehovah is the source of all worldly greatness3 8,both riches and honour come of ,thee1 444 and in ,thy hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all40 ,the complementary truth1 the entire dependence of ,israel on ,jehovah1 is dealt with in the next verses4 ,david has learnt humility from the tragic consequences of his fatal census2 his heart is no longer uplifted with pride at the wealth and glory of his kingdom2 he claims no credit for the spontaneous impulse of generosity that prompted his munificence4 ,everything is traced back to ,jehovah3 8,all things come of ,thee1 and of ,thine own have we given ,thee40 ,before1 when ,david contemplated the vast population of ,israel and the great array of his warriors1 the sense of ,god's displeasure fell upon him2 now1 when the riches and honour of his kingdom were displayed before him1 he may have felt the chastening influence of his former experience4 ,a touch of melancholy darkened his spirit for a moment2 standing upon the brink of the dim1 mysterious ,sheol1 he found small comfort in barbaric abundance of timber and stone1 jewels1 talents1 and darics2 he saw the emptiness of all earthly splendour4 ,like ,abraham before the children of ,heth1 he stood before ,jehovah a stranger and a sojourner47#ccj7 ,bildad the ,shuhite had urged ,job to submit himself to the teaching of a venerable orthodoxy1 because 8we are of yesterday and know nothing1 because our days upon earth are a shadow407#cca7 ,the same thought made ,david feel his insignificance1 in spite of his wealth and royal dominion3 8,our days on the earth are as a shadow1 and there no abiding40 ,he turns from these sombre thoughts to the consoling reflection that in all his preparations he has been the instrument of a ,divine purpose1 and has served ,jehovah willingly4 ,to-day he can approach ,god with a clear conscience3 8,i know also1 my ,god1 that ,thou triest the heart and hast pleasure in uprightness4 ,as for me1 in the uprightness of my heart ,i have willingly offered all these things40 ,he rejoiced1 moreover1 that the people had offered willingly4 ,the chronicler anticipates the teaching of ,st4 ,paul that 8the ,lord loveth a cheerful giver40 ,david gives of his abundance in the same spirit in which the widow gave her mite4 ,the two narratives are mutually supplementary4 ,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 amount4 ,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 poverty4 ,but however grateful ,david might be for the pious and generous spirit by which his people were now possessed1 he did not forget that they could only abide in that spirit by the continued enjoyment of ,divine help and grace4 ,his thanksgiving concludes with prayer4 ,spiritual depression is apt to follow very speedily in the train of spiritual exaltation2 days of joy and light are granted to us that we may make provision for future necessity4 ,david does not merely ask that ,israel may be kept in external obedience and devotion3 his prayer goes deeper4 ,he knows that out of the heart are the issues of life1 and he prays that the heart of ,solomon and the thoughts of the heart of the people may be kept right with ,god4 ,unless the fountain of life were pure1 it would be useless to cleanse the stream4 ,david's special desire is that the ,temple may be built1 but this desire is only the expression of his loyalty to the ,law4 ,without the ,temple the commandments1 and testimonies1 and statutes of the ,law could not be rightly observed4 ,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 perfect2 their hearts are to be made perfect that they may keep the ,law4 ,henceforward throughout his history the chronicler's criterion of a perfect heart1 a righteous life1 in king and people1 is their attitude towards the ,law and the ,temple4 ,because their ordinances and worship formed the accepted standard of religion and morality1 through which men's goodness would naturally express themselves4 ,similarly only under a supreme sense of duty to ,god and man may the ,christian willingly violate the established canons of religious and social life4 ,we may conclude by noticing a curious feature in the wording of ,david's prayer4 ,in the nineteenth1 as in the first1 verse of this chapter the ,temple1 according to our ,english versions1 is referred to as 8the palace40 ,the original word br is probably ,persian1 though a parallel form is quoted from the ,assyrian4 ,as a ,hebrew word it belongs to the latest and most corrupt stage of the language as found in the ,old ,testament2 and only occurs in ,chronicles1 ,nehemiah1 ,esther1 and ,daniel4 ,in putting this word into the mouth of ,david1 the chronicler is guilty of an anachronism1 parallel to his use of the word 8darics40 ,the word br appears to have first become familiar to the ,jews as the name of a ,persian palace or fortress in ,susa2 it is used in ,nehemiah of the castle attached to the ,temple1 and in later times the derivative ,greek name ,baris had the same meaning4 ,it is curious to find the chronicler1 in his effort to find a sufficiently dignified title for the temple of ,jehovah1 driven to borrow a word which belonged originally to the royal magnificence of a heathen empire1 and which was used later on to denote the fortress whence a ,roman garrison controlled the fanaticism of ,jewish worship47#ccb7 ,the chronicler's intention1 no doubt1 was to intimate that the dignity of the ,temple surpassed that of any royal palace4 ,he could not suppose that it was greater in extent or constructed of more costly materials2 the living presence of ,jehovah was its one supreme and unique distinction4 ,the ,king gave honour to ,his dwelling-place4 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,rehoboam ,and ,abijah3 ,the ,importance ,of ,ritual4 #b ,chron4 x4-xiii4 ,the transition from ,solomon to ,rehoboam brings to light a serious drawback of the chronicler's principle of selection4 ,in the history of ,solomon we read of nothing but wealth1 splendour1 unchallenged dominion1 and superhuman wisdom2 and yet the breath is hardly out of the body of the wisest and greatest king of ,israel before his empire falls to pieces4 ,we are told1 as in the book of ,kings1 that the people met ,rehoboam with a demand for release from 8the grievous service of thy father10 and yet we were expressly told only two chapters before that 8of the children of ,israel did ,solomon make no servants for his work2 but they were men of war1 and chief of his captains1 and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen407#ccc7 ,rehoboam apparently had been left by the wisdom of his father to the companionship of head-strong and featherbrained youths2 he followed their advice rather than that of ,solomon's grey-headed counsellors1 with the result that the ten tribes successfully revolted and chose ,jeroboam for their king4 ,rehoboam assembled an army to reconquer his lost territory1 but ,jehovah through the prophet ,shemaiah forbade him to make war against ,jeroboam4 ,the chronicler here and elsewhere shows his anxiety not to perplex simple minds with unnecessary difficulties4 ,they might be harassed and disturbed by the discovery that the king1 who built the ,temple and was specially endowed with ,divine wisdom1 had fallen into grievous sin and been visited with condign punishment4 ,accordingly everything that discredits ,solomon and detracts from his glory is omitted4 ,the general principle is sound2 an earnest teacher1 alive to his responsibility1 will not wantonly obtrude difficulties upon his hearers2 when silence does not involve disloyalty to truth1 he will be willing that they should remain in ignorance of some of the more mysterious dealings of ,god in nature and history4 ,but silence was more possible and less dangerous in the chronicler's time than in the nineteenth century4 ,he could count upon a docile and submissive spirit in his readers2 they would not inquire beyond what they were told3 they would not discover the difficulties for themselves4 ,jewish youths were not exposed to the attacks of eager and militant sceptics1 who would force these difficulties upon their notice in an exaggerated form1 and at once demand that they should cease to believe in anything human or ,divine4 ,and yet1 though the chronicler had great advantages in this matter1 his own narrative illustrates the narrow limits within which the principle of the suppression of difficulties can be safely applied4 ,his silence as to ,solomon's sins and misfortunes makes the revolt of the ten tribes utterly inexplicable4 ,after the account of the perfect wisdom1 peace1 and prosperity of ,solomon's reign1 the revolt comes upon an intelligent reader with a shock of surprise and almost of incredulity4 ,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 ,chronicles4 ,in avoiding ,scylla1 our author has fallen into ,charybdis2 he has suppressed one set of difficulties only to create others4 ,if we wish to help intelligent inquirers and to aid them to form an independent judgment1 our safest plan will often be to tell them all we know ourselves and to believe that difficulties1 which in no way mar our spiritual life1 will not destroy their faith4 ,in the next section7#ccd7 the chronicler tells how for three years ,rehoboam administered his diminished kingdom with wisdom and success2 he and his people walked in the way of ,david and ,solomon1 and his kingdom was established1 and he was strong4 ,he fortified fifteen cities in ,judah and ,benjamin1 and put captains in them1 and store of victuals1 and oil and wine1 and shields and spears1 and made them exceeding strong4 ,rehoboam was further strengthened by deserters from the northern kingdom4 ,though the ,pentateuch and the book of ,joshua assigned to the priests and ,levites cities in the territory held by ,jeroboam1 yet their intimate association with the ,temple rendered it impossible for them to remain citizens of a state hostile to ,jerusalem4 ,the chronicler indeed tells us that 8,jeroboam and his sons cast them off1 that they should not execute the priest's office unto ,jehovah1 and appointed others to be priests for the high places and the he-goats and for the calves which he had40 ,it is difficult to understand what the chronicler means by this statement4 ,on the face of it1 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 calves1 but the chronicler could not describe such action as casting 8them off that they should not execute the priest's office unto ,jehovah40 ,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 ,judah2 but to confine the priests and ,levites to his own kingdom would have been a strange way of casting them off4 ,however1 whether driven out by ,jeroboam or escaping from him1 they came to ,jerusalem and brought with them from among the ten tribes other pious ,israelites1 who were attached to the worship of the ,temple4 ,judah and ,jerusalem became the home of all true worshippers of ,jehovah2 and those who remained in the northern kingdom were given up to idolatry or the degenerate and corrupt worship of the high places4 ,the chronicler then gives us some account of ,rehoboam's harem and children1 and tells that he dealt wisely1 and dispersed his twenty-eight sons 8throughout all the lands of ,judah and ,benjamin1 unto every fenced city40 ,he gave them the means of maintaining a luxurious table1 and provided them with numerous wives1 and trusted that1 being thus happily circumstanced1 they would lack leisure1 energy1 and ambition to imitate ,absalom and ,adonijah4 ,prosperity and security turned the head of ,rehoboam as they had done that of ,david3 8,he forsook the law of ,jehovah1 and all ,israel with him40 8,all ,israel0 means all the subjects of ,rehoboam2 the chronicler treats the ten tribes as cut off from ,israel4 ,the faithful worshippers of ,jehovah in ,judah had been reinforced by the priests1 ,levites1 and all other pious ,israelites from the northern kingdom2 and yet in three years they forsook the cause for which they had left their country and their fathers house4 ,punishment was not long delayed1 for ,shishak1 king of ,egypt1 invaded ,judah with an immense host and took away the treasures of the house of ,jehovah and of the king's house4 ,the chronicler explains why ,rehoboam was not more severely punished47#cce7 ,shishak appeared before ,jerusalem with his immense host3 ,ethiopians1 ,lubim or ,lybians1 and ,sukiim1 a mysterious people only mentioned here4 ,the ,,lxx4 and ,vulgate translate ,sukiim 8,troglodytes10 apparently identifying them with the cave-dwellers on the western or ,ethiopian coast of the ,red ,sea4 ,in order to find safety from these strange and barbarous enemies1 ,rehoboam and his princes were gathered together in ,jerusalem4 ,shemaiah the prophet appeared before them1 and declared that the invasion was ,jehovah's punishment for their sin1 whereupon they humbled themselves1 and ,jehovah accepted their penitent submission4 ,he would not destroy ,jerusalem1 but the ,jews should serve ,shishak1 8that they may know ,my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries40 ,when they threw off the yoke of ,jehovah1 they sold themselves into a worse bondage4 ,there is no freedom to be gained by repudiating the restraints of morality and religion4 ,if we do not choose to be the servants of obedience unto righteousness1 our only alternative is to become the slaves 8of sin unto death40 ,the repentant sinner may return to his true allegiance1 and yet he may still be allowed to taste something of the bitterness and humiliation of the bondage of sin4 ,his ,shishak may be some evil habit or propensity or special liability to temptation1 that is permitted to harass him without destroying his spiritual life4 ,in time the chastening of the ,lord works out the peaceable fruits of righteousness1 and the ,christian is weaned for ever from the unprofitable service of sin4 ,unhappily the repentance inspired by trouble and distress is not always real and permanent4 ,many will humble themselves before the ,lord in order to avert imminent ruin1 and will forsake ,him when the danger has passed away4 ,apparently ,rehoboam soon fell away again into sin1 for the final judgment upon him is1 8,he did that which was evil1 because he set not his heart to seek ,jehovah407#ccf7 ,david in his last prayer had asked for a 8perfect heart0 for ,solomon1 but he had not been able to secure this blessing for his grandson1 and ,rehoboam was 8the foolishness of the people1 one that had no understanding1 who turned away the people through his counsel407#ccg7 ,rehoboam was succeeded by his son ,abijah1 concerning whom we are told in the book of ,kings that 8he walked in all the sins of his father1 which he had done before him2 and his heart was not perfect with ,jehovah his ,god1 as the heart of ,david his father40 ,the chronicler omits this unfavourable verdict2 he does not indeed classify ,abijah among the good kings by the usual formal statement that 8he did that which was good and right in the eyes of ,jehovah10 but ,abijah delivers a hortatory speech and by ,divine assistance obtains a great victory over ,jeroboam4 ,there is not a suggestion of any evil-doing on the part of ,abijah2 and yet we gather from the history of ,asa that in ,abijah's reign the cities of ,judah were given up to idolatry1 with all its paraphernalia of 8strange altars1 high places1 ,asherim1 and sun-images40 ,as in the case of ,solomon1 so here1 the chronicler has sacrificed even the consistency of his own narrative to his care for the reputation of the house of ,david4 ,how the verdict of ancient history upon ,abijah came to be set aside we do not know4 ,the charitable work of whitewashing the bad characters of history has always had an attraction for enterprising annalists2 and ,abijah was a more promising subject than ,nero1 ,tiberius1 or ,henry ,,viii4 ,the chronicler would rejoice to discover one more good king of ,judah2 but yet why should the record of ,abijah's sins be expunged1 while ,ahaziah and ,amon were still held up to the execration of posterity8 ,probably the chronicler was anxious that nothing should mar the effect of his narrative of ,abijah's victory4 ,if his later sources had recorded anything equally creditable of ,ahaziah and ,amon1 he might have ignored the judgment of the book of ,kings in their case also4 ,the section7#cch7 to which the chronicler attaches so much importance describes a striking episode in the chronic warfare between ,judah and ,israel4 ,here ,israel is used1 as in the older history1 to mean the northern kingdom1 and does not denote the spiritual ,israel--i4e41 ,judah--as in the previous chapter4 ,this perplexing variation in the use of the term 8,israel0 shows how far ,chronicles has departed from the religious ideas of the book of ,kings1 and reminds us that the chronicler has only partially and imperfectly assimilated his older material4 ,abijah and ,jeroboam had each gathered an immense army1 but the army of ,israel was twice as large as that of ,judah3 ,jeroboam had eight hundred thousand to ,abijah's four hundred thousand4 ,jeroboam advanced1 confident in his overwhelming superiority and happy in the belief that ,providence sides with the strongest battalions4 ,abijah1 however1 was nothing dismayed by the odds against him2 his confidence was in ,jehovah4 ,the two armies met in the neighbourhood of ,mount ,zemaraim1 upon which ,abijah fixed his camp4 ,mount ,zemaraim was in the hill-country of ,ephraim1 but its position cannot be determined with certainty2 it was probably near the border of the two kingdoms4 ,possibly it was the site of the ,benjamite city of the same name mentioned in the book of ,joshua in close connection with ,bethel47#cci7 ,if so1 we should look for it in the neighbourhood of ,bethel1 a position which would suit the few indications of place given by the narrative4 ,before the battle1 ,abijah made an effort to induce his enemies to depart in peace4 ,from the vantage-ground of his mountain camp he addressed ,jeroboam and his army as ,jotham had addressed the men of ,shechem from ,mount ,gerizim47#cdj7 ,abijah reminded the rebels--for as such he regarded them--that ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel1 had given the kingdom over ,israel to ,david for ever1 even to him and to his sons1 by a covenant of salt1 by a charter as solemn and unalterable as that by which the heave-offerings had been given to the sons of ,aaron47#cda7 ,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 ,david4 ,and yet ,jeroboam the son of ,nebat had dared to infringe the sacred rights of the elect dynasty4 ,he1 the slave of ,solomon1 had risen up and rebelled against his master4 ,the indignant prince of the house of ,david not unnaturally forgets that the disruption was ,jehovah's own work1 and that ,jeroboam rose up against his master1 not at the instigation of ,satan1 but by the command of the prophet ,ahijah47#cdb7 ,the advocates of sacred causes even in inspired moments are apt to be one-sided in their statements of fact4 ,while ,abijah is severe upon ,jeroboam and his accomplices and calls them 8vain men1 sons of ,belial10 he shows a filial tenderness for the memory of ,rehoboam4 ,that unfortunate king had been taken at a disadvantage1 when he was young and tender-hearted and unable to deal sternly with rebels4 ,the tenderness which could threaten to chastise his people with scorpions must have been of the kind-- 8,that dared to look on torture and could not look on war02 it only appears in the history in ,rehoboam's headlong flight to ,jerusalem4 ,no one1 however1 will censure ,abijah for taking an unduly favourable view of his father's character4 ,but whatever advantage ,jeroboam may have found in his first revolt1 ,abijah warns him that now he need not think to withstand the kingdom of ,jehovah in the hands of the sons of ,david4 ,he is no longer opposed to an unseasoned youth1 but to men who know their overwhelming advantage4 ,jeroboam need not think to supplement and complete his former achievements by adding ,judah and ,benjamin to his kingdom4 ,against his superiority of four hundred thousand soldiers ,abijah can set a ,divine alliance1 attested by the presence of priests and ,levites and the regular performance of the pentateuchal ritual1 whilst the alienation of ,israel from ,jehovah is clearly shown by the irregular orders of their priests4 ,but let ,abijah speak for himself3 8,ye be a great multitude1 and there are with you the golden calves which ,jeroboam made you for gods40 ,possibly ,abijah was able to point to ,bethel1 where the royal sanctuary of the golden calf was visible to both armies3 8,have ye not driven out the priests of ,jehovah1 the sons of ,aaron and the ,levites1 and made for yourselves priests in heathen fashion8 ,when any one comes to consecrate himself with a young bullock and seven rams1 ye make him a priest of them that are no gods4 ,but as for us1 ,jehovah is our ,god1 and we have not forsaken ,him2 and we have priests1 the sons of ,aaron1 ministering unto ,jehovah1 and the ,levites1 doing their appointed work3 and they burn unto ,jehovah morning and evening burnt offerings and sweet incense3 the shewbread also they set in order upon the table that is kept free from all uncleanness2 and we have the candlestick of gold1 with its lamps1 to burn every evening2 for we observe the ordinances of ,jehovah our ,god2 but ye have forsaken ,him4 ,and1 behold1 ,god is with us at our head1 and ,his priests1 with the trumpets of alarm1 to sound an alarm against you4 ,o children of ,israel1 fight ye not against ,jehovah1 the ,god of your fathers2 for ye shall not prosper40 ,this speech1 we are told1 8has been much admired4 ,it was well suited to its object1 and exhibits correct notions of the theocratical institutions40 ,but1 like much other admirable eloquence1 in the ,house of ,commons and elsewhere1 ,abijah's speech had no effect upon those to whom it was addressed4 ,jeroboam apparently utilised the interval to plant an ambush in the rear of the ,jewish army4 ,abijah's speech is unique4 ,there have been other instances in which commanders have tried to make oratory take the place of arms1 and1 like ,abijah1 they have mostly been unsuccessful2 but they have usually appealed to lower motives4 ,sennacherib's envoys tried ineffectually to seduce the garrison of ,jerusalem from their allegiance to ,hezekiah1 but they relied on threats of destruction and promises of 8a land of corn and wine1 a land of bread and vineyards1 a land of oil olive and honey40 ,there is1 however1 a parallel instance of more successful persuasion4 ,when ,octavian was at war with his fellow-triumvir ,lepidus1 he made a daring attempt to win over his enemy's army4 ,he did not address them from the safe elevation of a neighbouring mountain1 but rode openly into the hostile camp4 ,he appealed to the soldiers by motives as lofty as those urged by ,abijah1 and called upon them to save their country from civil war by deserting ,lepidus4 ,at the moment his appeal failed1 and he only escaped with a wound in his breast2 but after a while his enemy's soldiers came over to him in detachments1 and eventually ,lepidus was compelled to surrender to his rival4 ,but the deserters were not altogether influenced by pure patriotism4 ,octavian had carefully prepared the way for his dramatic appearance in the camp of ,lepidus1 and had used grosser means of persuasion than arguments addressed to patriotic feeling4 ,another instance of a successful appeal to a hostile force is found in the history of the first ,napoleon1 when he was marching on ,paris after his return from ,elba4 ,near ,grenoble he was met by a body of royal troops4 ,he at once advanced to the front1 and exposing his breast1 exclaimed to the opposing ranks1 8,here is your emperor2 if any one would kill me1 let him fire40 ,the detachment1 which had been sent to arrest his progress1 at once deserted to their old commander4 ,abijah's task was less hopeful3 the soldiers whom ,octavian and ,napoleon won over had known these generals as lawful commanders of ,roman and ,french armies respectively1 but ,abijah could not appeal to any old associations in the minds of ,jeroboam's army2 the ,israelites were animated by ancient tribal jealousies1 and ,jeroboam was made of sterner stuff than ,lepidus or ,louis ,,xviii4 ,abijah's appeal is a monument of his humanity1 faith1 and devotion2 and if it failed to influence the enemy1 doubtless served to inspirit his own army4 ,at first1 however1 things went hardly with ,judah4 ,they were outgeneralled as well as outnumbered2 ,jeroboam's main body attacked them in front1 and the ambush assailed their rear4 ,like the men of ,ai1 8when ,judah looked back1 behold1 the battle was before and behind them40 ,but ,jehovah1 who fought against ,ai1 was fighting for ,judah1 and they cried unto ,jehovah2 and then1 as at ,jericho1 8the men of ,judah gave a shout1 and when they shouted1 ,god smote ,jeroboam and all ,israel before ,abijah and ,judah40 ,the rout was complete1 and was accompanied by terrible slaughter4 ,no fewer than five hundred thousand ,israelites were slain by the men of ,judah4 ,the latter pressed their advantage1 and took the neighbouring city of ,bethel and other ,israelite towns4 ,for the time ,israel was 8brought under10 and did not recover from its tremendous losses during the three years of ,abijah's reign4 ,as for ,jeroboam1 ,jehovah smote him1 and he died2 but 8,abijah waxed mighty1 and took unto himself fourteen wives1 and begat twenty-and-two sons and sixteen daughters407#cdc7 ,his history closes with the record of these proofs of ,divine favour1 and he 8slept with his fathers1 and they buried him in the city of ,david1 and ,asa his son reigned in his stead40 ,the lesson which the chronicler intends to teach by his narrative is obviously the importance of ritual1 not the importance of ritual apart from the worship of the true ,god2 he emphasises the presence of ,jehovah with ,judah1 in contrast to the ,israelite worship of calves and those that are no gods4 ,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 ,god4 ,it may help us to realise the significance of ,abijah's speech1 if we try to construct an appeal in the same spirit for a ,catholic general in the ,thirty ,years' ,war addressing a hostile ,protestant army4 ,imagine ,wallenstein or ,tilly1 moved by some unwonted spirit of pious oratory1 addressing the soldiers of ,gustavus ,adolphus3-- 8,we have a pope who sits in ,peter's chair1 bishops and priests ministering unto the ,lord1 in the true apostolical succession4 ,the sacrifice of the ,mass is daily offered2 matins1 laud1 vespers1 and compline are all duly celebrated2 our churches are fragrant with incense and glorious with stained glass and images2 we have crucifixes1 and lamps1 and candles2 and our priests are fitly clothed in ecclesiastical vestments2 for we observe the traditions of the ,church1 but ye have forsaken the ,divine order4 ,behold1 ,god is with us at our head2 and we have banners blessed by the ,pope4 ,o ye ,swedes1 ye fight against ,god2 ye shall not prosper40 ,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 ritual4 ,we could not construct so close a parallel to ,abijah's speech in terms of any ,protestant order of service1 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 ,abijah4 ,in the abstract the speech teaches two main lessons3 the importance of an official and duly accredited ministry and of a suitable and authoritative ritual4 ,these principles are perfectly general1 and are not confined to what is usually known as sacerdotalism and ritualism4 ,every ,church has in practice some official ministry1 even those ,churches that profess to owe their separate existence to the necessity for protesting against an official ministry4 ,men whose chief occupation is to denounce priestcraft may themselves be saturated with the sacerdotal spirit4 ,every ,church1 too1 has its ritual4 ,the silence of a ,friends' meeting is as much a rite as the most elaborate genuflexion before a highly ornamented altar4 ,to regard either the absence or presence of rites as essential is equally ritualistic4 ,the man who leaves his wonted place of worship because 8,amen0 is sung at the end of a hymn is as bigoted a ritualist as his brother who dare not pass an altar without crossing himself4 ,let us then consider the chronicler's two principles in this broad sense4 ,the official ministry of ,israel consisted of the priests and ,levites1 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 rams4 ,the alternative was not between a hereditary priesthood and one open to any aspirant with special spiritual qualifications1 but between a duly trained and qualified ministry on the one hand and a motley crew of the forerunners of ,simon ,magus on the other4 ,it is impossible not to sympathise with the chronicler4 ,to begin with1 the property qualification was too low4 ,if livings are to be purchased at all1 they should bear a price commensurate with the dignity and responsibility of the sacred office4 ,a mere entrance fee1 so to speak1 of a young bullock and seven rams must have flooded ,jeroboam's priesthood with a host of adventurers1 to whom the assumption of the office was a matter of social or commercial speculation4 ,the private adventure system of providing for the ministry of the word scarcely tends to either the dignity or the efficiency of the ,church4 ,but1 in any case1 it is not desirable that mere worldly gifts1 money1 social position1 or even intellect should be made the sole passports to ,christian service2 even the traditions and education of a hereditary priesthood would be more probable channels of spiritual qualifications4 ,another point that the chronicler objects to in ,jeroboam's priests is the want of any other than a property qualification4 ,any one who chose could be a priest4 ,such a system combined what might seem opposite vices4 ,it preserved an official ministry2 these self-appointed priests formed a clerical order2 and yet it gave no guarantee whatever of either fitness or devotion4 ,the chronicler1 on the other hand1 by the importance he attaches to the ,levitical priesthood1 recognises the necessity of an official ministry1 but is anxious that it should be guarded with jealous care against the intrusion of unsuitable persons4 ,a conclusive argument for an official ministry is to be found in its formal adoption by most ,churches and its uninvited appearance in the rest4 ,we should not now be contented with the safeguards against unsuitable ministers to be found in hereditary succession2 the system of the ,pentateuch would be neither acceptable nor possible in the nineteenth century3 and yet1 if it had been perfectly administered1 the ,jewish priesthood would have been worthy of its high office1 nor were the times ripe for the substitution of any better system4 ,many of the considerations which justify hereditary succession in a constitutional monarchy might be adduced in defence of a hereditary priesthood4 ,even now1 without any pressure of law or custom1 there is a certain tendency towards hereditary succession in the ministerial office4 ,it would be easy to name distinguished ministers who were inspired for the high calling by their fathers' devoted service1 and who received an invaluable preparation for their life-work from the ,christian enthusiasm of a clerical household4 ,the clerical ancestry of the ,wesleys is only one among many illustrations of an inherited genius for the ministry4 ,but though the best method of obtaining a suitable ministry varies with changing circumstances1 the chronicler's main principle is of permanent and universal application4 ,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 ,god4 ,the prophet needs neither testimonials nor official status3 the word of the ,lord can have free course without either2 but the appointment or election to ecclesiastical office entrusts the official with the honour of the ,church and in a measure of its ,master4 ,the chronicler's other principle is the importance of a suitable and authoritative ritual4 ,we have already noticed that any order of service that is fixed by the constitution or custom of a ,church involves the principle of ritual4 ,abijah's speech does not insist that only the established ritual should be tolerated2 such questions had not come within the chronicler's horizon4 ,the merit of ,judah lay in possessing and practising a legitimate ritual1 that is to say in observing the ,pauline injunction to do all things decently and in order4 ,the present generation is not inclined to enforce any very stringent obedience to ,paul's teaching1 and finds it difficult to sympathise with ,abijah's enthusiasm for the symbolism of worship4 ,but men to-day are not radically different from the chronicler's contemporaries1 and it is as legitimate to appeal to spiritual sensibility through the eye as through the ear2 architecture and decoration are neither more nor less spiritual than an attractive voice and impressive elocution4 ,novelty and variety have1 or should have1 their legitimate place in public worship2 but the ,church has its obligations to those who have more regular spiritual wants4 ,most of us find much of the helpfulness of public worship in the influence of old and familiar spiritual associations1 which can only be maintained by a measure of permanence and fixity in ,divine service4 ,the symbolism of the ,lord's ,supper never loses its freshness1 and yet it is restful because familiar and impressive because ancient4 ,on the other hand1 the maintenance of this ritual is a constant testimony to the continuity of ,christian life and faith4 ,moreover1 in this rite the great bulk of ,christendom finds the outward and visible sign of its unity4 ,ritual1 too1 has its negative value4 ,by observing the ,levitical ordinances the ,jews were protected from the vagaries of any ambitious owner of a young bullock and seven rams4 ,while we grant liberty to all to use the form of worship in which they find most spiritual profit1 we need to have ,churches whose ritual will be comparatively fixed4 ,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 excitement4 ,in spite of the wide interval that separates the modern ,church from ,judaism1 we can still discern a unity of principle1 and are glad to confirm the judgment of ,christian experience from the lessons of an older and different dispensation4 ,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 application4 ,christianity and ,islam have purified religious worship throughout ,europe1 ,america1 and a large portion of ,asia4 ,we are no longer tempted by the cruel and loathsome rites of heathenism4 ,the ,jews knew the wild extravagance1 gross immorality1 and ruthless cruelty of ,phnician and ,syrian worship4 ,if we had lived in the chronicler's age and had shared his experience of idolatrous rites1 we should have also shared his enthusiasm for the pure and lofty ritual of the ,pentateuch4 ,we should have regarded it as a ,divine barrier between ,israel and the abominations of heathenism1 and should have been jealous for its strict observance4 ,chapter ,,iii4 ,asa3 ,divine ,retribution4 #b ,chron4 xiv4-xvi4 ,abijah1 dying1 as far as we can gather from ,chronicles1 in the odour of sanctity1 was succeeded by his son ,asa4 ,the chronicler's history of ,asa is much fuller than that which is given in the book of ,kings4 ,the older narrative is used as a framework into which material from later sources is freely inserted4 ,the beginning of the new reign was singularly promising4 ,abijah had been a very ,david1 he had fought the battles of ,jehovah1 and had assured the security and independence of ,judah4 ,asa1 like ,solomon1 entered into the peaceful enjoyment of his predecessor's exertions in the field4 8,in his days the land was quiet ten years10 as in the days when the judges had delivered ,israel1 and he was able to exhort his people to prudent effort by reminding them that ,jehovah had given them rest on every side47#cdd7 ,this interval of quiet was used for both religious reform and military precautions47#cde7 ,the high places and heathen idols and symbols which had somehow survived ,abijah's zeal for the ,mosaic ritual were swept away1 and ,judah was commanded to seek ,jehovah and observe the ,law2 and he built fortresses with towers1 and gates1 and bars1 and raised a great army 8that bare bucklers and spears10--no mere hasty levy of half-armed peasants with scythes and axes4 ,the mighty array surpassed even ,abijah's great muster of four hundred thousand from ,judah and ,benjamin3 there were five hundred and eighty thousand men1 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 bows4 ,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 judges2 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 reign1 when 8there was neither shield nor spear seen among forty thousand in ,israel40 ,these references to buildings1 especially fortresses1 to military stores and the vast numbers of ,jewish and ,israelite armies1 form a distinct class amongst the additions made by the chronicler to the material taken from the book of ,kings4 ,they are found in the narratives of the reigns of ,david1 ,rehoboam1 ,jehoshaphat1 ,uzziah1 ,jotham1 ,manasseh1 in fact in the reigns of nearly all the good kings2 ,manasseh's building was done after he had turned from his evil ways47#cdf7 ,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 building1 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 armies4 ,otherwise the chronicler1 living at a time when the warlike resources of ,judah were of the slightest1 was naturally interested in these reminiscences of departed glory2 and the ,jewish provincials would take a pride in relating these pieces of antiquarian information about their native towns1 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 squire4 ,asa's warlike preparations were possibly intended1 like those of the ,triple ,alliance1 to enable him to maintain peace2 but if so1 their sequel did not illustrate the maxim1 8,si vis pacem1 para bellum40 ,the rumour of his vast armaments reached a powerful monarch3 8,zerah the ,ethiopian407#cdg7 ,the vagueness of this description is doubtless due to the remoteness of the chronicler from the times he is describing4 ,zerah has sometimes been identified with ,shishak's successor1 ,osorkon ,i41 the second king of the twenty-second ,egyptian dynasty4 ,zerah felt that ,asa's great army was a standing menace to the surrounding princes1 and undertook the task of destroying this new military power3 8,he came out against them40 ,numerous as ,asa's forces were1 they still left him dependent upon ,jehovah1 for the enemy were even more numerous and better equipped4 ,zerah led to a battle an army of a million men1 supported by three hundred war chariots4 ,with this enormous host he came to ,mareshah1 at the foot of the ,judan highlands1 in a direction south-west of ,jerusalem4 ,in spite of the inferiority of his army1 ,asa came out to meet him2 8and they set the battle in array in the valley of ,zephathah at ,mareshah40 ,like ,abijah1 ,asa felt that1 with his ,divine ,ally1 he need not be afraid of the odds against him even when they could be counted by hundreds of thousands4 ,trusting in ,jehovah1 he had taken the field against the enemy2 and now at the decisive moment he made a confident appeal for help3 8,jehovah1 there is none beside ,thee to help between the mighty and him that hath no strength40 ,five hundred and eighty thousand men seemed nothing compared to the host arrayed against them1 and outnumbering them in the proportion of nearly two to one4 8,help us1 ,jehovah our ,god2 for we rely on ,thee1 and in ,thy name are we come against this multitude4 ,jehovah1 ,thou art our ,god2 let not man prevail against ,thee40 ,jehovah justified the trust reposed in ,him4 ,he smote the ,ethiopians1 and they fled towards the south-west in the direction of ,egypt2 and ,asa and his army pursued them as far as ,gerar1 with fearful slaughter1 so that of ,zerah's million followers not one remained alive47#cdh7 ,of course this statement is hyperbolical4 ,the carnage was enormous1 and no living enemies remained in sight4 ,apparently ,gerar and the neighbouring cities had aided ,zerah in his advance and attempted to shelter the fugitives from ,mareshah4 ,paralysed with fear of ,jehovah1 whose avenging wrath had been so terribly manifested1 these cities fell an easy prey to the victorious ,jews4 ,they smote and spoiled all the cities about ,gerar1 and reaped a rich harvest1 8for there was much spoil in them40 ,it seems that the nomad tribes of the southern wilderness had also in some way identified themselves with the invaders2 ,asa attacked them in their turn4 8,they smote also the tents of cattle02 and as the wealth of these tribes lay in their flocks and herds2 8they carried away sheep in abundance and camels1 and returned to ,jerusalem40 ,this victory is closely parallel to that of ,abijah over ,jeroboam4 ,in both the numbers of the armies are reckoned by hundreds of thousands2 and the hostile host outnumbers the army of ,judah in the one case by exactly two to one1 in the other by nearly that proportion3 in both the king of ,judah trusts with calm assurance to the assistance of ,jehovah1 and ,jehovah smites the enemy2 the ,jews then massacre the defeated army and spoil or capture the neighbouring cities4 ,these victories over superior numbers may easily be paralleled or surpassed by numerous striking examples from secular history4 ,the odds were greater at ,agincourt1 where at least sixty thousand ,french were defeated by not more than twenty thousand ,englishmen2 at ,marathon the ,greeks routed a ,persian army ten times as numerous as their own2 in ,india ,english generals have defeated innumerable hordes of native warriors1 as when ,wellesley-- 8,against the myriads of ,assaye ,clashed with his fiery few and won40 ,for the most part victorious generals have been ready to acknowledge the succouring arm of the ,god of battles4 ,shakespeare's ,henry ,v4 after ,agincourt speaks altogether in the spirit of ,asa's prayer3-- 8444 ,o ,god1 ,thy arm was here2 ,and not to us1 but to ,thy arm alone1 ,ascribe we all4444 444 ,take it1 ,god1 ,for it is only ,thine40 ,when the small craft that made up ,elizabeth's fleet defeated the huge ,spanish galleons and galleasses1 and the storms of the northern seas finished the work of destruction1 the grateful piety of ,protestant ,england felt that its foes had been destroyed by the breath of the ,lord2 8,afflavit ,deus et dissipantur40 ,the principle that underlies such feelings is quite independent of the exact proportions of opposing armies4 ,the victories of inferior numbers in a righteous cause are the most striking1 but not the most significant1 illustrations of the superiority of moral to material force4 ,in the wider movements of international politics we may find even more characteristic instances4 ,it is true of nations as well as of individuals that-- 8,the ,lord killeth and maketh alive2 ,he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up3 ,the ,lord maketh poor and maketh rich2 ,he bringeth low1 ,he also lifteth up3 ,he raiseth up the poor out of the dust1 ,he lifteth up the needy from the dunghill1 ,to make them sit with princes ,and inherit the throne of glory40 ,italy in the eighteenth century seemed as hopelessly divided as ,israel under the judges1 and ,greece as completely enslaved to the 8unspeakable ,turk0 as the ,jews to ,nebuchadnezzar2 and yet1 destitute as they were of any material resources1 these nations had at their disposal great moral forces3 the memory of ancient greatness and the sentiment of nationality2 and to-day ,italy can count hundreds of thousands like the chronicler's ,jewish kings1 and ,greece builds her fortresses by land and her ironclads to command the sea4 ,the ,lord has fought for ,israel4 ,but the principle has a wider application4 ,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 them4 ,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 influences2 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-owners4 ,the moral forces at the disposal of the abolitionists were obviously irresistible4 ,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 won2 and the most earnest ,christian workers sometimes falter when they realise the vast and terrible forces that fight against them4 ,at such times we are both rebuked and encouraged by the simple faith of the chronicler in the overruling power of ,god4 ,it may be objected that if victory were to be secured by ,divine intervention1 there was no need to muster five hundred and eighty thousand men or indeed any army at all4 ,if in any and every case ,god disposes1 what need is there for the devotion to ,his service of our best strength1 and energy1 and culture1 or of any human effort at all8 ,a wholesome spiritual instinct leads the chronicler to emphasise the great preparations of ,abijah and ,asa4 ,we have no right to look for ,divine co-operation till we have done our best2 we are not to sit with folded hands and expect a complete salvation to be wrought for us1 and then to continue as idle spectators of ,god's redemption of mankind3 we are to tax our resources to the utmost to gather our hundreds of thousands of soldiers2 we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling1 for it is ,god that worketh in us both to will and to do of ,his good pleasure4 ,this principle may be put in another way4 ,even to the hundreds of thousands the ,divine help is still necessary4 ,the leaders of great hosts are as dependent upon ,divine help as ,jonathan and his armour-bearer fighting single-handed against a ,philistine garrison1 or ,david arming himself with a sling and stone against ,goliath of ,gath4 ,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 service4 ,at this point we meet with another of the chronicler's obvious self-contradictions4 ,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 worship1 and that1 because ,judah had thus sought ,jehovah1 ,he gave them rest4 ,the deliverance from ,zerah is another mark of ,divine favour4 ,and yet in the fifteenth chapter ,asa1 in obedience to prophetic admonition1 takes away the abominations from his dominions1 as if there had been no previous reformation1 but we are told that the high places were not taken out of ,israel4 ,the context would naturally suggest that ,israel here means ,asa's kingdom1 as the true ,israel of ,god2 but as the verse is borrowed from the book of ,kings1 and 8out of ,israel0 is an editorial addition made by the chronicler1 it is probably intended to harmonise the borrowed verse with the chronicler's previous statement that ,asa did away with the high places4 ,if so1 we must understand that ,israel means the northern kingdom1 from which the high places had not been removed1 though ,judah had been purged from these abominations4 ,but here1 as often elsewhere1 ,chronicles taken alone affords no explanation of its inconsistencies4 ,again1 in ,asa's first reformation he commanded ,judah to seek ,jehovah and to do the ,law and the commandments2 and accordingly ,judah sought the ,lord4 ,moreover1 ,abijah1 about seventeen years7#cdi7 before ,asa's second reformation1 made it his special boast that ,judah had not forsaken ,jehovah1 but had priests ministering unto ,jehovah1 8the sons of ,aaron and the ,levites in their work40 ,during ,rehoboam's reign of seventeen years ,jehovah was duly honoured for the first three years1 and again after ,shishak's invasion in the fifth year of ,rehoboam4 ,so that for the previous thirty or forty years the due worship of ,jehovah had only been interrupted by occasional lapses into disobedience4 ,but now the prophet ,oded holds before this faithful people the warning example of the 8long seasons0 when ,israel was without the true ,god1 and without a teaching priest1 and without law4 ,and yet previously ,chronicles supplies an unbroken list of high-priests from ,aaron downwards4 ,in response to ,oded's appeal1 the king and people set about the work of reformation as if they had tolerated some such neglect of ,god1 the priests1 and the ,law as the prophet had described4 ,another minor discrepancy is found in the statement that 8the heart of ,asa was perfect all his days02 this is reproduced verbatim from the book of ,kings4 ,immediately afterwards the chronicler relates the evil doings of ,asa in the closing years of his reign4 ,such contradictions render it impossible to give a complete and continuous exposition of ,chronicles that shall be at the same time consistent4 ,nevertheless they are not without their value for the ,christian student4 ,they afford evidence of the good faith of the chronicler4 ,his contradictions are clearly due to his use of independent and discrepant sources1 and not to any tampering with the statements of his authorities4 ,they are also an indication that the chronicler attaches much more importance to spiritual edification than to historical accuracy4 ,when he seeks to set before his contemporaries the higher nature and better life of the great national heroes1 and thus to provide them with an ideal of kingship1 he is scrupulously and painfully careful to remove everything that would weaken the force of the lesson which he is trying to teach2 but he is comparatively indifferent to accuracy of historical detail4 ,when his authorities contradict each other as to the number or the date of ,asa's reformations1 or even the character of his later years1 he does not hesitate to place the two narratives side by side and practically to draw lessons from both4 ,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 inspiration4 ,in expounding this second narrative of a reformation by ,asa1 we shall make no attempt at complete harmony with the rest of ,chronicles2 any inconsistency between the exposition here and elsewhere will simply arise from a faithful adherence to our text4 ,the occasion then of ,asa's second reformation7#cej7 was as follows3 ,asa was returning in triumph from his great defeat of ,zerah1 bringing with him substantial fruits of victory in the shape of abundant spoil4 ,wealth and power had proved a snare to ,david and ,rehoboam1 and had involved them in grievous sin4 ,asa might also have succumbed to the temptations of prosperity2 but1 by a special ,divine grace not vouchsafed to his predecessors1 he was guarded against danger by a prophetic warning4 ,at the very moment when ,asa might have expected to be greeted by the acclamations of the inhabitants of ,jerusalem1 when the king would be elate with the sense of ,divine favour1 military success1 and popular applause1 the prophet's admonition checked the undue exaltation which might have hurried ,asa into presumptuous sin4 ,asa and his people were not to presume upon their privilege2 its continuance was altogether dependent upon their continued obedience3 if they fell into sin1 the rewards of their former loyalty would vanish like fairy gold4 8,hear ye me1 ,asa1 and all ,judah and ,benjamin3 ,jehovah is with you while ye be with ,him2 and if ye seek ,him1 ,he will be found of you2 but if ye forsake ,him1 ,he will forsake you40 ,this lesson was enforced from the earlier history of ,israel4 ,the following verses are virtually a summary of the history of the judges3-- 8,now for long seasons ,israel was without the true ,god1 and without teaching priest1 and without law40 ,judges tells how again and again ,israel fell away from ,jehovah4 8,but when in their distress they turned unto ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel1 and sought ,him1 ,he was found of them40 ,oded's address is very similar to another and somewhat fuller summary of the history of the judges1 contained in ,samuel's farewell to the people1 in which he reminded them how when they forgot ,jehovah1 their ,god1 ,he sold them into the hand of their enemies1 and when they cried unto ,jehovah1 ,he sent ,zerubbabel1 and ,barak1 and ,jephthah1 and ,samuel1 and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies on every side1 and they dwelt in safety47#cea7 ,oded proceeds to other characteristics of the period of the judges3 8,there was no peace to him that went out1 nor to him that came in2 but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the lands4 ,and they were broken in pieces1 nation against nation and city against city1 for ,god did vex them with all adversity40 ,deborah's song records great vexations3 the highways were unoccupied1 and the travellers walked through by-ways2 the rulers ceased in ,israel2 ,gideon 8threshed wheat by the winepress to hide it from the ,midianites40 ,the breaking of nation against nation and city against city will refer to the destruction of ,succoth and ,penuel by ,gideon1 the sieges of ,shechem and ,thebez by ,abimelech1 the massacre of the ,ephraimites by ,jephthah1 and the civil war between ,benjamin and the rest of ,israel and the consequent destruction of ,jabesh-gilead47#ceb7 8,but10 said ,oded1 8be ye strong1 and let not your hands be slack1 for your work shall be rewarded40 ,oded implies that abuses were prevalent in ,judah which might spread and corrupt the whole people1 so as to draw down upon them the wrath of ,god and plunge them into all the miseries of the times of the judges4 ,these abuses were wide-spread1 supported by powerful interests and numerous adherents4 ,the queen-mother1 one of the most important personages in an ,eastern state1 was herself devoted to heathen observances4 ,their suppression needed courage1 energy1 and pertinacity2 but if they were resolutely grappled with1 ,jehovah would reward the efforts of ,his servants with success1 and ,judah would enjoy prosperity4 ,accordingly ,asa took courage and put away the abominations out of ,judah and ,benjamin and the cities he held in ,ephraim4 ,the abominations were the idols and all the cruel and obscene accompaniments of heathen worship47#cec7 ,in the prophet's exhortation to be strong1 and not be slack1 and in the corresponding statement that ,asa took courage1 we have a hint for all reformers4 ,neither ,oded nor ,asa underrated the serious nature of the task before them4 ,they counted the cost1 and with open eyes and full knowledge confronted the evil they meant to eradicate4 ,the full significance of the chronicler's language is only seen when we remember what preceded the prophet's appeal to ,asa4 ,the captain of half a million soldiers1 the conqueror of a million ,ethiopians with three hundred chariots1 has to take courage before he can bring himself to put away the abominations out of his own dominions4 ,military machinery is more readily created than national righteousness2 it is easier to slaughter one's neighbours than to let light into the dark places that are full of the habitations of cruelty2 and vigorous foreign policy is a poor substitute for good administration4 ,the principle has its application to the individual4 ,the beam in our own eye seems more difficult to extract than the mote in our brother's1 and a man often needs more moral courage to reform himself than to denounce other people's sins or urge them to accept salvation4 ,most ministers could confirm from their own experience ,portia's saying1 8,i can easier teach twenty what were good to be done than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching40 ,asa's reformation was constructive as well as destructive2 the toleration of 8abominations0 had diminished the zeal of the people for ,jehovah1 and even the altar of ,jehovah before the porch of the ,temple had suffered from neglect3 it was now renewed1 and ,asa assembled the people for a great festival4 ,under ,rehoboam many pious ,israelites had left the northern kingdom to dwell where they could freely worship at the ,temple2 under ,asa there was a new migration1 8for they fell to him out of ,israel in abundance when they saw that ,jehovah his ,god was with him40 ,and so it came about that in the great assembly which ,asa gathered together at ,jerusalem not only ,judah and ,benjamin1 but also ,ephraim1 ,manasseh1 and ,simeon1 were represented4 ,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 ,benjamin17#ced7 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 ,judah4 ,such facts illustrated his doctrine that ,judah was the true spiritual ,israel1 the real 1 or twelve-tribed whole1 of the chosen people4 ,asa's festival was held in the third month of his fifteenth year1 the month ,sivan1 corresponding roughly to our ,june4 ,the ,feast of ,weeks1 at which first-fruits were offered1 fell in this month2 and his festival was probably a special celebration of this feast4 ,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-fruits4 ,the people pledged themselves most solemnly to permanent obedience to ,jehovah2 this festival and its offerings were to be first-fruits or earnest of future loyalty4 8,they entered into a covenant to seek ,jehovah1 the ,god of their fathers1 with all their heart and with all their soul2 444 they sware unto ,jehovah with a loud voice1 and with shouting1 and with trumpets1 and with cornets40 ,the observance of this covenant was not to be left to the uncertainties of individual loyalty2 the community were to be on their guard against offenders1 ,achans who might trouble ,israel4 ,according to the stern law of the ,pentateuch17#cee7 8whosoever would not seek ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel1 should be put to death1 whether small or great1 whether man or woman40 ,the seeking of ,jehovah1 so far as it could be enforced by penalties1 must have consisted in external observances2 and the usual proof that a man did not seek ,jehovah would be found in his seeking other gods and taking part in heathen rites4 ,such apostacy was not merely an ecclesiastical offence3 it involved immorality and a falling away from patriotism4 ,the pious ,jew could no more tolerate heathenism than we could tolerate in ,england religions that sanctioned polygamy or suttee4 ,having thus entered into covenant with ,jehovah1 8all ,judah rejoiced at their oath because they had sworn with all their heart1 and sought ,him with their whole desire40 ,at the beginning1 no doubt1 they1 like their king1 8took courage02 they addressed themselves with reluctance and apprehension to an unwelcome and hazardous enterprise4 ,they now rejoiced over the ,divine grace that had inspired their efforts and been manifested in their courage and devotion1 over the happy issue of their enterprise1 and over the universal enthusiasm for ,jehovah2 and ,he set the seal of ,his approval upon their gladness1 ,he was found of them1 and ,jehovah gave them rest round about1 so that there was no more war for twenty years3 unto the thirty-fifth year of ,asa's reign4 ,it is an unsavoury task to put away abominations3 many foul nests of unclean birds are disturbed in the process2 men would not choose to have this particular cross laid upon them1 but only those who take up their cross and follow ,christ can hope to enter into the joy of the ,lord4 ,the narrative of this second reformation is completed by the addition of details borrowed from the book of ,kings4 ,the chronicler next recounts how in the thirty-sixth year of ,asa's reign ,baasha began to fortify ,ramah as an outpost against ,judah1 but was forced to abandon his undertaking by the intervention of the ,syrian king1 ,benhadad1 whom ,asa hired with his own treasures and those of the ,temple2 whereupon ,asa carried off ,baasha's stones and timber and built ,geba and ,mizpah as ,jewish outposts against ,israel4 ,with the exception of the date and a few minor changes1 the narrative so far is taken verbatim from the book of ,kings4 ,the chronicler1 like the author of the priestly document of the ,pentateuch1 was anxious to provide his readers with an exact and complete system of chronology2 he was the ,ussher or ,clinton of his generation4 ,his date of the war against ,baasha is probably based upon an interpretation of the source used for chap4 xv42 the first reformation secured a rest of ten years1 the second and more thorough reformation a rest exactly twice as long as the first4 ,in the interest of these chronological references1 the chronicler has sacrificed a statement twice repeated in the book of ,kings3 that there was war between ,asa and ,baasha all their days4 ,as ,baasha came to the throne in ,asa's third year1 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 reign47#cef7 ,after his victory over ,zerah1 ,asa received a ,divine message7#ceg7 which somewhat checked the exuberance of his triumph2 a similar message awaited him after his successful expedition to ,ramah4 ,by ,oded ,jehovah had warned ,asa1 but now ,he commissioned ,hanani the seer to pronounce a sentence of condemnation4 ,the ground of the sentence was that ,asa had not relied on ,jehovah1 but on the king of ,syria4 ,here the chronicler echoes one of the key-notes of the great prophets4 ,isaiah had protested against the alliance which ,ahaz concluded with ,assyria in order to obtain assistance against the united onset of ,rezin1 king of ,syria1 and ,pekah1 king of ,israel1 and had predicted that ,jehovah would bring upon ,ahaz1 his people1 and his dynasty days that had not come since the disruption1 even the king of ,assyria47#ceh7 ,when this prediction was fulfilled1 and the thundercloud of ,assyrian invasion darkened all the land of ,judah1 the ,jews1 in their lack of faith1 looked to ,egypt for deliverance2 and again ,isaiah denounced the foreign alliance3 8,woe to them that go down to ,egypt for help1 444 but they look not unto the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 neither seek ,jehovah2 444 the strength of ,pharaoh shall be your shame1 and the trust in the shadow of ,egypt your confusion407#cei7 ,so ,jeremiah in his turn protested against a revival of the ,egyptian alliance3 8,thou shall be ashamed of ,egypt also1 as thou wast ashamed of ,assyria407#cfj7 ,in their successive calamities the ,jews could derive no comfort from a study of previous history2 the pretext upon which each of their oppressors had intervened in the affairs of ,palestine had been an invitation from ,judah4 ,in their trouble they had sought a remedy worse than the disease2 the consequences of this political quackery had always demanded still more desperate and fatal medicines4 ,freedom from the border raids of the ,ephraimites was secured at the price of the ruthless devastations of ,hazael2 deliverance from ,rezin only led to the wholesale massacres and spoliation of ,sennacherib4 ,foreign alliance was an opiate that had to be taken in continually increasing doses1 till at last it caused the death of the patient4 ,nevertheless these are not the lessons which the seer seeks to impress upon ,asa4 ,hanani takes a loftier tone4 ,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 ,judah4 ,few generations are greatly disturbed by the prospect of the ruin of their country in the distant future3 8,after us the ,deluge40 ,even the pious king ,hezekiah1 when told of the coming captivity of ,judah1 found much comfort in the thought that there should be peace and truth in his days4 ,after the manner of the prophets1 ,hanani's message is concerned with his own times4 ,to his large faith the alliance with ,syria presented itself chiefly as the loss of a great opportunity4 ,asa had deprived himself of the privilege of fighting with ,syria1 whereby ,jehovah would have found fresh occasion to manifest ,his infinite power and ,his gracious favour towards ,judah4 ,had there been no alliance with ,judah1 the restless and warlike king of ,syria might have joined ,baasha to attack ,asa2 another million of the heathen and other hundreds of their chariots would have been destroyed by the resistless might of the ,lord of ,hosts4 ,and yet1 in spite of the great object-lesson he had received in the defeat of ,zerah1 ,asa had not thought of ,jehovah as his ,ally4 ,he had forgotten the all-observing1 all-controlling providence of ,jehovah1 and had thought it necessary to supplement the ,divine protection by hiring a heathen king with the treasures of the ,temple2 and yet 8the eyes of ,jehovah run to and fro throughout the whole earth1 to show ,himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward ,him40 ,with this thought1 that the eyes of ,jehovah run to and fro throughout the earth1 ,zechariah7#cfa7 comforted the ,jews in the dark days between the ,return and the rebuilding of the ,temple4 ,possibly during ,asa's twenty years of tranquillity his faith had become enfeebled for want of any severe discipline4 ,it is only with a certain reserve that we can venture to pray that the ,lord will 8take from our lives the strain and stress40 ,the discipline of helplessness and dependence preserves the consciousness of ,god's loving providence4 ,the resources of ,divine grace are not altogether intended for our personal comfort2 we are to tax them to the utmost1 in the assurance that ,god will honour all our drafts upon ,his treasury4 ,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 king1 and then1 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 fortresses4 ,with such a history and such opportunities behind him1 ,asa should have felt himself competent1 with ,jehovah's help1 to deal with both ,baasha and ,benhadad1 and should have had courage to confront them both4 ,sin like ,asa's has been the supreme apostacy of the ,church in all her branches and through all her generations3 ,christ has been denied1 not by lack of devotion1 but by want of faith4 ,champions of the truth1 reformers and guardians of the ,temple1 like ,asa1 have been eager to attach to their holy cause the cruel prejudices of ignorance and folly1 the greed and vindictiveness of selfish men4 ,they have feared lest these potent forces should be arrayed amongst the enemies of the ,church and her ,master4 ,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 insolence2 the ,church has countenanced almost every iniquity and striven to quench by persecution every new revelation of the ,spirit1 in order to conciliate vested interests and established authorities4 ,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 together4 ,on the other hand1 the advocates of reform have not been slow to appeal to popular jealousy and to aggravate the bitterness of social feuds4 ,to ,hanani the seer had come the vision of a larger and purer faith1 that would rejoice to see the cause of ,satan supported by all the evil passions and selfish interests that are his natural allies4 ,he was assured that the greater the host of ,satan1 the more signal and complete would be ,jehovah's triumph4 ,if we had his faith1 we should not be anxious to bribe ,satan to cast out ,satan1 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 array4 ,in the former case the overthrow of the powers of darkness is more certain and more complete4 ,the evil consequences of ,asa's policy were not confined to the loss of a great opportunity1 nor were his treasures the only price he was to pay for fortifying ,geba and ,mizpah with ,baasha's building materials4 ,hanani declared to him that from henceforth he should have wars4 ,this purchased alliance was only the beginning1 and not the end1 of troubles4 ,instead of the complete and decisive victory which had disposed of the ,ethiopians once for all1 ,asa and his people were harassed and exhausted by continual warfare4 ,the ,christian life would have more decisive victories1 and would be less of a perpetual and wearing struggle1 if we had faith to refrain from the use of doubtful means for high ends4 ,oded's message of warning had been accepted and obeyed1 but ,asa was now no longer docile to ,divine discipline4 ,david and ,hezekiah submitted themselves to the censure of ,gad and ,isaiah2 but ,asa was wroth with ,hanani and put him in prison1 because the prophet had ventured to rebuke him4 ,his sin against ,god corrupted even his civil administration2 and the ally of a heathen king1 the persecutor of ,god's prophet1 also oppressed the people4 ,three years7#cfb7 after the repulse of ,baasha a new punishment fell upon ,asa3 his feet became grievously diseased4 ,still he did not humble himself1 but was guilty of further sin7#cfc73 he sought not ,jehovah1 but the physicians4 ,it is probable that to seek ,jehovah concerning disease was not merely a matter of worship4 ,reuss has suggested that the legitimate practice of medicine belonged to the schools of the prophets2 but it seems quite as likely that in ,judah1 as in ,egypt1 any existing knowledge of the art of healing was to be found among the priests4 ,conversely physicians who were neither priests nor prophets of ,jehovah were almost certain to be ministers of idolatrous worship and magicians4 ,they failed apparently to relieve their patient3 ,asa lingered in pain and weakness for two years1 and then died4 ,possibly the sufferings of his latter days had protected his people from further oppression1 and had at once appealed to their sympathy and removed any cause for resentment4 ,when he died1 they only remembered his virtues and achievements2 and buried him with royal magnificence1 with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices2 and made a very great burning for him1 probably of aromatic woods4 ,in discussing the chronicler's picture of the good kings1 we have noticed that1 while ,chronicles and the book of ,kings agree in mentioning the misfortunes which as a rule darkened their closing years1 ,chronicles in each case records some lapse into sin as preceding these misfortunes4 ,from the theological standpoint of the chronicler's school1 these invidious records of the sins of good kings were necessary in order to account for their misfortunes4 ,the devout student of the book of ,kings read with surprise that of the pious kings who had been devoted to ,jehovah and ,his temple1 whose acceptance by ,him had been shown by the victories vouchsafed to them1 one had died of a painful disease in his feet1 another in a lazar-house1 two had been assassinated1 and one slain in battle4 ,why had faith and devotion been so ill rewarded8 ,was it not vain to serve ,god8 ,what profit was there in keeping ,his ordinances8 ,the chronicler felt himself fortunate in discovering amongst his later authorities additional information which explained these mysteries and justified the ways of ,god to man4 ,even the good kings had not been without reproach1 and their misfortunes had been the righteous judgment on their sins4 ,the principle which guided the chronicler in this selection of material was that sin was always punished by complete1 immediate1 and manifest retribution in this life1 and that conversely all misfortune was the punishment of sin4 ,there is a simplicity and apparent justice about this theory that has always made it the leading doctrine of a certain stage of moral development4 ,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 ,galilans whose blood ,pilate had mingled with their sacrifices were sinners above all ,galilans because they had suffered these things1 or that the eighteen upon whom the tower in ,siloam fell1 and killed them1 were offenders above all the inhabitants of ,jerusalem4 ,this doctrine of retribution was current among the ,greeks4 ,when terrible calamities fell upon men1 their neighbours supposed these to be the punishment of specially heinous crimes4 ,when the ,spartan king ,cleomenes committed suicide1 the public mind in ,greece at once inquired of what particular sin he had thus paid the penalty4 ,the horrible circumstances of his death were attributed to the wrath of some offended deity1 and the cause of the offence was sought for in one of his many acts of sacrilege4 ,possibly he was thus punished because he had bribed the priestess of the ,delphic oracle4 ,the ,athenians1 however1 believed that his sacrilege had consisted in cutting down trees in their sacred grove at ,eleusis2 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 ,argos4 ,similarly1 when in the course of the ,peloponnesian war the ginetans were expelled from their island1 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 ,theomophorus4 ,on the other hand1 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 gods4 ,like many other simple and logical doctrines1 this ,jewish theory of retribution came into collision with obvious facts1 and seemed to set the law of ,god at variance with the enlightened conscience4 8,beneath the simplest forms of truth the subtlest error lurks40 ,the prosperity of the wicked and the sufferings of the righteous were a standing religious difficulty to the devout ,israelite4 ,the popular doctrine held its ground tenaciously1 supported not only by ancient prescription1 but also by the most influential classes in society4 ,all who were young1 robust1 wealthy1 powerful1 or successful were interested in maintaining a doctrine that made health1 riches1 rank1 and success the outward and visible signs of righteousness4 ,accordingly the simplicity of the original doctrine was hedged about with an ingenious and elaborate apologetic4 ,the prosperity of the wicked was held to be only for a season2 before he died the judgment of ,god would overtake him4 ,it was a mistake to speak of the sufferings of the righteous3 these very sufferings showed that his righteousness was only apparent1 and that in secret he had been guilty of grievous sin4 ,of all the cruelty inflicted in the name of orthodoxy there is little that can surpass the refined torture due to this ,jewish apologetic4 ,its cynical teaching met the sufferer in the anguish of bereavement1 in the pain and depression of disease1 when he was crushed by sudden and ruinous losses or publicly disgraced by the unjust sentence of a venal law-court4 ,instead of receiving sympathy and help1 he found himself looked upon as a moral outcast and pariah on account of his misfortunes2 when he most needed ,divine grace1 he was bidden to regard himself as a special object of the wrath of ,jehovah4 ,if his orthodoxy survived his calamities1 he would review his past life with morbid retrospection1 and persuade himself that he had indeed been guilty above all other sinners4 ,the book of ,job is an inspired protest against the current theory of retribution1 and the full discussion of the question belongs to the exposition of that book4 ,but the narrative of ,chronicles1 like much ,church history in all ages1 is largely controlled by the controversial interests of the school from which it emanated4 ,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 ,job4 ,the tragic and disgraceful death of good kings presented a crucial difficulty to the chronicler's theology4 ,a good man's other misfortunes might be compensated for by prosperity in his latter days2 but in a theory of retribution which required a complete satisfaction of justice in this life there could be no compensation for a dishonourable death4 ,hence the chronicler's anxiety to record any lapses of good kings in their latter days4 ,the criticism and correction of this doctrine belongs1 as we have said1 to the exposition of the book of ,job4 ,here we are rather concerned to discover the permanent truth of which the theory is at once an imperfect and exaggerated expression4 ,to begin with1 there are sins which bring upon the transgressor a swift1 obvious1 and dramatic punishment4 ,human law deals thus with some sins2 the laws of health visit others with a similar severity2 at times the ,divine judgment strikes down men and nations before an awe-stricken world4 ,amongst such judgments we might reckon the punishments of royal sins so frequent in the pages of ,chronicles4 ,god's judgments are not usually so immediate and manifest1 but these striking instances illustrate and enforce the certain consequences of sin4 ,we are dealing now with cases in which ,god was set at nought2 and1 apart from ,divine grace1 the votaries of sin are bound to become its slaves and victims4 ,ruskin has said1 8,medicine often fails of its effect1 but poison never2 and while1 in summing the observation of past life not unwatchfully spent1 ,i can truly say that ,i have a thousand times seen ,patience disappointed of her hope and ,wisdom of her aim1 ,i have never yet seen folly fruitless of mischief1 nor vice conclude but in calamity407#cfd7 ,now that we have been brought into a fuller light and delivered from the practical dangers of the ancient ,israelite doctrine1 we can afford to forget the less satisfactory aspects of the chronicler's teaching1 and we must feel grateful to him for enforcing the salutary and necessary lesson that sin brings inevitable punishment1 and that therefore1 whatever present appearances may suggest1 8the world was certainly not framed for the lasting convenience of hypocrites1 libertines1 and oppressors407#cfe7 ,indeed1 the consequences of sin are regular and exact2 and the judgments upon the kings of ,judah in ,chronicles accurately symbolise the operations of ,divine discipline4 ,but pain1 and ruin1 and disgrace are only secondary elements in ,god's judgments2 and most often they are not judgments at all4 ,they have their uses as chastisements2 but if we dwell upon them with too emphatic an insistence1 men suppose that pain is a worse evil than sin1 and that sin is only to be avoided because it causes suffering to the sinner4 ,the really serious consequence of evil acts is the formation and confirmation of evil character4 ,herbert ,spencer says in his ,first ,principles7#cff7 8that motion once set up along any line becomes itself a cause of subsequent motion along that line40 ,this is absolutely true in moral and spiritual dynamics3 every wrong thought1 feeling1 word1 or act1 every failure to think1 feel1 speak1 or act rightly1 at once alters a man's character for the worse4 ,henceforth he will find it easier to sin and more difficult to do right2 he has twisted another strand into the cord of habit3 and though each may be as fine as the threads of a spider's web1 in time there will be cords strong enough to have bound ,samson before ,delilah shaved off his seven locks4 ,this is the true punishment of sin3 to lose the fine instincts1 the generous impulses1 and the nobler ambitions of manhood1 and become every day more of a beast and a devil4 ,chapter ,,iv4 ,jehoshaphat--,the ,doctrine ,of ,non-,resistance4 #b ,chron4 xvii4-xx4 ,asa was succeeded by his son ,jehoshaphat1 and his reign began even more auspiciously7#cfg7 than that of ,asa4 ,the new king had apparently taken warning from the misfortunes of ,asa's closing years2 and as he was thirty-five years old when he came to the throne1 he had been trained before ,asa fell under the ,divine displeasure4 ,he walked in the first ways of his father ,david1 before ,david was led away by ,satan to number ,israel4 ,jehoshaphat's heart was lifted up1 not with foolish pride1 like ,hezekiah's1 but 8in the ways of ,jehovah40 ,he sought the ,god of his father1 and walked in ,god's commandments1 and was not led astray by the evil example and influence of the kings of ,israel1 neither did he seek the ,baals4 ,while ,asa had been enfeebled by illness and alienated from ,jehovah1 the high places and the ,asherim had sprung up again like a crop of evil weeds2 but ,jehoshaphat once more removed them4 ,according to the chronicler1 this removing of high places was a very labour of ,sisyphus3 the stone was no sooner rolled up to the top of the hill than it rolled down again4 ,jehoshaphat seems to have had an inkling of this2 he felt that the destruction of idolatrous sanctuaries and symbols was like mowing down weeds and leaving the roots in the soil4 ,accordingly he made an attempt to deal more radically with the evil3 he would take away the inclination as well as the opportunity for corrupt rites4 ,a commission of princes1 priests1 and ,levites was sent throughout all the cities of ,judah to instruct the people in the law of ,jehovah4 ,vice will always find opportunities2 it is little use to suppress evil institutions unless the people are educated out of evil propensities4 ,if1 for instance1 every public-house in ,england were closed to-morrow1 and there were still millions of throats craving for drink1 drunkenness would still prevail1 and a new administration would promptly reopen gin-shops4 ,because the new king thus earnestly and consistently sought the ,god of his fathers1 ,jehovah was with him1 and established the kingdom in his hand4 ,jehoshaphat received all the marks of ,divine favour usually bestowed upon good kings4 ,he waxed great exceedingly2 he had many fortresses1 an immense army1 and much wealth2 he built castles and cities of store2 he had arsenals for the supply of war material in the cities of ,judah4 ,and these cities1 together with other defensible positions and the border cities of ,ephraim occupied by ,judah1 were held by strong garrisons4 ,while ,david had contented himself with two hundred and eighty-eight thousand men from all ,israel1 and ,abijah had led forth four hundred thousand1 and ,asa five hundred and eighty thousand1 there waited on ,jehoshaphat1 in addition to his numerous garrisons1 eleven hundred and sixty thousand men4 ,of these seven hundred and eighty thousand were men of ,judah in three divisions1 and three hundred and eighty thousand were ,benjamites in two divisions4 ,probably the steady increase of the armies of ,abijah1 ,asa1 and ,jehoshaphat symbolises a proportionate increase of ,divine favour4 ,the chronicler records the names of the captains of the five divisions4 ,two of them are singled out for special commendation3 ,eliada the ,benjamite is styled 8a mighty man of valour10 and of the ,jewish captain ,amaziah the son of ,zichri it is said that he offered either himself or his possessions willingly to ,jehovah1 as ,david and his princes had offered1 for the building of the ,temple4 ,the devout king had devout officers4 ,he had also devoted subjects4 ,all ,judah brought him presents1 so that he had great riches and ample means to sustain his royal power and splendour4 ,moreover1 as in the case of ,solomon and ,asa1 his piety was rewarded with freedom from war3 8,the fear of ,jehovah fell upon all the kingdoms round about1 so that they made no war against ,jehoshaphat40 ,some of his weaker neighbours were overawed by the spectacle of his great power2 the ,philistines brought him presents and tribute money1 and the ,arabians immense flocks of rams and he-goats1 seven thousand seven hundred of each4 ,great prosperity had the usual fatal effect upon ,jehoshaphat's character4 ,in the beginning of his reign he had strengthened himself against ,israel and had refused to walk in their ways2 now power had developed ambition1 and he sought and obtained the honour of marrying his son ,jehoram to ,athaliah the daughter of ,ahab1 the mighty and magnificent king of ,israel1 possibly also the daughter of the ,phnician princess ,jezebel1 the devotee of ,baal4 ,this family connection of course implied political alliance4 ,after a time ,jehoshaphat went down to visit his new ally1 and was hospitably received47#cfh7 ,then follows the familiar story of ,micaiah the son of ,imlah1 the disastrous expedition of the two kings1 and the death of ,ahab1 almost exactly as in the book of ,kings4 ,there is one significant alteration3 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 out1 and they discovered their mistake2 but the chronicler adds the explanation that ,jehovah helped him and ,god moved them to depart from him4 ,and so the master of more than a million soldiers was happy in being allowed to escape on account of his insignificance1 and returned in peace to ,jerusalem4 ,oded and ,hanani had met his predecessors on their return from victory2 now ,jehu the son of ,hanani7#cfi7 met ,jehoshaphat when he came home defeated4 ,like his father1 the prophet was charged with a message of rebuke4 ,an alliance with the northern kingdom was scarcely less reprehensible than one with ,syria3 8,shouldest thou help the wicked1 and love them that hate ,jehovah8 ,jehovah is wroth with thee40 ,asa's previous reforms were not allowed to mitigate the severity of his condemnation1 but ,jehovah was more merciful to ,jehoshaphat4 ,the prophet makes mention of his piety and his destruction of idolatrous symbols1 and no further punishment is inflicted upon him4 ,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 ,him4 ,jehovah knew that ,jehoshaphat's sinful alliance with ,ahab did not imply complete revolt and apostacy4 ,hence doubtless the comparative mildness of the prophet's reproof4 ,when ,jehu's father ,hanani rebuked ,asa1 the king flew into a passion1 and cast the prophet into prison2 ,jehoshaphat received ,jehu's reproof in a very different spirit7#cgj73 he repented himself1 and found a new zeal in his penitence4 ,learning from his own experience the proneness of the human heart to go astray1 he went out himself amongst his people to bring them back to ,jehovah2 and just as ,asa in his apostacy oppressed his people1 ,jehoshaphat in his renewed loyalty to ,jehovah showed himself anxious for good government4 ,he provided judges in all the walled towns of ,judah1 with a court of appeal at ,jerusalem2 he solemnly charged them to remember their responsibility to ,jehovah1 to avoid bribery1 and not to truckle to the rich and powerful4 ,being themselves faithful to ,jehovah1 they were to inculcate a like obedience and warn the people not to sin against the ,god of their fathers4 ,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-court3 8,deal courageously1 and ,jehovah defend the right60 ,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 ,chronicles4 ,the testimony of history on this point is not altogether consistent4 ,in spite of all the faults of the orthodox and devout ,greek emperors ,theodosius the ,great and ,marcian1 their administration rendered important services to the empire4 ,alfred the ,great was a distinguished statesman and warrior as well as zealous for true religion4 ,st4 ,louis of ,france exercised a wise control over ,church and state4 ,it is true that when a woman reproached him in open court with being a king of friars1 of priests1 and of clerks1 and not a true king of ,france1 he replied with saintly meekness1 8,you say true6 ,it has pleased the ,lord to make me king2 it had been well if it had pleased ,him to make some one king who had better ruled the realm407#cga7 ,but something must be allowed for the modesty of the saint2 apart from his unfortunate crusades1 it would have been difficult for ,france or even ,europe to have furnished a more beneficent sovereign4 ,on the other hand1 ,charlemagne's successor1 the ,emperor ,louis the ,pious1 and our own kings ,edward the ,confessor and the saintly ,henry ,,vi41 were alike feeble and inefficient2 the zeal of the ,spanish kings and their kinswoman ,mary ,tudor is chiefly remembered for its ghastly cruelty2 and in comparatively recent times the misgovernment of the ,states of the ,church was a byword throughout ,europe4 ,many causes combined to produce this mingled record4 ,the one most clearly contrary to the chronicler's teaching was an immoral opinion that the ,christian should cease to be a citizen1 and that the saint has no duties to society4 ,this view is often considered to be the special vice of monasticism1 but it reappears in one form or another in every generation4 ,the failure of the administration of ,louis the ,pious is partly explained when we read that he was with difficulty prevented from entering a monastery4 ,in our own day there are those who think that a newspaper should have no interest for a really earnest ,christian4 ,according to their ideas1 ,jehoshaphat should have divided his time between a private oratory in his palace and the public services of the ,temple1 and have left his kingdom to the mercy of unjust judges at home and heathen enemies abroad1 or else have abdicated in favour of some kinsman whose heart was not so perfect with ,jehovah4 ,the chronicler had a clearer insight into ,divine methods1 and this doctrine of his is not one that has been superseded together with the ,mosaic ritual4 ,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 incident7#cgb7 which he now describes4 ,jehoshaphat's next experience was parallel to that of ,asa with ,zerah4 ,when his new reforms were completed1 he was menaced with a formidable invasion4 ,his new enemies were almost as distant and strange as the ,ethiopians and ,lubim who had followed ,zerah4 ,we hear nothing about any king of ,israel or ,damascus1 the usual leaders of assaults upon ,judah2 we hear instead of a triple alliance against ,judah4 ,two of the allies are ,moab and ,ammon2 but the ,jewish kings were not wont to regard these as irresistible foes1 so that the extreme dismay which takes possession of king and people must be due to the third ally3 the 8,meunim407#cgc7 ,the ,meunim we have already met with in connection with the exploits of the children of ,simeon in the reign of ,hezekiah2 they are also mentioned in the reign of ,uzziah17#cgd7 and nowhere else1 unless indeed they are identical with the ,maonites1 who are named with the ,amalekites in ,judges x4 #ab4 ,they are thus a people peculiar to ,chronicles1 and appear from this narrative to have inhabited ,mount ,seir1 by which term 8,meunim0 is replaced as the story proceeds47#cge7 ,since the chronicler wrote so long after the events he describes1 we cannot attribute to him any very exact knowledge of political geography4 ,probably the term 8,meunim0 impressed his contemporaries very much as it does a modern reader1 and suggested countless hordes of ,bedouin plunderers2 ,josephus calls them a great army of ,arabians4 ,this host of invaders came from ,edom1 and having marched round the southern end of the ,dead ,sea1 were now at ,engedi1 on its western shore4 ,the ,moabites and ,ammonites might have crossed the ,jordan by the fords near ,jericho2 but this route would not have been convenient for their allies the ,meunim1 and would have brought them into collision with the forces of the northern kingdom4 ,on this occasion ,jehoshaphat does not seek any foreign alliance4 ,he does not appeal to ,syria1 like ,asa1 nor does he ask ,ahab's successor to repay in kind the assistance given to ,ahab at ,ramoth-gilead1 partly perhaps because there was no time1 but chiefly because he had learnt the truth which ,hanani had sought to teach his father1 and which ,hanani's son had taught him4 ,he does not even trust in his own hundreds of thousands of soldiers1 all of whom cannot have perished at ,ramoth-gilead2 his confidence is placed solely and absolutely in ,jehovah4 ,jehoshaphat and his people made no military preparations2 subsequent events justified their apparent neglect3 none were necessary4 ,jehoshaphat sought ,divine help instead1 and proclaimed a fast throughout ,judah2 and all ,judah gathered themselves to ,jerusalem to ask help of ,jehovah4 ,this great national assembly met 8before the new court0 of the ,temple4 ,the chronicler1 who is supremely interested in the ,temple buildings1 has told us nothing about any new court1 nor is it mentioned elsewhere2 our author is probably giving the title of a corresponding portion of the second ,temple3 the place where the people assembled to meet ,jehoshaphat would be the great court built by ,solomon47#cgf7 ,here ,jehoshaphat stood up as the spokesman of the nation1 and prayed to ,jehovah on their behalf and on his own4 ,he recalls the ,divine omnipotence2 ,jehovah is ,god of earth and heaven1 ,god of ,israel and ,ruler of the heathen1 and therefore able to help even in this great emergency3-- 8,o ,jehovah1 ,god of our fathers1 art ,thou not ,god in heaven8 ,dost ,thou not rule all the kingdoms of the heathen8 ,and in ,thy hand is power and might1 so that none is able to withstand ,thee40 ,the land of ,israel had been the special gift of ,jehovah to ,his people1 in fulfilment of ,his ancient promise to ,abraham3-- 8,didst not ,thou1 ,o our ,god1 dispossess the inhabitants of this land in favour of ,thy people ,israel1 and gavest it to the seed of ,abraham ,thy friend for ever80 ,and now long possession had given ,israel a prescriptive right to the ,land of ,promise2 and they had1 so to speak1 claimed their rights in the most formal and solemn fashion by erecting a temple to the ,god of ,israel4 ,moreover1 the prayer of ,solomon at the dedication of the ,temple had been accepted by ,jehovah as the basis of ,his covenant with ,israel1 and ,jehoshaphat quotes a clause from that prayer or covenant which had expressly provided for such emergencies as the present3-- 8,and they0 7,israel7 8dwelt in the land1 and built ,thee therein a sanctuary for ,thy name1 saying1 ,if evil come upon us1 the sword1 judgment1 pestilence1 or famine1 we will stand before this house and before ,thee 7for ,thy name is in this house71 and cry unto ,thee in our affliction2 and ,thou wilt hear and save407#cgg7 ,moreover1 the present invasion was not only an attempt to set aside ,jehovah's disposition of ,palestine and the long-established rights of ,israel3 it was also gross ingratitude1 a base return for the ancient forbearance of ,israel towards her present enemies3-- 8,and now1 behold1 the children of ,ammon and ,moab and ,mount ,seir1 whom ,thou wouldest not let ,israel invade when they came out of the land of ,egypt1 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 possess40 ,for this nefarious purpose the enemies of ,israel had come up in overwhelming numbers1 but ,judah was confident in the justice of its cause and the favour of ,jehovah3-- 8,o our ,god1 wilt ,thou not execute judgment against them8 for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us1 neither know we what to do1 but our eyes are upon ,thee40 ,meanwhile the great assemblage stood in the attitude of supplication before ,jehovah1 not a gathering of mighty men of valour praying for blessing upon their strength and courage1 but a mixed multitude1 men and women1 children and infants1 seeking sanctuary1 as it were1 at the ,temple1 and casting themselves in their extremity upon the protecting care of ,jehovah4 ,possibly when the king finished his prayer the assembly broke out into loud1 wailing cries of dismay and agonised entreaty2 but the silence of the narrative rather suggests that ,jehoshaphat's strong1 calm faith communicated itself to the people1 and they waited quietly for ,jehovah's answer1 for some token or promise of deliverance4 ,instead of the confused cries of an excited crowd1 there was a hush of expectancy1 such as sometimes falls upon an assembly when a great statesman has risen to utter words which will be big with the fate of empires4 ,and the answer came1 not by fire from heaven or any visible sign1 not by voice of thunder accompanied by angelic trumpets1 nor by angel or archangel1 but by a familiar voice hitherto unsuspected of any supernatural gifts1 by a prophetic utterance whose only credentials were given by the influence of the ,spirit upon the speaker and his audience4 ,the chronicler relates with evident satisfaction how1 in the midst of that great congregation1 the ,spirit of ,jehovah came1 not upon king1 or priest1 or acknowledged prophet1 but upon a subordinate minister of the ,temple1 a ,levite and member of the ,temple choir like himself4 ,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 generations4 ,he was ,jahaziel the son of ,zechariah1 the son of ,benaiah1 the son of ,jeiel1 the son of ,mattaniah1 of the sons of ,asaph4 ,the very names were encouraging4 ,what more suitable names could be found for a messenger of ,divine mercy than ,jahaziel--8,god gives prophetic vision0--the son of ,zechariah--8,jehovah remembers08 ,jahaziel's message showed that ,jehoshaphat's prayer had been accepted2 ,jehovah responded without reserve to the confidence reposed in ,him3 ,he would vindicate ,his own authority by delivering ,judah2 ,jehoshaphat should have blessed proof of the immense superiority of simple trust in ,jehovah over an alliance with ,ahab or the king of ,damascus4 ,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 leadership3 8,fear not1 nor be dismayed40 ,they need no longer cling like frightened suppliants to the sanctuary1 but are to go forth at once1 the very next day1 against the enemy4 ,that they may lose no time in looking for them1 ,jehovah announces the exact spot where the enemy are to be found3 8,behold1 they are coming by the ascent of ,hazziz17#cgh7 and ye shall find them at the end of the ravine before the wilderness of ,jeruel40 ,this topographical description was doubtless perfectly intelligible to the chronicler's contemporaries1 but it is no longer possible to fix exactly the locality of ,hazziz or ,jeruel4 ,the ascent of ,hazziz has been identified with the ,wady ,husasa1 which leads up from the coast of the ,dead ,sea north of ,engedi1 in the direction of ,tekoa2 but the identification is by no means certain4 ,the general situation1 however1 is fairly clear3 the allied invaders would come up from the coast into the highlands of ,judah by one of the wadies leading inland2 they were to be met by ,jehoshaphat and his people on one of the 8wildernesses10 or plateaus of pasture-land1 in the neighbourhood of ,tekoa4 ,but the ,jews went forth1 not as an army1 but in order to be the passive spectators of a great manifestation of the power of ,jehovah4 ,they had no concern with the numbers and prowess of their enemies2 ,jehovah ,himself would lay bare ,his mighty arm1 and ,judah should see that no foreign ally1 no millions of native warriors1 were necessary for their salvation3 8,ye shall not need to fight in this battle2 take up your position1 stand still and see the deliverance of ,jehovah with you1 ,o ,judah and ,jerusalem40 ,thus had ,moses addressed ,israel on the eve of the passage of the ,red ,sea4 ,jehoshaphat and his people owned and honoured the ,divine message as if ,jahaziel were another ,moses2 they prostrated themselves on the ground before ,jehovah4 ,the sons of ,asaph had already been privileged to provide ,jehovah with ,his prophet2 these ,asaphites represented the ,levitical clan of ,gershom3 but now the ,kohathites1 with their guild of singers1 the sons of ,korah1 8stood up to praise ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel1 with an exceeding loud voice10 as the ,levites sang when the foundations of the second ,temple were laid1 and when ,ezra and ,nehemiah made the people enter into a new covenant with their ,god4 ,accordingly on the morrow the people rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of ,tekoa1 ten or twelve miles south of ,jerusalem4 ,in ancient times generals were wont to make a set speech to their armies before they led them into battle1 so ,jehoshaphat addresses his subjects as they pass out before him4 ,he does not seek to make them confident in their own strength and prowess2 he does not inflame their passions against ,moab and ,ammon1 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 ,god4 ,such an address would have been entirely out of place1 because the ,jews were not going to fight at all4 ,jehoshaphat only bids them have faith in ,jehovah and ,his prophets4 ,it is a curious anticipation of ,pauline teaching4 ,judah is to be 8saved by faith0 from ,moab and ,ammon1 as the ,christian is delivered by faith from sin and its penalty4 ,the incident might almost seem to have been recorded in order to illustrate the truth that ,st4 ,paul was to teach4 ,it is strange that there is no reference to this chapter in the epistles of ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,james1 and that the author of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews does not remind us how 8by faith ,jehoshaphat was delivered from ,moab and ,ammon40 ,there is no question of military order1 no reference to the five great divisions into which the armies of ,judah and ,benjamin are divided in chap4 xvii4 ,here1 as at ,jericho1 the captain of ,israel is chiefly concerned to provide musicians to lead his army4 ,when ,david was arranging for the musical services before the ,ark1 he took counsel with his captains4 ,in this unique military expedition there is no mention of captains2 they were not necessary1 and if they were present1 there was no opportunity for them to show their skill and prowess in battle4 ,in an even more democratic spirit ,jehoshaphat takes counsel with the people--that is1 probably makes some proposition1 which is accepted with universal acclamation4 ,the ,levitical singers1 dressed in the splendid robes7#cgi7 in which they officiated at the ,temple1 were appointed to go before the people1 and offer praises unto ,jehovah1 and sing the anthem1 8,give thanks unto ,jehovah1 for ,his mercy endureth for ever40 ,these words or their equivalent are the opening words1 and the second clause the refrain1 of the post-,exilic ,psalms3 cvi41 cvii41 cxviii41 and cxxxvi4 ,as the chronicler has already ascribed ,psalm cvi4 to ,david1 he possibly ascribes all four to ,david1 and intends us to understand that one or all of them were sung by the ,levites on this occasion4 ,later ,judaism was in the habit of denoting a book or section of a book by its opening words4 ,and so ,judah1 a pilgrim caravan rather than an army1 went on to its ,divinely appointed tryst with its enemies1 and at its head the ,levitical choir sang the ,temple hymns4 ,it was not a campaign1 but a sacred function1 on a much larger scale a procession such as may be seen winding its way1 with chants and incense1 banners1 images1 and crucifixes1 through the streets of ,catholic cities4 ,meanwhile ,jehovah was preparing a spectacle to gladden the eyes of ,his people and reward their implicit faith and exact obedience2 ,he was working for those who were waiting for ,him4 ,though ,judah was still far from its enemies1 yet1 like the trumpet at ,jericho1 the strain of praise and thanksgiving was the signal for the ,divine intervention3 8,when they began to sing and praise1 ,jehovah set liers in wait against the children of ,ammon1 ,moab1 and ,mount ,seir40 ,who were these liers in wait8 ,they could not be men of ,judah3 they were not to fight1 but to be passive spectators of their own deliverance4 ,did the allies set an ambush for ,judah1 and was it thus that they were afterwards led to mistake their own people for enemies8 ,or does the chronicler intend us to understand that these 8liers in wait0 were spirits2 that the allied invaders were tricked and bewildered like the shipwrecked sailors in the ,tempest2 or that when they came to the wilderness of ,jeruel there fell upon them a spirit of mutual distrust1 jealousy1 and hatred1 that had1 as it were1 been waiting for them there8 ,but1 from whatever cause1 a quarrel broke out amongst them2 and they were smitten4 ,when ,ammonite1 ,moabite1 and ,edomite met1 there were many private and public feuds waiting their opportunity2 and such confederates were as ready to quarrel among themselves as a group of ,highland clans engaged in a ,lowland foray4 8,ammon and ,moab stood up against the inhabitants of ,mount ,seir utterly to slay and destroy them40 ,but even ,ammon and ,moab soon dissolved their alliance2 and at last1 partly maddened by panic1 partly intoxicated by a wild thirst for blood1 a very ,berserker frenzy1 all ties of friendship and kindred were forgotten1 and every man's hand was against his brother4 8,when they had made an end of the inhabitants of ,seir1 every one helped to destroy another40 ,while this tragedy was enacting1 and the air was rent with the cruel yells of that death struggle1 ,jehoshaphat and his people moved on in tranquil pilgrimage to the cheerful sound of the songs of ,zion4 ,at last they reached an eminence1 perhaps the long1 low summit of some ridge overlooking the plateau of ,jeruel4 ,when they had gained this watchtower of the wilderness1 the ghastly scene burst upon their gaze4 ,jehovah had kept ,his word3 they had found their enemy4 ,they 8looked upon the multitude10 all those hordes of heathen tribes that had filled them with terror and dismay4 ,they were harmless enough now3 the ,jews saw nothing but 8dead bodies fallen to the earth02 and in that ,aceldama lay all the multitude of profane invaders who had dared to violate the sanctity of the ,promised ,land3 8,there were none that escaped40 ,so had ,israel looked back after crossing the ,red ,sea and seen the corpses of the ,egyptians washed up on the shore47#chj7 ,so when the angel of ,jehovah smote ,sennacherib1-- 8,like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown1 ,that host on the morrow lay withered and strown40 ,there is no touch of pity for the wretched victims of their own sins4 ,greeks of every city and tribe could feel the pathos of the tragic end of the ,athenian expedition against ,syracuse2 but the ,jews had no ruth for the kindred tribes that dwelt along their frontier1 and the age of the chronicler had not yet learnt that ,jehovah had either tenderness or compassion for the enemies of ,israel4 ,the spectators of this carnage--we cannot call them victors--did not neglect to profit to the utmost by their great opportunity4 ,they spent three days in stripping the dead bodies2 and as ,orientals delight in jewelled weapons and costly garments1 and their chiefs take the field with barbaric ostentation of wealth1 the spoil was both valuable and abundant3 8riches1 and raiment17#cha7 and precious jewels1 444 more than they could carry away40 ,in collecting the spoil1 the ,jews had become dispersed through all the wide area over which the fighting between the confederates must have extended2 but on the fourth day they gathered together again in a neighbouring valley and gave solemn thanks for their deliverance3 8,there they blessed ,jehovah2 therefore the name of that place was called the valley of ,berachah unto this day40 ,west of ,tekoa17#chb7 not too far from the scene of carnage1 a ruin and a wady still bear the name 8,bereikut02 and doubtless in the chronicler's time the valley was called ,berachah1 and local tradition furnished our author with this explanation of the origin of the name4 ,when the spoil was all collected1 they returned to ,jerusalem as they came1 in solemn procession1 headed1 no doubt1 by the ,levites1 with psalteries1 and harps1 and trumpets4 ,they came back to the scene of their anxious supplications3 to the house of ,jehovah4 ,but yesterday1 as it were1 they had assembled before ,jehovah1 terror-stricken at the report of an irresistible host of invaders2 and to-day their enemies were utterly destroyed4 ,they had experienced a deliverance that might rank with the ,exodus2 and as at that former deliverance they had spoiled the ,egyptians1 so now they had returned laden with the plunder of ,moab1 ,ammon1 and ,edom4 ,and all their neighbours were smitten with fear when they heard of the awful ruin which ,jehovah had brought upon these enemies of ,israel4 ,no one would dare to invade a country where ,jehovah laid a ghostly ambush of liers in wait for the enemies of ,his people4 ,the realm of ,jehoshaphat was quiet1 not because he was protected by powerful allies or by the swords of his numerous and valiant soldiers1 but because ,judah had become another ,eden1 and cherubim with flaming swords guarded the frontier on every hand1 and 8his ,god gave him rest round about40 ,then follow the regular summary and conclusion of the history of the reign taken from the book of ,kings1 with the usual alterations in the reference to further sources of information4 ,we are told here1 in direct contradiction to xvii4 #f and to the whole tenor of the previous chapters1 that the high places were not taken away1 another illustration of the slight importance the chronicler attached to accuracy in details4 ,he either overlooks the contradiction between passages borrowed from different sources1 or else does not think it worth while to harmonise his inconsistent materials4 ,but after the narrative of the reign is thus formally closed the chronicler inserts a postscript1 perhaps by a kind of after-thought4 ,the book of ,kings narrates7#chc7 how ,jehoshaphat made ships to go to ,ophir for gold1 but they were broken at ,ezion-geber2 then ,ahaziah the son of ,ahab proposed to enter into partnership with ,jehoshaphat1 and the latter rejected his proposal4 ,as we have seen1 the chronicler's theory of retribution required some reason why so pious a king experienced misfortune4 ,what sin had ,jehoshaphat committed to deserve to have his ships broken8 ,the chronicler has a new version of the story1 which provides an answer to this question4 ,jehoshaphat did not build any ships by himself2 his unfortunate navy was constructed in partnership with ,ahaziah2 and accordingly the prophet ,eliezer rebuked him for allying himself a second time with a wicked king of ,israel1 and announced the coming wreck of the ships4 ,and so it came about that the ships were broken1 and the shadow of ,divine displeasure rested on the last days of ,jehoshaphat4 ,we have next to notice the chronicler's most important omissions4 ,the book of ,kings narrates another alliance of ,jehoshaphat with ,jehoram1 king of ,israel1 like his alliances with ,ahab and ,ahaziah4 ,the narrative of this incident closely resembles that of the earlier joint expedition to ,ramoth-gilead4 ,as then ,jehoshaphat marched out with ,ahab1 so now he accompanies ,ahab's son ,jehoram1 taking with him his subject ally the king of ,edom4 ,here also a prophet appears upon the scene2 but on this occasion ,elisha addresses no rebuke to ,jehoshaphat for his alliance with ,israel1 but treats him with marked respect3 and the allied army wins a great victory4 ,if this narrative had been included in ,chronicles1 the reign of ,jehoshaphat would not have afforded an altogether satisfactory illustration of the main lesson which the chronicler intended it to teach4 ,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 strength1 but solely to the grace and omnipotence of ,jehovah4 ,one negative aspect of this principle has been enforced by the condemnation of ,asa's alliance with ,syria and ,jehoshaphat's with ,ahab and ,ahaziah4 ,later on the uselessness of an army apart from ,jehovah is shown in the defeat of 8the great host0 of ,joash by 8a small company0 of ,syrians47#chd7 ,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 allies4 ,but these were partial and unsatisfactory illustrations3 ,jehovah vouchsafed to share the glory of these victories with great armies that were numbered by the hundred thousand4 ,and after all1 the odds were not so very overwhelming4 ,scores of parallels may be found in which the odds were much greater4 ,in the case of vast ,oriental hosts a superiority of two to one might easily be counterbalanced by discipline and valour in the smaller army4 ,the peculiar value to the chronicler of the deliverance from ,moab1 ,ammon1 and the ,meunim lay in the fact that no human arm divided the glory with ,jehovah4 ,it was shown conclusively not merely that ,judah could safely be contented with an army smaller than those of its neighbours1 but that ,judah would be equally safe with no army at all4 ,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 ,david4 ,yet he places no confidence in his eleven hundred and sixty thousand warriors1 and he is not allowed to make any use of them4 ,in the case of a king with small military resources1 to trust in ,jehovah might be merely making a virtue of necessity2 but if ,jehoshaphat1 with his immense army1 felt that his only real help was in his ,god1 the example furnished an fortiori argument which would conclusively show that it was always the duty and privilege of the ,jews to say with the ,psalmist1 8,some trust in chariots1 and some in horses2 but we will remember the name of ,jehovah our ,god407#che7 ,the ancient literature of ,israel furnished other illustrations of the principle3 at the ,red ,sea the ,israelites had been delivered without any exercise of their own warlike prowess2 at ,jericho1 as at ,jeruel1 the enemy had been completely overthrown by ,jehovah before ,his people rushed upon the spoil2 and the same direct ,divine intervention saved ,jerusalem from ,sennacherib4 ,but the later history of the ,jews had been a series of illustrations of enforced dependence upon ,jehovah4 ,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 ,jehovah1 if it were in any way to maintain its self-respect4 ,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 masters4 ,when they were thus helpless1 ,jehovah wrought for ,israel1 as ,he had destroyed the enemies of ,jehoshaphat in the wilderness of ,jeruel4 ,the ,jews stood still and saw the working out of their deliverance2 great empires wrestled together like ,moab1 ,ammon1 and ,edom1 in the agony of the death struggle3 and over all the tumult of battle ,israel heard the voice of ,jehovah1 8,the battle is not yours1 but ,god's2 444 set yourselves1 stand ye still1 and see the deliverance of ,jehovah with you1 ,o ,judah and ,jerusalem40 ,before their eyes there passed the scenes of that great drama which for a time gave ,western ,asia ,aryan instead of ,semitic masters4 ,for them the whole action had but one meaning3 without calling ,israel into the field1 ,jehovah was devoting to destruction the enemies of ,his people and opening up a way for ,his redeemed to return1 like ,jehoshaphat's procession1 to the ,holy ,city and the ,temple4 ,the long series of wars became a wager of battle1 in which ,israel1 herself a passive spectator1 appeared by her ,divine ,champion2 and the assured issue was her triumphant vindication and restoration to her ancient throne in ,zion4 ,after the ,restoration ,god's protecting providence asked no armed assistance from ,judah4 ,the mandates of a distant court authorised the rebuilding of the ,temple and the fortifying of the city4 ,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 children4 ,we have already noticed that this philosophy of history is not peculiar to ,israel4 ,every nation has a similar system1 and regards its own interests as the supreme care of ,providence4 ,we have seen1 too1 that moral influences have controlled and checkmated material forces2 ,god has fought against the biggest battalions4 ,similarly the ,jews are not the only people for whom deliverances have been worked out almost without any co-operation on their own part4 ,it was not a negro revolt1 for instance1 that set free the slaves of our colonies or of the ,southern ,states4 ,italy regained her ,eternal ,city as an incidental effect of a great war in which she herself took no part4 ,important political movements and great struggles involve consequences equally unforeseen and unintended by the chief actors in these dramas1 consequences which would seem to them insignificant compared with more obvious results4 ,some obscure nation almost ready to perish is given a respite1 a breathing space1 in which it gathers strength2 instead of losing its separate existence1 it endures till time and opportunity make it one of the ruling influences in the world's history3 some ,geneva or ,wittenberg becomes1 just at the right time1 a secure refuge and vantage-ground for one of the ,lord's prophets4 ,our understanding of what ,god is doing in our time and our hopes for what ,he may yet do will indeed be small1 if we think that ,god can do nothing for our cause unless our banner flies in the forefront of the battle1 and the war-cry is 8,the sword of ,gideon60 as well as 8,the sword of ,jehovah60 ,there will be many battles fought in which we shall strike no blow and yet be privileged to divide the spoil4 ,we sometimes 8stand still and see the salvation of ,jehovah40 ,the chronicler has found disciples in these latter days of a kindlier spirit and more catholic sympathies4 ,he and they have reached their common doctrines by different paths1 but the chronicler teaches non-resistance as clearly as the ,society of ,friends4 8,when you have fully yielded yourself to the ,divine teaching10 he says1 8you will neither fight yourself nor ask others to fight for you2 you will simply stand still and watch a ,divine providence protecting you and destroying your enemies40 ,the ,friends could almost echo this teaching1 not perhaps laying quite so much stress on the destruction of the enemy1 though among the visions of the earlier ,friends there were many that revealed the coming judgments of the ,lord2 and the modern enthusiast is still apt to consider that his enemies1 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 justice4 ,if the chronicler had lived to-day1 the history of the ,society of ,friends might have furnished him with illustrations almost as apt as the destruction of the allied invaders of ,judah4 ,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 ,pennsylvania1 and would have seen the hand of the ,lord in the wealth and honour that have been accorded to a once despised and persecuted sect4 ,we should be passing to matters that were still beyond the chronicler's horizon1 if we were to connect his teaching with our ,lord's injunction1 8,whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek1 turn to him the other also40 ,such a sentiment scarcely harmonises with the three days' stripping of dead bodies in the wilderness of ,jeruel4 ,but though the chronicler's motives for non-resistance were not touched and softened with the ,divine gentleness of ,jesus of ,nazareth1 and his object was not to persuade his hearers to patient endurance of wrong1 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 issues4 ,if we are ever to be worthy citizens of the kingdom of our ,lord1 it can only be by the sustaining power and inspiring influence of a like faith4 ,when we come to ask how far the people for whom he wrote responded to his teaching and carried it into practical life1 we are met with one of the many instances of the grim irony of history4 ,probably the chronicler's glowing vision of peaceful security1 guarded on every hand by legions of angels1 was partly inspired by the comparative prosperity of the time at which he wrote4 ,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 ,maccabees4 ,circumstances were soon to test the readiness of the ,jews1 in times of national danger1 to observe the attitude of passive spectators and wait for a ,divine deliverance4 ,it was not altogether in this spirit that the priests met the savage persecutions of ,antiochus4 ,they made no vain attempts to exorcise this evil spirit with hymns1 and psalteries1 and harps1 and trumpets2 but the priest ,mattathias and his sons slew the king's commissioner and raised the standard of armed revolt4 ,we do indeed find indications of something like obedience to the chronicler's principles4 ,a body of the revolted ,jews were attacked on the ,sabbath ,day2 they made no attempt to defend themselves3 8,when they gave them battle with all speed1 they answered them not1 neither cast they a stone at them1 nor stopped the places where they lay hid1 444 and their enemies rose up against them on the sabbath1 and slew them1 with their wives1 and their children1 and their cattle1 to the number of a thousand people407#chf7 ,no ,divine intervention rewarded this devoted faith1 nor apparently did the ,jews expect it1 for they had said1 8,let us die all in our innocency2 heaven and earth shall testify for us that ye put us to death wrongfully40 ,this is1 after all1 a higher note than that of ,chronicles3 obedience may not bring invariable reward2 nevertheless the faithful will not swerve from their loyalty4 ,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 ,sabbath4 ,they were not prepared to die passively2 and1 as representatives of ,jehovah and of the nation for the time being1 they decreed that henceforth they would fight against those who attacked them1 even on the ,sabbath ,day4 ,warfare on these more secular principles was crowned with that visible success which the chronicler regarded as the manifest sign of ,divine approval2 and a dynasty of royal priests filled the throne and led the armies of ,israel1 and assured and strengthened their authority by intrigues and alliances with every heathen sovereign within their reach4 ,chapter ,v4 ,jehoram1 ,ahaziah1 and ,athaliah3 ,the ,consequences of a ,foreign ,marriage4 #b ,chron4 xxi4-xxiii4 ,the accession of ,jehoram is one of the instances in which a wicked son succeeded to a conspicuously pious father1 but in this case there is no difficulty in explaining the phenomenon3 the depraved character and evil deeds of ,jehoram1 ,ahaziah1 and ,athaliah are at once accounted for when we remember that they were respectively the son-in-law1 grandson1 and daughter of ,ahab1 and possibly of ,jezebel4 ,if1 however1 ,jezebel were really the mother of ,athaliah1 it is difficult to believe that the chronicler understood or at any rate realised the fact4 ,in the books of ,ezra and ,nehemiah the chronicler lays great stress upon the iniquity and inexpediency of marriage with strange wives1 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 ,ahab4 ,if he had understood that this implied joining affinity with a ,phnician devotee of ,baal1 this significant fact would not have been passed over in silence4 ,moreover1 the names ,athaliah and ,ahaziah are both compounded with the sacred name ,jehovah4 ,a ,phnician ,baal-worshipper may very well have been sufficiently eclectic to make such use of the name sacred to the family into which she married1 but on the whole those names rather tell against the descent of their owners from ,jezebel and her ,zidonian ancestors4 ,we have seen that1 after giving the concluding formula for the reign of ,jehoshaphat1 the chronicler adds a postscript narrating an incident discreditable to the king4 ,similarly he prefaces the introductory formula for the reign of ,jehoram by inserting a cruel deed of the new king4 ,before telling us ,jehoram's age at his accession and the length of his reign1 the chronicler relates7#chg7 the steps taken by ,jehoram to secure himself upon his throne4 ,jehoshaphat1 like ,rehoboam1 had disposed of his numerous sons in the fenced cities of ,judah1 and had sought to make them quiet and contented by providing largely for their material welfare3 8,their father gave them great gifts3 silver1 gold1 and precious things1 with fenced cities in ,judah40 ,the sanguine judgment of paternal affection might expect that these gifts would make his younger sons loyal and devoted subjects of their elder brother2 but ,jehoram1 not without reason1 feared that treasure and cities might supply the means for a revolt1 or that ,judah might be split up into a number of small principalities4 ,accordingly when he had strengthened himself he slew all his brethren with the sword1 and with them those princes of ,israel whom he suspected of attachment to his other victims4 ,he was following the precedent set by ,solomon when he ordered the execution of ,adonijah2 and1 indeed1 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 act1 being1 in fact1 regarded in much the same light as the drowning of superfluous kittens in domestic circles4 ,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 unsafe4 ,for the next few verses7#chh7 the narrative follows the book of ,kings with scarcely any alteration1 and states the evil character of the new reign1 accounting for ,jehoram's depravity by his marriage with a daughter of ,ahab4 ,the successful revolt of ,edom from ,judah is next given1 and the chronicler adds a note of his own to the effect that ,jehoram experienced these reverses because he had forsaken ,jehovah1 the ,god of his fathers4 ,then the chronicler proceeds7#chi7 to describe further sins and misfortunes of ,jehoram4 ,he mentions definitely1 what is doubtless implied by the book of ,kings1 that ,jehoram made high places in the cities of ,judah7#cij7 and seduced the people into taking part in a corrupt worship4 ,the ,divine condemnation of the king's wrong-doing came from an unexpected quarter and in an unusual fashion4 ,the other prophetic messages specially recorded by the chronicler were uttered by prophets of ,judah1 some apparently receiving their inspiration for one particular occasion4 ,the prophet who rebuked ,jehoram was no less distinguished a personage than the great ,israelite ,elijah1 who1 according to the book of ,kings1 had long since been translated to heaven4 ,in the older narrative ,elijah's work is exclusively confined to the northern kingdom4 ,but the chronicler entirely ignores ,elijah1 except when his history becomes connected for a moment with that of the house of ,david4 ,the other prophets of ,judah delivered their messages by word of mouth1 but this communication is made by means of 8a writing40 ,this1 however1 is not without parallel3 ,jeremiah sent a letter to the captives in ,babylon1 and also sent a written collection of his prophecies to ,jehoiakim47#cia7 ,in the latter case1 however1 the prophecies had been originally promulgated by word of mouth4 ,elijah writes in the name of ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,david1 and condemns ,jehoram because he was not walking in the ways of ,asa and ,jehoshaphat1 but in the ways of the kings of ,israel and the house of ,ahab4 ,it is pleasant to find that1 in spite of the sins which marked the latter days of ,asa and ,jehoshaphat1 their 8ways0 were as a whole such as could be held up as an example by the prophet of ,jehovah4 ,here and elsewhere ,god appeals to the better feelings that spring from pride of birth4 ,noblesse oblige4 ,jehoram held his throne as representative of the house of ,david1 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 ,jehoshaphat2 but this pride of race implied that to depart from their ways was dishonourable apostacy4 ,there is no more pitiful spectacle than an effeminate libertine pluming himself on his noble ancestry4 ,elijah further rebukes ,jehoram for the massacre of his brethren1 who were better than himself4 ,they had all grown up at their father's court1 and till the other brethren were put in possession of their fenced cities had been under the same influences4 ,it is the husband of ,ahab's daughter who is worse than all the rest2 the influence of an unsuitable marriage has already begun to show itself4 ,indeed1 in view of ,athaliah's subsequent history1 we do her no injustice by supposing that1 like ,jezebel and ,lady ,macbeth1 she had suggested her husband's crime4 ,the fact that ,jehoram's brethren were better men than himself adds to his guilt morally1 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 way2 the massacre was an urgent political necessity4 8,truly the tender mercies of the weak1 ,as of the wicked1 are but cruel40 ,there is nothing so cruel as the terror of a selfish man4 ,the ,inquisition is the measure not only of the inhumanity1 but also of the weakness1 of the medival ,church2 and the massacre of ,st4 ,bartholomew was due to the feebleness of ,charles ,,ix4 as well as to the 8revenge or the blind instinct of self-preservation07#cib7 of ,mary de ,medici4 ,the chronicler's condemnation of ,jehoram's massacre marks the superiority of the standard of later ,judaism to the current ,oriental morality4 ,for his sins ,jehoram was to be punished by sore disease and by a great 8plague0 which would fall upon his people1 and his wives1 and his children1 and all his substance4 ,from the following verses we see that 8plague10 here as in the case of some of the plagues of ,egypt1 has the sense of calamity generally1 and not the narrower meaning of pestilence4 ,this plague took the form of an invasion of the ,philistines and of the ,arabians 8which are beside the ,ethiopians40 ,divine inspiration prompted them to attack ,judah2 ,jehovah stirred up their spirit against ,jehoram4 ,probably here1 as in the story of ,zerah1 the term ,ethiopians is used loosely for the ,egyptians1 in which case the ,arabs in question would be inhabitants of the desert between the south of ,palestine and ,egypt1 and would thus be neighbours of their ,philistine allies4 ,these marauding bands succeeded where the huge hosts of ,zerah had failed2 they broke into ,judah1 and carried off all the king's treasure1 together with his sons and his wives1 only leaving him his youngest son3 ,jehoahaz or ,ahaziah4 ,they afterwards slew the princes they had taken captive47#cic7 ,the common people would scarcely suffer less severely than their king4 ,jehoram himself was reserved for special personal punishment3 ,jehovah smote him with a sore disease2 and1 like ,asa1 he lingered for two years and then died4 ,the people were so impressed by his wickedness that 8they made no burning for him1 like the burning of his fathers10 whereas they had made a very great burning for ,asa47#cid7 ,the chronicler's account of the reign of ,ahaziah7#cie7 does not differ materially from that given by the book of ,kings1 though it is considerably abridged1 and there are other minor alterations4 ,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 year4 ,the story of his visit to ,jehoram1 king of ,israel1 and the murder of the two kings by ,jehu1 is very much abridged4 ,the chronicler carefully omits all reference to ,elisha1 according to his usual principle of ignoring the religious life of ,northern ,israel2 but he expressly tells us that1 like ,jehoshaphat1 ,ahaziah suffered for consorting with the house of ,omri3 8,his destruction or treading down was of ,god in that he went unto ,jehoram40 ,our ,english versions have carefully reproduced an ambiguity in the original2 but it seems probable that the chronicler does not mean that visiting ,jehoram in his illness was a flagrant offence which ,god punished with death1 but rather that1 to punish ,ahaziah for his imitation of the evil-doings of the house of ,omri17#cif7 ,god allowed him to visit ,jehoram in order that he might share the fate of the ,israelite king4 ,the book of ,kings had stated that ,jehu slew forty-two brethren of ,ahaziah4 ,it is1 of course1 perfectly allowable to take 8brethren0 in the general sense of 8kinsmen02 but as the chronicler had recently mentioned the massacre of all ,ahaziah's brethren1 he avoids even the appearance of a contradiction by substituting 8sons of the brethren of ,ahaziah0 for brethren4 ,this alteration introduces new difficulties1 but these difficulties simply illustrate the general confusion of numbers and ages which characterises the narrative at this point4 ,in connection with the burial of ,ahaziah1 it may be noted that the popular recollection of ,jehoshaphat endorsed the favourable judgment contained in the 8writing of ,elijah03 8,they said0 of ,ahaziah1 8,he is the son of ,jehoshaphat1 who sought ,jehovah with all his heart40 ,the chronicler next narrates ,athaliah's murder of the seed royal of ,judah and her usurpation of the throne of ,david1 in terms almost identical with those of the narrative in the book of ,kings4 ,but his previous additions and modifications are hard to reconcile with the account he here borrows from his ancient authority4 ,according to the chronicler1 ,jehoram had massacred all the other sons of ,jehoshaphat1 and the ,arabians had slain all ,jehoram's sons except ,ahaziah1 and ,jehu had slain their sons2 so that ,ahaziah was the only living descendant in the male line of his grandfather ,jehoshaphat2 he himself apparently died at the age of twenty-three4 ,it is intelligible enough that he should have a son ,joash and possibly other sons2 but still it is difficult to understand where ,athaliah found 8all the seed royal0 and 8the king's sons0 whom she put to death4 ,it is at any rate clear that ,jehoram's slaughter of his brethren met with an appropriate punishment3 all his own sons and grandsons were similarly slain1 except the child ,joash4 ,the chronicler's narrative of the revolution by which ,athaliah was slain1 and the throne recovered for the house of ,david in the person of ,joash1 follows substantially the earlier history1 the chief difference being1 as we have already noticed17#cig7 that the chronicler substitutes the ,levitical guard of the second ,temple for the bodyguard of foreign mercenaries who were the actual agents in this revolution4 ,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 government4 ,a crown may at any time devolve upon a woman1 and by her marriage with a powerful reigning prince her country may virtually be subjected to a foreign yoke4 ,if it happens that the new sovereign professes a different religion from that of his wife's subjects1 the evils arising from the marriage are seriously aggravated4 ,some such fate befell the ,netherlands as the result of the marriage of ,mary of ,burgundy with the ,emperor ,maximilian1 and ,england was only saved from the danger of transference to ,catholic dominion by the caution and patriotism of ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,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 family4 ,it is probable that ,athaliah's permanent success would have led to the absorption of ,judah in the northern kingdom4 ,this last misfortune was averted by the energy and courage of ,jehoiada1 but in the meantime the half-heathen queen had succeeded in causing untold harm and suffering to her adopted country4 ,our own history furnishes numerous illustrations of the evil influences that come in the train of foreign queens4 ,edward ,,ii4 suffered grievously at the hands of his ,french queen2 ,henry ,,vi4's wife1 ,margaret of ,anjou1 contributed considerably to the prolonged bitterness of the struggle between ,york and ,lancaster2 and to ,henry ,,viii4's marriage with ,catherine of ,aragon the country owed the miseries and persecutions inflicted by ,mary ,tudor4 ,but1 on the other hand1 many of the foreign princesses who have shared the ,english throne have won the lasting gratitude of the nation4 ,a ,french queen of ,kent1 for instance1 opened the way for ,augustine's mission to ,england4 ,but no foreign queen of ,england has had the opportunities for mischief that were enjoyed and fully utilised by ,athaliah4 ,she corrupted her husband and her son1 and she was probably at once the instigator of their crimes and the instrument of their punishment4 ,by corrupting the rulers of ,judah and by her own misgovernment1 she exercised an evil influence over the nation2 and as the people suffered1 not for their sins only1 but also for those of their kings1 ,athaliah brought misfortunes and calamity upon ,judah4 ,unfortunately such experiences are not confined to royal families2 the peace and honour1 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 temperament4 ,here is a very general and practical application of the chronicler's objection to intercourse with the house of ,omri4 ,chapter ,,vi4 ,joash and ,amaziah4 #b ,chron4 xxiv4-xxv4 ,for ,chronicles1 as for the book of ,kings1 the main interest of the reign of ,joash is the repairing of the ,temple2 but the later narrative introduces modifications which give a somewhat different complexion to the story4 ,both authorities tell us that ,joash did that which was right in the eyes of ,jehovah all the days of ,jehoiada1 but the book of ,kings immediately adds that 8the high places were not taken away3 the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places407#cih7 ,seeing that ,jehoiada exercised the royal authority during the minority of ,joash1 this toleration of the high places must have had the sanction of the high-priest4 ,now the chronicler and his contemporaries had been educated in the belief that the ,pentateuch was the ecclesiastical code of the monarchy2 they found it impossible to credit a statement that the high-priest had sanctioned any other sanctuary besides the temple of ,zion2 accordingly they omitted the verse in question4 ,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 house2 but after some time had elapsed it was found that the breaches had not been repaired3 and when ,joash remonstrated with the priests1 they flatly refused to have anything to do with the repairs or with receiving funds for the purpose4 ,their objections were1 however1 overruled2 and ,jehoiada placed beside the altar a chest with a hole in the lid1 into which 8the priests put all the money that was brought into the house of ,jehovah407#cii7 ,when it was sufficiently full1 the king's scribe and the high-priest counted the money1 and put it up in bags4 ,there were several points in this earlier narrative which would have furnished very inconvenient precedents1 and were so much out of keeping with the ideas and practices of the second ,temple that1 by the time the chronicler wrote1 a new and more intelligible version of the story was current among the ministers of the ,temple4 ,to begin with1 there was an omission which would have grated very unpleasantly on the feelings of the chronicler4 ,in this long narrative1 wholly taken up with the affairs of the ,temple1 nothing is said about the ,levites4 ,the collecting and receiving of money might well be supposed to belong to them2 and accordingly in ,chronicles the ,levites are first associated with the priests in this matter1 and then the priests drop out of the narrative1 and the ,levites alone carry out the financial arrangements4 ,again1 it might be understood from the book of ,kings that sacred dues and offerings1 which formed the revenue of the priests and ,levites1 were diverted by the king's orders to the repair of the fabric4 ,the chronicler was naturally anxious that there should be no mistake on this point2 the ambiguous phrases are omitted1 and it is plainly indicated that funds were raised for the repairs by means of a special tax ordained by ,moses4 ,joash 8assembled the priests and the ,levites1 and said to them1 ,go out into the cities of ,judah1 and gather of all ,israel money to repair the house of your ,god from year to year1 and see that ye hasten the matter4 ,howbeit the ,levites hastened it not40 ,the remissness of the priests in the original narrative is here very faithfully and candidly transferred to the ,levites4 ,then1 as in the book of ,kings1 ,joash remonstrates with ,jehoiada1 but the terms of his remonstrance are altogether different3 here he complains because the ,levites have not been required 8to 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 testimony10i4e41 the ,tabernacle1 containing the ,ark and the tables of the ,law4 ,the reference apparently is to the law7#djj7 that when a census was taken a poll-tax of a half-shekel a head should be paid for the service of the ,tabernacle4 ,as one of the main uses of a census was to facilitate the raising of taxes1 this law might not unfairly be interpreted to mean that when occasion arose1 or perhaps even every year1 a census should be taken in order that this poll-tax might be levied4 ,nehemiah arranged for a yearly poll-tax of a third of a shekel for the incidental expenses of the ,temple47#dja7 ,here1 however1 the half-shekel prescribed in ,exodus is intended2 and it should be observed that this poll-tax was to be levied1 not once only but 8from year to year40 ,the chronicler then inserts a note to explain why these repairs were necessary3 8,the sons of ,athaliah1 that wicked woman1 had broken up the house of ,god2 and also all the dedicated things of the house of ,jehovah they bestowed upon the ,baals40 ,here we are confronted with a further difficulty4 ,all ,jehoram's sons except ,ahaziah were murdered by the ,arabs in their father's life-time4 ,who are these 8sons of ,athaliah0 who broke up the ,temple8 ,jehoram was about thirty-seven when his sons were massacred1 so that some of them may have been old enough to break up the ,temple4 ,one would think that 8the dedicated things0 might have been recovered for ,jehovah when ,athaliah was overthrown2 but possibly1 when the people retaliated by breaking into the house of ,baal1 there were ,achans among them1 who appropriated the plunder4 ,having remonstrated with ,jehoiada1 the king took matters into his own hands2 and he1 not ,jehoiada1 had a chest made and placed1 not beside the altar--such an arrangement savoured of profanity--but without at the gate of the ,temple4 ,this little touch is very suggestive4 ,the noise and bustle of paying over money1 receiving it1 and putting it into the chest1 would have mingled distractingly with the solemn ritual of sacrifice4 ,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 service4 ,the ,scotch arrangement1 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 elders1 is much more in accordance with ,chronicles4 ,then1 instead of sending out ,levites to collect the tax1 proclamation was made that the people themselves should bring their offerings4 ,obedience apparently was made a matter of conscience1 not of solicitation4 ,perhaps it was because the ,levites felt that sacred dues should be given freely that they were not forward to make yearly tax-collecting expeditions4 ,at any rate1 the new method was signally successful4 ,day after day the princes and people gladly brought their offerings1 and money was gathered in abundance4 ,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 ,levites2 but he plainly recognised that free-will offerings are more excellent than the donations which are painfully extracted by the yearly visits of official collectors4 ,he would probably have sympathised with the abolition of pew-rents4 ,as in the book of ,kings1 the chest was emptied at suitable intervals2 but instead of the high-priest being associated with the king's scribe1 as if they were on a level and both of them officials of the royal court1 the chief priest's officer assists the king's scribe1 so that the chief priest is placed on a level with the king himself4 ,the details of the repairs in the two narratives differ considerably in form1 but for the most part agree in substance2 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 ,temple4 ,then follows the account7#djb7 of the ingratitude and apostacy of ,joash and his people4 ,as long as ,jehoiada lived1 the services of the ,temple were regularly performed1 and ,judah remained faithful to its ,god2 but at last he died1 full of days3 a hundred and thirty years old4 ,in his life-time he had exercised royal authority1 and when he died he was buried like a king3 8,they buried him in the city of ,david among the kings1 because he had done good in ,israel and toward ,god and ,his house407#djc7 ,like ,nero when he shook off the control of ,seneca and ,burrhus1 ,joash changed his policy as soon as ,jehoiada was dead4 ,apparently he was a weak character1 always following some one's leading4 ,his freedom from the influence that had made his early reign decent and honourable was not1 as in ,nero's case1 his own act4 ,the change of policy was adopted at the suggestion of the princes of ,judah4 ,kings1 princes1 and people fell back into the old wickedness2 they forsook the ,temple and served idols4 ,yet ,jehovah did not readily give them up to their own folly1 nor hastily inflict punishment2 ,he sent1 not one prophet1 but many1 to bring them back to ,himself1 but they would not hearken4 ,at last ,jehovah made one last effort to win ,joash back2 this time ,he chose for ,his messenger a priest who had special personal claims on the favourable attention of the king4 ,the prophet was ,zechariah the son of ,jehoiada1 to whom ,joash owed his life and his throne4 ,the name was a favourite one in ,israel1 and was borne by two other prophets besides the son of ,jehoiada4 ,its very etymology constituted an appeal to the conscience of ,joash3 it is compounded of the sacred name and a root meaning 8to remember04 ,the ,jews were adepts at extracting from such a combination all its possible applications4 ,the most obvious was that ,jehovah would remember the sin of ,judah1 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 it2 they should remember ,jehovah4 ,moreover1 ,joash should remember the teaching of ,jehoiada and his obligations to the father of the man now addressing him4 ,probably ,joash did remember all this when1 in the striking ,hebrew idiom1 8the spirit of ,god clothed itself with ,zechariah the son of ,jehoiada the priest1 and he stood above the people and said unto them1 ,thus saith ,god3 ,why transgress ye the commandments of ,jehovah1 to your hurt8 ,because ye have forsaken ,jehovah1 ,he hath also forsaken you40 ,this is the burden of the prophetic utterances in ,chronicles7#djd72 the converse is stated by ,irenus when he says that to follow the ,saviour is to partake of salvation4 ,though the truth of this teaching had been enforced again and again by the misfortunes that had befallen ,judah under apostate kings1 ,joash paid no heed to it1 nor did he remember the kindness which ,jehoiada had done him2 that is to say1 he showed no gratitude towards the house of ,jehoiada4 ,perhaps an uncomfortable sense of obligation to the father only embittered him the more against his son4 ,but the son of the high-priest could not be dealt with as summarily as ,asa dealt with ,hanani when he put him in prison4 ,the king might have been indifferent to the wrath of ,jehovah1 but the son of the man who had for years ruled ,judah and ,jerusalem must have had a strong party at his back4 ,accordingly the king and his adherents conspired against ,zechariah1 and they stoned him with stones by the king's command4 ,this ,old ,testament martyr died in a very different spirit from that of ,stephen2 his prayer was1 not1 8,lord1 lay not this sin to their charge10 but 8,jehovah1 look upon it and require it40 ,his prayer did not long remain unanswered4 ,within a year the ,syrians7#dje7 came against ,joash2 he had a very great host1 but he was powerless against a small company of the ,divinely commissioned avengers of ,zechariah4 ,the tempters who had seduced the king into apostacy were a special mark for the wrath of ,jehovah3 the ,syrians destroyed all the princes1 and sent their spoil to the king of ,damascus4 ,like ,asa and ,jehoram1 ,joash suffered personal punishment in the shape of 8great diseases10 but his end was even more tragic than theirs4 ,one conspiracy avenged another3 in his own household there were adherents of the family of ,jehoiada3 8,two of his own servants conspired against him for the blood of ,zechariah1 and slew him on his bed2 and they buried him in the city of ,david1 and not in the sepulchres of the kings40 ,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 purpose4 ,joash had been trained from his earliest years in the ,temple itself1 under the care of ,jehoiada and of his aunt ,jehoshabeath1 the high-priest's wife4 ,he had no doubt been carefully instructed in the religion and sacred history of ,israel1 and had been continually surrounded by the best religious influences of his age4 ,for ,judah1 in the chronicler's estimation1 was even then the one home of the true faith4 ,these holy influences had been continued after ,joash had attained to manhood1 and ,jehoiada was careful to provide that the young king's harem should be enlisted in the cause of piety and good government4 ,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 ,temple4 ,no daughter of the house of ,ahab1 no 8strange wife0 from ,egypt1 ,ammon1 or ,moab1 would be allowed the opportunity of undoing the good effects of early training4 ,moreover1 we might have expected the character developed by education to be strengthened by exercise4 ,the early years of his reign were occupied by zealous activity in the service of the ,temple4 ,the pupil outstripped his master1 and the enthusiasm of the youthful king found occasion to rebuke the tardy zeal of the venerable high-priest4 ,and yet all this fair promise was blighted in a day4 ,the piety carefully fostered for half a life-time gave way before the first assaults of temptation1 and never even attempted to reassert itself4 ,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 ,joash2 but the picture he draws of the failure of best of tutors and governors is unfortunately only too typical4 ,julian the ,apostate was educated by a distinguished ,christian prelate1 ,eusebius of ,nicomedia1 and was trained in a strict routine of religious observances2 yet he repudiated ,christianity at the earliest safe opportunity4 ,his apostacy1 like that of ,joash1 was probably characterised by base ingratitude4 ,at ,constantine's death the troops in ,constantinople massacred nearly all the princes of the imperial family1 and ,julian1 then only six years old1 is said to have been saved and concealed in a church by ,mark1 ,bishop of ,arethusa4 ,when ,julian became emperor1 he repaid this obligation by subjecting his benefactor to cruel tortures because he had destroyed a heathen temple and refused to make any compensation4 ,imagine ,joash requiring ,jehoiada to make compensation for pulling down a high place6 ,the parallel of ,julian may suggest a partial explanation of the fall of ,joash4 ,the tutelage of ,jehoiada may have been too strict1 monotonous1 and prolonged2 in choosing wives for the young king1 the aged priest may not have made an altogether happy selection2 ,jehoiada may have kept ,joash under control until he was incapable of independence and could only pass from one dominant influence to another4 ,when the high-priest's death gave the king an opportunity of changing his masters1 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 princes4 ,but perhaps the sins of ,joash are sufficiently accounted for by his ancestry4 ,his mother was ,zibiah of ,beersheba1 and therefore probably a ,jewess4 ,of her we know nothing further good or bad4 ,otherwise his ancestors for two generations had been uniformly bad4 ,his father and grandfather were the wicked kings ,jehoram and ,ahaziah2 his grandmother was ,athaliah2 and he was descended from ,ahab1 and possibly from ,jezebel4 ,when we recollect that his mother ,zibiah was a wife of ,ahaziah and had probably been selected by ,athaliah1 we cannot suppose that the element she contributed to his character would do much to counteract the evil he inherited from his father4 ,the chronicler's account of his successor ,amaziah is equally disappointing2 he also began well and ended miserably4 ,in the opening formul of the history of the new reign and in the account of the punishment of the assassins of ,joash1 the chronicler closely follows the earlier narrative1 omitting1 as usual1 the statement that this good king did not take away the high places4 ,like his pious predecessors1 ,amaziah in his earlier and better years was rewarded with a great army7#djf7 and military success2 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 ,judah4 ,jehoshaphat could command more than eleven hundred and sixty thousand soldiers2 ,amaziah has only three hundred thousand4 ,these were not sufficient for the king's ambition2 by the ,divine grace1 he had already amassed wealth1 in spite of the ,syrian ravages at the close of the preceding reign3 and he laid out a hundred talents of silver in purchasing the services of as many thousand ,israelites1 thus falling into the sin for which ,jehoshaphat had twice been reproved and punished4 ,jehovah1 however1 arrested ,amaziah's employment of unholy allies at the outset4 ,a man of ,god came to him and exhorted him not to let the army of ,israel go with him1 because 8,jehovah is not with ,israel02 if he had courage and faith to go with only his three hundred thousand ,jews1 all would be well1 otherwise ,god would cast him down1 as ,he had done ,ahaziah4 ,the statement that ,jehovah was not with ,israel might have been understood in a sense that would seem almost blasphemous to the chronicler's contemporaries2 he is careful therefore to explain that here 8,israel0 simply means 8the children of ,ephraim40 ,amaziah obeyed the prophet1 but was naturally distressed at the thought that he had spent a hundred talents for nothing3 8,what shall we do for the hundred talents which ,i have given to the army of ,israel80 ,he did not realise that the ,divine alliance would be worth more to him than many hundred talents of silver2 or perhaps he reflected that ,divine grace is free1 and that he might have saved his money4 ,one would like to believe that he was anxious to recover this silver in order to devote it to the service of the sanctuary2 but he was evidently one of those sordid souls who like1 as the phrase goes1 8to get their religion for nothing40 ,no wonder ,amaziah went astray6 ,we can scarcely be wrong in detecting a vein of contempt in the prophet's answer3 8,jehovah can give thee much more than this40 ,this little episode carries with it a great principle4 ,every crusade against an established abuse is met with the cry1 8,what shall we do for the hundred talents80--for the capital invested in slaves or in gin-shops2 for ,english revenues from alcohol or ,indian revenues from opium8 ,few have faith to believe that the ,lord can provide for financial deficits1 or1 if we may venture to indicate the method in which the ,lord provides1 that a nation will ever be able to pay its way by honest finance4 ,let us note1 however1 that ,amaziah was asked to sacrifice his own talents1 and not other people's4 ,accordingly ,amaziah sent the mercenaries home2 and they returned in great dudgeon1 offended by the slight put upon them and disappointed at the loss of prospective plunder4 ,the king's sin in hiring ,israelite mercenaries was to suffer a severer punishment than the loss of money4 ,while he was away at war1 his rejected allies returned1 and attacked the border cities17#djg7 killed three thousand ,jews1 and took much plunder4 ,meanwhile ,amaziah and his army were reaping direct fruits of their obedience in ,edom1 where they gained a great victory1 and followed it up by a massacre of ten thousand captives1 whom they killed by throwing down from the top of a precipice4 ,yet1 after all1 ,amaziah's victory over ,edom was of small profit to him1 for he was thereby seduced into idolatry4 ,amongst his other prisoners1 he had brought away the gods of ,edom2 and instead of throwing them over a precipice1 as a pious king should have done1 8he set them up to be his gods1 and bowed down himself before them1 and burned incense unto them40 ,then ,jehovah1 in ,his anger1 sent a prophet to demand1 8,why hast thou sought after foreign gods1 which have not delivered their own people out of thine hand80 ,according to current ideas outside of ,israel1 a nation might very reasonably seek after the gods of their conquerors4 ,such conquest could only be attributed to the superior power and grace of the gods of the victors3 the gods of the defeated were vanquished along with their worshippers1 and were obviously incompetent and unworthy of further confidence4 ,but to act like ,amaziah--to go out to battle in the name of ,jehovah1 directed and encouraged by ,his prophet1 to conquer by the grace of the ,god of ,israel1 and then to desert ,jehovah of hosts1 the ,giver of victory1 for the paltry and discredited idols of the conquered ,edomites--this was sheer madness4 ,and yet as ,greece enslaved her ,roman conquerors1 so the victor has often been won to the faith of the vanquished4 ,the ,church subdued the barbarians who had overwhelmed the empire1 and the heathen ,saxons adopted at last the religion of the conquered ,britons4 ,henry ,,iv4 of ,france is scarcely a parallel to ,amaziah3 he went to mass that he might hold his sceptre with a firmer grasp1 while the king of ,judah merely adopted foreign idols in order to gratify his superstition and love of novelty4 ,apparently ,amaziah was at first inclined to discuss the question3 he and the prophet talked together2 but the king soon became irritated1 and broke off the interview with abrupt discourtesy3 8,have we made thee of the king's counsel8 ,forbear2 why shouldest thou be smitten80 ,prosperity seems to have been invariably fatal to the ,jewish kings who began to reign well2 the success that rewarded1 at the same time destroyed their virtue4 ,before his victory ,amaziah had been courteous and submissive to the messenger of ,jehovah2 now he defied ,him and treated ,his prophet roughly4 ,the latter disappeared1 but not before he had declared the ,divine condemnation of the stubborn king4 ,the rest of the history of ,amaziah--his presumptuous war with ,joash1 king of ,israel1 his defeat and degradation1 and his assassination--is taken verbatim from the book of ,kings1 with a few modifications and editorial notes by the chronicler to harmonise these sections with the rest of his narrative4 ,for instance1 in the book of ,kings the account of the war with ,joash begins somewhat abruptly3 ,amaziah sends his defiance before any reason has been given for his action4 ,the chronicler inserts a phrase which connects his new paragraph very suggestively with the one that goes before4 ,the former concluded with the king's taunt that the prophet was not of his counsel1 to which the prophet replied that the king should be destroyed because he had not hearkened to the ,divine counsel proffered to him4 ,then ,amaziah 8took advice02 i4e41 he consulted those who were of his counsel1 and the sequel showed their incompetence4 ,the chronicler also explains that ,amaziah's rash persistence in his challenge to ,joash 8was of ,god1 that ,he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies1 because they had sought after the gods of ,edom40 ,he also tells us that the name of the custodian of the sacred vessels of the ,temple was ,obed-edom4 ,as the chronicler mentions five ,levites of the name of ,obed-edom1 four of whom occur nowhere else1 the name was probably common in some family still surviving in his own time4 ,but1 in view of the fondness of the ,jews for significant etymology1 it is probable that the name is recorded here because it was exceedingly appropriate4 8,the servant of ,edom0 suits the official who has to surrender his sacred charge to a conqueror because his own king had worshipped the gods of ,edom4 ,lastly1 an additional note explains that ,amaziah's apostacy had promptly deprived him of the confidence and loyalty of his subjects2 the conspiracy which led to his assassination was formed from the time that he turned away from following ,jehovah1 so that when he sent his proud challenge to ,joash his authority was already undermined1 and there were traitors in the army which he led against ,israel4 ,we are shown one of the means used by ,jehovah to bring about his defeat4 ,chapter ,,vii4 ,uzziah1 ,jotham1 and ,ahaz47#djh7 #b ,chron4 xxvi4-xxviii4 ,after the assassination of ,amaziah1 all the people of ,judah took his son ,uzziah1 a lad of sixteen1 called in the book of ,kings ,azariah1 and made him king4 ,the chronicler borrows from the older narrative the statement that 8,uzziah did that which was right in the eyes of ,jehovah1 according to all that his father ,amaziah had done40 ,in the light of the sins attributed both to ,amaziah and ,uzziah in ,chronicles1 this is a somewhat doubtful compliment4 ,sarcasm1 however1 is not one of the chronicler's failings2 he simply allows the older history to speak for itself1 and leaves the reader to combine its judgment with the statement of later tradition as best he can4 ,but yet we might modify this verse1 and read that ,uzziah did good and evil1 prospered and fell into misfortune1 according to all that his father ,amaziah had done1 or an even closer parallel might be drawn between what ,uzziah did and suffered and the chequered character and fortunes of ,joash4 ,though much older than the latter1 at his accession ,uzziah was young enough to be very much under the control of ministers and advisers2 and as ,joash was trained in loyalty to ,jehovah by the high-priest ,jehoiada1 so ,uzziah 8set himself to seek ,god during the life-time0 of a certain prophet1 who1 like the son of ,jehoiada1 was named ,zechariah1 8who had understanding or gave instruction in the fear of ,jehovah107#dji7 i4e41 a man versed in sacred learning1 rich in spiritual experience1 and able to communicate his knowledge1 such a one as ,ezra the scribe in later days4 ,under the guidance of this otherwise unknown prophet1 the young king was led to conform his private life and public administration to the will of ,god4 ,in 8seeking ,god10 ,uzziah would be careful to maintain and attend the ,temple services1 to honour the priests of ,jehovah and make due provision for their wants2 and 8as long as he sought ,jehovah ,god gave him prosperity40 ,uzziah received all the rewards usually bestowed upon pious kings3 he was victorious in war1 and exacted tribute from neighbouring states2 he built fortresses1 and had abundance of cattle and slaves1 a large and well-equipped army1 and well-supplied arsenals4 ,like other powerful kings of ,judah1 he asserted his supremacy over the tribes along the southern frontier of his kingdom4 ,god helped him against the ,philistines1 the ,arabians of ,gur-baal1 and the ,meunim4 ,he destroyed the fortifications of ,gath1 ,jabne1 and ,ashdod1 and built forts of his own in the country of the ,philistines4 ,nothing is known about ,gur-baal2 but the ,arabian allies of the ,philistines would be1 like ,jehoram's enemies 8the ,arabians who dwelt near the ,ethiopians10 nomads of the deserts south of ,judah4 ,these ,philistines and ,arabians had brought tribute to ,jehoshaphat without waiting to be subdued by his armies2 so now the ,ammonites gave gifts to ,uzziah1 and his name spread abroad 8even to the entering in of ,egypt10 possibly a hundred or even a hundred and fifty miles from ,jerusalem4 ,it is evident that the chronicler's ideas of international politics were of very modest dimensions4 ,moreover1 ,uzziah added to the fortifications of ,jerusalem2 and because he loved husbandry and had cattle1 and husbandmen1 and vine-dressers in the open country and outlying districts of ,judah1 he built towers for their protection4 ,his army was of about the same strength as that of ,amaziah1 three hundred thousand men1 so that in this1 as in his character and exploits1 he did according to all that his father had done1 except that he was content with his own ,jewish warriors and did not waste his talents in purchasing worse than useless reinforcements from ,israel4 ,uzziah's army was well disciplined1 carefully organised1 and constantly employed2 they were men of mighty power1 and went out to war by bands1 to collect the king's tribute and enlarge his dominions and revenue by new conquests4 ,the war material in his arsenals is described at greater length than that of any previous king3 shields1 spears1 helmets1 coats of mail1 bows and stones for slings4 ,the great advance of military science in ,uzziah's reign was marked by the invention of engines of war for the defence of ,jerusalem2 some1 like the ,roman catapulta1 were for arrows1 and others1 like the ballista1 to hurl huge stones4 ,though the ,assyrian sculptures show us that battering-rams were freely employed by them against the walls of ,jewish cities17#daj7 and the ballista is said by ,pliny to have been invented in ,syria17#daa7 no other ,hebrew king is credited with the possession of this primitive artillery4 ,the chronicler or his authority seems profoundly impressed by the great skill displayed in this invention2 in describing it1 he uses the root shabh1 to devise1 three times in three consecutive words4 ,the engines were 8ishshebhnth mashebheth shbh0--8engines engineered by the ingenious40 ,jehovah not only provided ,uzziah with ample military resources of every kind1 but also blessed the means which ,he ,himself had furnished2 ,uzziah 8was marvellously helped1 till he was strong1 and his name spread far abroad40 ,the neighbouring states heard with admiration of his military resources4 ,the student of ,chronicles will by this time be prepared for the invariable sequel to ,god-given prosperity4 ,like ,david1 ,rehoboam1 ,asa1 and ,amaziah1 when ,uzziah 8was strong1 his heart was lifted up to his destruction40 ,the most powerful of the kings of ,judah died a leper4 ,an attack of leprosy admitted of only one explanation3 it was a plague inflicted by ,jehovah ,himself as the punishment of sin2 and so the book of ,kings tells us that 8,jehovah smote the king10 but says nothing about the sin thus punished4 ,the chronicler was able to supply the omission3 ,uzziah had dared to go into the ,temple and with irregular zeal to burn incense on the altar of incense4 ,in so doing1 he was violating the ,law1 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 functions47#dab7 ,but ,uzziah was not allowed to carry out his unholy design2 the high-priest ,azariah went in after him with eighty stalwart colleagues1 rebuked his presumption1 and bade him leave the sanctuary4 ,uzziah was no more tractable to the admonitions of the priest than ,asa and ,amaziah had been to those of the prophets4 ,the kings of ,judah were accustomed1 even in ,chronicles1 to exercise an unchallenged control over the ,temple and to regard the high-priests very much in the light of private chaplains4 ,uzziah was wroth2 he was at the zenith of his power and glory2 his heart was lifted up4 ,who were these priests1 that they should stand between him and ,jehovah and dare to publicly check and rebuke him in his own temple8 ,henry ,,ii4's feelings towards ,becket must have been mild compared to those of ,uzziah towards ,azariah1 who1 if the king could have had his way1 would doubtless have shared the fate of ,zechariah the son of ,jehoiada4 ,but a direct intervention of ,jehovah protected the priests1 and preserved ,uzziah from further sacrilege4 ,while his features were convulsed with anger1 leprosy brake forth in his forehead4 ,the contest between king and priest was at once ended2 the priests thrust him out1 and he himself hasted to go1 recognising that ,jehovah had smitten him4 ,henceforth he lived apart1 cut off from fellowship alike with man and ,god1 and his son ,jotham governed in his stead4 ,the book of ,kings simply makes the general statement that ,uzziah was buried with his fathers in the city of ,david2 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 corpse3 he explains that the leper was buried1 not in the royal sepulchre1 but in the field attached to it4 ,the moral of this incident is obvious4 ,in attempting to understand its significance1 we need not trouble ourselves about the relative authority of kings and priests2 the principle vindicated by the punishment of ,uzziah was the simple duty of obedience to an express command of ,jehovah4 ,however trivial the burning of incense may be in itself1 it formed part of an elaborate and complicated system of ritual4 ,to interfere with the ,divine ordinances in one detail would mar the significance and impressiveness of the whole ,temple service4 ,one arbitrary innovation would be a precedent for others1 and would constitute a serious danger for a system whose value lay in continuous uniformity4 ,moreover1 ,uzziah was stubborn in disobedience4 ,his attempt to burn incense might have been sufficiently punished by the public and humiliating reproof of the high-priest4 ,his leprosy came upon him because when thwarted in an unholy purpose he gave way to ungoverned passion4 ,in its consequences we see a practical application of the lessons of the incident4 ,how often is the sinner only provoked to greater wickedness by the obstacles which ,divine grace opposes to his wrongdoing6 ,how few men will tolerate the suggestion that their intentions are cruel1 selfish1 or dishonourable6 ,remonstrance is an insult1 an offence against their personal dignity2 they feel that their self-respect demands that they should persevere in their purpose1 and that they should resent and punish any one who has tried to thwart them4 ,uzziah's wrath was perfectly natural2 few men have been so uniformly patient of reproof as not sometimes to have turned in anger upon those who warned them against sin4 ,the most dramatic feature of this episode1 the sudden frost of leprosy in the king's forehead1 is not without its spiritual antitype4 ,men's anger at well-merited reproof has often blighted their lives once for all with ineradicable moral leprosy4 ,in the madness of passion they have broken bonds which have hitherto restrained them and committed themselves beyond recall to evil pursuits and fatal friendships4 ,let us take the most lenient view of ,uzziah's conduct1 and suppose that he believed himself entitled to offer incense2 he could not doubt that the priests were equally confident that ,jehovah had enjoined the duty on them1 and them alone4 ,such a question was not to be decided by violence1 in the heat of personal bitterness4 ,azariah himself had been unwisely zealous in bringing in his eighty priests2 ,jehovah showed him that they were quite unnecessary1 because at the last ,uzziah 8himself hasted to go out40 ,when personal passion and jealousy are eliminated from ,christian polemics1 the ,church will be able to write the epitaph of the odium theologicum4 ,uzziah was succeeded by ,jotham1 who had already governed for some time as regent4 ,in recording the favourable judgment of the book of ,kings1 8,he did that which was right in the eyes of ,jehovah1 according to all that his father ,uzziah had done10 the chronicler is careful to add1 8,howbeit he entered not into the temple of ,jehovah02 the exclusive privilege of the house of ,aaron had been established once for all4 ,the story of ,jotham's reign comes like a quiet and pleasant oasis in the chronicler's dreary narrative of wicked rulers1 interspersed with pious kings whose piety failed them in their latter days4 ,jotham shares with ,solomon the distinguished honour of being a king of whom no evil is recorded either in ,kings or ,chronicles1 and who died in prosperity1 at peace with ,jehovah4 ,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 his1 especially any misfortune towards the close of his life4 ,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 misfortune4 ,at the end of the short notice of his reign1 between two parts of the usual closing formula1 an editor of the book of ,kings has inserted the statement that 8in those days ,jehovah began to send against ,judah ,rezin the king of ,syria and ,pekah the son of ,remaliah40 ,this verse the chronicler has omitted2 neither the date7#dac7 nor the nature of this trouble was clear enough to cast any slur upon the character of ,jotham4 ,jotham1 again1 had the rewards of a pious king3 he added a gate to the ,temple1 and strengthened the wall of ,ophel7#dad71 and built cities and castles in ,judah2 he made successful war upon ,ammon1 and received from them an immense tribute--a hundred talents of silver1 ten thousand measures of wheat1 and as much barley--for three successive years4 ,what happened afterwards we are not told4 ,it has been suggested that the amounts mentioned were paid in three yearly instalments1 or that the three years were at the end of the reign1 and the tribute came to an end when ,jotham died or when the troubles with ,pekah and ,rezin began4 ,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 places4 ,he does so here2 but1 contrary to his usual practice1 he inserts a qualifying clause of his own3 8,the people did yet corruptly40 ,he probably had in view the unmitigated wickedness of the following reign1 and was glad to retain the evidence that ,ahaz found encouragement and support in his idolatry2 he is careful1 however1 to state the fact so that no shadow of blame falls upon ,jotham4 ,the life of ,ahaz has been dealt with elsewhere4 ,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 idolatry1 and was oppressed and brought low by ,israel1 ,syria1 and ,assyria4 ,chapter ,,viii4 ,hezekiah3 ,the ,religious ,value ,of ,music4 #b ,chron4 xxix4-xxxii4 ,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 respectively4 ,in the latter a few lines only are devoted to ritual1 and the bulk of the space is given to the invasion of ,sennacherib1 the embassy from ,babylon1 etc41 while in ,chronicles ritual occupies about three times as many verses as personal and public affairs4 ,hezekiah1 though not blameless1 was all but perfect in his loyalty to ,jehovah4 ,the chronicler reproduces the customary formula for a good king3 8,he did that which was right in the eyes of ,jehovah1 according to all that ,david his father had done02 but his cautious judgment rejects the somewhat rhetorical statement in ,kings that 8after him was none like him among all the kings of ,judah1 nor any that were before him40 ,hezekiah's policy was made clear immediately after his accession4 ,his zeal for reformation could tolerate no delay2 the first month7#dae7 of the first year of his reign saw him actively engaged in the good work47#daf7 ,it was no light task that lay before him4 ,not only were there altars in every corner of ,jerusalem and idolatrous high places in every city of ,judah1 but the ,temple services had ceased1 the lamps were put out1 the sacred vessels cut in pieces1 the ,temple had been polluted and then closed1 and the priests and ,levites were scattered4 ,sixteen years of licensed idolatry must have fostered all that was vile in the country1 have put wicked men in authority1 and created numerous vested interests connected by close ties with idolatry1 notably the priests of all the altars and high places4 ,on the other hand1 the reign of ,ahaz had been an unbroken series of disasters2 the people had repeatedly endured the horrors of invasion4 ,his government as time went on must have become more and more unpopular1 for when he died he was not buried in the sepulchres of the kings4 ,as idolatry was a prominent feature of his policy1 there would be a reaction in favour of the worship of ,jehovah1 and there would not be wanting true believers to tell the people that their sufferings were a consequence of idolatry4 ,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 ,englishmen4 ,hezekiah began by opening and repairing the doors of the ,temple4 ,its closed doors had been a symbol of the national repudiation of ,jehovah2 to reopen them was necessarily the first step in the reconciliation of ,judah to its ,god1 but only the first step4 ,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 holies1 so that through those open doors ,israel might have access to ,him by means of the priests4 ,but the ,temple was as yet no fit place for the presence of ,jehovah4 ,with its lamps extinguished1 its sacred vessels destroyed1 its floors and walls thick with dust and full of all filthiness1 it was rather a symbol of the apostacy of ,judah4 ,accordingly ,hezekiah sought the help of the ,levites4 ,it is true that he is first said to have collected together priests and ,levites1 but from that point onward the priests are almost entirely ignored4 ,hezekiah reminded the ,levites of the misdoings of ,ahaz and his adherents and the wrath which they had brought upon ,judah and ,jerusalem2 he told them it was his purpose to conciliate ,jehovah by making a covenant with ,him2 he appealed to them as the chosen ministers of ,jehovah and ,his temple to co-operate heartily in this good work4 ,the ,levites responded to his appeal apparently rather in acts than words4 ,no spokesman replies to the king's speech1 but with prompt obedience they set about their work forthwith2 they arose1 ,kohathites1 sons of ,merari1 ,gershonites1 sons of ,elizaphan1 ,asaph1 ,heman1 and ,jeduthun--the chronicler has a ,homeric fondness for catalogues of high-sounding names--the leaders of all these divisions are duly mentioned4 ,kohath1 ,gershon1 and ,merari are well known as the three great clans of the house of ,levi2 and here we find the three guilds of singers--,asaph1 ,heman1 and ,jeduthun--placed on a level with the older clans4 ,elizaphan was apparently a division of the clan ,kohath17#dag7 which1 like the guilds of singers1 had obtained an independent status4 ,the result is to recognise seven divisions of the tribe4 ,the chiefs of the ,levites gathered their brethren together1 and having performed the necessary rites of ceremonial cleansing for themselves1 went in to cleanse the ,temple2 that is to say1 the priests went into the holy place and the ,holy of holies and brought out 8all the uncleanness0 into the court1 and the ,levites carried it away to the brook ,kidron3 but before the building itself could be reached eight days were spent in cleansing the courts1 and then the priests went into the ,temple itself and spent eight days in cleansing it1 in the manner described above4 ,then they reported to the king that the cleansing was finished1 and especially that 8all the vessels which ,king ,ahaz cast away0 had been recovered and reconsecrated with due ceremony4 ,we were told in the previous chapter that ,ahaz had cut to pieces the vessels of the ,temple1 but these may have been other vessels4 ,then ,hezekiah celebrated a great dedication feast2 seven bullocks1 seven rams1 seven lambs1 and seven he-goats were offered as a sin-offering for the dynasty17#dah7 for the ,temple1 for ,judah1 and 7by special command of the king7 for all ,israel1 i4e4 for the northern tribes as well as for ,judah and ,benjamin4 ,apparently this sin-offering was made in silence1 but afterwards the king set the ,levites and priests in their places with their musical instruments1 and when the burnt offering began 8the song of ,jehovah began with the trumpets together with the instruments of ,david king of ,israel4 ,and all the congregation worshipped1 and the singers sang1 and the trumpeters sounded10 and all this continued till the burnt offering was finished4 ,when the people had been formally reconciled to ,jehovah by this representative national sacrifice1 and thus purified from the uncleanness of idolatry and consecrated afresh to their ,god1 they were permitted and invited to make individual sacrifices1 thank-offerings and burnt offerings4 ,each man might enjoy for himself the renewed privilege of access to ,jehovah1 and obtain the assurance of pardon for his sins1 and offer thanksgiving for his own special blessings4 ,and they brought offerings in abundance3 seventy bullocks1 a hundred rams1 and two hundred lambs for a burnt offering2 and six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep for thank-offerings4 ,thus were the ,temple services restored and reinaugurated2 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 ,jehovah4 ,the chronicler's narrative is somewhat marred by a touch of professional jealousy4 ,according to the ordinary ritual17#dai7 the offerer flayed the burnt offerings2 but for some special reason1 perhaps because of the exceptional solemnity of the occasion1 this duty now devolved upon the priests4 ,but the burnt offerings were abundant beyond all precedent2 the priests were too few for the work1 and the ,levites were called in to help them1 8for the ,levites were more upright in heart to purify themselves than the priests40 ,apparently even in the second ,temple brethren did not always dwell together in unity4 ,hezekiah had now provided for the regular services of the ,temple1 and had given the inhabitants of ,jerusalem a full opportunity of returning to ,jehovah2 but the people of the provinces were chiefly acquainted with the ,temple through the great annual festivals4 ,these1 too1 had long been in abeyance2 and special steps had to be taken to secure their future observance4 ,in order to do this1 it was necessary to recall the provincials to their allegiance to ,jehovah4 ,under ordinary circumstances the great festival of the ,passover would have been observed in the first month1 but at the time appointed for the paschal feast the ,temple was still unclean1 and the priests and ,levites were occupied in its purification4 ,but ,hezekiah could not endure that the first year of his reign should be marked by the omission of this great feast4 ,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 first4 ,we gather from casual allusions in vv4 #f-h that the kingdom of ,samaria had already come to an end2 the people had been carried into captivity1 and only a remnant were left in the land47#dbj7 ,from this point the kings of ,judah act as religious heads of the whole nation and territory of ,israel4 ,hezekiah sent invitations to all ,israel from ,dan to ,beersheba4 ,he made special efforts to secure a favourable response from the northern tribes1 sending letters to ,ephraim and ,manasseh1 i4e41 to the ten tribes under their leadership4 ,he reminded them that their brethren had gone into captivity because the northern tribes had deserted the ,temple2 and held out to them the hope that1 if they worshipped at the ,temple and served ,jehovah1 they should themselves escape further calamity1 and their brethren and children who had gone into captivity should return to their own land4 8,so the posts passed from city to city through the country of ,ephraim and ,manasseh1 even unto ,zebulun40 ,either ,zebulun is used in a broad sense for all the ,galilean tribes1 or the phrase 8from ,beersheba to ,dan0 is merely rhetorical1 for to the north1 between ,zebulun and ,dan1 lay the territories of ,asher and ,naphtali4 ,it is to be noticed that the tribes beyond ,jordan are nowhere referred to2 they had already fallen out of the history of ,israel1 and were scarcely remembered in the time of the chronicler4 ,hezekiah's appeal to the surviving communities of the northern kingdom failed3 they laughed his messengers to scorn1 and mocked them2 but individuals responded to his invitation in such numbers that they are spoken of as 8a multitude of the people1 even many of ,ephraim and ,manasseh1 ,issachar and ,zebulun40 ,there were also men of ,asher among the northern pilgrims47#dba7 ,the pious enthusiasm of ,judah stood out in vivid contrast to the stubborn impenitence of the majority of the ten tribes4 ,by the grace of ,god1 ,judah was of one heart to observe the feast appointed by ,jehovah through the king and princes1 so that there was gathered in ,jerusalem a very great assembly of worshippers1 surpassing even the great gatherings which the chronicler had witnessed at the annual feasts4 ,but though the ,temple had been cleansed1 the ,holy ,city was not yet free from the taint of idolatry4 ,the character of the ,passover demanded that not only the ,temple1 but the whole city1 should be pure4 ,the paschal lamb was eaten at home1 and the doorposts of the house were sprinkled with its blood4 ,but ,ahaz had set up altars at every corner of the city2 no devout ,israelite could tolerate the symbols of idolatrous worship close to the house in which he celebrated the solemn rites of the ,passover4 ,accordingly before the ,passover was killed these altars were removed47#dbb7 ,then the great feast began2 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 confusion4 ,as a rule each head of a household killed his own lamb2 but many of the worshippers1 especially those from the north1 were not ceremonially clean3 and this task devolved upon the ,levites4 ,the immense concourse of worshippers and the additional work thrown upon the ,temple ministry must have made extraordinary demands on their zeal and energy47#dbc7 ,at first apparently they hesitated1 and were inclined to abstain from discharging their usual duties4 ,a passover in a month not appointed by ,moses1 but decided on by the civil authorities without consulting the priesthood1 might seem a doubtful and dangerous innovation4 ,recollecting ,azariah's successful assertion of hierarchical prerogative against ,uzziah1 they might be inclined to attempt a similar resistance to ,hezekiah4 ,but the pious enthusiasm of the people clearly showed that the ,spirit of ,jehovah inspired their somewhat irregular zeal2 so that the ecclesiastical officials were shamed out of their unsympathetic attitude1 and came forward to take their full share and even more than their full share in this glorious rededication of ,israel to ,jehovah4 ,but a further difficulty remained3 uncleanness not only disqualified from killing the paschal lambs1 but from taking any part in the ,passover2 and a multitude of the people were unclean4 ,yet it would have been ungracious and even dangerous to discourage their newborn zeal by excluding them from the festival2 moreover1 many of them were worshippers from among the ten tribes1 who had come in response to a special invitation1 which most of their fellow-countrymen had rejected with scorn and contempt4 ,if they had been sent back because they had failed to cleanse themselves according to a ritual of which they were ignorant1 and of which ,hezekiah might have known they would be ignorant1 both the king and his guests would have incurred measureless ridicule from the impious northerners4 ,accordingly they were allowed to take part in the ,passover despite their uncleanness4 ,but this permission could only be granted with serious apprehensions as to its consequences4 ,the ,law threatened with death any one who attended the services of the sanctuary in a state of uncleanness47#dbd7 ,possibly there were already signs of an outbreak of pestilence2 at any rate1 the dread of ,divine punishment for sacrilegious presumption would distress the whole assembly and mar their enjoyment of ,divine fellowship4 ,again it is no priest or prophet1 but the king1 the ,messiah1 who comes forward as the mediator between ,god and man4 ,hezekiah prayed for them1 saying1 8,jehovah1 in ,his grace and mercy17#dbe7 pardon every one that setteth his heart to seek ,elohim ,jehovah1 the ,god of his fathers1 though he be not cleansed according to the ritual of the ,temple4 ,and ,jehovah hearkened to ,hezekiah1 and healed the people10 i4e41 either healed them from actual disease or relieved them from the fear of pestilence4 ,and so the feast went on happily and prosperously1 and was prolonged by acclamation for an additional seven days4 ,during fourteen days king and princes1 priests and ,levites1 ,jews and ,israelites1 rejoiced before ,jehovah2 thousands of bullocks and sheep smoked upon the altar2 and now the priests were not backward3 great numbers purified themselves to serve the popular devotion4 ,the priests and ,levites sang and made melody to ,jehovah1 so that the ,levites earned the king's special commendation4 ,the great festival ended with a solemn benediction3 8,the priests7#dbf7 arose and blessed the people1 and their voice was heard1 and their prayer came to ,his holy habitation1 even unto heaven40 ,the priests1 and through them the people1 received the assurance that their solemn and prolonged worship had met with gracious acceptance4 ,we have already more than once had occasion to consider the chronicler's main theme3 the importance of the ,temple1 its ritual1 and its ministers4 ,incidentally and perhaps unconsciously1 he here suggests another lesson1 which is specially significant as coming from an ardent ritualist1 namely the necessary limitations of uniformity in ritual4 ,hezekiah's celebration of the ,passover is full of irregularities3 it is held in the wrong month2 it is prolonged to twice the usual period2 there are amongst the worshippers multitudes of unclean persons1 whose presence at these services ought to have been visited with terrible punishment4 ,all is condoned on the ground of emergency1 and the ritual laws are set aside without consulting the ecclesiastical officials4 ,everything serves to emphasise the lesson we touched on in connection with ,david's sacrifices at the threshing-floor of ,ornan the ,jebusite3 ritual is made for man1 and not man for ritual4 ,complete uniformity may be insisted on in ordinary times1 but can be dispensed with in any pressing emergency2 necessity knows no law1 not even the ,torah of the ,pentateuch4 ,moreover1 in such emergencies it is not necessary to wait for the initiative or even the sanction of ecclesiastical officials2 the supreme authority in the ,church in all its great crises resides in the whole body of believers4 ,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 chronicler2 and we may well note1 as one of the most conspicuous marks of his inspiration1 the sanctified common sense shown by his frank and sympathetic record of the irregularities of ,hezekiah's passover4 ,doubtless emergencies had arisen even in his own experience of the great feasts of the ,temple that had taught him this lesson2 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 quibbles4 ,the work of purification and restoration1 however1 was still incomplete3 the ,temple had been cleansed from the pollutions of idolatry1 the heathen altars had been removed from ,jerusalem1 but the high places remained in all the cities of ,judah4 ,when the ,passover was at last finished1 the assembled multitude1 8all ,israel that were present10 set out1 like the ,english or ,scotch ,puritans1 on a great iconoclastic expedition4 ,throughout the length and breadth of the ,land of ,promise1 throughout ,judah and ,benjamin1 ,ephraim and ,manasseh1 they brake in pieces the sacred pillars1 and hewed down the ,asherim1 and brake down the high places and altars2 then they went home4 ,meanwhile ,hezekiah was engaged in reorganising the priests and ,levites and arranging for the payment and distribution of the sacred dues4 ,the king set an example of liberality by making provision for the daily1 weekly1 monthly1 and festival offerings4 ,the people were not slow to imitate him2 they brought first-fruits and tithes in such abundance that four months were spent in piling up heaps of offerings4 8,thus did ,hezekiah throughout all ,judah2 and he wrought that which was good1 and right1 and faithful before ,jehovah his ,god2 and in every work that he began in the service of the ,temple1 and in the ,law1 and in the commandments1 to seek his ,god1 he did it with all his heart1 and brought it to a successful issue40 ,then follow an account of the deliverance from ,sennacherib and of ,hezekiah's recovery from sickness1 a reference to his undue pride in the matter of the embassy from ,babylon1 and a description of the prosperity of his reign1 all for the most part abridged from the book of ,kings4 ,the prophet ,isaiah1 however1 is almost ignored4 ,a few of the more important modifications deserve some little attention4 ,we are told that the ,assyrian invasion was 8after these things and this faithfulness10 in order that we may not forget that the ,divine deliverance was a recompense for ,hezekiah's loyalty to ,jehovah4 ,while the book of ,kings tells us that ,sennacherib took all the fenced cities of ,judah1 the chronicler feels that even this measure of misfortune would not have been allowed to befall a king who had just reconciled ,israel to ,jehovah1 and merely says that ,sennacherib purposed to break these cities up4 ,the chronicler7#dbg7 has preserved an account of the measures taken by ,hezekiah for the defence of his capital3 how he stopped up the fountains and watercourses outside the city1 so that a besieging army might not find water1 and repaired and strengthened the walls1 and encouraged his people to trust in ,jehovah4 ,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 reign3 8,hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of ,gihon1 and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of ,david407#dbh7 ,moreover1 the chronicler's statements are based upon #b ,kings xx4 #bj1 where it is said that 8,hezekiah made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city40 ,the chronicler was of course intimately acquainted with the topography of ,jerusalem in his own days1 and uses his knowledge to interpret and expand the statement in the book of ,kings4 ,he was possibly guided in part by ,isa4 xxii4 #i1 #aa1 where the 8gathering together the waters of the lower pool0 and the 8making a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool0 are mentioned as precautions taken in view of a probable ,assyrian siege4 ,the recent investigations of the ,palestine ,exploration ,fund have led to the discovery of aqueducts1 and stoppages1 and diversions of watercourses which are said to correspond to the operations mentioned by the chronicler4 ,if this be the case1 they show a very accurate knowledge on his part of the topography of ,jerusalem in his own day1 and also illustrate his care to utilise all existing evidence in order to obtain a clear and accurate interpretation of the statements of his authority4 ,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 services4 ,though the music is not more prominent with him than with some earlier kings1 yet in the case of ,david1 ,solomon1 and ,jehoshaphat other subjects presented themselves for special treatment2 and ,hezekiah's reign being the last in which the music of the sanctuary is specially dwelt upon1 we are able here to review the various references to this subject4 ,for the most part the chronicler tells his story of the virtuous days of the good kings to a continual accompaniment of ,temple music4 ,we hear of the playing and singing when the ,ark was brought to the house of ,obed-edom2 when it was taken into the city of ,david2 at the dedication of the ,temple2 at the battle between ,abijah and ,jeroboam2 at ,asa's reformation2 in connection with the overthrow of the ,ammonites1 ,moabites1 and ,meunim in the reign of ,jehoshaphat2 at the coronation of ,joash2 at ,hezekiah's feasts2 and again1 though less emphatically1 at ,josiah's passover4 ,no doubt the special prominence given to the subject indicates a professional interest on the part of the author4 ,if1 however1 music occupies an undue proportion of his space1 and he has abridged accounts of more important matters to make room for his favourite theme1 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 it4 ,the older narratives refer to the music in the case of ,david and ,joash1 and assign psalms and songs to ,david and ,solomon4 ,moreover1 ,judaism is by no means alone in its fondness for music1 but shares this characteristic with almost all religions4 ,we have spoken of the chronicler so far chiefly as a professional musician1 but it should be clearly understood that the term must be taken in its best sense4 ,he was by no means so absorbed in the technique of his art as to forget its sacred significance2 he was not less a worshipper himself because he was the minister or agent of the common worship4 ,his accounts of the festivals show a hearty appreciation of the entire ritual2 and his references to the music do not give us the technical circumstances of its production1 but rather emphasise its general effect4 ,the chronicler's sense of the religious value of music is largely that of a devout worshipper1 who is led to set forth for the benefit of others a truth which is the fruit of his own experience4 ,this experience is not confined to trained musicians2 indeed1 a scientific knowledge of the art may sometimes interfere with its devotional influence4 ,criticism may take the place of worship2 and the hearer1 instead of yielding to the sacred suggestions of hymn or anthem1 may be distracted by his sthetic judgment as to the merits of the composition and the skill shown by its rendering4 ,in the same way critical appreciation of voice1 elocution1 literary style1 and intellectual power does not always conduce to edification from a sermon4 ,in the truest culture1 however1 sensitiveness to these secondary qualities has become habitual and automatic1 and blends itself imperceptibly with the religious consciousness of spiritual influence4 ,the latter is thus helped by excellence and only slightly hindered by minor defects in the natural means4 ,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 exercise1 so that all cheerful and guileless souls may be 8moved with concord of sweet sounds10 and sad and weary hearts find comfort in subdued strains that breathe sympathy of which words are incapable4 ,music1 as a mode of utterance moving within the restraints of a regular order1 naturally attaches itself to ritual4 ,as the earliest literature is poetry1 the earliest liturgy is musical4 ,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 worship4 ,the mere repetition of the same words by a congregation in ordinary speech is apt to be wanting in impressiveness or even in decorum2 the use of tune enables a congregation to unite in worship even when many of its members are strangers to each other4 ,again1 music may be regarded as an expansion of language3 not new dialect1 but a collection of symbols that can express thought1 and more especially emotion1 for which mere speech has no vocabulary4 ,this new form of language naturally becomes an auxiliary of religion4 ,words are clumsy instruments for the expression of the heart1 and are least efficient when they undertake to set forth moral and spiritual ideas4 ,music can transcend mere speech in touching the soul to fine issues1 suggesting visions of things ineffable and unseen4 ,browning makes ,abt ,vogler say of the most enduring and supreme hopes that ,god has granted to men1 8',tis we musicians know02 but the message of music comes home with power to many who have no skill in its art4 ,chapter ,,ix4 ,manasseh3 ,repentance ,and ,forgiveness4 #b ,chron4 xxxiii4 ,in telling the melancholy story of the wickedness of ,manasseh in the first period of his reign1 the chronicler reproduces the book of ,kings1 with one or two omissions and other slight alterations4 ,he omits the name of ,manasseh's mother2 she was called ,hephzi-bah--8,my pleasure is in her40 ,in any case1 when the son of a godly father turns out badly1 and nothing is known about the mother1 uncharitable people might credit her with his wickedness4 ,but the chronicler's readers were familiar with the great influence of the queen-mother in ,oriental states4 ,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 idolatry1 they would naturally ascribe his departure from his father's ways to the suggestions of his mother4 ,the chronicler is not willing that the pious ,hezekiah should lie under the imputation of having taken delight in an ungodly woman1 and so her name is omitted4 ,the contents of #b ,kings xxi4 #aj-af are also omitted2 they consist of a prophetic utterance and further particulars as to the sins of ,manasseh2 they are virtually replaced by the additional information in ,chronicles4 ,from the point of view of the chronicler1 the history of ,manasseh in the book of ,kings was far from satisfactory4 ,the earlier writer had not only failed to provide materials from which a suitable moral could be deduced1 but he had also told the story so that undesirable conclusions might be drawn4 ,manasseh sinned more wickedly than any other king of ,judah3 ,ahaz merely polluted and closed the ,temple1 but ,manasseh 8built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the ,temple10 and set up in it an idol4 ,and yet in the earlier narrative this most wicked king escaped without any personal punishment at all4 ,moreover1 length of days was one of the rewards which ,jehovah was wont to bestow upon the righteous2 but while ,ahaz was cut off at thirty-six1 in the prime of manhood1 ,manasseh survived to the mature age of sixty-seven1 and reigned fifty-five years4 ,however1 the history reached the chronicler in a more satisfactory form4 ,manasseh was duly punished1 and his long reign fully accounted for47#dbi7 ,when1 in spite of ,divine warning1 ,manasseh and his people persisted in their sin1 ,jehovah sent against them 8the captains of the host of the king of ,assyria1 which took ,manasseh in chains1 and bound him with fetters17#dcj7 and carried him to ,babylon40 ,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 successor1 ,assur-bani-pal4 ,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 ,esarhaddon4 ,this king of ,assyria rebuilt ,babylon1 and spent much of his time there4 ,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 ,manasseh4 ,for the ,jewish king's misfortunes led him to repentance3 8,when he was in trouble1 he besought ,jehovah his ,god1 and humbled himself greatly before the ,god of his fathers1 and prayed unto him40 ,amongst the ,greek ,apocrypha is found a 8,prayer of ,manasses10 doubtless intended by its author to represent the prayer referred to in ,chronicles4 ,in it ,manasseh celebrates the ,divine glory1 confesses his great wickedness1 and asks that his penitence may be accepted and that he may obtain deliverance4 ,if these were the terms of ,manasseh's prayers1 they were heard and answered2 and the captive king returned to ,jerusalem a devout worshipper and faithful servant of ,jehovah4 ,he at once set to work to undo the evil he had wrought in the former period of his reign4 ,he took away the idol and the heathen altars from the ,temple1 restored the altar of ,jehovah1 and re-established the ,temple services4 ,in earlier days he had led the people into idolatry2 now he commanded them to serve ,jehovah1 and the people obediently followed the king's example4 ,apparently he found it impracticable to interfere with the high places2 but they were so far purified from corruption that1 though the people still sacrificed at these illegal sanctuaries1 they worshipped exclusively ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel4 ,like most of the pious kings1 his prosperity was partly shown by his extensive building operations4 ,following in the footsteps of ,jotham1 he strengthened or repaired the fortifications of ,jerusalem1 especially about ,ophel4 ,he further provided for the safety of his dominions by placing captains1 and doubtless also garrisons1 in the fenced cities of ,judah4 ,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 mention1 not only the 8,acts of the ,kings of ,israel10 but a second authority3 8,the ,history of the ,seers40 ,the imagination of the ,targumists and other later writers embellished the history of ,manasseh's captivity and release with many striking and romantic circumstances4 ,the life of ,manasseh practically completes the chronicler's series of object-lessons in the doctrine of retribution2 the history of the later kings only provides illustrations similar to those already given4 ,these object-lessons are closely connected with the teaching of ,ezekiel4 ,in dealing with the question of heredity in guilt1 the prophet is led to set forth the character and fortunes of four different classes of men4 ,first7#dca7 we have two simple cases3 the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him1 and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him4 ,these have been respectively illustrated by the prosperity of ,solomon and ,jotham and the misfortunes of ,jehoram1 ,ahaziah1 ,athaliah1 and ,ahaz4 ,again1 departing somewhat from the order of ,ezekiel--8,when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness1 and committeth iniquity1 and doeth according to all the abominations of the wicked man1 shall he live8 ,none of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered2 in his trespass that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath sinned he shall die0--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 sin3 ,asa1 ,joash1 ,amaziah1 and ,uzziah4 ,we reached this point in our discussion of the doctrine of retribution in connection with ,asa4 ,so far the lessons taught were salutary3 they might deter from sin2 but they were gloomy and depressing3 they gave little encouragement to hope for success in the struggle after righteousness1 and suggested that few would escape terrible penalties of failure4 ,david and ,solomon formed a class by themselves2 an ordinary man could not aspire to their almost supernatural virtue4 ,in his later history the chronicler is chiefly bent on illustrating the frailty of man and the wrath of ,god4 ,the ,new ,testament teaches a similar lesson when it asks1 8,if the righteous is scarcely saved1 where shall the ungodly and sinner appear807#dcb7 ,but in ,chronicles not even the righteous is saved4 ,again and again we are told at a king's accession that he 8did that which was good and right in the eyes of ,jehovah02 and yet before the reign closes he forfeits the ,divine favour1 and at last dies ruined and disgraced4 ,but this sombre picture is relieved by occasional gleams of light4 ,ezekiel furnishes a fourth type of religious experience3 8,if the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath committed1 and keep all ,my statutes1 and do that which is lawful and right1 he shall live2 he shall not die4 ,none of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be remembered against him2 in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live4 ,have ,i any pleasure in the death of the wicked1 saith the ,lord ,jehovah1 and not rather that he should return from his way and live807#dcc7 ,the one striking and complete example of this principle is the history of ,manasseh4 ,it is true that ,rehoboam also repented1 but the chronicler does not make it clear that his repentance was permanent4 ,manasseh is unique alike in extreme wickedness1 sincere penitence1 and thorough reformation4 ,the reformation of ,julius ,csar or of our ,henry ,v41 or1 to take a different class of instance1 the conversion of ,st4 ,paul1 was nothing compared to the conversion of ,manasseh4 ,it was as though ,herod the ,great or ,csar ,borgia had been checked midway in a career of cruelty and vice1 and had thenceforward lived pure and holy lives1 glorifying ,god by ministering to their fellow-men4 ,such a repentance gives us hope for the most abandoned4 ,in the forgiveness of ,manasseh the penitent sinner receives assurance that ,god will forgive even the most guilty4 ,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 blessing4 ,manasseh becomes in the ,old ,testament what the ,prodigal ,son is in the ,new3 the one great symbol of the possibilities of human nature and the infinite mercy of ,god4 ,the chronicler's theology is as simple and straightforward as that of ,ezekiel4 ,manasseh repents1 submits himself1 and is forgiven4 ,his captivity apparently had expiated his guilt1 as far as expiation was necessary4 ,neither prophet nor chronicler was conscious of the moral difficulties that have been found in so simple a plan of salvation4 ,the problems of an objective atonement had not yet risen above their horizon4 ,these incidents afford another illustration of the necessary limitations of ritual4 ,in the great crisis of ,manasseh's spiritual life1 the ,levitical ordinances played no part2 they moved on a lower level1 and ministered to less urgent needs4 ,probably the worship of ,jehovah was still suspended during ,manasseh's captivity2 none the less ,manasseh was able to make his peace with ,god4 ,even if they were punctually observed1 of what use were services at the ,temple in ,jerusalem to a penitent sinner at ,babylon8 ,when ,manasseh returned to ,jerusalem1 he restored the ,temple worship1 and offered sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving2 nothing is said about sin-offerings4 ,his sacrifices were not the condition of his pardon1 but the seal and token of a reconciliation already effected4 ,the experience of ,manasseh anticipated that of the ,jews of the ,captivity3 he discovered the possibility of fellowship with ,jehovah1 far away from the ,holy ,land1 without temple1 priest1 or sacrifice4 ,the chronicler1 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 ,jerusalem4 ,before relating the outward acts which testified the sincerity of ,manasseh's repentance1 the chronicler devotes a single sentence to the happy influence of forgiveness and deliverance upon ,manasseh himself4 ,when his prayer had been heard1 and his exile was at an end1 then ,manasseh knew and acknowledged that ,jehovah was ,god4 ,men first begin to know ,god when they have been forgiven4 ,the alienated and disobedient1 if they think of ,him at all1 merely have glimpses of ,his vengeance and try to persuade themselves that ,he is a stern ,tyrant4 ,by the penitent not yet assured of the possibility of reconciliation ,god is chiefly thought of as a righteous ,judge4 ,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 living8 ,even when he came to himself1 he thought of the father's house as a place where there was bread enough and to spare2 and he supposed that his father might endure to see him living at home in permanent disgrace1 on the footing of a hired servant4 ,when he reached home1 after he had been met a great way on with compassion and been welcomed with an embrace1 he began for the first time to understand his father's character4 ,so the knowledge of ,god's love dawns upon the soul in the blessed experience of forgiveness2 and because love and forgiveness are more strange and unearthly than rebuke and chastisement1 the sinner is humbled by pardon far more than by punishment2 and his trembling submission to the righteous ,judge deepens into profounder reverence and awe for the ,god who can forgive1 who is superior to all vindictiveness1 whose infinite resources enable ,him to blot out the guilt1 to cancel the penalty1 and annul the consequences of sin4 8,there is forgiveness with ,thee1 ,that ,thou mayest be feared407#dcd7 ,the words that stand in the forefront of the ,lord's ,prayer1 8,hallowed be ,thy name10 are virtually a petition that sinners may repent1 and be converted1 and obtain forgiveness4 ,in seeking for a ,christian parallel to the doctrine expounded by ,ezekiel and illustrated by ,chronicles1 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 mercy4 ,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 character4 ,the doctrine of ,god's attitude towards backsliding and repentance seems somewhat arbitrary as set forth by ,ezekiel and ,chronicles4 ,a man apparently is not to be judged by his whole life1 but only by the moral period that is closed by his death4 ,if his last years be pious1 his former transgressions are forgotten2 if his last years be evil1 his righteous deeds are equally forgotten4 ,while we gratefully accept the forgiveness of sinners1 such teaching as to backsliders seems a little cynical2 and though1 by ,god's grace and discipline1 a man may be led through and out of sin into righteousness1 we are naturally suspicious of a life of 8righteous deeds0 which towards its close lapses into gross and open sin4 8,nemo repente turpissimus fit40 ,we are inclined to believe that the final lapse reveals the true bias of the whole character4 ,but the chronicler suggests more than this3 by his history of the almost uniform failure of the pious kings to persevere to the end1 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 out4 ,this doctrine has sometimes1 inconsiderately no doubt1 been taught from ,christian pulpits2 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 close4 ,putting aside any question of positive sin1 a man's closing years sometimes seem cold1 narrow1 and selfish when once he was full of tender and considerate sympathy2 and yet the man is no ,asa or ,amaziah who has deserted the living ,god for idols of wood and stone4 ,the man has not changed1 only our impression of him4 ,unconsciously we are influenced by the contrast between his present state and the splendid energy and devotion of self-sacrifice that marked his prime2 we forget that inaction is his misfortune1 and not his fault2 we overrate his ardour in the days when vigorous action was a delight for its own sake2 and we overlook the quiet heroism with which remnants of strength are still utilised in the ,lord's service1 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 endurance4 ,muscles and nerves slowly become less and less efficient2 they fail to carry to the soul full and clear reports of the outside world2 they are no longer satisfactory instruments by which the soul can express its feelings or execute its will4 ,we are less able than ever to estimate the inner life of such by that which we see and hear4 ,while we are thankful for the sweet serenity and loving sympathy which often make the hoary head a crown of glory1 we are also entitled to judge some of ,god's more militant children by their years of arduous service1 and not by their impatience of enforced inactivity4 ,if our author's statement of these truths seem unsatisfactory1 we must remember that his lack of a doctrine of the future life placed him at a serious disadvantage4 ,he wished to exhibit a complete picture of ,god's dealings with the characters of his history1 so that their lives should furnish exact illustrations of the working of sin and righteousness4 ,he was controlled and hampered by the idea that underlies many discussions in the ,old ,testament3 that ,god's righteous judgment upon a man's actions is completely manifested during his earthly life4 ,it may be possible to assert an eternal providence2 but conscience and heart have long since revolted against the doctrine that ,god's justice1 to say nothing of ,his love1 is declared by the misery of lives that might have been innocent1 if they had ever had the opportunity of knowing what innocence meant4 ,the chronicler worked on too small a scale for his subject4 ,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 existence4 ,these narratives of ,jewish kings are only imperfect symbols of the infinite possibilities of the eternal providence4 ,the moral of ,chronicles is very much that of the ,greek sage1 8,call no man happy till he is dead02 but since ,christ has brought life and immortality to light through the ,gospel1 we no longer pass final judgment upon either the man or his happiness by what we know of his life here4 ,the decisive revelation of character1 the final judgment upon conduct1 the due adjustment of the gifts and discipline of ,god1 are deferred to a future life4 ,when these are completed1 and the soul has attained to good or evil beyond all reversal1 then we shall feel1 with ,ezekiel and the chronicler1 that there is no further need to remember either the righteous deeds or the transgressions of earlier stages of its history4 ,chapter ,x4 ,the ,last ,kings ,of ,judah4 #b ,chron4 xxxiv4-xxxvi4 ,whatever influence ,manasseh's reformation exercised over his people generally1 the taint of idolatry was not removed from his own family4 ,his son ,amon succeeded him at the age of two-and-twenty4 ,into his reign of two years he compressed all the varieties of wickedness once practised by his father1 and undid the good work of ,manasseh's later years4 ,he recovered the graven images which ,manasseh had discarded1 replaced them in their shrines1 and worshipped them instead of ,jehovah4 ,but in his case there was no repentance1 and he was cut off in his youth4 ,in the absence of any conclusive evidence as to the date of ,manasseh's reformation1 we cannot determine with certainty whether ,amon received his early training before or after his father returned to the worship of ,jehovah4 ,in either case ,manasseh's earlier history would make it difficult for him to counteract any evil influence that drew ,amon towards idolatry4 ,amon could set the example and perhaps the teaching of his father's former days against any later exhortations to righteousness4 ,when a father has helped to lead his children astray1 he cannot be sure that he will carry them with him in his repentance4 ,after ,amon's assassination the people placed his son ,josiah on the throne4 ,like ,joash and ,manasseh1 ,josiah was a child1 only eight years old4 ,the chronicler follows the general line of the history in the book of ,kings1 modifying1 abridging1 and expanding1 but introducing no new incidents2 the reformation1 the repairing of the ,temple1 the discovery of the book of the ,law1 the ,passover1 ,josiah's defeat and death at ,megiddo1 are narrated by both historians4 ,we have only to notice differences in a somewhat similar treatment of the same subject4 ,beyond the general statement that ,josiah 8did that which was right in the eyes of ,jehovah0 we hear nothing about him in the book of ,kings till the eighteenth year of his reign1 and his reformation and putting away of idolatry is placed in that year4 ,the chronicler's authorities corrected the statement that the pious king tolerated idolatry for eighteen years4 ,they record how in the eighth year of his reign1 when he was sixteen1 he began to seek after the ,god of ,david2 and in his twelfth year he set about the work of utterly destroying idols throughout the whole territory of ,israel1 in the cities and ruins of ,manasseh1 ,ephraim1 and ,simeon1 even unto ,naphtali1 as well as in ,judah and ,benjamin4 ,seeing that the cities assigned to ,simeon were in the south of ,judah1 it is a little difficult to understand why they appear with the northern tribes1 unless they are reckoned with them technically to make up the ancient number4 ,the consequence of this change of date is that in ,chronicles the reformation precedes the discovery of the book of the ,law1 whereas in the older history this discovery is the cause of the reformation4 ,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 ,kings4 ,to have reproduced the earlier narrative in full would have raised serious difficulties4 ,according to the chronicler1 ,manasseh had purged ,jerusalem of idols and idol altars2 and ,amon alone was responsible for any that existed there at the accession of ,josiah3 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 sun4 ,manasseh's altars still stood in the courts of the ,temple2 and over against ,jerusalem there still remained the high places that ,solomon had built for ,ashtoreth1 ,chemosh1 and ,milcom4 ,as the chronicler in describing ,solomon's reign carefully omitted all mention of his sins1 so he omits this reference to his idolatry4 ,moreover1 if he had inserted it1 he would have had to explain how these high places escaped the zeal of the many pious kings who did away with the high places4 ,similarly1 having omitted the account of the man of ,god who prophesied the ruin of ,jeroboam's sanctuary at ,bethel1 he here omits the fulfilment of that prophecy4 ,the account of the repairing of the ,temple is enlarged by the insertion of various details as to the names1 functions1 and zeal of the ,levites1 amongst whom those who had skill in instruments of music seem to have had the oversight of the workmen4 ,we are reminded of the walls of ,thebes1 which rose out of the ground while ,orpheus played upon his flute4 ,similarly in the account of the assembly called to hear the contents of the book of the ,law the ,levites are substituted for the prophets4 ,this book of the ,law is said in ,chronicles to have been given by ,moses1 but his name is not connected with the book in the parallel narrative in the book of ,kings4 ,the earlier authority simply states that ,josiah held a great passover2 ,chronicles1 as usual1 describes the festival in detail4 ,first of all1 the king commanded the priests and ,levites to purify themselves and take their places in due order1 so that they might be ready to perform their sacred duties4 ,the narrative is very obscure1 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 holies4 ,the ,law had specially assigned to the ,levites the duty of carrying the ,tabernacle and its furniture1 and they seem to have thought that they were only bound to exercise the function of carrying the ,ark2 they perhaps proposed to bear it in solemn procession round the city as part of the celebration of the ,passover1 forgetting the words of ,david7#dce7 that the ,levites should no more carry the ,tabernacle and its vessels4 ,they would have been glad to substitute this conspicuous and honourable service for the laborious and menial work of flaying the victims4 ,josiah1 however1 commanded them to put the ,ark into the ,temple and attend to their other duties4 ,next1 the king and his nobles provided beasts of various kinds for the sacrifices and the ,passover meal4 ,josiah's gifts were even more munificent than those of ,hezekiah4 ,the latter had given a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep2 ,josiah gave just three times as many4 ,moreover1 at ,hezekiah's passover no offerings of the princes are mentioned1 but now they added their gifts to those of the king4 ,the heads of the priesthood provided three hundred oxen and two thousand six hundred small cattle for the priests1 and the chiefs of the ,levites five hundred oxen and five thousand small cattle for the ,levites4 ,but numerous as were the victims at ,josiah's passover1 they still fell far short of the great sacrifice7#dcf7 of twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep which ,solomon offered at the dedication of the ,temple4 ,then began the actual work of the sacrifices3 the victims were killed and flayed1 and their blood was sprinkled on the altar2 the burnt offerings were distributed among the people2 the ,passover lambs were roasted1 and the other offerings boiled1 and the ,levites 8carried them quickly to all the children of the people40 ,apparently private individuals could not find the means of cooking the bountiful provision made for them2 and1 to meet the necessity of the case1 the ,temple courts were made kitchen as well as slaughterhouse for the assembled worshippers4 ,the other offerings would not be eaten with the ,passover lamb1 but would serve for the remaining days of the feast4 ,the ,levites not only provided for the people1 for themselves1 and the priests1 but the ,levites who ministered in the matter of the sacrifices also prepared for their brethren who were singers and porters1 so that the latter were enabled to attend undisturbed to their own special duties2 all the members of the guild of porters were at the gates maintaining order among the crowd of worshippers2 and the full strength of the orchestra and choir contributed to the beauty and solemnity of the services4 ,it was the greatest ,passover held by any ,israelite king4 ,josiah's passover1 like that of ,hezekiah1 was followed by a formidable foreign invasion2 but whereas ,hezekiah was rewarded for renewed loyalty by a triumphant deliverance1 ,josiah was defeated and slain4 ,these facts subject the chronicler's theory of retribution to a severe strain4 ,his perplexity finds pathetic expression in the opening words of the new section1 8,after all this10 after all the idols had been put away1 after the celebration of the most magnificent ,passover the monarchy had ever seen4 ,after all this1 when we looked for the promised rewards of piety--for fertile seasons1 peace and prosperity at home1 victory and dominion abroad1 tribute from subject peoples1 and wealth from successful commerce--after all this1 the rout of the armies of ,jehovah at ,megiddo1 the flight and death of the wounded king1 the lamentation over ,josiah1 the exaltation of a nominee of ,pharaoh to the throne1 and the payment of tribute to the ,egyptian king4 ,the chronicler has no complete explanation of this painful mystery1 but he does what he can to meet the difficulties of the case4 ,like the great prophets in similar instances1 he regards the heathen king as charged with a ,divine commission4 ,pharaoh's appeal to ,josiah to remain neutral should have been received by the ,jewish king as an authoritative message from ,jehovah4 ,it was the failure to discern in a heathen king the mouthpiece and prophet of ,jehovah that cost ,josiah his life and ,judah its liberty4 ,the chronicler had no motive for lingering over the last sad days of the monarchy2 the rest of his narrative is almost entirely abridged from the book of ,kings4 ,jehoahaz1 ,jehoiakim1 ,jehoiachin1 and ,zedekiah pass over the scene in rapid and melancholy succession4 ,in the case of ,jehoahaz1 who only reigned three months1 the chronicler omits the unfavourable judgment recorded in the book of ,kings2 but he repeats it for the other three1 even for the poor lad of eight7#dcg7 who was carried away captive after a reign of three months and ten days4 ,the chronicler had not learnt that kings can do no wrong2 on the other hand1 the ungodly policy of ,jehoiachin's ministers is labelled with the name of the boy-sovereign4 ,each of these kings in turn was deposed and carried away into captivity1 unless indeed ,jehoiakim is an exception4 ,in the book of ,kings we are told that he slept with his fathers1 i4e41 that he died and was buried in the royal tombs at ,jerusalem1 a statement which the ,,lxx4 inserts here also1 specifying1 however1 that he was buried in the garden of ,uzza4 ,if the pious ,josiah were punished for a single error by defeat and death1 why was the wicked ,jehoiakim allowed to reign till the end of his life and then die in his bed8 ,the chronicler's information differed from that of the earlier narrative in a way that removed1 or at any rate suppressed the difficulty4 ,he omits the statement that ,jehoiakim slept with his fathers1 and tells us7#dch7 that ,nebuchadnezzar bound him in fetters to carry him to ,babylon4 ,casual readers would naturally suppose that this purpose was carried out1 and that the ,divine justice was satisfied by ,jehoiakim's death in captivity2 and yet if they compared this passage with that in the book of ,kings1 it might occur to them that after the king had been put in chains something might have led ,nebuchadnezzar to change his mind1 or1 like ,manasseh1 ,jehoiakim might have repented and been allowed to return4 ,but it is very doubtful whether the chronicler's authorities contemplated the possibility of such an interpretation2 it is scarcely fair to credit them with all the subtle devices of modern commentators4 ,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 xxxvi4 #ad-bj47dci7 ,all the chief of the priests and of the people were given over to the abominations of idolatry2 and in spite of constant and urgent admonitions from the prophets of ,jehovah1 they hardened their hearts1 and mocked the messengers of ,god1 and despised ,his words1 and misused ,his prophets1 until the wrath of ,jehovah arose against ,his people1 and there was no healing4 ,however1 to this peroration a note is added that the length of the ,captivity was fixed at seventy years1 in order that the land might 8enjoy her sabbaths40 ,this note rests upon ,lev4 xxv4 #a-g1 according to which the land was to be left fallow every seventh year4 ,the seventy years captivity would compensate for seventy periods of six years each during which no sabbatical years had been observed4 ,thus the ,captivity1 with the four hundred and twenty previous years of neglect1 would be equivalent to seventy sabbatical periods4 ,there is no economy in keeping back what is due to ,god4 ,moreover1 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 ruin4 ,modern ,jews1 in reading the last chapter of ,isaiah1 rather than conclude with the ill-omened words of the last two verses1 repeat a previous portion of the chapter4 ,so here to the history of the ruin of ,jerusalem the editor has appended two verses from the opening of the book of ,ezra1 which contain the decree of ,cyrus authorising the return from the ,captivity4 ,and thus ,chronicles concludes in the middle of a sentence which is completed in the book of ,ezra3 8,who is there among you of all his people8 ,jehovah his ,god be with him1 and let him go up44440 ,such a conclusion suggests two considerations which will form a fitting close to our exposition4 ,chronicles is not a finished work2 it has no formal end2 it rather breaks off abruptly like an interrupted diary4 ,in like manner the book of ,kings concludes with a note as to the treatment of the captive ,jehoiachin at ,babylon3 the last verse runs1 8,and for his allowance there was a continual allowance given him of the king1 every day a portion1 all the days of his life40 ,the book of ,nehemiah has a short final prayer3 8,remember me1 ,o my ,god1 for good02 but the preceding paragraph is simply occupied with the arrangements for the wood offering and the first-fruits4 ,so in the ,new ,testament the history of the ,church breaks off with the statement that ,st4 ,paul abode two whole years in his own hired house1 preaching the kingdom of ,god4 ,the sacred writers recognise the continuity of ,god's dealings with ,his people2 they do not suggest that one period can be marked off by a clear dividing line or interval from another4 ,each historian leaves1 as it were1 the loose ends of his work ready to be taken up and continued by his successors4 ,the ,holy ,spirit seeks to stimulate the ,church to a forward outlook1 that it may expect and work for a future wherein the power and grace of ,god will be no less manifest than in the past4 ,moreover1 the final editor of ,chronicles has shown himself unwilling that the book should conclude with a gloomy record of sin and ruin1 and has appended a few lines to remind his readers of the new life of faith and hope that lay beyond the ,captivity4 ,in so doing1 he has echoed the key-note of prophecy3 ever beyond man's transgression and punishment the prophets saw the vision of his forgiveness and restoration to ,god4 ,,footnotes #a ,cf4 ,ezra2 ,nehemiah2 ,esther1 by ,professor ,adeney1 in 8,expositor's ,bible40 #b ,ezra iii4 #ab4 #c ,isa4 lxvi4 #bb4 #d ,quoted for ,asa 7#b ,chron4 xvi4 #aa72 ,amaziah 7#b ,chron4 xxv4 #bf72 ,ahaz 7#b ,chron4 xxviii4 #bf74 #e ,quoted for ,jotham 7#b ,chron4 xxvii4 #g72 ,josiah 7#b ,chron4 xxxv4 #bf1 #bg74 #f ,quoted for ,manasseh 7#b ,chron4 xxxiii1 #ah74 #g ,quoted for ,david 7#a ,chron4 xxix4 #bi74 #h ,quoted for ,david 7#a ,chron4 xxix4 #bi7 and ,solomon 7#b ,chron4 ix4 #bi74 #i ,quoted for ,david 7#a ,chron4 xxix4 #bi74 #aj ,quoted for ,rehoboam 7#b ,chron4 xii4 #ae74 #aa ,quoted for ,jehoshaphat 7#b ,chron4 xx4 #cd74 #ab ,quoted for ,manasseh 7#b ,chron4 xxxiii4 #ai74 8,seers10 ,a4,v41 ,r4,v4 ,marg41 with ,,lxx42 ,r4,v41 with ,hebrew text1 8,hozai40 ,the passage is probably corrupt4 #ac ,quoted for ,solomon 7#b ,chron4 ix4 #bi74 #ad ,quoted for ,hezekiah 7#b ,chron4 xxxii4 #cb74 #ae ,quoted for ,joash 7#b ,chron4 xxiv4 #bg74 #af ,quoted for ,abijah 7#b ,chron4 xiii1 #bb74 #ag ,quoted for ,uzziah 7#b ,chron4 xxvi4 #bb74 #ah ,quoted for ,solomon 7#b ,chron4 ix4 #bi74 #ai ,cf4 pp4 #ag1 #ah4 #bj #b ,chron4 xx4 #cd4 #ba ,chron4 xxxii4 #cb4 #bb ,r4,v4 marg4 #bc ,r4,v4 #bd ,e4g41 the wars of ,jotham 7#b ,chron4 xxvii4 #g74 #be #b ,chron4 xiii4 #bb2 xxiv4 #bg4 ,the ,,lxx41 however1 does not read 8,midrash0 in either case2 and it is quite possible that glosses have attached themselves to the text of ,chronicles4 #bf ,cf4 #b ,sam4 vi4 #ab-bj with #a ,chron4 xv41 xvi4 #bg ,cf4 #b ,kings xi42 #b ,chron4 xxiii4 #bh ,the last two classes are not easily distinguished2 but the additions which introduce the ,levitical system into earlier history are clearly the work of the chronicler or his immediate predecessor1 if such a predecessor be assumed1 or were found in somewhat late sources4 ,this is also probably true of other explanatory matter4 #bi ,cf4 #b ,sam4 iv4 with #a ,chron4 viii4 #cd1 also #b ,sam4 vii4 #g with #a ,chron4 xvii4 #f1 and #b ,sam4 xvii4 #be with #a ,chron4 ii4 #ag4 ,in both these instances ,chronicles preserves the correct text4 #cj ,cf4 ,book ,,ii41 ,chap4 ,,iv4 #ca ,oehler1 ,old ,testament ,theology1 i4 #bhc 7,eng4 trans474 #cb ,nestle1 ,die ,israelitischen ,eigennamen1 p4 #bg4 ,the present chapter is largely indebted to this standard monograph4 #cc ,nestle4 #cd #a ,chron4 vii4 #ad4 #ce ,philo1 ,de ,cong4 ,qur4 ,erud4 ,grat41 #h4 #cf ,hiller's ,onomasticon ap41 ,nestle #aa4 #cg vii4 #h4 #ch i4 #ce4 #ci xviii4 #ae4 #dj i4 #bj4 #da viii4 #cf4 #db ii4 #ah4 #dc iii4 #bj4 #dd iv4 #c4 #de ,bertheau1 i4 #a4 #df iv4 #bb4 #dg iv4 #bb4 #dh ,the translation of these words is not quite certain4 #di ,nestle1 p4 #fh4 #ej ,num4 i4 #aj4 #ea ,num4 i4 #ab4 #eb ,num4 i4 #f4 #ec ,cf4 p4 #dj4 #ed xi4 #cj2 vii4 #be 7,nestle74 #ee ,nestle4 #ef ,joel i4 #ae2 ,isa4 xiii4 #f4 ,it is not necessary here to discuss either the etymological or the theological history of these words in their earliest usage1 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 ,israel1 while ,el was rare and sometimes generic4 #eg ,ezra ii4 #fa-fc2 ,neh4 vii1 #fc-fe4 #eh ,acts xvii4 #bf4 #ei ,col4 iii4 #aa4 #fj ,josh4 xiv4 #f4 #fa #a ,sam4 xxvii #aj4 #fb ,ver4 #ee4 #fc ,the occurrence of ,caleb the son of ,jephunneh in iv1 #ae1 vi4 #ef1 in no way militates against this view3 the chronicler1 like other redactors1 is simply inserting borrowed material without correcting it4 ,chelubai in ii4 #i stands for ,caleb2 cf4 ii4 #ah4 #fd viii4 #cc-dj2 ix4 #ce-dd4 ,we have used ,mephibosheth as more familiar1 but ,chronicles reads ,meribbaal1 which is more correct4 #fe ,psalm lxxviii4 #ei1 #fj1 #fg-fi4 #ff iv4 #ad1 #ba-bc4 #fg #a ,chron4 xv4 #fh ,cf4 #b ,chron4 xxix4 #ab and xxx4 #bb4 #fi #b ,chron4 xvii4 #h4 #gj ,exod4 xxv-xxxix42 #a ,kings vi42 #a ,chron4 xxix42 #b ,chron4 iii41 v4 #ga #a ,chron4 xv4 #d-aj4 #gb #a ,chron4 xii4 #bc-cg4 #gc ,john iii4 #h4 #gd i4 #aj4 #ge i4 #ai4 #gf i4 #df4 #gg ,cf4 ,gen4 xxxvi4 #bd and #a ,chron4 i4 #dj4 #gh ,i4e41 ,achan 7ii4 #c1 #g74 #gi #a ,sam4 ii4 #g1 #h4 #hj ,vv4 #ag1 #ah1 as they stand1 do not make sense4 ,the second sentence of ver4 #ah should be read before 8and she bare ,miriam0 in ver4 #ag4 ,mered and ,bithiah formed a tempting subject for the rabbis1 and gave occasion for some of their usual grotesque fancies4 ,mered has been identified by them both with ,caleb and ,moses4 #ha ,deut4 vii4 #c2 ,josh4 xxiii4 #ab2 ,ezra ix4 #a1 x42 ,neh4 xiii4 #bc4 #hb iv4 #i1 #aj4 #hc ,the reading on which this translation is based is obtained by an alteration of the vowels of the ,masoretic text2 cf4 ,bertheau1 i4 #a4 #hd ,gen4 xxviii4 #bj2 xxxiii4 #bj4 #he ,this translation is obtained by slightly altering the ,masoretic text4 #hf iv4 #da2 cf4 ,r4,v4 #hg #a ,sam4 xv4 #hh ,judges i4 #ag4 #hi ,judges i4 #bb-bf4 #ij ,judges xviii4 #ia ,vv4 #g-aj1 #ah-bb4 #ib ,deut4 xxxiii4 #bj2 #a ,chron4 xii4 #h1 #ba4 #ic ,gen4 xxv4 #ae4 #id ,gen4 xvi4 #ab4 #ie ,lay of the ,last ,minstrel1 iv4 #c4 #if ,vv4 #be1 #bf4 ,note the curious spelling ,tilgath-pilneser for the more usual ,tiglath-pileser4 #ig ,cf4 ,bertheau1 i4 #a4 #ih ,in ,josh4 xix4 #db1 xxi4 #bd1 ,aijalon is given to ,dan2 in ,judges i4 #cd it is given to ,dan1 but we are told that ,amorites retained possession of it1 but became tributary to the house of ,joseph2 in #b ,chron4 xi4 #aj it is given to 8,judah and ,benjamin40 ,as a frontier town1 it frequently changed hands4 #ii #b ,chron4 xvi4 #i4 #ajj #b ,chron4 xx4 #bj4 #aja #b ,chron4 xxix4 #f4 #ajb #a ,chron4 vi4 #ca-dh1 xv4 #af-bj2 cf4 psalm titles4 #ajc #a ,chron4 vi4 #cc1 #cg2 cf4 ,psalm lxxxviii4 7title74 #ajd #a ,chron4 xvi4 #ch1 #db4 #aje #a ,chron4 ix4 #bf-cb2 cf4 #a ,chron4 xxiii4 #bd-cb4 #ajf #b ,chron4 xxix4-xxxi42 xxxiv42 xxxv4 #ajg #b ,chron4 xxix4 #bg1 #bh4 #ajh ,num4 iv4 #c1 #bc1 #ce4 #aji #a ,chron4 xxiii4 #bd1 #bg4 ,probably 8twenty0 should be read for 8thirty0 in ver4 #c4 #aaj #a ,chron4 xxiv4 #f4 #aaa #b ,chron4 xxxiv4 #ac2 xxxv4 #c4 #aab #b ,chron4 xxxv4 #c2 cf4 #a ,chron4 xxiii #bf4 #aac #a ,chron4 xxvi4 #bi4 #aad #b ,chron4 xvii4 #g1 #i4 #aae ,wellhausen1 ,history of ,israel1 p4 #aia2 cf4 #b ,chron4 xix4 #d-aa4 #aaf #a ,chron4 ix4 #ca1 #cb4 #aag ,ezra ii4 #cf-ci4 #aah #a ,chron4 xxiv4 #a-ai4 #aai ,luke i4 #e4 #abj ,bell4 ,jud41 ,,iv4 iii4 #h4 #aba #a ,chron4 xxiv4 #bj-ca2 #b ,chron4 xxxi4 #b4 #abb #a ,chron4 xxv4 #abc #a ,chron4 xxvi42 ,ezra vi4 #ah2 ,neh4 xi4 #cf4 #abd ,recently a complaint was received at the ,general ,post-office that some newspapers sent from ,france had failed to arrive4 ,it was stated that the names of the papers were--,il me manque2 ,plusieurs2 ,journaux2 i4e41 ,i am short of 8,several0 8,papers40 #abe #a ,chron4 ix4 #c4 #abf ,luke ii4 #cf4 #abg ,levi of course excepted4 #abh #a ,chron4 iii4 #abi ii4 #ee4 #acj iv4 #ba-bc4 #aca ,maspero1 ,ancient ,egypt and ,assyria1 p4 #fj4 #acb ,craddock1 ,despot of ,bromsgrove ,edge4 ,teck ,jepson is1 of course1 an imaginary character1 but none the less representative4 #acc ,cave1 ,scripture ,doctrine of ,sacrifice1 p4 #afc4 #acd ,george ,eliot1 ,janet's ,repentance1 chap4 xix4 #ace #b ,chron4 xii4 #a1 #f4 #acf #b ,chron4 xxxiii4 #ah4 #acg ,ezra ii4 #b4 #ach ,isa4 xlix4 #f4 #aci ,isa4 ix4 #g4 #adj ,isa4 xvi4 #e4 #ada ,isa4 xxxvii4 #ce4 #adb ,isa4 xxxviii4 #e4 #adc ,acts ii #bi4 #add ,hos4 iii4 #e4 #ade ,amos ix4 #aa4 #adf ,micah v4 #b4 #adg ,jer4 xxiii4 #e1 #f2 cf4 xxxiii4 #ae and ,isa4 iv4 #b1 xi4 #a4 ,the ,hebrew word used in the last passage is different from that in the preceding4 #adh ,ezek4 xxxiv4 #bc1 #bd2 xxxvii4 #bd1 #be4 #adi ,zech4 iii4 #h2 the text in vi4 #ab is probably corrupt4 #aej ,hag4 ii4 #bc4 #aea ,zech4 xii4 #h4 #aeb ,written after the death of ,pompey4 #aec ,schultz1 ,old ,testament ,theology1 ii4 #ddd4 #aed ,an incidental reference is made to these facts in #a ,chron4 xii4 #ai4 #aee #b ,sam4 iii4 #ci4 #aef #b ,sam4 v4 #ba2 #a ,chron4 xiv4 #ab4 #aeg ,deut4 xxiv4 #af1 quoted in #b ,chron4 xxv4 #d4 #aeh #b ,sam4 xxi4 #ai2 #a ,chron4 xx4 #e4 #aei #a ,chron4 x4 #ad4 #afj ,cf4 xi4 #a-i2 xii4 #bc-xiii4 #ad2 xv4 #afa #a ,chron4 xi4 #b4 #afb #a ,chron4 ii4 #ae4 #afc #a ,chron4 xii4 #a1 #ai4 ,there is no certain indication of the date of the events in xi4 #aj-be4 ,the fact that a 8hold0 is mentioned in xi4 #af1 as in xii4 #h1 #af1 is not conclusive proof that they refer to the same period4 #afd xii4 #bj4 #afe #a ,chron4 xxix4 #bg4 #aff xi4 #aj-dg2 xx4 #d-h4 #afg xiii4 #ad-xvi4 #afh xvii4 #afi xviii42 xx4 #c4 #agj ,i4e41 virtually ,jehovah our ,god and the only true ,god4 #aga ,for a more detailed treatment of this incident see chap4 ix4 #agb xxi4-xxix4 #agc xxix4 #bj-bb1 #bh4 #agd xvi4 #h-cf4 #age xvii4 #af-bg4 #agf ,for a short exposition of this passage see ,book4 ,,iv41 ,chap4 i4 #agg #a ,chron4 xi4 #ae-ai4 #agh xxix4 #bj4 #agi ,rom4 xiv4 #bb4 #ahj #b ,sam4 xii4 #ca2 #a ,chron4 xx4 #c4 #aha ,hodgkin1 ,italy and her ,invaders1 i4 #bje4 #ahb x4 #ad2 xi4 #c4 #ahc xii4 #ch4 #ahd xxix4 #a1 #bb4 #ahe xiii4 #b-d4 #ahf #a ,sam4 xxiii4 #i-ac2 xxx4 #g1 #h4 #ahg xxv4 #a1 #b4 #ahh xiii4 #a4 #ahi xxviii4 #a4 #aij xxix4 #bb4 #aia ,but cf4 #b ,chr4 xxvi4 #aib ,cf4 xvii4 #d-ae and xxviii4 #b-aj4 #aic xiii4 #a-ad4 #aid ,the casual reference in ,jer4 lii4 #bj is only an apparent exception4 ,the passage is really historical1 and not prophetic4 #aie ,deut4 xvii4 #af1 #ag2 cf4 #b ,chron4 i4 #ad-ag and #a ,kings xi4 #c-h4 #aif ,psalms lxxii4 and cxxvii4 are attributed to him1 the latter1 however1 only in the ,hebrew ,bible4 #aig ,ecclus4 xlvii4 #ab-ba4 #aih ,matt4 xii4 #db4 #aii ,matt4 vi4 #bi4 #bjj ,acts vii4 #dg4 #bja #a ,chron4 xxix4 #be4 #bjb #b ,chron4 ix4 #bb1 #bc4 #bjc #b ,chron4 viii4 #aa4 #bjd ,neh4 xiii4 #bf4 #bje ,such changes occur throughout1 and need not be further noticed unless some special interest attaches to them4 #bjf ,kings v4 #ac2 ix4 #bb1 which seems to contradict this1 is an editorial note4 #bjg #b ,chron4 ii4 #b1 #ag1 #ah2 viii4 #g-aj4 #bjh #a ,kings ix4 #aa1 #ab4 #bji #b ,chron4 viii4 #a1 #b1 ,r4,v4 #baj #a ,chron4 xxii4 #i4 #baa #a ,chron4 xxix4 #bc1 #bd4 #bab #b ,chron4 i4 #g-ac4 #bac #b ,chron4 i4 #ad-ag4 #bad v4 #aa1 #ab1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bae vi4 #da1 #db1 peculiar to ,chronicles1 apparently based on ,psalm cxxxii4 #h-aj4 #baf #a ,chron4 xxi4 #bf2 #b ,chron4 vii4 #a-c1 both peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bag vii4 #h-aj1 mostly peculiar to ,chronicles4 ,the text in #a ,kings viii4 #fe has been interpolated from ,chronicles4 #bah vii4 #ac-ae1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bai viii4 #c1 #d1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 ,hamath is apparently referred to as a possession of ,judah in #b ,kings xiv4 #bh4 #bbj viii4 #ab-af1 peculiar in this form to ,chronicles1 but based upon #a ,kings ix4 #be4 #bba ix41 as in #a ,kings x4 #a-ac4 #bbb ix4 #ca4 #bbc ix4 #bh4 #bbd ,it is not suggested that the chronicler intended to convey this impression1 or that it would be felt by most of his readers4 #bbe xiv4 #c1 #e1 contradicting #a ,kings xv4 #ad and apparently #b ,chron4 xv4 #ag4 #bbf xv4 #h-ad1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bbg xv4 #ah1 #ai4 #bbh xvii4 #f contradicts #a ,kings xxii4 #dc and #b ,chron4 xx4 #cc4 #bbi xvii4 #g-i1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bcj xxiv4 #a-ad4 #bca xxi4 #aa1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bcb xxv4 #d4 #bcc #b ,chron4 xxviii4 #bd-xxxi41 mostly peculiar to ,chronicles2 but compare ,kings xviii4 #d-g1 which mentions the taking away of the high places4 #bcd xxxiii4 #af4 #bce xxxiv42 xxxv4 #bcf xxx4 #b4 #bcg xxii4 #a2 xxiii4 #a-ae2 xxvi4 #a2 xxxiii4 #be2 xxxvi4 #a4 #bch xxv4 #ab4 #bci xvi4 #ab4 #bdj xx4 #cg4 #bda xxiv4 #bj-bg4 #bdb xxv4 #ad-bg4 #bdc xxvi4 #af-bc4 #bdd xxxii4 #be-cc4 #bde xxxv4 #bj-bg4 #bdf ,milton1 ,hymn to the ,nativity4 #bdg ,tennyson1 ,in ,memoriam4 #bdh #b ,chron4 ix4 #a4 #bdi ,prov4 xxxi4 #a-i4 #bej ,articles ,,xxi4 and ,,xxxvii4 #bea ,eph4 ii4 #ab4 #beb #b ,chron4 xii4 #ab1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bec #a ,kings xv4 #c4 #bed #b ,chron4 xxxiii4 #aa-bj1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bee #b ,kings xxiii4 #cb4 #bef #b ,kings xvi4 #e4 #beg ,isa4 viii4 #b4 #beh #b ,chron4 xxxiii4 #i4 #bei #b ,chron4 xxxvi4 #e1 #h1 #aa4 #bfj #b ,chron4 xxviii4 #e-ae1 peculiar to ,chronicles2 cf4 #b ,kings xvi4 #e1 #f4 #bfa #b ,chron4 xxviii4 #af-be1 peculiar to ,chronicles2 cf4 #b ,kings xvi4 #g-ah4 #bfb xxviii4 #bg1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bfc #b ,chron4 xi4 #ac1 #ad1 xxix4 #cd1 xxx4 #bg1 all peculiar to ,chronicles4 ,in xxx4 #bg the text is doubtful2 many authorities have 8the priests and the ,levites40 #bfd ,i4e41 in the view given us by the chronicler of the period of the monarchy1 after the ,return the priests were far more numerous than the ,levites4 #bfe #a ,chron4 xxvi4 #cj-cb4 #bff #b ,chron4 xix4 #d-aa4 #bfg #b ,chron4 xv4 #c4 ,in the older literature the phrase would bear a more special and technical meaning4 #bfh ,exod4 xxxii4 #bf-ce4 #bfi ,num4 xxv4 #c4 #bgj ,psalm cvi4 #cj1 #ca4 #bga #a ,chron4 xii4 #bc-bh4 #bgb #a ,chron4 xxvii4 #e2 cf4 however1 ,r4,v4 marg4 #bgc #b ,chron4 xiii4 #ab4 #bgd #b ,chron4 xxiii4 #g4 ,all the passages referred to in this paragraph are peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bge ,neh4 iv4 #ag4 #bgf #a ,macc4 v4 #fg4 #bgg #a ,chron4 xiii4 #h2 xvi4 #b4 #bgh #a ,chron4 xxix4 #aj-ai4 #bgi #b ,chron4 vi4 #bhj #b ,chron4 xx4 #d-ac2 xxx4 #f-i1 #ah-ba1 #bg4 #bha #b ,chron4 xxxv4 #bhb #a ,chron4 xiii4 #aj4 #bhc #b ,chron4 xxvi4 #af-bc4 #bhd #b ,chron4 xxxi4 #c-e4 #bhe ,mal4 i4 #h2 iii4 #d1 #aj4 #bhf #b ,chron4 xxxi4 #aj4 #bhg ,exod4 xv4 #c4 #bhh ,psalm lxxiv4 #h1 #i4 ,this psalm is commonly regarded as ,maccaban1 but may be as early as the chronicler or even earlier4 #bhi #a ,macc4 iv4 #df4 #bij ,ezra ii4 #fc4 #bia #b ,chron4 xxix4 #be1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bib #b ,chron4 xii4 #e-h1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bic #b ,chron4 xv4-xvi4 #aj1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bid #b ,chron4 xix4 #b1 #c1 xx4 #ad-ah1 #cg1 all peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bie xxi4 #ab-ae1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bif xxiv4 #ah-bb1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #big xiv4 #ae1 #af1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #bih #b ,kings xix4 #e-g1 #bj-cd4 #bii xxxii4 #bj4 #cjj xxxiii4 #aj1 #ah4 #cja xxxv4 #ba1 #bb1 #be1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cjb #a ,esdras i4 #bh4 #cjc ,ezra v4 #a2 vi4 #ad4 #cjd ,neh4 vi4 #ad4 #cje #a ,chron4 xii4 #ah1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cjf ,acts ii4 #cj4 #cjg #b ,kings iv4 #db4 #cjh ,abbott1 ,through ,nature to ,christ1 p4 #bie4 #cji ,jer4 xv4 #aj4 #caj ,deut4 xviii4 #ah4 #caa ,ecclus4 xlix4 #aj4 #cab ,r4,v4 8delight in0 is somewhat too strong4 #cac ,it is1 however1 possible that the text in ,samuel is a corruption of text more closely parallel to that of ,chronicles4 #cad ,noldius and ,r4 ,salom4 apud ,bertheau i4 #a4 #cae ,josh4 xviii4 #bh2 ,judges i4 #ba1 as against ,josh4 xv4 #fc2 ,judges i4 #h1 which assign the city to ,judah4 #caf #a ,chron4 xxvii4 #bc1 #bd4 #cag ,ver4 #g is apparently a general anticipation of the narrative in vv4 #i-ae4 #cah ,josh4 v4 #ac4 #cai ,schultz1 ,old ,testament ,theology1 ii4 #bgj4 #cbj ,exod4 iv4 #ba2 ,josh4 xi4 #bj2 #a ,sam4 xix4 #i1 #aj2 #b ,sam4 xxiv4 #a2 #a ,kings xxii4 #bj-bc4 #cba ,prov4 xvi4 #d2 ,lam4 iii4 #ch2 ,isa4 xlv4 #g4 #cbb ,zech4 iii4 #a4 #cbc ,jer4 vii4 #ab-ad2 xxvi4 #f4 #cbd #a ,chron4 xxviii4 #ai4 #cbe ,heb4 vii4 #ad4 #cbf ,hos4 xii4 #ac4 #cbg ,schultz1 ,old ,testament ,theology1 ii4 #cec4 #cbh #b ,chron4 xxx4 #f2 #a ,kings xviii4 #cf4 #cbi #a ,chron4 xvi4 #ac1 #ag2 ,gen4 xxxii4 #bh4 #ccj ,gen4 xxiii4 #d2 cf4 ,psalms xxxix4 #ac1 cxix4 #ai4 #cca ,job viii4 #i4 #ccb ,called1 however1 at that time ,antonia4 #ccc viii4 #i4 #ccd xi4 #e-xii4 #a1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cce xii4 #b-h1 #ab1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #ccf xii4 #ad1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #ccg ,ecclus4 xlvii4 #bc4 #cch xiii4 #c-bb1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cci ,josh4 xviii4 #bb4 #cdj ,judges ix4 #h4 #cda ,num4 xviii4 #ai4 #cdb #b ,chron4 x4 #ae4 #cdc ,this verse must of course be understood to give his whole family history1 and not merely that of his three years' reign4 #cdd xiv4 #a1 #g1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cde xiv4 #c-i1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cdf #a ,chron4 xii41 etc42 #b ,chron4 xi4 #e ff41 xvii4 #ab ff41 xxvi4 #i ff4 xxvii4 #d ff41 xxxiii4 #ad4 #cdg xiv4 #i-ae4 #cdh ,so ,r4,v4 marg42 ,r4,v4 text 7with which ,a4,v4 is in substantial agreement73 8,there fell of the ,ethiopians so many that they could not recover themselves02 i4e41 the routed army were never able to rally4 #cdi ,the second reformation is dated early in ,asa's fifteenth year1 and ,abijah only reigned three years4 #cej xv41 based upon #a ,kings xv4 #ac-ae1 but the great bulk of the chapter is peculiar to ,chronicles2 the original passage from ,kings is reproduced1 with slight changes in vv4 #af-ah4 #cea #b ,sam4 xii4 #i-aa4 8,barak0 with ,,lxx4 and ,peshite2 ,masoretic text has 8,bedan40 #ceb ,judges v4 #f1 #g2 vi4 #aa2 viii4 #ae-ag2 ix42 xii4 #a-g2 xx42 xxi4 #cec ,cf4 #a ,kings xv4 #ab4 #ced #a ,chron4 ix4 #c4 #cee ,exod4 xxii4 #bj2 ,deut4 xiii4 #e1 #i1 #ae4 #cef #a ,kings xv4 #af1 #cb1 #cc4 #ceg xvi4 #g-aj1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #ceh ,isa4 vii4 #ag4 #cei ,isa4 xxxi4 #a2 xxx4 #c4 #cfj ,jer4 ii4 #cf4 #cfa ,zech4 iv4 #aj4 #cfb ,the date1 as before1 is peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cfc xvi4 #ab;b1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cfd ,time and ,tide1 xii4 #fg4 #cfe ,george ,eliot1 ,romola1 xxi4 #cff ,part ,,ii41 ,chap4 ,,ix4 #cfg xvii41 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cfh #a ,chron4 xviii4 #a-c4 #cfi xix4 #a-c1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cgj xix4 #d-aa1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cga ,milman1 ,latin ,christianity1 ,book ,,xi41 ,chap4 ,i4 #cgb xx4 #a-cj1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cgc ,so ,r4,v4 marg41 with the ,,lxx4 ,the ,targum has 8,edomites10 the ,a4,v4 is not justified by the ,hebrew1 and the ,r4,v4 does not make sense4 #cgd ,cf4 #a ,chron4 iv4 #da1 ,r4,v42 and #b ,chron4 xxvi4 #g4 #cge ,one ,hebrew manuscript is quoted as having this reading4 ,a4,r4,v41 with the ordinary ,masoretic text1 have 8,syria02 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 ,sea4 #cgf #b ,chron4 iv4 #i4 #cgg ,ver4 #i2 cf4 #b ,chron4 vi4 #bh1 and the whole paragraph 7vv4 #bb-cj7 of which our verse is a brief abstract4 #cgh ,not ,ziz1 as ,a4,r4,v4 #cgi 1 literally1 as ,a4,r4,v41 8beauty of holiness02 i4e41 sacred robes4 ,translate with ,r4,v4 marg4 8praise in the beauty of holiness10 not1 as ,a4,r4,v41 8praise the beauty of holiness40 #chj ,exod4 xiv4 #cj4 #cha ,with ,r4,v4 marg4 #chb ,the identification of the valley of ,berachah with the valley of ,jehoshaphat1 close to ,jerusalem and mentioned by ,josephus1 is a mere theory1 quite at variance with the topographical evidence4 #chc ,kings xxii4 #dh1 #di4 #chd #b ,chron4 xxiv4 #bd1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #che ,psalm xx4 #g4 #chf #a ,macc4 ii4 #ce-ch4 #chg xxi4 #b-d1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #chh ,vv4 #e-aj2 cf4 #b ,kings viii4 #ag-bb4 #chi xxi4 #aa-ai1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cij ,so ,r4,v4 marg41 with ,,lxx4 and ,vulgate ,a4,r4,v4 have 8mountains10 with ,masoretic text4 #cia ,jer4 xxix42 xxxvi4 #cib ,green's ,shorter ,history1 p4 #djd4 #cic xxii4 #a;b1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cid ,the ,hebrew original of the ,a4,r4,v41 8departed without being desired10 is as obscure as the ,english of our versions4 ,the most probable translation is1 8,he behaved so as to please no one40 ,the ,a4,r4,v4 apparently mean that no one regretted his death4 #cie ,we need not discuss in detail the question of ,ahaziah's age at his accession4 ,the age of forty-two1 given in #b ,chron4 xxii4 #b1 is simply impossible1 seeing that his father was only forty years old when he died4 ,the ,peshito and ,arabic versions have followed #b ,kings viii4 #bf1 and altered forty-two to twenty-two2 and the ,,lxx4 reads twenty years4 ,but twenty-two years still presents difficulties4 ,according to this reading1 ,ahaziah1 ,jehoram's youngest son1 was born when his father was only eighteen1 and ,jehoram having had several sons before the age of eighteen1 had none afterwards4 #cif xiii4 #g;a1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #cig ,cf4 p4 #bj4 #cih ,cf4 xxv4 #b with #b ,kings xiv4 #d1 xxvi4 #d with #b ,kings xv4 #d1 xxvii4 #b with #b ,kings xv4 #cd1 where similar statements are omitted by the chronicler4 #cii #b ,kings xii4 #i4 #djj ,exod4 xxx4 #aa-af4 #dja ,neh4 x4 #cb4 #djb xxiv4 #ad-bb1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #djc ,curiously enough1 ,jehoiada's name does not occur in the list of high-priests in #a ,chron4 vi4 #a-ab4 #djd #a ,chron4 xxviii4 #i2 #b ,chron4 vii4 #ai1 xii4 #e1 xiii4 #aj1 xv4 #b1 xxi4 #aj1 xxviii4 #f1 xxix4 #f1 xxxiv4 #be4 #dje ,cf4 #b ,kings xii4 #ag1 #ah1 of which this narrative is probably an adaptation4 #djf xxv4 #e-ac1 peculiar to ,chronicles1 except that the account of the war with ,edom is expanded from the brief note in ,kings4 ,cf4 ver4 #aa;b with #b ,kings xiv4 #g4 #djg ,in the phrase 8from ,samaria to ,beth-horon10 8,samaria0 apparently means the northern kingdom1 and not the city1 i4e41 from the borders of ,samaria2 the chronicler has fallen into the nomenclature of his own age4 #djh ,for the discussion of the chronicler's account of ,ahaz see ,book ,,iii41 ,chap4 ,,vii4 #dji ,so ,r4,v4 marg41 with ,,lxx41 ,targum1 ,syriac and ,arabic versions1 ,talmud1 ,rashi1 ,kimchi1 and some ,hebrew manuscripts 7,bertheau1 i4 #a74 ,a4,r4,v41 8had understanding in the visions0 7,r4,v4 vision7 8of ,god40 ,the difference between the two ,hebrew readings is very slight4 ,vv4 #e-bj1 with the exception of the bare fact of the leprosy are peculiar to ,chronicles4 #daj ,cf4 ,ezek4 xxvi4 #i4 #daa ,pliny1 vii4 #ef apud ,smith's ,bible ,dictionary4 #dab ,num4 xviii4 #g2 ,exod4 xxx4 #g4 #dac ,kimchi interprets 8those days0 as meaning 8after the death of ,jotham40 #dad ,the reference to the wall of ,ophel is peculiar to ,chronicles3 indeed1 ,ophel is only mentioned in ,chronicles and ,nehemiah2 it was the southern spur of ,mount ,moriah 7,neh4 iii4 #bf1 #bg74 ,vv4 #c;b-#g are also peculiar to ,chronicles4 #dae ,this is usually understood as ,nisan1 the first month of the ecclesiastical year4 #daf xxix4 #c-xxxi4 #ba 7the cleansing of the ,temple and accompanying feast1 ,passover1 organisation of the priests and ,levites7 are substantially peculiar to ,chronicles1 though in a sense they expand #b ,kings xviii4 #d-g1 because they fulfil the commandments which ,jehovah commanded ,moses4 #dag ,exod4 vi4 #ah1 #bb2 ,num4 iii4 #cj1 mention ,elizaphan as a descendant of ,kohath4 #dah ,so ,strack-,zockler1 i4 #a4 #dai ,lev4 i4 #f4 #dbj ,according to #b ,kings xviii4 #aj1 ,samaria was not taken till the sixth year of ,hezekiah's reign4 ,it is not necessary for an expositor of ,chronicles to attempt to harmonise the two accounts4 #dba ,cf xxx4 #aa1 #ah4 #dbb xxx4 #ad2 cf4 #b ,kings xviii4 #d4 ,the chronicler omits the statement that ,hezekiah destroyed ,moses's brazen serpent1 which the people had hitherto worshipped4 ,his readers would not have understood how this corrupt worship survived the reforms of pious kings and priests who observed the law of ,moses4 #dbc ,cf4 xxix4 #cd1 xxx4 #c4 #dbd ,lev4 xv4 #ca4 #dbe ,so ,bertheau1 i4 #a1 slightly paraphrasing4 #dbf ,a4,r4,v41 with ,masoretic text1 8the priests the ,levites02 ,,lxx41 ,vulg4 ,syr41 8the priests and the ,levites40 ,the former is more likely to be correct4 ,the verse is partly an echo of ,deut4 xxvi4 #ae1 so that the chronicler naturally uses the ,deuteronomic phrase 8the priests the ,levites02 but he probably does so unconsciously1 without intending to make any special claim for the ,levites3 hence ,i have omitted the word in the text4 #dbg xxxii4 #b-h1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #dbh xxxii4 #cj4 #dbi xxxiii4 #aa-ai1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #dcj ,so ,r4,v43 ,a4,v41 8among the thorns02 ,r4,v4 marg41 8with hooks01 if so in a figurative sense4 ,others take the word as a proper name3 ,hohim4 #dca ,ezek4 xviii4 #bj4 #dcb ,peter iv4 #ah4 #dcc ,ezek4 xviii4 #ba-bc4 #dcd ,psalm cxxx4 #d1 probably belonging to about the same period as ,chronicles4 #dce #a ,chron4 xxiii4 #bf1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #dcf #b ,chron4 vii4 #e4 ,the figures are peculiar to ,chronicles2 #a ,kings viii4 #e says that the victims could not be counted4 #dcg ,jehoiachin4 ,the ordinary reading in #b ,kings xxiv4 makes him eighteen4 #dch #b xxxvi4 #f;b1 peculiar to ,chronicles4 #dci ,mostly peculiar to ,chronicles4