Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 27
Charles Ellicott Commentary
2 Chronicles 27
Charles Ellicott Commentary
2 Chronicles 27
"Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother`s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok." — 2 Chronicles 27:1 (ASV)
REIGN OF JOTHAM. (Compare to 2 Kings 15:32–38).
LENGTH AND CHARACTER OF THE REIGN.
PUBLIC WORKS (2 Chronicles 27:1–4).
Jotham was twenty and five years old. —Word for word as 2 Kings 15:33, only adding Jotham.
Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. —Perhaps the high priest Zadok of 1 Chronicles 6:12. (Compare to 2 Chronicles 22:11.)
"And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his father Uzziah had done: howbeit he entered not into the temple of Jehovah. And the people did yet corruptly." — 2 Chronicles 27:2 (ASV)
Howbeit he entered not. — The chronicler adds this reservation to the preceding general statement. The author of Kings, having said nothing of Uzziah’s sacrilege, had no need to make such an exception.
And the people did yet corruptly. — They continued to act corruptly; a paraphrase of what we read in 2 Kings 15:35, “the people still used to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places.” We know further, from the extant utterances of the prophets of those days, that a deep-seated moral corruption was sapping the strength of the nation. (Compare Micah 3:10-12 and Hosea 4:1-2.)
"He built the upper gate of the house of Jehovah, and on the wall of Ophel he built much." — 2 Chronicles 27:3 (ASV)
He built. — It was he who built (pronoun emphatic). He “built,” that is, restored and beautified. The same statement occurs in 2 Kings 15:35.
The high gate. — Rather, the upper gate; that is, the northern gate of the inner or upper court (Ezekiel 9:2). The north being the holy quarter (Isaiah 14:13; Psalms 48:2), the north gate would be the principal entrance.
And on the wall of Ophel he built much. — The southern slope of the Temple hill was called the Ophel, that is, “the mound.” Its wall would be the line of fortifications connecting Zion with Moriah, on which Uzziah had already laboured (2 Chronicles 26:9), with the same object of securing the city against attacks from the south and east. Neither this detail nor the next three verses are found in the parallel account. The style and contents of the passage indicate a good ancient source.
Much. — Larôb: to much; one of the chronicler’s favourite words.
"Moreover he built cities in the hill-country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers." — 2 Chronicles 27:4 (ASV)
Moreover. — Literally, and he built cities in the hill region of Judah. (Compare to 2 Chronicles 26:10.)
Castles. — Bîrânîyôth; a term explained at 2 Chronicles 17:12. The contemporary prophets denounced the popular confidence in “fenced cities” as a kind of treason against Jehovah, who was Himself the shield and fortress of His people (Psalms 18:1; Isaiah 12:2). Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth palaces; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof (Hosea 8:14. Compare to Isaiah 2:15; Isaiah 17:3–4).
"He fought also with the king of the children of Ammon, and prevailed against them. And the children of Ammon gave him the same year a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon render unto him, in the second year also, and in the third." — 2 Chronicles 27:5 (ASV)
He fought also with the king of the Ammonites. — “He also, like his father, fought with the king of the sons of Ammon.” They no doubt had refused the tribute imposed on them by Uzziah; but Jotham quelled their resistance, and they paid him a fixed contribution for three successive years.
The same year. —In that year; the year of the revolt.
Ten thousand measures. — Kôrîm. The kor was perhaps equivalent to our quarter. (Compare to 1 Kings 4:22; 2 Chronicles 2:10.)
The land of Ammon is fertile of grain even at the present day.
So much ... and the third. —Rather, This (tribute) did the bnê Ammon restore to him (that is, after withholding it during the year of rebellion); and in the second year, and the third. After three annual payments, the tribute was again suspended, perhaps because the Ammonites took advantage of the outbreak of the Syro-Ephraite war, which took place towards the end of the reign (2 Kings 15:37). There is no note of time in the text.
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