Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 28:5
Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought [them] to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
5. smote him ] From 2 Kin. it appears that the Syrian king, (1) helped to shut up Ahaz in Jerusalem, (2) seized the port of Elath (Eloth) on the Red Sea which had belonged to Judah. Some of the “captives” taken to Damascus were no doubt brought from Elath.
carried away a great multitude of them captives ] R.V. carried away of his a great multitude of captives.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
5 7 (cp. 2Ki 16:5-9; Isa 7:1-9). The Syro-Ephraimite War
The Chronicler describes the war from a different point of view from that taken in 2 Kin. In the latter the failure of the allies to take Jerusalem is the chief feature in the account, while in Chron. the damage and loss inflicted on Judah takes the first place. Thus far the two accounts supplement each other.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The two battles here mentioned, one with Rezin (king of Syria), and the other with Pekah (king of Israel) are additions to the narrative of the writer of Kings (marginal reference g). The events of the Syro-Israelite war were probably spread over several years.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. Delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria] For the better understanding of these passages, the reader is requested to refer to what has been advanced in the notes on the sixteenth chapter of 2Kg 16:5, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Lord his God: God was his God, though not by covenant and grace, and special relation, which Ahaz had renounced, yet by his sovereign dominion over him; for God did not forfeit his right by Ahazs denying it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5-7. the Lord . . . delivered himinto the hand of the king of Syria . . . he was also delivered intothe hand of the King of IsraelThese verses, without alludingto the formation of a confederacy between the Syrian and Israelitishkings to invade the kingdom of Judah, or relating the commencement ofthe war in the close of Jotham’s reign (2Ki15:37), give the issue only of some battles that were fought inthe early part of the campaign.
delivered him . . . smote him. . . he was also deliveredthat is, his army, for Ahaz was notpersonally included in the number either of the slain or thecaptives. The slaughter of one hundred twenty thousand in one day wasa terrible calamity, which, it is (2Ch28:6) expressly said, was inflicted as a judgment on Judah,”because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.”Among the slain were some persons of distinction:
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria,…. Whose name was Rezin, 2Ki 16:5, though that is an after expedition to this, which is there related. The Lord is called the God of Ahaz, because he was so of right; he had dominion over him, and ought to have been worshipped by him; and, besides, he was so by virtue of the national covenant between God and the people Ahaz was king of; and moreover, Ahaz professed he was his God, though in an hypocritical manner, and he forsook the true worship of him:
and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus; whereas in a later expedition, related in 2Ki 16:5, they did not succeed:
and he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel; whose name was Pekah:
who smote him with a great slaughter; as is next related.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The war with the Kings Rezin of Syria and Pekah of Israel. – On the events of this war, so far as they can be ascertained by uniting the statements of our chapter with the summary account in 2 Kings 16, see the commentary on 2Ki 16:5. The author of the Chronicle brings the two main battles prominently forward as illustrations of the way in which Jahve gave Ahaz into the power of his enemies because of his defection from Him. Into the power of the king of Aram. They ( , and they, the Arameans) smote , in him, i.e., they inflicted on his army a great defeat. Just so also signifies of his army. , a great imprisonment, i.e., a great number of prisoners. And into the power of the king of Israel, Pekah, who inflicted on him a still greater defeat. He slew in (among) Judah 120,000 men “in one day,” i.e., in a great decisive battle. Judah suffered these defeats because they (the men of Judah) had forsaken Jahve the God of their fathers. Judah’s defection from the Lord is not, indeed, expressly mentioned in the first verses of the chapter, but may be inferred as a matter of course from the remark as to the people under Jotham, 2Ch 27:2. If under that king, who did that which was right in the eyes of Jahve, and stedfastly walked before the Lord (2Ch 27:6), they did corruptly, they must naturally have departed much further from the God of the fathers, and been sunk much deeper in the worship of idols, and the worship on high places, under Ahaz, who served the Baals and other idols.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
See note on 2Ki 16:5
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE WAR WITH REZIN OF SYRIA AND PEKAH OF ISRAEL; OR, THE SYRO-EPHRAITE CAMPAIGN (2Ch. 28:5-9). (Comp. 2Ki. 16:5; Isa. 7:1.)
(5) Wherefore (and) the Lord his God delivered him.These opening words help us to understand the ground of the variations of the present account from that of 2 Kings 16. The chronicler purposes, not so much to describe a campaign, as to select those events of it which most conspicuously illustrate Gods chastisements of the apostate Ahaz. Accordingly, throughout the description, the historical is subordinated to the didactic motive. (Comp. the account of the Syrian invasion, 2Ch. 24:23-24.) Not history for its own sake, but history teaching by example, is what the writer desires to present. At the same time, the events here recorded are above critical suspicion. Thenius characterises the whole section (2Ch. 28:5-15) as thoroughly historical.
Into the hand of the king of Syria.Rezin of Damascus. (Comp. 2Ki. 16:5.) Instead of relating the joint attempt against Jerusalem, and the seizure of Elath by Rezin, the chronicler prefers to record two severe defeats suffered by Ahaz in the open field, before his retreat behind the walls of Jerusalem. (See Note on 2Ch. 17:17; 2Ch. 22:1.) After these successes the confederates converged upon the capital, and the panic inspired by the news of their coming is finely depicted in Isa. 7:2. Their attempt proved ineffectual, as the prophet had foretold.
Smote him.Literally, smote in him, i.e., in his army; defeated him. (A similar remark applies in the next sentence.)
Carried away . . . captives.Literally, and led captive from him a great captivity (Deu. 21:11).
And he was also delivered.A second terrible reverse, which took place, perhaps, while Rezin was absent in Iduma. At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drove the Jews out of Elath: and the Arameans (or Edomites) came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day (2Ki. 16:6).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Both Syrians and Israelites shall become instruments in the hand of God when the Lord will punish Judah. And in the private afflictions of God’s people the severity of our trials is doubly increased when it comes from a quarter where we least expected. When a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 28:5 Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought [them] to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.
Ver. 5. Wherefore the Lord his God, ] i.e., That should have been his God, and would have been too, had he been oughts [as he ought].
Into the hand of the king of Syria,
And they smote him,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
his. Which should have been his.
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
the king Of Syria: i.e. Rezin, whom God raised up as a scourge.
they smote him: i.e. when they took Elath (2Ki 16:6).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2Ch 28:5-7
2Ch 28:5-7
GOD DELIVERED JUDAH INTO THE HANDS OF DAMASCUS AND SAMARIA
“Wherefore Jehovah his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away of his a great multitude of captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he also delivered him into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all of them valiant men; because they had forsaken Jehovah, the God of their fathers. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the ruler of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.”
This disaster that fell upon Judah was wrought by a coalition of Rezin king of Syria (Damascus) and Pekah the king of Israel. They almost succeeded in capturing Ahaz, but they could not actually overcome him. However, they carried away two hundred thousand captives and much spoil.
E.M. Zerr:
2Ch 28:5. God frequently punished his disobedient servants by delivering them into the hand of some other man. A man can be killed but once, yet Ahaz was smitten by two different men. That is because when a certain king smote him it means merely that he was attacked. The severity or extent of the damage is never determined by that word. Thus we read that the kings of both Syria and Israel (the 10 tribes) smote this king of Judah. Of course, many of his men were smitten to the extent that they were slain, and that would be regarded as being an attack upon him.
2Ch 28:6. This is a specification of the statement in the preceding verse. Pekah was a king of Israel, and God suffered him to kill 120,000 men of Judah in one day, as a punishment for their departure from the true God.
2Ch 28:7. Man of Ephraim. For the third word, see comments at 2Ch 25:7. The men whom Zichri slew were important, being closely connected with the king, either by blood or service.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
his God: 2Ch 36:5, Exo 20:2, Exo 20:3
delivered him: 2Ch 24:24, 2Ch 33:11, 2Ch 36:17, Jdg 2:14, 2Ki 16:5, 2Ki 16:6, Isa 7:1, Isa 7:6
Damascus: Heb. Darmesek
Reciprocal: Num 31:9 – General 1Sa 4:10 – a very great 2Sa 24:14 – let me not 2Ki 16:9 – went up 2Ki 17:20 – delivered 2Ki 19:4 – the remnant 2Ch 25:22 – put to the worse 2Ch 28:9 – because the Lord God 2Ch 28:10 – the Lord 2Ch 29:9 – our fathers 2Ch 33:12 – the Lord Psa 50:7 – I am Isa 1:7 – country Isa 3:8 – Jerusalem Isa 5:13 – my people Isa 17:1 – Damascus Eze 16:57 – reproach Hos 10:11 – Judah Mic 2:8 – risen
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ch 28:5. Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him, &c. Jehovah was his God, though not by special relation, which Ahaz had renounced, yet by his sovereign dominion over him: for God did not forfeit his right by Ahazs denying it. Into the hand of the king of Syria Who insulted him, triumphed over him, beat him in the field, and carried away a great many of his people into captivity. He was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel Who, though an idolater as well as Ahaz, was made a terrible scourge to him and his people, shedding their blood, wasting their country, and ruining their families. When they had a good king, and acted wickedly, his goodness in some sort sheltered them; but now they had a bad one, all their defence was departed from them, and an inundation of judgments broke in upon them. And they that knew not their happiness in the foregoing reign, were taught to value it by the miseries of this.