Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 36:14
Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
14. the chief ] R.V. the chiefs.
transgressed very much ] R.V. trespassed very greatly.
polluted the house ] Jer 7:9-11; Jer 23:11-14; Eze 8:5-16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Polluted the house of the Lord – Toward the close of Zedekiahs reign idolatrous rites of several different kinds were intruded into the sacred precincts of the temple (compare Eze 8:10-16).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The people transgressed very much; they were universally corrupt, and therefore God justly brought upon them a general destruction.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Moreover, the chief of the priests, and of the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the Heathens,…. The priests, and even the chief of them, who should have instructed the people in the duties of religion, and retained them in the pure worship of God, these were the ringleaders of idolatry, who led the people to commit all the idolatries of the Heathens round about them; and of the people, all ranks and degrees of them were corrupted with them; this was their case in several of the preceding reigns, and now a little before the destruction of them:
and polluted the house of the Lord, which he had hallowed in Jerusalem; the temple dedicated to his worship there; this they defiled, by setting up idols in it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“And all princes of the priests and the people increased faithless transgressions, like to all the abominations of the heathen, and defiled the house of the Lord which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.” Bertheau would refer this censure of their idolatry and the profanation of the temple to the guilt incurred by the whole people, especially in the time of Manasseh, because, from all we know from the book of Jeremiah, the reproach of idolatry did not at all, or at least did not specially, attach to the princes of the priests and the people in the time of Zedekiah. But this reason is neither tenable nor correct; for from Ezek 8 it is perfectly manifest that under Zedekiah, not only the people, but also the priesthood, were deeply sunk in idolatry, and that even the courts of the temple were defiled by it. And even though that idolatry did not take its rise under Zedekiah, but had been much practised under Jehoiakim, and was merely a revival and continuation of the idolatrous conduct of Manasseh and Amon, yet the reference of our verse to the time of Manasseh is excluded by the context; for here only that which was done under Zedekiah is spoken of, without any reference to earlier times.
Meanwhile God did not leave them without exhortation, warning, and threatening. – 2Ch 36:15. Jahve sent to them by His messengers, from early morning onwards continually, for He spared His people and His dwelling-place; but they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets. , to send a message by any one, to make a sending. The object is to be supplied from the verb. exactly as in Jer 26:5; Jer 29:19. For He spared His people, etc., viz., by this, that He, in long-suffering, again and again called upon the people by prophets to repent and return, and was not willing at once to destroy His people and His holy place. is . . , in Syr. it signifies subsannavit; the Hithp. also, (from ), occurs only here as an intensive: to launch out in mockery. The distinction drawn between (messengers) and (prophets) is rhetorical, for by the messengers of God it is chiefly prophets who are meant; but the expression is not to be confined to prophets in the narrower sense of the word, for it embraces all the men of God who, by word and deed, censured and punished the godless conduct of the idolaters. The statement in these two verses is certainly so very general, that it may apply to all the times of gradually increasing defection of the people from the Lord their God; but the author of the Chronicle had primarily in view only the time of Zedekiah, in which the defection reached its highest point. It should scarcely be objected that in the time of Zedekiah only Jeremiah is known as a prophet of the Lord, since Ezekiel lived and wrought among the exiles. For, in the first place, it does not hence certainly follow that Jeremiah and Ezekiel were the only prophets of that time; then, secondly, Jeremiah does not speak as an individual prophet, but holds up to the people the witness of all the earlier prophets (cf. e.g., 2Ch 26:4-5), so that by him all the former prophets of God spoke to the people; and consequently the plural, His messengers, His prophets, is perfectly true even for the time of Zedekiah, if we always keep in mind the rhetorical character of the style. , until the anger of Jahve rose upon His people, so that there was no healing (deliverance) more.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
SINS OF THE RULING CLASSES WHICH BROUGHT DOWN THE JUDGMENT OF GOD (2Ch. 36:14-16). (Comp. with this passage 2Ki. 17:7-23.)
(14) The chiefs.The princes.
Transgressed very much.Committed manifold unfaithfulness.
After all the abominations . . .See Eze. 8:5-18; where the princes of the priests and the people are specially singled out in 2Ch. 36:11; 2Ch. 36:16. The twenty-five men of the latter verse are the High Priest and the heads of the twenty-four courses of priests. (Comp. also Jer. 32:32, sea).
His Messengers.The prophets (2Ki. 17:13).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 36:14 Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
Ver. 14. Moreover, all the chief priests and the people, &c. ] There was a general defection, and, as physicians phrase it, Corruptio totius substantiae, a rabble of rebels fighting against Heaven.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
transgressed very much = abounded in treachery. Hebrew “multiplied to transgress transgression”. Figure of speech Polyptoton, for emphasis. Hebrew. ma’al. App-44.
heathen = nations.
hallowed. See note on Exo 3:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
all the chief: 2Ki 16:10-16, Ezr 9:7, Jer 5:5, Jer 37:13-15, Jer 38:4, Eze 22:6, Eze 22:26-28, Dan 9:6, Dan 9:8, Mic 3:1-4, Mic 3:9-11, Mic 7:2, Zep 3:3, Zep 3:4
very much: 2Ch 28:3, 2Ch 33:9
polluted: 2Ch 33:4-7, Eze 8:5-16
Reciprocal: Lev 18:27 – General Lev 19:30 – reverence Lev 26:43 – they despised Deu 12:31 – Thou 1Ki 8:33 – because they have 1Ki 21:26 – according to 2Ki 17:7 – sinned 2Ki 21:2 – after the abominations 2Ch 7:7 – hallowed 2Ch 12:2 – because 2Ch 24:18 – wrath 2Ch 29:8 – Wherefore 2Ch 33:2 – like unto 2Ch 34:24 – I will bring Job 34:29 – whether Isa 1:20 – if ye refuse Isa 1:23 – princes Isa 5:4 – General Isa 24:2 – as with the people Isa 31:6 – deeply Jer 23:11 – in Jer 30:15 – for the Lam 1:5 – for Eze 5:11 – thou hast Eze 7:20 – but Eze 8:6 – that I Eze 9:9 – The iniquity Eze 11:12 – but Eze 15:8 – committed a trespass Eze 22:24 – General Eze 24:13 – because Eze 33:29 – because Amo 2:4 – because Mic 1:5 – the transgression of Jacob Mat 2:4 – the chief
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ch 36:14-15. The people transgressed very much They were universally corrupt, and therefore God justly brought upon them a general destruction. Rising up betimes, and sending them Sending them early and diligently, as a careful householder, who rises betimes about his business. God sent them many prophets and messages, some at the very beginning of their apostacy, and others afterward, till the very day of their captivity.