Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 14:28
Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, [which belonged] to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
28. how he recovered Damascus ] We are told (2Sa 8:6) that garrisons were placed in Damascus by David, and that the Syrians became servants to David. Having been once in the possession of the Israelites, the reconquest by Jeroboam II. may be spoken of as a recovery. A sort of occupation of Damascus was also granted by Ben-hadad to Ahab (1Ki 20:34), when the Israelite king was permitted to make streets for himself in the Syrian city.
and Hamath, which belonged [R.V. had belonged] to Judah ] We find (2Sa 8:9-11) that Toi the king of Hamath was one of David’s tributaries, and from 1Ki 4:21-24 it is clear that in Solomon’s days Hamath was part of his possessions. In 2Ch 8:4 we learn that Solomon built ‘store cities’ in Hamath. The revolt of the ten tribes gave Hamath a chance of freedom again, of which the people probably availed themselves, and remained independent till the conquest by Jeroboam here spoken of. This event brought the city into the hand of Israel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He recovered Damascus – Jeroboam probably gained certain advantages over Benhadad, which induced the latter to make his submission and consent to such terms as those extorted by Ahab 1Ki 20:34.
Hamath was probably among the actual conquests of Jeroboam. It was brought so low in his reign, as to have become almost a by-word for calamity (compare Amo 6:2).
Which belonged to Judah, for Israel – i. e. these cities were recovered to Judah, i. e. to the people of God generally, through or by means of being added to Israel, i. e. to the northern kingdom.
A few further facts in the history of Jeroboam II are recorded by the prophet Amos (compare Amo 7:10, etc.).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Ki 14:28
Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam.
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Life-Re-lived
There is a moment when a mans life is re-lived on earth. It is in that hour in which the coffin lid is shut down, just before the funeral, when earth has seen the last of him for ever. Then the whole life is, as it were, lived over again in the conversation which turns upon the memory of the departed. The history of threescore years and ten is soon recapitulated; not, of course, the innumerable incidents and acts which they contained, but the central governing principle of the whole. (F. W. Robertson.)
Record of sin
It is said that the Bank of France has an invisible studio in a gallery behind the cashiers, so that at a signal from one of them a suspected customer can instantly have his picture taken without his own knowledge. So our sins and evil deeds may be registered against us, and we ourselves altogether unconscious of the fact.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 28. How he warred, and – recovered Damascus] We learn from 1Ch 18:3-11, that David had conquered all Syria, and put garrisons in Damascus and other places, and laid all the Syrians under tribute; but this yoke they had not only shaken off, but they had conquered a considerable portion of the Israelitish territory, and added it to Syria. These latter Jeroboam now recovered; and thus the places which anciently belonged to Judah by David’s conquests, and were repossessed by Syria, he now conquered, and added to Israel.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Damascus and Hamath were cities of Syria, but were taken from the Syrians by David and Solomon, 2Sa 8:6; 2Ch 8:3, and probably by them incorporated with and added to the possessions of their own tribe, to which from that time they belonged; but afterwards they were retaken by the Syrians, and were now recovered by this Jeroboam.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred,…. His valiant acts and warlike exploits:
and how he recovered Damascus and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel; which cities, in the times of David and Solomon, were tributary to Judah, but afterwards fell into the hands of the Syrians, from whom Jeroboam recovered them, and annexed them to the kingdom of Israel; or, as Kimchi, though Jeroboam was king of Israel, yet, having taken them, he restored them to the king of Judah, to whom they belonged:
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? where all events of any moment were registered.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Of the rest of the history of Jeroboam we have nothing more than an intimation that he brought back Damascus and Hamath of Judah to Israel, i.e., subjugated it again to the kingdom of Israel. is a periphrastic form for the genitive, as proper names do not admit of any form of the construct state, and in this case the simple genitive would not have answered so well to the fact. For the meaning is: “whatever in the two kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath had formerly belonged to Judah in the times of David and Solomon.” By Damascus and Hamath we are not to understand the cities, but the kingdoms; for not only did the city of Hamath never belong to the kingdom of Israel, but it was situated outside the boundaries laid down by Moses for Israel (see at Num 34:8). It cannot, therefore, have been re-conquered ( ) by Jeroboam. It was different with the city of Damascus, which David had conquered and even Solomon had not permanently lost (see at 1Ki 11:24). Consequently in the case of Damascus the capital is included in the kingdom.
2Ki 14:29 As Jeroboam reigned forty-one years, his death occurred in the twenty-seventh year of Uzziah. If, then, his son did not begin to reign till the thirty-eight year of Uzziah, as is stated in 2Ki 15:8, he cannot have come to the throne immediately after his father’s death (see at 2Ki 15:8).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(28) How he recovered Damascus, and Hamath.Jeroboam II. was probably contemporary with Rammn-nirri, king of Assyria (B.C. 812-783). This king has recorded his exaction of tribute from Tyre and Sidon, the land of Omri (i.e., Israel), Edom, and Philistia; and a siege of Damascus, followed by the submission of Mari, its king, and the spoiling of his palace. The prostration of his enemy thus accounts for the permanent success of Jeroboam, who was himself a vassal of Assyria.
He recovered.This verb was rendered lie restored in 2Ki. 14:25, and that is the meaning here.
Damascus and Hamath.Not the entire states so named, which were powerful independent communities, but portions of their territory, which had belonged to Israel in the days of Solomon. (See Note on 2Ch. 8:3-4.)
Which belonged to Judah.This is really an epithet restrictive of the phrase, Damascus and Hamath, the sense being, Judan Damascus and Hamath. (Comp, the Note on 2Ki. 15:1.)
For Israel.Heb., in Israel. The sense is obscure; but the particle in appears to refer to the re-incorporation of the Damascene and Hamathite districts with Israel. Ewald would cancel which belonged to Judah, and read to Israel (so the Syriac and Arabic. But the LXX., Vulg., and Targum support the existing text.) Others explain: He restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah (i.e., to the theocratic people) through Israel (i.e., the northern kingdom, to which the recovered districts were actually annexed). No explanation, however, is really satisfactory. It may be that by an oversight the Judan editor wrote to Judah, instead of to Israel and that some scribe added a marginal note in Israel, which afterwards crept into the text. It is curious to find certain districts of Hamath leagued with Azariah, king of Judah, against Tiglath Pileser. (See Note on 2Ki. 15:1.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. He recovered Damascus David smote the Syrians of Damascus and made them tributary; (2Sa 8:6😉 but in Solomon’s day Rezon established himself in Damascus and acted the part of an adversary to Israel, (1Ki 11:23,) after which time Damascus was not recovered for Israel until the time of this Jeroboam. He brought the kingdom of Damascus, which had so long distressed both Judah and Israel, into subjection, and made it tributary to himself. Afterwards we find Syria and Israel in league against Judah. 2Ki 15:37; 2Ki 16:5.
Hamath, which belonged to Judah That is, it belonged to the united kingdom under David and Solomon when the seat of empire was in Judah and Jerusalem. David’s conquests, according to 1Ch 18:3, extended to Hamath, and Solomon completed the conquest of this district and built store cities there. 2Ch 8:3-4. But soon afterwards it seems to have recovered its independence. Hamath was one of the oldest cities of Palestine, and is often mentioned in connexion with its northern border. See on Jos 13:5.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 14:28. How he recovered Damascus, and Hamath Some are of opinion, that when Jeroboam re-conquered these two chief cities of Syria, he restored them to the kingdom of Judah, because they belonged to it of right, and reserved to himself only a small tribute to be paid him by way of acknowledgment. This is what the original Hebrew as well as the Chaldee and Septuagint versions seem to favour; but the Syriac and Arabic translators have omitted the word Judah, and may therefore be supposed to think, as several others do, that Jeroboam kept to himself all those places which he had recovered at his own hazard and expence.
REFLECTIONS.Under Jeroboam and his contemporary kings of Judah, Hosea, Jonah, Amos, and Micah prophesied and wrote. When matters were hasting to ruin, then did God multiply the warnings of his word; and, though Israel and Judah despised their prophets, we have reason to bless God for their writings, which are preserved for our admonition.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ki 14:28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, [which belonged] to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
Ver. 28. And Hamath. ] Which lay near to Damascus, and fared the worse for its neighbourhood. Zec 9:2
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
recovered Damascus, and Hamath. Both were included in Solomon’s kingdom (1Ki 4:21). Damascus lost to Rezin (1Ki 11:23-25). This recovery did not last long. See Amo 1:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the rest: 2Ki 14:15
Damascus: 2Sa 8:6, 1Ki 11:24, 1Ch 18:5, 1Ch 18:6, 2Ch 8:3, 2Ch 8:4
which belonged to Judah: These places belonged to Judah by David’s conquest – 2Sa 3:11, but had been repossessed by the Syrians.
Reciprocal: 2Ki 13:13 – Jeroboam 2Ki 15:11 – General 1Ch 5:17 – Jeroboam 1Ch 29:30 – his might
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 14:28. And how he recovered Damascus and Hamath These were cities of Syria, but were taken from the Syrians by David and Solomon, and probably by them incorporated with, and added to, the possessions of their own tribe, to which, from that time, they belonged: but afterward they were retaken by the Syrians, and were now recovered by this Jeroboam.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
14:28 Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his might, how he warred, and how he recovered Damascus, and {n} Hamath, [which belonged] to Judah, for Israel, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
(n) Which was also called Antiochia of Syria or Riblah.