Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 21:13
And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as [a man] wipeth a dish, wiping [it], and turning [it] upside down.
13. the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab ] The figures are taken from the occupation of the builder. The builder employs line and plummet that he may carry out his work exactly according to the plan prescribed. But here the pattern is one of utter destruction, which God Himself threatens to carry out after the fashion of Samaria and the house of Ahab, which the previous generation had beheld utterly destroyed. Samaria and the house of Ahab were famous for building (see 1Ki 22:39 note). Hence the peculiar fitness of the figure. These great builders, with all that they had built, were swept away and just so should it be with Jerusalem. The way in which a portion of the judgement was carried out is described by the Chronicler: ‘The Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh in chains (R.V.) and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon’.
as a man wipeth a dish ] The description is of a thing that is done with, and will be used no more. ‘To turn it upside down’, is literally ‘to turn it upon the face thereof’, a rendering which brings out very completely the intention of using the dish no more. Such God declares will be His manner of dealing with Jerusalem. The verb rendered ‘wipe’ is the same which is used Gen 7:4, ‘Every living substance will I destroy ’, and in Num 5:23 ‘he shall blot them out ’, and in the solemn sentence, Exo 32:33, ‘him will I blot out of my book’. The original very markedly shews that God’s wiping was to be a wiping out.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The general meaning is plain, but the exact force of the metaphor used is not so clear. If the line and the plummet be symbols of rule or law, the meaning will be – I will apply exactly the same measure and rule to Jerusalem as to Samaria – I will treat both alike with strict and even justice.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. The line of Samaria] I will treat Jerusalem as I have treated Samaria. Samaria was taken, pillaged, ruined, and its inhabitants led into captivity; Jerusalem shall have the same measure.
And the plummet of the house of Ahab] The house of Ahab was totally destroyed, and not a man of his race left to sit upon the throne of Israel: so shall it be done to the house or royal family of Judah; they shall be all finally destroyed, and not a man of their race shall any more sit on the throne of Judah; nor shall Judah have a throne to sit on. Thus Jerusalem shall have the same weight as well as the same measure as Samaria, because it has copied all the abominations which brought that kingdom to total destruction.
I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish] The Vulgate translates this clause as follows: Delebo Jerusalem, sicut deleri solent tabulae; “I will blot out Jerusalem as tablets are wont to be blotted out.” This is a metaphor taken from the ancient method of writing: they traced their letters with a stile on boards thinly spread over with wax; for this purpose one end of the stile was sharp, the other end blunt and smooth, with which they could rub out what they had written, and so smooth the place and spread back the wax, as to render it capable of receiving any other word. Thus the Lord had written down Jerusalem, never intending that its name or its memorial should be blotted out. It was written down The Holy City, The City of the Great King; but now God turns the stile and blots this out; and the Holy Jerusalem, the City of the Great King, is no longer to be found! This double use of the stile is pointed out in this ancient enigma: –
De summo planus; sed non ego planus in imo:
Versor utrinque manu, diverso et munere fungor:
Altera pars revocat, quicquid pars altera fecit.
“I am flat at the top, but sharp at the bottom;
I turn either end, and perform a double function:
One end destroys what the other end has made.”
But the idea of emptying out and wiping a dish expresses the same meaning equally well. Jerusalem shall be emptied of all its wealth, and of all its inhabitants, as truly as a dish turned up is emptied of all its contents; and it shall be turned upside down, never to be filled again. This is true from that time to the present hour. Jerusalem is the dish turned upside down, the tablet blotted out to the present day! How great are God’s mercies! and how terrible his judgments!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Jerusalem shall have the same measure and lot, i.e. the same judgments, which Samaria had. The line is oft put for ones lot or portion, as Psa 16:6; 2Co 10:16, because mens portions or possessions used to be measured by lines, Psa 78:55; Amo 7:17. Or it is a metaphor from workmen who mark out by lines what part of the building they would have thrown down, and what they would have stand. See Isa 34:11; Lam 2:8; Amo 7:7,8; Zec 1:16. Or it is an allusion to that fact of David, who destroyed the Moabites by a measuring line, 2Sa 8:2.
Wiping it, and turning it upside down, as men do with a dish that hath been used; first wholly empty it of all that is in it, then thoroughly cleanse and wipe it, and lastly turn it upside down, that nothing may remain in it: so will I deal with Jerusalem, thoroughly empty and purge it from all its wicked inhabitants, and that so as to cut off all hopes of restitution.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. the line of Samaria, and theplummet of the house of AhabCaptives doomed to destructionwere sometimes grouped together and marked off by means of ameasuring-line and plummet (2Sa 8:2;Isa 34:11; Amo 7:7);so that the line of Samaria means the line drawn for the destructionof Samaria; the plummet of the house of Ahab, for exterminating hisapostate family; and the import of the threatening declaration hereis that Judah would be utterly destroyed, as Samaria and the dynastyof Ahab had been.
I will wipe Jerusalem,&c.The same doom is denounced more strongly in a figureunmistakably significant.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria,…. The Targum is, the line of destruction; and the sense is, that the same measure should be measured to Jerusalem as was to Samaria; that is, the same lot and portion should befall one as the other, that is, be utterly destroyed:
and the plummet of the house of Ahab; the Targum is, the weight or plummet of tribulation; signifying, that the same calamities should come upon the families of Jerusalem, and especially on the family of Manasseh as came upon the family of Ahab. It is a metaphor from builders that take down as well as raise up buildings by rule and measure, see 2Sa 8:2
and I will wipe Jerusalem, as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down; as when one takes a dish or cup that has broth in it, or any liquid, as oil; and the Septuagint render it alabaster, in which ointment used to be put; and wipes it clean, that nothing may appear in it; and then turns it with its mouth downward, that, if any thing should remain, it might drain out; signifying hereby the emptying o Jerusalem of its palaces and houses, wealth and riches and of all its inhabitants; and yet the empty dish being preserved, seems to denote the restoration of Jerusalem after the seventy years’ captivity. According to the Vulgate Latin version, the metaphor is taken from the blotting out of writing tables, and turning and rubbing the style upon them till the writing is no more seen.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) And I will stretch over Jerusalem . . .Comp. Amo. 7:7-9; Isa. 34:11; Lam. 2:8. The sense is, I will deal with Jerusalem by the same rigorous rule of judgment as I have dealt already with Samaria. The figure of the measuring line and plummet suggests the idea that Jerusalem should be levelled and laid even with the ground.
As a man wipeth a (the) dish . . .The wiping of the dish represents the destruction of the people, the turning it upside down, the overthrow of the city itself. Or perhaps, as Thenius says, the two acts together represent the single notion of making an end.
Wiping it and turning it . . .This implies a different pointing of the text (infinitives instead of perfects, which is probably right).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Line of Samaria plummet of the house of Ahab The line is used in measuring, the plummet in levelling or squaring, and both are used here metaphorically as standards of Divine Judgment. Jehovah will visit Jerusalem with the same measure of severity as he did Samaria and the house of Ahab; that is, he will destroy the city and exterminate its inhabitants. Compare 2Ki 17:6; 2Ki 10:11.
As a man wipeth a dish A contemptuous simile. When one has finished using a dish he wipes it and turns it upside down; so Jehovah shall empty, and wipe out, and turn over, Jerusalem: that is, he shall utterly overthrow it, and leave it upside down, or literally, upon its face.
2Ki 21:13. I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, &c. See 2Sa 8:2. The expression, I will wipe Jerusalem, &c. signifies, “I will take away all its inhabitants, as a dish is freed from its contents, by wiping, and turning it upside down.”
2Ki 21:13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as [a man] wipeth a dish, wiping [it], and turning [it] upside down.
Ver. 13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line. ] A metaphor from carpenters, who with line and plummet do use to measure and mark out the wood that they intend to hew off or plane. See Isa 34:11 .
I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish.
Wiping it, and turning it upside down. the line . . . the plummet. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of the Cause), for what is measured by them.
wipe . . . wipeth. . . wiping. Figure of speech Polyptoton, emphasizing the completeness of the work.
I will stretch: This metaphor is taken from the custom of using a line in measuring land, and in dividing portions of it among several persons. Samaria was taken, pillaged, and ruined, and its inhabitants carried into captivity: Jerusalem shall have the same measure. 2Ki 17:6, Isa 10:22, Isa 28:17, Isa 34:11, Lam 2:8, Eze 23:31-34, Amo 7:7, Amo 7:8, Zec 1:16
the plummet: 2Ki 10:11, 1Ki 21:21-24
I will wipe: I will empty Jerusalem of all its wealth and inhabitants, as truly as a dish turned up and wiped is emptied of its contents. 1Ki 14:10, Isa 14:23, Jer 25:9, Eze 24:10, Eze 24:11, Rev 18:21-23
wiping it, and turning it upside down: Heb. he wipeth and turneth it upon the face thereof
Reciprocal: 2Ki 8:18 – the house 2Ki 22:16 – Behold 2Ki 23:27 – I will remove Isa 24:1 – turneth it upside down Jer 19:3 – his ears Jer 44:2 – a desolation Eze 7:5 – General Zep 1:4 – stretch
2Ki 21:13. I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria She shall have the same measure and lot; that is, the same judgments which Samaria has had. For the line is often put for ones lot or portion, because mens portions or possessions used to be measured by lines. Or it is a metaphor taken from workmen, who mark out by lines what parts of a building they would have thrown down, and what they would have to stand. I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, &c. As men do with a dish that hath been used, first wholly empty it of all that is in it, then thoroughly cleanse and wipe it, and lastly turn it upside down, that nothing may remain in it; so will I deal with Jerusalem, thoroughly empty and purge it from all its wicked inhabitants. Yet the comparison intimates, that this should be in order to the purifying, not the final destruction of Jerusalem. The dish shall not be broken in pieces, or wholly cast away, but only wiped.
21:13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line {d} of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as [a man] wipeth a dish, wiping [it], and turning [it] upside down.
(d) As I have destroyed Samaria and the house of Ahab so will I destroy Judah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes