Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 21:26
And he was buried in his sepulcher in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
26. in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza ] See above, verse 18. This was evidently a new burial-place contrived for themselves by the kings, in close neighbourhood to the royal palace.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 26. The garden of Uzza] The family sepulchre or burying-place.
IT is said 2Kg 21:3; 2Kg 21:7, that “Manasseh made a grove; and he set a graven image of the grove,” c. vaiyasem eth pesel haasherah, asher asah: “And he put the graven image of Asherah, which he had made,” into the house.
Asherah, which we translate grove, is undoubtedly the name of an idol and probably of one which was carved out of wood.
R. S. Jarchi, on Ge 12:3, says, “that asherah means a tree which was worshipped by the Gentiles;” like as the oak was worshipped by the ancient Druids in Britain.
Castel, in Lex. Hept. sub voce , defines asherah thus, Simulacrum ligneum Astartae dicatum; “A wooden image dedicated to Astrate or Venus.”
The Septuagint render the words by ; and Flamminius Nobilis, on 2Kg 23:4, says Rursus notat Theodoretus esse Astartem et Venerem, et ab aliis interpretibus dictum Ashatroth; i.e. “Again Theodoret observes, is Astarte and Venus; and by other interpreters called Ashtaroth.”
The Targum of Ben Uzziel, on De 7:5, vaasheyrehem tegaddeun; i.e., “Their groves shall ye cut down” – translates the place thus, veilaney sigedeyhon tekatsetsun; “And the oaks of their adoration shall ye cut down.”
From the above it is pretty evident that idols, not groves, are generally intended where asherah and its derivatives are used.
Here follow proofs: –
In 2Kg 23:6, it is said that “Josiah brought out the grove from the house of the Lord.” This translation seems very absurd; for what grove could there be in the temple? There was none planted there, nor was there room for any. The plain meaning of vaiyotse eth haasherah mibbeyth Jehovah, is, “And he brought out the (goddess) Asherah from the house of the Lord, and burnt it,” c.
That this is the true meaning of the place appears farther from 2Kg 23:7, where it is said, “He broke down the houses of the sodomites,” ( hakkedeshim, of the whoremongers,) “where the women wove hangings for the grove” ( bottim laasherah, “houses or shrines for Asherah.”) Similar perhaps to those which the silversmiths made for Diana, Ac 19:24. It is rather absurd to suppose that the women were employed in making curtains to encompass a grove.
The Syriac and Arabic versions countenance the interpretation I have given above. In 2Kg 23:6, the former says, “He cast out the idol, [Syriac] dechlotho, from the house of the Lord” and in 2Kg 23:7: “He threw down the houses, [Syriac] dazoine, of the prostitutes; and the women who wove garments, [Syriac] ledechlotho, for the idols which were there.” The Arabic is exactly the same.
From the whole it is evident that Asherah was no other than Venus; the nature of whose worship is plain enough from the mention of whoremongers and prostitutes.
I deny not that there were groves consecrated to idolatrous worship among the Gentiles, but I am sure that such are not intended in the above-cited passages; and the text, in most places, reads better when understood in this way.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And he was buried in his sepulchre, in the garden of Uzza,…. Where his father Manasseh was buried, 2Ki 21:18,
and Josiah his son reigned in his stead; of whom many things are said in the two following chapters.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Amon was buried “in his grave in the garden of Uzza,” i.e., in the grave which he had had made in the garden of Uzza by the side of his father’s grave. He had probably resided in this palace of his father. , one buried him.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(26) In his sepulchre . . .Which he had caused to be prepared near his fathers (2Ki. 21:16).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. In his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza That is, by the side of his father in the family tomb. See note on 2Ki 21:18.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
REFLECTIONS
READER! mark, I beseech you, in the character of Manasseh, the evident truth of God’s holy word, that the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. Grace descends not from father to son by natural generation. But what a gracious God had Manasseh to do with! Oh! how lovely and encouraging is it to poor sinners, to behold such monuments of mercy placed in the church, as if to tell men that there is mercy with God that he might be feared. Yes! precious Jesus! thou art the Father of mercies; and thou art the mercy promised; thou art indeed, and ever wilt be, Jesus. In that lovely name all mercy is contained. Thou art the hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof.
But Reader! while we look at Amon the son of Manasseh, in the very moment our souls feel all possible encouragement in the grace vouchsafed the father, is there not enough to induce trembling, when we behold the hardened state of the son. Like the two thieves on the cross. Who can contemplate that sight without a mixture of joy and terror: Both so near Jesus, and yet the one as unconscious as the dead; while the other manifests forth so illustrious an evidence of the highest faith and truest repentance. Oh! thou, blessed author and finisher of our faith and salvation, grant, if it be thy blessed will, both to Writer and Reader, suited grace to profit by such striking examples. Let everything tend to lead our hearts to thee, for of thee cometh our salvation. Lord open our eyes, unstop our ears, that we may no longer be uncircumcised in heart and spirit; but make us altogether what thou wouldest have us to be, and work in us both to will and to do of thy good pleasure.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 21:26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
Ver. 26. And he was buried. ] But not lamented, as his son Josiah afterwards was by all the people.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
he was buried = one buried him. But some codices, with three early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read “and they buried him”.
sepulchre. Hebrew. keber, a (not “the”) grave, or tomb. Compare 2Ki 22:20.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Josiah
called Josias, Mat 1:10.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
in the garden: 2Ki 21:18
Josiah: 1Ki 13:5, Mat 1:10
Reciprocal: 1Ki 11:43 – buried 2Ki 16:20 – buried Jer 1:2 – in the days