EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)
XXXVI.THE REIGN OF JEHOAHAZ
(
2Chronicles 36:1-4). (Comp.
2Kings 23:30-35; 3 Esdr. 1:32-36.)
(1)Then.—And.
The people of the land took Jehoahaz.—Comp.2Chronicles 26:1;2Chronicles 33:25. Jehoahaz or Shallum was not the firstborn (1 Chron. iii 15). See Notes on2Kings 23:30, with which this verse agrees.
2 Chronicles 36:1.
The people of the land took Jehoahaz,&c. — The principal contents of this chapter are explained in the notes on
2 Kings 23:31, and 24., and 25., to which the reader is referred. What is peculiar to this chapter shall be noticed here.
36:1-21 The ruin of Judah and Jerusalem came on by degrees. The methods God takes to call back sinners by his word, by ministers, by conscience, by providences, are all instances of his compassion toward them, and his unwillingness that any should perish. See here what woful havoc sin makes, and, as we value the comfort and continuance of our earthly blessings, let us keep that worm from the root of them. They had many times ploughed and sowed their land in the seventh year, when it should have rested, and now it lay unploughed and unsown for ten times seven years. God will be no loser in his glory at last, by the disobedience of men. If they refused to let the land rest, God would make it rest. What place, O God, shall thy justice spare, if Jerusalem has perished? If that delight of thine were cut off for wickedness, let us not be high-minded, but fear.
The narrative runs parallel with 2 Kings marginal reference) as far as
2 Chronicles 36:13. The writer then emits the events following, and substitutes a sketch in which the moral and didactic element preponderates over the historical.
CHAPTER 36
2Ch 36:1-4. Jehoahaz, Succeeding, Is Deposed by Pharaoh.
1. the people of the land took Jehoahaz—Immediately after Josiah's overthrow and death, the people raised to the throne Shallum (1Ch 3:15), afterwards called Jehoahaz, in preference to his older brother Eliakim, from whom they expected little good. Jehoahaz is said (2Ki 23:30) to have received at Jerusalem the royal anointing—a ceremony not usually deemed necessary, in circumstances of regular and undisputed succession. But, in the case of Jehoahaz, it seems to have been resorted to in order to impart greater validity to the act of popular election; and, it may be, to render it less likely to be disturbed by Necho, who, like all Egyptians, would associate the idea of sanctity with the regal anointing. He was the youngest son of Josiah, but the popular favorite, probably on account of his martial spirit (Eze 19:3) and determined opposition to the aggressive views of Egypt. At his accession the land was free from idolatry; but this prince, instead of following the footsteps of his excellent father, adopted the criminal policy of his apostatizing predecessors. Through his influence, directly or indirectly used, idolatry rapidly increased (see 2Ki 23:32).Jehoahaz succeeding is deposed by Pharaoh, and carried to Egypt,2 Chronicles 36:1-4. Jehoiakim’s wicked reign; his captivity into Babylon,2 Chronicles 36:5-8. Jehoiachin likewise,2 Chronicles 36:9,10. Zedekiah’s wicked reign; his contempt of the prophet, and rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar,2 Chronicles 36:11-13. Jerusalem’s destruction,2 Chronicles 36:14-21. The proclamation of Cyrus,2 Chronicles 36:22,23.
The contents of this chapter, for the substance of them, are explainedSee Poole "2 Kings 23:31", &c.; also2 Kings 24 2Ki 25; what is peculiar to it shall be here opened, so far as is necessary.
Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah,.... Of whose reign, and of the three following, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, and the account of them, from hence to the end of
2 Chronicles 36:13, what needs explanation or reconciliation; see Gill on
2 Kings 23:31,
2 Kings 23:32,
2 Kings 23:33,
2 Kings 23:34,
2 Kings 23:35,
2 Kings 23:36,
2 Kings 23:37,
2 Kings 24:5,
2 Kings 24:6,
2 Kings 24:8,
2 Kings 24:10,
2 Kings 24:17,
2 Kings 24:18Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.
