Questions on Kings and Chronicles 1 part 8/11

'Has the LORD called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab?' But not even so did he persuade the prophet to refrain from reproving his impiety.

'As the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for the person of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you.' Since, then, necessity had brought low the arrogance of his royal power, the rebuke was delivered at the opportune moment.

The prophet ordered that one of these be summoned.

And while he was playing, the grace of the Spirit indicated what was to be done:

for he commanded that very great trenches be dug in the wadi;

so that, when the torrent came flowing from afar, the trenches might be filled with water and supply the need of the army.

One should note that he called the spiritual grace 'the hand of the Lord.'

'The hand of the LORD,' it says, 'came upon him, and he said:'

'And there came to be great regret against Israel'? While the Moabites were being utterly destroyed, the king attempted to flee from them.

But since the solid and valiant battle-line did not yield, he took his firstborn son, whom he had as heir to the kingdom, and offered him as a whole burnt offering upon a certain tower.

The multitude of the enemy, having witnessed this, pitied the suffering and lifted the siege.

Concerning whom did the woman say:

'Your servant, my husband, has died, and you know that he was a servant of the LORD'? Some say that this was Obadiah, the steward of Ahab, who hid the hundred men in two caves and fed them with bread and water;

and that the debt had arisen on account of his care for them.

It is worthy of admiration, the power of the prophets, in that, by causing existing things to flow forth as from a spring, they supply the means of livelihood.

For indeed the great Elijah caused the smallest amount of flour and oil to suffice for a very long time;

and he who received a double portion of his grace, having commanded the very small amount of oil belonging to another widow to be poured into a great many vessels, both paid off her husband's debt and provided for her and her children.

And from this it is easy to know that, even while the people transgressed the law and the kings were impious, there were some who were pious.

For among these were Obadiah, and the seven thousand who did not bend the knee to Baal;

and the admirable Shunammite woman, who deemed the prophet worthy of much attentive care.

The prophet, wishing to repay her care, asked whether she had a matter to speak of to the king, or to the commander of the army;

and although able to grant her divine assistance, he wished also to grant her human provision.

'I dwell in the midst of my own people'? 'I delight,' she says, 'in a quiet life, and I live peaceably, and I cannot bear to have a dispute with anyone.'

'At this season, when the time comes round, you shall be alive and shall be embracing a son'? This also the God of all said to the patriarch Abraham:

For this reason he gave the promise in a declarative manner, surpassing the weakness of nature.

Having learned by experience the power of the prophet, however, she hoped that even when the child had died, it would be raised up.

For having laid the dead child on the prophet's bed, and having shut the door, she went and came to the prophet, without even disclosing to her husband the reason for her journey.

He, then, not knowing the reason, asked:

'Why are you going to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.' For they were accustomed to keep festival both on Sabbaths and on new moons.

'I wish,' she says, 'to greet him.'

And the prophet, seeing her from afar, asked through Gehazi how she was, and her husband, and the child;

For this is what 'Peace to you? Peace to your husband? Peace to the child?' means — in place of 'Are you getting on well? Are you in good health?' Now to Gehazi she said, 'Peace,' but taking hold of the prophet's feet, she disclosed her suffering.

Her tears revealed her anguish.

When Gehazi tried to raise her up, the prophet said:

17. Why, when he sent Gehazi to raise the child up, did he charge him:

'If you find anyone on the road, do not greet him;'

'and if anyone greets you, do not answer him'? He knew him to be ambitious and vainglorious, and that he would tell those he met along the way the reason for his errand;

and vainglory impedes the working of wonders.

What does 'Elaad upon him' signify? The other translators have rendered this word 'he breathed into him.'

For just as the Maker of all things, having fashioned Adam's body, breathed the soul into it through the breath he blew,

so the prophet, by breathing into him, raised up the boy.

But the Creator, by breathing into him, created the soul which did not yet exist;

whereas the prophet brought back the soul that already existed into its own body.

As for 'he breathed upon him,' the other translators have rendered this 'he covered him' (bent himself over him).

He fitted his own organs of sense to the child's — eyes to eyes, mouth to mouth, hands to hands;

so that the dead might receive a share of life from the living, the spiritual grace, clearly, supplying that life.

What is meant by 'to gather ariōth'? The other translators have rendered these as wild herbs.

Those who gathered them unwittingly mixed in with them the wild gourd;

but the prophet blunted the effect of the poison, by ordering flour to be cast into the pot.

Yet it was not the nature of the flour that blunted it, but the grace of the prophet.

So too, it was not the salt that changed the barrenness of the waters into fruitfulness, but the power of the prophetic spirit.

The narrative, indeed, teaches us the destitute life of the prophets.

For their chief at one time feasted them on wild herbs;

at another time he set before a hundred men twenty barley loaves, and these had been brought to him by others.

He imparted to them so great a blessing that he both satisfied the need of the hundred, and after their fill had a considerable amount left over.

So great was the power of that poverty that the king of the Syrians had need of that grace, and sent his general Naaman, so that through the prophet's prayer he might be freed from his leprosy;

and when the king of Israel read the Syrian's letter, out of desperation he tore his garments,

but the prophet, the poor man, was indignant with him;

yet he directed that Naaman be sent to him, and he did not consent to see him, since he was a leper, keeping the law, as one who lived under the law;

but he ordered him to wash seven times in the river Jordan.

For this is constituted from the four elements;

and the present life revolves in a cycle of seven days;

and the purification of the soul is accomplished according to the number of the holy Trinity.

Having accepted the counsel of his own servants, he went;

and having been freed from his affliction, he came to the prophet.

And first he offered him precious gifts;

but the prophet preferred his much-desired poverty above all wealth, and fulfilled the evangelical legislation before the giving of the [Mosaic] legislation.

'For your servant,' he says, 'will no longer offer whole burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but only to the Lord.'

'And concerning this matter may the Lord be gracious to your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, since he leans upon my hand,'

'and when he worships in the house of Rimmon, I too shall worship together with him, to the Lord God, and may the Lord be gracious to your servant in this matter.' 'I am compelled,' he says, 'to go in along with the king, who wishes to worship the falsely-named god,'

'but when I go in, I myself shall worship the true God;'

beseeching to obtain pardon, because it is by royal necessity that I am compelled to enter the presence of the falsely-named god.

For this is what he has made clear, when he said:

'May the Lord be gracious to your servant in this matter.' These words condemn the multitude of the Jews, because, although they had the law, and prophets, and priests, and though they beheld wonder-workings and divine signs, they preferred the service of idols above the service of God.

It is worth marveling both at the power of the prophet's grace, and at the justice of his verdict.

For he perceived Gehazi's theft, and allotted to him the leprosy of Naaman:

'gardens, and olive orchards, and vineyards, and flocks, and herds, and menservants, and maidservants' —

'and the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you, and to your seed forever.' He, then, having become a lover of money, was declared a leper;

whereas the company of the prophets embraced the utmost poverty.

For they had no houses, but made use of huts.

And they lived in such poverty that they could not even afford to own an axe.

For instance, when one axe fell into the river, the man who had been using it cried out, 'Ah, my lord — and it, too, was borrowed!' But let no one consider this exclamation blasphemous.

'O Lord, save now! O Lord, send prosperity now!' But the prophet, in a most extraordinary manner, brought up the iron.

For by casting in a piece of wood, he caused the iron to float on the surface.

This again prefigured the dispensation of our Savior.

For just as the lightest wood became submerged, while the heaviest iron floated on top;

so the descent of the divine nature effected the ascent of human nature.

'To such-and-such a place'? As one might say, 'to this particular place'; for that is what 'phelmouni' signifies.

This too is admirable in the prophet.

For, though hunted, he hunted his hunters; and having brought a mist over their eyes, he led them into the royal city.

Then, having besought God to disperse the mist, he caused them to realize that they had been caught within the nets;

and that they, who had attempted to capture him alive, had themselves been captured alive.

This too of his is praiseworthy:

for when the king attempted to slay them, he said:

'You shall not strike down those whom you did not take captive with your sword and your bow.'

'Set before them bread and water, and let them eat, and let them drink, and let them return to their master.' 'For if they were slain,' he says, 'the greatness of the miracle would not be known;'

'but if they should return safe and sound to the one who sent them, he too will learn the power of our God.'

What use did the dung of doves fulfill? The dire necessity of the siege, and the extremity of the famine, compelled them to use dung in place of salt.

Why did the prophet order the door to be shut, and the man sent by the king to be held back? The senseless king, having emulated the bloodthirstiness of his father and mother, ordered the prophet's head to be cut off;

and this while he was clothed in sackcloth, imploring God to dissolve and scatter that gloomy, grinding cloud of calamity, even as he gnashed his teeth.

And though he ought to have entreated the prophet to offer intercession to God on his behalf, this he did not do, but instead threatened to slaughter him, as though he were negligent, or as one who willfully overlooked the extremity of the calamity.

But immediately repenting, he ran, holding back the murder.

For the prophet also made this clear:

"Have you seen," he says, "that this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? See to it that when the messenger comes, you shut the door and press hard against him at the door."

After this narrative, the writer of the history taught us that the prophet had foretold to the Shunammite woman the famine that was to come.

He also indicated the time.

"For the Lord," he says, "has called a famine upon the land, and it shall come upon the land for seven years." The saying hints that Israel received the famine as a punishment.

"Arise and go, you and your son and your household,"

"and sojourn wherever you may find a place." Now if the famine had been common to the whole land, he would not have sent her elsewhere.

From this we also learn that the prophet obtained a double grace:

the time of the famine was doubled.

Why in the world, when the prophet had foretold to Hazael the death of Ben-hadad, did he take care to say to him, "You shall surely live"? The God of the universe had charged the great Elijah to anoint Elisha as prophet, and Hazael as king of Syria, and Jehu as king of Israel.

But he anointed Elisha, as he had been commanded, while he did not anoint the kings;

So Ben-hadad (for this is a single name, meaning "son of Hadad"), having learned of the prophet's presence, sent Hazael, along with costly and lavish gifts, in order to learn whether he would be freed from his illness.

When Hazael arrived, then, the prophet foretold both his own kingship and the death of the one who had sent him.

But he told him not to disclose the death, lest the king depart this life in despair.

Yet when the prophet saw Hazael, he let flow streams of tears;

for he foresaw the calamities that were to come upon Israel through him.

For he had already disclosed this to him as well.

"He took the coverlet, and dipped it in water, and laid it upon his face, and he died"? Josephus has said that Hazael did this, and brought upon him a violent death.

"The God of Israel is a God of the mountains, and not a God of the valleys." And having been saved by Ahab, he proved ungrateful toward his benefactor.

The history has also taught us the harm of evil kinship;

for the other Joram, king of the tribe of Judah, was born of Jehoshaphat, a pious man;

but being led astray by the words of his wife, he came to share in impiety;

"For he walked," it says, "in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, because the daughter of Ahab was his wife, and he did evil before the Lord." QUESTION

"He struck Edom, and the people who surrounded him, and the commanders together with the chariots, and the people fled to their tents"? The king of the tribe of Judah ruled over the Idumeans;

but according to the prophecy of the patriarch Isaac, they shook off the yoke of servitude.

"For there will be a time," he says, "when you shall throw off his yoke from your neck." Having then made war against them, they killed those men and returned to their own land.

But the Idumeans, even though defeated, no longer endured being ruled thereafter.

For what reason did Elisha anoint Jehu through another prophet? It was expedient that this be done secretly, so that Joram might be swiftly put to death;

for if he had perceived it beforehand, he would have arrayed himself for battle.

And in the battle-array, many on both sides would necessarily have fallen.

For it is fitting that those who have been honored with the word should use the word as occasion requires;

and they used to call them madmen, since they employed forthright speech;

but Jehu did not call him a babbler as one raving in drunkenness, but rather in an attempt to conceal what had been said.

But when he saw them pressing him, he disclosed it.

"And a man took his garment and put it under Jehu, upon one of the gareim"? What follows explains the obscurity of this expression:

"he brought it upon one of the steps." And having recognized the divine appointment, they offered him honor as to a king.

And he called the Syrians "Arameans";

and the others translated it thus as well.

"And the driving is the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi, for he drove furiously"? The watchman, seeing from afar that those who had been sent did not return, and that the one leading the multitude seemed to be Jehu (for his bearing made this clear), reported what he had seen.

Some copies, however, have: "And the one leading was leading Jehu," that is, God.

For some of the prophets saw certain things either through dreams or while awake;

and this kind was called a "vision."

Others spoke as the divine Spirit worked through them, and foretold things to come;

Jehu, then, was calling to mind the prophecy of the great Elijah, that in the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there they would lick up the blood of Ahab.

For this very reason he also commanded that Joram's body be thrown there;

and when he learned that the body of Jezebel had been consumed by dogs, Jehu marveled at the unfailing truth of the prophecy.

"For in the portion of Jezreel," he said, "the dogs shall devour the flesh of Jezebel," and so forth.

When the rest of Ahab's sons had been killed by those who had reared them, Jehu spoke very wisely to the people, saying:

"Behold, I conspired against my own lord and slew him; but all these—who struck them down? See now, that not one of the words of the LORD shall fall to the ground, of those which he spoke against the house of Ahab." "I," he says, "killed Joram as one wishing to seize tyranny;"

but as for his brothers, seventy in number—who killed them?

Was it not the wrath sent by God, employing his own closest servants as its instruments? The prophecies of the prophets are, therefore, without falsehood.

Whom does he call "knowers"? The diviners, who suppose that they know things to come.

For just as they used to call the prophets "seers" and "those who look," since they foresaw things to come;

so also they called the diviners "knowers," as those who supposed they knew hidden things, and foreknew what had not yet come to pass.

Who is Jonadab the son of Rechab? He himself was a pious man, and so was his lineage.

For they continued dwelling in tents, and abstaining from the drinking of wine.

The prophet Jeremiah also made mention of them with praise.

And this narrative itself also makes clear their piety.

For first, when King Jehu saw him, he "blessed" him, that is, he greeted him.

"Is your heart right with my heart, as my heart is with your heart?" And when he had said this:

"It is," Jehu said to him:

"If it is, give me your hand." Then, taking him as a companion into his chariot, he said:

"and he made him sit beside him in his chariot." From this, then, it is clear that even among the ten tribes there were some adorned with piety, on whose account he who wisely governs all things bore with the rest as well.

Why in the world, when he was about to slaughter the priests of the idols, did he lie? For he said:

"Ahab served Baal a little, but I will serve him much." One must examine the intent both of words and of deeds.

For Jehu, wishing that no one should escape the slaughter, used those words so that all, taking courage, might come together.

But so that none of the priests of the true God might share in this punishment, he ordered that they be expelled as supposedly unworthy of the feast;

and then, in this way, he struck down with spears all those who alone remained.

He also burned the pillar of Baal, cut down the sacred groves, and freed the whole land of Israel from the rest of the idols.

And indeed, he continued to worship the golden calves.

And he called the shrine of Baal 'Baaleim.'

so that, having seized power, she might instruct the people in her own impiety.

For she, seeing the royal line being destroyed, stole away and hid her nephew Joash, and continued to nourish him within the temple; and for six years the most abominable Athaliah held power, administering the kingdom—

but in the seventh year the most wise high priest restored the kingdom to the royal line.

'Chorri' and 'Raseim' mean shield-bearers and spearmen.

Dividing these into three groups, he ordered some to guard the king's house, others the entrance of the divine temple, and others the other gate.

'Keep the watch of the house, messae'? The other translators have rendered 'messae' as 'against ruin,' that is, with the utmost vigilance, so that no harm may come to the divine house.

And he ordered the Levites to be sword-bearers, and to guard the king.

As for the phrase 'whoever enters the saderoth shall die,' the book of Chronicles has it thus:

'Whoever enters the house shall die.' Josephus too has said the same.

As for the phrase 'from the right shoulder of the house to the left shoulder of the house,' it shows that the Levites, forming a single unbroken line, had its ends joined to the house, and guarded the king who stood in the middle; while the army of armed men stood outside, restraining those who attempted to enter.

'He gave upon him the sanctification and the testimony'? The book of Chronicles has it thus:

'He gave upon him the crown and the testimony;'

'and Jehoiada and his sons made him king, and anointed him, and said, Long live the king.' So it is clear that by 'sanctification' he meant the anointing;

and by 'testimony,' the royal crown, as signifying the kingship;

and they were accustomed to call the usurped tyranny 'the conspiracy.'

Such was the wickedness of Athaliah, that when she saw her grandson made king, she tore her garment and cried out:

'Treason, treason!' But the most wise priest commanded the centurions to put her to death outside the sacred precincts. And here too, the book of Kingdoms has 'outside the saderoth,' while that of Chronicles has 'outside the house.' QUESTION

'He set,' it says, 'both bounds and laws' for both king and people, so that they should serve the Lord alone and conduct themselves according to his laws.

And how much a pious teacher may profit, the narrative also teaches:

for, it says, 'Joash did what was right before the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.' But the historian also taught the incompleteness both of this king and of the people.

For they did not depart from the high places;

'the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.' But I think that here he is not censuring them for the worship of falsely-named gods, but rather for the sacrifices offered, contrary to the Mosaic law, outside the temple of God.

King Joash therefore commanded that the priests should receive all the silver that was offered, and that they themselves should carry out the fitting maintenance of the temple.

For this is what it says: 'They shall strengthen the bedek of the house of the Lord, wherever it may be found there.' Now by 'bedek' he means the repair of decayed timbers or stones.

The book of Chronicles, instead of 'to make the bedek,' says 'to repair the house of the Lord,' and again, 'to restore the house of the Lord.' QUESTION

'And the Lord relented, and had compassion on them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob'? Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of the ten tribes, having turned aside to impiety, made the people his partner in the worship of idols;

inasmuch as he was already foreseeing the destruction that he was about to bring upon the ten tribes.

For he consumed them so completely that there were left to them fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen.

Yet often before they had had more than a hundred myriads.

But God had mercy on them again, and restored to them their own cities.

This the author called 'repentance,' that is, the change from ill fortune to good fortune.

Why, when about to die, did the prophet declare, by means of bow and arrow, to Jehoahaz, the son of Joas, the victory that was to come? He put his trust not so much in mere words as in prophecies fulfilled through deeds.

For this reason he ordered him to draw the bow, and to fit the arrow to it.

Supposing that he would of his own accord shoot many arrows, when the first was sent forth he said, 'An arrow of the Lord's salvation, and an arrow of salvation in Israel; and you shall strike Syria in Aphek until it is utterly destroyed.' But since he sent forth only three, the prophet was greatly grieved, since Syria would be defeated only three times, and would not receive utter destruction.

And the prophet, even after he had died, raised up the corpse that touched him;

so that this miracle too might bear witness that he had received a double portion of grace compared to his teacher.

What does the parable of the thorn-bush and the cedar signify? Amaziah, having conquered the Edomites by right of war, hoped to conquer the ten tribes as well, and challenged their king to battle.

But that king answered in reply, declaring how the thorn-bush had sent word to the cedar, demanding that its daughter be given in marriage to his son.

While the negotiations concerning the marriage were still under way, the wild beasts passed by, trampled the thorn-bush underfoot, and destroyed it.

For, it says, 'You have indeed struck Edom, and your proud heart has lifted you up;'

'be glorified indeed—be glorified in your own house.'

'And why do you provoke a quarrel to your own hurt, so that you fall, you and Judah with you?' Now this counsel was arrogant in its manner, yet profitable;

for Amaziah, not persuaded by it, joined battle; but being defeated and taken captive by the spear, he was compelled to let the enemy into the royal city.

And having become master of Jerusalem, he tore down four hundred cubits of its walls, and, having plundered the sacred treasures and the royal treasures, he returned.

He also took the 'sons of the mixtures of abominations,' that is, the priests of the falsely-named gods.

What city is Ailon? The one that is now called Ailan.

It lies at the mouth of the Arabian Gulf, which they call the Red Sea.

We have not found, in the book of Jonah, the prophecy of Jonah that is contained in Kingdoms.

For in that book he recorded only the events concerning Nineveh;

for this reason he did not append to it any other prophecy.

The book of Chronicles has taught more clearly the matters concerning him.

Interpreting that book, then, we shall, God willing, state the reason.

As for the phrase 'He sat in the house of Aphphousoth,' the other translators have rendered it 'secretly;'

that is, within an inner chamber, seen by no one.

And Jotham, his son, guided the kingdom;

and this after Uzziah had reigned fifty-two years.

And when his father died, he became heir to the kingdom, and freed the people from the rest of their impiety, and built the high gate of the divine temple.

Yet he did not enjoy unqualified praise;

for he did not put an end to the worship on the high places.

But Ahaz, his son, by the excess of his impiety, eclipsed the impiety of the others.

And I think the passage alludes to that form of error which has persisted down to our own time.

For I have seen, in certain cities, fires kindled once a year in the public squares, and certain people leaping and jumping over them, not only children but also grown men;

and infants, moreover, being carried through the flame by their mothers.

This was thought to be a form of aversion of evil and a purification.

To whom did Ahaz order the altar to be built in the divine temple? I do not think he had it built for the God of the universe, but for one of the falsely-named gods.

For this is what the book of Chronicles hints at.

and it says: 'For the gods of the king of Syria prevail for them;'

'Therefore I will sacrifice to them, that they may help me.'

And they became a snare to him, and to all Israel. And so forth. What follows makes this clear:

'And Ahaz removed the vessels of the house of the Lord, and cut them in pieces, and shut the doors of the house of the Lord, and made for himself an altar in every corner of Jerusalem.' These things, and what followed upon them, he went on doing.

And the book of Kingdoms itself also signifies this.

and he put the newly-made [altar] in the place of that one.

That the mechonoth were also bases, what follows teaches.

'For king Ahaz,' it says, 'cut off the borders of the mechonoth, and removed the laver from them.' But he dared also another impiety.

For he moved the entrance of the palace, which was within, into the divine temple, making his passage through the sacred precincts.

This too the history teaches us: that Adrammelech the Ethiopian dwelt in Egypt.

But the other translators rendered 'Manaa' as 'gifts'.

What is meant by, 'From the tower of the watchmen, even to the fortified city'? In every place, it says, he built altars to the demons, and not only in cities and villages, but even in the towers along the roads, in which a few men were accustomed to keep watch.

Here he called the high places also 'the precincts' of the idols.

'For they built for themselves,' it says, 'high places in all their cities;'