列王紀與歷代志問答 第 1 章 第 11/11 段

And here, having said that they made Ahaziah, his younger son, king in his place, he added that the band of raiders that had come upon them from the barbarians, and from the Amazonieim, killed all the elder sons in the camp.

And this man too emulated his father's impiety.

Jehu killed him, together with Jehoram king of Israel.

He obtained burial, however, on account of his grandfather's piety;

for Jehu buried him, saying, 'He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart.' After this he relates the affairs of Joash, which we have already expounded in the fourth book of Kingdoms;

but we shall speak of whatever we have not found recorded in that book.

For the writer of the books of Chronicles taught that, kindled to zeal by the admirable high priest, the people tore down the pillar of Baal and smashed it, and uprooted the altars from their foundations, and ground the images of the demons to pieces.

And they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal;

And the king, enlightened by him, cooperated with what was done by the high priest;

'For,' it says, 'Joash did what was right before the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.' And he also gave fitting attention to the building of the temple;

for in the time past it had been neglected, since, it says, Athaliah the lawless woman and her sons tore down the house of God, and devoted all the holy things of the Lord to the Baals. And of all these it was the admirable high priest who was most responsible, who, on account of his piety and great virtue, lived one hundred and thirty years, and was accounted worthy of a royal tomb;

but the physician of souls did not neglect them.

'For,' it says, 'the Lord sent to them prophets, to turn them back to the Lord';

yet they did not listen. And he even mentioned one prophet by name:

'For,' it says, 'the Spirit of the Lord clothed Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says the Lord:

Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord? You shall not prosper, for you have forsaken the Lord, and he will forsake you."' But they not only spoke against these divine words, but at the king's command they even stoned the prophet, stoning him within, in the courtyard of the temple.

Such was the disease of ingratitude that afflicted this man, both toward the God who had saved him and toward the one who had served his salvation.

For this is what the narrative teaches.

'And Joash the king,' it says, 'did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada his father had shown him, but put his son to death.'

'May the Lord see, and judge.' And he did not fail of his request.

For when a year had passed, a small army of the Syrians attacked them;

and they killed some, and having enslaved others, they departed.

And he, having fallen into sickness, was murdered by his own subjects.

For it was not kindled by divine zeal that they killed him, but acting with a murderous intent.

And in his place his son Amaziah reigned.

He, wishing to make war against the Edomites, hired a hundred thousand Israelites for a hundred talents, a number equal to it.

But the prophet, sent to him from God, said these things:

'O king, let not the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel, that is, with all the sons of Ephraim.

For if you suppose to prevail with these in the war, the Lord will rout you before your enemies, for it belongs to the Lord to help and to rout.' 'I am sufficient for you,' he says, 'for help;'

'you have no need of a multitude when you array for battle' — lest he take for his aid those who were stripped bare of piety.

And when he had said, 'And what shall I do about the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel?' the prophet, taking up the question, said:

'It belongs to the Lord to give you more than these.' And believing what had been said, he went out, and killed ten thousand, and enslaved as many others;

but though he had obtained divine assistance, he did not recognize his benefactor.

For the gods of the defeated, which he brought back together with the spoils, he honored as the givers of victory, and glorified with sacrifices.

But God exposed his impiety through the prophet.

For he said to him, 'Why have you sought after the gods of that people, who did not deliver their own people from your hand?' 'For a long time,' he says, 'the Edomites worshiped these gods, yet they did not thereby ward off ruin;'

for they enjoyed no assistance whatsoever from them.

'But you, having enjoyed my favor, not only killed those men, but also enslaved these.'

None of these things profited the senseless man.

For he said to the prophet, 'Have I made you counselor to the king? Take heed to yourself, lest I strike you.' But the prophet spoke with boldness:

'I know that the Lord has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel.' Thus stripped bare of divine providence, he summoned the king of Israel to war;

and he suffered what we have already related in Kingdoms.

And like his father, he too met the same end.

But divine Scripture praises Uzziah.

'For he was,' it says, 'seeking the Lord in the fear of the Lord, in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God.' And it also tells of the fruits of his piety;

from this we learn that there were many men named Zechariah.

For the son of Jehoiada, whom Joash destroyed, was named Zechariah;

and this one too, in the time of Uzziah, is called Zechariah.

And I think this is the one concerning whom God said to Isaiah:

'Make me faithful witnesses, men, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah son of Berechiah.' For indeed Isaiah prophesied in that very time;

'For the vision,' it says, 'which Isaiah son of Amoz saw, which he saw concerning Judea and concerning Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, and Jotham, and Ahaz, and Hezekiah, who reigned over Judea.' And it also says that he was courageous in wars, and ambitious in buildings, and fond of cultivation in husbandry.

And it calls the inhabitants of the city of Sela (Petra) 'Arabs.'

'For when Uzziah became strong,' it says, 'his heart was lifted up to his own destruction, and he transgressed against the Lord his God, and entered into the temple of the Lord, to burn incense upon the altar of incense.' For he had not dared to do this at the altar of whole burnt offerings, but within, in the temple itself.

But the high priest did not yield to him as to a king, but reproved him with boldness.

'For,' it says, 'Zechariah the high priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests, sons of valor;'

'and they stood before Uzziah the king, and said to him:'

'It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but only for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense.'

'Go out from the sanctuary, for you have departed from the Lord;'

The priests possess this privilege as a general right belonging to their order.

Why do you trample the God-given law? Why do you transgress its bounds? By seizing what does not belong to you, you will also lose besides what is your own.

But he not only did not yield, but even grew angry at these words, and persisted in his rash daring to perform the priestly rite.

But instead of glory he reaped dishonor.

"For leprosy broke out," it says, "on his forehead, in the house of the Lord, before the priests, above the altar of incense." And the priests, seeing at once the God-inflicted plague, drove him out of the temple against his will;

and he suffered the same thing as our forefather Adam.

For that one too, having desired to become God, lost in addition even his being the image of God;

and this one too, having attempted to seize the priesthood, also fell from the kingship.

For he sat indoors in a chamber, since the leprosy on his forehead barred him from mingling and speaking freely among the multitude.

For he bore on his forehead the proof of his transgression.

Jotham his son continued to direct the kingdom.

For he also, when his father died, received the scepter.

This one too excelled in wars, and compelled the Ammonites to bring tribute.

And the writer also states the cause: that "he prepared his ways before the Lord his God." But Ahaz his son, in the inventions of his impiety, outdid all who were like him.

This too the book of Kingdoms has taught.

But this narrative, besides these things, has also made known the calamity which he endured.

For first they were handed over to the Syrians;

and many were slain, and many were led into captivity.

Then Pekah, king of the ten tribes, in a single engagement slew a hundred and twenty thousand of them, together with the king's sons and the commanders;

and he led away two hundred thousand into captivity.

But Oded the prophet, meeting the victors, threatened them with the wrath of God, because contrary to the divine law they were leading into slavery those whom they had taken captive.

"For behold," he says, "the wrath of the God of our fathers is upon Judah;"

"and he delivered them into your hands, and you killed among them in wrath, and it reached even to the heavens."

"And now you say you will subject the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to yourselves as male and female slaves."

"Behold, I am not with you; the Lord your God is witness."

This is what gave them defeat, and gave you the victory.

"But you, having conquered, forgot your kinship; you gave no thought to nature, but treated your own kinsmen as barbarians and foreigners."

"And you were not content with the countless slaughters, but you also compel your own kindred to be enslaved."

"I therefore solemnly warn you, that you will suffer more grievous things."

The rulers yielded to the prophet;

and they exhorted the people, and deemed the captives worthy of care.

"For they clothed," it says, "the naked, and brought them ointment and food, and gave beasts of burden to the weaker ones, and led them as far as the city of Jericho."

One must note that he has called Jericho "the city of palm trees."

"For they set them," it says, "in Jericho, the city of palm trees." The narrative has also taught this: that when they persisted in impiety they were handed over to the foreigners, and the enemies came to dwell in their cities.

"For the Lord," it says, "humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Judah; because he had laid bare impiety in Judah, and had departed with apostasy from the Lord."

The word "he turned aside" stands for: "he taught him things he ought not [to learn]."

For he introduced foreign customs, and caused them to worship the gods of other nations.

And having called upon the Assyrian for aid, he failed in his purpose.

"[He came] not to help him, but rather to afflict him." And though subjected to all these punishments, he nevertheless intensified his impiety.

"And Ahaz added further to depart from the Lord."

"And King Ahaz said:"

"and he said that the gods of Syria strengthen them."

"I will therefore sacrifice to them, and they will help me;"

"and they became to him a stumbling-block." For not only did they not help him, but they even became the source of calamities of every kind for him.

And having driven himself to the utmost wickedness, "he cut in pieces the sacred vessels, and shut the doors of the divine temple, and made for himself altars in every corner in Jerusalem." And what follows bears the same accusation.

When he died, they did not deem him worthy of burial with the pious kings.

Hezekiah his son attained the highest virtue.

Then, having sanctified the priests and the Levites, he charged them to cleanse the divine temple.

"And they immediately cast out," it says, "all the uncleanness that was found in the house of the Lord, into the court of the house of the Lord;"

"and the Levites took it upon themselves to carry it out to the Kidron brook outside." Then, when these things had taken place, he offered the customary sacrifices, not on behalf of the two tribes alone, but on behalf of all twelve.

"For he made atonement," it says, "for all Israel; because the king commanded that the whole burnt offerings and the sin offerings be presented on behalf of all Israel;"

"because by the commandment of the Lord the ordinance was through the hand of his prophets."

For here Scripture, mentioning the three, has added: "because by the commandment of the Lord the ordinance was through the hand of his prophets." And a little further on, the text hints that Asaph too had been a hymn-writer.

And this too can be found happening even now.

For when no presbyter is present, and the need is pressing, even a deacon is compelled to administer baptism to the one who needs it.

The king, however, being exceedingly pious, also summoned to the feast those dwelling in the cities of the ten tribes.

And some mocked those who summoned them, but others obeyed and went.

And when a very great multitude had gathered, the feast of the Passover was celebrated.

Again, however, since the priests were not sufficient, the Levites slaughtered the sacrificial victims for the multitude, and offered the blood to the priests;

and they poured it out upon the base of the altar.

And having been summoned suddenly, they partook of the sacrificial victims before being purified.

This too the narrative teaches: that most of the people, from Ephraim and Manasseh and Issachar and Zebulun, had not been sanctified, but ate this Passover contrary to the divine Scripture.

But they obtained pardon on account of the king's piety.

And they added to the feast another equal number of days, the rulers having generously provided the sacrificial victims.

And he said that such a feast had not taken place since the days of Solomon.

Setting out from there, they both demolished the precincts of the idols and cut down the sacred groves, and together with these they tore up from their foundations the altars that had been dedicated to God upon the high places.

He also took care for the priestly order, and confirmed the arrangement made by his ancestor, and caused the people to render to the priests the firstfruits according to the law.

Then the writer adds that after these words, and this faithful conduct, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came.

But the king, trusting in God, and contributing his own part, first stopped up the springs before the city;

so that the enemy, while laying siege by encampment, might not have abundance of water.

Then he fortified the walls, and raised the towers to a height, and built on another outwork besides.

But he trusted neither in these things nor in weapons, but said to the multitude:

Be strong and courageous;

do not fear nor be dismayed before the king of the Assyrians, and before all the nation that is with him; for with us are more than with him.

The rest of the account is also contained in the fourth book of Kingdoms.

The narrative rebukes him, in that though he had won so great a victory and had been extraordinarily delivered from his illness, Hezekiah did not requite the Lord according to the benefit which the Lord had rendered him, but his heart was lifted up, and wrath came upon Judah and upon Jerusalem and upon him.

And Hezekiah was humbled from the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

And the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. That saying, then, is true, that "He who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted." This man, however, because of his piety, did not become an eyewitness of the sorrows to come, but reached the end of his life before the enemies' invasion overtook him.

And Gihon, as has been said before, he calls Siloam.

That it was because the sun turned back the ten steps that the king of the Babylonians sent envoys to him, the narrative teaches.

And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

this signifies that he wished to lay bare his inward thoughts.

For he who alone knows the heart is not himself ignorant of men's thoughts;

but he reveals to others the things that are hidden.

And he also enjoyed a splendid funeral.

For they laid him to rest with much honor and glory.

The book of Kingdoms also teaches us of the impiety of Manasseh.

For he not only surpassed the impious kings;

but also, it says, the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.

And he also paid the penalty for his impiety.

For he was delivered up to the king of the Assyrians, and was led away in fetters to Babylon.

But the abyss of God's loving-kindness imparted to this man too a share of the streams of mercy;

For when Manasseh, it says, was afflicted, he besought the face of the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the face of the God of his fathers.

And he prayed to him, and he heard his voice, and restored him to Jerusalem, to his kingdom;

and Manasseh knew that the Lord, he is God. To such a degree does discipline benefit those who are willing to receive it.

For what he did not possess while reigning as king, this he acquired while a captive slave.

For once freed from his servitude, it says, he removed the strange gods, and the carved image from the house of the Lord, and all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem;

and he cast them out of the city, and set right the altar of the Lord, and offered upon it a sacrifice of peace-offering and of praise. He also taught the people to be pious.

For Manasseh, it says, told Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. But the text again reveals the incompleteness of the people's reform.

For it adds that the people still sacrificed on the high places.

That it was to God that they sacrificed on the high places, the narrative here clearly shows;

only it was in vain, to the Lord their God. As for the matters concerning Amon and Josiah, we have already expounded these in the fourth book of Kingdoms.

But it must be asked how, when the ark was already within the Holy of Holies, Josiah commanded the Levites to be sanctified, so as to place the holy ark in the house of the Lord.

And what follows also makes this clear;

or it was one of the impious kings who had reigned after Hezekiah, whether Manasseh or Amon —

then Josiah, upon learning of this, restored it to its proper place.

Again, however, the narrative calls Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun prophets.

for it is linked together with the mediums, and the wizards, and the teraphim.

So great was the virtue of this king that the prophet Jeremiah even composed a lament for him, and gave it to the male and female singers, so that they should sing it every year in commemoration of him.

But the matters concerning the remaining kings the prophet Jeremiah has taught at greater length.

But we, having by divine grace already expounded that book as well, have judged it superfluous to expound this one again.

That the historian compiled these things from many prophetic books after a long interval of time, the end of the book plainly teaches;

for it mentions Cyrus the king of the Persians, and the return of the captives.