2 Crônicas 28
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
2 Crônicas 28
NJB (LXX versing) Ahaz Succeeds Jotham in Judah Ahaz Reigns in Judah The Enormous Iniquity of Ahaz and the Appropriate Punishment King Ahaz of Judah Accession of Ahaz: His Idolatry 28:1-4 28:1-4 28:1-4 28:1-4 28:1-4 Judah Is Invaded Syria and Israel Defeat Judah War With Syria and Israel The Syro-Ephraimite War 28:5-7 28:5-8 28:5-7 28:5-8 28:5-8 28:8-15 Israel Returns the Captives 28:8-15 The Prophet Oded The Israelites Obey the Prophet Oded 28:9-15 28:9-11 28:9-11 28:12-15 28:12-15 Compromise with Assyria Assyria Refuses to Help Judah Ahaz Asks Assyria for Help Ahaz Appeals to Assyria; His Apostasy 28 16-21 28 16-21 28 16-21 28 16-21 28:16 Apostasy and Death of Ahaz The Sins of Ahaz 28:17-21 28:22-27 28:22-25 28:22-27 28:22-25 28:22-23 28:24-25 28:26-27 28:26-27 28:26-27 Etc.
2 Crônicas 28:1-4
28:1 "Ahaz" Isaiah 7-11 deals with this period of faithlessness but add the Messianic hope! Also see 2 Kings 16. "he reigned sixteen years" The number of years do not fit well. There are several possibilities. the two different calendars used to count the reigns the co-reigns are not always listed (see Edwin Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, p. 133 Notice the different dates given by three good authors. John Bright (also Thiele) ‒ 735-715 b.c. E. J. Young ‒ 736-728 b.c. R. K Harrison ‒ 732/731-716/715 b.c. "he did not do right in the sight of the Lord" Most of the Judean kings in the earlier chapters of 2 Chronicles had an early good period and a later bad period. The last king, Jotham, had a life of consistent faithfulness but Ahaz, his son, had a life of consistent faithlessness. "as David his father had done" David's life, although a mixture of faith and faithlessness, became the "relational" standard. Even in his sin, he still had a heart for YHWH. David became the "ideal" king, the eschatological model. YHWH had a special covenant with David (cf. 2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17; 2 Chr. 6:16; 7:18; 13:5; 21:7; 23:3). 28:2-4 Ahaz made a radical shift from his father Jotham. He turned Israel back to the idolatry of the house of Ahab, king of Israel. walked in the ways of the kings of Israel made molten images for the Ba'als burned incense to Molech sacrificed his sons to Molech sacrificed and burned incense on the high places (manmade) on the hills (natural) under every green tree (cf. Deut. 12:2; 1 Kgs. 14:23; 2 Kgs. 16:4; 17:10; Isa. 57:5; Jer. 2:20; 3:6,13; Ezek. 6:13; the female Canaanite fertility goddess' name, Asherah, means "a grove of trees") from 2 Kgs. 23:16 it seems Ahaz also worshiped the astral deities (2 Kings 23 lists the reforms of Josiah. Many of the things he destroyed were from Ahaz). 28:3 "the valley of Ben-hinnom" See SPECIAL TOPIC: WHERE ARE THE DEAD? "burned his sons in fire" This refers to Molech worship (cf. Lev. 18:21; 2 Chr. 33:2). SPECIAL TOPIC: MOLECH
2 Crônicas 28:5-7
28:5-7 YHWH reacts to Ahaz's idolatry and sends enemies (i.e., 2 Chr. 28:19). Syria, 2 Chr. 28:5 (this is called the Syro-Ephraimitic War, see NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1244-1245) Israel, 2 Chr. 28:5 (#1,2 besieged Jerusalem but it did not fall, cf. 2 Kgs. 16:5; Isa. 7:1) Edomites, 2 Chr. 28:17 Philistines, 2 Chr. 28:18 Assyria, 2 Chr. 28:29-21 Ahaz reacts by sacrificing to the gods of these nations (2 Chr. 28:23,25)! 28:5 Notice how "Israel" is used in two senses. the northern tribes, 2 Chr. 28:5,13,26 Judah, the true Israel of God, 2 Chr. 28:29,23,27 28:6 "because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers" Again, the Chronicler states the theological reason behind historical events. 28:7 Ahaz loses people close to him. his son (possibly a title or another son of Jotham because Ahaz was not old enough to have a son of fighting age, i.e., 20 years old), Maaseiah the ruler of his house, Azrikam his second in command, Elkanah Josephus has a different account, cf. Antiq. 9.12.1. Number 2 above (BDB 108) is used in several senses in Chronicles (NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 20). tribal leader ‒ 1 Chr. 12:27; 2 Chr. 19:11 military leader ‒ 1 Chr. 13:1; 27:4 palace official ‒ 2 Chr. 28:7 temple officials ‒ 1 Chr. 9:20; 26:24; 2 Chr. 31:12 High Priest ‒ 1 Chr. 9:11 (possibly Dan. 11:22, if it refers to Onias III; the use in Dan. 9:25 could be priestly or royal)
2 Crônicas 28:8-15
28:8-15 Again, God uses a prophet. This time a northern prophet to support Judah and her future. The paragraph shows that there was still true faith in YHWH in the north. they listened to the prophet and obeyed they cared for the captives clothed them gave them shoes gave them food gave them drink anointed their wounds helped the weak to ride home on donkeys SPECIAL TOPIC: "ANOINTING" IN THE BIBLE 28:12 This list of godly people surely supports the historicity of the account. It is true that the writers of Kings and Chronicles used both the same and yet sometimes different sources. They are, therefore, sometimes hard to reconcile. This seems to be an Ephramitic source. TOPIC: OT HISTORICAL NARRATIVE SPECIAL TOPIC: OT HISTORIOGRAPHY COMPARED TO NEAR EASTERN CULTURES "the sons of Ephraim" The northern tribes went by three names. Israel (their collective name) Samaria (their capital) Ephraim (their largest tribe)
2 Crônicas 28:16-21
28:16-21 This paragraph is also discussed in Isaiah 7-11. King Ahaz was under divinely sent attacks from all sides (see note at 2 Chr. 28:5). Instead of repentance and faith, he chose political alliance with Assyria (i.e., Tilgath-pilneser III, cf. 2 Kgs. 15:29; 16:5-9, where he is called "Tiglath-pileser"; he is also known as "Pul," cf. 2 Kgs. 15:19; 1 Chr. 5:26). SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF ASSYRIA 28:16 "the kings of Assyria" Note the plural. The LXX, Peshitta, and Vulgate have the singular, referring to Tilgath-pilneser III of 2 Chr. 28:20). The plural may reflect the PLURAL OF MAJESTY, the great king all the kings as a unit of royal Assyrian power 28:19 This is another reminder (cf. 2 Chr. 28:6) that historical events are a direct result of faith or faithlessness in YHWH (cf. 2 Chr. 28:23). Notice the threefold emphasis from the MT. YHWH had brought Judah low because (BDB 488, KB 484, Hiphil PERFECT) Ahaz had dealt wantonly (BDB 828, KB 970, Hiphil PERFECT) Ahaz had been very faithless (i.e., INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE, BDB 591, KB 612) 28:20-21 Note the irony! This is not mentioned in the parallel of 2 Kings 16:9.
2 Crônicas 28:22-27
28:22-27 The idolatry of Ahaz continues as he sacrifices to the gods of Damascus (2 Chr. 28:23). This assumes a knowledge of 2 Kgs. 16:10-16. He took the treasure of the temple and closed its doors to priests, Levites, and worshipers. He built altars to foreign gods on every street corner in Jerusalem (2 Chr. 28:24). 28:23 In the ANE a military defeat showed which national god was more powerful. Ahaz was a religious pragmatist. He was willing to try any god (cf. 2 Chr. 28:3,4,25) but YHWH! Joesphus, Antiq. 9.12.3., says he also sacrificed to the gods of Assyria because it was victorious over Syria. "he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus" From 2 Kgs. 16:10-16, we learn that Ahaz replaced the bronze sacrificial altar of Solomon with a copy of one he had seen in Damascus. Probably this was the altar to Rimmon, whose temple is mentioned in 2 Kgs. 5:18. This deity would be analogous to Ba'al the storm god of the Canaanite pantheon. This god was also called Hadad. 28:26 "written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel" Thiele has an interesting note, p. 204. "When the chronicler did his work toward the end of the fifth century, the combined volume of the Kings of Israel and Judah was in existence. This is known from the fact that the sources there cited are no longer the separate journals of days of the kings of Israel or those of Judah as cited in Kings, but a combined 'book of kings of Judah and Israel' (2 Chron. 16:11; 25:26; 27:7; 28:26; 32:32; 35:27; 36:8)." 28:17 His evil is seen by the fact that he was not buried in the royal tombs.