أخبار الأيام الثاني ٢٧:١

Jotham succeeds his father Uzziah, and reigns well, Ch2 27:1, Ch2 27:2. His buildings, Ch2 27:3, Ch2 27:4. His successful wars, Ch2 27:5, Ch2 27:6. General account of his acts, reign, and death, Ch2 27:7-9.

JOTHAM, REIGNING WELL, PROSPERS. (Ch2 27:1-4) Jotham was twenty and five years old--(See on Kg2 15:32-35). His mother's name . . . Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok--or descendant of the famous priest of that name [Sa2 8:17].

Jotham was twenty five years old,.... See Gill on Kg2 15:33. . 2 Chronicles 27:2 ch2 27:2 ch2 27:2 ch2 27:2And he did that which was right,.... See Gill on Kg2 15:34, howbeit, he entered not into the temple of the Lord; to burn incense, as his father did; he did according to his good ways, but not his evil ones: and the people did yet corruptly; in sacrificing and burning incense in the high places, Kg2 15:35 which some think Joash himself did, and is meant in the preceding clause; but the sense given is best.

In the general statements as to the king's age, and the duration and the spirit of his reign, both accounts (Ch2 28:1-4; Kg2 16:1-4), agree entirely, with the exception of some unessential divergences; see the commentary on Kg2 16:1-4. From Ch2 28:5 onwards both historians go their own ways, so that they coincide only in mentioning the most important events of the reign of this quite untheocratic king. The author of the book of Kings, in accordance with his plan, records only very briefly the advance of the allied kings Rezin and Pekah against Jerusalem, the capture of the seaport Elath by the Syrians, the recourse which the hard-pressed Ahaz had to the help of Tiglath-pileser the king of Assyria, whom he induced, by sending him the temple and palace treasures of gold and silver, to advance upon Damascus, to capture that city, to destroy the Syrian kingdom, to lead the inhabitants away captive to Kir, and to slay King Rezin (Ch2 28:5-9). Then he records how Ahaz, on a visit which he paid the Assyrian king in Damascus, saw an altar which so delighted him, that he sent a pattern of it to the priest Urijah, with the command to build a similar altar for the temple of the Lord, on which Ahaz on his return not only sacrificed himself, but also commanded that all the sacrifices of the congregation should be offered. And finally, he recounts how he laid violent hands on the brazen vessels of the court, and caused the outer covered sabbath way to be removed into the temple because of the king of Assyria (Ch2 28:10-18); and then the history of Ahaz is concluded by the standing formulae (Ch2 28:19, Ch2 28:20). The author of the Chronicle, on the contrary, depicts in holy indignation against the crimes of the godless Ahaz, how God punished him for his sins. 1. He tells us how God g…

There is not much more related here concerning Jotham than we had before, Kg2 15:32, etc. I. He reigned well. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord; the course of his reign was good, and pleasing to God, whose favour he made his end, and his word his rule, and (which shows that he acted from a good principle) he prepared his ways before the Lord his God (Ch2 27:6), that is, he walked circumspectly and with much caution, contrived how to shun that which was evil and compass that which was good. He looked before him, and cast his affairs into such a posture and method as made the regular management of them the more easy. Or he established or fixed his ways before the Lord, that is, he walked steadily and constantly in the way of his duty, was uniform and resolute in it: not like some of those that went before him, who, though they had some good in them, lost their credit by their inconstancy and inconsistency with themselves. They had run well, but something hindered them. It was not so with Jotham. Two things are observed here in his character: - 1. What was amiss in his father he amended in himself (Ch2 27:2): He did according to all that his father did well and wisely; howbeit he would not imitate him in which he did amiss; for he entered not into the temple of the Lord to burn incense as his father did, but took warning by his fate not to dare so presumptuous a thing. Note, We must not imitate the best men, and those we have the greatest veneration for, any further than they did well; but, on the contrary, their falls, and the injurious consequences of them, must be warnings to us to walk the more circumspectly, that we stumble not at the same stone that they stumbled at. 2. What was amiss in his people he could not prevail to amend: The people did yet…

27:1 After a co-regency of eleven years with his father, Uzziah (750–740 BC), Jotham became king in his own right and reigned five more years (740–735 BC). This represents the sixteen years mentioned in the text. Jotham lived at least four more years, for we read that Hoshea came to power in the northern kingdom “in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah” (2 Kgs 15:30). But Jotham’s son, Ahaz, had already begun a co-regency with Jotham. After Jotham’s sixteen official years, Ahaz began to rule in his father’s stead (see study note on 2 Kgs 16:1-2). However, Ahaz presumably had his official accession ceremony following his father’s death in 732 BC, so the author of 2 Chronicles reckons Ahaz’s official regnal years starting in 731 BC (see 2 Chr 28:1).