2 Chronicles 21

2 Chronicles 21:8-17 . EDOM AND LIBNAH REVOLT.

8-10. the Edomites revolted--That nation had been made dependent by David, and down to the time of Jehoshaphat was governed by a tributary ruler ( 1 Kings 22:47 , 2 Kings 3:9 ). But that king having been slain in an insurrection at home, his successor thought to ingratiate himself with his new subjects by raising the flag of independence [JOSEPHUS]. The attempt was defeated in the first instance by Jehoram, who possessed all the military establishments of his father; but being renewed unexpectedly, the Edomites succeeded in completely emancipating their country from the yoke of Judah ( Genesis 27:40 ). Libnah, which lay on the southern frontier and towards Edom, followed the example of that country.

12-15. there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet--That prophet's translation having taken place in the reign of Jehoshaphat [ 2 Kings 2:11 2 Kings 2:12 ], we must conclude that the name of Elijah has, by the error of a transcriber, been put for that of Elisha.

13-19. hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem . . . like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab--that is, introduced the superstitions and vices of Phoenician idolatry this account, as well as for his unnatural cruelties, divine vengeance was denounced against him, which was soon after executed exactly as the prophet had foretold. A series of overwhelming calamities befell this wicked king; for in addition to the revolts already mentioned, two neighboring tribes (see 2 Chronicles 17:11 ) made hostile incursions on the southern and western portions of his kingdom. His country was ravaged, his capital taken, his palace plundered, his wives carried off, and all his children slain except the youngest. He himself was seized with an incurable dysentery, which, after subjecting him to the most painful suffering for the unusual period of two years, carried him off, a monument of the divine judgment. To complete his degradation, his death was unlamented, his burial unhonored by his subjects. This custom, similar to what obtained in Egypt, seems to have crept in among the Hebrews, of giving funeral honors to their kings, or withholding them, according to the good or bad characters of their reign.