2 Chronicles 28:15

And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15) The men which . . . by name.—1Chronicles 12:31; 1Chronicles 16:41. Certain chiefs formally designated for the office, perhaps including those of 2Chronicles 28:12.

All that were naked.—Literally, and all their nakednesses they clad out of the spoil (ma’arummîm, “nakednesses,” here only).

(15) And arrayed . . . shod them.—And they clad them, and sandalled them. (For the miserable destitution of captives, see Isaiah 3:24; Isaiah 20:2; Isaiah 20:4, “naked and barefoot.”)

Anointed them (sûk, usually intransitive, e.g., 2Samuel 14:2). (Comp. Luke 7:38.) A different word (mashah) was used to express the ceremonial anointing of kings and priests.

Carried all the feeble of them upon asses.—Literally, led them on he-asses, to wit, every stumbling one. There would be many such, as the captives were mostly women and children.

To.—Beside.

The writer dwells with manifest pleasure upon the kindness shown by their repentant foes of the northern kingdom to these Jewish captives. He may have intended to suggest a lesson to the Samaritans of his own age, whose bitter hostility had proved so damaging to the cause of the restored exiles (Nehemiah 4:2; Nehemiah 4:7-8; Nehemiah 6:1-2 sqq.), and who, according to Rabbinical tradition, endeavoured to prejudice Alexander the Great against the commonwealth of Jerusalem (Talmud, Yoma, 69, A).

Some have supposed that our Lord had this passage in His mind when He uttered the parable of the Good Samaritan. The coincidences between the two stories are at any rate curious. (See Luke 10:30; Luke 10:33-34.)

The interposition of the Ephraite prophet Oded between the Ephraites and their Judæan captives is precisely parallel to that of the Judæan prophet Shemaiah between his people and the Ten Tribes, as related in 1Kings 12:22-24; and granting the truth of the one account, there can be no ground for suspecting the other.

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 28:15. The men expressed by name — Nominated and appointed by the heads of the people, to take care of the captives, and see them well treated, which they did even to a very high degree of humanity.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

28:1-27 The wicked reign of Ahaz in Judah. - Israel gained this victory because God was wroth with Judah, and made them the rod of his indignation. He reminds them of their own sins. It ill becomes sinners to be cruel. Could they hope for the mercy of God, if they neither showed mercy nor justice to their brethren? Let it be remembered, that every man is our neighbour, our brother, our fellow man, if not our fellow Christian. And no man who is acquainted with the word of God, need fear to maintain that slavery is against the law of love and the gospel of grace. Who can hold his brother in bondage, without breaking the rule of doing to others as he would they should do unto him? But when sinners are left to their own heart's lusts, they grow more desperate in wickedness. God commands them to release the prisoners, and they obeyed. The Lord brought Judah low. Those who will not humble themselves under the word of God, will justly be humbled by his judgments. It is often found, that wicked men themselves have no real affection for those that revolt to them, nor do they care to do them a kindness. This is that king Ahaz! that wretched man! Those are wicked and vile indeed, that are made worse by their afflictions, instead of being made better by them; who, in their distress, trespass yet more, and have their hearts more fully set in them to do evil. But no marvel that men's affections and devotions are misplaced, when they mistake the author of their trouble and of their help. The progress of wickedness and misery is often rapid; and it is awful to reflect upon a sinner's being driven away in his wickedness into the eternal world.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Jericho, which lies much farther from Samaria than many points of the territory of Judah, was perhaps selected because the captives had been carried off principally from this point; or because there may have been less danger of falling in with portions of Pekah's army on this than on the direct route.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15. the men which were expressed by name rose up—These were either the "heads of the children of Ephraim" (mentioned 2Ch 28:12), or some other leading individuals chosen for the benevolent office. Under their kindly superintendence, the prisoners were not only released, but out of the spoils were comfortably relieved with food and clothing, and conveyed as far as Jericho on their way back to their own homes. This is a beautiful incident, and full of interest, as showing that even at this period of national decline, there were not a few who steadfastly adhered to the law of God.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Which were expressed by name; which were appointed to take care about the management of this business.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the men that were expressed by name rose up,.... Either those before named, 2 Chronicles 28:12 as Jarchi, and so the Vulgate Latin version; or such as they pitched upon, nominated, and appointed:

and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them; put clothes on their backs, and shoes on their feet, who either were taken or carried away before they could put on their garments, or had been stripped of them:

and gave them to eat, and drink, and anointed them; not only fed them, being hungry and thirsty, but anointed them for refreshment after travelling; the Targum is, "washed them", from dirt and filth contracted by travelling:

and carried all the feeble of them on asses; women and children that were not able to walk afoot so far back again:

and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren; a city on the borders both of Judah and Israel, and famous for the number of palm trees near it, see Judges 1:16 in all which these inhabitants of Samaria acted the part of the good Samaritan, Luke 10:33,

then they returned to Samaria: the prophet, with the princes, and the army, and the whole congregation.

Geneva Study Bible

And the men which were {i} expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and {k} anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their {l} brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

(i) Whose name were rehearsed before, 2Ch 28:12.

(k) Either for their wounds or weariness.

(l) To them of the tribe of Judah.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

15. were expressed] R.V. have been expressed. The phrase is characteristic of the Chronicler; cp. 2 Chronicles 31:19; 1 Chronicles 12:31; 1 Chronicles 16:41; Ezra 8:20.

took the captives] Render, took hold of the captives; i.e. succoured them; cp. Hebrews 2:16 (ἐπιλαμβάνεται = “he taketh hold of”).

to eat and to drink] Cp. 2 Kings 6:23.

anointed them] Part of the host’s duty; cp. Luke 7:44-46.

to Jericho] Jericho perhaps belonged to the northern kingdom; cp. 1 Kings 16:34; 2 Kings 2:4. A road led to it from Mount Ephraim past ‘Ain ed-Duk, G. A. Smith, Hist. Geography, pp. 266 ff.

the city of palm trees] Cp. Deuteronomy 34:3. The phrase is an alternative name of Jericho; cp. Jdg 1:16; Jdg 3:13. Date palms were common in Jericho down to the seventh century of the Christian Era. Bädeker, p. 164.

to their brethren] Lit. “to the side of their brethren.” Jericho probably belonged to the northern kingdom; see above.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - The men which were expressed by name; Revised Version, which have been expressed by name. This is the probable, yet hardly certain, meaning of the clause. My name should be "by names." And the meaning may be that "the men who were now specified by names for the work rose up," etc. Under any aspect, it was likely enough these would embrace the four who had already spoken so piously and seasonably (2 Chronicles 31:19; 1 Chronicles 12:31; 1 Chronicles 16:41). The captives; Hebrew, שִׁבְיָה; literally, the captivity; i.e. of course, the body of captives (Deuteronomy 21:11; Deuteronomy 32:42). Clothed... arrayed. These two renderings are both the same verb (לָבַשׁ), and even the same (hiph.) conjugation. The undisguised, apparent repetition in the Hebrew text, veiled and disguised in both the Authorized and Revised Versions, may perhaps be owing to the intentness of the narrative on saying, first, that all who were literally naked were clothed from their own captive spoil; and then, secondly, that all whosoever (dusty, dirty, tired, footsore) were clothed, in the sense of being fresh dressed. The eleven particulars of this verso are uncommonly graphic in the Hebrew text brevity of description. The verse may read thus: And the men appointed by their names rose up, and took the captives by the hand, and all of the naked of them they dressed from the very spoil, and dressed them (all), and shod them, and fed them, and gave them drink, and anointed them, and carried upon asses all the feeble ones, and brought them to Jericho, city of palms, to the very side of their brethren, and... returned to Samaria. These made their own so far the blessedness of them of Matthew 25:34-36. Jericho; i.e. well within their own land, to a fertile and shaded spot of it, with plenty of water, and whence probably all might most easily wend their ways to their own district and town, Jericho lay on the border of Benjamin. See Stanley's most interesting account ('Sinai and Palestine,' p. 805). 2 Chronicles 28:15

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And the men which were specified by name stood up." בשׁמות נקּבוּ אשׁר does not signify those before mentioned (2 Chronicles 28:12), but the men specified by name, distinguished or famous men (see on 1 Chronicles 12:31), among whom, without doubt, those mentioned in 2 Chronicles 28:12 are included, but not these alone; other prominent men are also meant. These received the prisoners and the booty, clothed all the naked, providing them with clothes and shoes (sandals) from the booty, gave them to eat and to drink, anointed them, and set all the feeble upon asses, and brought them to Jericho to their brethren (countrymen). The description is picturesque, portraying with satisfaction the loving pity for the miserable. מערמּים, nakedness, abstr. pro concr., the naked. לכל־כּושׁל is accus., and a nearer definition of the suffix in ynahaluwm: they brought them, (not all, but only) all the stumbling, who could not, owing to their fatigue, make the journey on foot. Jericho, the city of palm trees, as in Judges 3:13, in the tribe of Benjamin, belonged to the kingdom of Judah; see Joshua 18:21. Arrived there, the prisoners were with their brethren.

The speech of the prophet Oded is reckoned by Gesenius, on Isaiah, S. 269, among the speeches invented by the chronicler; but very erroneously so: cf. against him, Caspari, loc cit. i. S. 49ff. The speech cannot be separated from the fact of the liberation of the prisoners carried away from Judah, which it brought about; and that is shown to be a historical fact by the names of the tribal princes of Ephraim, who, in consequence of the warning of the prophet, took his part and accomplished the sending of them back; they being names which are not elsewhere met with (2 Chronicles 28:12). The spontaneous interference of these tribal chiefs would not be in itself impossible, but yet it is very improbable, and becomes perfectly comprehensible only by the statement that these men were roused and encouraged thereto by the word of a prophet. We must consequently regard the speech of the prophet as a fact which is as well established as that narrated in 2 Chronicles 28:12-15. "If that which is narrated in 2 Chronicles 28:12. be not invented, it would betray the greatest levity to hold that which is recorded in 2 Chronicles 28:9-11 to be incredible" (Casp.). And, moreover, the speech of the prophet does not contain the thoughts and phrases current with the author of the Chronicle, but is quite suitable to the circumstances, and so fully corresponds to what we should expect to hear from a prophet on such an occasion, that there is not the slightest reason to doubt the authenticity of its contents. Finally, the whole transaction is exactly parallel to the interference of the prophet Shemaiah in 1 Kings 12:22-24 (2 Chronicles 11:1-4), who exhorted the army of Judah, fully determined upon war with the ten tribes which had just revolted from the house of David, not to make war upon their brethren the Israelites, as the revolt had been brought about by God. "That fact at the beginning of the history of the two separated kingdoms, and this at the end of it, finely correspond to each other. In the one place it is a Judaean prophet who exhorts the men of Judah, in the other an Ephraimite prophet who exhorts the Ephraimites, to show a conciliatory spirit to the related people; and in both cases they are successful. If we do not doubt the truth of the even narrated in 1 Kings 12:22-24, why should that recorded in 2 Chronicles 28:9-11 be invented?" (Casp. S. 50.)