2 Chronicles 36:1
Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.
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EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)
XXXVI.

THE REIGN OF JEHOAHAZ (2Chronicles 36:1-4). (Comp. 2Kings 23:30-35; 3 Esdr. 1:32-36.)

(1) Then.And.

The people of the land took Jehoahaz.—Comp. 2Chronicles 26:1; 2Chronicles 33:25. Jehoahaz or Shallum was not the firstborn (1 Chron. iii 15). See Notes on 2Kings 23:30, with which this verse agrees.

2 Chronicles 36:1. The people of the land took Jehoahaz, &c. — The principal contents of this chapter are explained in the notes on 2 Kings 23:31, and 24., and 25., to which the reader is referred. What is peculiar to this chapter shall be noticed here.36:1-21 The ruin of Judah and Jerusalem came on by degrees. The methods God takes to call back sinners by his word, by ministers, by conscience, by providences, are all instances of his compassion toward them, and his unwillingness that any should perish. See here what woful havoc sin makes, and, as we value the comfort and continuance of our earthly blessings, let us keep that worm from the root of them. They had many times ploughed and sowed their land in the seventh year, when it should have rested, and now it lay unploughed and unsown for ten times seven years. God will be no loser in his glory at last, by the disobedience of men. If they refused to let the land rest, God would make it rest. What place, O God, shall thy justice spare, if Jerusalem has perished? If that delight of thine were cut off for wickedness, let us not be high-minded, but fear.The narrative runs parallel with 2 Kings marginal reference) as far as 2 Chronicles 36:13. The writer then emits the events following, and substitutes a sketch in which the moral and didactic element preponderates over the historical. CHAPTER 36

2Ch 36:1-4. Jehoahaz, Succeeding, Is Deposed by Pharaoh.

1. the people of the land took Jehoahaz—Immediately after Josiah's overthrow and death, the people raised to the throne Shallum (1Ch 3:15), afterwards called Jehoahaz, in preference to his older brother Eliakim, from whom they expected little good. Jehoahaz is said (2Ki 23:30) to have received at Jerusalem the royal anointing—a ceremony not usually deemed necessary, in circumstances of regular and undisputed succession. But, in the case of Jehoahaz, it seems to have been resorted to in order to impart greater validity to the act of popular election; and, it may be, to render it less likely to be disturbed by Necho, who, like all Egyptians, would associate the idea of sanctity with the regal anointing. He was the youngest son of Josiah, but the popular favorite, probably on account of his martial spirit (Eze 19:3) and determined opposition to the aggressive views of Egypt. At his accession the land was free from idolatry; but this prince, instead of following the footsteps of his excellent father, adopted the criminal policy of his apostatizing predecessors. Through his influence, directly or indirectly used, idolatry rapidly increased (see 2Ki 23:32).Jehoahaz succeeding is deposed by Pharaoh, and carried to Egypt, 2 Chronicles 36:1-4. Jehoiakim’s wicked reign; his captivity into Babylon, 2 Chronicles 36:5-8. Jehoiachin likewise, 2 Chronicles 36:9,10. Zedekiah’s wicked reign; his contempt of the prophet, and rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Chronicles 36:11-13. Jerusalem’s destruction, 2 Chronicles 36:14-21. The proclamation of Cyrus, 2 Chronicles 36:22,23.

The contents of this chapter, for the substance of them, are explained See Poole "2 Kings 23:31", &c.; also 2 Kings 24 2Ki 25; what is peculiar to it shall be here opened, so far as is necessary.

Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah,.... Of whose reign, and of the three following, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, and the account of them, from hence to the end of 2 Chronicles 36:13, what needs explanation or reconciliation; see Gill on 2 Kings 23:31, 2 Kings 23:32, 2 Kings 23:33, 2 Kings 23:34, 2 Kings 23:35, 2 Kings 23:36, 2 Kings 23:37, 2 Kings 24:5, 2 Kings 24:6, 2 Kings 24:8, 2 Kings 24:10, 2 Kings 24:17, 2 Kings 24:18 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Jerusalem.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Ch. 2 Chronicles 36:1-4 (= 1Es 1:34-38; 2 Kings 23:31-34). The Reign of Jehoahaz

1. the people of the land took] Cp. 2 Chronicles 26:1; 2 Chronicles 33:25.

Jehoahaz] Called “Shallum” in 1 Chronicles 3:15; Jeremiah 22:11. He was younger than Jehoiakim; 2 Chronicles 36:5.Verse 1. - The people of the land took Jehoahaz (see parallel, 2 Kings 23:30). The form of expression may indicate the hearty zeal of the nation for this chosen son of Josiah, who seems to have been not the eldest. In the next verse, as Revised Version, he is called Joahaz. In 1 Chronicles 3:15, as in the affecting passage Jeremiah 22:10-12, his name appears as Shallum. His mother's name was Hamutal, while the name of the mother of his immediate sue-cessor was Zebudah (2 Kings 23:31 and 2 Kings 23:36). But Josiah turned not his face from him, i.e., did not abandon his design, "but to make war against him he disguised himself." התהפּשׂ denotes elsewhere to disguise by clothing, to clothe oneself falsely (2 Chronicles 18:29; 1 Kings 20:38; 1 Kings 22:30), and to disfigure oneself (Job 30:18). This signification is suitable here also, where the word is transferred to the mental domain: to disfigure oneself, i.e., to undertake anything which contradicts one's character. During his whole reign, Josiah had endeavoured to carry out the will of God; while in his action against Pharaoh, on the contrary, he had acted in a different way, going into battle against the will of God.

(Note: Bertheau would alter התחפשׂ into התחזק, because the lxx, and probably also the Vulg., Syr., 3 Esr. 2 Chronicles 1:16, and perhaps also Josephus, have so read. But only the lxx have ἐκραταιώθη, Vulg. praeparavit, 3 Esr. ἐπεχείρει; so that for התחזק only the lxx remain, whose translation gives no sufficient ground for an alteration of the text. התחזק, to show oneself strong, or courageous, is not at all suitable; for the author of the Chronicle is not wont to regard enterprises undertaken against God's will, and unfortunate in their results, as proofs of physical or spiritual strength.)

As to the motive which induced Josiah, notwithstanding Necho's warning, to oppose him by force of arms, see the remark on 2 Kings 23:29. The author of the Chronicle judges the matter from the religious point of view, from which the undertaking is seen to have been against the will of God, and therefore to have ended in Josiah's destruction, and does not further reflect on the working of divine providence, exhibited in the fact that the pious king was taken away before the judgment, the destruction of the kingdom of Judah, broke over the sinful people. For further information as to the Valley of Megiddo, the place where the battle was fought, and on the death of Josiah, see 2 Kings 23:29. The העבירוּני, bring me forth (2 Chronicles 35:23), is explained in 2 Chronicles 35:24 : his servants took him, mortally wounded by an arrow, from the war-chariot, and placed him in a second chariot which belonged to him, and probably was more comfortable for a wounded man.

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