and to this all the filth of the city was order to consume it. Hence it has been considered a type of hell; and in this sense it is used in the New Testament. Ver. 11. וַיִּשְׁבַּת אֶת־הַפּוּסִים אֲשֶׁר נָתְנוּ carried, and perpetual fires were kept up in מַלְכֵי יְהוּדָה לַשֶׁמֶשׁ מִבָּא בֵית־יְהוָה אֶל־לִשְׁכַּת נְתַן־מֶלֶךְ הַפָּרִים אֲשֶׁר בַּפַּרְוָרִים וְאֶת־מַרְכְּבוֹת הַשֶׁמֶשׁ שָׂרָף It is here said that Josiah defiled this place βασιλεῖς Ἰούδα τῷ ἡλίῳ ἐν τῇ εἰσόδῳ οἴκου κυρίου εἰς τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον Νάθαν βασιλέως τοῦ εὐνούχου ἐν φαρουρίμ· καὶ τὸ ἅρμα τοῦ λíov KaTÉKavσev πupì, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire. He destroyed the image of Molech, and so pol- καὶ κατέκαυσε τοὺς ἵππους οὓς ἔδωκαν luted the place where he stood, or his temple, that it was rendered in every way abominable. The rabbins say that Topheth had its name from, a drum, because instruments of this kind were used to drown the cries of the Au. Ver.-11 And he took away the children that were put into the burning horses that the kings of Judah had given to arms of Molech, to be scorched to death. the sun, at the entering in of the house of This may be as true as the following defini- the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech tion: "Topheth, or the valley of the son of the chamberlain [or, eunuch, or, officer] Hiunom, was a place near Jerusalem, where which was in the suburbs, and burned the the filth and offal of the city were thrown, chariots of the sun with fire. and where a constant fire was kept up to consume the wretched remains of executed criminals. It was a human shambles, a public chopping-block, where the arms and legs of men and women were quartered off by thousands." Query, On what authority do such descriptions rest? Gesen.-I. pp. Spittle. II. With the art. n, Tophet, pr. n. of a place in the valley of the sons of Hinnom (see in lett. a), near Jerusalem, noted for the human sacrifices there offered to Moloch and finally abolished by Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 10; Jer. vii. 32; xix. 6, 13, 14. nphan nina Jer. vii. 31 high places of Tophet, i. e., artificial mounds, tumuli, on which those sacrifices were offered. As to the etymology of the name, it is commonly referred to r. to spit, and rendered "place to be spit upon," i. e., to be abhorred; but it seems to have borne this name with all, even among the idolaters themselves. Better, therefore, with Noldius in Vind., p. 948, with Lorsbach, and others, to regard p as i. q. T q. v. denoting place of burning sc. of dead Ged., Booth.-Ben-Hinnom. Chamberlain [or, eunuch, or officer]. See notes on 1 Kings xxii. 9, p. 865. Pool. The horses; either, 1. The carved or graven horses, to which were adjoined a graven chariot, in which there might be the picture of the sun, which the heathens used to represent in this manner. Or rather, 2. Living horses; for, 1. Such the eastern nations used to consecrate to the sun, to signify the swiftness of his motion. 2. These horses are mentioned apart from the chariots, and are said to be given to the sun, which is not said of the chariots; and to be taken away, when the chariots were burnt, &c.; and a certain place is here allotted to the horses, not to the chariots. To the sun; either to be sacrificed to the sun; or to drag those chariots in which the kings, or some other in their stead, and by their appointment, went forth every morning to worship the rising sun; for both these were the customs of the Armenians and Persians, as Xenophon testifies. At the entering in of the house of the Lord, i. e., by the gate of the outward court of the temple; for the courts are oft contained under the name of the house or temple. The chamberlain, or officer, to whom the care of these horses was Houb.-10, filiorum Ennom. Ma- committed. In the suburbs; either, 1. Of sora, ..., filii [sic Dathe]; sic lego in Codice Orat. 53. Ita etiam legebant Ve teres. Pass through the fire. See notes on Lev. xviii. 21, pp. 458–460. Molech. See notes on 1 Kings xi. 7, p. 807. See the city of David; or rather, of the temple; imagine they were represented in the shape of griffins, as the famous M. Spoon thought (see Dr. Hyde, De Relig. Vet. Pers., p. 117). Bp. Patrick.-11 He took away.] That is, | Syris, cap. 8), "images of horses and he destroyed, as the Hebrew word signifies, chariots," made of some metal or other, ver. 5, where we translate it, "he put down the chemarim;" that is, destroyed or slew those priests, as Bochartus interprets it. So Lev. xxvi. 6, we translate the same word, "I will rid evil beasts out of the land;" that is, destroy them. The LXX here translate it KaTékavσe, "he burnt" the horses; as before, KaTékavσe xwμnpiμ, "he burnt the priests." Though, perhaps, in both places it should be κaréπavσe, “he made to cease,' as the Hebrew word literally signifies. Ged.-11 He took away the horses which the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, and which were at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the apartment of Nathanmelech the eunuch, in the suburbs: and, &c. Booth.-11 And he took away the horses which the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, which were at the entrance of the Had given to the sun.] That is, had con- house of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nasecrated to the sun; as Lev. xx. 2, they are than-melech, the eunuch, which was in the said to give their children to Moloch. A suburbs, &c. great number of authors tell us, that among Gesen.- 1 Chron. xxvi. 18, and are the פַּרְוִילִין and פַּרְוָרִין .Targ. and Talm several nations these animals were sacred to plur. D 2 Kings xxiii. 11, prob. the the sun (as hawks and some other creatures open porticos surrounding the courts of the were), because of their swiftness in their temple, from which was the entrance to the course. But it is uncertain whether they cells or chambers, i. The form were kept to be sacrificed to the sun (as they corresponds to Pers., olaja jaja, were among the Massagetæ, Persians, Armenians, and other people mentioned by ; also, ; which signify a Bochartus), or only to be led forth in pomp summer house, or rather an apartment open (as some of the Jews speak) every morning on all sides to the light and air. In the to meet the rising sun. Or, as others take it, the worshippers of the sun got upon these suburbs or places adjacent to a city. horses early in the morning, and rode out Prof. Lee., pl. m. once, 2 Kings to adore the sun at its rising (see Hierozoicon, xxiii. 11. The LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac par. i., lib. xi., cap. 10). leave this word untranslated, the last having Which was in the suburbs.] So the Targuma for the second. Modern interpreters interprets the word parvarim; which most translate it suburbs, but on what good authotranslations retain as the name of a place, rity it does not appear. Gesenius goes to unto which the street in which these horses the Persian, and considers it as compounded were kept reached; from the chamber of Nathan-melech. He was the principal officer, perhaps, that looked after them: and had the oversight of all those stables which were built from the temple gate to Parvarim. And perhaps he rode out himself every morning upon one of them, to salute the rising sun in the king's name. ހ ވ ހ of, a wall, rampart, and, possessing. But surely the Jews would be under no necessity to borrow a word to express what was outside the wall; and, besides this, the passage requires a place near the Temple, as Bochart has rightly observed. If it is not a Semitic word, it is probably connected in signification with the sun or its worship. And burned the chariots of the sun with fire.] The ancients fancied the sun itself was carried about in a chariot (as Bochart obNow the Persian, denotes flying, swift, serves in the place above mentioned), and therefore chariots as well as horses were and would be a suitable epithet for the horses dedicated to it. Which he makes an argu- of the sun, being dedicated &s Taxúτarol Tậ ment, that they were not mere brazen, silver, TaxνTáTO; and we might then translate the at אֶל־לִשְׁכַּת נְתַן־מֶלֶךְ הַפָּרִים אֲשֶׁר בַּפַּרְוָרִים ,or golden statues of horses that are here clause meant; but real living horses to draw those the chamber of Nathan-melek, the eunuch, chariots (see Vossius, de Orig. et Prog. Idol., who was over the swift (horses). lib. xi., cap. 4). Some of those who think they were only imagines equorum et quadrigarum (as Selden speaks, Syntag. ii. De Diis Houb.-11 Interdixitque, ne equi illi, quos reges Judæ soli donabant, domum Domini, in ædem Nathan-melech, eunuchi, qui in Pharurim erat, admitterentur, currusque solis igne combussit. 11 Which Solomon the king of Israel had builded.] It is not to be doubted but these : Potius, ut habent Codices detestable idols had been taken away by tres Orat. ne ingrederentur. Ita Chaldæus, such religious kings as Asa, Jehoshaphat, , ab ingressione; etiam Clericus, ab and Hezekiah; but they were restored again introitu. Alii, in introitu, quanquam vetante by their impious successors, in the very præpositione. Quod si non est præ- same place, and the same figure with those positio, habet potius exitum, quam in- ancient ones; and so are here called those troitum..., in Pharurim. Codex Orat. that Solomon made, because he was the first 42. o, sine altero 7. Codex autem author of them [so Pool], or at least per53., per Daleth, ultima in syllaba, mitted them to be made by his wives, and ut legebat Syrus. connived at their worship, as R. Levi thinks. Commentaries and Essays.―on. mount of olives, so called on account of this profanation, by a little change of the letters But it may be queried, whether it stood so originally, or was altered afterwards for the sake of the allusion, as the Chaldee reads, mons olivarum, and This, among many other instances, affords a suspicion of wilful corruption. Dathe.-11 Sustulit quoque equos, quos reges Judææ soli consecraverant ad introitum templi Jove prope conclave Nathanmelechi, aulici hominis, in Parvarim. a) autem solis igne combussit. est. a) Hebr. . המשהה Currus from quid significet, incertum Multi per suburbium explicant. Alii cum interpretibus antiquis habent pro nomine proprio loci, qui templo vicinus fuerit; cf. Bochartus in Hieroz., p. i., lib. ii., cap. 10, p. 175. Ver. 13. a .הר המשחה IIebrew IS. reads The Gesen.- pp. part. Hiph. (r. ) destroying, a destroyer; hence Subst. 1. destruction. 2. a snare, trap, Jer. v. 26, comp. ii. ,Hence, an ambush, i. e., troops in ambush אֲשֶׁר מִימִין לְהַר הַמַּשְׁחִית אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה mount of ,הַר הַמַשְׁחִית Sam. xiv. 15. Also 1 שְׁלֹמֹה מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְעַשְׁתִּרֶת וּשְׁקֶץ mount Olivet, on account of the idols there צִידֹנִים וְלִכְמוֹשׁ שְׁקֶץ מוֹאָב וּלְמַלְכָּם worshipped, a snare and destruction to the תּוֹעֲבַת בְּנֵי־עַמּוֹן טְמֵא הַמֶּלֶךְ : destruction, or snare-mountain; spoken of καὶ τὸν οἶκον τὸν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον Ἱερουσαλὴμ τὸν ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ Μοσθαθ ὃν ᾠκοδόμησε Σαλωμών βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ τῇ ̓Αστάρτη προσοχθίσματι Σιδωνίων, καὶ τῷ Χαμὼς προσοχθίσματι Μωάβ, καὶ τῷ Μολόχ βδελύγματι υἱῶν ̓Αμμὼν, ἐμίανεν ὁ βασιλεύς. Au. Ver.-13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption [that is, the mount of Olives], which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. people; also of Babylon, for the same Houb.-13 Contaminavit etiam rex aras, 13: Nos, post Clericum, montis olivarum, ex radice n, ungere; quia forte oleo, quod nascebatur in monte Oliveti, idololatræ excelsorum locorum in suos usus utebantur. In re incerta conjecturæ indulgendum, ut etiam indulgent, qui convertunt, perditionis. Jerusalem. pp. 56, 59. See notes on Josh. x. 1, See notes on Judg. ii. 13, See notes on 1 Kings xi. 5, Bp. Patrick.-13 Mount of corruption.] That is, mount Olivet (1 Kings xi. 2), which p. 166. was anciently called harmischah, the mount Chemosh. of unction; because of the olives that grew p. 33. there in great plenty; but by way of con- Milcom. tempt and scorn, was called by the prophets p. 807. harmaschith, the "mount of corruption," because of the idols that were placed there, Au. Ver.-15 Moreover the altar that whereby the people were corrupted in their religion. Ver. 15. was at Beth-el, and the high place which Au. Ver.-17 Then he said, What title is that that I see, &c. excelsum. Ex eo loco colligi potest, fuisse καὶ εἶπε, τί τὸ σκόπελον ἐκεῖνο, ὃ ἐγὼ aliquando excelsa lignea, seu locum editum, óp, K.T.λ. in modum theatri, fulcris nixum ligneis. Nam si excelsa fuissent tantum terræ aggeres, necesse fuisset hæc comburi, et in cineres redigi. Cæterum m sunt aliquando are ipsæ locorum excelsorum, etsi hoc versu ara distinguitur ab excelso. non Ver. 16. What title. Bp. Horsley.-Rather, "What dry heap." Gesen.- m. (r. pp. to set up) a pillar, cippus, a short column, as being set up; either sepulchral, 2 Kings xxiii. 17; Ez. xxxix. 15; or as a way-mark, guide, Jer. xxxi. 21.-Chald. id. Syr. Log, Ver. 19. καὶ ἐξένευσεν Ἰωσίας καὶ εἶδε τοὺς τάφους τοὺς ἐκεῖ ἐν τῇ πόλει, καὶ ἀπέστειλε, καὶ ἔλαβε τὰ ὀστᾶ ἐκ τῶν τάφων, καὶ κατέκαυσεν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, καὶ ἐμίανεν αὐτὸ, κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα κυρίου, ὃ ἐλάλησεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν τῷ ἑστᾶναι Ιεροβοὰμ ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον· καὶ ἐπιστρέψας ᾖρε τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν τάφον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ λαλήσαντος τοὺς λόγους τούτους. Au. Ver.-16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. και γε πάντας τοὺς οἴκους τῶν ὑψηλῶν τοὺς ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι Σαμαρείας, οὓς ἐποίησαν βασιλεῖς Ἰσραὴλ παροργίζειν Κύριον, ἀπέστησεν Ἰωσίας, κ.τ.λ. Au. Ver.-19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el. High places. See notes on 1 Kings iii. 3, pp. 719–721. In the cities of Samaria-to provoke the LORD. Ken. This verse is now remarkably de- Houb.-o, in urbibus Samaria. fective, in the Heb. text; but is happily Ita legitur Lib. i., cap. xiii. 32, ubi Græci complete in the Greek version, supported by habent in Samaria. Non malè eo loco in the old Hexaplar Syr. MS. in this manner, urbibus; non item hìc, ubi meliùs r, in And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the urbe. Nam tangi unam urbem Samariam sepulchres that were there in the mount; demonstrat illud o, ibi, quod legitur and sent, and took the bones out of the se- ver. 20. Nempe id adverbium notare solet pulchres, and burnt them upon the altar, and locum unum, non plures. Non semel polluted it: according to the word of the scriptum fuit mendosè, pro : vide dicta Lord, which the man of God proclaimed ad Jud. xii. 7...D, ad irritandum. [when Jeroboam stood by the altar, at the Omnes Veteres, præter Chaldæum addunt, feast. And (king Josiah) turning about, Dominum; nempe legunt, quod nomen , להכעיס flagitat verbum activum quo casu utatur. Facilè omissum fuerit nomen Ver. 20. Au. Ver.-20 And he slew [or, sacrificed] all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. High places. See notes on 1 Kings iii. 3, pp. 719-721. Bp. Patrick.-25 He doth not compare him with David and Hezekiah (as Procopius Gazæus here notes), but with other pious kings, such as Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Jotham; who were far inferior to him in piety. And Hezekiah himself was not so exact, and did not make such a thorough search as he did, after all idolatrous practices. The nation also was so much corrupted since his days, by his son, Manasseh, who reigned a long time, that it made the work of reformation more difficult in the time of Josiah. Yet in some regard Hezekiah excelled him ; Pool. The priests of the high places; and therefore the same character is given of either, 1. The priests which Jeroboam had him xviii. 5, which is here given of Josiah; made of the meanest of the people, whom because of his trust in God, in the time of he slew, both for their presumptuous usur- his greatest distress, for which he was very pation of that sacred office, which of itself eminent. But as to repentance, Josiah was was punishable with death by God's law, most exemplary. Numb. iii. 10, and for their idolatry. Or, rather, 2. The priests of Baalim; by comparing this verse with the former, where speaking of the same high places, he doth not say, which Jeroboam made, as is usual when he speaks of the high places of the calves; but, which the other kings of Israel made, who were divers of them worshippers of Baal; and by considering the parallel place, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 4, where it is said, they brake down the altars of Baalim, &c. Ver. 24. Ver. 28. Au. Ver.-21 Book of the Chronicles. See notes on 1 Kings xiv. 19, p. 824. Ver. 29. Au. Ver.-29 In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him. Pool. When he had seen him, i. e., when he fought with him, or in the first onset [so Ged., Booth.]. Thus fighting is called a looking in the face, 2 Kings xiv. 8. Ver. 30. καὶ γε τοὺς θελητὰς, καὶ τοὺς γνωριστὰς, καὶ τὰ θεραφὶν, καὶ τὰ εἴδωλα, κ.τ.λ. Au. Ver.-24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images [or teraphim, Gen. xxxi. 19], and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, &c. Familiar spirits, wizards. See notes on Levit. xx. 6, vol. i., pp. 469, 470. Images. See notes on Gen. xxxi. 19, vol. i., pp. 50, 51. Idols. See notes on Levit. xxvi. 30, vol. i., pp. 499, 500. Ver. 25. Au. Ver.—25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and καὶ ἐπεβίβασαν αὐτὸν οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ νεκρὸν ἐκ Μαγεδδώ, κ.τ.λ. Au. Ver.-30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre, &c. Dead. Houb., Horsley, Clarke, Ged., Booth.Dying. The word should here be considered as a participle, dying, for it is certain he was not dead; he was mortally wounded at Megiddo, was carried in a dying state to Jerusalem, and there he died and was buried. See 2 Chron. xxxv. 24.-Dr. A. Clarke. Ver. 33. וַיַּאַסְרֵהוּ פַרְעֹה גְלָה בְרִבְלָה בְּאֶרֶץ with all his might, according to all the law ממלך קרי of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. |