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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
28:1-27 Ahaz. The Chronicler's account of Ahaz's reign () incorporates the introduction and conclusion from 2 Kings 16, and follows the same topics, but otherwise the details are different. The Chronicler amplifies the negative assessment of Ahaz in 2 Kings, showing how his apostasy led Judah astray and brought it to ruin. The charge that Ahaz was "very unfaithful" (Hb. ma‘ol ma‘al, 2 Chron. 28:19; see v. 21) exceeds even that made against Saul (1 Chron. 10:13). Yet the dark picture of Judah's decline is mitigated somewhat by the action of its northern kinsmen, who show a measure of repentance and responsiveness to the prophetic word (2 Chron. 28:8-15).
28:1 he did not do what was right. See note on 2 Kings 16:1-4.
28:2 metal images for the Baals. The Chronicler's addition (see 24:7). Baal worship was especially associated with Ahab's dynasty (1 Kings 16:31).
28:3 Valley of the Son of Hinnom. See 33:6 and Jer. 7:31. The Canaanite practice of child sacrifice is condemned in the strongest of terms in Lev. 20:1-5.
28:5-7 See 2 Kings 16:5-7 and Isa. 7:1-6. The Chronicler spells out that the attacks by Syria and Israel were acts of divine judgment because Ahaz and the people had forsaken the Lord. Although the coalition failed to capture Jerusalem, they evidently overran the countryside around the city, and the captives taken to Damascus were a harbinger of the exile to come (2 Chron. 36:20). On the numbers, see note on 1 Chron. 12:23-37.
28:8-15 Just as Syria has done (v. 5), Israel removes its captives with the intention of enslaving them. The intervention by Oded indicates that the northern tribes still belong to "the Israel of God," even though they are "in rebellion against the house of David" (10:19). The northern and southern tribes are relatives (lit., "brothers"), and both divisions of the people have aroused God to anger by their unfaithfulness (28:9, 11). The way back for both sides lies through repentance, which the leaders of Ephraim demonstrate in their response to Oded's words. Their admission of guilt (v. 13) refers primarily to the charges of rebellion made by Abijah in 13:4-12.
28:16-21 Ahaz's appeal here to Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria for help against the Edomites and Philistines encroaching on Judah's southern borders (see 2 Kings 16:6-7a) misfired. Although Judah received relief from its enemies (including the Syro-Ephraimite coalition, 2 Kings 16:9), it would end up as vassal to Assyria for (see Isa. 7:17; 8:7-8). Ahaz's misstep was in seeking help from the ungodly, rather than from God (see 1 Chron. 5:20; 12:18; 2 Chron. 25:8).
28:22-27 See 2 Kings 16:10-18. Judah reaches its lowest point before the exile through Ahaz's desecration of the temple and his suppression of worship according to the Law of Moses (2 Chron. 28:24; see 29:7, 18-19) in favor of pagan practices. The blasphemous worship of false gods is now officially promoted by a Davidic king. Although this will be reversed somewhat by the reforming kings Hezekiah (chs. 29-32) and Josiah (chs. 34-35), Judah is set on a course that will culminate in destruction and exile (see 28:5). Ahaz is denied burial in the royal tombs as a mark of God's judgment on his wickedness (see 21:20; 24:25; 26:23).
28:26 On the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel, see note on 1 Kings 14:19.
