2 Chronicles 28:8-15 And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brothers two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters… I. THE WARRIORS OF ISRAEL AND THE CAPTIVES OF JUDAH. (Ver. 8.) 1. The number of the captives. Two hundred thousand persons. (1) This, following upon a slaughter of one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers, showed the crushing nature of the blow which had fallen upon Judah. (2) It exemplified the horrors of war, especially amongst ancient peoples, with whom the deportation of vast hordes of a country's population was a familiar phenomenon. Cf. among the Jews the twenty thousand footmen taken by David from Hadadezer of Zobah (2 Samuel 8:4; 1 Chronicles 18:4), and the ten thousand Edomites captured by Amaziah (ch. 25:12); amongst the Assyrians the carrying away of the inhabitants of Samaria to Assyria by Tiglath-Pileser II. (2 Kings 15:29; cf. 'Records,' etc., 5:52) - "the population, the goods of its people (and the furniture)to the land of Assyria I sent," and the removal by Sargon II. of 27,280 of the leading inhabitants of Samaria to Gozan and Media ('Records,' etc., 7:28); and amongst the Egyptians the number of foreign peoples transported to the Nile valley as the result of successful campaigns, a number so great as with their descendants to compose in the time of Rameses Sesostris "a third, aud probably still more, of all the families of Egypt" (Brugsch, ' Egypt under the Pharaohs,' 2:104). (3) It illustrated the ease with which, when God willed it, a nation could be "minished and brought low" (Job 12:23; Psalm 107:39). (4) It attested the certainty and severity of God's judgments on account of sin, whether upon nations or individuals (Leviticus 26:17; Deuteronomy 32:30; 2 Chronicles 15:6). 2. The persons of the captives. (1) The brethren of the Israelites, i.e. their kinsmen; hence the wickedness of their conduct in enslaving not merely human beings, which was bad, but their own flesh and blood, which was worse, yea, was unnatural; and (2) of these, not the men who had fought against them, which might have been in some sort excusable, but, which was wholly indefensible, the women, with their sons and daughters, who were all alike innocent of offence in either causing or sustaining the war, and therefore should have been exempted from experiencing its miseries. 3. The destination of the captives. Samaria, in the Assyrian monuments Sa-mir-i-na (Schrader, 'Die Keilinschriften,' p. 191), the capital of the northern kingdom, built by Omri (1 Kings 16:24). II. THE WARRIORS OF ISRAEL AND THE PROPHET OF JEHOVAH. (Vers. 9-11.) 1. The prophet's name. Oded, "Setting up." The name of the father of Azariah who went out to meet Asa (2 Chronicles 15:2). 2. The prophet's designation. A prophet of Jehovah, not of the false Jehovah worshipped in Samaria under the image of a calf (Hosea 8:5, 6), but of the true Jehovah, which shows that, apostate as the northern kingdom had become, it was not entirely destitute of true religion-even there Jehovah having at least prophets who witnessed for him, like Hosea (Hosea 1:1) and Oded, if not also adherents who worshipped him. 3. The prophet's courage. He went out to meet the hosts of Israel as they returned from their successful campaign, and warned them of the wickedness of which they had been guilty; as Jehu, the son of Hanani, had met Jehoshaphat returning from Ramoth-Gilead (2 Chronicles 19:2), and a prophet of Jehovah had confronted Amaziah coming from the slaughter of the Edomites (2 Chronicles 25:15). 4. The prophet's address. (1) A reminder that the victory they had obtained had been due not so much (if at all) to their superior military skill or bravery, as to the fact that Jehovah had been angry with Judah, and had delivered her armies into their hands (ver. 9; of. Nehemiah 9:27). (2) A rebuke for the want of pity they had shown towards their brethren upon whom the anger of God had fallen - a circumstance which should have moved their hearts to clemency (Job 19:21), but which had rather lent intensity to their rage. (3) An accusation that they purposed to make bondmen and bondwomen of the sons and daughters of Judah and Jerusalem - which, besides being an act of cruelty, was likewise an act of folly, since it could not be supposed Jehovah's favour was finally withdrawn from Judah; and an act of presumption, inasmuch as they themselves had not been blameless in the matter of apostatizing from Jehovah, and, if the truth were told, were as much deserving to be punished as their southern brethren and sisters. (4) An appeal to their conscience to say whether what he now affirmed was not correct: "Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God?" Their idolatry was as great as that of Judah had been. Their pitiless butchery of their brethren was crying up against them to heaven. Their bringing away of these innocent women and children was an iniquity which filled up the measure of their guilt (ver. 10). (5) An exhortation to desist from their criminal intention to enslave their brethren, and to send back the captives they had brought, with all convenient speed and with due expressions of reset (ver. 11). (6) An argument to quicken their movements in the path of duty; if they did not, the fierce wrath of Jehovah, which was already on them, would engulf them. The speech, which was a model in respect of compact brevity, lofty eloquence, clear statement, pathetic appeal, resistless logic, and which must have been delivered with combined boldness and persuasiveness, made a deep impression. III. THE WARRIORS OF ISRAEL AND THE PRINCES OF EPHRAIM, (Vers. 12-14.) 1. The names of the princes. Azariah (2 Chronicles 15:2; 2 Chronicles 22:6), the son of Johanan, "Jehovah is gracious;" Berechiah, "Whom Jehovah hath blessed" (1 Chronicles 6:39), son of Meshillemoth, "Retribution;" Jehizkiah, the same as Hezekiah, "The might of Jehovah," son of Shallum, "Retribution" (2 Kings 15:10); and Amasa, "Burden," the name of one of Absalom's captains (2 Samuel 17:25), the son of Hadlai, "Rest." These princes were obviously at the head of the Israelitish congregation (ver. 14). 2. The action of the princes. They joined the Prophet Oded in resisting the introduction by the soldiers of the captives into the city. That people is fortunate whose leaders are courageous to oppose them in evil-doing, and to point out to them the path of duty. 3. The speech of the princes. (1) A refusal to admit the captives into the city (ver. 13); (2) a confession that already they, as a people, had transgressed against Jehovah, and incurred his wrath; and (3) an intimation that the course the soldiers were pursuing was such as would increase their sin and trespass, and expose them to a heavier charge of guilt. 4. The success of the princes. "The armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation" (ver. 14). Happy is that community in which the wise and good counsels of its leaders prevail. IV. THE PRINCES OF ISRAEL AND THE CAPTIVES OF JUDAH. (Ver. 15.) 1. The kindness of the princes. The above-named (ver. 12), with other famous and distinguished leaders, to whom a similar designation was customarily applied (1 Chronicles 12:31; 1 Chronicles 16:41; 2 Chronicles 31:19), rose up from their seats of honour in the midst of the assembly, stood forth as the representatives of the people and received at the hands of the soldiers the crowd of captives; out of the spoil, which, as usual, consisted in garments, flocks, and herds, with other articles of value (2 Chronicles 15:14, 15; 2 Chronicles 20:25), clothed and shod all amongst them who were naked, giving them to eat and drink (2 Kings 6:22, 23); anointed with oil such of them as had wounds (Luke 10:34); set the feeble upon asses, of which animals there was a plentiful supply (1 Chronicles 27:30; Ezra 2:67) - a lively picture of the pity and compassion which should ever be shown towards the unfortunate, suffering, and miserable, especially by the people of God (Isaiah 58:6, 7; Job 30:25; Luke 10:37; Luke 14:12; 1 Timothy 5:10; 1 John 3:17). 2. The return of the captives. Thus generously treated by the princes, they were sent back, those able to travel by themselves, those requiring to ride accompanied by conductors, who journeyed with them as far as Jericho, the city of palm trees (Judges 3:13), distant from Jerusalem about five and a half hours walk, situated in the tribe of Benjamin, and belonging to the kingdom of Judah. Arrived thither, they were handed over to their brethren, after which their conductors returned to Samaria. LESSONS. 1. The sin of slavery. 2. The function of prophecy. 3. The beauty of charity. - W. Parallel Verses KJV: And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. |
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