account by what we read on the Assyrian monuments. It will be remembered that the Syrian

conquest of Israelitish territory had begun during the reign of Jehu.*

* Comp. Vol. 6. of this History.

The Biblical notice of these successive conquests by Hazael (2 Kings 10:32, 33) is probably

somewhat general, and not confined only to the time of Jehu. But the records on the Assyrian

monuments show that Hazael was at war with the powerful empire of Assyria, defeated, and

obliged to entreat peace under humiliating conditions. They also record that Jehu had paid tribute

to the powerful king of Assyria - more strictly, that he had entered into a tributary alliance with

that empire.* When peace was concluded between Assyria and Hazael, the latter seems to have

turned his whole force against the kingdom of Israel as allied to Assyria. By a series of victories,

Hazael gradually possessed himself of the whole country east of the Jordan.

* See the inscriptions recording the Assyrian victories and the tribute of Jehu, in Schrader, u.s., pp.

Thence, during the reign of Jehoahaz, he extended his conquests over the Israelitish territory west

of the Jordan, till, in the judgment of God,* the army of the king of Israel, gathered together in

Samaria as the last stronghold, came to be reduced to,, fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten

thousand footmen."**

* The subject in 2 Kings 13:7 ("he") is Jehovah, and not Hazael.

** We note these precise details as marking precise and accurate documentary information.

The rest - in the expressive language of Scripture - "the king of Syria had destroyed," "and made

them as dust to trample upon" (lit. "to tread down") (2 Kings 13:7).*

* This is the correct rendering of the words.

And we again mark, as indicated in the previous Chapter, that it was two years after the accession

of Jehoahaz, viz., in "the three and twentieth year of King Jehoash" (2 Kings 12:6), during the full

progress of the Syrian conquest of Israel, when the restoration of the Temple was begun. We can

scarcely be mistaken in connecting this with a national reaction against what had taken place in the

north, and with fear of judgments such as had overtaken Israel. Lastly, we should notice, in final

explanation of the expedition of Hazael against Gath (2 Kings 12:17), which ultimately eventuated

in a march upon Jerusalem, that the Assyrian monuments everywhere indicate a tributary

dependence upon Assyria of the Philistine cities along the seacoast.

From this glimpse into the political history we turn to what throughout is t he main object of the

sacred writer, the indication of the religious causes which led up to these events. The Biblical text

seems here somewhat involved, in part from the mixture of remarks by the writer with the

historical notices extracted from existing documents. The following appears its real order. The

usual notice (2 Kings 13:1) of the accession of Jehoahaz, and of the duration of his reign is

followed by a general description of the character of that monarch (in ver. 2): as doing that which

was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and continuing the wrongful religious institutions of Jeroboam.

Then we have in ver. 3 a notice of the Divine punishment of these sins in the surrender of Israel to

Hazael, king of Syria, and to Ben-Hadad, his son and successor. The following verse (ver. 4)

marks the repentance and prayer of Jehoahaz, occasioned by these calamities, and God's gracious

answer, although not in the immediate present (see vers. 22-25). Verses 5 and 6 form a

parenthesis. Possibly it may begin with ver. 4. The reference to the wars of Ben-Hadad in ver. 3,

which can only apply to the time of Jehoahaz,* may be rather of a general character (see vers. 22

and 25).