eceffors; fo that his reign proved troublesome and unuccessful, and ended in a violent death: Jotham was Jotham wenty-five years old when his father died; he was a wife king of nd pious prince, and appears to have inherited all his Judah ather's virtues, without any of his vices; and was bleffed with extraordinary success. Pekah, having made a league vith Rezin king of Syria, made an attempt againft Juah; but was foon forced to go back, and defend his own erritories against Tiglath-pilefer king of Affyria, who had nvaded the land of Naphtali, taken the moft confiderable towns of it, and carried that whole tribe captive into is own kingdom; whilft Jotham gained feveral confiderble advantages against his neighbours, especially against the Ammonites, whom he brought under a yearly tribute of 100 talents of filver, 10,000 measures of wheat, and he fame quantity of barley; as we have feen elsewhere P. At length, having repaired and beautified the temple, forified the city, and done many other public acts, Jotham Year of lied in peace, after he had reigned fixteen years, and was the flood ucceeded by his fon Ahaz. As for Pekah, after he had 1609. ad the mortification to fee one whole tribe torn from Bef. Chr. im by a foreign power, and his kingdom, during the last en years of his reign, reduced into anarchy and rebellion, e was murdered and fucceeded by Hofhea the son of Elah, in the twentieth year of his reign, and about hree years after Jotham's death. 739 HOWEVER, he was more fuccefsful, during those three aft years, againft Ahaz, Jotham's unworthy fon, whose mpieties made his reign as unfortunate and inglorious, as hat of his father had been glorious and fuccefsful. He was scarce feated on the throne, before his kingdom was nvaded by the joint-forces of the kings of Ifrael and Syria. Ahaz was then under the utmost confternation, Ahaz's it the news of two fuch powerful enemies coming up idolatrous gainst him; and feems to have expected nothing lefs and unfuc han the total diffolution of the Jewish monarchy; when cessful Ifaiah the fon of Amos (I), who had begun to prophefy reign. even • 2 Chron. xxvii. 5. P See before, vol. ii. p. 148. 2 Kings xv. paff. 2 Chron. xxvii. per tot. See alfo USSER. an. fub A. M. 3245. and the margin of our Bible on 2 Kings xv. 30. (I) Isaiah, called from the womb to be a prophet (60), and endowed with fingular cou (60) Vid. Ifai. xlix. I, &feq. rage and eloquence for that im- many of Cup from the latter end of Uzziah's reign, came • Ibid. vii. 1, 2, & feq. 2 Kings xv. * See Ifai. i. I. many Chriflians, to have been (K) This we take to r much more natural fenie i that prophecy, than to m pole, as fome have done t that fuch a miraculos cic was really born in Abex's. to affure bim of the promis deliverance: for as there is ra the leaft mention of fuch an e traordinary birth; foneir do we fee, that there was 20 neceffity for it, in order to mi vince the defponding king, w could not be ignorant of t prophecy of Jacob, Tha ↑ fceptre should not depart m Judah — till Shiloh zas (65); much less that he wi fpring of the lineage of vid. But what ftaggered for faith, and made him fea, t the regal power was goin depart from his family, that his two enemies had ca bined to fet a ftranger upon throne (66). All, theret that was wanting to difpel: No fooner had the first part of the prophecy been verified, and the city been delivered from the impending ruin, than the impious Abaz gave himself up to the vileft impieties and idolatries, in which he far outwent the very worft of his predeceffors; till GOD was pleafed at laft to give him up to his two grand enemies. Rezin, to make himself amends for his ill fuccefs against Jerufalem, went and recovered Eloth, a confiderable fea-port town upon the Red-Sea, which Uzziah had taken from him; he repaired and fortified it, drove the Jews out of it, and peopled it with his Syrian fubjects; and from that time the Jews never could retake it from his fucceffors. What havock he made in his territories, we have already partly feen in the Syrian history ». THE king of Ifrael was ftill more inveterate and fuccessful, and it is not eafy to fay how far he might have carried on his conquefts against him, had not a prophet been fent from GOD to put a timely ftop to them. He 4 great had already killed in one fingle battle 120,000 of his flaughter braveft fubjects, befides Maafeiah, Ahaz's fon, and fome of bis fubof the nobleft that were next his royal perfon; and had jess. 2 2 Chron. xxviii. 3, & feq. before, vol. ii. p. 315. prefent fears about it, was for the prophet to affure him from GOD, that this Shiloh, promifed to Judah and David, who was to forerun the total excifion of the Jewish polity, was to be born in a miraculous manner, and with a divine character; and other remarkable circumftances, fuch as, he might I be eafily fatisfied, had not as yet happened in his kingdom. As for that part of the prophecy, which is commonly urged on the other fide, namely, Before this wonderful child fball know good from evil, the land which thou abborreft ball be forfaken of both her kings (67); we think, that, if it be rightly understood,it will rather confirm our sense of the pro- kotz, not abborrest, as our likewife taken 200,000 captives, whom they were carr ing away to Samaria; when Oded, that was the prophe: name, ftopped them fhort, and afked them, whether the did not think it enough to have made fuch a horrid 2: univerfal flaughter of their brethren, unless they carric away a much greater number into flavery. He added, th though the idolatries of Judah had drawn thofe hear judgments upon that unfortunate tribe; yet, if they pe fifted to carry thofe innocent prifoners into captivity their cruelty would bring down much feverer ones upc themselves. He concluded, with exhorting them to be contented with the rich plunder they had got, and to fend their captives back to Jerufalem; which they at length complied with. This fpeech even worked fo far upon them, that they did not difmifs them without fome figna tokens of pity and humanity ". Edom and WHILST Abaz's affairs were in this difmal plight, the the Phili- Edomites and Philistines invaded other parts of his fines in land; the former of whom carried away a great number vade him. of captives, and the latter recovered feveral confiderable frontier-towns from him. In this extremity, he had recourfe to his old ally the king of Affyria, whom to gain to his affiftance, he made no feruple to ftrip both temple and city of all the gold and filver. Tiglath-pilefer received his prefents; but, inftead of coming to affift him against the confederate kings, he turned his whole ftrength against that of Syria, under pretence of caufing a diverfion (L); and, having killed Rezin, and seized upon his capitaly, Abaz came thither to pay a vifit to him, upon what defign is not eafy to guefs; and, at his return, not only u 2 Chron. xxviii. from ver. 6. to 16. × See before, vol. ii. p. 315, & feq. Y 2 Chron. xxviii. 17, 18. See also before, vol. ii. p. 315, & feq. (L) This is, at leaft, the Among the curiofities Abaz a model to be taken of it, and to be fent to Urijah the high-prieft, with orders that he fhould cause one to be made after it,and to be fet up in the temple. Urijab dared not disobey, but caused the altar to be made, and to be placed in the room of the old one, which had been fet up by Solomon ; which laft was put by on the north fide of it. 2) Conf. 2 Kings xvi, 7, & feq. & 2 Cbron, xxviii, 20, 21. offered Fered up incenfe, and a vaft quantity of facrifices, His idolapon his new altar; but foon after caufed the temple to be try, hut up, whilft he reared others in every corner of Jefalem, and every-where elfe, to the Syrian gods, which e faid had been fo fucccessful against him; and, having bandoned himself to the most abominable idolatries, fiished his impious reign in the thirty-fixth year of his age, death. nd was fucceeded by his fon Hezekiah: he reigned fix Year of een years, and was buried in Jerufalem, not in the the flood epulcre of David, of which he was esteemed unworthy, 1662. but in fome other place by itself z. Bef. Chr. 726. THE kingdom of Ifrael, all this while, was in no better light than that of Judah: Pekah had paid dear for his uccefs against it, being murdered by Hofhea foon after his return; that is, in the fourth year of Abaz. This revolution, however, proved fo diftafteful to the Ifraelites, hat it coft a kind of anarchy, which lafted almost nine ears; during which time, Hofhea found it a difficult Hofhea afk to keep himself upon the throne: and, after he had king of uelled thefe commotions, and began to reign more peace- Ifrael. bly, we do not find, that he made any hoftile attempt, ither againft Abaz, or his fucceffor (H). kiah's IN the mean time Hezekiah had afcended his father's Hezehrone, in the 25th year of his age, and in the 12th, or, s the text hath it, in the third year of Hofhea's reign; good reign. hat is, abating the first nine years of anarchy, which happened in the beginning of his reign 2. It was not difficult for him to discover the fource of all Judah's misforunes, and the most effectual means to retrieve them : this is what he fet about with the utmost diligence and |