2 Chronicles 24:21

2Ch 24:21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.

Ver. 21. And stoned him with stones.] This is mercis mundi: this is the lot of downright dealing prophets, even the same as of hares that will needs give laws to lions: it is Aristotle’s comparison. {a} The post truly saith,

“ Nihil est violentius aure tyranni. ”

Tyrants are very touchy: Tange montes et fumigabunt, Touch those mountains, and they will smoke: none but silken words will down with them. Maneinellus, for his plain dealing in a sermon preached at Rome before Pope Alexander VI, had first his hands cut off, and then his tongue cut out, of which wound he died. Savanarola was served in like manner; so was Lambert, bishop of Trajectum, for reproving King Pipin, &c. Muleasses, king of Tunes, cruelly tortured to death the Manifet and Mesnar by whose means especially he had attained to the kingdom, grieving to see them live to whom he was so much beholden, and therefore rewarded them with such sharp punishment. Who knoweth but Joash might be of the same mind toward good Zechariah? See 2Ch 23:11.

{a} In Politic.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 24:21. And they conspired against him — Namely, the people whom he addressed, having been easily corrupted by the examples of their apostate king and princes. And stoned him with stones — And that immediately, without even colour of law; not so much as accusing him of being a blasphemer, a traitor, a false prophet, or guilty of any crime whatever; at the commandment of the king — Who owed his crown and life to Jehoiada his father; and in the court of the house of the Lord — Whose minister and messenger he was! As horrid a piece of wickedness this as any we read of in all the history of the kings! The person was sacred, a prophet; the place sacred, the court of the temple, either the court of the priests, or the inner court, between the porch and the altar; the message was yet more sacred, a message which, we have reason to believe, they knew proceeded from the spirit of prophecy; the reproof was just, the warning fair, and both grounded on Scripture acknowledged by themselves to be divinely inspired; and yet so impudently and daringly do they defy God himself, that nothing less than the blood of the prophet can satisfy their indignation at his prophecy. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and tremble, O earth, that ever such villany should be committed by men, by Israelites, in contempt and violation of every thing that was just, honourable, and sacred! That a king, a king in covenant with God, should command the murder of one whom it was his office to protect and countenance! The Jews say, there were seven transgressions in one: they killed a priest, a prophet, a judge; they shed innocent blood; polluted the court of the temple, the sabbath, and the day of expiation: for on that day, their tradition says, this happened.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There is no rage so cruel and beastly as of them whose hearts God hath hardened, and which delight more in superstition and idolatry than in the true service of God and pure simplicity of his word.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 21. Stoned him - at the commandment of the king] What a most wretched and contemptible man was this, who could imbrue his hands in the blood of a prophet of God, and the son of the man who had saved him from being murdered, and raised him to the throne! Alas, alas! Can even kings forget benefits? But when a man falls from God, the devil enters into him; and then he is capable of every species of cruelty.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(21) And they conspired against him.—The conspiracy of 2Ch_24:25 was the Divine recompense for this one.

And stoned him.—The legal penalty of idolatry (Lev_20:2; Deu_17:2-5).

At the commandment of the king.—Probably Zechariah’s words had been represented to Joash as treasonable. The Syrian invasion may have been already threatening, when his prophecy was uttered; and in that case it would be easy to allege against the prophet that his “wish was father to his thought.” (Comp. the similar case of Jeremiah, Jer_32:1-5; and 1Ki_21:8-13.)

In the court of the house of the Lord.—There is little doubt that the allusion of Christ (Mat_23:35; Luk_11:51) to the death of “Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the Temple and the altar,” refers to this murder. The altar stood in the court, before the Temple. Barachias (Berechiah) may have been Zechariah’s father, and Jehoiada his grandfather. Moreover the Lord appears to be thinking of the honourable burial of Jehoiada, in contrast with the murder of his son, in Mat_23:29-32, verses which immediately precede the mention of Zacharias.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And it came to pass at the end of the year,.... After the death of Zechariah; so soon had his prophecy its accomplishment:

that the host of Syria came up against him; against Joash, king of Judah, under Hazael king of Syria, or however sent by him; for some think this is a different expedition from that in Kg2 12:17 though others take it to be the same:

and they came to Judah and Jerusalem; not only came into the land of Judah, but as far as Jerusalem, the forces of Joash not being able to stop them:

and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people; the idolatrous princes of Judah, Ch2 24:17, which is very remarkable that they should be distinguished from the people in their destruction, who had been the chief cause of the wrath of God coming upon them:

and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus; all the riches that were taken from them were sent to the king of Syria at Damascus; this looks as if Hazael was not with this army.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In the court of the house of the Lord - “Between the altar and the Temple,” or directly in front of the temple porch, if it be this Zechariah of whom our Lord speaks Mat 23:35. A horror of the impious deed long possessed the Jews, who believed that the b ood could not be effaced, but continued to bubble on the stones of the court, like blood newly shed, until the temple was entered, just prior to its destruction, by Nebuzaradan.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They conspired, i. e. the people to whom he preached, who were easily corrupted by the examples of their apostate king and princes.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Stoned him. Yet this was their Law"s punishment for themselves, for idolaters. (Lev_20:2) At the commandment of the king. The king, who had yielded to the flattering obeisance and worship of the princes, is now driven on a grievous length further. In the court of the house of the Lord. So Mat_23:35, "between the temple Revised Version, "sanctuary" and the altar."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Stoned him - They stoned him immediately, without even colour of law; as horrid a piece of wickedness, as any we read of in all the history of the kings. That ever such a villainy should be committed, by men, by Israelites, in contempt and violation of everything that is just, honourable, and sacred! The Jews say, there were seven transgressions in one: They killed a priest, a prophet, a judge; they shed innocent blood; polluted the court of the temple, the Sabbath, and the day of expiation: for on that day, their tradition says, this happened.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.