2 Chronicles 24:25

2Ch 24:25 And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.

Ver. 25. And when they were departed from him.] So that he had time to repent, but did not.

For they left him in great diseases.] Such, perhaps, as was that of Count Felix of Wurtemburg, who threatened to ride up to the spurs in the blood of the Lutherans, but died choked in his own blood; {a} or that of Charles IX of France, author of the Parisian massacre, who died of a like disease; or that of Ladislaus, king of Bohemia and Hungary, who most unjustly had caused Ladislaus, son to Hunniades - who had better deserved of him - to be beheaded. He afterwards died of a pestilent sore in his groin.

For the blood of the sons of Jehoiada,] i.e., Of the son: called sons, say some, because he was to his father instead of many sons.

{a} Act. and Mon., 1902.

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 24:25. They left him in great diseases, &c. — The chastisement by the invasion of the Syrians, and their destroying the princes, and plundering the city, not answering the end intended, of humbling Joash, and bringing him to repentance, God proceeded to smite him with sore diseases; and as even this did not reclaim him, his own servants were permitted to conspire against him and slay him. For, when vengeance pursues guilty men, the end of one trouble is often but the beginning of another. For the blood of the sons of Jehoiada — By which it seems Joash slew, not only Zechariah, but his brothers also. And perhaps they that slew him intended to take vengeance for that innocent blood. However, that was it which God intended in permitting them to do it.

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

24:25-26 Jehoiada had received a royal burial (24:15-16), but Joash was buried in disgrace.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, Zechariah, which was one of Jehoiada’s sons, and a Prophet of the Lord.

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

they left him in great diseases--The close of his life was embittered by a painful malady, which long confined him to bed.

his own servants conspired against him--These two conspirators (whose fathers were Jews, but their mothers aliens) were probably courtiers, who, having constant access to the bedchamber, could the more easily execute their design.

for the blood of the sons--read "the son" of Jehoiada. Public opinion seems to have ascribed the disasters of his life and reign to that foul crime. And as the king had long lost the esteem and respect of his subjects, neither horror nor sorrow was expressed for his miserable end!

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 25

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(25) And when they were departed from him.—Omit were. The Syrians retired, instead of besieging Jerusalem, as they had purposed to do.

For they left him in great diseases.—Some refer this to the wounds which Joash had received from the Syrians in battle. But it is not said that Joash himself was wounded, but only that the destruction of his princes and the defeat of his army were judgments upon him. The word rendered “diseases” (mahγlϋyξm) only occurs here; but it is obviously a near synonym of the term used of the last sickness of Jehoram (tahγlϋ’ξm, 2chron xxi, 19), and the probable meaning is “pains,” or “suffering.” Calamity may have brought about the sickness of Joash, or perhaps the invasion had come upon him when already prostrate with disease, and unable to resist in person.

His own servants conspired against him.—2Ki_12:20, “And his servants arose and made a conspiracy.” Comp. the similar circumstances in the murder of Ishbosheth (2Sa_4:5).

For the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest.—The LXX. and Vulgate correct this, and read “son,” meaning Zechariah the prophet (2Ch_24:22), and the plural may be due to a transcriber’s mistake. More probably it is used rhetorically, as in 2Ch_28:16, and elsewhere.

The writer does not mean to say that revenge for the death of Jehoiada’s posterity was the motive which actuated the conspirators, but that their deed was a judgment upon the king for that crime. In Kings the place of the assassination is specified, “Beth-millo that goeth down to Silla.” But nothing is there said of the sickness of Joash, and his being murdered in his bed.

But they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.—See Note on 2Ch_21:20, where the same remark is made about the burial of Jehoram.

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

25–27 (2Ki_12:19-21). The End of Joash

25. for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada] No reason is alleged for the conspiracy in Kings.

sons] LXX. and Vulg. “son”; cp. 2Ch_24:20.

on his bed] In Kings it is simply “smote Joash at the house of Millo, on the way that goeth down to Silla” (R.V.).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now concerning his sons,.... The sons of Joash; how many they were, and what their names:

and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him; which some understand of the hard and heavy prophecies of the Lord against him; and others of the heavy taxes and tribute imposed on him by the king of Syria; and others of the collection for the repairs of the temple, Ch2 24:6, where the word used signifies a burden; and it follows:

and the repairing of the house of the Lord; the whole history of that:

behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings; not in the canonical book so called, but in the history, commentaries, or annals of the kings of Judah now lost:

and Amaziah his son reigned in his stead; see Kg2 12:21.

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 25

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

Servants. By whom the man is slain, who had murdered his spiritual father. W. --- Son. Heb. "sons." See v. 7. Some think that the brothers of Zacharias were slain, that they might not attempt to revenge his death. --- Kings. These sepulchres are amazingly beautiful and spacious. The doors are six feet high, and formed, like the rest, of solid stone, cut in the most elegant manner. Doubdan 26. C.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

For the blood of the sons of Jehoiada, i.e. of Zechariah his son; the plural number sons put for the singular son, as it is frequently, both in Scripture, as Gen 46:7; Num 26:42, and in Cicero and other profane authors. Or he might kill other sons of Jehoiada with him, either because they owned him in what he had said, or lest they should revenge his death.

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

They left him in great diseases. See note above, and observe further that this parenthetic clause, as treated in both Authorized Version and Revised Version, prepares the way for what follows, and especially for the fact that it was on his bed that they slew him. Render thus, And after they had betaken themselves away, whereas they left him sorely ill, his own servants conspired and slew him in his bed. His own servants. These had the opportunity the rather at hand, in that he was so ill and in bed. That he died by the conspiring together of a couple of servants, whose foreign and heathen maternity is particularly recorded, was the more ignominious end for him, who had commanded Zechariah to be openly stoned a death highly honourable in comparison. The parallel (2Ki_12:20) adds that it was in "the house of Mille, which goeth down to Silla" (for the explanation of which passage, see note ad loc. ), that the servants" conspiracy to kill Joash took effect. The sons of Jehoiada. We know of only one son, Zechariah; there may have been other sons, or other lineal relations of Jehoiada may be covered by the word "sons." We are not obliged to interpret the avenging act of the servants as one to which their own pious and patriotic zeal led them, which, considering their maternal pedigree, is perhaps something unlikely, though of course not impossible, but one to which they were incited by the retributive providence of him who held their hearts also in his hand. In a word, it was a deed done for the bleed required (see note and references under ver. 22). Not in the sepulchres of the kings. See note on ver. 16, and references there quoted; as also the ambiguous expression of the parallel (ver. 21), "They buried him with his fathers in the city of David."

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

Son - By which it seems, he slew not only Zechariah, but his brothers also. Perhaps they that slew him intended to take vengeance for that innocent blood. However that was it, which God intended, in permitting them to do it.

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

Joash had been severely wounded

This can be stated in active form. AT: "they had severely wounded Joash" (See: Active or Passive)

because of the murder of the sons of Jehoiada

"because he had murdered the sons of Jehoiada"

They killed him in his bed

"The servants killed Joash in his bed"

Zabad ... Jehozabad

These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)

Shimeath, an Ammonite woman ... Shimrith, a Moabite woman

"Shimeath, from the country of Ammon ... Shimrith, from the country of Moab." These are the names of two women. (See: How to Translate Names)

translationWords

servant

city of David

grave

Ammon

Moab

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest Because of the blood of Zechariah, who was the son of Jehoiada, for he should have remembered the favors and the loving-kindness that Jehoiada had bestowed upon him, and because of that iniquity, his servants conspired against him and slew him in his bed. They meted out to him a measure corresponding to a measure. Because Zechariah was slain, tranquil and secure, with nothing to worry about, for he was the son of Jehoiada, and out of respect for him [Jehoiada], they respected him [Zechariah], and spilled his blood onto the ground, therefore, he [Jehoash] too was slain in tranquility and security in his bed.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.