2 Chronicles 36:17

2Ch 36:17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave [them] all into his hand.

Ver. 17. Who slew their young men … in the house of their sanctuary.] This was barbarous inhumanity. Alaricus the Goth, when, after two years’ siege, he had taken the city of Rome, spared such as had fled into the churches, and there taken sanctuary.

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 36:17. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees —

The king of the Chaldeans marched against them out of some political view; but we are taught in the Holy Scriptures to ascribe all these events to the agency of the Divine Providence, and therefore it is said here, not that the king of the Chaldeans went against them, but that the Lord brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans. Who slew their young men in the house of their sanctuary — Either in Jerusalem, which was the dwelling- place of God’s sanctuary, or in the house which was their sanctuary. It is probable they killed some of them in the very courts and house of God, to which they had fled for refuge, such places being esteemed sacred and inviolable by the heathen themselves. He gave them all into his hand — To be carried captive into Chaldea. Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees, when God took him into covenant with himself. And now his degenerate seed are carried into that country again, to signify that they had forfeited all that kindness wherewith they had been loved for their father’s sake, and the benefit of the covenant into which he was called.

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

When the moral corruption had reached this height, judgment broke upon the incorrigible race. As in Ch2 36:12-16 the transgressions of the king and people are not described according to their historical progression, but are portrayed in rhetorical gradation; so, too, in Ch2 36:17-21 the judgment upon the sinful people and kingdom is not represented in its historical details, but only rhetorically in its great general outlines. "Then brought He upon them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with the sword in their sanctuary, and spared not the youth and the maiden, the old man and the grey-headed; he gave everything into his hand." Prophetic utterances form the basis of this description of the fearful judgment, e.g., Jer 15:1-9; Jer 32:3., Eze 9:6; and these, again, rest upon Deu 32:25. The subject in the first and last clause of the verse is Jahve. Bertheau therefore assumes that He is also the subject of the intermediate sentence: "and God slew their young men in the sanctuary;" but this can hardly be correct. As in the expansion of the last clause, "he gave everything into his hand," which follows in Ch2 36:18, not Jahve but the king of Babylon is the subject; so also in the expansion of the first clause, which וגו ויּהרג introduces, the king of the Chaldeans is the subject, as most commentators have rightly recognised. By מקדּשׁם בּבית the judgment is brought into definite relationship to the crime: because they had profaned the sanctuary by idolatry (Ch2 36:14), they themselves were slain in the sanctuary. On נתן ב הכּל, cf. Jer 27:6; Jer 32:3-4. הכּל includes things and persons, and is specialized in Ch2 36:18-20.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Whither they fled, thinking to have been saved for the holiness thereof.

Which is not because God approveth him, which yet is the minister of his justice, but because God would by his just judgment punish this people: for this king was led with ambition and vain glory, whereunto were joined fury and cruelty: therefore his work was condemnable, notwithstanding it was just and holy on God’s part, who used this wicked instrument to declare his justice.

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

(17) Therefore he brought up.—And He caused to come up; alluding to “the wrath . . . went up.”

In the house of their sanctuary.—Which they had polluted (2Ch_36:14). The scene of their sin witnessed their destruction.

Him that stooped for age.—Rather, greyheaded, hoary (yâshçsh). (Comp. Ezekiel 9, where the horrors of the capture of Jerusalem are ascribed expressly to the Divine working; see also Jer_15:1-9; Deu_32:25.)

He gave them all into his hand.—Comp. Jer_37:6; Jer_32:3-4.

Them all.—Literally, the whole, everything, τά πάντα. “Them all” would be hullâm, whereas the text is hakkôl. (So 2Ch_36:18, “all these.”) Jerusalem was taken 588 B.C.

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

17. Chaldees] R.V. Chaldeans. Their name in Hebrew is Casdim and in Assyrio-Babylonian Caldu (the change of “s” for “l” before a dental is not uncommon in the latter language). They were a people originally living south of Babylon on the sea, but Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, conquered Babylon and established a Chaldæo-Babylonian empire.

in the house of their sanctuary] Cp. Ezekiel’s vision of the slaughter; Eze_9:1-11.

him that stooped for age] R.V. ancient; cp. Isa_9:15.

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.

And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small,.... All that were left; for some had been carried away in both the reigns preceding:

and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes; which became the spoil and booty of the soldiers:

all these he brought to Babylon; the vessels were laid up there, and restored when Cyrus took it; but the treasures were no doubt in part taken for his own use, and the rest divided in the army.

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

The fearful slaughter took place at the capture of the city, in the courts of the temple itself (Eze 9:6-7; compare Lam 2:7, Lam 2:20).

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

In the house of their sanctuary; either in Jerusalem, which was the dwelling-place of God’s sanctuary; or, in the house which was their sanctuary; as the river of Euphrates, Gen 15:18, is the river which is Euphrates. It is probable they killed them in the very courts and house of God, to which some of them fled for refuge, such places being esteemed sacred and inviolable by the heathens themselves.

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

Powerful illustrations of this verse may be read in Lam. 2. and Ezekiel 9. throughout the length of the chapters.

Stooping.

compassion on him that stooped for age." There are many kinds of" stooping," some of which are to be commiserated, one of which is to be honoured and even envied and emulated. There is the stooping which is

I A MISFORTUNE. That of bodily deformity; such as was suffered by the poor woman of whom we read that "she had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bound together, and could in no wise lift up herself". (Luk_13:11) We do not wonder that the Lord of love had compassion on her, and "loosed her from her infirmity." Perhaps few men and women are more to be pitied than the deformed. They see all ethers round them standing, walking, running, erect in the full stature and freedom of manhood, and they themselves are subjects of uncomeliness and inability. How cruelly unchristian to treat these with contempt, or even with disregard! How are we bound, as the followers of our Lord, to extend to these stooping ones our sympathy, our brotherliness, our honour! "Trust me no more, but trust me no less," our great popular novelist makes such an afflicted one say continually; and here, as often, the secular writer is more Christian than he may know.

II A MARK OF TIME. This is the case of those named in the text; they "stoop for age." The burdens of life have rested on their shoulders and have made them stoop. They have carried much, and they bend with the weight of the years they have spent. It is an honorable mark, like that of the "hoary head." Shall we pity them that stoop for age? Yes, if they have lived a life that has not been worthy, and move toward a future in which no star of hope is shining. No, if they are bent down with estimable and fruitful labour, with work that will leave many traces behind it especially if the weight beneath which they stoop is the burden of others which they have generously and (perhaps) nobly borne; (Gal_6:2) no, if this mark of the passage of time only indicates that he who thus stoops is nearing the end of his earthly service, that he may lay it down and take up the better work in the brighter light and the broader sphere, where toil knows no fatigue, and, instead of wearing out the worker, continually multiplies his power. But let those who "stoop for age" remember that their work below is nearly finished; that what else they would do here for the Master and for their kind they must do quickly; "so much the more (therefore) as they see the day approaching.

III A SERIOUS DISCREDIT. There is:

1. The stoop of servility. This is discreditable. No one need be and no one should be servile. It is a mistake as well as a fault and a dishonour. Civility every one appreciates; respect, all who are worthy of it look for and like to receive; but cringing or servility is as unacceptable to him to whom it is shown as it is dishonourable and injurious to him by whom it is offered.

2. The stoop of immorality; the lowering of the standard of morals in order to accommodate ourselves to circumstances, in order to be free to gain or to enjoy that which, in our truer and worthier moods, we could not touch. This stooping of the soul is pitiable indeed; it is also condemnable indeed. If we have yielded to it, let us be ashamed of it; let us rise to our true height, let us stand erect again in the full stature of honourable and estimable Christian manhood. Only then can we respect ourselves and enjoy the esteem of the pure and good.

IV THE HIGHEST SPIRITUAL ATTAINMENT. We know who it is that has stooped the furthest; it is that Son of God who became the Son of man. It is he who, "though he was rich, for our sake became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich". (2Co_8:9; and see Php_2:3-8) We never rise so high in the estimation of our Divine Lord as when we stoop thus. When we are thus reduced we are enlarged indeed. When we renounce our right, whether it be

(1) of enjoyment, or

(2) of adornment, or

(3) of enrichment,

in order to reach and rescue others, then do we rise toward the nobility of our great Exemplar, and then are we in the way of reaping a large reward. C.

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

Chaldees - Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees, when God took him into covenant with himself. And now his degenerate seed are carried into that country again, to signify that they had forfeited all that kindness wherewith they had been loved for their father's sake, and the benefit of the covenant into which he was called.

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

God brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who

The idiom "brought on them" means to cause to attack with his army. AT: "God caused the king of the Chaldeans to attack them, and he" (See: Idiom)

who killed their young men with the sword

The king probably did not personally kill their young men. Rather, his army killed them. AT: "whose army killed their young men with swords" (See: Metonymy)

God gave them all into his hand

Here "hand" is a metonym for the power to defeat them. AT: "God allowed the Chaldean army to defeat them" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Chaldea

sword

sanctuary

virgin

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

And He brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans who were a lowly nation, as it is said (Isa. 23:13): “Behold the land of the Chaldees, this people has never been,” and here was fulfilled (Deut. 32:21): “They provoked Me with a non-god, etc....I will provoke them to anger with a vile nation.”

and he slew their young men by the sword in their Temple and their recompense was requited them, as is written above (verse 14): “and they defiled the House of the Lord,” and that which He said was fulfilled, (Ezek. 9:5ff.): “’and smite, let not your eye spare, etc....and go out,’ and they went out and smote in the city.”

and he had pity neither on youth nor virgin, elder nor ancient one unlike the custom of soldiers, who, when they are victorious in war, slay the combatants, but pity the elders, the youths, and the virgins, and are filled with compassion for them, and Moses’ prophecy was fulfilled (Deut. 32:25): “The sword will bereave from outside and terror from within, youth, etc.”

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.