2 Kings 16:6

2Ki 16:6 At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.

Ver. 6. At that time.] When he came against Jerusalem.

Recovered Elath.] Josephus calleth it Aria by the Red Sea.

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.

16:6 The NLT translators have chosen to follow the text of several ancient translations, since the town of Elath is far to the south, nearer to Edom than to Aram.

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

Which city Azariah had taken from the Aramites and fortified it, 2 Kings 14:22.

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

Rezin . . . recovered Elath--which Azariah had got into his possession (Kg2 14:22).

the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day--The Septuagint version has "the Edomites," which the most judicious commentators and travellers [ROBINSON] prefer.

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

Verse 6. Recovered Elath to Syria] 2Kg 14:22.

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

(6) At that time.—Bähr regards this verse as a parenthesis, so that 2Ki_16:7 is the strict continuation of 2Ki_16:5, and “At that time” simply assigns this war as the epoch when Judah lost its only harbour and chief emporium—a grave blow to the national prosperity. It is perhaps impossible to weave the various data of Isaiah, Kings, and Chronicles into a single narrative which shall be free from all objection. But it seems probable that, after the successes recorded in 2Ch_28:5, seq., the confederates advanced upon Jerusalem, and that Ahaz despatched his envoys to Tiglath Pileser. The allies soon despaired of a siege, and Pekah fell to ravaging the country, while Rezin pushed on to Elath, determined not to return home without having achieved some permanent success. The approach of Tiglath Pileser compelled the two kings to give up their enterprise, and hasten to defend their own frontiers.

Recovered Elath to Syria . . . the Syrians.—The words for Syria and Edom, Syrians and Edomties, are very much alike in Hebrew writing, and the Hebrew margin, many MSS., the LXX. and Vulg. read Edomites for Syrians here. If this be correct, we must also restore Edom for Syria, as many critics propose. The meaning then becomes this: Rezin emancipated the Edomites from the yoke of Judah imposed on them by Uzziah (2Ki_14:22) in order to win their active co-operation against Judah. Bähr, however, prefers the readings of the ordinary text, and supposes that Rezin simply expelled the Jews from Elath, and established there a commercial colony of Syrians.

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

6. Rezin … recovered Elath to Syria] Elath was a place of much importance to the Jews. It was situate at the top of the gulf of Akabah (sinus Ælaniticus), and was part of the land of Edom. But when the Edomites were in subjection to Judah, the port was to all intents and purposes a harbour of Judah. Now the Jews were driven from it, and the Syrians came and occupied it, having overrun Edom in their progress towards Elath.

the Syrians came to Elath] The LXX. says the ‘Idumæans’, i.e. the Edomites came to Elath, and this is supported by the marginal reading (Keri) of the Hebrew Bible. But it is a reading which cannot be accepted. The Edomites were at Elath already. It was part of their own land. Therefore they could not be said to come to it. There is very little difference in Hebrew between ‘Idumæans’ i.e. Edomites, and Aramæans, i.e. Syrians. The latter is ארומים, the former ארומים, a difference only in one letter and that of the slightest kind. Hence the confusion.

and dwelt there unto this day] On this expression as a mark of faithful reproduction by the compiler of what he found in the document he was using, see note on chap. 2Ki_2:22.

The Chronicler, before mentioning the appeal of Ahaz to Tiglath-Pileser, which is here related in the next verse, gives an account how the two hundred thousand captives taken by the Israelites (see above on verse 5) were brought to Samaria, and how Oded, a prophet of the Lord, forbad in God’s name that the children of Judah and Jerusalem should be kept by Israel for bondmen and bondwomen. Some also among the chief men of Israel declared that the captives should not be brought into Samaria. They were in consequence set free, and, after being fed and clothed, were conducted homeward as far as Jericho. The Chronicler also records the names of the men who thus withstood the bringing in of the Jewish prisoners as if he were taking them from some contemporary record.

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.

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria,.... Of whom see Kg2 15:29.

saying, I am thy servant, and thy son; signifying, that he would be his vassal, and become tributary to him, and serve him as a servant to his master, or a son his father, on condition he would come to his assistance, and so he became his servant; hence his son Hezekiah is said to rebel against the king of Assyria, Kg2 18:1.

come up and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king off Israel, which rise up against me; which assistance he had no reason to call in, since the Lord had promised him deliverance from both those kings, and gave him a sign of it, Isa 7:4.

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

Either during the siege, or on breaking up from before Jeruasalem, Rezin made an expedition to the lied Sea coast, and became master of the city which had belonged to Judaea about 70 years (marginal reference). Most moderns render this verse, “Rezin recovered (or restored) Elath to Edom ... and the Edomites came to Elath.” On the resemblance of the words Aram and Edom in the original, see 2Sa 8:12 note.

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

Juda. Literally, "Jews," Judæos, (Haydock) which is the first time we find this appellation. (Du Hamel) --- Aila, or Elath, which had been taken by Ozias, chap. xiv. 22. (Menochius) --- It seems never to have belonged to Syria, as it was too far from Damascus. Instead of Aram, we should therefore probably read Edom, which words in Hebrew are extremely similar, and have been often mistaken, (Judges xi. 17.; Calmet) particularly as we find that the Edomites took possession of the city. This latter word is indeed Syrians in Hebrew, &c. (Haydock) --- Josephus and others maintain that the Syrians seized and kept the place. But they were most likely only invited by the Idumeans to come to their assistance. (Calmet)

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).

Recovered Elath, i.e. took it from the Jews, who had not long since taken it, 2Ki 14:22. It lay in the land of Edom, upon the Red Sea, very conveniently for navigation; of which See Poole "1Ki 9:26".

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

6. At that time — During the course of this Syro-Israelitish war.

Rezin… recovered Elath to Syria — Rezin appears throughout all this war against Judah as more powerful than his Israelitish ally. Elath, on the Red Sea, had been taken from the Edomites and attached to the kingdom of Judah in the reign of Uzziah. See on 2Ki_14:22. The word recovered [השׁיב] does not necessarily imply that Elath had formerly belonged to Syria, but here it simply means that it now changed hands, turned from one possessor to another.

The Syrians came to Elath — The Hebrew is without the article, Syrians came — that is, a colony of Syrians. Rezin, having captured this ancient commercial town, at once settled a Syrian colony there, probably for purposes of commerce, and to open for himself a new source of revenue, and though Syria was soon afterwards conquered, and Rezin slain, this colony dwelt there unto this day, that is, at the time when our author wrote. For it is by no means improbable that a Syrian colony remained at Elath long after the home Government had been annihilated. The Keri, Septuagint, Vulgate, and many interpreters, read Edomites instead of Syrians, but that reading would seem to be unsuitable, for it would be strange to say that Edomites dwelt there unto this day, when the Edomites had always dwelt in that vicinity. Besides the losses which Ahaz sustained from the combined armies of Rezin and Pekah, Chronicles informs us that the Edomites and Philistines also invaded Judah on the south and west, occupied many cities, and carried off captives. 2Ch_28:17-18.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

At that time Rezin, King of Syria recovered Elath to Syria. The Syrians had certainly never previously been masters of Elath, which had always hitherto been either Jewish or Edomite (see 1Ki_9:26; 2Ki_14:22) Hence it seems to be necessary that we should either translate the Hebrew verb byvije by "gained," "conquered," instead of "recovered;" or else change "Syria," into "Edom." The Syrians could "recover" Elath for Edom; they could only "gain" it for themselves. And drave the Jews from Elathi.e. expelled the Jewish garrison which had been maintained in Elath from the time of its conquest by Uzziah (2Ki_14:22) and the Syrians came to Elath; rather, the Edomites for Rezin could not have thought of holding a place so remote from Damascus as Elath; and, had he done so, the danger of his kingdom in the next year would have necessitated the relinquishment of so distant a possession. And dwelt there unto this day. It is quite certain that Elath belonged to Edom, and not to Syria, at the time when the Books of Kings were written.

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