2 Kings 21:13

2Ki 21:13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as [a man] wipeth a dish, wiping [it], and turning [it] upside down.

Ver. 13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line.] A metaphor from carpenters, who with line and plummet do use to measure and mark out the wood that they intend to hew off or plane. See Isa 34:11.

I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish.] Gabatam, a porridge dish, Simili ab arte magirica. Well might God say, "I have also spoken by the prophets, I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets." {Hos 12:10}

Wiping it, and turning it upside down.] So I "overturn, overturn, overturn" this whole state. {Eze 21:27}

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.

2Ki 21:13. I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria — She shall have the same measure and lot; that is, the same judgments which Samaria has had. For the line is often put for one’s lot or portion, because men’s portions or possessions used to be measured by lines. Or it is a metaphor taken from workmen, who mark out by lines what parts of a building they would have thrown down, and what they would have to stand. I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, &c. — As men do with a dish that hath been used, first wholly empty it of all that is in it, then thoroughly cleanse and wipe it, and lastly turn it upside down, that nothing may remain in it; so will I deal with Jerusalem, thoroughly empty and purge it from all its wicked inhabitants. Yet the comparison intimates, that this should be in order to the purifying, not the final destruction of Jerusalem. The dish shall not be broken in pieces, or wholly cast away, but only wiped.

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

As I have destroyed Samaria and the house of Ahab, so will I destroy Judah.

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

the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab--Captives doomed to destruction were sometimes grouped together and marked off by means of a measuring-line and plummet (Sa2 8:2; Isa 34:11; Amo 7:7); so that the line of Samaria means the line drawn for the destruction of Samaria; the plummet of the house of Ahab, for exterminating his apostate family; and the import of the threatening declaration here is that Judah would be utterly destroyed, as Samaria and the dynasty of Ahab had been.

I will wipe Jerusalem, &c.--The same doom is denounced more strongly in a figure unmistakably significant.

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 13. The line of Samaria] I will treat Jerusalem as I have treated Samaria. Samaria was taken, pillaged, ruined, and its inhabitants led into captivity; Jerusalem shall have the same measure.

And the plummet of the house of Ahab] The house of Ahab was totally destroyed, and not a man of his race left to sit upon the throne of Israel: so shall it be done to the house or royal family of Judah; they shall be all finally destroyed, and not a man of their race shall any more sit on the throne of Judah; nor shall Judah have a throne to sit on. Thus Jerusalem shall have the same weight as well as the same measure as Samaria, because it has copied all the abominations which brought that kingdom to total destruction.

I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish] The Vulgate translates this clause as follows: Delebo Jerusalem, sicut deleri solent tabulae; "I will blot out Jerusalem as tablets are wont to be blotted out." This is a metaphor taken from the ancient method of writing: they traced their letters with a stile on boards thinly spread over with wax; for this purpose one end of the stile was sharp, the other end blunt and smooth, with which they could rub out what they had written, and so smooth the place and spread back the wax, as to render it capable of receiving any other word. Thus the Lord had written down Jerusalem, never intending that its name or its memorial should be blotted out. It was written down The Holy City, The City of the Great King; but now God turns the stile and blots this out; and the Holy Jerusalem, the City of the Great King, is no longer to be found! This double use of the stile is pointed out in this ancient enigma: -

De summo planus; sed non ego planus in imo:

Versor utrinque manu, diverso et munere fungor:

Altera pars revocat, quicquid pars altera fecit.

"I am flat at the top, but sharp at the bottom;

I turn either end, and perform a double function:

One end destroys what the other end has made."

But the idea of emptying out and wiping a dish expresses the same meaning equally well. Jerusalem shall be emptied of all its wealth, and of all its inhabitants, as truly as a dish turned up is emptied of all its contents; and it shall be turned upside down, never to be filled again. This is true from that time to the present hour. Jerusalem is the dish turned upside down, the tablet blotted out to the present day! How great are God's mercies! and how terrible his judgments!

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

(13) And I will stretch over Jerusalem . . .—Comp. Amo_7:7-9; Isa_34:11; Lam_2:8. The sense is, I will deal with Jerusalem by the same rigorous rule of judgment as I have dealt already with Samaria. The figure of the measuring line and plummet suggests the idea that Jerusalem should be levelled and “laid even with the ground.”

As a man wipeth a (the) dish . . .—The wiping of the dish represents the destruction of the people, the turning it upside down, the overthrow of the city itself. Or perhaps, as Thenius says, the two acts together represent the single notion of making an end.

Wiping it and turning it . . .—This implies a different pointing of the text (infinitives instead of perfects, which is probably right).

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

13. the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab] The figures are taken from the occupation of the builder. The builder employs line and plummet that he may carry out his work exactly according to the plan prescribed. But here the pattern is one of utter destruction, which God Himself threatens to carry out after the fashion of Samaria and the house of Ahab, which the previous generation had beheld utterly destroyed. Samaria and the house of Ahab were famous for building (see 1Ki_22:39 note). Hence the peculiar fitness of the figure. These great builders, with all that they had built, were swept away and just so should it be with Jerusalem. The way in which a portion of the judgement was carried out is described by the Chronicler: ‘The Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh in chains (R.V.) and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon’.

as a man wipeth a dish] The description is of a thing that is done with, and will be used no more. ‘To turn it upside down’, is literally ‘to turn it upon the face thereof’, a rendering which brings out very completely the intention of using the dish no more. Such God declares will be His manner of dealing with Jerusalem. The verb rendered ‘wipe’ is the same which is used Gen_7:4, ‘Every living substance … will I destroy’, and in Num_5:23 ‘he shall blot them out’, and in the solemn sentence, Exo_32:33, ‘him will I blot out of my book’. The original very markedly shews that God’s wiping was to be a wiping out.

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 I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria,.... The Targum is, the line of destruction; and the sense is, that the same measure should be measured to Jerusalem as was to Samaria; that is, the same lot and portion should befall one as the other, that is, be utterly destroyed:

and the plummet of the house of Ahab; the Targum is, the weight or plummet of tribulation; signifying, that the same calamities should come upon the families of Jerusalem, and especially on the family of Manasseh as came upon the family of Ahab. It is a metaphor from builders that take down as well as raise up buildings by rule and measure, see Sa2 8:2.

and I will wipe Jerusalem, as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down; as when one takes a dish or cup that has broth in it, or any liquid, as oil; and the Septuagint render it alabaster, in which ointment used to be put; and wipes it clean, that nothing may appear in it; and then turns it with its mouth downward, that, if any thing should remain, it might drain out; signifying hereby the emptying o Jerusalem of its palaces and houses, wealth and riches and of all its inhabitants; and yet the empty dish being preserved, seems to denote the restoration of Jerusalem after the seventy years' captivity. According to the Vulgate Latin version, the metaphor is taken from the blotting out of writing tables, and turning and rubbing the style upon them till the writing is no more seen.

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

The general meaning is plain, but the exact force of the metaphor used is not so clear. If the “line” and the “plummet” be “symbols of rule” or law, the meaning will be - “I will apply exactly the same measure and rule to Jerusalem as to Samaria - I will treat both alike with strict and even justice.”

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

The line, or rope, to pull down the walls, Lamentations ii. 8., (Calmet) and 2 Kings xvii. 13. Jerusalem, which has imitated Samaria in sinning, shall experience the same fate; the same weight of punishment shall fall upon the royal family, as upon the house of Achab. (Haydock) --- The prophets frequently entitle their menaces a weight, or burden, Isaias xiii. 1. (Menochius) --- Septuagint have, "the balance of the house," &c., as if God had weighed all the good and evil, and would now reward the people accordingly, (Haydock) with judgment. (Du Hamel) --- Table, or board, covered with wax. The ancients were accustomed to write in this manner with a style which was sharp at one end and blunt at the other. Altera pars revocat quicquid pars altera fecit. (Ænig. Symponii.) When the wax was rendered smooth, no vestige of the former writing could appear, and God threatened to destroy Jerusalem, in like manner. Hebrew is variously translated. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "I will wipe out Jerusalem as an alabaster vase is wiped, and turned downwards." Protestants, "as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down." (Haydock) --- Often. 1. Under Manasses; 2. under Josias and Joachaz; 3. under the last kings of Juda, 2 Paralipomenon xxiii., &c. (Tirinus)

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).

Jerusalem shall have the same measure and lot, i.e. the same judgments, which Samaria had. The line is oft put for one’s lot or portion, as Psa 16:6; 2Co 10:16, because men’s portions or possessions used to be measured by lines, Psa 78:55; Amo 7:17. Or it is a metaphor from workmen who mark out by lines what part of the building they would have thrown down, and what they would have stand. See Isa 34:11; Lam 2:8; Amo 7:7,8; Zec 1:16. Or it is an allusion to that fact of David, who destroyed the Moabites by a measuring line, 2Sa 8:2.

Wiping it, and turning it upside down, as men do with a dish that hath been used; first wholly empty it of all that is in it, then thoroughly cleanse and wipe it, and lastly turn it upside down, that nothing may remain in it: so will I deal with Jerusalem, thoroughly empty and purge it from all its wicked inhabitants, and that so as to cut off all hopes of restitution.

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

13. Line of Samaria… plummet of the house of Ahab — The line is used in measuring, the plummet in levelling or squaring, and both are used here metaphorically as standards of Divine Judgment. Jehovah will visit Jerusalem with the same measure of severity as he did Samaria and the house of Ahab; that is, he will destroy the city and exterminate its inhabitants. Compare 2Ki_17:6; 2Ki_10:11.

As a man wipeth a dish — A contemptuous simile. When one has finished using a dish he wipes it and turns it upside down; so Jehovah shall empty, and wipe out, and turn over, Jerusalem: that is, he shall utterly overthrow it, and leave it upside down, or literally, upon its face.

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

And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria; i.e. "I will do to Jerusalem as I have done to Samaria; I will execute upon it a similar judgment." God applies his measuring-line, a perfectly uniform standard, to all nations, as to all individuals, and metes out to them an equal measure of justice. Jerusalem will be presently treated as Samaria has been recently treated; and a similar destruction will overtake it. The metaphor is not to be pressed, as if cities were destroyed with as much care as they are built, by constant use of the measuring-line and the plummet. And the plummet of the house of Ahab. The justice meted out to the house of Ahab shall be meted out also to the house of David. The ways of God are equal, (Eze_18:25) and he is no" respecter of persons." He has one law for all; and, as the house of David has sinned in the same way, and to the same extent, as the house of Ahab had sinned, one and the same punishment will fall upon both of them. And I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. Jerusalem will be emptied, as a man empties his dish of the refuse scraps remaining on it, and will be then put away, as done with. The metaphor expresses contempt as well as condemnation.

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

The line - She shall have the same measure, the same judgments which Samaria had. The line is often put for one's lot or portion, because mens portions or possessions used to be measured by lines. A dish - As men do with a dish that hath been used, first wholly empty it of all that is in it, then throughly cleanse and wipe it; and lastly, turn it upside down, that nothing may remain in it; so will I deal with Jerusalem, throughly empty and purge it from all its wicked inhabitants. Yet the comparison intimates, that this should be in order to the purifying, not the final destruction of Jerusalem. The dish shall not be broken in pieces, or wholly cast away, but only wiped.

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

stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria, and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab

The words "measuring line" and "plumb line" are metaphors for the standards Yahweh uses to judge people. AT: "judge Jerusalem using the same measure I used when I judged Samaria and the house of Ahab" (See: Metaphor)

against Samaria

Samaria is the capital city and it represents all the people of the kingdom of Israel. AT: "against the people of Israel" (See: Metonymy)

plumb line

a tool made of a heavy weight and a thin rope used to show if a wall is straight

the house of Ahab

Here "house" represents family. AT: "the family of Ahab" (See: Metonymy)

I will throw off

"I will abandon" or "I will reject"

give them into the hand of their enemies

Here the "hand" of the enemies refers to their enemies' control. AT: "let their enemies defeat them and take over their land" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

Samaria

house

Ahab

remnant

inherit

hand

anger

Egypt

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 the plumb line. That is the string to which the builders of a wall tie a lead weight to make the wall straight.

As one wipes a dish. As one wipes a dish.

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.