2 Kings 8:19

2Ki 8:19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant’s sake, as he promised him to give him alway a light, [and] to his children.

Ver. 19. To give him alway a light.] i.e., A successor, till Shiloh should come. {Luk 1:31} For although the Maccabees, who were of another tribe, bore sway for a season; yet at the same time, as Calvin well observeth, sat the Synedrium, who were of David’s posterity, exercised chief authority, and lasted till Christ’s nativity in great power.

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 8:19. To give him always a light — A son and successor, until the coming of the Messiah: for so long, and not longer, this succession might seem necessary for the making good of God’s promise and covenant made with David. But when the Messiah was once come, there was no more need of any succession, and the sceptre might and did without any inconvenience depart from Judah, and from all the succeeding branches of David’s family, because the Messiah was to hold the kingdom for ever in his own person, though not in so gross a way as the carnal Jews imagined.

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

8:19 Despite Jehoram’s wickedness, God did not destroy Judah but honored his covenant with David (2 Sam 7:11-16). • The Lord had promised to preserve David’s descendants on the throne of Judah as a shining . . . lamp of God’s grace (1 Kgs 11:36). God’s promises to David ultimately find fulfillment in Jesus (Ezek 34:23-31), the light of the world (John 4:1-5).

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

Verse 19. To give him alway a light] To give him a successor in his own family.

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

(19) To give him alway a light.—Comp. 1Ki_15:4; 1Ki_11:36; and for the promise to David, 2Sa_7:12-16.

And to his children.—The reading of many Heb. MSS., the LXX., Vulg., and Targum. Thenius calls this a reading devised for the removal of a difficulty, and asserts that the promise was made to David alone. He would omit the conjunction, and render, “To give him alway a lamp in respect of (i.e., through) his sons.” (See 2Ch_21:7, Note.) Keil adopts the same reading, but translates, “To give him, that is, his sons, a lamp,” making “to his sons” an explanatory apposition.

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

19. Yet [R.V. Howbeit] the Lord would not destroy] The R.V. has adopted the rendering of Chronicles, where the original is the same as here.

as he promised him to give him alway a lights, and to his children] R.V. as he promised him to give unto him a lamp for his children alway. The italic ‘and’ in A.V. shews that there is no conjunction in the Hebrew. Hence the change in R.V. But in 2Ch_21:7 the ‘and’ is expressed, and probably should be here. In 2Sa_21:17 David is called ‘the lamp of Israel’. For the promise to David and his seed see 2Sa_7:12-16, and for the expression ‘to give him a lamp’ see 1Ki_11:36; 1Ki_15:4, in which last passage the A.V. renders the noun ‘lamp’, which for consistency the R.V. has adopted in all the parallel places.

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.

Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake,.... Not for his merits, but for the mercy he assured him of:

as he promised him to give to him always a light, and to his children; or a kingdom, as the Targum; therefore he would not utterly destroy the tribe, nor suffer the sceptre or government to depart from it till the Messiah came, see Psa 132:11.

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

Light, or lamp, posterity and regal power, 3 Kings xi. 36. (Haydock)

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).

Alway, Heb. all days, until the coming of the Messiah, as it is elsewhere limited and explained; for so long, and not longer, this succession might seem necessary for the making good of God’s promise and covenant made with David. But when the Messiah was once come, there was no more need of any succession, and the sceptre might and did without any inconvenience depart from Judah, and from all the succeeding branches of David’s family, because the Messiah was to hold the kingdom for ever in his own person, though not in so gross a way as the carnal Jews imagined, but in a spiritual manner.

A light, i.e. a son and successor. Of this phrase, See Poole "1Ki 11:36".

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

Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for David his servant"s sake. The natural punishment of apostasy was rejection by God, and on rejection would, as a matter of course, follow destruction and ruin. God had declared by Moses, "If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and statutes, which I command thee this day; all these curses shall come upon thee The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee till thou perish. And thy heaven which is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is underneath thee shall be iron.... The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten of thine enemies; thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and thou shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.... Thou shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee". (Deu_28:15-37) The apostasy of Jeheram, and of the nation under him, was calculated to bring about the immediate fulfillment of all these threats, and would have done so but for a restraining cause. God had made promises to David, and to his seed after him (2Sa_7:13-16; Psa_89:29-37, etc.) which would be unfulfilled if Judah"s candlestick were at once removed. He had declared, "If thy children forsake my Law, and walk not in my statutes... I will visit their offences with the rod, and their sin with scourges. Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take away, nor suffer my truth to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips; I have sworn once by my holiness that I will not fail David." If he had now swept away the Jewish kingdom, he would have dealt more hardly with these who clave to David than with those that broke off from him. He would not have shown the "faithfulness" or the "mercy" which he had promised, tie would have forgotten "the loving-kindnesses which he aware unto David in his truth". (Psa_89:49) Therefore he would not he could not as yet "destroy Judah," with which, in point of fact, he bore for above three centuries longer, until at last the cup of their iniquities was full, and "there was no remedy." As he promised him to give him always a light, and to his children. There is no "and" in the original. TranslateAs he promised him to give him always a light in respect of his children, and compare, for the promise of "a light". (1Ki_11:36 1Ki_15:4; and Psa_132:17)

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

Alway - Until the coming of the Messiah: for so long, and not longer, this succession might seem necessary for the making good of God's promise and covenant made with David. But when the Messiah, was once come, there was no more need of any succession, and the scepter might and did without any inconvenience depart from Judah, and from all the succeeding branches of David's family, because the Messiah was to hold the kingdom forever in his own person, though not in so gross a way as the carnal Jews imagined. A light - A son and successor.

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

A kingdom. Kingdom.

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.