Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were 'present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, 'until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. 2 ¶ And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD. 3 He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD. 4 Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD. 5 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and 'honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. 6 And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them 'by heaps. 7 In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. 8 And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD, and his people Israel. 9 Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. 10 And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said. Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty for the LORD hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store. : 11 ¶ Then Hezekiah commanded to pre pare chambers in the house of the LORD; and they prepared them, 12 And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next. 13 And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers "under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God. 14 And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the LORD, and the most holy things. 15 And "next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small: 16 Beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even unto every one that entereth into the house of the LORD, his daily portion for their service in their charges according to their courses; 17 Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courses; 18 And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congrega tion for in their "set office they sanctified themselves in holiness: 19 Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were expressed by name, to give por tions to all the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites. 4 Heb. until to make an end. 13 Or, trust. 14 Or, trust. 9 Heb. heaps heaps. 10 Or, store-houses. 20 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered. Verse 5. "As soon as the commandment came abroad," &c.-That such a commandment was at all necessary, intimates that the people, even in Judah, had discontinued to send, or had been very negligent in sending, to the priests and Levites, the dues and offerings which the Law appointed for them. CHAPTER XXXII. 1 Sennacherib invading Judah, Hezekiah fortifieth himself, and encourageth his people. 9 Against the blasphemies of Sennacherib, by message and letters, Hezekiah and Isaiah pray. 21 An angel destroyeth the host of the Assyrians, to the glory of Hezekiah. 24 Hezekiah praying in his sickness, God giveth him a sign of recovery. 25 He waring proud is humbled by God. 27 His wealth and works. 31 His error in the ambassage of Babylon. 32 He dying, Manasseh succeedeth him. AFTER 'these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself. 2 And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, 3 He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him. 4 So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water? 5 Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance. 6 And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and 'spake comfortably to them, saying, 7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: 8 With him is an 'arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people "rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying, 10 Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide "in the siege in Jerusalem? 11 Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 12 Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it? 13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand? 14 Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand? 15 Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither yet believe him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand? 16 And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah. 17 He wrote also letters to rail on the LORD God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand. 2 Heb, to break them up. Heb. spake to their heart. 18 Then they cried with a loud voice in 11 Or, in the strong hold. 3 Heb. his face was to war. 8 Heb. leaned. 92 Kings 18. 17. Heb. overflowed. 10 Heb dominion. 387 the Jews' speech unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city. 19 And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man. 20 And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven. 12 21 And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. 22 Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them side. on every 23 And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth. 24 ¶ "In those days Hezekiah was sick to the death, and prayed unto the LORD: and he spake unto him, and he "gave him a sign. 25 But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: : therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. 26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for "the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. 27¶ And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels; 28 Storehouses also for the increase of corn, and wine, and oil; and stalls for all manner of beasts, and cotes for flocks. 29 Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much. 30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. 31 Howbeit in the business of the "ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart. 32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his "goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers. and they buried him in the "chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead. 152 Kings 20. 1. Isa. 38. 1. 16 Or, wrought a miracle for bra 20 2 Kings 20. 12. Isa. 39. 1. 21 Heb. kindnesses. 22 Kings 19. 35, &c. 13 Heb. made him fall. 14 Heb. precious things. Verse 1. "Fenced cities.”—We introduce in the following page a cut of the fortress of Akaba, at the head of the gulf of that name, which has been already noticed, and a distant view given, under Deut. ii. It is not a fenced city, but a fortress, and this is perhaps what the text intends to express. We think it conveys a general illustration of the fenced cities and castles mentioned in Scripture; excepting of course those small details which distinguish it as a modera structure. We say "castles and fenced cities," because in ancient times a castle was only a fenced city on a reduced scale, when it was other than those round buildings which have already been slightly noticed, and which seem to exhibit the most ancient and general form of places of defence and refuge distinguished as "castles" and "towers." The fortification of the fenced cities of the East is all essentially of this character; consisting of a thick and high wall. with strong projecting towers, generally round, at regular intervals, those at the angles being commonly the largest and strongest. The precise form of these towers however does and did vary according to circumstances. When the wall is very high, the towers are seldom much, if at all, higher. We incline to think that, in the East, the walls were in ancient times usually lower than at present, and that the towers were then more frequently higher than the walls In coins found at Babylon we see square towers, having, as walls, serrated battlements; they are considerably higher than the wall, and separated from each other only by intervals equal to their own breadth. A Greek coin, found in Macedonia, and described by Dr. Clarke, exhibits a wall with closely-set and high round towers, having serrated battle ments. The ruins of Alexandria in Egypt exhibit some traces of the same construction. The principal use of such projecting towers, of course was and is to enable the besieged to attack the enemy in flank when he assaulted the wall. The wall was sometimes double, or even triple, that if the enemy carried the outer wall, they might have another opposed to them. This seems to have been the case with Jerusalem, which had ultimately three walls towards the north; but this was the result of circumstances, for as the city gradually extended beyond the wall in that direction the second and third walls were successively built to enclose the added portions. It appears, from verse 5, that the second wall was built by Hezekiah: the third wall was added by Herod Agrippa, whose death is related in Acts xii. The obvious advantage of a ditch surrounding the town or fortress outside, appears, from various passages of Scripture, not to have been overlooked by the Hebrews. At Babylon the ditch could be filled with water from the river when occasion required; but, from the nature of their country, this could not be practicable to the Hebrews. Belonging to some towns mentioned in Scripture, as Shechem, Penuel, and others, we read of a strong "tower," to which the inhabitants fled as a final resource. Towers of this nature seem to have existed both in fortified and unfortified towns. They were no doubt such round castles as that to which we have referred. In fortified towns they answered to the keep of our own castles. Like the keep, too, they were sometimes within the town or fortress, either on a level or on an eminence; or, in other cases, this part of the fortification formed one of the towers of the wall, much larger and stronger than the others, and usually at the angle of the wall, as in many of our old castles, and as at present in the East. It was of course round also, like our castle-keeps, and was in fact no other than the original round castle, included within or incorporated with the fortifications of the place. This may suffice for a general view; but we cannot dismiss this subject without directing the reader's attention to the room over the gate, and the men upon the wall over the room, as in our cut. It strikingly illustrates the observations made under 2 Sam. xviii., showing the station of the watchmen "over the gate," and "the chamber over the gate," to which the king withdrew to mourn for Absalom his son. Laborde, to whom we are indebted for this cut, has enlivened the scene by representing the arrival of the pilgrims at the fortress, on their return from Mecca; and this representation also contains some interesting illustrations of scenes and circumstances mentioned in Scripture. 30. "Stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David."-In the parallel text, 2 Kings xx. 20, it is, "He made a pool and a conduit and brought water into the city." In this and other instances, it is easy to explain texts taken separately and without proper reference to the actual circumstances of the site; but it is rather more difficult when the different texts that bear on a subject are brought together, and an explanation is sought in existing indications. In the first place, it seems to have been understood that bringing to the west side implies bringing from the east. Under this view, the "watercourse of Gihon" was of course in the eastern valley, and was conducted to the western either through the city, or round by the southern valley. This explanation however would tend to make the eastern, not, as we have supposed in 1 Kings i. 33, the western valley, the valley of Gihon; and this explanation also does not with certainty bring the water into the city, which, from the text in 2 Kings xx., appears to have been the object. The nature of the site of Jerusalem also, which slopes upward from east to west, renders it less probable that the water should have been brought from the eastern to the western valley than from the western to the eastern. Bringing it so, would be bringing it "up" not "down." Our very strong impression therefore is, that the two texts refer to the same transaction, but not to the same parts of that transaction-that is, that the narrative is completed by them when put together. We would then understand that the watercourse of Gihon formed a stream, having probably two sources distinguished as the "upper" and "lower," probably because the former had its source higher up the western valley, or higher in its hills than the other; and that then Hezekiah stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down, from the west or north, to the west side of the city of David; and that he there made a pool, or reservoir for the water, and then made a conduit or aqueduct, by which he brought the water from the reservoir into the city, where it supplied or contributed to supply the cisterns and pools which furnished water to the inhabitants in that part of the town. We suppose that the subterraneous canal was prolonged to the eastern valley, where what was left of its water was emptied into the fountain and pools of Siloam. The idea developed in the paraphrase and explanation here given, we believe to convey the most satisfactory account which can now be furnished, particularly as it is corroborated, or rather founded on, stronger facts than can be brought to bear on any other hypothesis. For besides the considerations already stated, it will be observed that it explains how the fountains of Gihon and Siloam, being thus connected, might come to be identified under the common name of Siloam. At the point in the western valley, on the west side of the city of David, to which we suppose the stream to have been brought previous to being conducted into the town, there is still seen a reservoir which Dr. Richardson fairly concludes to have been that of Hezekiah. It is, he says, evidently of Jewish workmanship. Maundrell describes it as "a stately pool, one hundred and six paces long and sixtyseven broad, and lined with wall and plaster, and was, when we were there (April 9, 1697), well stored with water."And now let us go to the eastern valley at the pool of Siloam, and observe, with Dr. Richardson, that it "receives a strong current of water by a subterraneous passage cut in the north side of Mount Zion, and which seems as if it came by a conduit, cut through the rock from the pool of Hezekiah." Of this passage, he further observes that it "has obviously been formed by art, and is so large that a person, by stooping a little, may walk along it under the mountain." The comparison of these two passages from Richardson with various texts of Scripture, particularly with the two cited at the head of this note, has led to the view of the subject which we have here endeavoured to explain. MANASSEH was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: 2 But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, 'In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. 9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel. 10 And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. 11 ¶ Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manassch among the thorns, and bound him with 'fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God. 14 Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about 20Ŏphel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. 15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, |