A.C. 810. a 2 Kings xiv. 21. & xv. 1. *Or, Azariah. CHAPTER X. PART I. Reign of Uzziah-52 Years, from $10 to 758. SECTION I. Early Reign and Prosperity of Uzziah. 2 CHRONICLES XXVI. VER. 1-5. 1 Then all the people of Judah took a * Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah. 2 He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers. 3 Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did. 2 KINGS XV. VER. 1. 1 In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign. 2 CHRONICLES XXVI. VER. 5-16. 5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had + Heh, in the understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he secing of God. sought the LORD, God made him to prosper. Heb. + Or, in the country of Ashdod. 6 And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines. 7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims. 8 And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name Heb. went. § spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly. 9 Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the || Or, repaired. wall, and || fortified them. *Or, cut out 10 Also he built towers in the desert, and * digged many many cisterns. wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the Or, fruitful mountains, and in + Carmel: for he loved husbandry. Jields. 11 Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that A. C. 810. went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. 12 The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred. 13 And under their hand was* an army, three hundred Heb. the thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made army. war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. 14 And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones. power of an + Heb. stones of slings. 15 And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till het Heb. went was strong. SECTION II 19. On the increase of his Army by Uzziah, Joel predicts the future JOEL I. 1 Joel, declaring sundry judgments of God, exhorteth to observe them, 8 and to mourn. 14 He prescribeth a fast for complaint. forth. 1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of About 787. Pethuel. 19 The kingdom of Judah began to decline immediately after the murder of Zacharias, son of Barachias, or Jehoiada. Then it was that the prophet and the priest of the Lord was slain in the very courts of the temple. This was the climax of their wickedness, when, in the language of Hosea, "blood touched blood," (Hosea iv. 2.); when the people strove with the priest, and the blood of the sacrificer was mingled with the blood of the sacrifice. The king and people of Judah became open idolaters, as Israel had long been, and Syria and Israel punished and oppressed them together. At this period, the providence of God began to raise up that succession of prophets whose writings have been transmitted to, and have ever been held sacred by, the Christian Church. Joel, Amos, and Hosea, flourished together, predicting the future calamities of the Jews, the blessings of their restoration, the judgments of God upon their enemies, with other subjects of this high nature. These prophets commenced their office by predicting three judgments of the most fearful kind. The earthquake, which took place in the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam the Second, was foretold by Amos two years before it happened, (Amosi. 1.) Many suppose it was likewise predicted by Joel, about the same time. The second plague was that of locusts, caterpillers, and cankerworms, such as the oldest men had never seen, (Joel i. 2, 3, &c.); these came towards A. C. About 787. *Heb. The residue of the 2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the 3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust palmerworm. eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. harvest time, in the beginning of the growth after mowing, (Amos vii. 1.); the vines were laid waste, the fig trees were barked, (Joel i. 7.) The harvest perished, and the trees withered, so that there was not corn and wine sufficient for a meat offering and a drink offering in the house of the Lord. The third plague was a miraculous drought, attended with fearful flashes of fire from heaven; the fire (Joel i. 19.) devoured all the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame burnt up all the trees of the field. Hosea also alludes to the same plague, (Hos. iv. 3.) Jonah is supposed to have been the contemporary of these prophets; but none of his prophecies are extant, except that against Nineveh. The prophecy of Joel seems to have been the first that was delivered to the kingdom of Judah; though some have supposed that he lived in the reign of Joram, and others place him in the reign of Manasseh. He predicted, according to the best authorities, the same immediate events as Amos; and it is therefore natural to presume he lived about the same time. The book of Joel is placed here on the united authorities of its internal evidence, and the general opinion of modern commentators: viz. Lightfoot; Blair, in his Chronological Tables; Dr. Grey, in his Introduction, &c.; Vitringa, in his Typus Doctrinæ Prophetica, cap. iv. p. 35, &c.; Moldenhawer, Introductio in Libros canonicos Vet. et Nov. Test. p. 120, 121; of Rosenmüller, in his Scholia in Vet. Test. partis, septimæ, vol. i. p. 433, 434; and of Dr. Taylor. It is inserted here too, because Joel only speaks of Egypt and Edom (iii. 19.) as the enemies of Judea, without mentioning the Assyrians or Babylonians; he likewise denounces the same judgments as Amos against the Tyrians, Sidonians, and Idumeans, who had invaded the kingdom of Judah, and taken off many of the inhabitants for slaves; and in his time, the Jews were in full possession of their religious worship, (ii. 15-17.) Vide Horne's Introduction, vol. ii. p. 264. The great majority of commentators having thus assigned the publication of the prophecy of Joel to the reign of Uzziah, we may conclude from internal evidence, that it was delivered at the time when that king had increased his army, and made himself formidable to the surrounding nations by the number of his engines of war, and the abundance of his arms. Confiding in his military power and greatness, "his heart was lifted up to his destruction," (2 Chron. xxvi. 16.) At this time, it is most probable, Joel predicted the entire overthrow of the kingdom of Judah by a foreign army, which he beautifully compares to that predicted flight of locusts, which about this time ravaged the country. The prophets commonly took advantage of the passing events of the day, to predict from them the future destiny of nations and empires. The occasions on which the prophecies were delivered, therefore, are generally to be found in the history of their own times. 5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye A.C. About drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 7 He hath laid my vine waste, and * barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. 8¶ Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn. 787. Heb. laid free for a barking. ed. 10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is † dried up, the oil languisheth. + Or, asham11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, Ŏ ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. 12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. 13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. 14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather bch. ii. 15. the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house test, day of of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, C 15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, c Is. xiii, 6. and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are ◊ Heb. grains. laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. tions. 19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured | Or, habita the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. VOL. II. A. C. About 787. JOEL II. 1 He sheweth unto Zion the terribleness of God's judgment. 12 He exhorteth to repentance, 15 prescribeth a fast, 18 promiseth a blessing thereon. 21 He comforteth Zion with present, 28 and future blessings. 1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land Or, cornet. tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to + Heb. of ge- the years + of many generations. neration and generation. Heb. pot. Or, dart. 3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen so shall they run. 5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather + blackness. 7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path and when they fall upon the § sword, they shall not be wounded. 9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall d Is. xiii. 10. tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: Ezek. xxxii. 7. Amos v. 18. 11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth e e Jer. xxx. 7. his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Zeph. i. 15. f Jer. iv. 1. 12¶Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn |