Archive for the ‘2 Chronicles 22’ Category

Above: Small Waterfall, Poss Creek, Ben Burton Park, Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, October 29, 2017
Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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…Like foam upon water.
–Hosea 10:7, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
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READING HOSEA, PART VIII
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Hosea 10:1-15
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St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) defined sin as disordered love. The great theologian and Bishop of Hippo Regius explained that God deserves the most love. Furthermore, people, as well as certain items, ideas, institutions, and activities deserve less love than God. Furthermore, some some ideas, items, institutions, and activities deserve no love. The Bishop of Hippo Regius taught that to give God less love than proper and anything or anyone else more love than proper is to have disordered love–sin. This sin is also idolatry, for it draws love away from God.
Hosea 10:1-15 employs metaphors for the (northern) Kingdom of Israel. 10:1-10 describes Israel as a vine. The vine’s days of economic prosperity and military security during the reign (788-747 B.C.E.) of Jeroboam II are over in the vision. Also, we read, the golden calf at Bethel (“House of God”), or as Hosea called the place, Beth-aven (“House of Evil;” see 4:15 also), will become an object of tribute hauled off to the Assyrian Empire. And
Samaria’s monarchy is vanishing
Like foam upon the water….”
–10:7, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011) offers an alternative translation:
Samaria and her king will disappear,
like a twig upon the waters.
Israel is like a heifer in 10:11-15. Israel, trained to sow righteousness and, therefore, to reap the fruits of goodness, instead plows wickedness. Therefore, Israel reaps iniquity and eats the fruits of treachery. Israel’s reliance on its way has led to its preventable fate.
I detect what may be evidence of subsequent Judean editing of 10:11:
I will make Ephraim do advance plowing;
Judah shall do [main] plowing!
Jacob shall do final plowing!
—TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
Hosea 10:13-14 refers to military threats. The immediate threat was from either Tiglath-pileser III (r. 745-727 B.C.E.), Shalmaneser V (r. 727-722 B.C.E.), or Sargon II (r. 722-705 B.C.E.) of the Assyrian Empire. Shalmaneser V began the siege of Samaria; Sargon II finished it. This detail seems to have been lost on the author of 2 Kings 17:1-6. Perhaps Hosea 10:13-14, in referring to Shalman having destroyed Betharbel, means Shalmaneser III (r. 858-824 B.C.E.), from the time of King Jehu of Israel (r. 842-814 B.C.E.). (See 2 Kings 9:1-10:30; 2 Chronicles 22:5-9.) The reference to the battle at Betharbel is obscure, but the warning is plain. The collective consequences of collectively forsaking the divine covenant are terrible, we read.
Perhaps James Luther Mays summarized the situation best:
Yahweh will be the one who acts in gruesome devastation against those whose faith makes them secure against his judgment and independent of his power. Autonomy as a state of violation of their existence as the covenant people is the “evil of their evil.” The king to whom the army belongs and who therefore incarnates their independence of Yahweh will be the first to fall. In the dawn’s first light, when the battle has hardly begun, he shall be cut off.
—Hosea: A Commentary (1969), 150
After all, as R. B. Y. Scott wrote:
If the righteousness of Yahweh could not find realization in a social order, it must destroy the order of life men built in its defiance.
—The Relevance of the Prophets, 2nd. ed. (1968), 188
The prophets Hosea and Amos were contemporaries with different foci. As Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel wrote, Amos saw episodes yet Hosea saw a drama. Also, Amos focused on social injustice (especially economic injustice), but Hosea focused on idolatry. Injustice and idolatry were related to each other. The people and their kings, by straying from God, strayed also from the divine covenant, of which social justice was an essential part.
That is a timeless message that should cause many people to tremble.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 18, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MALTBIE DAVENPORT BABCOCK, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, HUMANITARIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF SAINT FELIX OF CANTALICE, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC FRIAR
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN I, BISHOP OF ROME
THE FEAST OF MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE, AFRICAN-AMERICAN EDUCATOR AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT STANISLAW KUBSKI, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1945
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Above: Hosea and Gomer
Image in the Public Domain
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READING HOSEA, PART II
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Hosea 1:2-2:1 (Anglican, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox)
Hosea 1:2-2:3 (Jewish and Roman Catholic)
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When I began my preparation for writing this post, I read the text aloud. While doing so, I got theological whiplash. Late in the reading, I also detected evidence of subsequent, Judean editing of the text, as in 1:7 and 1:10-2:1/2:3. (I wrote about reasons for subsequent, Judean editing in the original text of the Book of Hosea in the previous post.)
Adultery and prostitution, in the Bible, are sometimes simply adultery and prostitution. On other occasions, they are not literal references, but metaphors for idolatry. And, on other occasions, they are both literal and metaphorical. Regarding Gomer, the third option is germane.
Idolatry was widespread in ancient Israel. Polytheism was ubiquitous in the ancient world, so monotheism was an outlying theological position. Canaanite religion was popular in ancient Israel, much to the consternation of God, God’s prophets, and pious priests. Pious priestly religion and folk religion were quite different from each other. The cult of Baal Peor, the Canaanite storm and fertility god, entailed shrine prostitution, to ensure continued fertility and productivity of the soil, officially. Gomer (“to complete,” literally) was probably one of these prostitutes.
A competing scholarly opinion in commentaries holds that Gomer was a different type of prostitute. Some books I consulted suggested that she may have resorted to prostitution out of economic necessity, that her alternatives may have been starvation and homelessness. These scholars write accurately that many women in patriarchal societies have found themselves in this predicament, and that, in Gomer’s society, women lacked property rights.
Gomer being a shrine prostitute fits the metaphor in the Book of Hosea better.
Metaphorically, God’s covenant with the Jews was a marriage. Worship of Baal Peor, therefore, constituted infidelity. God was, metaphorically, her husband, and the Jewish people were God’s wife.
The marriage of Hosea and Gomer dramatized the divine indictment of Israel. The prophet played the role of God, and Gomer took the role of Israel. The children of Hosea ben Beeri and Gomer bath Didlaim bore names that revealed God’s terse messages.
- The first son was Jezreel, literally “God sows.” Jezreel was a city (as in Joshua 15:56) and a valley (as in Judges 6:33). Apart from the Book of Hosea, this place name occurred in Joshua 15, 17, and 19; Judges 6; 1 Samuel 25, 27, 29, and 30; 2 Samuel 2, 3, and 4; 1 Kings 4, 18, and 21; 2 Kings 8, 9, and 10; 1 Chronicles 4; and 2 Chronicles 22. The city of Jezreel had a bloody past. There, for example, Queen Jezebel had plotted the murder of Naboth (1 Kings 21). And, when King Jehu founded the dynasty to which King Jeroboam II belonged, Jehu did so by assassinating the entire royal court at Jezreel. What had come around was coming around, God warned. In 747 B.C.E., King Zechariah, son of Jeroboam II, died after reigning for about six months. His life and the House of Jehu ended violently when King Shallum staged a palace coup. About a month later, King Shallum died in another palace coup (2 Kings 15:11-15). Hosea, by the way, disagreed with the perspective of 2 Kings 9-10, the author of which held that God had authorized Jehu’s revolution.
- Lo-ruhamah was the daughter of Hosea and Gomer. The daughter’s name meant “not accepted” and “not shown mercy.” (Poor girl!) God refused to accept or pardon the House of Israel.
- Lo-ammi was the second son. His name meant “not My people.” (Poor boy!) The House of Israel had ceased to be God’s people.
Pronouncements of divine judgment continued after 1:9. But first, in 1:10-2:1/2:1-3 (depending on versification), came an announcement of divine mercy. Those God had just condemned as not being His people would become the Children of the Living God, shown mercy and lovingly accepted. This passage may have been a subsequent insertion into the Book of Hosea.
The juxtaposition of material serves a valuable theological purpose. It reminds us that divine judgment and mercy exist in balance. Therefore, do not abandon all hope or presume on divine mercy; God both judges and forgives. I recognize this balance without knowing where judgment gives way to mercy, and mercy to judgment.
The marriage of Hosea and Gomer also dramatized God’s continued yearning for Israel. R. B. Y. Scott wrote:
Hosea speaks of judgment that cannot be averted by superficial professions of repentance; but he speaks more of love undefeated by evil. The final words remain with mercy.
—The Relevance of the Prophets, 2nd. ed. (1968), 80
History offers a complicating factor. John Adams, while defending the accused British soldiers charged in the so-called Boston Massacre, said,
Facts are stubborn things.
Consider the following stubborn facts, O reader:
- The Assyrian Empire absorbed the (northern) Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.E. A mass deportation followed. This was not the first mass deportation. A previous one had occured in 733 B.C.E., when that empire had claimed much of the territory of the (northern) Kingdom of Israel.
- Many refugees from the (northern) Kingdom of Israel fled south, to the Kingdom of Judah after these events. These refugees merged into the tribes of Judah and Simeon.
- Many other Israelites remained in their homeland. Many who did this intermarried with Assyrian colonists, producing the Samaritans.
- The Ten Lost Tribes assimilated. Their genetic and cultural heritage spread throughout the Old World, from Afghanistan to South Africa, over time.
- The two kingdoms did not reunited, contrary to Hosea 1:11/2:2.
Nevertheless, I like what R. B. Y. Scott wrote:
The final word remains with mercy.
I hope so.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 13, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
THE FEAST OF HENRI DOMINIQUE LACORDAIRE, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, DOMINICAN, AND ADVOCATE FOR THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
THE FEAST OF FRANCES PERKINS, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF LABOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT GEMMA OF GORIANO SICOLI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC ANCHORESS
THE FEAST OF SAINT GLYCERIA OF HERACLEA, MARTYR, CIRCA 177
THE FEAST OF UNITA BLACKWELL, AFRICAN-AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST
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Above: King Jehu of Israel
Image in the Public Domain
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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33
PART XC
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2 Kings 9:1-10:30
2 Chronicles 22:5-9
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The Lord has cast down the thrones of rulers,
and has seated the lowly in their place.
The Lord has plucked up the roots of the nations,
and has planted the humble in their place.
–Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 10:14-15, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)
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King Jehoram/Joram of Israel (Reigned 851-842 B.C.E.)
King Ahaziah/Jehoahaz of Judah (Reigned 843-842 B.C.E.)
King Jehu of Israel (Reigned 842-814 B.C.E.)
Queen Athaliah of Judah (Reigned 842-836 B.C.E.)
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Above: The Intermarriage of the House of Omri and the House of David
Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
Dynasties in the northern Kingdom of Israel rose and fell. I counted five dynasties, as well as four kings who belonged to no dynasty. Three of the dynasties consisted of only two monarchs. The House of Omri supplied four Kings of Israel and one Queen of Judah (Athaliah). The House of Jehu supplied five Kings of Israel.
In 1 Kings 19:15-16, God had assigned Elijah to anoint Jehu the next King of Israel. Elijah passed that task to his successor, Elisha. Elisha, in turn, fulfilled it indirectly; he sent a disciple-prophet to anoint Jehu then to
flee without delay.
The disciple-prophet of Elijah anointed Jehu then did not
flee without delay.
Jehu presided over a bloodbath that claimed King Jehoram/Joram of Israel, King Ahaziah/Jehoahaz of Judah, Queen Jezebel of Israel, all members of the House of Omri in reach, many Baalists in Israel, and 42 mourners of King Ahaziah/Jehoahaz from Judah. However, Queen Mother Athaliah, daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel, remained safe in Jerusalem. She usurped the throne of Judah and purged as many rival claimants to the throne as she could find. She did not, however, find her grandson, the future King Jehoash/Joash. The revolution in Israel occurred during a war against King Hazael of Aram. The threat of King Hazael persisted.
King Jehu received a negative review in 2 Kings.
Finding someone to cheer for in this story is extremely difficult. This is frequently the case in revolutions. Yes, one says, Side A is terrible. So is Side B, however. It is lamentable that the population cannot have good government. Pity the people.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 2, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALL SOULS/THE COMMEMORATION OF ALL FAITHFUL DEPARTED
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Above: Queen Athaliah of Judah
Image in the Public Domain
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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33
PART LXXXIX
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2 Kings 11:1-20
2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21
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The children of sinners are abominable children,
and they frequent the haunts of the ungodly.
The inheritance of the children of sinners will perish,
and on their posterity will be a perpetual reproach.
–Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 41:5-6, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)
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Queen Athaliah of Judah (Reigned 842-836 B.C.E.)
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Above: The Intermarriage of the House of Omri and the House of David
Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
A refresher: Princess Athaliah, sister of Princes Ahaziah and Jehoram/Joram of Israel, had married Jehoram/Joram, the Crown Prince of Judah. The couple’s elder son had become King Ahaziah/Jehoahaz of Judah. Then he had perished in Jehu’s revolution in Israel, leaving an infant son, Jehoash/Joash, the legitimate heir to the throne. Meanwhile, King Jehoram/Joram of Israel had also perished in Jehu’s revolution in the northern kingdom.
Got that?
Queen Athaliah was a chip off the old block. In another verse of an ancient song, she seized power and ordered the deaths of potential rivals. Yet Princess Jehosheba (whose name should join those of Shiphrah and Puah in honor) helped High Priest Jehoiada hide the young Jehoash/Joash (her nephew) from Queen Athaliah for about six years. After Queen Athaliah and Baalist priest Mattan died in a coup d’état, Jehoash/Joash, seven years old, came to the throne, and Jehoiada served as the regent. The High Priest provided a positive influence upon the young monarch. Meanwhile, the destruction of altars and images of Baal Peor had been another result of the revolution in Judah.
The last vestiges of the House of Omri were gone. Their sins continued, unfortunately.
Next, I will step back in time and focus on King Jehu of Israel and his revolution.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 2, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ALL SOULS/THE COMMEMORATION OF ALL FAITHFUL DEPARTED
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Above: King Jehoram/Joram of Judah
Image in the Public Domain
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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33
PART LXXXVIII
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2 Kings 8:16-29
2 Chronicles 21:1-22:9
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Whoever throws a stone straight up throws it on his own head;
and a treacherous blow opens up wounds.
He who digs a pit will fall into it,
and he who sets a snare will be caught in it.
–Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 27:25-27, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)
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King Jehoram/Joram of Israel (Reigned 851-842 B.C.E.)
King Jehoram/Joram of Judah (Reigned 851-843 B.C.E.)
King Ahaziah/Jehoahaz of Judah (Reigned 843-842 B.C.E.)
King Hazael of Aram (Reigned 842-806 B.C.E.)
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Above: The Intermarriage of the House of Omri and the House of David
Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor
The critiques of King Jehoram/Joram of Judah are negative. The longer coverage in 2 Chronicles 21 is more devastating than 2 Kings 8:16-24. The account in 2 Chronicles 21 even mentions a condemnation by Elijah. Questions of historicity of the prophet’s message aside, a message from Elijah fits the chronology of 2 Kings. If one pays close attention, one may notice that King Jehoram/Joram of Judah was already on the throne in 2 Kings 1:17, and that the account of the assumption of Elijah is in 2 Kings 2.
King Ahaziah of Judah, son and immediate successor of King Jehoram/Joram of Judah, also received a negative review. King Ahaziah of Judah allied himself militarily with his uncle, King Jehroam/Joram of Israel. They had a common foe, King Hazael of Aram.
Both King Jehoram/Joram of Israel and King Jehoram/Joram of Judah died badly. The King of Judah suffered from an incurable disease of the bowels and died unloved. The King of Israel perished in a revolution, to Jehu.
King Ahaziah of Judah also fell victim to Jehu’s revolution.
The insidious influence of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel of Israel in the Kingdom of Judah was not burned out, unfortunately. The Queen Mother, Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, was still alive. And she wanted to wield power.
The reign of Queen Athaliah will be the topic of my next post.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
OCTOBER 31, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE REFORMATION
THE FEAST OF DANIEL C. ROBERTS, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF GERHARD VON RAD AND MARTIN NOTH, GERMAN LUTHERAN BIBLICAL SCHOLARS
THE FEAST OF AUL SHINJI SASAKI, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF MID-JAPAN, BISHOP OF TOKYO, AND PRIMATE OF NIPPON SEI KO KEI; AND PHILIP LENDEL TSEN, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF HONAN AND PRESIDING BISHOP OF CHUNG HUA SHENG KUNG HUI
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