which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Beth-el."

The Chronicler contradicts himself, (verse 33,) and gives a short notice of this reformation, and, contrary to the fact, does not suppose the reformation was first brought about by the terror which arose on discovering the book of the Law."

The story in 2 Ch. xxvi. 16-21, which relates that Uzziah was punished with a leprosy because he offered incense with his own hands, is a legend written to confirm the prescriptive privileges of the priests.

......

Some accounts of victories are liable to suspicion. For example, 2 Ch. xiii. 2, sqq., Abijah appears as an orthodox king, and the sacred trumpets perform a miracle; for "God smote Jeroboam ... so there fell down slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men." Of the same class is the story in 2 Ch. xiv. 6-15, of Asa's victory over the Ethiopians, which he obtains by the help of a prayer, (verse 11.) In 2 Ch. xx. 1-25, Jehoshaphat's victory over the Moabites and others is related in an admonitory and entirely miraculous manner. It is said the Jews had nothing to do but gather up the spoil, which they were three days in collecting The whole of the hostile army had fallen without a

• Movers prefers the narrative of the Chronicler to that in 2 Kings, chiefly on the ground that the passover which Josiah celebrated, in the eighteen years of his reign, in consequence of discovering the Law book, must have been celebrated in the first month, and consequently there would be no time for extirpating the idolaters. Here he supposes the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign was coincident with the civil year.

Usher puts this passover in the end of the eighteenth year. See the reply of Movers, in the Bon. Zeitschrift, vol. xvii. p. 169, to this objection, which Von Bohlen has brought against him.

Keil's defence (p. 444) does not deserve a refutation.

blow-"dead bodies fallen to the earth."

This story

is probably made out of Jehoshaphat's campaign, mentioned in 2 Kings iii. 4, sqq."

a

Winer, Lexicon, vol. i
Jes. Weis. vol. i. p. 45,)

See Gesenius, Comm. zu. Jes. vol. i. p. 502. p. 710. On the other hand, see Kleinert, (Aecht. d. Keil, (1. c. p. 241,) Movers, (p. 111,) who seek in vain for a support in Ps. xlviii. 83. See Clarke, in loc.

[The exaggeration appears plain from the following:

2 Ch. xvii. 10-12. "And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Also, some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents and tribute silver; and the Arabians brought him flocks, seven thousand and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred he-goats.

"And Jehoshaphat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles and cities of store."

The army comprised 1,160,000 soldiers, under five generals, besides his garrison-troops in the walled towns! The Moabites, Ammonites, and others, invade this powerful king. 'Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast." He then offers a public prayer in presence of the multitude assembled before the "new court;" the spirit of the Lord comes upon a Levite, who prophesies.

2 Ch. xx. 15, sqq. "And he said, 'Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat: Thus saith the Lord unto you, "Be not afraid, nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's; to-morrow go ye down against them. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle; set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them; for the Lord will be with you." And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

"And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and, as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood, and said, ‘Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.' And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, 'Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth forever.'

"And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come

The relations of the power, wealth, and achievements, of the kings of Judah, (2 Ch. xiv. 6, sqq., xvii. 10, sqq., xxvi. 5, sqq., xxvii. 4, sqq.,) are suspicious, like the above description of victories, on account of the exaggeration in the numbers. There is an obvious. anachronism in 2 Ch. xx. 12, sqq. There are difficulties in the history of Manasseh, (2 Ch. xxxiii. 11—17.) The accounts in Chronicles of his captivity, his conversion, and especially of his pretended extirpation of idolatry, do not agree with the history in 2 Kings xxi. 1 -17; for example, 2 Ch. xxxiii. 15, "He took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars, and cast them out of the city, and repaired the altar of Jehovah." This contradicts the account in Kings, which sums up his whole life in few words: "Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles?" &c. Here no mention is made of his captivity, or his conversion. He lives and dies in sin, and is referred to again as an idolater, in verse 21, and xxiv. 3, where his sin is deemed unpardonable."

As, in the above case, Manasseh's conversion rests on

against Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. And when Judah came towards the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much."] See, also, 2 Ch. xxxiii. 22, Jer. xv. 4. Movers (p. 327) acknowledges this contradiction, though Keil (p. 425) will not, and attempts only to show that he was really carried into captivity.

a pious conjecture, so it is probable Amaziah is made out an idolater, in 2 Ch. xxv. 14, sqq., because he was afterwards unfortunate. It is probable, also, that the narrative in 2 Kings xii. 18, 19, is amplified in 2 Ch. xxiv. 23, in order to make out a suitable recompense for the apostasy of Joash. The two accounts speak for themselves:

In 2 Kings xvi. 5, "Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to war, and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him." He made terms with the king of Assyria; and, though an

...

idolater, suffered no remarkable calamity, as we learn in the books of Kings. But in 2 Ch. xxviii. 5, sqq., "Jehovah...... delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria, and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives and he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter; for Pekah..... slew 120,000 in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken Jehovah, God of their fathers." He sent to the king of Assyria for help, who "distressed him, and strengthened him not." At his death, he was not buried in "the sepulchre of the kings of Israel." The statement in verse 7, that Maaseiah, his son, was slain in battle, is obviously false; for, at that time, he could not have had a son able to bear arms."

In 2 Kings xxiv. 6, it is said, "Jehoiakim slept with his fathers;" but in 2 Ch. xxxvi. 6, Nebuchadnezzar bound him [Jehoiakim] in fetters to carry him to Babylon." This latter statement is very doubtful. The speeches put in the mouth of kings and prophets all have the same admonitory tone, and resemble each other, even in particular expressions."

It must be admitted, also, that these books contain some credible narratives."

a

Movers, following Usher, Vitringa, and Rosenmüller, attempts to defend the Chronicler, on the ground that there was an earlier invasion of Judah by the united armies of Syria and Israel, (but neither Kings nor Chronicles speaks of two invasions,) and by reference to Isa. i.; but this explanation of Isaiah is unsuitable for other reasons. Keil (p. 420) thinks there was but one invasion, and attempts to reconcile the two statements.

See 1 Ch. xv. 12, 13, 2 Ch. xiii. 4, sqq., xiv. 11, xv. 1, sqq., 12, sqq., xix. 2, 3, xx. 6, sqq., xxviii. 9, xxix. 5, sqq., xxxii. 7, 8, xxxv. 3, sq. See Movers, p. 180.

Movers has shown much acuteness and power of combination in his attempts to prove this. The present is not the place for a thorough examin of this question.