(32-38) THE REIGN OF JOTHAM IN JERUSALEM.
(Comp. 2 Chronicles 27)
(32) In the second year of Pekah. — Who came to the throne in the last year of Uzziah (Azariah, 2 Kings 15:27).
(34) According to all that his father Uzziah had done. — The chronicler qualifies this general statement by adding that Jotham did not, like his father, invade the Holy Place. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 27:2, with 2 Chronicles 26:16.)
(35) Howbeit the high places. — The chronicler generalises this statement: “And the people did yet corruptly.”
He built. — Rather, He it was who built For “the higher gate,” see Note on 2 Chronicles 27:3. Thenius considers that the term higher denotes rank rather than local position. (See Jeremiah 20:2; Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 8:5; Ezekiel 8:14; Ezekiel 8:16; Ezekiel 9:2; Ezekiel 40:38-43; and comp. 2 Kings 12:9.)
(36) Now the rest of the acts of Jotham. — Some of these are related in 2 Chronicles 27:4-6. We read there how Jotham built towns and castles, and towers of refuge, and how he fought victoriously against Ammon, and exacted from that nation a heavy tribute three years running. Ewald and Thenius admit the historical value of this brief narrative, which is indeed evident on the face of it.
(37) In those days — i.e., in the last year of Jotham. The attacks of the allies at first took the form of isolated raids. In the next reign the country was invaded by them in full force. (See 2 Kings 16:5, seq., and the Notes there.)
Rezin. — Comp. Rezon, Heb., Rĕzôn (1 Kings 11:23), the founder of the dynasty. The present name is spelt in the Hebrew of Kings and Isaiah (Isaiah 7:1) Rĕçín. The Assyrian spelling in the records of Tiglath Pileser, who conquered and slew Rezin, suggests that the right spelling was Raçôn (Assyrian, Bagunnu). The first and last kings of the Syrian monarchy thus bore similar names, both, perhaps, meaning “prince.”