2 Chronicles 21:20

Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20) Thirty and two years.—The word “years” has fallen out of the Hebrew text; but some MSS. contain it. The repetition of his age, &c, is curious. (See 2Chronicles 21:6.) It seems to indicate that the writer was here transcribing from another source.

And departed without being desired.—And he departed without regret, died unregretted. Hemdāh answers to the Latin desiderium. The LXX. and Vulg. render: “And he walked not in approbation,” or “rightly.” Comp. Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the end of king Jehoiakim: “They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, my brother!” &c. (Jeremiah 22:18-19). So Syriac and Arabic.

Howbeit.—And.

They buried him.—LXX., Syriac, and Arabic: “He was buried.”

But not in the sepulchres of the kings.—2Chronicles 24:25; 2Chronicles 26:23. Another circumstance of dishonour. It is not mentioned in 2Kings 8:17. Thenius asserts that in these additions to the history of Jehoram there is traceable, not only a traditional or legendary element, but also pure embellishment on the part of the chronicler. The grounds he alleges, however, by no means necessitate his conclusion, being themselves misinterpretations of the statements of Kings.

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 21:20. And departed — Hebrew, went, namely, the way of all the earth, as it is more fully expressed Joshua 23:14. Or, to the land of darkness, Job 10:21-22. Or, to his long home, Ecclesiastes 12:5. Or, went away, namely, out of this world, as the word הלךְ, halack, used here and Job 14:20; Ecclesiastes 5:15; Ecclesiastes 6:4, signifies. And there are many such phrases used concerning death, in the Old and New Testaments, which all signify that death is not an annihilation, but only a translation into another place and state. See Genesis 15:15; Php 1:23. Without being desired — Hebrew, without desire, which may be referred, 1st, To himself. He had no desire of living longer, nor any pleasure in life, but was heartily weary of it, through his excessive pains. Or rather, it belongs, 2d, To his people, who did not desire that he should live longer, but oft and heartily wished that he had died sooner: which contempt of him they showed both by making no burning for him, as they used to do for good kings, and by denying him burial among the kings. The expression is emphatical: for it is usual with men to desire the death of some persons, whom afterward they lament, and heartily wish they were alive again. But for this ungodly and unhappy prince, his people did not only in his life-time wish his death, but afterward did not repent of those desires.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

21:12-20 A warning from God was sent to Jehoram. The Spirit of prophecy might direct Elijah to prepare this writing in the foresight of Jehoram's crimes. He is plainly told that his sin should certainly ruin him. But no marvel that sinners are not frightened from sin, and to repentance, by the threatenings of misery in another world, when the certainty of misery in this world, the sinking of their estates, and the ruin of their health, will not restrain them from vicious courses. See Jehoram here stripped of all his comforts. Thus God plainly showed that the controversy was with him, and his house. He had slain all his brethren to strengthen himself; now, all his sons are slain but one. David's house must not be wholly destroyed, like those of Israel's kings, because a blessing was in it; that of the Messiah. Good men may be afflicted with diseases; but to them they are fatherly chastisements, and by the support of Divine consolations the soul may dwell at ease, even when the body lies in pain. To be sick and poor, sick and solitary, but especially to be sick and in sin, sick and under the curse of God, sick and without grace to bear it, is a most deplorable case. Wickedness and profaneness make men despicable, even in the eyes of those who have but little religion.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Not in the sepulchres of the kings - Compare the similar treatment of Joash 2 Chronicles 24:25 and Ahaz 2 Chronicles 28:27.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13-19. hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem … like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab—that is, introduced the superstitions and vices of Phœnician idolatry (see on [444]De 13:6-14). On this account, as well as for his unnatural cruelties, divine vengeance was denounced against him, which was soon after executed exactly as the prophet had foretold. A series of overwhelming calamities befell this wicked king; for in addition to the revolts already mentioned, two neighboring tribes (see 2Ch 17:11) made hostile incursions on the southern and western portions of his kingdom. His country was ravaged, his capital taken, his palace plundered, his wives carried off, and all his children slain except the youngest. He himself was seized with an incurable dysentery, which, after subjecting him to the most painful suffering for the unusual period of two years, carried him off, a monument of the divine judgment. To complete his degradation, his death was unlamented, his burial unhonored by his subjects. This custom, similar to what obtained in Egypt, seems to have crept in among the Hebrews, of giving funeral honors to their kings, or withholding them, according to the good or bad characters of their reign.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Departed, Heb. went, to wit, the way of all the earth, as it is more fully expressed, Joshua 23:14. Or, to the land of darkness, as Job 10:21,22. Or, to his long home, Ecclesiastes 12:5. Or, went away, to wit, out of this world; as this word is used, Job 14:20 Ecclesiastes 5:15 6:4; there being many such words and phrases used concerning death in the Old and New Testament, signifying that death is not an annihilation, but only a translation into another place and state. See Genesis 15:15 Philippians 1:23.

Without being desired, Heb. without desire; which may belong either,

1. To himself; he had no desire of living longer, nor any pleasure in life, but was heartily weary of it, through his excessive pains: or rather,

2. To his people, who did not desire that he should live longer, but oft and heartily wished that he had died sooner; which contempt of him they showed both by making no burning for him, as they used to do for good and laudable kings, 2 Chronicles 16:14, and by denying him burial among the kings, as it here follows. Desire is here put for a person or thing whose life or continuance is desirable or desired by others, as Isaiah 2:16 Ezekiel 24:16,18,21,25 Da 9:23 10:11,19. And this is an emphatical expression, because it is usual with men to desire the deaths of some persons, whom afterward they lament and heartily wish that they were alive again, as they may have cause to do. But for this ungodly and unhappy prince, his people did not only in his lifetime wish his death, but afterwards they did not repent of those desires, nor wish him alive again, but rejoiced that they were delivered from so great a plague as he was to them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years,.... See 2 Kings 8:17,

and departed without being desired; to live, either by himself, being weary of life through the pain he endured; or by his people, he being so wicked a prince, and so ill beloved by them, that nobody wished to have him live, but were glad to hear of his death; the meaning is, he died unlamented; his death is expressed by a departing out of this world into another, a phrase more than once used for death in the New Testament, see John 13:1,

howbeit, they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings; they showed him some respect for the sake of his father, by burying him in the city of David, but denied him the honour of lying in the royal sepulchres, see 2 Kings 8:24.

Geneva Study Bible

Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, {l} and departed without being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

(l) That is, as some write, he was not regarded but deposed for his wickedness and idolatry so that his son reigned 22 years (his father yet living) without honour, and after his father's death he was confirmed to reign still, as in 2Ch 22:2.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. and departed without being desired] Render, he lived so that none desired him (or “delighted in him”). Cp. LXX., ἐπορεύθη οὐκ ἐν ἐπαίνῳ, lit. “he walked without praise.”

Howbeit] R.V. and.

but not in the sepulchres of the kings] According to Kings he “was buried with his fathers.” Cp. 2 Chronicles 24:25.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - Departed without being desired; literally, without desire. The closing commentary, so quietly written, becomes the more pathetically mournful The "desire" spoken of is the desiderium of Horace, of nearly nine centuries later ('Odes,' L 24). But there was now no "desiderium... tam cari capitis," for want of room for this latter description. They buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings (see again our note on 2 Chronicles 16:14; and comp. 2 Chronicles 24:25; 2 Chronicles 28:27).



2 Chronicles 21:20

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The repetition of his age and the length of his reign (cf. 2 Chronicles 21:6) is accounted for by the fact that the last section of this chapter is derived from a special source, wherein these notes likewise were contained. The peculiarity of the language and the want of the current expressions of our historian also favour the idea that some special authority has been used here. "And he departed, mourned by none." Luther erroneously translates, "and walked in a way which was not right" (und wandelt das nicht fein war), after the "ambulavit non recte" of the Vulg.; for חמדּה denotes, not a good walk, but desiderium, חמדּה בּלא, sine desiderio, i.e., a nemine desideratus. הלך, to depart, i.e., die, as Genesis 15:2. Moreover, though he was buried in the city of David, yet he was not laid in the graves of the kings, by which act also a judgment was pronounced upon his reign; cf. 2 Chronicles 24:25 and 2 Chronicles 26:23.