2 Chronicles 24:18

And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) And they left the house of the Lord.—They, viz., the apostate princes and their following, ceased to attend the legal worship of the Temple.

And served groves and idols.—Rather, the Ashērim and the idols. (See Note on 2Chronicles 14:3.)

And wrath came.—2Chronicles 19:2; 2Chronicles 19:10; 1Chronicles 27:24. In this case the Divine wrath (Numbers 1:53) manifested itself in a Syrian invasion (2Chronicles 24:23, seq.).

Upon Judah and Jerusalem.—The sin of the nobles, allowed and perhaps imitated by the king, involved the nation in its penal consequences (Comp. 1 Chronicles 21)

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 24:18. And they left the house of the Lord God — The king and princes, who a while ago so zealously repaired the temple, now forsook the temple! So inconstant a thing is man! So little confidence is to be put in him! It is probable that these great men at first only worshipped in the groves and on the high places themselves; yet they had their emissaries, who persuaded the people to join with them. So that the house of God was soon deserted by them, and they proceeded to worship idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem — They were soon punished by the hand of Hazael, king of Syria.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:15-27 See what a great judgment on any prince or people, the death of godly, zealous, useful men is. See how necessary it is that we act in religion from inward principle. Then the loss of a parent, a minister, or a friend, will not be losing our religion. Often both princes and inferior people have been flattered to their ruin. True grace alone will enable a man to bring forth fruit unto the end. Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, being filled with the Spirit of prophecy, stood up, and told the people of their sin. This is the work of ministers, by the word of God, as a lamp and a light, to discover the sin of men, and expound the providences of God. They stoned Zechariah to death in the court of the house of the Lord. Observe the dying martyr's words: The Lord look upon it, and require it! This came not from a spirit of revenge, but a spirit of prophecy. God smote Joash with great diseases, of body, or mind, or both, before the Syrians departed from him. If vengeance pursue men, the end of one trouble will be but the beginning of another. His own servants slew him. These judgments are called the burdens laid upon him, for the wrath of God is a heavy burden, too heavy for any man to bear. May God help us to take warning, to be upright in heart, and to persevere in his ways to the end.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The nobles had taken part in the revolution which placed Joash on the throne 2 Chronicles 23:2, 2 Chronicles 23:13, 2 Chronicles 23:20, but probably on political rather than on religious grounds. They might dislike the rule of a woman and a foreigner without participating in the zeal of Jehoiada for purity of religion. They now petitioned for a toleration of idolatry, not for a return to the condition of things which prevailed under Athaliah. No doubt they carried a considerable party with them; but the temple-worship continued, as appears from the history of Zechariah 2 Chronicles Zechariah 24:20. Nor is the king taxed personally with idolatry.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem—The particular mention of Jerusalem as involved in the sin implies that the neglect of the temple and the consequent idolatry received not only the king's toleration, but his sanction; and it naturally occurs to ask how, at his mature age, such a total abandonment of a place with which all his early recollections were associated can be accounted for. It has been suggested that what he had witnessed of the conduct of many of the priests in the careless performance of the worship, and especially their unwillingness to collect the money, as well as apply a portion of their revenues for the repairs of the temple, had alienated and disgusted him [Le Clerc].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

By Hazael of Syria; of which see 2 Kings 12:17,18

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers,.... Came no more to the temple at Jerusalem, forsook the worship and service of it:

and served groves and idols; worshipped idols in groves, which were upon high places:

and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass: their idolatry, and particularly on these princes, the Syrian army coming against them, and destroying them, 2 Chronicles 24:23.

Geneva Study Bible

And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. they left the house of the Lord] Cp. 2 Chronicles 29:6, “[they] have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord.” These phrases are a kind of euphemism meaning “to commit apostasy.”

served groves and idols] R.V. served the Asherim and the idols; cp. 2 Chronicles 14:3 (note).

wrath] Heb. qeçeph; cp. 2 Chronicles 19:2 (note).

wrath came] Cp. 2 Chronicles 24:25-26.

their trespass] R.V. their guiltiness; cp. 2 Chronicles 19:10 (A.V. and R.V.).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - Served groves; Revised Version, the Asherim, correctly (see note, 2 Chronicles 14:3). For this their trespass. Comparing the emphatic language of ver. 23," destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people," we may conclude that stress is to be laid on the pronoun "their" in the present verse. The worship of the true God was not left by the whole people, and we are not told it was by the king; but (very probably through want of moral courage) he incurred the severest sort of blame, and was without even the excuse of strong personal temptation. 2 Chronicles 24:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The princes of Judah besought the king to allow them to worship the Astartes and idols, and the king hearkened to them, did not venture to deny their request. למּלך ישׁתּחווּ, they bowed themselves before the king, i.e., they besought him. What they thus beseechingly requested is not stated, but may be gathered from what they did, according to 2 Chronicles 24:18. They forsook Jahve the God of their fathers, etc. There came wrath upon Judah because of this their trespass. קצף, a wrathful judgment of the Lord, cf. 2 Chronicles 29:8, viz., the invasion of the land by Hazael, 2 Chronicles 24:23. On the construction זאת אשׁמתם, cf. Ew. 293, c, S. 740. Against this defection prophets whom the Lord sent did indeed lift up their testimony, but they would not hearken to them. Of these prophets, one, Zechariah the son of the high priest Jehoiada, is mentioned by name in 2 Chronicles 24:20., who, seized by the Spirit of the Lord, announced to the people divine punishment for their defection, and was thereupon, at the king's command, stoned in the court of the temple. With לבשׁה רוּח cf. 1 Chronicles 12:18, and the commentary on Judges 6:34. לעם מעל, above the people, viz., as we learn from 2 Chronicles 24:21, in the inner, higher-lying court, so that he was above the people who were in the outer court. "Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, and (why) will ye not prosper?" Fidelity to the Lord is the condition of prosperity. If Israel forsake the Lord, the Lord will also forsake it; cf. 2 Chronicles 12:5; 2 Chronicles 15:2.