6. became mighty] The same Hebrew word as in i. 1 (see note).
7–9 (= 2 Kings xv. 36–38).
The Summary of Jotham’s Reign.
⁷Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. ⁸He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. ⁹And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.
7. all his wars] Only a war with Ammon is mentioned above, but according to 2 Kings xv. 37 the Syro-Ephraimite war also began in Jotham’s reign. The notices in Kings and Chronicles may be regarded as supplementary. Ammon was a natural ally of the Syrians, and perhaps the wording of verse 5 (end) hints that after the third year Ammon was able to refuse to pay tribute. The information of Chronicles is therefore plausible; but it is curious that Chronicles preserves the one incident and Kings the other. The point is highly significant. Not only does it illustrate very forcibly the comparative independence of the Chronicler’s narrative, which is so marked a feature in these later reigns; but also it adds to the evidence in favour of the view that the Chronicler had traditions before him other than those of Kings. Clearly he had no motive for suppressing the statement of Kings and inventing instead a war with Ammon. We must suppose that he followed some authority independent of Kings.
the book of the kings, etc.] Compare xxv. 26, and see Introduction, [§ 5].
Chapter XXVIII.
1–4 (= 2 Kings xvi. 1–4).
Ahaz succeeds and practises Idolatry.
The reign of Ahaz is a specially interesting section of Chronicles, showing in a remarkable degree the freedom with which the older accounts in 2 Kings xvi. and Isaiah vii. 1 ff. have been handled. A tale of a prophet is introduced (verses 9–15). Otherwise only one new point is added—viz. an Edomite and a Philistine invasion (verses 16–18); but all the incidents of the older tradition are altered and given new settings in such a way as may best serve what is plainly the Chronicler’s main object, namely by heightening the disasters to show the exceeding sinfulness of sin. For details of the changes, see the notes on verses 5–7, 16–21, 23, 24.
¹Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father: ²but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for the Baalim.