7. the ruler of the house] Hebrew nāgīd. Probably the head of the king’s household is meant, his “chancellor”; but compare Nehemiah xi. 11, “the ruler (nāgīd) of the house of God.”
next to the king] compare 1 Samuel xxiii. 17.
8–15 (not in Kings).
Israel sends back the Jewish Captives.
The tale of the intervention of Oded, his appeal, the response of the people and the army to the call of conscience, with the consequent outburst of pity for the unhappy captives, who are first tended and then restored to their kinsfolk in Judah, is something far better than literal history: it is the product of a moral and religious conviction worthy of high admiration. We have, in fact, in these verses a most clear instance of that inculcation of great religious principles which was the primary object of the writer of Chronicles. A modern ethical teacher, desirous of driving home the eternal verities, may clothe them in a story which has no basis whatsoever in actual events but is the pure product of the writer’s imagination. His ancient counterpart among the Jews started with a nucleus of historical events, which however he handled freely in whatever fashion might best serve to emphasise the moral or religious lesson he desired to teach.
The deep ethical and spiritual value of this example of how to treat the fallen foe hardly requires comment—Israel must forgive, if it would be forgiven (verse 10); the captives are—not “the enemy” but—“your brethren” (verse 11); and, when conscience is at last awakened, how great is the revulsion, and how nobly do the generous qualities of human nature appear, when the captives, laden not with the chains of bondage (verse 10) but with clothing and with food, are restored to their homes in peace.
It is very evident that the writer of this fine story had in mind the no less effective and beautiful narrative of Elisha’s dealing with the captured Syrian army (2 Kings vi. 21–23).
⁸And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.
8. of their brethren] Compare xi. 4, “ye shall not ... fight against your brethren.”
⁹But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the Lord, the God of your fathers, was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage which hath reached up unto heaven.
9. a prophet of the Lord was there] Nothing further is known of Oded. For similar instances of prophetic activity narrated only in Chronicles see xv. 1 ff., xvi. 7 ff., xxiv. 20 f., and especially xxv. 7 ff.