2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles 27
1Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. 2He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, according to all that his father Uzziah had done. However he didn’t enter into Yahweh’s temple. The people still acted corruptly. 3He built the upper gate of Yahweh’s house, and he built much on the wall of Ophel. 4Moreover he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built fortresses and towers. 5He also fought with the king of the children of Ammon, and prevailed against them. The children of Ammon gave him the same year one hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat, and ten thousand cors of barley. The children of Ammon also gave that much to him in the second year, and in the third. 6So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before Yahweh his God. 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. 9Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in David’s city; and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.
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4 commentators · 19 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry1
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
There is not much more related here concerning Jotham than we had before, Kg2 15:32, etc. I. He reigned well. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord; the course of his reign was good, and pleasing to God, whose favour he made his end, and his…
John Gill9
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
Jotham was twenty five years old,.... See Gill on 2 Kings 15:33.
And he did that which was right,.... See Gill on 2 Kings 15:34, howbeit, he entered not into the temple of the Lord; to burn incense, as his father did; he did according to his good ways, but not his evil ones: and the people did yet corruptly; in sacrificing…
He built the high gate in the house of the Lord,.... See the note on 2 Kings 15:35. and on the wall of Ophel he built much; which Kimchi interprets an high place; it was the eastern part of Mount Zion. Josephus (f) calls it Ophlas, and says it joined to the…
Adam Clarke5
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
He entered not into the temple - He copied his father's conduct as far as it was constitutional; and avoided his transgression. See the preceding chapter, 2 Chronicles 26 (note).
On the wall of Ophel - The wall, says the Targum, of the interior palace. Ophel was some part of the wall of Jerusalem, that was most pregnable, and therefore Jotham fortified it in a particular manner.
Castles and towers - These he built for the protection of the country people against marauders.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown4
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
he did that which was right--The general rectitude of his government is described by representing it as conducted on the excellent principles which had guided the early part of his father's reign. the people did yet corruptly--(See Kg2 15:35); but the…
He built the high gate of the house of the Lord--situated on the north--that portion of the temple hill which was high compared with the southern part--hence "the higher," or upper gate (see on Kg2 15:35). He built, that is, repaired or embellished. and on…
in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers--that is, in the elevated and wooded spots where fortified cities could not be placed, he erected castles and towers.
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