"Rezin's warriors I captured, and with the sword I destroyed [his

people]:

Of his charioteers and [his horsemen] the arms I broke :

Their warriors bearing bows, [their footmen] armed with spear and shield,

With my hand I captured them, and those who fought in their line of battle:

He, to save his life, fled away alone;

Like a deer [he ran], and entered into the great gate of his city.

His generals, whom I had taken alive, on crosses I hung;

His country I subdued. . . .

Damascus, his city, I besieged; and, like a caged bird, I enclosed him : The trees of his forests, which were without number, I cut down; I left

not one.

Hadara, the palace of the father of Rezin of Syria [I burnt];

The city of Samalla I besieged, I captured; eight hundred of its people and children [I took];

Their oxen and their sheep I carried away captive.

Seven hundred and fifty women of the city of Kuruzza,

... hundred of the city Armai, five hundred and fifty of the city Mituna I bore off as prisoners; 1 took five hundred and ninety-one cities; Over sixteen districts of Syria, like a flood, I swept."

According to the writer of Kings, the captives from Damascus were carried away and settled in Kir (2 Kings xvi. 9), the country from which they had traditionally sprung (Amos ix. 7); while Rezin himself was either slain in the siege, or put to death by the conqueror.1

Having reduced Damascus, Tiglath-Pileser proceeded against Samaria, where Pekah offered but a feeble resistance. Internal treachery weakened his power within the capital, while the host of Assyria threatened it from without. His territories were rapidly overrun, plundered, and in part stripped of their inhabitants (1 Chron. v. 26). With the connivance of the Assyrians, a pretender rose up against him, in the person of Hoshea the son of Elah, within the walls of Samaria itself; and this adventurer, having got the king into his power and slain him (2 Kings xv. 30), was accepted by Tiglath-Pileser as his feudatory.3 The length of Pekah's reign, according to the

1 See 2 Kings xvi. 9. The Assyrian inscriptions are illegible exactly where Pekah's fate would seem to have been mentioned. (See "Eponym Canon," p. 123, 1. 17 ; p. 124, l. 18.)

present text of the Second Book of Kings (chap. xv. 27) was twenty years; but the Assyrian inscriptions throw a doubt upon the number, and render it probable that the space covered was not nearly so long. Pekah must be regarded as a daring and unscrupulous prince, not altogether wanting in worldly wisdom, but placed in such difficult circumstances that his plans, however well laid, could scarcely succeed. He played a bold game, and lost it. We cannot commiserate the murdered usurper, who did but suffer the fate which he had himself inflicted upon his predecessor; but we must feel a certain respect for the ability with which, under circumstances that were wellnigh desperate, something of a struggle was made, and the complete absorption of the kingdom of Samaria into Assyria delayed for twenty or thirty years.

CHAPTER XXVI.

JOTHAM.

Jotham, regent for his father, Uzziah, succeeds him as king of JudahDoubts concerning the length of his reign-He maintains Uzziah's policy-Fortifies Jerusalem and builds fortresses-Crushes the revolt of Ammon-Suffers attack from Pekah and Rezin--Advance of corruption in Judæa during his reign—His death.

JOTHAM, who became regent when his father, Azariah or Uzziah, was stricken with leprosy, is said to have held the throne of Judah for sixteen years (2 Kings xv. 33); but it is questionable whether his sole reign lasted so long, or whether the space mentioned does not also include the period of his regency. He is reckoned a good prince-one who "did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done" (ibid. ver. 34), but who avoided Uzziah's sin-" howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord” (2 Chron. xxvii. 2). In his general policy, he simply trod in the footsteps of his father. First of all, he further improved the defences of the country. He "built the high gate of the house of the Lord" (ibid. ver. 3), i.e., fortified strongly the principal entrance to the Temple area-probably the gate which looked towards the north, whence it was almost certain that any attack upon Jerusalem must be made. Secondly, "on the wall of Ophel he built much "-i.e., he added greatly to the defences of that long southern swelling, or promontory, from the Temple hill, which alone seemed to furnish a means of approaching its walls by a gradual and gentle ascent. He also "built cities "-i.e., fortresses, "in the mountains of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers (ibid. vers. 3, 4); in other words, on the barren plateaus of the mountains in the south of Judah he founded new cities, the land round which was taken into

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cultivation; and in the forests-probably on the other side of the Jordan especially-he erected castles and towers for the observation of the enemy." He had one only important war. The Ammonite nation, subdued by his father (2 Chron. xxvi. 8), rebelled against him, and refused to pay him tribute, whereupon Jotham invaded their country, defeated the Ammonite monarch, re-imposed the tribute, and increased it for the first three years, as a punishment. For this space of time a hundred talents of silver (£24,000) annually, ten thousand measures of wheat, and the same quantity of barley, were required (2 Chron. xxvii. 5), after which it would seem that the nominal rate was restored. Towards the close of his reign he had to sustain attacks on the part of Pekah and Rezin, who had already formed their alliance; but these attacks do not seem to have become formidable until the reign of his son (2 Kings xv. 37 ; xvi. 5).

The internal condition of Judah did not improve under Jotham. Notwithstanding his own faithfulness to the Jehovistic worship, "the people did yet corruptly" (2 Chron. xxvii. 2). The high-place worship, as a matter of course, still continued (2 Kings xv. 35); and with it were joined a number of base and degrading foreign superstitions. The opening chapters of Isaiah depict the Judæa of Jotham's time. "The whole head was sick, and the whole heart faint" (Isa. i. 5). The rulers were no better than "the rulers of Sodom"; the people were like the "people of Gomorrah” (ibid. ver. 9). A “form of godliness, without the power," prevailed. Sacrifices were offered; incense was burnt; new moons and sabbaths were carefully observed; the appointed feasts were kept ; assemblies were called; solemn meetings were held; hands were spread forth; 66 many prayers" were even put up (ibid. vers. 11-15). But all this was a mere show of religion, worthless-nay, abominable-in the sight of God. The hands held up in prayer were "full of blood" (ibid. ver. 15). The "princes were rebellious and companions of thieves" (ibid. ver. 23); the judges gave false judgments, following after reward; the once "faithful city" had "become an harlot; righteousness had formerly dwelt in it; but now murderers" (ibid. ver. 21). In manners there was that extreme corruption, which prosperity I Ewald, "History of Israel," vol. iv. p. 166, Eng. tr.

2 See above, p. 165.

so often breeds. "Men rose up early in the morning, that they might follow strong drink, and continued until night, till the wine inflamed them. The harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine were in their feasts" (chap. v, 11, 12); they boasted of being "mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink" (ibid. ver. 22). The women were as bad as the men, or worse. "The daughters of Zion were haughty, and walked with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they went, and making a tinkling with their feet" (chap. iii. 18). The love of dress and of the toilet had become a mania. No woman was happy unless she could vie with her neighbours in "the bravery of tinkling ornaments for her feet, in cauls, and round tires like the moon, and chains, and bracelets, and mufflers, and bonnets, and ornaments for the legs, and headbands, and tablets, and earrings, and rings, and nose jewels, in changeable suits of apparel, and mantels, and wimples, and crisping pins, and glasses, and fine linen, and hoods, and vails" (ibid. vers. 18-23). Besides all this extreme luxury and worldliness, there were some who gave themselves up to unlawful arts, as soothsaying and magic (chap. ii. 6), while others indulged in idolatry (ibid. ver. 10), and in those licentious rites which were connected with the worship maintained in groves and gardens (ibid. chap. i. 29).

Jotham died at the age of thirty-one, in Jerusalem, apparently a natural death, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David (2 Kings xv. 38; 2 Chron. xxvii. 29).