of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. 4And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 5Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away of his a great multitude of captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter. 6For Pekah
4. under every green tree] The Heb. word here used for "green" (ra'anān) means rather "flourishing," the reference being not so much to colour as to condition and size. Large fine trees (which are rarer in the East than in the West) are important landmarks; cp. 1 Chr. x. 12; Gen. xii. 6, xxxv. 4. In different ways such trees acquired a sacred or semi-sacred character (Gen. xviii. 1, xxi. 33; Judg. vi. 11); in some cases because they were associated with theophanies, in others perhaps because the flourishing state of the tree was regarded as the sign of the presence of some local deity. "No one can imagine how many voices a tree has who has not come up to it from the silence of the great desert," G. A. Smith, Hist. Geog., p. 88; cp. the same writer's Early Poetry of Israel, pp. 32, 33.
5—7 (cp. 2 Kin. xvi. 5—9; Is. vii. 1—9). The Syro-Ephraimite War.
The Chronicler's account of the war conveys a very different impression from the corresponding narrative in 2 Kin. In Kings an invasion by the united forces of Israel and Syria is related. Chron. records two separate invasions, each resulting in disaster for Ahaz. In Kings the failure of the allies to take Jerusalem is the chief feature in the account, while in Chron. the damage and loss inflicted on Judah takes the first place, and the magnitude of the disaster is heightened in characteristically midrashic fashion: see the notes below on vv. 5, 6.
5. the king of Syria] i.e. Rezin.
smote him] From 2 Kin. it appears that the Syrian king, (1) helped to shut up Ahaz in Jerusalem, (2) seized the port of Elath (Eloth) on the Red Sea which had belonged to Judah. Some of the "captives" taken to Damascus were presumably brought from Elath.
carried away of his a great multitude of captives] No doubt captives were taken, some probably from Elath; but the "great multitude" is midrashic exaggeration: cp. the number of slain stated in ver. 6.
And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel] 2 Kin. records but a single invasion, the forces of Syria and Israel being confederate. The Chronicler's phrase implies that two separate invasions and disasters befell Ahaz—"he was also delivered."
