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. 10And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not even with you [1]trespasses of your own against the LORD your God? 11Now hear me therefore, and send back the captives, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you. 12Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, 13and said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for ye purpose that which will bring upon us [2]a trespass against the LORD, to add unto our sins and to our [2]trespass: for our [2]trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. 14So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the
9. a prophet of the LORD was there] Nothing further is known of Oded. For similar instances of prophetic activity narrated only in Chron. see xv. 1 ff., xvi. 7 ff., xxiv. 20 f., and esp. xxv. 7 ff.
the LORD . . . was wroth . . . and ye have slain them in a rage which hath reached up unto heaven] Cp. Zech. i. 15, "I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction."
heaven] There is a tendency in some later books of the Bible to write "heaven" for "God"; cp. xxxii. 20, "prayed and cried to heaven," also Dan. iv. 23; and similarly in the N.T., Lk. xv. 18, 21; John iii. 27: for further references see Grimm and Thayer, Lexicon of the N.T., s.v. οὐρανός ad fin. From a like feeling of reverence the Chronicler is sparing in his use of the name "Jehovah"; cp. xvii. 4.
10. keep under] In Neh. v. 5, the same Heb. word is translated, "bring into bondage"; cp. Ryle's note on Hebrew slavery in loco. One Hebrew might hold another Hebrew as a slave for a limited period, but in the present passage the case is of one part of the people taking advantage of the fortune of war to reduce to slavery thousands of their fellow-countrymen.
