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וינגע5060 יהוה3068 את853 המלך4428 ויהי1961 מצרע6879 עד5704 יום3117 מתו4194 וישׁב3427 בבית1004 החפשׁית2669 ויותם3147 בן1121 המלך4428 על5921 הבית1004 שׁפט8199 את853 עם5971 הארץ׃776

2Sa 3:29 2Ch 26:16-20 Job 34:19

Verse 5. The Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper] The reason of this plague is well told in the above quoted chapter, 2 Chron. xxvi. 16.

That his heart being elated, he went into the temple to burn incense upon the altar, assuming to himself the functions of the high priest; that Azariah the priest, with fourscore others, went in after him, to prevent him; and that while they were remonstrating against his conduct, the Lord struck him with the leprosy, which immediately appeared on his forehead; that they thrust him out as an unclean person; and that he himself hurried to get out, feeling that the Lord had smitten him; that he was obliged to dwell in a house by himself, being leprous, to the day of his death; and that during this time the affairs of the kingdom were administered by his son Jotham.

A poet, ridiculing the conduct of those who, without an episcopal ordination, think they have authority from God to dispense all the ordinances of the Church, expresses himself thus:- But now the warm enthusiast cries, The office to myself I take; Offering the Christian sacrifice, Myself a lawful priest I make: To me this honour appertains, No need of man when GOD ordains.

[Some go into the contrary extreme, and in affect say, no need of GOD when MAN ordains.] Though kings may not so far presume, "Tis no presumption in a clown, And, lo, without a call from Rome, My flail or hammer I lay down; And if my order's name ye seek, Come, see a new Melchisedek! Ye upstart (men-made) priests, your sentence know, The marks you can no longer hide; Your daring deeds too plainly show The loathsome leprosy of pride; And if ye still your crime deny, Who lepers live shall lepers die.

CHARLES WESLEY.

This is very severe, but applies to every man who, through pride, presumption, or the desire of gain, enters into the priest's office, though he have the utmost authority that the highest ecclesiastical officer can confer.

Ver. 5. And the Lord smote the king , etc.] With leprosy; the reason of it was, because he intruded into the priest’s office, and went into the temple to burn incense on the altar of incense, ( 2 Chronicles 26:19,20), so that he was a leper unto the day of his death ; but how long it was to it from his being smitten cannot be said with certainty; Dr. Lightfoot f158 thinks he died the same year he was smitten: and dwelt in a several house : without Jerusalem, as the Targum; for lepers, according to the law, were to dwell separate without the camp or city, ( Leviticus 13:46) the word for “several” signifies “free” f159 ; here he lived alone, free from the company and conversation of men, free from the business of government, his son doing that for him, and in the country, where he might freely walk about, as lepers did, and take the air; the Jews say f160 , his house was among the graves, where he was free among the dead, as the phrase is, ( Psalm 88:5), but not likely; much better is what Abendana observes from R. Jonah, that the word, in the Arabic f161 language, signifies a little house, and so this might be in which he dwelt out of the city, in comparison of his palace: and Jotham the king’s son was over the house ; had the direction of the palace, and the management of all affairs in it: judging the people of the land ; administering justice in all cases, for which they came to him, and so filled up his father’s place; he did not depose his father, nor take upon him to be king, only did the business of one.

וינגע5060 יהוה3068 את853 המלך4428 ויהי1961 מצרע6879 עד5704 יום3117 מתו4194 וישׁב3427 בבית1004 החפשׁית2669 ויותם3147 בן1121 המלך4428 על5921 הבית1004 שׁפט8199 את853 עם5971 הארץ׃776