xxviii. 20, 21, that the king of Asshur did not help him, but rather,

by coming unto him, distressed him. Ahaz purchased this help at the price of his independence, and had probably to submit to very hard claims being made upon him. (_Caspari_, S. 60.) The world's power, to which Ahaz had offered a finger, seized, more and more, the whole hand, and held it by a firm grasp. Under Hezekiah, faith broke through the consequences of the sin of the family; but this interruption lasted as long only as did the faith. In addition to that which Ahaz had, for his unbelief, to suffer from Aram, Ephraim, and Asshur, came the rebellion of the neighbouring nations,--of the Edomites, according to 2 Chron. xxviii. 17, and of the Philistines, according to ver. 18.

Ver. 1. "_And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, that Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem, to war against it, and could not fight against it._"

In thus tracing back the pedigree of Ahaz to Uzziah, there is a reference to chap. vi. 1: "In the year that King Uzziah [Pg 32] died," &c. These two chapters stand related to each other as prophecy and fulfilment. It was in the year of Uzziah's death that the Prophet had been seized with fearful forebodings; and by the divine word these fearful forebodings had soon been raised into a clear knowledge of the threatening judgments which were impending. Under Ahaz, the second successor of Uzziah, this knowledge began to be realized, keeping pace with the hardening which in Ahaz had become personified. He, the type of the unbelieving Jewish people, did not hear and understand, did not see and perceive; and the announcement of the Prophet served merely to increase his hardening. Even as early as that, the germ of the carrying away of the people, announced by the Prophet in chap. vi., was formed.--The circumstance of the hostile kings being introduced as _going up_ implies the spiritual elevation of Jerusalem; comp. remarks on Ps. xlviii. 3; xlviii. 17. The city of God is unconquerable unless her inhabitants and, above all, the anointed one of God, make, by their unbelief, their glorious privilege of no avail. In the last words: "_And could not fight against it_," (the singular [Hebrew: ikl] because Rezin is the chief person, Rezin and Pekah being identical with Rezin with Pekah, comp. Esth. iv. 16), the result of the siege is anticipated; and this is easily accounted for by the consideration that ver. 1 serves as an introduction to the whole account, stating, in general terms, the circumstances which induced the Prophet to come publicly forward. In the following verses, the share only is mentioned which the Prophet took in the matter; and the account is closed after he has discharged his commission. The apparent contradiction to 2 Kings