CHAPTER XV.

=1‒15= (no parallel in Kings). THE PROPHECY OF AZARIAH THE SON OF ODED AND ITS SEQUEL.

¹And the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:

=1.= _Azariah the son of Oded_] is mentioned only in this passage. Compare xvi. 7, where a prophet (Hanani), also known to us only through Chronicles, delivers a rebuke to Asa.

²and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

=2.= _went out to meet_] Compare xix. 2.

_if ye seek him_] compare 1 Chronicles xxviii. 9.

Verses 3‒6 contain the reflections of the Chronicler himself or a glossator on the whole course of Israelite history. The wording is too vague and there are periods in the history too obscure to make it possible to determine the reference definitely.

³Now for long seasons¹ Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law: ⁴but when in their distress they turned unto the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

¹ Or, _a long season_.

=3.= _without a teaching priest, and without law_] The connection between these two is closer than the English suggests. “Law” (Hebrew _tōrah_) is properly “teaching, guidance.” A “teaching” priest (Hebrew _mōreh_) is one who gives “tōrah” or “guidance” on doubtful points of morality or ritual. Compare Malachi ii. 7.

⁵And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the lands.

=5.= _vexations_] Rather, =afflictions=; compare Acts xii. 1, “to vex (Revised Version ‘to afflict’) certain of the church.”

_of the lands_] The reference is probably to the Israelite territory only; compare xi. 23, xxxiv. 33; and 1 Chronicles xiii. 2 (margin).

⁶And they were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city: for God did vex them with all adversity.

=6.= _nation against nation_] Apparently Israel is meant. In the civil strife of the days of the Judges, and again in the contentions of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, Israel seemed at times to be a collection of related but hostile tribes: compare Judges viii. 13‒17, ix. 26 ff., xii. 1 ff., xx. 12 ff.

_vex_] Rather, =afflict=; see verse 5.

⁷But be ye strong, and let not your hands be slack: for your work shall be rewarded.

=7.= _be ye strong_, etc.] The prophet’s warning is continued in this verse.

⁸And when Asa heard these words, and¹ the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of Ephraim; and he renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.

¹ Or, _even_.

=8.= _and the prophecy of Oded the prophet_] Some words have fallen out of the text. Read, =even the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded prophesied=.

_the abominations_] compare 1 Kings xiv. 23, 24, xv. 12, 13.

_the cities which he had taken_) A loose reference to those said to have been captured by Abijah (xiii. 19). There is no record of any taken by Asa himself.

_the hill country of Ephraim_] The term describes the hilly country between the plain of Esdraelon and the territory of Benjamin.

_that was before the porch_] Compare vii. 7, viii. 12.

⁹And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and them that sojourned with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

=9.= _them that sojourned with them_] Compare x. 17, xi. 16, 17, xvi. 1.

_out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon_] In view of the evidence of Kings and the special character of Chronicles this statement cannot be regarded as having historical value for the time of Asa. Taking it in connection with similar notices in 1 Chronicles ix. 3 (Ephraim and Manasseh), xii. 8, 19 (Gad and Manasseh), 2 Chronicles xxx. 1, 10, 11, 18, xxxiv. 9 (Ephraim and Manasseh; also Zebulun, Issachar, and perhaps Asher) we may infer that these references have significance for the time of the Chronicler (or his source) and were inserted either (a) to gratify the wishes of certain orthodox families in Jerusalem who counted themselves descendants of North Israelite families, especially of Ephraim and Manasseh, and were eager to think that their ancestors had associated themselves with the fortunes of the _true_ Israel at an early date after the separation of the kingdoms or at least in pre-exilic days. Or (b)――an interesting suggestion first advanced by Stade and recently developed by Hölscher (_Palästina in der persischen und hellenistischen Zeit_, 1903, pp. 30‒37)――we may suppose that the reference is not to families resident in Jerusalem but to persons living in the territories once occupied by Ephraim, Manasseh, etc., and loyal to the faith of the orthodox community in Jerusalem. The former view seems favoured by 1 Chronicles ix. 3, the latter by 2 Chronicles