*H And Elias the prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch.
Ver. 1. Torch. He was animated with a burning zeal, (M.) like the Baptist, admonishing kings, &c. Jo. v. 35. Lu. i. 17. C.
* Footnote * 3_Kings 17 : 1
And Elias the Thesbite, of the inhabitants of Galaad, said to Achab: As the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words of my mouth.*H He brought a famine upon them, and they that provoked him in their envy, were reduced to a small number, for they could not endure the commandments of the Lord.
Ver. 2. And they. Gr. "and by his zeal he diminished them. By," &c. H. — He slew the priests of Baal, and many perished by famine. 4 K. xviii. Grot. C.
*H By the word of the Lord he shut up the heaven, and he brought down fire from heaven thrice.
Ver. 3. Heaven. That it should not rain for three years and a-half. 3 K. xvii. 1. — Thrice. First upon his sacrifice, and twice to destroy fifty soldiers. Ib. 38. and 4 K. i. 10. C. W.
* Footnote * 3_Kings 17 : 1
And Elias the Thesbite, of the inhabitants of Galaad, said to Achab: As the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words of my mouth.* Footnote * 4_Kings 1 : 10
And Elias answering, said to the captain of fifty: If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee, and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him, and the fifty that were with him.* Footnote * 4_Kings 1 : 12
Elias answering, said: If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee, and thy fifty. And fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.*H Who raisedst up a dead man from below, from the lot of death, by the word of the Lord God.
Ver. 5. Man. The son of the widow of Sarepta.
* Footnote * 3_Kings 17 : 22
And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived.*H Who broughtest down kings to destruction, and brokest easily their power in pieces, and the glorious from their bed.
Ver. 6. Destruction. The prophets are said to perform what they foretell; to indicate the certainty of the event. Elias denounced death to Achab, Jezabel, Ochozias, and the two Jorams. 4 K. ix. 12. and 2 Par. xxi. 12. &c. C. — Brokest. Gr. "those in honour from," &c. alluding to (H.) Ochozias and Joram. 4 K. i. 16. and 1 Par. xxi. 15. C.
*H Who heardest judgment in Sina, and in Horeb the judgments of vengeance.
Ver. 7. Judgment. Gr. "the reprimand of the Lord," for betraying fear, (3 K. xix. 3. 9. 12. H.) or the reprimand regarded Israel. C.
*H Who anointedst kings to penance, and madest prophets successors after thee.
Ver. 8. Penance. Gr. "reward," (H.) or punish the guilty. Hazael and Jehu were anointed by Eliseus, though by order of Elias. — Thee. Eliseus was called from the plough, and adhered to his master, who governed the sons of the prophets in large communities.
* Footnote * 4_Kings 2 : 11
And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold, a fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven.*H Who art registered in the judgments of times to appease the wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
Ver. 10. Jacob. Prot. reject the authority of this book, partly (H.) on account of this (W.) ancient tradition. Enoch and Elias will appear in the days of antichrist, to convert many. The Jews will then agree with the Patriarchs, and embrace the religion of Christ. C. — Elias came in the person of the Baptist, at the first coming of our Saviour, but he will come in person before his second appearance. H. — The application which Christ makes of the prediction of Malachy (iv. 6.) to the Baptist, does not exclude this more distant accomplishment. Elias is still alive in some part of the world, as well as Enoch, whom S. Aug. styles "the first-born (primogenitor) of our resurrection." De Civ. Dei. xv. 19. 4 K. ii. 11.
* Footnote * Malachias 4 : 6
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers: lest I come, and strike the earth with anathema.*H Blessed are they that saw thee, and were honoured with thy friendship.
Ver. 11. Friendship. Like Eliseus, or the disciples of both. C. — Gr. "who slept in love, for we also shall live indeed; (13.) Elias," &c. H. — When we shall witness thy return, if we prove faithful, we may expect an immortal name, and not otherwise. C. — He speaks in the person of those who shall live at that time. H.
*H Elias was indeed covered with the whirlwind, and his spirit was filled up in Eliseus: in his days he feared not the prince, and no man was more powerful than he.
Ver. 13. Eliseus. Who received his double spirit, with his garment. 4 K. ii. 15. — Prince. Joram. 4 K. iii. 14. and vi. 32.
* Footnote * 4_Kings 2 : 12
And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own garments, and rent them in two pieces.*H No word could overcome him, and after death his body prophesied.
Ver. 14. Overcome. Or "escape." Gr. Syr. He knew what Giezi and the Syrians were doing, at a distance. 4 K. v. 26. and vi. 12. — Prophesied. Or raised the dead to life. 4 K. xiii. 21. C. — On his death-bed (v. 15.) he also foretold the victory of Joas. Ib. 14. Vatab. &c. — The miracle wrought by his relics (H.) shewed that he was a true prophet. W.
* Footnote * 4_Kings 13 : 21
And some that were burying a man, saw the rovers, and cast the body into the sepulchre of Eliseus. And when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man came to life and stood upon his feet.*H Ezechias fortified his city, and brought in water into the midst thereof, and he digged a rock with iron, and made a well for water.
Ver. 19. Thereof. From Gehon, a fountain on the west. 2 Par. xxxii. 30. C.
*H In his days Sennacherib came up, and sent Rabsaces, and lifted up his hand against them, and he stretched out his hand against Sion, and became proud through his power.
Ver. 20. Lifted. Gr. "removed from Lachis, and, "&c. 4 K. xviii. &c.
* Footnote * 4_Kings 18 : 13
In the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, came up against the fenced cities of Juda, and took them.*H He was not mindful of their sins, neither did he deliver them up to their enemies, but he purified them by the hand of Isaias, the holy prophet.
Ver. 23. He was. Gr. "and he purified (H. or redeemed, C.) them by the hand (ministry) of Isaias. (24.) He," &c. H. — Prayer prevailed when troops were insufficient. 4 K. xix. W.
* Footnote * 4_Kings 19 : 35
And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when he arose early in the morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead.* Footnote * Tobias 1 : 21
And when king Sennacherib was come back, fleeing from Judea by reason of the slaughter that God had made about him for his blasphemy, and being angry slew many of the children of Israel, Tobias buried their bodies.* Footnote * Isaias 37 : 36
And the angel of the Lord went out and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses.* Footnote * 1_Machabees 7 : 41
O Lord, when they that were sent by king Sennacherib blasphemed thee, an angel went out, and slew of them a hundred and eighty-five thousand:*H For Ezechias did that which pleased God, and walked valiantly in the way of David his father, which Isaias, the great prophet, and faithful in the sight of God, had commanded him.
Ver. 25. Sight. Gr. "vision." All his predictions were verified. C.
*H In his days the sun wen backward, and he lengthened the king's life.
Ver. 26. Life. Fifteen years. Is. xxxviii. and 4 K. xl. 11. H.
* Footnote * 4_Kings 20 : 11
And Isaias, the prophet, called upon the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backwards by the lines, by which it had already gone down on the dial of Achaz.* Footnote * Isaias 38 : 8
Behold I will bring again the shadow of the lines, by which it is now gone down in the sun dial of Achaz with the sun, ten lines backward. And the sun returned ten lines by the degrees by which it was gone down.*H With a great spirit he saw the things that are to come to pass at last, and comforted the mourners in Sion.
Ver. 27. At last. After the captivity, (Is. ii. 2. C.) or in the days of the Messias. M.