---
title: "Clarke"
description: "his days, 33. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIV Verse 2 Chronicles 34:2. He declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.] He never swerved from God and truth;"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/2-chronicles/34"
---

*his days*, 33.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIV

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:2](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/2). ***He declined*****neither*****to the right hand, nor to the**********left****.*] He never swerved from God and truth; he never omitted what he knew to be his duty to God and his kingdom; he carried on his reformation with a steady hand; *timidity* did not prevent him from going *far enough*; and *zeal* did not lead him beyond due bounds. He walked in the *golden mean*, and his *moderation* was known unto all men. He went neither to the right nor to the left, he looked *inward*, looked *forward*, and looked *upward*. Reader, let the conduct of this pious youth be thy exemplar through life.

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:4](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/4). ***The altars of Baalim*** — How often have these been broken down, and how soon set up again! We see that the religion of a land is as the religion of its king. If the *king* were *idolatrous*, up went the altars, on them were placed the statues, and the smoke of incense ascended in ceaseless clouds to the honour of that which is *vanity*, and *nothing to the world*; on the other hand, when the king was *truly religious*, down went the idolatrous altars, broken in pieces were the images, and the sacrificial smoke ascended only to the true God: in all these cases the *people* were as one man with the *king*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:5](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/5). ***He burnt the bones of the priests*** — כומריא *kumeraiya*, the *kemarim*, says the *Targum*. See this word explained, [2 Kings 23:5](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/5).

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:6](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/6). ***The cities of Manasseh*** — Even those who were under the government of the Israelitish king permitted their idols and places of idolatry to be hewn down and destroyed: after the truth was declared and acknowledged, the *spade* and the *axe* were employed to complete the reformation.

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:9](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/9). ***And they returned to Jerusalem.*** — Instead of וישבו *vaiyashubu*, "they returned," we should read יושבי *yoshebey*, "the inhabitants;" a reading which is supported by many MSS., printed *editions*, and all the *versions*, as well as by *necessity* and *common sense*. [2 Chronicles 19:8](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/19/8), where a similar mistake is rectified.

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:12](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/12). ***All that could skill of instruments of music*** — Did the musicians play on their several instruments to encourage and enliven the workmen? Is not this a probable case from their mention here? If this were really the case, *instrumental music* was never better applied in any thing that refers to the worship of God. It is fabled of *Orpheus*, a most celebrated musician, that such was the enchanting *harmony* of his *lyre*, that he *built the* *city of Thebes* by it: the *stones* and *timbers danced* to his *melody*; and by the power of his *harmony rose up*, and *took* their respective places in the different parts of the wall that was to defend the city! This is *fable*; but as all fable is a representation of *truth*, where is the *truth* and *fact* to which this refers? How long has this question lain unanswered! But have we not the answer now? It is known in general, that the cities of *Herculaneum* and *Pompeii* were overwhelmed by an eruption of Mount *Vesuvius*, about the *seventy-ninth* year of the Christian era. It is also known that, in sinking for wells, the workmen of the king of Naples lighted on houses, c., of those overwhelmed cities that *excavations* have been carried on, and are now in the act of being carried on, which are bringing daily to view various *utensils, pictures*, and *books*, which have escaped the influence of the burning lava; and that some of those *parchment volumes* have been unrolled, and *facsimiles* of them *engraved* and published; and that our late *Prince Regent*, afterwards George IV., king of Great Britain, expended considerable sums of money annually in searching for, unrolling, and deciphering those *rolls*. This I record to his *great credit* as the lover of science and literature. Now, among the books that have been unrolled and published, is a *Greek* *Treatise* on *Music*, by *Philodemus*; and here we have the *truth* represented which lay hidden under the *fables of Orpheus* and *Amphion*. This latter was a *skilful harper*, who was frequently employed by the Theban *workmen* to play to them while engaged in their labour, and for which they *rewarded him out of the proceeds* *of that labor*. So *powerful* and *pleasing* was his *music*, that they went lightly and comfortably through their work; and *time* and *labour* passed on without *tedium* or *fatigue*; and the *walls and* *towers were speedily raised*. This, by a metaphor, was attributed to the *dulcet sounds* of his *harp*; and *poetry* seized on and embellished it, and *mythology* incorporated it with her fabulous system. Orpheus is the same. By his skill in music he drew stones and trees after him, i.e., he presided over and encouraged the workmen by his skill in music. Yet how simple and natural is the representation given by this ancient Greek writer of such matters! See *Philodemus, Col*. viii. and ix. *Orpheus*, and *Amphion*, by their music, moved the workmen to diligence and activity, and lessened and alleviated their toil. May we not suppose, then, that skilful musicians among the *Levites* did exercise their art among the *workmen* who were employed in the *repairs* of the house of the Lord? May I be allowed a gentle transition? Is it not the *power* and *harmony* of the *grace* of *Jesus Christ* in the *Gospel*, that convert, change, and purify the souls of men, and prepare them for and place them in that part of the house of God, the New Jerusalem? A most beautiful and chaste allusion to this *fact* and *fable* is made by an eminent poet, while praying for his own success as a *Christian* minister, who uses all his skill as a *poet* and *musician* for the glory of God: -
Thy own musician, Lord, inspire,
And may my consecrated lyre
Repeat the psalmist's part!
His Son and thine reveal in me,
And fill with sacred melody
The *fibres* of my heart.
So shall I *charm* the *listening throng*,
And *draw* the LIVING STONES along
By Jesus' *tuneful* name.
The *living stones* shall *dance*, shall *rise*,
And FORM a CITY in the *skies*,
The *New Jerusalem*.
CHARLES WESLEY.

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:14](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/14). ***Found a book of the law*** — See on [2 Kings 22:8](../../../kjv/2-kings/22/8).

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:22](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/22). ***Huldah the prophetess*** — See on [2 Kings 22:14](../../../kjv/2-kings/22/14).

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:27](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/27). ***Because thine heart was tender*** — "Because thy heart was melted, and thou hast humbled thyself in the sight of the WORD of the Lord, מימרא דיי *meymera daya*, when thou didst hear his words, ית פתגמוי *yath pithgamoi*, against this place," &c. Here the *Targum* most evidently distinguishes between מימרא *meymera*, the PERSONAL WORD, and פתגם *pithgam*, a *word spoken* or *expressed*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:28](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/28). ***Gathered to thy grave in peace*** — *See particularly Clarke's note on "*[2 Kings 22:20](../../../kjv/2-kings/22/20)*"*.

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:30](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/30). ***The king went*** — See on [2 Kings 23:1](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/1).

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:31](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/31). ***Made a covenant*** — See on [2 Kings 23:3](../../../kjv/2-kings/23/3). And see the notes on that and the preceding chapter, for the circumstances detailed here.

Verse [2 Chronicles 34:32](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/34/32). ***To stand to it.*** — It is likely that he caused them all to arise when he read the terms of the covenant, and thus testify their approbation of the covenant itself, and their resolution to observe it faithfully and perseveringly.

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