Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Josiah's son Jehoahaz succeeds his father, but Neco takes him away to Egypt. His brother Jehoiakim succeeds him, then his son Jehoiachin, then his uncle Zedekiah — all of whom, together with the greater part of the people, are taken away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. For he set fire to Jerusalem together with the temple, so that Judea remained desolate until the first year of Cyrus, the first Monarch of the Persians.
Vulgate Text: 2 Paralipomenon 36:1-23
1. So the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and made him king in his father's place in Jerusalem. 2. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 3. And the king of Egypt removed him when he came to Jerusalem, and condemned the land to pay a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 4. And he made Eliakim his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim; but Jehoahaz himself he took with him and carried away to Egypt. 5. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil before the Lord his God. 6. Against him Nebuchadnezzar king of the Chaldeans came up, and led him bound in chains to Babylon. 7. To which he also transferred the vessels of the Lord and placed them in his own temple. 8. Now the rest of the words of Jehoiakim, and his abominations that he wrought, and the things that were found in him, are contained in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 9. Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 10. And when the course of a year had come around, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and had him brought to Babylon, the most precious vessels of the house of the Lord being carried away at the same time. And he made Zedekiah his uncle king over Judah and Jerusalem. 11. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 12. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God, and he was not ashamed before the face of Jeremiah the Prophet, who spoke to him from the mouth of the Lord. 13. He also revolted from King Nebuchadnezzar, who had bound him by an oath to God; and he hardened his neck and his heart, so as not to return to the Lord God of Israel. 14. Moreover, all the chief priests and the people transgressed wickedly, according to all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the Lord which He had sanctified for Himself in Jerusalem. 15. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by the hand of His messengers, rising early and admonishing daily, because He spared His people and His dwelling place. 16. But they mocked the messengers of God and despised His words and scoffed at the prophets, until the fury of the Lord rose against His people and there was no remedy. 17. For He brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, and he slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He spared neither young man nor maiden, neither the aged nor the decrepit, but He delivered them all into his hands. 18. And all the vessels of the house of the Lord, both great and small, and the treasures of the temple, and of the king, and of the princes, he transferred to Babylon. 19. The enemies set fire to the house of God, and destroyed the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all the towers, and demolished everything that was precious. 20. Whoever had escaped the sword was led away to Babylon and served the king and his sons, until the king of Persia came to rule, 21. and the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah was fulfilled, and the land celebrated its sabbaths; for all the days of the desolation it kept sabbath, until seventy years were completed. 22. And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord which He had spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, who commanded it to be proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, even in writing, saying: 23. Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has the Lord God of heaven given to me, and He Himself has commanded me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Who among you is of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.
Verse 6: He Led Jehoiakim Bound to Babylon
6. AND HE LED (JEHOIAKIM) BOUND IN CHAINS TO BABYLON — namely, in the third year of Jehoiakim's reign. In Babylon, settling his affairs and renewing the treaty with him and promising the customary tribute, he was released and sent back to Jerusalem, where in the eleventh year of his reign, rebelling again, he was killed by the Chaldeans, as I said at Jeremiah 22:19.
Verse 8: The Things Found in Him
8. AND THE THINGS THAT WERE FOUND IN HIM. — Lyranus, Abulensis (Question 39 on chapter 25 of 4 Kings), Vatablus, the Master of the Scholastic History, Pererius (Book 1 on Daniel, at the beginning), and others from the Hebrews report that on the corpse of this king certain marks were found impressed, and certain brands burned in honor of his gods, of which he, while still alive, had professed himself a branded slave. What is more wretched and unfortunate than that a king crowned with a diadem should have degraded himself so as to become a branded slave of the devil? On the contrary, St. Paul says: "From now on, let no one trouble me; for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body" (Galatians 6:17).
Verse 9: Jehoiachin Was Eight Years Old
9. JEHOIACHIN WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD WHEN HE BEGAN TO REIGN — namely, with his father Jehoiakim, who in the second year of his reign made his son Jehoiachin, then eight years old, king and associate in the kingdom, and so he reigned with him for ten years. The reason was that he feared that if anything should happen to him, Zedekiah would seize the kingdom with the boy Jehoiachin excluded. For even then Zedekiah seemed to be planning rebellion, to free himself from the yoke of the Chaldeans; which he did in the third year of his reign, and therefore in that same year he was taken away by the Chaldeans to Babylon. Then his son Jehoiachin, nine or ten years old, succeeded him. But his father Jehoiakim, having settled his affairs in Babylon, immediately returned and reigned another eight years with his son. When these were completed, in the eleventh year of his reign, rebelling again, he was killed by the Chaldeans. Then his son Jehoiachin, who was now eighteen years old, succeeded, reigning alone with full and complete right, and he reigned only three months; after which he too was taken away to Babylon by the Chaldeans, who substituted Zedekiah his uncle in his place. So Abulensis, Salianus, Torniellus, and others.
Verse 10: When the Year Had Come Around
10. WHEN THE COURSE OF A YEAR HAD COME AROUND. — In Hebrew: "in the turning of the year"; that is, when the current year was ending or had ended and a new year was beginning from the month of Nisan. This means that as the current year was drawing to its end — that is, at the end of the year — Jehoiachin was taken away to Babylon, which was in the third month of his reign. For he began to reign not at the beginning of the year, but three months before the end of the year, for example in November or December. For the Hebrews began the year from Nisan, that is, March.
Verse 13: Who Had Bound Him by an Oath to God
13. WHO HAD BOUND HIM BY AN OATH TO GOD — to keep faith and the allegiance he had promised, threatening him with the vengeance of God the Judge if he should violate it. And therefore, instead of "Mattaniah," he called him "Zedekiah," that is, "the justice of God," so that he might always be reminded of this, 4 Kings 24:17.
Verse 15: Rising Early
15. RISING EARLY. — In Hebrew: manicando, that is, early in the morning, promptly, diligently He admonished them, like a good head of household who in the morning instructs his servants and directs them to the day's work.
BECAUSE HE SPARED (that is, because He desired and most earnestly wished to spare) HIS PEOPLE — but since the people spurned God's admonitions, He did not spare them and delivered them to the Chaldeans to be laid waste.
Verse 16: And There Was No Remedy
16. AND THERE WAS NO REMEDY — that is to say, there was no hope of a cure or amendment of life, because the Jews were hardened in their idolatry and their crimes.
Verse 21: The Land Celebrated Its Sabbaths
21. AND THE LAND CELEBRATED ITS SABBATHS — that is, it kept holiday and rested from plowing, by which it is furrowed, harrowed, sown, reaped, etc. — by which the land is accustomed to be worked and, as it were, vexed.
FOR ALL THE DAYS OF THE DESOLATION IT KEPT SABBATH — that is, it lay fallow and uncultivated, enjoying as it were sabbath rest. The Hebrews note that the Jews had violated the feast of the Sabbath and profaned it with servile and unlawful works, and therefore God as a punishment led them away from Judea, so that the land might keep the sabbath that had been denied it by the Jews for seventy years.
UNTIL SEVENTY YEARS WERE COMPLETED. — Why was the captivity of the Jews in Babylon seventy years, and not eighty, or ninety, or a hundred? Theodoret gives the reason at Leviticus 26:34, on the words: "The land shall enjoy its sabbaths all the days of its desolation, because it did not rest in your sabbaths when you dwelt in it." For he says: "They served seventy years in Babylon; but from the reign of Saul to the captivity, 490 years are counted, of which seventy is the seventh part. Therefore, this means: for seventy years the land will remain uncultivated and unsown, while you dwell in a foreign land, because along with the other commandments you transgressed the sabbath precept as well." That is to say, the land of Judea, according to the law, could not be plowed in the seventh year, but rested and kept its "sabbath," that is, its leisure and rest. And because you (many of you), O Jews, took this away from it out of greed, plowing it in the seventh year to harvest its fruits, therefore God will restore to it the rest it was owed in the seventy years of your captivity, during which, deprived of its farmers, it may rest. For you took away seventy sabbaths from it, and God will therefore restore the same number to it. For in the 490 years from the beginning of the reign of Saul (if we give him twenty years, and another twenty to Samuel, which together make forty, of which see Acts 13:21), down to the last year of Zedekiah, there likewise elapsed seventy sabbaths of the land; for in the seventh year it demanded its sabbath by law. For the seventh year recurs seventy times in 490 years: multiply 70 by 7 and you will find 490. The same reason is indicated here when it says: "And the land celebrated its sabbaths; for all the days of the desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were completed."
Again, the Hebrews through their various and many crimes defiled Judea, which was a holy land, for 490 years. Hence God could have imposed upon them the same number of years of penance and captivity; but He did not wish to, and He diminished the punishment — so that out of every seven years He would assign them only one of penance, during which the land would likewise keep sabbath. Therefore He gave them seventy years of captivity; for these are contained seven times in 490. So that during these seventy years, the land, resting and as it were keeping sabbath, might be purified from the crimes committed in it by the Jews over 490 years, and especially from idolatry, which had flourished in it for a long time, but more fiercely and ardently during the last seventy years.
Another literal reason was that the monarchy of the Chaldeans lasted for seventy years. The Chaldeans were the enemies of the Jews and the scourges of God who had taken them to Babylon, and there they held them for the entire duration of their monarchy. When it ended in the seventieth year, Cyrus arose, the enemy of the Chaldeans and the friend of the Jews, who overthrew the Chaldeans and transferred the monarchy to the Persians, and therefore freed the Jews from Babylon. Furthermore, these seventy years of desolation correspond to the seventy weeks of Daniel chapter 9, at the completion of which Christ was to come — of whom Cyrus had been a type — who would free them from the bondage of sin and the devil, and restore them to the heavenly Jerusalem.
The first and most powerful reason was the will of God so decreeing, and the abyss of His profound judgments. This reason is given by Esdras, Book 4, chapter 3, where he relates that in the thirtieth year of the desolation of Jerusalem he complained before God in Babylon, asking why He kept His faithful Jews captive in Babylon for so long. And among other things he said to God in verse 27: "You have delivered Your city into the hands of Your enemies. Do those who inhabit Babylon do better things? And is that why it shall rule over Zion?" And again: "It happened that when I came here and saw the impieties without number, and my soul saw many offenders in this thirtieth year." And the Angel Uriel answered him in chapter 4, saying: "Go, weigh me the weight of fire, and measure me a blast of wind, or recall for me a day that is past." And when Esdras said this could not be done, the Angel pressed him: "If I were to ask you," he said, "how many are the dwellings in the heart of the sea, or the springs at the beginning of the abyss" — from which waters ceaselessly bubble forth — or the channels of rain in heaven, "or what are the exits of paradise, you would perhaps say to me: I have not descended into the abyss, nor into hell yet, nor have I ever ascended into heaven. But now I have only asked you about fire, and wind, and the day through which you have passed, and from which you cannot be separated, and you have not answered me about them; and how then will you be able to comprehend the ways of the Most High?"
The tropological reason was the one given by St. Jerome at Jeremiah 29:10: that the number seventy is a symbol of penance, which we must do throughout this entire life in order to attain heavenly glory. For as it says in Psalm 89: "The days of our years are seventy years." Hence also the Church, from Septuagesima, commemorating the fall of Adam and his descendants, begins a time of mourning and penance. Finally, God willed that during seventy years, all the old men of the Jews, accustomed to their vices and grown old in them, should die, and a new generation should grow up, which, having been formed in piety and the true worship of God through Ezra, Daniel, Joshua, Zerubbabel, and others, He might lead back to the Holy Land, as I said at Jeremiah 29:10.
Verse 22: In the First Year of Cyrus
22. AND IN THE FIRST YEAR OF CYRUS. — These words are repeated verbatim at the beginning of the first chapter of the following book of Ezra, where I shall explain them in their proper place, as it were. From this, interpreters conclude that Ezra is the author of the Books of Paralipomenon. For its ending is clearly the same as the beginning of Ezra.
After the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Kings, and Paralipomenon, which were expounded in the previous work, I proceed to the second volume of the Historical Books of Sacred Scripture, which comprises the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, and Maccabees.
Ezra, priest, prophet, scribe, and teacher, and dictator and restorer of the whole of Sacred Scripture, either lost in the devastation of Babylon, as many think, dictated from memory; or, as others more truly hold, the corrector of corrupted texts, and the transcriber in the more elegant Hebrew script which we now use, together with Nehemiah the priest, son of Hilkiah and cupbearer to Artaxerxes king of the Persians, counting the people returning from captivity and recording and completing the restoration of the temple and walls: "And that whole crowd of people returning to their homeland (says St. Jerome), and the listing of priests, Levites, Israelites, and proselytes, present one thing on the surface but retain another in the core." Namely, allegorically they signify the establishment of the new Church, with the old Synagogue abolished; tropologically, the mystical Church and the temple in the soul, violated and torn apart by sin, repaired through grace, penance, and the duties of every virtue; anagogically, the construction of that new and heavenly Jerusalem, which St. John depicts in vivid colors in Revelation 21.
Tobit, a mirror of conjugal life, admonishes and instructs each — husband, wife, and son — in their respective duties. Moreover, he teaches how piety and charity are to be maintained in exile and adversity, and what the nature, appearance, offices, life, and solicitous guardianship of Angels are.
Judith, a type of widows, offers widows the cup of chastity, who with the wisest fortitude won the grace of modesty and victory over her enemies as a reward for abstinence. As Ambrose says concerning widows, stained neither by food nor by adultery, she brought back no less a trophy of continence preserved from the enemy than of a fatherland liberated; and from her sober chastity, with her hand alone she conquered Holofernes, but by her counsel she overthrew the whole army of his drunken followers. So great a deed was led by a woman.
Esther fills every role of a chaste, modest, religious, and wise wife toward an unbelieving husband and king, and of piety and industry toward her fellow citizens, and in the type of the Church (I use the words of St. Jerome) she frees the people from danger; and with Haman slain — whose name means "iniquity" — she sends the portions of the feast and a celebrated day down to posterity.
The Maccabees excel in military valor equally as in piety and zeal, and though few in number, invoking God with fervent prayer, they rout the vast armies of their enemies and fix the trophies of divine victory to eternity.
Receive, O reader, these summaries of each book, briefly gathered at the outset as in a synopsis, which I shall explain more fully in their proper places.
Moreover, of these books, Ezra and Nehemiah are protocanonical, inasmuch as they have always been held as canonical by both the Hebrews and Christians. But Tobit, Judith, Esther, and the two books of Maccabees are deuterocanonical, that is, of the second order and rank, inasmuch as their authority was once questioned by some, but they were afterward included by the Church in the canon of the books of Sacred Scripture.