Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/359

Rh the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all of them valiant men; because they had forsaken the, the God of their fathers. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the ruler of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king. And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. But

6. an hundred and twenty thousand in one day] i.e. more than a third of the host as reckoned in xxvi. 13.

7. the ruler of the house] Heb. nāgīd. Probably the head of the king's household is meant, his "chancellor"; but cp. Neh. xi. 11, "the ruler (nāgīd) of the house of God."

next to the king] Cp. 1 Sam. xxiii. 17.

8—15 (not in Kings).&emsp;

The tale of the intervention of Oded, his appeal, the response of the people and the army to the call of conscience, with the consequent outburst of pity for the unhappy captives, who are first tended and then restored to their kinsfolk in Judah, is something far better than literal history: it is the product of a moral and religious conviction worthy of high admiration. We have, in fact, in these verses a most clear instance of that inculcation of great religious principles which was the primary object of the writer of Chronicles. A modern ethical teacher, desirous of driving home the eternal verities, may clothe them in a story which has no basis whatsoever in actual events but is the pure product of the writer's imagination. His ancient counterpart among the Jews started with a nucleus of historical events, which however he handled freely in whatever fashion might best serve to emphasise the moral or religious lesson he desired to teach.

The deep ethical and spiritual value of this example of how to treat the fallen foe hardly requires comment—Israel must forgive, if it would be forgiven (ver. 10); the captives are—not "the enemy" but—"your brethren" (ver. 11); and, when conscience is at last awakened, how great is the revulsion, and how nobly do the generous qualities of human nature appear, when the captives, laden not with the chains of bondage (ver. 10) but with clothing and with food, are restored to their homes in peace.

It is very evident that the writer of this fine story had in mind the no less effective and beautiful narrative of Elisha's dealing with the captured Syrian army (2 Kin. vi. 21—23).

8. of their brethren] Cp. xi. 4, "ye shall not fight against your brethren."