(13) Jeroboam sat upon his throne.--The variation from the stereotyped phrase, "and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead," is remarkable. (See 2 Kings 14:16.) The Talmud (Seder Olam) and Kimchi fancy that it is implied that Joash associated Jeroboam with himself on the throne, for fear of a revolt (!).
Buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.--So that there were "tombs of the kings" there, as at Jerusalem.
Verse 13. - And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne. That Joash should call his eldest son Jeroboam, after the founder of the kingdom, indicated a thorough approval of that founder's policy and conduct, and perhaps a hope that he would be to the apparently decaying kingdom a sort of second founder. The name means, "he whose people is many," and was thus anticipative of that great enlargement of the Israelite kingdom, which took place under him (see 2 Kings 14:25-28). And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel (see the comment on ver. 9).
13:10-19 Jehoash, the king, came to Elisha, to receive his dying counsel and blessing. It may turn much to our spiritual advantage, to attend the sick-beds and death-beds of good men, that we may be encouraged in religion by the living comforts they have from it in a dying hour. Elisha assured the king of his success; yet he must look up to God for direction and strength; must reckon his own hands not enough, but go on, in dependence upon Divine aid. The trembling hands of the dying prophet, as they signified the power of God, gave this arrow more force than the hands of the king in his full strength. By contemning the sign, the king lost the thing signified, to the grief of the dying prophet. It is a trouble to good men, to see those to whom they wish well, forsake their own mercies, and to see them lose advantages against spiritual enemies.
and Jeroboam sat upon his throne; who was his son; it is not said that he began to sit on it, or to reign, nor to reign in his father's stead; hence it is concluded, as by Kimchi and others, that his father set him on his throne in his lifetime; and the Jewish chronology (l) expressly asserts that he reigned with him one year:
and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; see 2 Kings 13:9, the history of his life and actions does not cease here, but, after an account of the sickness and death of Elisha, it is reassumed, which was necessary to interpose to lead on to it.
Buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.--So that there were "tombs of the kings" there, as at Jerusalem.
and Jeroboam sat upon his throne; who was his son; it is not said that he began to sit on it, or to reign, nor to reign in his father's stead; hence it is concluded, as by Kimchi and others, that his father set him on his throne in his lifetime; and the Jewish chronology (l) expressly asserts that he reigned with him one year:
and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel; see 2 Kings 13:9, the history of his life and actions does not cease here, but, after an account of the sickness and death of Elisha, it is reassumed, which was necessary to interpose to lead on to it.
(l) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 19.