Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

He restored the coast of Israel - From the description that is here given, it appears that Jeroboam reconquered all the territory that had been taken from the kings of Israel; so that Jeroboam the second left the kingdom as ample as it was when the ten tribes separated under Jeroboam the first.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

He restored the coast of Israel - Jeroboam, in the course of his long reign, recovered the old boundaries of the holy land to the north, the east, and the southeast. The “entering in of Hamath” is spoken of as the northern boundary; the “sea of the plain,” or the Dead Sea, is the southern boundary (see the marginal references): here Israel adjoined on Moab. The entire tract east of Jordan had been lost to Israel in the reign of Jehu and that of Jehoahaz 2 Kings 10:33; 2 Kings 13:3, 2 Kings 13:25. All this was now recovered: and not only so, but Moab was reduced Amos 6:14, and the Syrians were in their turn forced to submit to the Jews 2 Kings 14:28. The northern conquests were perhaps little less important than the eastern 2 Kings 14:28.

The word of the Lord … which he spake - Some have found the prophecy of Jonah here alluded to, or a portion of it, in Isaiah 15:1-9; Isaiah 16:1-14 (see 2 Kings 16:13); but without sufficient grounds.

This passage tends to fix Jonah‘s date to some period not very late in the reign of Jeroboam II, i. e. (according to the ordinary chronology) from 823 B.C. to 782 B.C. On Gath-hepher, see the marginal reference and note.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

He restored the coast of Israel,.... The cities upon it, which had been taken away from them by their enemies:

from the entering of Hamath; which was the northern border of the land of Canaan, the entrance into it from Syria, see Numbers 34:8,

unto the sea of the plain: of Jordan, called sometimes the salt sea and the Dead Sea; the lake Asphaltites, as Josephus^F11Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 9.) c. 10. sect. 1. , where formerly stood Sodom and Gomorrah:

according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah the son of Amittai; the same with him whose prophecy among the small prophets bears this name; and though his prophecy concerning Jeroboam's success and victories is not there, nor anywhere else, recorded at length, yet needed not to be doubted of; this is the first of the prophets spoken of whose books are extant:

which was of Gathhepher; a city in the tribe of Zebulun, Joshua 19:13, which contradicts a notion of the Jews, that no prophet came out of Galilee, when the very first of those that were the penmen of the books of prophecies was from thence, see John 7:52.

Keil & Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

He brought back ( השׁיב ), i.e., restored, the boundary of Israel from towards Hamath in the north, to the point to which the kingdom extended in the time of Solomon (1 Kings 8:65), to the sea of the Arabah (the present Ghor), i.e., to the Dead Sea (compare Deuteronomy 3:17, and Deuteronomy 4:49, from which this designation of the southern border of the kingdom of the ten tribes arose), “according to the word of the Lord, which He had spoken through the prophet Jonah,” who had probably used this designation of the southern boundary, which was borrowed from the Pentateuch, in the announcement which he made. The extent of the kingdom of Israel in the reign of Jeroboam is defined in the same manner in Amos 6:14, but instead of הערבה ים the הערבה נחל is mentioned, i.e., in all probability the Wady el Ashy, which formed the boundary between Moab and Edom; from which we may see that Jeroboam had also subjugated the Moabites to his kingdom, which is not only rendered probable by 2 Kings 3:6., but is also implied in the words that he restored the former boundary of the kingdom of Israel-On the prophet Jonah, the son of Amittai, see the Comm. on Jonah 1:1. Gath-hepher, in the tribe of Zebulun, is the present village of Meshed, to the north of Nazareth (see at Joshua 19:13).

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher.

The sea — Unto the dead sea, once a goodly plain, Genesis 13:10, which was their southern border.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

2 Kings 14:25 He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which [was] of Gathhepher.

Ver. 25. To the sea of the plain.] Called the salt sea. [Deuteronomy 3:17]

Jonah, the son of Amittai.] See on Jonah 1:1.

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible

2 Kings 14:25. By the hand of his servant Jonah— The only mention we have of this prophet is in this passage, and in the account of his famous mission to Nineveh, where we shall say more on the subject. What the prophesies were by which he encouraged Jeroboam to proclaim war against the king of Syria, are nowhere recorded; but as we have not every thing which the prophets did write, so several prophets did not commit their predictions to writing. From this place, however, we may observe that God was very merciful to the Israelites, though a very wicked people, in continuing a race of prophets among them even after Elisha was dead. See Patrick.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

The entering of Hamath was the northern border of the kingdom of Israel, Numbers 13:21 34:8.

Unto the sea of the plain, i.e. unto the Dead Sea, which once was a goodly plain, Genesis 13:10, which was their southern border.

Jonah, or Jonas, one of the small prophets; though this prophecy of his be not recorded there; and therefore it is remembered here.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

25.Restored the coast — Reconquered the territory that had been taken at different times from his predecessors, and made the kingdom as extensive as it was in the days of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Entering of Hamath — The northern border of the kingdom of Solomon, (1 Kings 8:65,) commonly identified with the southern opening into the great valley of Coele-Syria. See on Joshua 13:5.

Sea of the plain — The Salt or Dead Sea. Compare Deuteronomy 3:17.

Word of the Lord God — A communication or oracle granted, notwithstanding the king’s wickedness, for the comfort of Israel.

By the hand of’ Jonah — That is, through his agency or instrumentality. There can be no reasonable doubt that this Jonah, the son of Amittai, is the same prophet whose ministry to the Ninevites is recorded in the prophetical book that bears his name. Josephus says: “Jonah, a prophet, foretold to Jeroboam that he should make war with the Syrians, and conquer their army, and enlarge the bounds of his kingdom on the northern parts to the city of Hamath, and on the southern to the lake Asphaltitis; for the bounds of the Canaanites were originally these, according as Joshua, the general, determined. So Jeroboam organized an expedition against the Syrians, and overran all their country, as Jonah had foretold.”

Gath-hepher — The same as Gittah-hepher, in the tribe of Zebulon. See on Joshua 19:13.

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments

2 Kings 14:25. He restored the coast, &c., from Hamath — Which was the northern border of the kingdom of Israel; unto the sea of the plain — The Dead sea, which was once a goodly plain, and was their southern border. Which he spake by his servant Jonah — Or Jonas; one of the lesser prophets. The only mention that we have of this prophet is in this passage, and in the account of his famous mission to Nineveh, in considering which we shall say more concerning him. What the prophecies were by which he encouraged Jeroboam to proclaim war against the king of Syria, is nowhere recorded. But as we have not every thing which the prophets did write, so several prophets did not commit any of their predictions to writing. From this place, however, we learn, that God was so gracious to the Israelites, wicked as they were, as to continue a race of prophets among them, even after Elijah and Elisha were dead. See Patrick and Dodd. Happy that land which is thus favoured! which has a succession of prophets running parallel with a succession of princes; that the word of the Lord may endure for ever!

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

CHAPTER XIV.

Wilderness, or the Dead Sea, to which place the dominion of Israel originally extended, under Jeroboam I. (Calmet) --- Opher, in the tribe of Zabulon. (Challoner) --- Protestants, "which was of Gath-hepher." (Haydock) --- We have not all the works of the prophets, nor did they write all their predictions. (Calmet) --- Here we learn at what time Jonas lived. (Menochius)

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

coast = border, or boundary.

entering of Hamath. The pass between Lebanon and Hermon.

the sea of the plain. The Dead Sea.

Jonah. Named by the Lord Jesus (Matthew 12:39, Matthew 12:40).

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher.

He restored the coast of Israel ... Recovering the territory lost by the successful border incursions of Hazael (see the notes at 2 Kings 10:32), he re-established the ancient boundaries of the ten tribes. This result had been predicted by Jonah, of whom the only account transmitted to us is contained in this passage, and in the book called by his name. The prophecies by which he animated the patriotism of Jerobeam II in his long and severe struggles against the kings of Syria have not been recorded; for, although there was an unbroken series of prophets in Israel, none of them committed their predictions to writing; and Hosea, who lived after Jonah, in the latter end of the reign of this Jeroboam, was the first whose prophecies, receiving a permanent form, were afterward admitted into the sacred canon. As to Jonah's supposed parentage, see the notes at 1 Kings 17:17-23. His father's name was Amittai [ 'Amitay (Hebrew #573), true] - a name given him, according to Jewish tradition, in reference to his mother's saying (2 Kings 14:24), "Now I know that the word of the Lord in thy month is truth;" hence, they say, Jonah was called the son Amittai - i:e., the son of truth. Amittai is supposed to have been a prophet himself. If this Jewish tradition have any foundation, the family must have removed from Zarephath, or, at all events, Jonah himself, to Gath-hepher, a town of Zebulun, in lower Galilee.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) He restored.—Rather, He it was who restored the border, i.e., he wrested out of the hands of the Syrians the territory they had taken from Israel.

From the entering of Hamath—i.e., from the point where the territory of Hamath began. This was the originally determined boundary of Israel on the north (comp. Numbers 13:21; Numbers 34:8; Joshua 13:5), and the prophet Ezekiel specifies it as the future limit (Ezekiel 47:16; Ezekiel 48:1). Israel’s territory first reached this limit under Solomon, who conquered a portion of the Hamathite domains (2 Chronicles 8:3-4).

The sea of the plain—i.e., the Dead Sea (Numbers 3:17; Numbers 4:49; Joshua 3:16). The whole length of the Dead Sea is included (comp. Amos 6:14, where virtually the same limits are specified), and the country beyond Jordan. (Comp. Note on 1 Chronicles 5:17.)

Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet.—Comp. Jonah 1:1. Ewald remarks that the activity of this prophet must have occupied a very large field, as tradition connects him with Nineveh. Hitzig and Knobel recognise the prophecy referred to here in Isaiah 15, 16. There is no difficulty in the supposition that Isaiah has “adopted and ratified the work of an earlier prophet,” as Jeremiah has so often done. (See Cheyne’s Isaiah, vol. i., p. 93.) But it is easier to prove that these chapters are not Isaiah’s, than that they belong to Jonah.

Gath-hepher.—Joshua 19:13. The present Meshed, Not far north of Nazareth.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

He restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the LORD God of Israel, which he spake by the hand of his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gathhepher.

from the entering

Numbers 13:21; 34:7,8; Ezekiel 47:16-18; Amos 6:14

unto the sea

Genesis 14:3; Deuteronomy 3:17

Jonah

Jonah 1:1; Matthew 12:39,40; 16:4

Jonas

Gath-hepher.

Joshua 19:13

Gittah-hepher

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 8:65 - from the entering;  1 Kings 16:12 - by Jehu the prophet;  2 Kings 9:36 - by his;  2 Kings 13:5 - a saviour;  2 Kings 13:12 - the rest;  Isaiah 28:1 - whose;  Ezekiel 11:10 - in;  Hosea 7:15 - I have;  Amos 6:13 - Have;  Haggai 1:1 - by Haggai