Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

The garden of Uzza - The family sepulcher or burying-place.

It is said 2 Kings 21:3, 2 Kings 21:7, that "Manasseh made a grove; and he set a graven image of the grove," etc. עשה אשר האשרה פסל את וישם vaiyasem eth pesel haasherah, asher asah : "And he put the graven image of Asherah, which he had made," into the house.

Asherah, which we translate grove, is undoubtedly the name of an idol; and probably of one which was carved out of wood.

R. S. Jarchi, on Genesis 12:3, says, "that אשרה asherah means a tree which was worshipped by the Gentiles;" like as the oak was worshipped by the ancient Druids in Britain.

Castel, in Lex. Hept. sub voce אשר , defines אשרה asherah thus, Simulacrum ligneum Astartae dicatum; "A wooden image dedicated to Astrate or Venus."

The Septuagint render the words by αλσος ; and Flamminius Nobilis, on 2 Kings 23:4, says Rursus notat Theodoretusτο αλσος�π esse Astartem et Venerem, et ab aliis interpretibus dictum Ashatroth; i.e. "Again Theodoret observes, αλσος is Astarte and Venus; and by other interpreters called Ashtaroth."

The Targum of Ben Uzziel, on Deuteronomy 7:5, תגדעון ואשירהם vaasheyrehem tegaddeun ; i.e., "Their groves shall ye cut down" - translates the place thus, e ecalp,suht תקצצון סיגדיהון ואילני veilaney sigedeyhon tekatsetsun ; "And the oaks of their adoration shall ye cut down."

From the above it is pretty evident that idols, not groves, are generally intended where אשרה asherah and its derivatives are used.

Here follow proofs: -

In 2 Kings 23:6, it is said that "Josiah brought out the grove from the house of the Lord." This translation seems very absurd; for what grove could there be in the temple? There was none planted there, nor was there room for any. The plain meaning of יהוה מבית השרה את ויצא vaiyotse eth haasherah mibbeyth Jehovah, is, "And he brought out the (goddess) Asherah from the house of the Lord, and burnt it," etc.

That this is the true meaning of the place appears farther from 2 Kings 23:7, where it is said, "He broke down the houses of the sodomites," (הקדשים hakkedeshim, of the whoremongers), "where the women wove hangings for the grove" (לאשרה בתים bottim laasherah, "houses or shrines for Asherah.") Similar perhaps to those which the silversmiths made for Diana, Acts 19:24. It is rather absurd to suppose that the women were employed in making curtains to encompass a grove.

The Syriac and Arabic versions countenance the interpretation I have given above. In 2 Kings 23:6, the former says, "He cast out the idol, dechlotho, from the house of the Lord;" and in 2 Kings 23:7; : "He threw down the houses, dazoine, of the prostitutes; and the women who wove garments, ledechlotho, for the idols which were there." The Arabic is exactly the same.

From the whole it is evident that Asherah was no other than Venus; the nature of whose worship is plain enough from the mention of whoremongers and prostitutes.

I deny not that there were groves consecrated to idolatrous worship among the Gentiles, but I am sure that such are not intended in the above-cited passages; and the text, in most places, reads better when understood in this way.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And he was buried in his sepulchre, in the garden of Uzza,.... Where his father Manasseh was buried, 2 Kings 21:18,

and Josiah his son reigned in his stead; of whom many things are said in the two following chapters.

Keil & Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Amon was buried “in his grave in the garden of Uzza,” i.e., in the grave which he had had made in the garden of Uzza by the side of his father's grave. He had probably resided in this palace of his father. יקבּר, one buried him.

Scofield's Reference Notes

Josiah

called Josias, Matthew 1:10.

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary

REFLECTIONS

READER! mark, I beseech you, in the character of Manasseh, the evident truth of God's holy word, that the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. Grace descends not from father to son by natural generation. But what a gracious God had Manasseh to do with! Oh! how lovely and encouraging is it to poor sinners, to behold such monuments of mercy placed in the church, as if to tell men that there is mercy with God that he might be feared. Yes! precious Jesus! thou art the Father of mercies; and thou art the mercy promised; thou art indeed, and ever wilt be, Jesus. In that lovely name all mercy is contained. Thou art the hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof.

But Reader! while we look at Amon the son of Manasseh, in the very moment our souls feel all possible encouragement in the grace vouchsafed the father, is there not enough to induce trembling, when we behold the hardened state of the son. Like the two thieves on the cross. Who can contemplate that sight without a mixture of joy and terror: Both so near Jesus, and yet the one as unconscious as the dead; while the other manifests forth so illustrious an evidence of the highest faith and truest repentance. Oh! thou, blessed author and finisher of our faith and salvation, grant, if it be thy blessed will, both to Writer and Reader, suited grace to profit by such striking examples. Let everything tend to lead our hearts to thee, for of thee cometh our salvation. Lord open our eyes, unstop our ears, that we may no longer be uncircumcised in heart and spirit; but make us altogether what thou wouldest have us to be, and work in us both to will and to do of thy good pleasure.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

2 Kings 21:26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.

Ver. 26. And he was buried.] But not lamented, as his son Josiah afterwards was by all the people.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

26.In his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza — That is, by the side of his father in the family tomb. See note on 2 Kings 21:18.

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

he was buried = one buried him. But some codices, with three early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "and they buried him".

sepulchre. Hebrew. keber, a (not "the") grave, or tomb. Compare 2 Kings 22:20.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) In his sepulchre . . .—Which he had caused to be prepared near his father’s (2 Kings 21:16).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

in the garden

Josiah

1 Kings 13:5; Matthew 1:10 Reciprocal: 1 Kings 11:43 - buried;  2 Kings 16:20 - buried;  Jeremiah 1:2 - in the days

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Bibliographical Information
Torrey, R. A. "Commentary on 2 Kings 21:26". "The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tsk/2-kings-21.html.

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