2 Chronicles 26:17 - Exposition

Azariah the priest . Verse 20 states what was otherwise to be supposed, that he was the chief priest ( הָראשׁ ). We fail to identify his name with any in the typical list of 1 Chronicles 6:4-15 , where the Azariah of verse 11 is too early, and the Azariah of verse 13 too late, for our present Azariah. With him four score priests . This passage suggests to us an idea of how many deeply interesting details are wanting, which would fill in the interstices of Old Testament history. Probably the intention of the king, ambitious to simulate the self-assumed religious ways of neighbouring Gentile kings, was no secret; and possibly the king may have given time for the chief priest to collect his auxiliaries, through some ostentatious display on his own part, in the very performance of his desecration. The number and the character of these helping priests ( בְּנֵי־חָיַל ) give the idea that they had their work to do, and purposed doing it promptly, or that they would over-awe, and obviate the use of actual force, by their imposing number.