Verse 2
2. His brethren His associates in office.
The army of Samaria Of which he seems to have been the chief commander.
Will they fortify themselves Literally, Will they leave to them? The meaning is not clear, but seems most naturally brought out if we allow the verb a passive sense: Shall they be left to themselves? This is the thought conveyed both by the Septuagint and Vulgate, although those versions present no literal translation of the Hebrew. The Septuagint has the following: “Is this the power of Samaria, that these Jews build their city?” Vulgate: “Shall the nations let them go?” that is, shall the surrounding nations let them go on with their building their city walls?
Will they sacrifice Will they presume to renew and perpetuate their ancient cultus?
Make an end in a day Do they imagine they can so speedily rebuild their city that no one will find it out before it is complete?
Revive the stones He speaks of the great stones of Jerusalem as having been destroyed by fire, broken, and ruined, so that the attempt of a feeble band of exiles to restore them (Hebrews, make them live) from their heaps of… rubbish was to his mind the height of folly.
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