Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 14:23–end
Here is an account of the reign of Jeroboam the second. I doubt it is an indication of the affection and adherence of the house of Jehu to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that they called an heir-apparent to the crown by his name, thinking that an honourable name which in the book of God is infamous and stigmatized as much as any.
I. His reign was long, the longest of all the reigns of the kings of Israel: He reigned forty-one years; yet his contemporary Azariah, the king of Judah, reigned longer, even fifty-two years. This Jeroboam reigned just as long as Asa had done (Kg1 15:10), yet one did that which was good and the other that which was evil. We cannot mea…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 14:23
JEROBOAM'S WICKED REIGN OVER ISRAEL. (Kg2 14:23-29)
Jeroboam, the son of Joash king of Israel--This was Jeroboam II who, on regaining the lost territory, raised the kingdom to great political power (Kg2 14:25), but adhered to the favorite religious policy of the Israelitish sovereigns (Kg2 14:24). While God granted him so great a measure of national prosperity and eminence, the reason is expressly stated (Kg2 14:26-27) to be that the purposes of the divine covenant forbade as yet the overthrow of the kingdom of the ten tribes (see Kg2 13:23).
Next: 2 Kings Chapter 15
Adam Clarke on 2 Kings 14:22
He built Elath - This city belonged to the Edomites; and was situated on the eastern branch of the Red Sea, thence called the Elanitic Gulf. It had probably suffered much in the late war; and was now rebuilt by Uzziah, and brought entirely under the dominion of Judah.
John Gill on 2 Kings 14:24
And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,.... Was guilty of idolatry:
he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; the worship of the calves is especially meant; he was in all respects of the same cast with his ancestor of the same name, from whom he had it, in veneration of him.
