2 Kings 21:13

And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria,.... The Targum is, the line of destruction; and the sense is, that the same measure should be measured to Jerusalem as was to Samaria; that is,

And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.

Jerusalem shall have the same measure and lot, i.e. the same judgments, which Samaria had. The line is oft put for one’ s lot or portion, as , because men’ s portions or possessions used to be measured by lines, . Or it is a metaphor from workmen who mark out by lines what part of the building they would have thrown down, and what they would have stand. See ,8 Zechariah 1:16. Or it is an allusion to that fact of David, who destroyed the Moabites by a measuring line, . Wiping it, and turning it upside down, as men do with a dish that hath been used; first wholly empty it of all that is in it, then thoroughly cleanse and wipe it, and lastly turn it upside down, that nothing may remain in it: so will I deal with Jerusalem, thoroughly empty and purge it from all its wicked inhabitants, and that so as to cut off all hopes of restitution.

2 Kings 21:13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as [a man] wipeth a dish, wiping [it], and turning [it] upside down.Ver. 13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line.] A metaphor from carpenters, who with line and plummet do use to measure and mark out the wood that they intend to hew off or plane. See Isaiah 34:11. I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish.] Gabatam, a porridge dish, Simili ab arte magirica. Well might God say, "I have also spoken by the prophets, I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets." Wiping it, and turning it upside down.] So I "overturn, overturn, overturn" this whole state.

(13) And I will stretch over Jerusalem . . .—Comp. Amos 7:7-9; Isaiah 34:11; Lamentations 2:8. The sense is, I will deal with Jerusalem by the same rigorous rule of judgment as I have dealt already with Samaria. The figure of the measuring line and plummet suggests the idea that Jerusalem should be levelled and “laid even with the ground.” As a man wipeth a (the) dish . . .—The wiping of the dish represents the destruction of the people, the turning it upside down, the overthrow of the city itself. Or perhaps, as Thenius says, the two acts together represent the single notion of making an end.Wiping it and turning it . . .—This implies a different pointing of the text (infinitives instead of perfects, which is probably right).

Verse 13. The line of Samaria] I will treat Jerusalem as I have treated Samaria. Samaria was taken, pillaged, ruined, and its inhabitants led into captivity; Jerusalem shall have the same measure. And the plummet of the house of Ahab] The house of Ahab was totally destroyed, and not a man of his race left to sit upon the throne of Israel: so shall it be done to the house or royal family of Judah; they shall be all finally destroyed, and not a man of their race shall any more sit on the throne of Judah; nor shall Judah have a throne to sit on. Thus Jerusalem shall have the same weight as well as the same measure as Samaria, because it has copied all the abominations which brought that kingdom to total destruction. I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish] The Vulgate translates this clause as follows: Delebo Jerusalem, sicut deleri solent tabulae; "I will blot out Jerusalem as tablets are wont to be blotted out." This is a metaphor taken from the ancient method of writing: they traced their letters with a stile on boards thinly spread over with wax; for this purpose one end of the stile was sharp, the other end blunt and smooth, with which they could rub out what they had written, and so smooth the place and spread back the wax, as to render it capable of receiving any other word. Thus the Lord had written down Jerusalem, never intending that its name or its memorial should be blotted out. It was written down The Holy City, The City of the Great King; but now God turns the stile and blots this out; and the Holy Jerusalem, the City of the Great King, is no longer to be found! This double use of the stile is pointed out in this ancient enigma: - De summo planus; sed non ego planus in imo: Versor utrinque manu, diverso et munere fungor: Altera pars revocat, quicquid pars altera fecit. "I am flat at the top, but sharp at the bottom; I turn either end, and perform a double function: One end destroys what the other end has made." But the idea of emptying out and wiping a dish expresses the same meaning equally well. Jerusalem shall be emptied of all its wealth, and of all its inhabitants, as truly as a dish turned up is emptied of all its contents; and it shall be turned upside down, never to be filled again. This is true from that time to the present hour. Jerusalem is the dish turned upside down, the tablet blotted out to the present day! How great are God's mercies! and how terrible his judgments!

13. the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab] The figures are taken from the occupation of the builder. The builder employs line and plummet that he may carry out his work exactly according to the plan prescribed. But here the pattern is one of utter destruction, which God Himself threatens to carry out after the fashion of Samaria and the house of Ahab, which the previous generation had beheld utterly destroyed. Samaria and the house of Ahab were famous for building (see 1 Kings 22:39 note). Hence the peculiar fitness of the figure. These great builders, with all that they had built, were swept away and just so should it be with Jerusalem. The way in which a portion of the judgement was carried out is described by the Chronicler: ‘The Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh in chains (R.V.) and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon’. as a man wipeth a dish] The description is of a thing that is done with, and will be used no more. ‘To turn it upside down’, is literally ‘to turn it upon the face thereof’, a rendering which brings out very completely the intention of using the dish no more. Such God declares will be His manner of dealing with Jerusalem. The verb rendered ‘wipe’ is the same which is used Genesis 7:4, ‘Every living substance … will I destroy’, and in Numbers 5:23 ‘he shall blot them out’, and in the solemn sentence, Exodus 32:33, ‘him will I blot out of my book’. The original very markedly shews that God’s wiping was to be a wiping out.

The general meaning is plain, but the exact force of the metaphor used is not so clear.

13. Line of Samaria… plummet of the house of Ahab — The line is used in measuring, the plummet in levelling or squaring, and both are used here metaphorically as standards of Divine Judgment.