What is the meaning of 2 Kings 21:13? I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria The Lord pictures Himself as a builder, drawing a straight line to see whether the city measures up to His righteous standard. Samaria—the capital of the northern kingdom—had already been weighed and found wanting, then carried away by Assyria (2 Kings 17:6). By saying He will use “the measuring line used against Samaria,” God makes it clear that • the same standard applies to both Israel and Judah—He shows no favoritism (Deuteronomy 10:17; Romans 2:11). • past judgment is a sober preview of coming judgment (Hosea 8:5–10). • Judah cannot hide behind temple rituals or its Davidic heritage; obedience is still required (Jeremiah 7:4–15). “Lamentations 2:8” notes that “The LORD has stretched out a measuring line; He has not restrained His hand from destroying.” What happened to Samaria will now be mirrored in Jerusalem because the sins are the same. and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab A plumb line shows whether a wall is upright or crooked. God once dropped such a line beside Ahab’s dynasty, declaring it hopelessly warped (1 Kings 21:20–24). Jehu carried out the sentence, erasing Ahab’s male heirs (2 Kings 10:1–11). By invoking that earlier scene, the Lord signals that • Judah’s corruption under Manasseh resembles Ahab’s idolatry and bloodshed (2 Kings 21:6,16). • the coming purge will be just as direct and unavoidable (Nahum 1:9; Amos 7:7–9). • divine patience has a limit; when the wall leans too far, it must be torn down (Isaiah 30:13). The image underscores God’s unwavering moral geometry: what is crooked must be straightened or removed. and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down Picture an emptied dish swabbed clean, then flipped to show nothing remains. In plain terms: • the land will be emptied of its inhabitants (Isaiah 24:1). • any lingering impurity will be thoroughly scraped away (Psalm 75:8). • exile will turn the nation “upside down,” leaving no corner untouched (2 Chronicles 36:17–21). The metaphor assures that judgment will be both complete and final—no residue of rebellion left clinging to the sides. Yet even here grace glimmers: a clean bowl can be refilled. After seventy years, God will restore a remnant (Jeremiah 29:10; Ezra 1:1). summary Using vivid construction and kitchen images, God announces that Judah, like Samaria and Ahab’s line, must face the same unbending standard. Measured, plumbed, and wiped, Jerusalem will experience a judgment as thorough as it is righteous. At the same time, the very thoroughness hints at future renewal, for a cleansed vessel is ready for fresh use in the Lord’s hands. |
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