He saw that the money was gone from his treasures, and that the tributes of the country were small, because of the dissension and disaster which he had brought upon the land, to the end that he might take away the laws which had been from the first days.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 29. Land. He formerly received three hundred talents from Judea; now he was forced to send money thither. Sulp. ii. Calmet.—Times. He not only disturbed the Jews, but other nations, which rebelled. Worthington.—Though he had plundered the temple, he was still poor: the usual fate of wicked princes. Menochius.—Sacrilege seldom prospers. When Henry VIII. took the revenues of monasteries, he was still needy. They had amply provided for the poor. Soon after, however, the poor rates commenced; and in the 39th Eliz. no less than eleven bills were brought into Parliament for their relief. Dugdale. See Hist. of Prot. Challoner. Bible.