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BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI

Intelligent Automation with Blue

Prism
Copyright © 2023 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the
case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure
the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information
contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or
implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and
distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to
have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information
about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by
the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot
guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Group Product Manager: Alok Dhuri

Publishing Product Manager: Kushal Dave

Book Project Manager: Prajakta Naik

Senior Editor: Nithya Sadanandan

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Singh

Business Development Executive: Mayank Singh

First published: January 2024

Production reference: 1221223

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Grosvenor House

11 St Paul’s Square

Birmingham

B3 1RB, UK

ISBN 978-1-80324-969-8

www.packtpub.com

Contributors

About the author

James Man worked in Blue Prism’s Professional Services team for
four years. He covered the Greater China and ASEAN regions,
helping consulting partners and customers solve their most complex
automation problems. He is fully certified in Blue Prism and has
mentored over 100 students in different Blue Prism topics. In 2022,
James received a Master of Science degree from MIT, where he
researched the topic of Intelligent Automation. James is currently a
senior member of Blue Prism’s automation advisory team, helping
drive Intelligent Automation adoption across Blue Prism’s parent
company, SS&C. The automation advisory team has successfully
scaled SS&C to over 1,000 digital workers in year one of their
automation program.
I want to thank my wife, Sara, the staff at Packt who helped me on
this journey, and Vincenzo Marchica for providing valuable technical
feedback on the book.

About the reviewer

Vincenzo Marchica is a Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
and AI expert, chairman of Intelligent Automation Congress, and a
speaker and author.

With over a decade of hands-on experience in the world of RPA, he

is deeply committed to revolutionizing how businesses operate. As
an industry pioneer, he has been an early adopter of RPA, and today,
he holds a prominent position among the few professionals with
genuine, real-world RPA expertise.

As the chairman of the Intelligent Automation Congress, he is at the

forefront of driving innovation and knowledge exchange within the
IA community.

He is not just a practitioner; he is a problem solver. His career is

defined by a relentless pursuit of solutions that drive efficiency,
enhance productivity, and elevate business performance. He
specializes in establishing RPA Centers of Excellence (CoEs) and
managing control rooms to ensure seamless automation governance.
Table of Contents

Preface
Part 1: Connecting Blue Prism to ML
Models

Machine Learning as a Service: the

Digital Exchange and Web APIs

Technical requirements

Using the DX

Accessing the DX

Machine learning web API fundamentals

An overview of MLaaS on the DX

Vendor selection

Examples

Example 1 – AWS Comprehend for text

entity extraction, key phrase extraction,
and sentiment analysis
Example 2 – Azure Form Recognizer for
invoice extraction

Example 3 – GCP Cloud Vision batch OCR

processing

Summary

Predicting from Command Prompt and

PowerShell

Technical requirements

Command-line basics

Output streams

Output redirection

Blocking versus non-blocking execution

Predicting from the command line using

Utility – Environment
Example 1 – Running a program using
the Start Process

Example 2 - Running a program using

Run Process Until Ended

Getting prediction results back into BP

Example 3 – Saving STDOUT and STDERR

as Data Items

Example 4 – Redirecting an internal

command (dir) to files

Timing out long-running predictions

Example 5 – PS script timeout

DX VBOs – Utility - PowerShell and

Script Execution VBO

Utility – PowerShell

Script Execution VBO

Example 7 – Calling a Python program

Summary

Code Stages

Technical requirements

Setting up ML.NET in BP

Adding references and namespaces to BP

Example 1 – preparation work before BP

Porting ML.NET C# into a Code Stage

Global Code

Example 2 - porting the source code into

BP

Improving BP integration

Example 3 - refactoring

Summary
Part 2: Designing IA Solutions

Reviewing Predictions and Human in

the Loop

Technical requirements

Why should we review predictions?

Reduce business risk

Stay ahead of regulatory concerns

What does HITL mean in the context of

IA?

What criteria can be used to trigger

human intervention?

Random sampling

Thresholding
How can we share prediction data
between prediction reviewers and BP?

Reviewing predictions through shared

folders

Summary

IA Process and Work Queue Designs for

HITL

Technical requirements

Single-Process, single-Work Queue

designs

Asynchronous (non-blocking) reviews

Synchronous (blocking) reviews

Multiple-Process, single-Work Queue

designs

Independent manual review logic

Multiple-process, multiple-work queue
designs

Fully independent manual reviews

Separating ML predictions and manual

reviews into their own Processes and
Work Queues

Design comparison

Design 1 – asynchronous reviews (one

Process, one Work Queue)

Design 2 – synchronous (polling)

reviews (one Process, one Work Queue)

Design 3 – independent HITL review

logic (two Processes, one Work Queue)

Design 4 – fully independent HITL

reviews (two Processes, two Work
Queues)
Design 5 – full separation (three
Processes, three Work Queues)

Summary

Reusable IA Components

Technical requirements

IA session control

Forcing HITL review

Disabling HITL review

Forcing review data recreation

Example 1 – three IA Session Variables

ML prediction kill switch

Example 2 – kill switch

ML model versioning
Two different ways of calling web APIs

Calling a web API using an Object when

a new endpoint is provided

Calling a web API using an Object when

the vendor reuses an existing endpoint

Example 3 – versioning ML endpoints

manually

Calling Web API Services

New ML model evaluation

Example 4 – new ML model evaluation

Process template

Reusable IA components review

Summary

IA Templates and Utility – IA Object

Technical requirements

Object – Utility – IA

Random Integer in Range

Random Decimal in Range

Run Process Read Stdout Stderr with

Timeout

File to Base64

Threshold Excel to Collection

Get Threshold by Label

Object Overview

Process templates

Single-Process, single-Work Queue,

synchronous review Process template

Single-Process, single-Work Queue,

asynchronous review Process template
Three-Process, three-Work Queue,
asynchronous review Process template

Summary
Part 3: Control Room and Management

The LAM, User Roles, and MTE

Technical requirements

IA User Roles and Permissions

ML Auditor

ML Deployer

ML Reviewer

A User Role comparison

MTEs

MTE for the ML Auditor and ML Reviewer

User Roles

MTE limitations

An updated LAM template

Summary

ML Deployments and Database

Operations

ML deployments and rollbacks

Web API deployment strategies

Script deployment strategies

Code Stage deployment strategies

Database operations

Table growth maintenance

Extracting ML prediction data from the

database

Exporting reviewed prediction data from

the database

Summary
10

IA’s Impact on the Robotic Operating

Model

Strategy

Future of Work Vision

Business case and value

Governance, Risk, and Controls

Workforce

Building your organizational model

Adopting new ways of thinking and

working

Roles and career paths

Design

Assessment and Prioritization

Requirements Design

Development

Methodology and Teamwork

Delivery Controls

Testing and Quality Assurance

Operations

Deploy and Release

Support model

Summary
Part 4: Real-Life Scenarios and Other
Blue Prism Products

11

Processing Refunds

Technical requirements

ML model background information

EC model

Entity recognition model

Generative AI model

ML model summary

Solution design

Email classification model

Entity recognition model

Generative AI model
Solution design diagram

Implementation

Example 1 – Creating the solution

structure from IA templates

Example 2 – Implementing the IA

details in Process 1

Summary

12

Power Service Interruptions

Technical requirements

ML model background information

Outage prediction model

Customer complaints model

ML model summary
Solution design

Handling model deployments

Example 1 – Outage prediction model

deployment

Example 2 – Customer complaint model

deployment

Example 3 – Rollback customer

complaint model deployment

Exporting data for audit

Example 4 – Exporting OP model data

through SQL

Example 5 – Exporting customer

complaint model data through SQL

Summary

13
Other Intelligent Blue Prism Products
and Future IA Trends

Decipher IDP

How is Decipher related to IA?

Using Decipher

Next steps

Document Automation

How is Document Automation related to

IA?

Using Document Automation

Next steps

Decision

How is Decision related to IA?

Using Decision
Next steps

Interact

How is Interact related to IA?

Using Interact

Next steps

Future IA trends

Improved AI product integration

Democratized ML using LLMs

AI ethics and safety

Summary

Appendix: IA Risk Management

Socio-organizational IA risks

Operational IA risks

IA risk mitigation measures

Index

Other Books You May Enjoy

Preface
Over the last decade, two automation trends have transformed the
way that companies operate. The first trend is the use of Robotic
Process Automation (RPA) technology to automate back-office
computer tasks. The second trend, currently in progress, aims to
automate work that was previously considered immune to
automation. This is Intelligent Automation (IA), which combines
RPA with Machine Learning (ML) to automate worker intelligence
and complex decision-making.

The term IA means different things depending on where it’s used.

For some, IA means incorporating AI features into RPA products to
simplify the development of automation, or adding self-healing to
help the digital workers recover from errors. In this book, IA means
the use of ML with RPA to replace human cognitive work during the
execution of an automated process. While there’s value in helping
developers work more effectively, IA should be primarily defined by
its ability to transform operations and drive business benefits
through the use of ML at a massive scale.

There are already a few IA books out there. They’re mostly focused
on selling the high-level vision and benefits of IA. However, with the
incredible boom of ML, most companies are already buying into the
idea of IA and allocating budgets to ML. This signals that we need to
start moving away from the why of IA onto the how.

This book intends to bridge that gap and show readers how to put
IA into practice through hands-on examples with Blue Prism (BP),
a pioneering software firm in the RPA and IA space. Many
technology books are pieced together by combining existing sources,
such as online articles and courses. This book is different; it’s an
extension of my thesis research at MIT about IA and how to manage
its risks. I’ve combined this research with my own BP expertise to
write a practitioner-focused IA book with content that, to my
knowledge, doesn’t exist anywhere else.

For companies, IA won’t just be a “nice-to-have.” The ability to

operationalize ML predictions in everyday work will likely become a
condition of survival for most firms in the future. People with a
nuanced, as opposed to a high-level, understanding of IA will be
able to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. This book will
provide you with this nuanced understanding of IA and guide you
and your company toward better IA outcomes.
Who this book is for
This book is for BP practitioners who are exploring IA or are looking
to improve their current IA program. Regardless of whether you’re a
developer, a citizen developer, a solution designer, or a COE team
member, there’s something for you in this book.

Those who focus on implementation will learn different ways to

design BP solutions for IA. Process controllers and IA program
management can also read this book to understand how ML will add
complexity to their automation programs, and ways to manage it.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Machine Learning as a Service – the Digital Exchange and
Web APIs, discusses how you can implement ML in your BP
processes through connectors downloaded from the Digital
Exchange.

Chapter 2, Predicting from the Command Prompt and PowerShell,

shows how you can call ML predictions through the command line
and capture the input in BP.

Chapter 3, Code Stages, shows how to port a C# ML program into a

code stage so that it runs directly from BP.

Chapter 4, Reviewing Predictions and Human in the Loop, explains

why human reviews of ML predictions are important and implements
two different schemes that can be used to enable reviews.

Chapter 5, IA Process and Work Queue Designs for HITL, goes

through multiple different IA solution designs where the number of
BP processes and work queues vary.

Chapter 6, Reusable IA Components, shows off some BP design

components that are generically useful across any IA solution
design.
Chapter 7, IA Templates and Utility – IA Object, combines the
designs presented in previous chapters into reusable templates that
can speed up your IA solutioning and implementation.

Chapter 8, The LAM, User Roles, and MTE, discusses which new user
roles are needed for IA and the BP permissions that they should
have.

Chapter 9, ML Deployments and Database Operations, describes

current ML model deployment methodologies and how they affect
the deployment and rollback of ML models in BP.

Chapter 10, IA’s Impact on the Robotic Operating Model, discusses

how IA potentially impacts the Robotic Operating Model.

Chapter 11, Processing Refunds, goes through a scenario that

focuses on designing an IA solution and implementing its overall
structure using templates.

Chapter 12, Power Service Interruptions, goes through a scenario

where the auditing of ML predictions is important.

Chapter 13, Other Intelligent Blue Prism Products, introduces four

other IA-related BP products and some future IA trends.
Appendix, IA Risk Management, provides a summary of my thesis
research on the risks of IA.

To get the most out of this book

You should have completed the BP Foundation Training course on
the BP University website. Ideally, readers will also have at least
three months of hands-on BP experience.

The focus of this book is on IA, or how to connect RPA with ML in a

way that manages the impact that uncertain ML predictions can have
on your automated business process. ML experience is not required,
and knowing how to build models is outside the scope of this book.

However, there’s some basic ML terminology that will be used

throughout this book. First, we have regression versus
classification. These two terms broadly separate the type of ML
prediction that we’re trying to make. For regression problems, we’re
looking to predict a numerical value, for instance, forecasting sales
numbers.

For classification problems, we’re looking to categorize something.

The different categories that we’re trying to predict are called
labels. For example, we might be trying to separate customer
support tickets into different categories: Complaint, Refund, and
Sales Enquiry. These three are the labels of our classification
problem.

A confidence score is a number that is returned with almost every

ML prediction, and it represents how confident the service is of that
prediction. This interval will range between 0 and 1, or 0 to 100. For
example, if you send in a photo of an animal into an ML model, it
may reply that the label “cat” has 0.96 confidence, and that the label
“tiger” has 0.99 confidence.

This book is example-heavy and was written so that it can be

completed with free tools. This includes the version of BP and the
ML services, which all have free monthly usage limits. The following
requirements are needed for the entirety of this book. Each of the
other chapters might also have their own requirements as well.

Software/hardware covered in Operating system

the book requirements

Blue Prism Trial or Enterprise Edition, Windows

version 6.4 and above

SQL Server Management Studio

 Python 3

ML.NET / C#

AWS Comprehend

Azure Form Recognizer

Google Cloud Vision

As a pre-requisite for all chapters, please import all of the standard

BP Visual Business Objects (VBOs). These can be found in the
VBO subfolder of your BP installation path. By default, this path is
C:\Program Files\Blue Prism Limited\Blue Prism
Automate\VBO. For most chapters, there will be hands-on
examples that require downloading and importing additional BP
Release files from GitHub. Specific instructions will be provided in
those chapters.

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise

you to type the code yourself or access the code from the
book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next
section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors
related to the copying and pasting of code.

Download the example code files

You can download the example code files for this book from GitHub
at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Intelligent-Automation-with-
Blue-Prism. If there’s an update to the code, it will be updated in the
GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and
videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them
out!

Conventions used
There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table

names, folder names, filenames, and file extensions. When referring
to BP terminology, it refers to page names, such as Main Page,
and data types, such as Text and Number.

A block of code is set as follows:

 using System;
using System.IO;
using Microsoft.ML;

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code

block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

using System;
using System.IO;
using Microsoft.ML;

Code bold: When used for BP terminology, this refers to data item
and environment variable names.

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

> mkdir build

Bold: Indicates a new term or an important word. When used for BP

terminology, this refers to action names (Utility –
Environment::Start Process), and data item values.

Italics: When used for BP terminology, this refers to stage names,

group names, block names, queue names, and other headings in the
BP software, such as Control Room.

TIPS OR IMPORTANT NOTES

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Part 1:Connecting Blue Prism to
ML Models
Part 1 of this book discusses three different ways to interface BP
with ML models so that ML predictions can be used in an automated
process. Chapter 1 discusses how to use pre-built assets from the BP
Digital Exchange to connect to cloud-based ML-as-a-service
offerings. This is the fastest way to get started with ML as the
models are ready to use. We’ll also go through an overview of what
ML services are currently available and what IA use cases they can
potentially fulfill.

Chapter 2 shows how to connect BP to ML by triggering ML

programs to run through the Windows Command Prompt or from
PowerShell. We’ll cover which BP VBOs can be used to call such
programs and the different ways to capture the results in BP.

Finally, Chapter 3 shows how to connect BP to ML by directly

running C# or VB.NET code in an object code stage. Here, we’ll
discuss how to port an existing ML program’s source code so that it
runs directly from an object. The ML program used in this chapter is
built from ML.NET, Microsoft’s ML framework.

This part contains the following chapters:

Chapter 1, Machine Learning as a Service – the Digital Exchange
and Web APIs
Chapter 2, Predicting from the Command Prompt and PowerShell
Chapter 3, Code Stages
1

Machine Learning as a Service:

the Digital Exchange and Web
APIs
Most of how we interact with ML today is done through web APIs.
Even when using large language model (LLM) chatbots through a
web browser, web API calls are being made in the background to
give us the reply. More often than not, your BP Processes will also
use web APIs to obtain the results of an ML prediction that’s hosted
online.

In this chapter, we’re going to explore the most popular ML web

APIs for IA, how to find them on BP’s Digital Exchange (DX), how
to connect them to BP, and how to build one yourself so that
predictions can be made in your automation use cases. More
specifically, we will cover the following:

Understanding what the most common ML services are, some of

their common use cases, and how to find them on the DX
Going through two examples of using pre-built downloadable
assets from the DX to make ML predictions
 Building a BP Web API Service from scratch to connect to an
ML service that is not currently available on the DX

By the end of the chapter, we’ll have covered examples of three of

the most commonly used machine learning as a service
(MLaaS) platforms: Amazon Web Service (AWS), Azure, and
Google Cloud Platform (GCP). These examples also cover some
of the most common IA use cases: extracting data from
unstructured text, extracting data from forms, and extracting text
from images. We will have also covered some of the key concepts
that will inform our solution design in the future: single versus
batch and synchronous versus asynchronous predictions.

Technical requirements
For this chapter, ensure that the following are in place:

A valid Blue Prism Portal (https://portal.blueprism.com) account.

This is required to download assets from the DX. An account can
be created free of charge.
An active account at AWS, Azure, and GCP. We will go over
examples using each vendor in this chapter. All examples can be
run within the free tiers offered by the services.
Download the following file from GitHub at
https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Intelligent-Automation-with-
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
than those of Kings. Clearly he had no motive for suppressing the
statement of Kings and inventing instead a war with Ammon. We
must suppose that he followed some authority independent of Kings.

the book of the kings, etc.] Compare xxv. 26, and see
Introduction, § 5.

Chapter XXVIII.
1‒4 (= 2 Kings xvi. 1‒4).
Ahaz succeeds and practises Idolatry.

The reign of Ahaz is a specially interesting section of Chronicles,

showing in a remarkable degree the freedom with which the older
accounts in 2 Kings xvi. and Isaiah vii. 1 ff. have been handled. A
tale of a prophet is introduced (verses 9‒15). Otherwise only one
new point is added—viz. an Edomite and a Philistine invasion
(verses 16‒18); but all the incidents of the older tradition are altered
and given new settings in such a way as may best serve what is
plainly the Chronicler’s main object, namely by heightening the
disasters to show the exceeding sinfulness of sin. For details of the
changes, see the notes on verses 5‒7, 16‒21, 23, 24.

¹Ahaz was twenty years old when he began

to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in
Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right
in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father:
²but he walked in the ways of the kings of
Israel, and made also molten images for the
Baalim.
 1. Ahaz] The full form of the name is Jehoahaz, the “Ja-u-ḥa-zi”
of an inscription of Tiglath-pileser IV.

twenty years old] As he died sixteen years later leaving a son of

twenty-five (Hezekiah, xxix. 1), Ahaz would have been only ten years
old when Hezekiah was born. The numeral here or in xxix. 1 must
therefore be incorrect. The Peshitṭa in this verse reads “twenty-five
years old,” which is more suitable and may be right, but the
coincidence would be strange if three kings in succession ascended
the throne at twenty-five years of age (compare xxvii. 1 and xxix. 1).

he did not that which was right] It is not said of Ahaz as of

Manasseh, the worst of all the Judean kings, that “he did that which
was evil” (xxxiii. 2).

³Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the

son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the
fire, according to the abominations of the
heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the
children of Israel.
3. the valley of the son of Hinnom] The name in Hebrew Gē-ben-
hinnōm or Gē-hinnōm is more familiar in the Greek form Gehenna
(Matthew v. 22, Revised Version margin). The valley was south and
south-west of Jerusalem. The evil reputation of the place perhaps
was due originally to some connection with the worship of Molech
(Jeremiah vii. 31, 32). Later it appears that the refuse of Jerusalem
and the corpses of criminals were deposited in this valley, and as the
verse Isaiah lxvi. 24 “they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases
of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall
not die, neither shall their fire be quenched ...” was associated with
this valley, the name Gehenna was eventually used to signify the
place of eternal punishment (compare Mark ix. 43).

burnt his children in the fire] There is no doubt that actual

sacrifice of the child’s life by fire is implied in this formula and in
parallel phrases such as “made his son to pass through the fire” (2
Kings xvi. 3). Unfortunately the gruesome evidence regarding child-
sacrifice among the ancients—Greeks and Romans as well as
Semites—is far too strong to allow the theory that always or even
generally branding or some symbolical dedication by fire was
employed (see Barnes on 1 Kings xi. 5). It seems that the horrible
custom, which was common with the early Canaanites and
Phoenicians, was very rare among the early Israelites and the
kindred people of Moab (see Judges xi. 31 and 39; 2 Kings iii. 27),
and was called forth only by the pressure of extreme need. Evidently
in the break-up of the national faith which attended the imminent
downfall of the State of Judah the evil authority of Ahaz and
Manasseh made the practice common (see xxxiii. 6; 2 Kings xxi. 6;
Micah vi. 7; Jeremiah vii. 31; Psalms cvi. 37 f.). Genesis xxii. 1‒18
may be regarded as a magnificent repudiation of the rite in the
worship of Jehovah, and the practice is expressly forbidden in the
Law, Leviticus xviii. 21; Deuteronomy xviii. 10.

his children] In Kings, “his son” (singular), a better reading. It is

possible that the sacrifice was intended to avert the danger
threatened by the Syro-Ephraimite alliance.

⁴And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the

high places, and on the hills, and under every
green tree.
4. under every green tree] The Hebrew word here used for
“green” (ra‘anān) means rather “flourishing,” the reference being not
so much to colour as to condition and size. Large fine trees (which
are rarer in the East than in the West) are important landmarks;
compare 1 Chronicles x. 12; Genesis xii. 6, xxxv. 4. In different ways
such trees acquired a sacred or semi-sacred character (Genesis
xviii. 1, xxi. 33; Judges vi. 11); in some cases because they were
associated with theophanies, in others perhaps because the
flourishing state of the tree was regarded as the sign of the presence
of some local deity. “No one can imagine how many voices a tree
has who has not come up to it from the silence of the great desert,”
G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, p. 88; compare
the same writer’s Early Poetry of Israel, pp. 32, 33.

5‒7 (compare 2 Kings xvi. 5‒9; Isaiah vii. 1‒9).

The Syro-Ephraimite War.

The Chronicler’s account of the war conveys a very different

impression from the corresponding narrative in 2 Kings. In Kings an
invasion by the united forces of Israel and Syria is related.
Chronicles records two separate invasions, each resulting in disaster
for Ahaz. In Kings the failure of the allies to take Jerusalem is the
chief feature in the account, while in Chronicles the damage and loss
inflicted on Judah takes the first place, and the magnitude of the
disaster is heightened in characteristically midrashic fashion: see the
notes below on verses 5, 6.

⁵Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him

into the hand of the king of Syria; and they
smote him, and carried away of his a great
multitude of captives, and brought them to
Damascus. And he was also delivered into the
hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with
a great slaughter.
5. the king of Syria] i.e. Rezin.

smote him] From 2 Kings it appears that the Syrian king,

(1) helped to shut up Ahaz in Jerusalem, (2) seized the port of Elath
(Eloth) on the Red Sea which had belonged to Judah. Some of the
“captives” taken to Damascus were presumably brought from Elath.

carried away of his a great multitude of captives] No doubt

captives were taken, some probably from Elath; but the “great
multitude” is midrashic exaggeration: compare the number of slain
stated in verse 6.

And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel] 2
Kings records but a single invasion, the forces of Syria and Israel
being confederate. The Chronicler’s phrase implies that two separate
invasions and disasters befell Ahaz—“he was also delivered.”

⁶For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah

an hundred and twenty thousand in one day,
all of them valiant men; because they had
forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers.
6. an hundred and twenty thousand in one day] i.e. more than a
third of the host as reckoned in xxvi. 13.

⁷And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew

Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the
ruler of the house, and Elkanah that was next ¹
to the king.
¹ Hebrew second.

7. the ruler of the house] Hebrew nāgīd. Probably the head of the
king’s household is meant, his “chancellor”; but compare Nehemiah
xi. 11, “the ruler (nāgīd) of the house of God.”

next to the king] compare 1 Samuel xxiii. 17.

8‒15 (not in Kings).

Israel sends back the Jewish Captives.

The tale of the intervention of Oded, his appeal, the response of

the people and the army to the call of conscience, with the
consequent outburst of pity for the unhappy captives, who are first
tended and then restored to their kinsfolk in Judah, is something far
better than literal history: it is the product of a moral and religious
conviction worthy of high admiration. We have, in fact, in these
verses a most clear instance of that inculcation of great religious
principles which was the primary object of the writer of Chronicles. A
modern ethical teacher, desirous of driving home the eternal verities,
may clothe them in a story which has no basis whatsoever in actual
events but is the pure product of the writer’s imagination. His ancient
counterpart among the Jews started with a nucleus of historical
events, which however he handled freely in whatever fashion might
best serve to emphasise the moral or religious lesson he desired to
teach.

The deep ethical and spiritual value of this example of how to

treat the fallen foe hardly requires comment—Israel must forgive, if it
would be forgiven (verse 10); the captives are—not “the enemy” but
—“your brethren” (verse 11); and, when conscience is at last
awakened, how great is the revulsion, and how nobly do the
generous qualities of human nature appear, when the captives,
laden not with the chains of bondage (verse 10) but with clothing and
with food, are restored to their homes in peace.

It is very evident that the writer of this fine story had in mind the
no less effective and beautiful narrative of Elisha’s dealing with the
captured Syrian army (2 Kings vi. 21‒23).

⁸And the children of Israel carried away

captive of their brethren two hundred
thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and
took also away much spoil from them, and
brought the spoil to Samaria.
8. of their brethren] Compare xi. 4, “ye shall not ... fight against
your brethren.”
 ⁹But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose
name was Oded: and he went out to meet the
host that came to Samaria, and said unto
them, Behold, because the Lord, the God of
your fathers, was wroth with Judah, he hath
delivered them into your hand, and ye have
slain them in a rage which hath reached up
unto heaven.
9. a prophet of the Lord was there] Nothing further is known of
Oded. For similar instances of prophetic activity narrated only in
Chronicles see xv. 1 ff., xvi. 7 ff., xxiv. 20 f., and especially xxv. 7 ff.

the Lord ... was wroth ... and ye have slain them in a rage which
hath reached up unto heaven] Compare Zechariah i. 15, “I am very
sore displeased with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little
displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.”

heaven] There is a tendency in some later books of the Bible to

write “heaven” for “God”; compare xxxii. 20, “prayed and cried to
heaven,” also Daniel iv. 23; and similarly in the New Testament, Luke
xv. 18, 21; John iii. 27: for further references see Grimm and Thayer,
Lexicon of the N.T., s.v. οὐρανός ad fin. From a like feeling of
reverence the Chronicler is sparing in his use of the name
“Jehovah”; compare xvii. 4.

¹⁰And now ye purpose to keep under the

children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen
and bondwomen unto you: but are there not
even with you trespasses ¹ of your own against
the Lord your God? ¹¹Now hear me therefore,
and send back the captives, which ye have
 taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce
wrath of the Lord is upon you. ¹²Then certain
of the heads of the children of Ephraim,
Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the
son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of
Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood
up against them that came from the war, ¹³and
said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the
captives hither: for ye purpose that which will
bring upon us a trespass ² against the Lord, to
add unto our sins and to our trespass ²: for our
trespass ² is great, and there is fierce wrath
against Israel. ¹⁴So the armed men left the
captives and the spoil before the princes and
all the congregation.
¹ Hebrew guiltinesses. ² Or, guilt.

10. keep under] In Nehemiah v. 5, the same Hebrew word is

translated, “bring into bondage”; compare Ryle’s note on Hebrew
slavery in loco. One Hebrew might hold another Hebrew as a slave
for a limited period, but in the present passage the case is of one
part of the people taking advantage of the fortune of war to reduce to
slavery thousands of their fellow-countrymen.

¹⁵And the men which have been expressed by

name rose up, and took the captives, and with
the spoil clothed all that were naked among
them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and
gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed
 them, and carried all the feeble of them upon
asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of
palm trees, unto their brethren: then they
returned to Samaria.
15. have been expressed] The phrase is characteristic of the
Chronicler; compare xxxi. 19; 1 Chronicles xii. 31, xvi. 41; Ezra viii.
20.

took the captives] Render, took hold of the captives; i.e.

succoured them; LXX. ἀντελάβοντο, compare Hebrew ii. 16
ἐπιλαμβάνεται = “he taketh hold of.”

to eat and to drink] Compare 2 Kings vi. 23.

anointed them] Part of the host’s duty; compare Luke vii. 44‒46.

to Jericho] Jericho perhaps belonged to the Northern Kingdom;

compare 1 Kings xvi. 34; 2 Kings ii. 4. A road led to it from Mount
Ephraim past ‘Ain ed-Duk. G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the
Holy Land, pp. 266 ff.

the city of palm trees] Compare Deuteronomy xxxiv. 3. The

phrase is an alternative name of Jericho; compare Judges i. 16, iii.
13. Date palms were common in Jericho down to the seventh
century of the Christian era. Bädeker, Palestine⁵, pp. 128 f.

16‒21 (= 2 Kings xvi. 7‒9).

Ahaz invokes Assyrian aid.

There is an important variation here between Chronicles and

Kings. According to Chronicles (verse 21) Ahaz gained nothing by
his tribute to the king of Assyria; according to Kings the Assyrian
accepted the offering and marched against Syria, capturing
Damascus and slaying Rezin. Further in Chronicles it is said that the
help of Assyria was invoked, not against the kings of Syria and Israel
as in 2 Kings, but against Edomites and Philistines. Some alteration
was required in consequence of the insertion in Chronicles of the
midrashic narrative of verses 8‒15, according to which Ahaz was
delivered from his disaster at the hands of Israel not by the king of
Assyria (so Kings) but simply through the awakening of Israel’s
conscience and the consequent release of the captives and the
spoil. If therefore the Chronicler was to introduce the story of Ahaz’
appeal to Assyria, he could only do so by supplying new enemies for
Ahaz to combat. These, however, were appropriately found in the
Philistines and Edomites, regarding whom the Chronicler seems to
have had various traditions (see notes on xxi. 8, 16, xxvi. 6).

¹⁶At that time did king Ahaz send unto the

kings ¹ of Assyria to help him. ¹⁷For again the
Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and
carried away captives ².
¹ Many ancient authorities read, king.

² Hebrew a captivity.

16. the kings] LXX. “king” (singular). This monarch was Tiglath-
pileser IV; compare 1 Kings xvi. 7.

¹⁸The Philistines also had invaded the cities of

the lowland, and of the South of Judah, and
had taken Beth-shemesh, and Aijalon, and
Gederoth, and Soco with the towns ¹ thereof,
and Timnah with the towns ¹ thereof, Gimzo
also and the towns ¹ thereof: and they dwelt
there.
¹ Hebrew daughters.
 18. had invaded] Rather, raided.

the lowland] Hebrew Shephēlāh. Compare i. 15 (note).

Beth-shemesh] compare 1 Chronicles vi. 59 [44, Hebrew], note.

Aijalon] compare xi. 10.

Gederoth] Joshua xv. 41.

Soco] compare xi. 7.

Timnah] Joshua xv. 10; Judges xiv. 1 ff.

Gimzo] The modern Jimzu south-east of Lydda, Bädeker,

Palestine⁵, p. 18. The place is not mentioned elsewhere in the Old
Testament.

¹⁹For the Lord brought Judah low because of

Ahaz king of Israel; for he had dealt wantonly ¹
in Judah, and trespassed sore against the
Lord.
¹ Or, cast away restraint.

19. king of Israel] Compare xi. 3 (note).

he had dealt wantonly] margin “cast away restraint.” Compare

Exodus xxxii. 25 (Authorized Version and Revised Version) where
the same Hebrew verb is twice used.

²⁰And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came

unto ¹ him, and distressed him, but
strengthened him not ². ²¹For Ahaz took away a
portion out of the house of the Lord, and out
 of the house of the king and of the princes,
and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but it
helped him not.
¹ Or, against. ² Or, prevailed not against him.

20. Tilgath-pilneser] i.e. Tiglath-pileser IV. Compare 1 Chronicles

v. 6 (note).

came ... him not] Tiglath-pileser, invoked as an ally, is here

represented as having come as an unscrupulous oppressor,
accepting the bribe and not fulfilling the task for which he was paid
by Ahaz (verse 21). But neither 2 Kings nor the Assyrian records
relate that Tiglath-pileser thus came into Judah; and it must be
remarked that the Hebrew text in this verse does not inspire
confidence. Any interpretation is accordingly rendered uncertain.

22‒25 (compare 2 Kings xvi. 10‒18).

Apostasy of Ahaz.

²²And in the time of his distress ¹ did he

trespass yet more against the Lord, this
same king Ahaz. ²³For he sacrificed unto the
gods of Damascus ², which smote him: and he
said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria
helped them, therefore will I sacrifice to them,
that they may help me. But they were the ruin
of him, and of all Israel.
¹ Or, that he distressed him. ² Hebrew Darmesek.

23. the gods of Damascus] In 2 Kings the statement is merely

that Ahaz made a copy of an altar which he saw at Damascus, and
sacrificed upon it. The altar at Damascus was probably the one used
by Tiglath-pileser and therefore an Assyrian rather than a
Damascene altar. The use of such an altar was an act of apostasy
from Jehovah, for a foreign altar implied a foreign god; compare 2
Kings v. 17.

the gods ... which smote him] Early passages of the Old
Testament show that the Israelites for long believed the gods of other
peoples to be no less real than Jehovah. Later, when the teaching of
the great prophets had impressed on the people the sense of
Jehovah’s supreme majesty, the alien deities, though still conceived
as real Beings holding sway over the nations worshipping them,
were felt to be incomparable with Jehovah, hardly deserving
therefore the title of God. Still later, in certain circles, all reality
whatever was denied to the gods of the heathen; they were nothing
at all (compare Isaiah xl.‒xlviii., passim). Almost certainly the last
opinion would be the belief of the Chronicler and of most orthodox
Jews of his time; so that it is unnecessary to suppose that the
present phrase “which smote him” is more than a convenient way of
speaking. It does not indicate that the Chronicler, or even his source
in Kings, believed in the existence of these gods of Damascus. On
the other hand the Chronicler (and his source) does imply in this
verse that Ahaz had a lively belief in the efficacy and reality of the
gods of his foes; and therein no doubt he correctly represents the
condition of thought in that period.

the gods of the kings of Syria helped them] At this time the
Syrians of Damascus had been conquered by the Assyrians under
Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings xvi. 9), so that either we must suppose a
confusion in the Chronicler’s mind, or else the statement needs to be
corrected by reading “kings of Assyria (Asshur)” for “kings of Syria
(Aram).” The reading “Syria” might be due to some writer or scribe,
who lived at a time when one Empire extended from Babylon to the
Mediterranean and included both Syria and Assyria. Such was the
case under the Persians and under the successors of Alexander
down to the time of the Maccabees. The Romans similarly failed at
first to distinguish the ancient empire east of the Euphrates, i.e.
Assyria (= Asshur), from the peoples west of the Euphrates, the
Arameans, whom they mistakenly called “Syrians” (a shortened form
of “Assyrians”), whose chief cities were Antioch, Hamath, and
Damascus. This use of “Syrian” has passed over into English, but
the more accurate designation is “Aramean”; compare Genesis
xxviii. 5 (Revised Version).

helped them] Render “help them.”

²⁴And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of

the house of God, and cut in pieces the
vessels of the house of God, and shut up the
doors of the house of the Lord; and he made
him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.
24. cut in pieces the vessels] Presumably in order to smelt them
and put the metal to other uses; compare 2 Kings xxiv. 13. According
to 2 Kings xvi. 17 Ahaz merely “cut off the borders (‘panels’ Revised
Version margin) of the bases and removed the laver from off them,
and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it,
and put it upon a pavement of stone.” In Chronicles something more
than this is intended, for “the vessels” would naturally mean such
vessels as are mentioned in 2 Kings xxiv. 13.

shut up the doors] The Chronicler possibly derives his statement

from the difficult passage 2 Kings xvi. 18 (vide Authorized Version
and Revised Version). That passage, however, speaks merely of an
alteration carried out by Ahaz on one of the entrances to the Temple,
but says nothing of a complete closing of the Temple; indeed it may
be gathered from 2 Kings xvi. 14‒16 that the Temple was not closed
and that the daily service went on, with the great change that the
king’s new altar was used instead of the brasen altar. The Chronicler,
unwilling to suppose so horrible a desecration of the Temple as the
performance of Ahaz’ idolatries within its precincts would involve,
placed these rites outside the area of the Temple and expressly
asserts that the Temple was closed.
 ²⁵And in every several city of Judah he made
high places to burn incense unto other gods,
and provoked to anger the Lord, the God of
his fathers.
25. in every several city] Compare Jeremiah ii. 28.

26, 27 (= 2 Kings xvi. 19, 20).

The End of Ahaz.

²⁶Now the rest of his acts, and all his ways,

first and last, behold, they are written in the
book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ²⁷And
Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried
him in the city, even in Jerusalem; for they
brought him not into the sepulchres of the
kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned
in his stead.
27. they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel]
An alteration of 2 Kings which says that Ahaz “was buried with his
fathers.” Compare xxi. 20, xxiv. 25, xxvi. 23.
 Chapter XXIX.
1, 2 (= 2 Kings xviii. 1‒3).
The Reign of Hezekiah.

The reign of Hezekiah is related in chapters xxix.‒xxxii. Of this

section chapters xxix., xxx., and xxxi. furnish new material with the
exception of only three verses, xxix. 1, 2; xxx. 1. This new material
describes first, the reopening and cleansing of the Temple and the
restoration of worship therein (xxix.); secondly, a solemn and
magnificent celebration of the Passover (xxx.); and thirdly, a crusade
against idolatrous shrines and images, followed by a reorganisation
of the arrangements for the support of the priests and Levites—all
ecclesiastical topics dear to the heart of the Chronicler. These
chapters throughout are in the spirit of the Chronicler, the incidents
are generally conceived after the fashion of the ideas of his period,
the language bears frequent marks of his characteristic style; and
altogether there is no adequate reason to suppose that these
incidents are historically true, or even are derived by the Chronicler
from old tradition. They are probably his own free composition. Minor
considerations point to the same conclusion (see note on xxix. 3
below); and the favourable verdict which in Kings is passed upon
Hezekiah may be reckoned a satisfactory motive and a sufficient
source for the Chronicler’s narrative. According to Kings (2 Kings
xviii. 3‒6) Hezekiah “removed the high places ... and cut down the
Asherah, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had
made.... He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him
was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them
that were before him”; a eulogy sufficiently glowing to warrant the
assumption that Hezekiah must also have done all those other things
which seemed to the Chronicler natural for so pious a monarch to
do, and which accordingly are here related.
 ¹Hezekiah began to reign when he was five
and twenty years old; and he reigned nine and
twenty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s
name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah.
²And he did that which was right in the eyes of
the Lord, according to all that David his father
had done.
1. Hezekiah] Hebrew “Yehizkiah” (so usually in the Hebrew text of
Chronicles). “Hezekiah” (Hebrew “Hizkiah”), the form of the name in
Kings, is conveniently used in the English versions of Chronicles in
place of the less familiar “Yehizkiah.”

Abijah] In 2 Kings “Abi” which is probably only a shortened form

of the name.

3‒11 (not in 2 Kings).

Hezekiah commands to Cleanse the Temple.

³He in the first year of his reign, in the first

month, opened the doors of the house of the
Lord, and repaired them.
3. in the first month] i.e. in Nisan; compare xxx. 2, 3.

opened the doors] The reopening was a necessary sequel to the

Chronicler’s assertion (xxviii. 24) that Ahaz closed the Temple. If
therefore the supposed closing was unhistorical (see note, xxviii. 24)
the reopening must be equally so. The notion, however, served the
Chronicler admirably, enabling him to enhance the piety of Hezekiah
by a full description of the restoration of the Temple services.

⁴And he brought in the priests and the Levites,

and gathered them together into the broad
 place on the east,
4. into the broad place on the east] The place meant was part of
the Temple area, the space before the water-gate; compare Ezra x.
9, “the broad place before the house of God” (Revised Version).

⁵and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites;

now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the
house of the Lord, the God of your fathers,
and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy
place.
5. now sanctify yourselves] Compare Exodus xix. 10‒15.

⁶For our fathers have trespassed, and done

that which was evil in the sight of the Lord
our God, and have forsaken him, and have
turned away their faces from the habitation of
the Lord, and turned their backs.
6. from the habitation of the Lord] Compare xxiv. 18 “they
forsook the house of the Lord” (see note).

habitation] Hebrew “tabernacle,” as in Exodus xxv. 9, al.

⁷Also they have shut up the doors of the

porch, and put out the lamps, and have not
burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in
the holy place unto the God of Israel.
7. Contrast 2 Kings xvi. 10‒16, where Ahaz appears as an
innovator in ritual but also as a zealous advocate of worship in the
Temple.
 the lamps] compare xiii. 11; Exodus xxv. 31 ff.

⁸Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon

Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered
them to be tossed to and fro ¹, to be an
astonishment, and an hissing, as ye see with
your eyes.
¹ Or, a terror.

8. to be tossed to and fro] Better, as margin, to be a terror (or

“cause of trembling”). The judgement on Israel fills the surrounding
nations with trembling for themselves. The rendering of the text
“tossed to and fro” is inferior because the Hebrew word describes
“trembling” and not “motion from place to place.”

⁹For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword,

and our sons and our daughters and our wives
are in captivity for this. ¹⁰Now it is in mine
heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the
God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn
away from us.
10. a covenant] Compare xv. 12.

¹¹My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord

hath chosen you to stand before him, to
minister unto him, and that ye should be his
ministers, and burn incense.
11. to stand before him] Deuteronomy x. 8.
 12‒19 (not in 2 Kings).
The Cleansing of the Temple.

With this passage compare 1 Maccabees iv. 36‒51 (the

cleansing of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus).

¹²Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of

Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the
sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of
Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the
son of Jehallelel: and of the Gershonites, Joah
the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:
¹³and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and
Jeuel: and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah
and Mattaniah: ¹⁴and of the sons of Heman,
Jehuel and Shimei: and of the sons of
Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
12. the Levites] The fourteen persons mentioned in these three
verses comprise (a) two representatives each of the three great
branches of Levi, namely, Kohath, Merari, and Gershon, (b) two
representatives of the great Kohathite family of Elizaphan (compare
Numbers iii. 30 and 1 Chronicles xv. 8), (c) two representatives each
of the three divisions of the singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun (1
Chronicles xxv. 1).

¹⁵And they gathered their brethren, and

sanctified themselves, and went in, according
to the commandment of the king by the words
of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the
Lord.