2 Chronicles 29
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“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” — John 5:39
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.
CHAPTER 29
2Ch 29:1, 2. Hezekiah's Good Reign.
1. Hezekiah began to reign, &c.--(see on 2Ki 18:1). His mother's name, which, in 2Ki 18:2, appears in an abridged form, is here given in full.
2Ch 29:3-11. He Restores Religion.
Hezekiah. The Ezekias of Mat_1:9. Five and twenty years old. We have been told (2Ch_28:1) that Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years. So that, if these numbers be correct, and the numbers of our verse correct, Hezekiah must have been born when his father was only eleven years old. Of which all that can be said is, with Keil, that such a thing was not impossible and not unknown. It is far more probable, however, that one of the determining figures is wrong, but we have nothing to guide us to say which. Abijah. The parallel spells this name "Abi," omitting the final he, and dagesh in yod. Zechariah. This may, perhaps, have been the Zechariah whose name accompanies the mention of the name of "Uriah the priest" in Isa_8:2, where we may be surprised to find Uriah called a "faithful witness," when we remember his associations with Ahaz, as told in our foregoing chapter. Some refer our Zechariah, however, to him of 2Ch_26:5.
2And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.
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 year of his reign, in the first month--not the first month after his accession to the throne, but in Nisan, the first month of the sacred year, the season appointed for the celebration of the passover.
he opened the doors of the house of the Lord--which had been closed up by his father (2Ch 28:24).
and repaired them--or embellished them (compare 2Ki 18:16).
In the first month; i.e. Nisan, the first month of the calendar year (see 2Ch_29:2, 2Ch_29:13, 2Ch_29:15 of next chapter), not simply the first month of the new king's reign. And repaired them. This repairing of Hezekiah was, unhappily, subsequently undone of his own hands (2Ki_18:14-16).
4And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,
4-5. the east street--the court of the priests, which fronted the eastern gate of the temple. Assembling the priests and Levites there, he enjoined them to set about the immediate purification of the temple. It does not appear that the order referred to the removal of idols, for objects of idolatrous homage could scarcely have been put there, seeing the doors had been shut up [2Ch 29:3]; but in its forsaken and desolate state the temple and its courts had been polluted by every kind of impurity.
The east street; Hebrew, הַמִּזְרָח לִרְחוֹב. This word, rendered here "street," occurs forty-two times, and is always rendered by the same English word, except three times, when it appears as "broad places," or "ways." Probably it should always be translated thus, its meaning and its manifest preponderant use being "an open space" (2Ch_32:6). So Revised Version: Into the broad place on the east, i.e. an open area east of the temple.
5And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
Sanctify … yourselves; Hebrew, הִתְקַדְּשׁוּ. Note the absence of any such direction in 1Ch_13:1-14, and see 2Ch_15:11-14, with our note on 2Ch_15:12 in particular. The filthiness; Hebrew, אֶת־הַגְּדִּה. This word occurs twenty-seven times, and is rendered "separation" fifteen times, "flowers" twice, "put apart" three times, "uncleanness" or "filthiness" six times, and "menstruous" once. The term, therefore, is among the strongest that could be used, and glances probably at the abominations, of whatsoever sort, that Ahaz's idolatries had entailed.
This verse is the answering echo of 2Ch_28:24.
6For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes 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.
6-7. our fathers have trespassed--Ahaz and the generation contemporary with him were specially meant, for they "turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord," and whether or not they turned east to the rising sun, they abandoned the worship of God. They "shut up the doors of the porch," so that the sacred ritual was entirely discontinued.
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.
8Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
8-9. Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem--This pious king had the discernment to ascribe all the national calamities that had befallen the kingdom to the true cause, namely, apostasy from God. The country had been laid waste by successive wars of invasion, and its resources drained. Many families mourned members of their household still suffering the miseries of foreign captivity; all their former prosperity and glory had fled; and to what was this painful and humiliating state of affairs to be traced, but to the manifest judgment of God upon the kingdom for its sins?
Wherefore the wrath. As illustrated by the defeats and humiliations suffered at the hands of Pekah and Hazael, the Philistines and Edomites, and the Assyrians under Tiglath-Pileser. To trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing. Three words, carrying each a volume of meaning, and charged with the most powerful and painful of reminiscence (Deu_28:25, Deu_28:28, Deu_28:32 [observe our Deu_28:9], Deu_28:37, Deu_28:46, Deu_28:65, Deu_28:66). The Hebrew word for "hissing" (שְׁרֵקָה) occurs, besides, five times in Jeremiah (Jer_19:8; Jer_25:9, Jer_25:18; Jer_29:18; Jer_51:37), and once in the contemporary Prophet Micah (Mic_6:16; comp. Jer_26:18).
(See 2Ch_28:5, 2Ch_28:8, 2Ch_28:17.)
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 God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
10-11. Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God--Convinced of the sin and bitter fruits of idolatry, Hezekiah intended to reverse the policy of his father, and to restore, in all its ancient purity and glory, the worship of the true God. His commencement of this resolution at the beginning of his reign attests his sincere piety. It also proves the strength of his conviction that righteousness exalteth a nation; for, instead of waiting till his throne was consolidated, he devised measures of national reformation at the beginning of his reign and vigorously faced all the difficulties which, in such a course, he had to encounter, after the people's habits had so long been moulded to idolatry. His intentions were first disclosed to this meeting of the priests and Levites--for the agency of these officials was to be employed in carrying them into effect.
2Ch 29:12-36. The House of God Cleansed.
To make a covenant; Hebrew, לִכְרוֹת בְּרְית (see 2Ch_15:12, and our note there).
11My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.
Be not now negligent; Hebrew, אַל־תִּשָּׁלוּ. This verb in kal (supposing it the same verb) occurs but five times (Job_3:26; Job_12:6; Psa_122:6; Jer_12:1; Lam_1:5), the radical idea of it being the safety of ease or security rather than any absolute safety. In niph. it is found only in this place and in 2Ki_4:28, where the rendering of the Authorized Version, "Do not deceive me," will easily yield the same essential idea. The derivative adjective (שֶׁלֵו) occurs eight times, and always has the same flavour about it (1Ch_4:40; Job_16:12; Job_20:20; Job_21:23; Psa_73:12; Jer_49:31; Eze_23:42; Zec_7:7). And the derivative nouns (שֶׁלֶו and שַׁלְוָה) occur nine times, and, at any rate, in almost every instance evidently carrying the same fundamental idea (Psa_30:6; Psa_122:7; Pro_1:32; Pro_17:1; Jer_22:21; Eze_16:49; Dan_8:25; Dan_11:21, Dan_11:24). Our Authorized Version, therefore, sufficiently reproduces the thought of Hezekiah, though perhaps this would more exactly come out of the rendering, "Be not now at ease," i.e. sacrifice ease and self-indulgence, etc. To serve him … that ye should minister. The same verb is used in both these places; so Revised Version, To minister unto him, and that ye should be his ministers.
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 Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:
12-19. Then the Levites arose--Fourteen chiefs undertook the duty of collecting and preparing their brethren for the important work of cleansing the Lord's house. Beginning with the outer courts--that of the priests and that of the people--the cleansing of these occupied eight days, after which they set themselves to purify the interior; but as the Levites were not allowed to enter within the walls of the temple, the priest brought all the sweepings out to the porch, where they were received by the Levites and thrown into the brook Kedron. This took eight days more. At the end of this period they repaired to the palace and announced that not only had the whole of the sacred edifice, within and without, undergone a thorough purification, but all the vessels which the late king had taken away and applied to a common use in his palace, had been restored, "and sanctified."
Then the Levites arose. This verse gives two apiece of the three divisions or "families"—Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, "sons of Levi" (1Ch_6:1, 1Ch_6:2, 1Ch_6:16-20; 1Ch_23:6, 1Ch_23:7, 1Ch_23:12, 1Ch_23:21, 1Ch_23:24; comp. Gen_46:11; Exo_6:16). Though some of the names of this and the following two verses are known, they do not designate, of course, the same persons. Through many a generation of Levites, the same names were, no doubt intentionally, reproduced.
13And of the sons of Elizaphan; Shimri, and Jeiel: and of the sons of Asaph; Zechariah, and Mattaniah:
Elizaphan (Exo_6:22). He was chief of the Kohathites in the time of Moses. This family, though we do not read why, seems always to have retained a separate existence.
14And of the sons of Heman; Jehiel, and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun; Shemaiah, and Uzziel.
Asaph (former verse), Heman, Jeduthun. These were the chiefs of the singers and musicians (see, again, 1Ch_6:31-33, 1Ch_6:39; 1Ch_25:1-7; 2Ch_5:12).
15And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
By the words of the Lord. The Hebrew here (בְּדִבְרֵי יְהוָה) may possibly mean, "in the business of Jehovah," upon which King Hezekiah was now intent. But it is not by any means needful so to understand it. The words or commands of the Lord are such as are written in Exo_19:22; Le 11:44.
16And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.
The inner part. That is to say, only the priests were warranted to enter inside the temple, while the Levites' sphere of work and service lay in the courts and round about the temple. Kidron, as we have seen (note 2Ch_27:3), lay on the east of the temple mount.
17Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.
They began … to sanctify. This is not the hithp, conjugation (2Ch_29:5), and the whole verse probably purports to speak only of the sanctification of things, not of the self-sanctifying of the official persons, which, whether it occupied longer or shorter time, had been already done. The sanctifying of all outside, then, to the threshold, or porch, took eight days. So, manifestly, should be rendered, in the van here found, and. The sanctifying of the interior occupied another eight days, and the legitimate feast-day of the Passover, viz. the fourteenth day of Nisan, became overlapped by two days. Nevertheless, many may have observed the Passover on its strict date.
18Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.
This and the following verse purport to say that, while all "filthiness" had been swept out and away to Kidron's dark waters, all that had been polluted of the proper furniture of the temple and its worship had now been cleansed and sanctified by those who had been entrusted with the work, and likewise that things misplaced and removed had been replaced, also after cleansing and sanctifying. This is the happy report that the priests bring now to Hezekiah (2Ch_28:24; 2Ki_16:14).
19Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.
20Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the LORD.
20-30. Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city--His anxiety to enter upon the expiatory service with all possible despatch, now that the temple had been properly prepared for it, prevented his summoning all the representatives of Israel. The requisite number of victims having been provided, and the officers of the temple having sanctified themselves according to the directions of the law, the priests were appointed to offer sacrifices of atonement successively, for "the kingdom," that is, for the sins of the king and his predecessors; for "the sanctuary," that is, for the sins of the priests themselves and for the desecration of the temple; "and for Judah," that is, for the people who, by their voluntary consent, were involved in the guilt of the national apostasy. Animals of the kinds used in sacrifice were offered by sevens, that number indicating completeness. The Levites were ordered to praise God with musical instruments, which, although not originally used in the tabernacle, had been enlisted in the service of divine worship by David on the advice of the prophets Gad and Nathan, as well calculated to animate the devotions of the people. At the close of the special services of the occasion, namely, the offering of atonement sacrifices, the king and all civic rulers who were present joined in the worship. A grand anthem was sung (2Ch 29:30) by the choir, consisting of some of the psalms of David and Asaph, and a great number of thank offerings, praise offerings, and freewill burnt offerings were presented at the invitation of the king.
The rulers of the city are its chief citizens—Hebrew, שָׂרֵי הָעִיר (2Ch_24:17; 2Ch_30:1-4)—who bring contributions of sacrificial victims, the word being generally rendered "princes,"
21And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD.
There is diversity of opinion, whether the seven bullocks (פָרִים), seven rams (אֵילִים), seven lambs (כְבָשִׁים) were burnt offering (עוֹלָה), or, with the seven he-goats (צְפִירֵי עִזּים), were sin offering (חַטָּאת). Some think (as, for instance, Canon Rawlinson) that they were sin offering, as the account of the offering of them (2Ch_29:22) takes priority for them over the he-goats; others (as Bertheau, Professor J. G. Murphy, etc.), that they were certainly burnt offering. It scarcely appears as though much stress can be laid upon what is apparently the chief reason of Canon Rawlinson's opinion, in face of the immediate language of the last sentence of our 2Ch_29:24, "for the king commended the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel." The fact of no mention of burnt offering in our present verse, and of the natural construction of the description, "for a sin offering for the kingdom," etc; as applying to all that had preceded, seems the better argument, and all that is necessary, unless something moderately decisive be forthcoming to rebut it. The solution of all, however, is probably to our hand in Ezr_8:35, which is a very close and significant parallel to our present verse. The first mention of the sacrifice of פָרִים, or "young bullocks" is found in Exo_24:5, and afterwards in Exo_29:1, Exo_29:3; Le Exo_4:3, etc.; Exo_8:2, Exo_8:14, etc. The first mention of the sacrifice of אֵילִים is Gen_22:13; and, after, Exo_29:15-18, Exo_29:19-21, etc.; Le Exo_5:15; Exo_8:2, Exo_8:22, etc. The first mention of the sacrifices of the כְבָשִׁים is Exo_12:3-7, and, after, Exo_29:38, etc. The first mention of the sacrifice of צְפִירֵי עִזּים is the present passage; and, after, Ezr_8:25. But the mention of sacrifices of goats is found in Le Ezr_1:10; Ezr_3:12, and often besides. For the kingdom; i.e. probably for "all that are in authority," viz. the king and rulers, the Hebrew word (מַמְלָכָה) designating here those exercising dominion (1Ki_11:11; 1Ki_14:8; 1Sa_28:17) rather than the country under dominion (Jos_10:2; 1Sa_27:5). It is, however, possible that allusion to the whole kingdom of Judah and Israel is made here. For the sanctuary; i.e. those who officiated in holy things. For Judah; i.e. for all the people.
22So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.
Received … sprinkled. The sprinkling of the blood marked the expiation (Le 2Ch_4:7, 2Ch_4:18, 30; 2Ch_5:9; 2Ch_8:14, 2Ch_8:15; Heb_9:12-14, Heb_9:19-22).
23And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them:
The he-goats for the sin offering. No preposition "for" is found in the Hebrew text, and the previous noun is in the construct state, שְׂעַירֵי. Laid their hands. This signified the supposed laying of sins—the sins of the people—on the head of the animal (Le 2Ch_1:4; 2Ch_4:4, etc.).
24And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
They made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar; Revised Version, and they made a sin offering with their blood. etc.; Hebrew, piel future of חָמָא. The piel conjugation occurs in all fourteen times—seven times rendered "cleanse;" twice, "purify;" twice, "offer for sin;" once, "purge;" once, as here, "make reconciliation;" and once (Gen_31:39, "I bare the loss of it"), to "bear loss." This last instance, being the very first occurrence of the word in this conjugation, beautifully harmonizes with the simple and most elementary idea of the doctrine or facts underlying the word. To make … atonement; Hebrew, לְכַפֵד, piel infinitive. This word, which in the one kal occurrence of it (Gen_6:14) means "to pitch, or cover with pitch," occurs in piel eighty-six times, and is rendered "atone" or "make atonement" sixty-six times, seven times "reconcile" or "make reconciliation," the other renderings being such as "pacify," "purge," "forgive," "cleanse," "be merciful," "put it off," i.e. "expiate" (margin). We are so distinctly twice told that these sacrifices were for all Israel, that it may be taken for granted that the desire of Hezekiah was to include the northern kingdom—with which, under Hoshea, in subjection to the Assyrian king, times were now very hard and ominous of the end—in the benefits of the expiatory offerings now made (so see 2Ch_30:5, 2Ch_30:6, 2Ch_30:10-12 of next chapter).
25And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.
(See 1Ch_16:4; 1Ch_21:1-30.; 1Ch_23:5; 1Ch_25:1, 1Ch_25:6; 1Ch_29:29; 2Ch_5:12.)
26And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
To references of foregoing verse may be added Num_10:8; 1Ch_15:24.
27And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.
Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering. This verse and the following, with graphic brevity, purport to describe the actual consummating of the preparations rehearsed before, and, as seems most probable, in the significance of the last clause of Ezr_8:35, already referred to. The whole of the burnt offering was burnt on the altar, but of the sin offering the "fat" alone (Le Ezr_4:19).
28And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
29And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped.
Bowed; Hebrew, כָּרְעוּ. Of the force and forcibleness of the verb hero employed an idea may be obtained from comparison of Gen_49:9; Num_24:9; Jdg_5:27; Jdg_7:6; 1Ki_19:18. Worshipped; Hebrew, יִשְׁתַּחֲווּ. This verb, on the other hand, proclaims the force, not of the posture of the body merely, but rather of the mind, in the rising degrees of respect, reverence, allegiance, and the worship of profound adoration paid to him, who is "God over all, blessed for evermore." The scene imaged in this description is indeed splint-stirring, in a high degree.
30Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the LORD with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.
With the words of David, and of Asaph. We can scarcely exclude from our thought the impression that loving human reverence for their own past religious helpers of song and music, and enthusiasm for the memory of them, were hero glanced at. The king's and the princes' supplementary (moreover) injunction and instruction to the Levites as to what words they should put on their lips. Asaph the seer. This is the only place in which Asaph is thus distinctly named seer, but it is contained virtually in 1Ch_25:2; and for the substantive title given to two colleagues, see 1Ch_25:5; 2Ch_35:15. The princes (see their growing prominence in 2Ch_24:17; 2Ch_28:21; 2Ch_30:2, 2Ch_30:6, 2Ch_30:12, 2Ch_30:24; 2Ch_32:3).
31Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the LORD, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the LORD. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a free heart burnt offerings.
31. Hezekiah ... said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, come near--This address was made to the priests as being now, by the sacrifice of the expiation offerings, anew consecrated to the service of God and qualified to resume the functions of their sacred office (Ex 28:41; 29:32).
the congregation brought in--that is, the body of civic rulers present.
Ye have consecrated yourselves. The Hebrew text is, "have filled your hands to Jehovah." Our somewhat awkward and somewhat misleading reproduction in English of the Hebrew text is, nevertheless, on the whole defensible. The phrase occurs some seventeen times (Exo_28:41; Exo_29:9, Exo_29:29, Exo_29:33, Exo_29:35; Exo_32:29; Le 8:33; Exo_16:32; Exo_21:10; Num_3:3; Jdg_17:5, Jdg_17:12; 1Ki_13:33; 1Ch_29:5; 2Ch_13:9; Eze_43:26), and in some of these instances is most conveniently represented by the rendering "consecrate." The plural noun הַמִּלֻאִים, or חַמִּלוּאִיִם, is found thirteen times, in three of which places it is spoken of "stones to be set," as e.g. "for" or "in the ephod" (Exo_25:7; Exo_35:9, Exo_35:27; 1Ch_29:2); and in the other ten, of "consecration," as e.g. "a ram of consecration," "the ram of Aaron's consecration" (Exo_29:22, Exo_29:26, Exo_29:27, Exo_29:31, Exo_29:34; Le 7:37; Exo_8:22, Exo_8:28, Exo_8:29, Exo_8:31, 33). Some think our text, "Now ye have consecrated yourselves," glances at the sacrifices of a propitiatory sort, which had just been completed; others, that the reference is by anticipation—to the fact that the people invited to draw near had, in an honourable, holy, and sincerely devoted way, armed themselves with worthy offerings. The sacrifices and thank offerings were sacrifices "of thank offerings," in the nature of the peace offerings (Le 2Ch_7:11-21, 29-36). The burnt offerings marked the "free heart," inasmuch as there was nothing of them reserved from the consuming of the altar for use. As many as were of a free heart; Hebrew, וְכָל־נְרִיב לֵב. Among some sixty occurrences of this word, in its verb, noun, or (as hero) adjective form, perhaps the most touching and beautifully expressive is that of Psa_60:12, "Uphold me with thy free Spirit." Sacrifices; Hebrew, זְבָחִים. This is the plural of זֶבַח—a word that expresses the generic idea, as e.g. the feast of sacrifice; again, the act of slaying and sacrificing a victim; again, the victim itself; again, those kinds of sacrifices that were expiatory or eucharistic, but not holocaustic (Le Psa_7:12). Thank offerings; Hebrew, תּוֹדוֹת. This word occurs about thirty-two times; in about two-thirds of that number denoting the spiritual acts of giving of thanks, even when accompanied by the figurative idea of "sacrifices" (Psa_56:13; Psa_107:22; Psa_116:17), the genuine adoring praise or thanksgiving constituting the sacrifice; and in the other third denoting strictly sacrificial offerings, as several times in Leviticus (Le Lev_7:12; Lev_22:29) and here. Our 2Ch_33:16 classifies these with "peace offerings" (שְׁלָמִים), as do many other passages with "burnt offerings" generally (Jdg_20:26; Jdg_21:4; 1Sa_13:9; 2Sa_6:17; 1Ch_16:1; 1Ch_21:26).
32And the number of the burnt offerings, which the congregation brought, was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the LORD.
This verse manifestly purports to gauge in some degree the amount of free. heartedness present in the nation.
33And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.
The consecrated things; Hebrew, הַקָּדַשִׁים. Not the word just discussed in 2Ch_29:31; these are the thank offering sacrifices.
34But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.
34-36. the priests were too few, ... wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them--The skins of beasts intended as peace offerings might be taken off by the officers, because, in such cases, the carcass was not wholly laid upon the altar; but animals meant for burnt offerings which were wholly consumed by fire could be flayed by the priests alone, not even the Levites being allowed to touch them, except in cases of unavoidable necessity (2Ch 35:11). The duty being assigned by the law to the priests (Le 1:6), was construed by consuetudinary practice as an exclusion of all others not connected with the Aaronic family.
for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests--that is, displayed greater alacrity than the priests. This service was hastened by the irrepressible solicitude of the king. Whether it was that many of the priests, being absent in the country, had not arrived in time--whether from the long interruption of the public duties, some of them had relaxed in their wonted attentions to personal cleanliness, and had many preparations to make--or whether from some having participated in the idolatrous services introduced by Ahaz, they were backward in repairing to the temple--a reflection does seem to be cast upon their order as dilatory and not universally ready for duty (compare 2Ch 30:15). Thus was the newly consecrated temple reopened to the no small joy of the pious king and all the people.
Originally, the worshipper who was moved to sacrifice was enjoined to slay, flay, and cut in pieces the victim (Le 2Ch_1:2-6). Later the Levites performed these duties, and on great public occasions, at any rate, the priests themselves. The simple tale of this verse speaks volumes of the state of the ecclesiastical profession and of the ecclesiastical heart at this very time. Into the dishonoured sepulchre already two or three unsuspected and apparently unacknowledged chinks had let in reproving light as to this, and very lately the almost unavoidable inferences respecting Urijah (see note on our 2Ch_29:1, and on 2Ch_28:24, compared with 2Ki_16:10-16) served the same purpose. How true to nature and to history, both secular and ecclesiastical also, the superiority, in sincerity and life and preparation for work, of the subordinates (the Levites), to those who fed on dignity rather than maintained it, in the highest sense, by religious life and conscientious practice!
35And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the LORD was set in order.
And the drink offerings for every burnt offering. The "drink offerings" (גֻסָכִים) have not been mentioned before in this chapter. Of these libations of wine and oil, the most particular account is given in Num_15:5-10, Num_15:24). The first scriptural mention of them occurs in Gen_35:14; followed by Exo_29:40, Exo_29:41; Exo_30:9; Lev_23:13, Lev_23:18, Lev_23:37; Num_6:15, Num_6:17, etc.
(Comp. Pro_16:1.)
36And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.
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