XXX. HEZEKIAH’S PASSOVER — THE ROYAL SUMMONS TO ALL ISRAEL FROM DAN TO BEER-SHEBA (2 Chronicles 30:1). (1) SENT TO. — ‘_al,_ i.e., ’_el._ (Jeremiah 26:15; Nehemiah 6:3.) LETTERS. — ‘_Iggĕrôth._ Apparently a word of Persian origin. (Comp. _‘engâre,_ “something written;” _‘engârîden,_ “to paint” or... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE KING HAD TAKEN COUNSEL. — _And the king determined_ (2 Chronicles 25:17). The resolution was taken by the king in council with his grandees and the popular representatives; apparently before the 14th of Nisan, which was the proper time for keeping the feast. IN THE SECOND MONTH. — And not in... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THAT TIME. — The time when the Temple had just been reopened (2 Chronicles 29:8), in the first month of Hezekiah’s first year. The Purification of the Temple was not completed until the 16th of Nisan (2 Chronicles 29:17); but perhaps the Passover would have been held, had not the hindrances here... [ Continue Reading ]
THE THING PLEASED. — _The matter_ (or _proposal_)_ was right in the eyes of the king_ — _i.e.,_ the proposal to keep the Passover in the second month, and to invite the northern tribes.... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEY ESTABLISHED A DECREE. — _And they decreed a proposal_ (_he_‘_ĕmîd dâbâr_). (Comp. 2 Chronicles 30:8; Psalms 105:10, “and hath decreed it unto Jacob for a law.”) TO MAKE PROCLAMATION. — Literally, _to make a voice pass._ (Comp. 2 Chronicles 24:9; 2 Chronicles 36:22.) FROM BEER-SHEBA EVEN TO... [ Continue Reading ]
THE POSTS. — The _runners — i.e.,_ couriers (ᾰγγαροι). The Syriac uses the Latin word _Tabellarii,_ “letter- carriers,” which the Arabic mistakes for “folk of Tiberias”! The soldiers of the body-guard seem to have acted as royal messengers. FROM THE KING. — _From the hand of the king._ AND ACCORDI... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BE NOT YE LIKE YOUR FATHERS. — From the days of Jeroboam downwards. AND LIKE YOUR BRETHREN. — Of Naphtali and the Trans-Jordan, whom Tiglath-pileser carried captive. TRESPASSED. — _Were unfaithful to Jehovah._ WHO THEREFORE GAVE THEM UP TO DESOLATION. — _And He made them an astonishment_ (2 C... [ Continue Reading ]
BE YE NOT STIFFNECKED. — _Harden ye not your neck like your fathers._ 2 Kings 17:14, “and they hardened their neck like their fathers’ neck.” (Jeremiah 7:26; Psalms 95:8.) BUT YIELD YOURSELVES. — Omit _but,_ and place a stop after _fathers._ “Yield ye a hand to Jehovah,” _i.e.,_ submit to Him. So 1... [ Continue Reading ]
IF YE TURN AGAIN. — _When ye return unto Jehovah, your brethren and your sons_ (_shall become_)_ objects of pity_ (_rahamim,_ “compassion;” here that which inspires it) _before their captors._ (Comp. Psalms 106:46, “And he made them _objects of pity before all their captors_;” Nehemiah 1:11.) GRACIO... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THE POSTS PASSED. — _And the couriers were passing._ EVEN UNTO ZEBULUN. — This tribe, which lay on the southern border of Naphtali, had suffered from Tiglath-pileser’s invasion (Isaiah 9:1). The messengers did not actually travel northward so far as Dan (2 Chronicles 30:5). This mention of _Zebu... [ Continue Reading ]
NEVERTHELESS DIVERS OF ASHER. — _But some men of Asher._ — Besides these from Asher, Manasseh, Zebulun, 2 Chronicles 30:18 mentions others from Ephraim and Issachar. The two and a half tribes of the Trans-Jordan, as well as Naphtali and probably the neighbouring tribe of Dan, had been devastated by... [ Continue Reading ]
ALSO IN JUDAH ... WAS. — Rather, _Moreover upon Judah was the hand of God:_ a phrase here used of a Divine influence for good. (Comp. Ezra 8:22.) Elsewhere the phrase has the sense of judicial visitation; _e.g.,_ Exodus 9:3. THE COMMANDMENT... BY THE WORD OF THE LORD. — Comp. the like phrase, 2 Chr... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PASSOVER AT JERUSALEM (2 Chronicles 30:13). (13) MUCH PEOPLE. — A very great congregation — _a congregation in great multitude_ (_lârôb mĕ’ôd_). (See on 2 Chronicles 30:5.)... [ Continue Reading ]
TOOK AWAY THE ALTARS. — The altars of burnt offering erected by Ahaz “in every corner” of the city (2 Chronicles 28:24). ALTARS FOR INCENSE. — _Ha-mĕqattĕrôth_ — literally, _the incense-burners._ The term occurs here only. CAST THEM INTO THE BROOK KIDRON. — See on 2 Chronicles 29:16. Thus the city... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PRIESTS AND THE LEVITES WERE ASHAMED, AND SANCTIFIED THEMSELVES. — Ashamed of their former reluctance to purify themselves from the defilement contracted by their connection with illegal cults and sanctuaries during the late reign (2 Chronicles 29:34; and 2 Chronicles 30:3, _supra_). In the... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THEIR PLACE. — ‘_Omdâm._ This word is used in this sense only in Daniel, Chronicles, Nehemiah. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 34:31; 2 Chronicles 35:10.) AFTER THEIR MANNER — i.e., “according to their order” (1 Chronicles 6:31). ACCORDING TO THE LAW ... OF GOD. — Another reference to the Pentateuchal legis... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE WERE MANY IN THE CONGREGATION THAT WERE NOT SANCTIFIED. — Comp. 2 Chronicles 35:6; 2 Chronicles 35:10, where the Levites are again represented as doing the same work, but not as an exception. The precedent of Hezekiah’s Passover would seem to have become the rule. (Comp. also Ezra 6:20.) TO S... [ Continue Reading ]
A MULTITUDE. — _Marbîth_ (2chron 96; 1 Chronicles 12:29). Only in the Chronicles in this sense. Else where the term means “increase” of children (1 Samuel 2:33), or of money, _i.e.,_ interest (τόκον_,_ Leviticus 25:37). EPHRAIM... ZEBULUN. — The names indicate a documental source. HAD NOT CLEANSED... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT PREPARETH. — _Hath directed._ The division of verses here is obviously incorrect. (The mistake was doubtless caused by the omission of the relative in the Hebrew between _kol,_ “every one,” and _lĕbâbô hçkîn,_ “his heart he hath directed.” The construction is parallel to that in 1 Chronicles 15... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD HEARKENED TO HEZEKIAH.-Comp. Genesis 20:17, “And Abraham prayed unto God; _and God healed Abimelech and his wife,”_ &c. In the present instance the prayer of Hezekiah is thought of as averting a visitation of Divine wrath in the shape of disease and death. (Comp. Leviticus 15:31, “Thus... [ Continue Reading ]
KEPT THE FEAST.... WITH GREAT GLADNESS. — See 1 Chronicles 13:8; 1 Chronicles 15:16, _seq.,_ 1 Chronicles 15:28, and similar passages. AND THE LEVITES. — With stringed instruments. AND THE PRIESTS. — With clarions. PRAISED. — _Were praising;_ throughout the seven days’ festival. SINGING. — Omit.... [ Continue Reading ]
SPAKE COMFORTABLY. — See margin, and comp. Isaiah 40:2. THAT TAUGHT THE GOOD KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD. — Rather, _were showing good skill for_ (in honour of) _Jehovah,_ in their chanting and playing. The king encouraged the musicians with kindly words of praise. THEY DID EAT THROUGHOUT THE FEAST. — L... [ Continue Reading ]
TOOK COUNSEL. — _Determined,_ the result of taking counsel (2 Chronicles 30:2). TO KEEP. — Literally, _to do_ or _make._ OTHER SEVEN DAYS. — As a prolongation of the festivities. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 7:9.) WITH GLADNESS. — _Simhâh,_ an adverbial accusative. But some Hebrew MSS. express the _with,_... [ Continue Reading ]
DID GIVE... GAVE. — _Had presented_ (Exodus 35:24) — _scil.,_ for sacrifice as a _tĕrûmâh,_ or “heave offering.” The gifts of king and princes for the Mazzôth festival were so abundant that they sufficed not only for the feast itself, but also for an additional week of rejoicing. AND A GREAT NUMBER... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE CONGREGATION. — Three classes of persons took part in the festival — (1) the Judseans, including the priests and Levites; (2) their Israelite guests; (3) the “strangers” — _gêrîm_ — _i.e.,_ the proselytes, both those who came from the northern kingdom arid those who dwelt in Judah. The w... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR SINCE THE TIME OF SOLOMON... THERE WAS NOT THE LIKE. — The chronicler himself thus compares this great festival with the twofold Feast of the Dedication of the Temple (2 Chronicles 7:1). That festival, like this one, had been prolonged seven days, because the Feast of Tabernacles immediately fol... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE PRIESTS THE LEVITES. — _And the Levitical priests;_ not any irregular ministrants. Some Hebrew MSS., the LXX., Syriac, and the Vulg. read, “And the priests and the Levites”: but comp. 2 Chronicles 23:18. AND THEIR VOICE WAS HEARD. — The priestly blessing was a prayer that Jehovah would ble... [ Continue Reading ]