Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
Parallel Translations
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Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.
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Hezekiah 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.
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Hezekiah 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.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to 2 Chronicles 29:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 18:1-3 Now in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, according to all that David his father had done.
- 1 Chronicles 3:13 Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,
- 2 Chronicles 26:5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God; and as long as he sought Yahweh, God made him prosper.
- Isaiah 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
- Isaiah 8:2 and I will take for myself faithful witnesses to testify: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”
- Hosea 1:1 Yahweh’s word that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
- Micah 1:1 Yahweh’s word that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
- Matthew 1:9-10 Uzziah became the father of Jotham. Jotham became the father of Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh. Manasseh became the father of Amon. Amon became the father of Josiah.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, Abi.
Or, Abi.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Ch 29:1 Hezekiah began to reign [when he was]…
2Ch 29:1 Hezekiah 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.
Ver. 1. Hezekiah began to reign.] See 2Ki 18:1-2.
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And his mother’s name was Abijah.] He was the better man for the good instructions of his mother, though she could do no good on her husband Ahaz; such was his pertinacy, not moved at all by her piety.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is, I. Hezekiah's age when he came to…
Here is, I. Hezekiah's age when he came to the crown. He was twenty-five years old. Joash, who came to the crown after two bad reigns, was but seven years old; Josiah, who came after two bad reigns, was but eight, which occasioned the delay of the reformation; but Hezekiah had come to years, and so applied himself immediately to it. We may well think with what a sorrowful heart he beheld his father's idolatry and profaneness, how it troubled him to see the doors of the temple shut, though, while his father lived, he durst not open them. His soul no doubt wept in secret for it, and he vowed that when he should receive the congregation he would redress these grievances, which made him do it with more readiness and resolution.
II. His general character. He did that which was right like David, Ch2 29:2. Of several of his predecessors it had been said that they did that which was right, but not like David, not with David's integrity and zeal. But here was one that had as hearty an affection for the ark and law of God as ever David had.
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III. His speedy application to the great work of restoring religion. The first thing he did was to open the doors of the house of the Lord, Ch2 29:3. We are willing to hope his father had not quite suppressed the temple service; for then the holy fire on the altar must have gone out, and we do not read of the re-kindling of it; but he had hindered the people from attending it, and the priests, except such of them as were of his own party, Kg2 16:15. But Hezekiah immediately threw the church doors open, and brought in the priests and Levites. He found Judah low and naked, yet did not make it his first business to revive the civil interests of his kingdom, but to restore religion to its good posture again. Those that begin with God begin at the right end of their work, and it will prosper accordingly.
IV. His speech to the priests and Levites. It was well known, no doubt, that he had a real kindness for religion and was disaffected to the corruptions of the last reign; yet we do not find the priests and Levites making application to him for the restoration of the temple service but he calls upon them, which, I doubt, bespeaks their coldness as much as his zeal; and perhaps, if they had done their part with vigour, things would not have been brought into so very bad a posture as Hezekiah found them in. Hezekiah's exhortation to the Levites is very pathetic.
1. He laid before them the desolations of religion and the deplorable state to which it was brought among them (Ch2 29:6, Ch2 29:7): Our fathers have trespassed. He said not "My father," because it became him, as a son, to be as tender as might be of his father's name, and because his father would not have done all this if their fathers had not neglected their duty. Urijah the priest had joined with Ahaz in setting up an idolatrous altar. He complained, (1.) That the house of God had been deserted: They have forsaken God, and turned their backs upon his habitation. Note, Those that turn their backs upon God's ordinances may truly be said to forsake God himself. (2.) That the instituted worship of God there had been let fall. The lamps were not lighted, and incense was not burnt. There are still such neglects as these, and they are no less culpable, when the word is not duly read and opened (for that was signified by the lighting of the lamps) and when prayers and praises are not duly offered up, for that was signified by the burning of incense.
2. He showed the sad consequences of the neglect and decay of religion among them, Ch2 29:8. 9. This was the cause of all the calamities they had lain under. God had in anger delivered them to trouble, to the sword, and to captivity. When we are under the rebukes of God's providence it is good for us to enquire whether we have not neglected God's ordinances and whether the controversy he has with us may not be traced to this neglect.
3. He declared his own full purpose and resolution to revive religion and make it his business to promote it (Ch2 29:10): "It is in my heart (that is, I am fully resolved) to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel (that is, to worship him only, and in that way which he has appointed); for I am sure that, otherwise, his fierce anger will not turn away from us." This covenant he would not only make himself, but bring his people into the bond of.
4. He engaged and excited the Levites and priests to do their duty on this occasion. This he begins with (Ch2 29:5); this he ends with, Ch2 29:11. He called them Levites to remind them of their obligation to God, called them his sons to remind them of the relation to himself, that he expected that, as a son with the father, they should serve with him in the reformation of the land. (1.) he told them what was their duty, to sanctify themselves first (by repenting of their neglects, reforming their own hearts and lives, and renewing their covenants with God to do their duty better for the time to come), and then to sanctify the house of God, as his servants, to make it clean from every thing that was disagreeable, either through the disuse or the profanation of it, and to set it up for the purposes for which it was made. (2.) He stirred them up to do it (Ch2 29:11): "Be not now negligent, or remiss, in your duty. Let not this good work be retarded through your carelessness." Be not deceived, so the margin. Note, Those that by their negligence in the service of God think to mock God, and put a cheat upon him, do but deceive themselves, and put a damning cheat upon their own souls. Be not secure (so some), as if there were no urgent call to do it or no danger in not doing it. Note, Men's negligence in religion is owing to their carnal security. The consideration he quickens them with is derived from their office. God had herein put honour upon them: He has chosen you to stand before him. God therefore expected work from them. They were not chosen to be idle, to enjoy the dignity and leave the duty to be done by others, but to serve him and to minister to him. They must therefore be ashamed of their late remissness, and, now that the doors of the temple were opened again, must set about their work with double diligence.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Hezekiah began to reign,.... Of these two verses; see…
Hezekiah began to reign,.... Of these two verses; see Gill on Kg2 18:2; see Gill on Kg2 18:3.
.
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2 Chronicles 29:3
ch2 29:3
ch2 29:3
ch2 29:3He in the first year of his reign, in the first month,.... And, as appears from Ch2 29:17, on the first day of the month:
opened the doors of the house of the Lord; which his father had shut, Ch2 28:24.
and repaired them; or strengthened them, the hinges, and other parts of them, being loosened and weakened; and ornamented them by overlaying them with gold, the plates of which very probably his father had taken off; for, certain it is, Hezekiah overlaid them, and very probably at this time, see Kg2 18:16.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Hezekiah's exhortation to the priests and Levites, ver. 1-11.…
Hezekiah's exhortation to the priests and Levites, ver. 1-11. The care of the Levites to cleanse the temple and put things into order, ver. 12-19. A solemn revival of God's ordinances, ver. 20- 36.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Hezekiah's good reign, 1, 2.
CHAPTER XXIX
Hezekiah's good reign, 1, 2.
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He opens and repairs the doors of the temple, 3.
He assembles and exhorts the priests and Levites, and proposes
to renew the covenant with the Lord, 4-11.
They all sanctify themselves and cleanse the temple, 12-17.
They inform the king of their progress, 18, 19.
He collects the rulers of the people: and they offer abundance
of sin-offerings, and burnt-offerings, and worship the Lord,
20-30.
Every part of the Divine service is arranged, and Hezekiah and
all the people rejoice, 31-36.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIX
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The treatment of Hezekiah’s reign by the author of…
The treatment of Hezekiah’s reign by the author of Chronicles is in marked contrast with that followed in the Book of Kings. The writer of Kings describes mainly civil affairs; the author of Chronicles gives a full account of Hezekiah’s religious reformation. 2 Chr. 29–31 contain matter, therefore, which is almost wholly new.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Abia. The last syllable is neglected, 4 K. xviii.…
Abia. The last syllable is neglected, 4 K. xviii. 2. H. --- Some assert that she was a descendant of the high priest, who had been stoned. S. Jerom, Trad. C. xxiv. 20. T.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain n. Hezekiah: The Prophet Isaiah,—Ch. 29–32
n. Hezekiah: The Prophet Isaiah,—Ch. 29–32
α. Hezekiah’s Beginnings; the Cleansing and Consecration of the Temple: 2 Chronicles 29
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2Ch_29:1.Hezekiah became king when he was twenty and five years old, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah 2 And he did that which was right in the eyes 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 renewed them. 4And he brought in the priests and Levites, and assembled them in the broad way of the east, 5And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites; now sanctify yourselves and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and remove the filthiness out of the holy place. 6For our fathers have transgressed and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken Him, and have turned 7their face from the dwelling of the Lord, and shown the back. They have also shut the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt-offering in the holy place unto the God of Israel. 8And the displeasure of the Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem, and He delivered them to horror,1 to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with 9your eyes. And 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 my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that the hotness of 11His anger may turn away from us. My sons, now delay not; for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him to serve Him, and to be His ministers and incense-burners.
12Then the Levites arose, Mahath son of Amasai, and Joel son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish son of Abdi, and Azariah son of Jehalelel;2 and of the Gershonites, Joah son of Zimmah, and Eden son of Joah. 13And of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel;3 14and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah. And of the sons of Heman, Jehuel4 and Shimi; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. 15And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came at the command of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. 16And the priests went into the interior of the house of the Lord to cleanse, 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 17Levites took it to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. And they began on the first of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of the Lord; and they sanctified the house of the Lord eight days, and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made 18an end. And they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt-offering and all its vessels, 19and the table of shew-bread and all its vessels. And all the vessels which King Ahaz in his reign cast away in his infidelity we have prepared and sanctified, and behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.
20And Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. 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 bade the sons of 22Aaron the priests to offer them on the altar of the Lord. And they killed the cattle, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar; and they killed the rams, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar; and they killed the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. 23And they brought the he-goats of the sin-offering before the king and the congregation, and they laid their hands upon them. 24And the priests killed them, and offered their blood for sin upon the altar, to atone for all Israel; for the king had ordered the burnt-offering and the sin-offering for all Israel. 25And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, by the command of David, and Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; for by the Lord was the commandment by His prophets. 26And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests 27with the trumpets. And Hezekiah said to offer the burnt-offering on the altar; and when the burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets,5 and after the instruments of David king of Israel. 28And all the congregation worshipped, and the song was sung, and the trumpets sounded;6 the whole until the burnt-offering was ended. 29And when they made an end of offering, the king and all that were with him bowed down 30and worshipped. And Hezekiah the king and the princes said to the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer; and they praised with gladness, and bowed down and worshipped.
31And Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have filled your hand unto the Lord, draw nigh and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the Lord: and the congregation brought sacrifices and thank-offerings, and every one that was willing of heart, burnt-offerings. 32And the number of the burnt-offerings, which the congregation brought, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, two hundred lambs; all these for a burnt-offering to the Lord. 33And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand 34sheep. Only the priests were too few, and they could not flay all the burnt-offerings, and their brethren the Levites assisted them till the work was ended, and till the priests had sanctified themselves; for the Levites were more upright of heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. 35And also the burnt-offering was in abundance, with the fat of the peace-offerings, and the libations for the burnt-offering: and the service of the house of the 36Lord was established. And Hezekiah and all the people were glad that God had prepared the people; for the thing was done suddenly.
β. The Passover: 2 Chronicles 30
2 Chronicles 30. . 1And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to 2keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel. And the king took counsel with his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month. 3For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, nor had the people gathered 4, 5to Jerusalem. And the thing pleased the king and all the people. And they settled the thing, to issue a proclamation in all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, to come to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem; 6for they had not kept it with a multitude as it was written. And the posts went with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes through all Israel and Judah, and at the command of the king, saying, Ye sons of Israel, return unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and He will return to the escaped remaining to you from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7And be not ye like your fathers and your brethren, who revolted against the Lord God of their fathers, and He gave them up to desolation, as ye see. 8Now be not stiff-necked like your fathers; yield yourselves to the Lord, and go into His sanctuary, which He hath sanctified for ever, and serve the Lord your God, that the hotness of His anger may turn from you. 9For if ye return to the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before their captors, and they shall return to this land; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and He will not turn His face from you if ye return to Him.
10And the posts passed from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh 11and unto Zebulun; and they scoffed at them and mocked them. But some men of Asher and Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves, and 12came to Jerusalem. Also the hand of God was upon Judah to give them one heart to do the command of the king and the princes, by the word of the Lord.
13And much people assembled at Jerusalem to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation. 14And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem; and all the altars for incense 15they took away, and cast into the brook Kidron. And they killed the pass-over on the fourteenth of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought burnt-offerings into the house of the Lord. 16And they stood in their place after their rule, according to the law of Moses the man of God, the priests sprinkling the blood from the hand of the Levites. 17For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified; and the Levites took charge of the killing of the passovers for all that were unclean, to sanctify them unto the Lord. 18For a multitude of the people, many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the passover not as it was written: for 19Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon7 every one That hath prepared his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though 20not in the cleanness of the sanctuary. And the Lord heard Hezekiah, and 21healed the people. And the sons of Israel that were in Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests were praising the Lord day by day, with instruments of might to the Lord. 22And Hezekiah spake to the heart of all the Levites who had good understanding of the Lord: and they ate8 the feast seven days, offering sacrifices of peace, and confessing to the Lord God of their fathers.
23And the whole congregation resolved to keep other seven days with gladness. 24For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great many priests sanctified themselves. 25And all the congregation of Judah, and the priests and Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers 26that came from the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, were glad. And there was great gladness in Jerusalem; for since the days of Solomon son of 27David king of Israel was not the like in Jerusalem. And the priests [and] the Levites9 arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling, to heaven.10
γ. Further Religious Reforms of Hezekiah: 2 Chronicles 31
2Ch_31:1.And when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the statues, and cut down the asherim, and pulled down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, completely: and all the sons of Israel returned, every man to his possession, unto their cities.
2And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, of the priests and the Levites for burnt-offering and peace-offering, to minister, and to thank, and to 3praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord. And the king’s portion of his property for burnt-offerings, for the burnt-offerings of the morning and of the evening, and the burnt-offerings for the sabbaths, and the new moons, and 4the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the Lord. And he said to the people, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give the portion of the priests and 5the Levites, that they might be stedfast in the law of the Lord. And when the word came forth, the sons of Israel brought abundantly the first-fruits of corn, must, and oil, and honey, and all the increase of the field; and the tithe 6of all they brought in abundance. And the sons of Israel and Judah that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things11 consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them in heaps. 7In the third month they began to lay down the heaps, and 8in the seventh month they finished them. And Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, and they blessed the Lord and His people Israel. 9And Hezekiah inquired of the priests and Levites concerning the heaps. 10And Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, Since they began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and been satisfied, and left in abundance; for the Lord hath blessed His 11people, and this great store is left. And Hezekiah said to prepare chambers 12in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them. And they brought in the offerings and the tithe and the consecrated things faithfully; and over them Conaniah12 the Levite was ruler, and Shimi was second. 13And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under Conaniah12 and his brother Shimi, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah 14the ruler of the house of God. And Kore, son of Jimnah the Levite, the porter toward the east, was over the freewill-offerings of God, to distribute 15the offering of the Lord, and the most holy things. And by him stood Eden, and Minjamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shechaniah in the cities of the priests, with truth to give to their brethren, in the courses, to the 16great as to the small. Beside their register of males from three years old and upward, to every one that entereth into the house of the Lord, for the 17rate of each day, for their service in their charges by their courses. And the register of the priests by their father-houses; and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courses. 18And to the register of all their little ones, their wives, sons, and daughters, for all the congregation; for in their faithfulness they sanctified themselves in the holy thing. 19And for the sons of Aaron the priests, in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every city [were appointed] men who were expressed by name, to give portions to every male among the priests, and to all the register of the Levites. 20And Hezekiah did thus in all Judah, and did that which was good and right and true before the Lord his God. 21And in every work which he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law and the commandment to seek his God, with all his heart he did, and prospered.
δ. Expedition of Sennacherib against Jerusalem, and averting of the threatened Danger by Divine Help: 2Ch_32:1-23
2Ch_32:1.After these events, and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered into Judah, and besieged the fenced cities, and thought 2to break into them for himself. And Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and his face was for war against Jerusalem. And 3he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains, which 4were without the city; and they helped him. And much people was gathered, and they stopped all the fountains, and the brook that flowed through the land,13 saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water? 5And he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it to the towers,14 and another wall without, and strengthened Millo in the city of David, and made weapons in abundance, and shields. 6And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them to him in the broad 7way at the gate of the city, and spake to their heart, saying, Be brave and strong, fear not nor be dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him; for with us is more than with him. 8With him is an arm of flesh; and with us is the Lord our God, to help us, and to fight our battles: and the people relied upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
9After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, and he himself stood against Lachish, and all his power with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah, and against all Judah that was at Jerusalem, saying, 10Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, and why sit ye in restraint in Jerusalem? 11Doth not Hezekiah mislead you to deliver you to die by hunger and thirst, saying, The Lord our God shall deliver us from 12the hand of the king of Assyria? Hath not this Hezekiah removed his high places and his altars, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, Before one altar shall ye worship, and burn incense upon it? 13Know ye not what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have the gods of the nations of the lands been at all able to deliver their lands from my hand? 14Who was there among all the gods of these nations, that my fathers extirpated, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to 15deliver you from my hand? And now let not Hezekiah deceive you nor seduce you in this way, neither believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand, nor the hand of my fathers; much more your God shall not deliver you from my hand. 16And his servants spake yet more against the Lord, and against Hezekiah His servant. 17And he wrote a letter to rail on the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver His 18people from my hand. And they cried with a loud voice, in the Jewish tongue, to the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them and trouble them, that they might take the city. 19And they spake to the God of Jerusalem as against the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.
20And for this Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet, 21prayed and cried to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel, and cut off every valiant hero and leader and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria: and he returned with shame of face to his own land; and he came into the house of his god, and they that came out of his own bowels15 there slew him with 22the sword. And the Lord saved Hezekiah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria, and from the hand of all,16 and defended them around. 23And many brought a gift to the Lord at Jerusalem, and jewels to Hezekiah king of Judah; and he was exalted in the eyes of all nations thereafter.
ε. Sickness, Remaining Years, and End of Hezekiah: 2Ch_29:24-33
24In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death, and he prayed unto the 25Lord: and He spake unto him, and gave him a sign. And Hezekiah repaid not according to the benefit done to him; for his heart became proud, and 26there was indignation against him, and against Judah and Jerusalem. And Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and the indignation of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
27And Hezekiah had very much riches and glory; and he made himself treasuries for silver, and gold, and precious stones, and spices, and shields, and 28all articles of desire. And storehouses for the increase of corn, and must, and 29oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and flocks for the folds.17 And he made him cities, and possession of flocks and herds in abundance; for God 30had given him very much substance. And this Hezekiah stopped the upper outflow of the water of Gihon, and led it18 straight down to the west of the 31city of David: and Hezekiah prospered in all his work. And so in the case of the ambassadors of the princes of Babel, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, to know all that was in his heart.
32And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his kindness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the height of the sepulchres of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem gave him glory in his death: and Manasseh his son became king in his stead.
EXEGETICAL
Preliminary Remark.—While the military and political side of the reign of Hezekiah, its relation to the Assyrian monarchy, its threatened annihilation by the invasion of Sennacherib, with the divine deliverance from this catastrophe, the later sickness and recovery of the king, and his proceedings with ambassadors of Babylon,—while all this is much more fully narrated in the books of Kings (2Ki_18:8 to 2Ki_20:9), and in the parallel records of the book of Isaiah, than here, our author, on the contrary, treats much more fully and clearly of the reformation of worship by Hezekiah at the beginning of his reign, his cleansing and reconsecration of the temple, his grand and general celebration of the passover, in which many north Israelites participated, and his other measures for the order and purification of religious life. To the sections concerning this inner religious and theocratic side of the regin of Hezekiah, 2 Chronicles 29-31, correspond in 2 Kings merely the seven introductory verses of 2 Chronicles 18, so that almost the whole contents of those three chapters are peculiar to the Chronist.
1. Hezekiah’s Beginnings: the Cleansing and Consecration of the Temple: 2 Chronicles 29.—Hezekiah became king. יְחִזְקִיָּהוּ, the fullest form of this name, signifies “whom Jehovah strengthens,” as the somewhat shortened חִזְקִיָּהוּ, Isa_37:1 ff., or חִזְקִיָּה, 2Ki_18:1 ff., means “strength of Jehovah.” The Assyrian monuments present the form Ha-Za-ki-ya-hu, corresponding to that of Isaiah; see Schrader, p. 168 ff. Moreover, 2Ch_29:1-2 agree almost throughout with 2Ki_18:1-3. for the chronology see Evangelical and Ethical Reflections, No. 3.
2Ch_29:3-19. The Cleansing of the Temple.—He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, that is, in Nisan, the first month of the ecclesiastical year, not (as Caspari thinks, Beiträge zur Einleitung in das Buch Jesaia, p. 111) in the first month of the reign of Hezekiah. How long, that is, how many months, he had reigned when he in the first month of the new year began his measures of reform, remains uncertain; the assumption of Von Gumpach (Die Zeitrechn. der Babylonier und Assyrer, p. 99) and Bertheau, that Hezekiah’s reign began with the first month (Tisri) of the previous year, appears a bare conjecture in face of the indefiniteness of the statement in our text.—And renewed them, repaired them—a renovating process which is more exactly described in 2Ki_18:16 as an overlaying with gold plate.
2Ch_29:4. And assembled them in the broad way of the east, not perhaps, in the inner court (Bertheau, Kamph.), but in an open area outside the whole temple building, on the south-east or east; comp. Ezr_10:9, Neh_8:1; Neh_8:3; Neh_8:16.
2Ch_29:5. Now sanctify yourselves, an indispensable prerequisite for a worthy and effectual performance of the business of cleansing the temple; comp. 2Ch_29:15 and Exo_19:10. On נִדָּה, filthiness as a designation of idolatry, comp. Lam_1:17; Ezr_9:11; and the synonym טֻמְאָה in 2Ch_29:16.
2Ch_29:6. For our fathers have transgressed—Ahaz and his contemporaries, for the statement in 2Ch_29:7 suits these only. On “to turn the back” (properly “give”), comp. Neh_9:29.
2Ch_29:7. They have also shut the doors of the porch, and thus of the whole temple, for only through the porch was there access to the holy and most holy place; comp. 2Ch_28:24, where also the new alter of burnt-offering erected by Ahaz in the court after the heathenish model is mentioned, which the Chronist, according to our passage (“nor offered burnt-offering”) regarded by no means as a lawful place of worship.
2Ch_29:8. And the displeasure of the Lord, etc.; comp. 2Ch_19:2; 2Ch_19:10, 2Ch_29:18, 2Ch_32:25; and for the following strong terms: “horror, astonishment, and hissing,” Deu_28:25; Jer_19:8; Jer_24:9; Jer_25:9; Lam_2:15; and also 2Ch_30:7. For 2Ch_29:9 comp. the Evangelical and Ethical Reflections on the verse before, No. 3
2Ch_29:10. Now it is in my heart; comp. 2Ch_6:7, 2Ch_9:1;1Ch_22:7; 1Ch_28:2.
2Ch_29:11. My sons, familiar, persuasive address, as in Pro_1:8, etc.—Now delay not, literally, “withdraw yourselves not” (תִּשָּׁלוּ, Niph. of שָׁלָה; comp. Job_27:8). on b, comp. 2Ch_26:18; 1Ch_23:13; Deu_10:8.
2Ch_29:12. Then the Levites arose. Of the following fourteen names, Joah son of Zimmah, and Kish son of Abdi, occur already in the Levitical genealogy, 1Ch_6:5 f., 29; Mahath, Eden, and Jehiel recur in 2Ch_31:13-15.
2Ch_29:13. And of the son of Elizaphan, Shimri. That of this family two Levites are expressly mentioned, is explained by the high repute which Elizaphan or Elzaphan, son of Uzziel, son of Kohath (Exo_6:18), enjoyed as prince of the house of Kohath in the time of Moses (Num_3:30). Hence their co-ordination here, on the hand, with the three Levitical head families, and on the other with the three singing families of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun.
2Ch_29:15. And they gathered their brethren, the remaining Levites present in Jerusalem.—At the command of the king by the words of the Lord; comp. 2Ch_30:12; 1Ch_25:5. The king’s command was founded on the divine prescription of the law.
2Ch_29:16. And the priests… brought out all the uncleanness … into the court, all the sacrificial vessels employed in idolatry, perhaps also the remains of the idolatrous offerings, and the like. For טֻמְאָה, see on 2Ch_29:5; for the brook Kidron, comp. 2Ch_15:16, 2Ch_30:14.
2Ch_29:17. They began on the first of the first month. On the first eight days of the month they employed themselves in the cleansing of the court, the eight following in that of the temple itself, so that they ha finished on the sixteenth.
2Ch_29:19. And all the vessels which King Ahaz … cast away; comp. 2Ch_11:14. These are the brazen altar of burnt-offering, the brazen sea, and lavers on the stands; see 2Ki_16:14; 2Ki_16:17. For הֵבַנּוּ, abbreviated form of הֲבינוֹנוּ (1Ch_29:16), see Ew. § 196, b.—And behold, they are before the altar of the Lord, the altar of burnt-offering.
2Ch_29:20-30. The sacrifices at the Reconsecration of the Temple.
2Ch_29:21. And they brought seven bullocks. The seven bullocks, rams, and lambs were, as the sequel shows, to serve as a burnt-offering, the seven he-goats, 2Ch_29:23, as a sin-offering; comp. Ezr_8:35.
2Ch_29:22. And the priests received the blood, “took it,” as in 2Ch_29:16.
2Ch_29:23. Laid their hands upon them, “leaned their hands upon them,” comp. Lev_1:4, from which it moreover follows that this laying on of hands took place also in the burnt-offerings. Perhaps it is specially mentioned only in the case of the sin-offering, because the circumstance that the king and the congregation (naturally its representatives, the princes) directly laid their hands on the sin-offering clearly exhibited the relation of the expiatory act to the whole of Israel; comp. the following verse.
2Ch_29:24. And the priests … offered their blood for sin upon the altar, literally, “made their blood to atone”; חִטֵּא, as in Lev_4:30; Lev_4:34; Lev_9:15. The whole of Israel is not merely the southern kingdom (Judah and Benjamin), but, as 2Ch_30:5 ff. shows, the whole of the twelve tribes; Hezekiah’s great expiatory act was intended to affect even the Ephraimites.
2Ch_29:25. And he set the Levites … with cymbals; comp. 1Ch_15:16, and with respect to the command of David, 2Ch_8:14. For Gad and Nathan as counsellors and assistants of David in his arrangement of the temple service, comp. 1Ch_21:29. —By His prophets, “by the hand of His prophets,” is an explanatory apposition to בְּיַד יְהוָֹה, and denotes that the divine commandment is accomplished by the instrumentality of the prophets.
2Ch_29:26. With the instruments of David, with the instruments introduced into the divine service by David; comp. 1Ch_23:5; 1Ch_15:16.
2Ch_29:27. And when the burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord began, that is, the praise of the Lord by singing with musical accompaniment; comp. 1Ch_16:42; 1Ch_25:7.—And after the instruments of David, literally, at the hands of the instruments of David; comp. 1Ch_6:16; 1Ch_25:2-3; 1Ch_25:6; 2Ch_23:18. The instruments of David appear, accordingly, as governing and leading the whole musical performance, according to a view of the relation between singing and music somewhat different from the modern.
2Ch_29:28. And the song was sung, properly, “was singing, sounded.” The sense of the whole verse is obvious: during the whole time of the offering the praising musical performance continued. Accordingly 2Ch_29:30 also must be understood not as if the Levites had struck up a song of praise on the close of the offering at the command of the king, but in the sense of a supplementary notice of this, that they were Davidic and Asaphic songs, which the Levitical singers performed during the solemnity. Asaph is here called a seer (חֹזֶה), as elsewhere also Heman (1Ch_25:5) and Jeduthun (2Ch_35:15).—And they praised with gladness, “even unto gladness,” as in 1Ch_15:16.
2Ch_29:31-36. The Presenting of Sacrifices, Thank-Offerings, and Free-Will Offerings, as the Closing Act of the Consecration.—Now ye have filled your hand unto the Lord, “have consecrated yourselves to His service”; comp. 2Ch_8:9; Exo_28:41; Exo_32:29, etc. The words appear addressed only to the priests; but as the following sentence; “Draw nigh and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings,” etc., according to 2Ch_29:32 ff., applies to the whole community, this is to be considered as included with the priests, and participating in their office. Our passage belongs, therefore, to the Old Testament testimonies for the universality of the priestly dignity in the kingdom of God, like Exo_19:6; Hos_4:6; Isa_61:6.—Sacrifices and thank-offerings, that is, perhaps, “sacrifices even thank-offerings,” or “sacrifices as thank-offerings”; for, according to Lev_7:11; Lev_7:16, the thank-offerings (תּוֹדוֹת) appear as a special class of sacrifices (זְבָחִים or זִבְחֵי שְׁלָמִים), along with vows and free-will offerings.
2Ch_29:33. And the consecrated things,הַקָּדָשִׁים, the holy things; here the animals presented as thank-offerings. This is clear not only from 2Ch_29:32, but also from such passages as 2Ch_35:13; Neh_10:34.
2Ch_29:34. Only the priests were too few, and they could not flay all the burnt-offerings. “In private burnt-offerings the flaying of the animal was the business of the worshipper, Lev_1:6; but in those presented on festivals in the name of the community, it was the business of the priests, in which, because it had no specially priestly character, the Levites might help” (Keil).—On חִזֵּק, “strengthen,” here “assist,” comp. 2Ch_28:20; Ezr_6:22.—For the Levites were more upright of heart to sanctify themselves than the priests, who, perhaps because they were nearer the court, were more deeply involved in the idolatrous movement under Ahaz. יִשְׁרֵי לֵב, properly, rectiores animo, better inclined, under a more righteous impulse.
2Ch_29:35. And also the burnt-offering was in abundance, the voluntary burnt-offerings, 2Ch_29:31 f. (70 oxen, 100 rams, 200 lambs in number), which were added to the proper sacrifice of consecration; and hence the burden of labour on the priests was very great. For the fat pieces next mentioned, comp. Lev_3:3-5; for the libations as an accompaniment of the burnt - offering, Num_15:1-16.—And the service of the house of the Lord was established, prepared, arranged; comp. 2Ch_29:36; 2Ch_35:10; 2Ch_35:16. The “service” (עֲבדָה) is the regular sacrificial worship in the temple, not its cleansing and consecration, as Berth, thinks.
2Ch_29:36. Were glad that God had, etc.; עַל אֲשֶׁר הֵכִין = עַל הַהֵכּין; comp.1Ch_26:28. This refers not, perhaps, to the willingness of the people, which God effected by His grace (Ramb., Berth.), but the cleansing of the temple and restoration of the true theocratic worship, which was accomplished by the willing part taken by the people.—For the thing was done suddenly, with unexpected readiness; comp. 2Ch_29:3.
2. The Passover: 2 Chronicles 30.
2Ch_30:1-12. Preparations for it.—And wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, to those belonging to the northern kingdom, who are here named by their chief tribes; comp. 2Ch_30:5; 2Ch_30:10.
2Ch_30:2. And the king took counsel (comp. 2Ch_25:17) … to keep the pass-over in the second month. Such an after-celebration of the passover is permitted by the law, Num_9:6-13, to those who, from Levitical defilement, or being on a journey, were prevented from celebrating it at the right time, on the 14th Nisan. On this decision of the law Hezekiah here rests in transferring the whole celebration from the first to the second month, because, as is expressly stated, 2Ch_30:3, those two cases of hindrance (impurity of the priests, and distance of the greater part of the people from Jerusalem) were actually involved. Peculiar, yet destitute of sufficient ground, is the assumption of Hitzig (Gesch. p. 219), that the law in Num_9:6 ff. was first occasioned by Hezekiah’s after-celebration of the passover, even as almost all the laws of the fourth book of Moses originated in the times of Hezekiah.
2Ch_30:3. Because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently.לְמַדַּי, compounded of ל, מָה, and דַּי, signifies properly, “to that which was enough,” ad sufficientiam, and, in connection with לֹא, expresses here the thought that a sufficient number of sanctified Levitically clean priests could not be ready in the month of Nisan to celebrate the passover at that time (בָּעֵת הַהִיא); comp. 2Ch_29:34. Observe, moreover, how clearly the contents of this verse, as well as the following, point to this, that the celebration of the passover, of which it treats, was to take place, and did take place, in the next month, after the consecration of the temple, and therefore in the first year of Hezekiah’s reign. Comp. at the close of this chapter.
2Ch_30:5. And they settled the thing, resolved upon it; comp. 2Ch_33:8; Neh_10:33. For the proverbial form: “from Beer-sheba even to Dan,” to designate the whole territory of Israel, comp. Jdg_20:1; 1Sa_3:20; 2Sa_3:10, etc.; see above on 2Ch_19:4.—For they had not kept it with a multitude; so is לֹא לָרֹב most probably to be taken. The celebration should take place with a numerous concourse of people; comp. 2Ch_30:13; Ezr_3:4. The explanation followed by Kimchi, then by Luther, and recently by de Wette: “For not for a long time,” is verbally inadmissible (comp. for לָרֹב, in the sense of “in multitude, numerous,” also 2Ch_30:24). A statement also follows in 2Ch_30:26 of the length of time during which the passover had not been celebrated by great numbers.
2Ch_30:6. And the posts went, the royal couriers (whether belonging directly to the king’s guards is, notwithstanding 2Ch_23:1 ff., uncertain); comp. Est_3:13; Est_3:15; Est_8:14.—Remaining to you from the hand of the kings of Assyria, of Tiglath-pileser and his viceroys (archons, eponyms); see on 2Ch_28:16. Pul (whether different from Tiglath-pileser, comp. on 1Ch_5:26) cannot be here intended, because he led no Israelites captive; see 2Ki_15:19. Neither can Shalmaneser be meant, as he came to the throne almost at the same time with Hezekiah, and his invasion took place in the sixth year of this king, while that which is here recorded belongs to the first year; see under 2Ch_30:27.
2Ch_30:8. Now be not stiffnecked like your fathers, since the time of Jeroboam. On “making the neck stiff ” = being stiffnecked, comp. 2Ki_17:14; Neh_9:16 f.; on “giving the hand,” for yielding oneself, vowing allegiance to, 2Ki_10:15; Ezr_10:19; Eze_17:18 (as also 1Ch_29:24, Lam_5:6, “submit to”); for the close of the verse, 2Ch_29:10.—Your brethren and your children shall find compassion before, literally, “shall be for compassion before your captors;” comp. Neh_1:11.
2Ch_30:10. And unto Zebulun; thus not quite to the extreme north border (not literally even to Dan, 2Ch_30:5). Observe the concrete historical character of this notice, by no means favouring the suspicion of a pure fiction of these reports on the part of our author. The messengers also might very easily reach Zebulun (and the southern Asher, 2Ch_30:11) in the interval between the 16th Nisan (2Ch_29:17) and the 14th of the following month; they could scarcely have travelled to the more northern Naphtali, next to Dan (Laish), and North Asher. But these most northern parts of the country had been quite wasted and depopulated by Tiglath-pileser; see 2Ki_15:29. That which is here stated (2Ch_30:10-11) agrees still less with the hypothesis of Caspari and Keil, that all that is related in our chapter happened in the time after the fall of Samaria (see under 2Ch_30:27), as the artificial attempts at adaptation by Keil show.
2Ch_30:12. Also the hand of God was upon Judah to give them one heart. The phrase: יַד הָאֱלֹהִים הָֽיְתָה בְ, here sensu bono of the blessed effect of the divine power (comp. Ezr_8:22), otherwise usually in the sense of judicial punishment (Exo_9:3; Deu_2:15, etc.).—By the word of the Lord; comp. 2Ch_29:15.
2Ch_30:13-22. The Festival itself.—Took away the altars; those erected by Ahaz for idolatrous burnt-offerings and incense; comp. 2Ch_28:24.
2Ch_30:15. And the priests and the Levites were ashamed; a clause referring to 2Ch_30:3, which points by way of supplement to this, that the present full participation of the Levitical spirituality, in contrast with the former deficiency (especially with regard to the priests, 2Ch_29:34), was owing to the feeling of shame meanwhile awakened in the whole order on account of their former participation in idolatry.
2Ch_30:16. And they stood in their place.עֹמֶד, “place, stand,” as 2Ch_35:10; Dan_8:17-18.—After their rule; comp. 1Ch_6:17.—The priests sprinkling the blood from the hand of the Levites, that is, the Levites handed them the blood to sprinkle on the altar. That the Levites here did this, whereas this handing of the blood was the part of the several worshipping householders (2Ch_35:6; Ezr_6:20), is explained, 2Ch_30:17, by pointing out that only the Levites were as yet all properly cleansed, and not the remaining multitude (רַבַּת here, and 2Ch_30:18, a neuter substantive before the preposition, and not an adverb, as in Psa_120:6).
2Ch_30:18. Many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun. The Chronist reports this not from “an excess of national feeling,” as if he wished to represent the whole northern kingdom as subjected to the Jewish king Hezekiah (H. Schultz, Theologie des Alten T. ii. 309), but simply because some of the tribes of the northern kingdom, then governed by Hosea, and already on the verge of total ruin, had sent representatives to the passover of Hezekiah, to signify that the feeling of national guilt was awakened in them in all its strength. That in 2Ch_30:11 the tribes of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun, but here Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, are named as “humbled” (returning penitent to the theocratic centre of worship), appears to rest on definite historical grounds, the nature of which we cannot now determine.—Yet they ate the pass-over not as it was written, as Levitically unclean, and thus contrary to the precept, Num_9:6; comp. Josephus, de B. Jud.vi. 9.3, and under 2Ch_30:26.—The good Lord pardon. “With these closing words of 2Ch_30:18 (יהוה הטוב יכפר בעד) are to be immediately connected, notwithstanding the Masoretic division of the verses, the initial words of 2Ch_30:19 : “Every one that hath prepared his heart to seek God.” בְּעַד stands thus before the relative sentence, 2Ch_30:19 [rather before כָּל־], without אֲשֶׁר (as אל, 1Ch_15:12). On כִּפֶּר, in the sense of forgiving, comp. Psa_65:4; Lev_16:6; Lev_16:11.—Though not in the cleanness of the sanctuary, though they did not strictly comply with the legal prescriptions concerning the purity to be observed in approaching the sanctuary. A remarkable mildness and almost evangelical freedom of view are expressed in these words.
2Ch_30:20. And healed the people, forgave their guilt, healed them in an ethical respect; comp. Psa_41:5; Hos_14:5; Jer_3:22. The healing of disease or of death, that was to be apprehended as punishment for their guilt (Lev_15:31), is scarcely intended (against Berth. and Kamph.).
2Ch_30:21. And the sons of Israel that were in Jerusalem, “were found”; comp. 2Ch_29:29, 2Ch_31:1.—With instruments of might to the Lord, instruments by which they ascribed might to the Lord, glorified His might (comp. Psa_29:1), therefore with instruments for praising the might of the Lord. Interesting, but not quite certain, is the interpretation of Kamphausen, who takes בִּכְלֵי עז by itself in the sense: “with instruments of might,” that is, with loud sound.
2Ch_30:22. And Hezekiah spake to the heart of all the Levites, spake hearty, loving, encouraging words to them.—Who had good understanding of the Lord, of the service of the Lord.—And they ate the feast seven days. We are scarcely to read, with the Sept. (see Crit. Note): “And they completed the feast;” for the reading: “eat the feast,” appears simply modelled after the known: “eat the passover,” as the following: “offering sacrifices of peace,” clearly shows (comp. also Psa_118:27). Moreover, the collective worshippers, not merely the Levites and priests, are the subject.—And confessing to the Lord God of their fathers, namely, with praise and thanksgiving—not, perhaps, with penitent confession of their guilt, as some of the ancients thought. הִתְוַדָּה is quite the ἐξομολογεῖσθαι of the Hellenistic Greek (and so of the Sept. in our passage).
2Ch_30:23-27. The Feast of Seven Days after the Passover.—Resolved to keep (“make”) other seven days with gladness. שִׂמְחָה, adverbial accusative for בְּשִׂמְחָה
2Ch_30:24. For Hezekiah . . . gave to the congregation (properly, heaved, gave as a heave-offering; comp. 2Ch_35:7) a thousand bullocks, etc.; that is, the king and princes had contributed victims so liberally for the passover, that they had not consumed the whole during the seven days of the feast, but had still provision for so long an after-feast.—And a great many priests sanctified themselves; the extraordinary abundance of offerings could thus be overtaken; comp. 2Ch_30:3; 2Ch_29:34.
2Ch_30:25. And the strangers that came from the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah. These strangers (גֵּרִים) from Israel and Judah are here, as certainly as they were distinct from “the congregation that came out of Israel” ( = Ephraim), that is, from the Ephraimites mentioned 2Ch_30:11; 2Ch_30:18, actually “strangers,” that is, proselytes. It is otherwise in 2Ch_15:9, where those dwelling as strangers among the Jews, from Ephraim and Manasseh and Simeon, are simply the Israelites that have migrated thence.
2Ch_30:26. For since the days of Solomon … was not the like in Jerusalem, no so fair and sublime a festival celebrated by so great a multitude. But the point of comparison is perhaps not any passover under Solomon, but rather the feast of the consecration of the temple under this king (2Ch_7:1-10). This resembles the passover of Hezekiah in this respect, that, with the feast of tabernacles following, it lasted also fourteen days. Because this only is intended, and not any passover of Solomon, there is no contradiction between our passage, or in general between that which is depicted in our chapter and 2Ch_35:18, and 2Ki_23:22. If in the latter passage it is said of Josiah’s passover: “There was not holden such a passover from the days of the Judges,” this remark refers, in the first place, to the purity and legitimacy of the feast; and in this respect the present celebration by Hezekiah was defective, just as our author has expressly acknowledged.
2Ch_30:27. And the priests (and) the Levites arose; comp. Crit. Note. That the benediction of the priests was heard, and actually penetrated to His (God’s) dwelling in the heaven, our historian might conclude with sufficient certainty, from the further gladness and elevation of heart which he had to recount in the two following chapters of Hezekiah’s reign (in its inner as well as outer aspect).
On the date of Hezekiah’s passover, first Keil (Komment. zu den Büchern der Könige, 1845, p. 515 f.), then Caspari (Beiträge zur Einleitung in das Buch Jesaia, p. 109 ff.), and again Keil (Komment. zur Chron. p. 343 ff.), laid down the opinion that it was held not in the first year of his reign, in the next month after the cleansing of the temple, but considerably later, namely, after the destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes, in his sixth year. Against this assumption, and for the usual view, according to which the Chronist in our chapter means to report something immediately following the feast of the consecration described in 2 Chronicles 29 : speak—1. The וconsec. in וַיִּשְׁלַח at the beginning of 2Ch_30:1; 2 Chronicles 2. The statement in 2Ch_30:3, that “the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently,” which clearly refers to 2Ch_29:34, and does not at all permit the interposition of a period of six years between the two chapters; 3. The naming of the second month in 2Ch_30:2, which is certainly to be understood from 2Ch_29:3; 2Ch_29:17 (the “first month,” that is, Nisan, in the first year of his reign), and therefore to be referred to the first year of Hezekiah. To these in themselves decisive grounds, which Keil vainly endeavours in a long discussion to invalidate, are to be added, as further cogent arguments—4. The circumstance that our author, if he had actually meant to represent the passover as instituted after the fall of Samaria and the destruction of the northern kingdom, and even with reference to the condition and necessity of the population occasioned by this catastrophe, must have expressly said so, as such an important motive for including the Ephraimites as partakers in the feast could not have been passed over in silence; 5. The circumstance that the manner in which these northern guests and their seats are mentioned in 2Ch_30:6; 2Ch_30:10 f. and 18 suits only the time after the invasion of Tiglath-pileser, not that after the fall of Samaria (see on these passages, especially 2Ch_30:11); 6. The circumstance that the description given in 2Ch_30:10-12 of the preparations for the festival, compared with the opening of the description of the feast itself in 2Ch_30:13, makes only a short duration of these preparations probable; 7. And lastly, the circumstance that the appearance of a not inconsiderable number of communicants from the northern kingdom agrees very well with that which is attested in 2Ki_17:2 of the comparatively pious and theocratic character of Hosea, the last king of Ephraim, and, on the contrary, can scarcely be reconciled with the report there, 2Ch_30:24 ff., given concerning the moral and religious condition of the population left in the northern kingdom after the defeat of Hosea and the fall of Samaria. The usual assumption, which makes the temple consecration and the passover to take place in immediate succession in the first year of Hezekiah, appears from all this to be most agreeable to the text, and alone truly corresponding with the historical relations that have to be taken into account.
3. Further Religious Reforms of Hezekiah: 2 Chronicles 31.—On 2Ch_31:1, comp. 2Ki_18:4, where, however, on the one hand, the destruction of the images and altars also in Ephraim and Manasseh is not mentioned; on the other hand, the breaking of the figure of the brazen serpent (Nehushtan) is narrated, which our report does not expressly mention.—All Israel that were present; comp. 2Ch_30:21. For the statues (monuments) and asherim, comp. on 2Ch_14:2.—And in Ephraim and Manasseh completely. With reference to Ephraim and Manasseh, that is, the northern kingdom (comp. 2Ch_30:10), this “completely” (עַד לְכַלֵּה) is naturally to be understood cumgrano salis, and not to be pressed as a strictly literal statement. The report that in Manasseh and Ephraim also the places of idolatrous worship were removed, could scarcely, on account of 2Ki_17:24 ff., be brought into harmony with the assumption of Keil that these facts are to be placed after 722 b.C.
2Ch_31:2. And Hezekiah appointed . . . after their courses, according to the classification originating with David; comp. 1 Chronicles 24; 2Ch_8:14.—Every man according to his service, properly, “at the mouth of his service”; comp. Num_7:5; Num_7:7.—In the gates of the camp of the Lord, in the temple as well as in the court of the priests; comp: 1Ch_9:18 ff.
2Ch_31:3. And the king’s portion of his property for burnt-offerings, that is, the king furnished what he had to contribute to the burnt-offering in victims out of his possession (which is described underneath, 2Ch_32:27 ff., as very great). Comp. the prescriptions of the law that here come into account, Num_28:3 ff; Num_29:1 ff.
2Ch_31:4. And he said to the people . . . to give the portion of the priests and Levites, namely, the firstlings and tithes of the increase of the cattle and the field; see Exo_23:19; Num_18:12; Num_18:21 ff.; Lev_27:30-33. The motive, “that they might be stedfast in the law of the Lord,” expresses the thought, that in order to fulfil their official duties they must be able to live free and untrammelled by earthly cares; comp. Neh_13:10 ff.; 1Co_9:4 ff.; 2Th_3:9; 1Ti_5:17 f.
2Ch_31:5. And when the word came forth, properly, “spread forth”; comp. Job_1:10. The “sons of Israel” there mentioned are first only the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as 2Ch_31:6 shows, for there first is mention made of the remaining “sons of Israel” (immigrants from the northern kingdom) and “sons of Judah.”
2Ch_31:6. And the tithe of holy things consecrated unto the Lord their God. If in Num_18:8 ff. not tithe (מַֽעֲשֵׂר) but heave-offerings (תְּרוּמוֹת) of all consecrated things, that is, of all the consecrated gifts of the Israelites, are said to fall to the Levites, this difference from our statement is only apparent, not warranting any emendation of the text after the reading of the Sept. (ἐπιδέκατα αἰγῶν, καὶ, etc.; see Crit. Note). This is merely a diversity of the phrase; what is called, Numbers 18, “terumoth”, is here designated tithe, because the terumoth were in like manner “a remnant of that which was consecrated to the Lord, as the tithe was a remnant of all the cattle and field produce” (rightly Keil. against Berth, and Kamph.).
2Ch_31:7. In the third month they began to lay down, or found; to form the heaps by gathering together the gifts in grain. The third month, in which Pentecost falls, is the time of the finished harvest, as the seventh month (with the feast of tabernacles) is that of the finished fruit and wine harvest. For the form לִיסּוֹד, with dag. in ס, see Ew. § 245 a.
2Ch_31:9-19. The Application and Preservation of the Collected Gifts.—Inquired . . . concerning the heaps, he inquired how it came that so great a quantity of gifts was accumulated. Only to this meaning of his question does the following answer of the high priest correspond, especially the closing sentence of it.
2Ch_31:10. And Azariah the chief priest. Whether this be the same as the Azariah occurring, 2Ch_26:17, in the history of Uzziah, forty years before, is at least very uncertain.—And this great store is left, literally, “and that which is left (forms) this great store.” Perhaps וְנוֹתָר simply is to be read instead of וְהַנּוֹתָר (Kamph.).
2Ch_31:11. And Hezekiah said to prepare in the house of the Lord, perhaps not new store-rooms (לְשָׁכוֹת, as 1Ch_9:26), but only a portion of those already built by Solomon (1Ki_6:5) for the reception of the stores (הֵכִין, as 1Ki_6:19).
2Ch_31:12. And they brought in the offerings, the first-fruits, 2Ch_31:5. On the word “faithfully,” conscientiously, comp. 2Ch_19:9.—And over them, over the first-fruits, tithe, and consecrated things. For the name Conanjahu, comp. the Crit. Note; for the term “second” (next after him), משׁנה, see 1Ch_5:12; 2Ki_25:18.
2Ch_31:13. And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath. Two of these names, Jehiel and Nahath, occurred also in 2Ch_29:12; 2Ch_29:14; whether they refer to the same persons is doubtful.—Overseers under Conaniah, literally, “at the hand of Conaniah.”—By the appointment of Hezekiah, or by his order. The Azariah, “ruler of the house of God,” named along with the king is the high priest named 2Ch_31:10 (comp. 1Ch_9:11).
2Ch_31:14. And Kore . . . the porter toward the east; comp. 1Ch_9:18. It was his part to distribute “the offering of the Lord,” the portion of the peace-offering belonging to the Lord, and by him transferred to the priests (Lev_7:14; Lev_7:32; Lev_10:14 f.), “and the most holy things,” the part of the sin and trespass offerings to be eaten by the priests in the temple (Lev_6:10; Lev_6:22; Lev_7:6).
2Ch_31:15. And by him (properly, “at his hand,” 2Ch_31:13), under him, under his oversight.—With truth (comp. 2Ch_31:12). This the Vulg. perhaps rightly connects with the following words: “ conscientiously to give,” though against the accents. The object of this “giving” is that share of firstlings, tithes, and consecrated things which the Levites dwelling in the priestly cities were entitled by law to receive.
2Ch_31:16. Beside the register of males with the exception of the registered males from three years old and upwards who have “entered into the house of the Lord,” that is, are consecrated to the temple service in Jerusalem, and are therefore otherwise provided for (exempted from the provision in the priestly cities when they were at home); comp., for example, Samuel, etc.—For the rate of each day; לִדְבַר־יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ, as 2Ch_8:13 f.; Neh_11:23.
2Ch_31:17 is, like 2Ch_31:16, a parenthesis, referring to the registers of the priests and Levites.—And the register of the priests. וְאֵת, according to Ew. § 277, d; comp. Neh_9:34. On the twentieth year of the Levites, at the beginning of their official functions, comp. 1Ch_23:24; 1Ch_23:27.
2Ch_31:18 is connected with 2Ch_31:15, after the two parentheses 2Ch_31:16-17. With the dative there, לַֽאֲחֵיהֶם, corresponds the וּלְהִתְיַחֵשׂ, which likewise depends on לָתֵת, “to give to their brethren,” and to the register of all their little ones for all the congregation. This קָהָל לְכָל־ applies to the whole community of the Levites, including wives and children not merely to the priestly order (as S. Schmidt, Ramb., Kamph. intend).—For in their faithfulness they sanctified themselves in the holy thing. בֶּֽאֱמוּנָתָם, as 1Ch_9:22. The “sanctifying themselves” (הִתְקַדֵּשׁ) refers to the disinterested and righteous distribution of the “holy thing,” that is, the offerings which they were entitled to receive.
2Ch_31:19. And for the sons of Aaron . . . in the fields of the suburbs of their cities; comp. Deut. 25:34; Num_35:5.—Were appointed men, who were expressed by name, men of repute; comp. 2Ch_28:15; 1Ch_12:31. These officers, according to what follows, had the charge of the Levitical and priestly families occupying the land around the priestly cities, as those mentioned in 2Ch_31:15 had the charge of the priests and Levites in these cities.
2Ch_31:20-21. Close of the Report of Hezekiah’s Reforms in Worship.—And did that which was good and right (comp. 2Ch_14:1) and true before the Lord; הָאֱמֶת, as in 2Ch_32:1; Zec_8:19.—And in every work which he began . . . to seek his God, or also, “seeking his God,” while he sought Him; comp. 2Ch_26:5; Ezr_6:21.
4. Sennacherib’s Expedition against Jerusalem, and End: 2Ch_32:1-23. Comp. the full parallel account in 2Ki_18:13 to 2Ki_19:37, and in Isaiah 36, 37, to which the present narrative, notwithstanding its parenetic, rhetorical brevity, makes some not unimportant additions. With the three parallel delineations is to be compared the full Assyriologic commentary of Schrader, pp. 168–212.—After these events and this faithfulness, Sennacherib, etc., properly, “Sancherib” (Sept.: Σενναχηρείμ in Chronicles, Σενναχηρίβ in 2 Kings and Isaiah), the Sin-ahi-irib or Sin-ahi-ir-ba (“Sin,” the moon-god, “gives the brothers much”) of the Assyrian inscriptions; according to the Assyrian canon of sovereigns, the son, reigning 705–681 b.C., and successor of Sargon, the successor of Shalmaneser and conqueror of Samaria; comp. Evangelical and Ethical Reflections, No. 3.—And thought to break into them for himself, to take them; comp. 2Ch_21:17.
2Ch_32:2. And his face was for war against Jerusalem; comp. 2Ch_20:3; Luk_9:53.
2Ch_32:3. Took counsel . . . to stop the waters of the fountains, not to close them up wholly, but to cover them over (Luther, cover), and draw away their waters by subterranean channels.
2Ch_32:4. And they stopped . . . and the brook that flowed through the land, the Gihon, the brook of the valley of Ben-hin-nom; comp. 2Ch_32:30; 2Ki_20:20.—Why should the kings of Assyria. . . find much water? On the phrase, comp. Isa_5:4; for the plural “kings,” above on 2Ch_28:16.
2Ch_32:5. And he strengthened himself (וַיִּתְחַזֵּק), as 2Ch_15:8, 2Ch_23:1.—And built up all the wall that was broken; comp. Neh_4:1; Pro_25:28.—And raised it to the towers, or, raised its towers, according to the probably original reading; see Crit. Note. The Masoretic text gives the quite unsuitable meaning, “and rose upon the towers,” or, “and brought to the towers” (the wall ? or the war engines?).—And another wall without, he built or repaired. This refers to the wall enclosing the lower city, or Acra, which already existed, according to Isa_22:11, the repair of which is here noticed. For Millo, comp. on 1Ch_11:8; for the weapons made to defend these fortifications,—arrows, missiles, and shields,—comp. 2Ch_23:10, 2Ch_26:14.
2Ch_32:6. And gathered them to him in the broad way at the gate of the city; whether on the same open area at the gate as that mentioned 2Ch_29:4, toward the east, must, from the indefiniteness of the expression, remain uncertain; comp. also Neh_8:1; Neh_8:16.—And spake to their heart; comp. 2Ch_30:22.
2Ch_32:7. For with us is more than with him; comp. 2Ki_6:16 and the following verse, which gives the particulars how there is “more” (רַב, not “a greater,” as Luther translates with Hezekiah and the Israelites than with the enemy. On “an arm of flesh” as a designation of human impotence and apparent power comp. Isa_31:8, Jer_17:5, Psa_56:5; on “to fight our battles,” 1Sa_8:20; 1Sa_18:17.
2Ch_32:9-19. Sennacherib’s Advance to Jerusalem. Comp. the more ample account, 2Ki_18:17-36.—And he himself stood against Lachish; comp. 2Ch_25:27.—And all his power with him, literally, “all his sovereignty” (מֶמְשַׁלְתּוֹ); comp. Isa_34:1.
2Ch_32:10. Whereon do ye trust? literally, “whereon are ye trusting and sitting in restraint?” (distress; comp. Deu_28:53 ff.; 2Ki_24:10; 2Ki_25:2; Eze_4:7).
2Ch_32:11. Doth not Hezekiah mislead you? literally, “is not Hezekiah misleading you (מַסִּית, as 2Ki_18:32), to deliver you to die by hunger?” etc.—On 2Ch_32:12, comp. 2Ki_18:22; on 2Ch_32:13-15, comp. 2Ki_18:35, Isa_36:20; Isa_37:11-13.
2Ch_32:16. And his servants spake yet more, the servants already, 2Ch_32:9, mentioned, whose Assyrian titles (Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, 2Ki_18:17; on which comp. Schrader’s illustrations, p. 198 ff.) our author thinks fit not to adduce, as he omits the whole contents of their blasphemous speeches.
2Ch_32:17. And he wrote a letter. This was, according to 2Ki_19:14, at a later period, after Rabshakeh had reported to him the obstinate resistance of the Jewish people; whereas the speech here reported in 2Ch_32:18 of the servants of Sennacherib in the Jewish tongue is there (in 2 Kings) addressed to the Jews at the same time with the first negotiation. Our author has apparently traced the course of things in a real rather than a chronological order, because his aim was to exhibit an impressive advance in the steps (first a speech of the servants in the Assyrian tongue, then a letter of Sennacherib to Hezekiah, and lastly a demand to surrender in the Jewish tongue), from the same rhetorical motive that led him also before, on the occasion of the war with Syria and Ephraim, 2Ch_28:16 ff., to co-ordinate the facts not so much in a temporal as in a real sequence.
2Ch_32:20-23. Hezekiah’s and Isaiah’s Prayer, and the Divine Help; comp. 2Ki_19:14-35 ff.; Isa_37:15-19.—And for this, עַל־זֹאת, on account of this railing on the God of Israel, which they must have heard.
2Ch_32:21. And the Lord sent an angel; comp. 2Ki_19:35 ff., and Bähr on this passage. The “valiant heroes” destroyed by the angel are the common soldiers (comp. 2Ch_17:14), along with whom are then specially named the “leaders and captains” (officers and generals). On“ with shame of face,” comp. Ezr_9:7, Psa_44:16; on “they that came out of his own bowels” = sons, comp. Gen_15:4; Gen_25:23, 2Sa_7:12; 2Sa_16:11; and see the Crit. Note.
2Ch_32:22. And defended them around, literally, “led them around,” וַיְנַֽחֲלֵם (for which Berth, and Kamph., because the word is omitted in the Syr. and Arab., think ought to be read וַיָּנַח לָהֶם, “and gave them rest around”); comp.נָחַל, in the sense of protecting, Psa_31:4; Isa_34:10; Isa_51:18, etc.
2Ch_32:23. And many brought a gift to the Lord; comp. 2Ch_17:11, 2Ch_26:8; 2Ki_20:12. Among the “many” seem to be reckoned, as the following clause shows, members of the neighbouring nations, who had been delivered by the helpful interposition of the God of the Jews from the same calamity of war and danger of ruin.
5. Sickness, Remaining Reign, and End of Hezekiah: 2Ch_32:24-33.—In those days Hezekiah was sick. Considerably fuller in 2Ki_20:1-11 and Isaiah 38 :
2Ch_32:25. And Hezekiah repaid not according to the benefit done to him, literally, “according to the benefit in him”; comp. Psa_116:12.—For his heart became proud, literally, “lifted itself up”; comp. 2Ch_26:16. Wherein the proud uplifting consisted, namely, in the boastful exhibition of his treasures to the ambassadors of Babylon (2Ki_20:12 ff.), is not here said, but is briefly indicated in 2Ch_32:31; neither is the manner in which “indignation came upon him” (comp. 2Ch_19:10; 1Ch_27:24), namely, by a prophetic warning and announcement of punishment (Isa_39:5-7; 2Ki_20:16 ff.), more particularly defined. The mode of narrative in our section is generally that of the epitome. On 2Ch_32:26 comp. Isa_39:8; 2Ki_20:19.
2Ch_32:27-31. Hezekiah’s Riches, and Building of Cities and Water-courses.—And Hezekiah ha I very much riches; comp. 2Ki_20:13, and the earlier accounts in the reigns of David (1Ch_29:28), Solomon (2Ch_1:12 ff.), and Jehoshaphat (2Ch_18:1). Besides the metals themselves, are mentioned also among his treasures spices (as Dan_11:8) and “shields,” that is, costly gilded weapons and the like (comp. Isa_39:2).
2Ch_32:28. And storehouses for the increase of corn. מִסְכְּנוֹת (p. transpos. lit. for מִכְנְסוֹת, from כנם, heap up), magazines; comp. Exo_1:11; 1Ki_9:19; 2Ch_8:4—And stalls for all kinds of cattle, literally, “for all cattle and cattle.”אֻרָוֹת, “stalls,” properly, “racks;” comp. the only orthographically different אֻרְיוֹת, 2Ch_9:25, and at the close of our verse, אֲוֵרוֹת, which seems to mean folds. But perhaps the last clause is corrupt, and instead of “flocks for the folds,” rather (with the Sept. and Luther) an inversion of the terms is to be assumed; see Crit. Note
2Ch_32:29. And he made him cities, עָרִים, perhaps watchtowers for the keepers of the cattle; comp. on 2Ch_26:10. and 2Ki_17:9.—And possession of flocks and herds in abundance; comp. Job_1:3; for רְכוּשׁ, possession, 2Ch_31:3
2Ch_32:30. This Hezekiah stopped; see on 2Ch_32:3-4.—And led it straight down to the west of the city of David, led it, the water of the brook Gihon, flowing by the city on the east, by a subterranean channel westward into the city.
2Ch_32:31. And so in the case of the ambassadors of the princes of Babel. Instead of וְכֵן (that cannot be rendered, with Luther and others, in an adversative sense by “but” or “though” ) we expect וְלֹא or רַק לֹא, “only not.” But the author does not intend to represent the interview with the ambassadors of Babylon as an exception to the otherwise prosperous career of the king, but rather as a confirmation of that which is said in this respect; and especially as Hezekiah was not punished for the perversity of his conduct at that time, but only humbled, and for himself, at least, spared the deserved judgment of God (comp. 2Ch_32:26). The plural “princes of Babel,” instead of the sing., which, according to 2Ki_20:12 ff., we might expect, is perhaps to be interpreted as the term kings in 2Ch_28:16, 2Ch_30:6, 2Ch_32:4. On the king Merodach-baladan, and on the chronology of this event, see Evangelical and Ethical Reflections, No. 3.
2Ch_32:32-33. Close of the History of Hezekiah.—And his kindness, literally, “kindnesses” (חֲסָדִים, otherwise than 2Ch_6:42); comp. rather Neh_13:14 (against Keil).
2Ch_32:33. And they buried him in the height (or also “the ascent”; comp. 2Ch_20:16) of the sepulchres of, the sons of David, that is, in a place higher than the previous tombs of the kings, as in these, perhaps, there was no longer sufficient space.—And gave him glory, namely, by the burning of spices and the like, as at the death of Asa (2Ch_16:14; comp. 2Ch_21:19).
Evangelical And Ethical Reflections And Apologetic Remarks. (especially With Regard To Chronology) On 2 Chronicles 29-32
1. The relation of our author concerning the history of Hezekiah includes in itself two unequal parts of tolerably heterogeneous materials,—a detailed report of the reforms in worship with which the king began his reign (2 Chronicles 29-31), and an excerpted and compressed description of the chief warlike events and other public acts and occurrences of his reign (2 Chronicles 32). This plan, combining the supplementing with the excerpting process, clearly shows that it is Hezekiah the reformer of worship, and not the warlike prince and pious ruler, that he intends first and chiefly to depict. As a reformer of worship, Hezekiah deserves indeed to be held up along with Josiah, among all the kings from Solomon to the exile. The thoroughgoing spirit, strong faith, and energy displayed in his measures leaves all that had been formerly undertaken by Asa and Jehoshaphat far behind; and even the later Josiah, notwithstanding the character of stricter legality which his measures bore, cannot compare with him, inasmuch as the reforming activity of Hezekiah prepared the way for his own, and thus he stood, as it were, on the shoulders of Hezekiah, and had to look up to what was accomplished by the latter as his model. Between those less efficient and less decided predecessors and this successor, more zealous indeed, but less favoured by fortune, and aiming at no perpetuity of his labours, Hezekiah stands as the greatest hero of faith, as the purest evangelical character among the Jewish kings of the Old Testament. His work forms, by virtue of his powerful, ruthlessly stringent opposition to idolatry, and his honourable zeal for the law, coupled with sincere devotedness of heart to God, a striking typical parallel to that of the evangelical princes in the age of the Reformation,—John the Constant, Philip the Magnanimous, Edward VI., Gustavus Vasa, etc.; while his predecessors, Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Joash, correspond merely to the better disposed kings and emperors of the Middle Ages maintaining a certain independence towards Rome (as Frederic Barbarossa, Louis ix. of France, etc.); but in Josiah is presented the type of such epigoni of the more potent manifestations of the Reformation period as Ernest the Pious of Saxe Gotha, Frederic iv. of Denmark, etc. So far as such parallels between Israelitish and Christian history are allowable,—but that they should be instituted with great precaution and the most careful avoidance of the imminent danger of arbitrary trifling, is shown by very many warning examples, especially in the region of the Roman Catholic theological literature of recent times,19—it is natural to set beside the great reformatory activity of King Hezekiah the contemporary movement of a powerful reform and revival of the whole religious and moral life by such heroes of prophecy as Isaiah, Micah (and as probably an older Zechariah, author of Zechariah 9-11), and to suppose the one conditioned and supplemented by the other,—his action as the renovator of the religious life and the external theocratic order and discipline, and the endeavour of these prophetic men after the purification of the religious consciousness and the quickening of the moral conscience of their people. For certainly his religious reform would not have been practicable without the co-operation of this contemporaneous life-reform by his prophetic friends and counsellors; and we can as little separate the royal reformer Hezekiah from the royal seer, as those princes of the Reformation age from the Reformers Luther, Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, Calvin, etc.20 Indeed, the circle of those wise men around Hezekiah, to whom, according to Pro_25:1, was due the then completed collection of the old Solomonic proverbial literature, and in reference to whom Hezekiah himself has been called the Pisistratus of the Israelitish literature (Delitzsch, Kommentar über den Psalter, ii. 377), we may well assert to be a moment of the typical parallelism, and regard the work of these men as a type of the humanists contemporary with the Reformers, and often lending them support.
2. That in our author these manifestations, contemporaneous with Hezekiah, and co-operating with him, the importance of which certainly should not be undervalued, retire into the background, and that he mentions the prophet Isaiah only once in passing (2Ch_32:20), and those wise “men of Hezekiah” not at all, corresponds exactly with his character as a historian abiding always by the priestly and Levitical point of view. The credibility of his narrative cannot be disputed on account of this onesidedness. A great number of highly definite and concrete statements in the chapters peculiar to him attest the character of their contents as well founded, and free from any suspicion of fiction. Thus the names of the fourteen Levites in 2Ch_29:12-14 rest as undoubtedly on historical tradition as those of the others in 2Ch_31:12-15. And as little as these names can be invented, will that which is related, 2Ch_30:1 ff., (10 f., 18 ff., and 2Ch_31:1, concerning the participation of inhabitants of the kingdom of the ten tribes in Hezekiah’s religious acts and reforms bear a fictitious character. The authenticity of these statements is liable to no manner of doubt, view them chronologically as we will—whether we refer them, with Keil and Caspari (see on 2Ch_30:27), to events that happened after 722 b.C., or, with the majority of expositors, assign them a place in the first years of Hezekiah’s reign. The excerpt also from 2 Kings 18-20 and Isaiah 36-39, which he presents in 2 Chronicles 32, proves, by its essential agreement with these fuller parallels, the conscientiousness and reliableness of the procedure of our author. Where he presents smaller supplements to the reports there,—as, for example, in his accounts of the fortifications and measures of defence by Hezekiah in 2Ch_32:5 (comp. 2Ch_32:30),—these supplements bear in themselves their warrant as actual and trustworthy. And where he, in accordance with his rather real than chronological grouping of events, makes alterations in the order of the facts to be related, as in 2Ch_32:16-18 (comp. also 2Ch_32:24-31), there never results a representation strictly contrary to history. We are to note, moreover, the circumstance, significant of his theocratic idealizing tendency, and recalling analogous omissions in the history of the reigns of David, Solomon, and Jehoshaphat, that he passes over various incidents less favourable to the character of Hezekiah as a specially fortunate and illustrious ruler; for example, the facts that Sennacherib not only besieged but took many Jewish cities (comp. 2Ch_32:1 with 2Ki_18:13); that Hezekiah was compelled to pay a large tribute to the same sovereign, and for this purpose to take off the gold plating of the temple doors (2Ki_18:16); that he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth (2Ki_19:1), etc., and, on the whole, reports only that which proves his glorious and happy government. His representation of the work of Hezekiah has thus received a peculiarly optimistic colouring, beside which that of the other fuller report looks almost like pessimism. But even the sharpest critic would scarcely be able to show that the Chronistic narrative, notwithstanding its idealistic onesidedness, involves any misstatement of facts or distortion of history.
3. An important and difficult inquiry, that, however, concerns the narrative of our book equally with the older parallel text, is involved in the synchronism of the history of Hezekiah in the sacred Scripture and in the contemporary Assyrian monuments. While the most important event of this history in a temporal or spiritual respect, the fall of Samaria or the destruction of the northern kingdom by Shalmaneser and Sargon (namely, by Shalmaneser [Salmanu-âser, “God Salman is good”] as beginner, and by Sargon [Sarrukin, “mighty the king”] as finisher of the besieging and destroying work),21 according to the unanimous testimony of both sources, is to be placed in the year 722 (or 721) b.C., with regard to the next more important event, the invasion of Sennacherib (2Ch_32:1-23, and the parallel), a difference is exhibited of not less than thirteen years between the statements of the Assyrian monuments and those of sacred Scripture. For those assign this expedition to the year 701, full twenty years after the accession of Sargon and the fall of Samaria; whereas the Bible (2Ki_18:13; Isa_36:1) places it in the 14th year of Hezekiah, only eight or nine years after the fall of Samaria, which took place in the sixth year of this king, 714 b.C. A reconciliation of these very diverse dates seems at present impossible; and as there is a great number of Assyrian inscriptions which agree in assigning the great Egypto-Palestinian expedition of Sennacherib to the fourth year of his reign (that is, as he must have reigned 705–681, to the year 701), it seems necessary to abandon the biblical date as incorrect, and to substitute for the 14th the 27th or 28th year of Hezekiah as the date of the event. A further chronological difference appears to open between the Bible and the inscriptions with regard to the embassy of the Babylonian king Merodach-baladan to Hezekiah (2Ki_20:12 ff.; Isa_39:1 ff.). If we hold this Merodach-baladan (Assyro - Babylonian, Marduk-habal-iddina, “Merodach bestowed the son”; see Schrader, p. 213) to be identical with the Μαρδοκέμπαδος of the Ptolemaic canon, the fifth king of Babylon according to this document, the whole transaction in question must, as the synchronism of the Assyrian inscriptions and of this canon determines the years 721–710 as the period of this monarch’s reign, be placed a number of years before the invasion of Sennacherib, on the presumption that this fell in 701. And even if we take, not that Mardokempad (or Marduk-habal-iddina), but a later sovereign of the same name reigning only a short time (six months), mentioned by Berosus (or Alexander Polyhistor) in Eusebius, Chron. Armen. i. p. 19, edit. Mai, for the Merodach-baladan of Holy Scripture, as is done by Winer, Knobel, Hitzig, and recently by Schrader (p. 213 ff.), yet the reign even of this second Merodach falls before 701, namely, according to the canon of Ptolemy, in the year 704 or 703. The transposition of the reports in question seems therefore unavoidable. The statement in Isaiah 39 (and 2Ki_20:12 ff.) concerning Hezekiah’s display of his treasures before the ambassadors of Babylon must apparently be placed, with Oppert (“Die biblische chronologie, festgestellt nach den assyrischen Keilinschriften,” in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenl. Gesellschaft, 1869, p. 137 ff.), Delitzsch (Komment. zu Jes. 2d edit. 1869), Diestel (on Knobel’s Isaiah , 4 th edit.), and Schrader (Keilinschriften, p. 218), before the account in Isaiah 36 f. 2 Kings 18 f.) of the expedition of Sennacherib, say about ten years, or (with Schrader) at least two or three years; and the full treasure-chambers which Hezekiah shows to the ambassadors must be regarded as those which Sennacherib had not yet emptied (2Ki_18:13 ff.), not (with Keil, Knobel, Thenius, Bähr, Neteler, and others) as replenished from the booty left on the part of the hastily retreating army of Sennacherib, nor even as remaining sufficiently full notwithstanding the contribution imposed by the Assyrians.—The question, whether we are warranted or necessitated by the diverging dates of the monuments of profane history to assume so important chronological inaccuracies or perversions in the biblical sources, that is, in the here substantially agreeing reports of the second book of Kings, the book of Isaiah, and Chronicles, should scarcely be decided so hastily and unceremoniously in favour of the former testimonies, as has been done by Schrader (p. 292 ff.), in accordance with Diestel (pp. 169, 325), Rohling (in the Literar. Handweiser für das Kathol. Deutschland, 1872, No. 124), and others. With regard, also, to the wide differences between the Assyrian and biblical chronology before the reign of Hezekiah, which amount,22 in the estimate of Assyriologists, sometimes to forty or fifty years, the greatest possible precaution and reserve is to be recommended in drawing conclusions unfavourable to the authority of Holy Scripture. For if not in the way proposed by Oppert (according to which a break in the list of Assyrian eponyms for nearly fifty years would have to be assumed, and the great difference for this early period derived therefrom; which, however, Schrader, in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenl. Gesellschaft, vol. 2 Chronicles 25 : p. 449 ff., declares to be inadmissible23), yet in some other way, sooner or later, a greater approximation of the divergent testimonies might easily be accomplished, and so the difference of the dates at least considerably reduced—just as the chronological deviations of the Egyptian monuments from the biblical statements were formerly held by many Egyptologists to be more considerable than is now generally the case, after a more thorough and extensive investigation of the existing sources. Neteler has made an attempt, in several respects untenable and precipitate, to reconcile the divergences on both sides in the parts of his Commentary on Chronicles that refer to chronology (pp. 195 ff., 224 ff, 263 ff.), in which he brings down the reigns of the Israelitish and Jewish kings from the division of the kingdom (which he dates at 933 instead of 975 b.C.) to Zedekiah by several decennia (from Josiah at least by several years), and accordingly makes Jehu reign 846–819, Uzziah 786–735, Ahaz 720–705, Hezekiah 706–678 (from 692 with his son Manasseh as co-regent), Josiah 637–607. That this attempt, as well on the biblical side—here chiefly by arbitrary assuming of various co-regencies, as of Amaziah with his father Joash, of Uzziah with Amaziah, of Hezekiah with Ahaz, and of Manasseh with Hezekiah—as on the Assyriologic, rests on several untenable presuppositions (in the latter respect, for example, on the long-since refuted” opinion of the identity of Sargon with Shalmaneser), needs no further demonstration. Comp. Schrader’s critical counter remark in his review of Neteler’s commentary in the Literarischen Centralblatt of the year 1872. As little can we certainly regard the onesided chronology of Schrader, founded on the Assyrian documents, as absolutely satisfactory, especially as it involves not a few uncertainties, and often rests on documents not yet fully interpreted.24
Footnotes:
[1] Kethib: זְוָעָה (as in Jer_15:4, etc.); Keri: זַֽעֲוָה (as, for example, in Deu_28:25).
[2]For the name יְהַלֶּלְאֵל the Sept., c. Al., gives ̓Ιαλλήλ; c. Vat., ’Iλαλεήλ; Vulg., Jalaleel.
[3] Kethib: “Jeuel”; Keri: “Jeiel”; comp. 1Ch_9:35, and elsewhere.
[4] Kethib: “Jehuel”; keri: “Jehiel”. The latter form in 2Ch_31:13 is the kethib.
[5]The Sept. does not express the וְ before עַל־יְדֵי. The Vulg. and Syr. appear to have read it, but render very freely.
[6] kethib: מחצצרים; Keri: מחצרים; as in 1Ch_15:24; 2Ch_5:12; 2Ch_7:6; 2Ch_13:14.
[7]The Sept., Vulg., and apparently the Syr., though it translates rather freely, give up here the Masoretic division of the verse, and join יְבַפֵּר בְּעַד immediately with the following verse. So also R. Kimchi, and after him most of the moderns.
[8]For וַיֹּאבְלוּ, “and they ate,” the Sept. appears to have read וַֽיְבַלּוּ (χαὶ συνετέλεσαν).
[9]The וְ before הַֽלְּוִיִּם in some mss., and in the old versions (Sept., Vulg., Syr.), seems a gloss from 2Ch_30:25. Comp. for the asyndeton: “the priests, the Levites,” for example, 2Ch_23:18.
[10]For לשׁמים some mss. and old prints have השׁמים (accus. of direction).
[11]For מַֽעֲשֵׂר קָדָשִׁים the Sept. (ἐπιδεκατα αἰγῶν καὶ ἡγίασαν) seems to have read וָעֵז וְהַקָּדָשִים, and so named “goats” also along with oxen and sheep.
[12]For בּוֹנַנְיָהוּ the Kethib has twice (2Ch_31:12-13) בָּנַנְיָהוּ (so also Luther).
[13]Instead of בְּתוֹךְ־הָאָרֶץ the Sept. has read בְּתוֹךְ־הָעִיר; but the Masoretic reading is to be preferred on real grounds; comp. 2Ch_32:30; 2Ki_20:20; Sir_48:17.
[14]For וַיַּעַל עַל־מִנְדָּלוֹת (Words which the Sept. leaves untranslated), from the et exstruxit turres desuper of the Vulg., וַיַּעַל עָלֶיהָ מִגְדָּלוֹת seems to have originally stood in the text (Ew., Keil, Kamph., etc.).
[15]The Kethib מיציאו is miswritten for מִיצִיאֵי (contracted from מִן and יְציאֵי, constr. pl. of יָצִיא), a form like מִילידֵי, 1Ch_20:4
[16]Some mss. place אֹיְבָיו after מִיַּד־כֹּל, a supplement which, unnecessary in itself, is not confirmed by the Sept. or Vulg.
[17]The Sept. (καὶ μάνδρας εἰς τὰ ποίμνια) appears to have had another reading; perhaps also the Vulg. (caulasque pecorum); comp. Luther’s translation: “and folds for the sheep.”
[18] Kethib: וַיְּשְּׁרֵם (Pi.); Keri: וַיַּשְּׁרֵם (Pi. contracted).
[19]We refer especially to the writings of Phil. krementz (Present Bishop of Braunsberg),—The Old Testament as the Type of the New (Coblenz, 1863); Israel the Type of the Church, attempt to elucidate the history of Christianity by the typical history of Israel (Mainz, 1865); The Gospel in the Book of Genesis, or the Life of Jesus typified by the History of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph (Coblenz, 1867); The Life of Jesus the prophecy of the History of His Church (Freiburg, 1869): likewise to such works as that of the barefooted Carmelite Carl St. Aloysius, The History of Man, a Divine Work of Creation on the Region of the Moral World (Würzburg, 1861), and so forth. A useful counterpart to the extravagances of these works, with their paralienstic trifling, is pointed our by W. J. Thiersch: Genesis, according to its Moral and prophetical Import (Frankfurt a M. 1869).
[20]Compare the remarks of Rudelbach on the typical relation of the Old Testament prophets to the Reformers in several of his writings; for example, in Reformation, Lutherthum, and Union; in his biography of Savonarola (p. 283 ff.); in the treatise, Die Grundtwig’sche Theorie und die Lutherische Kirche (in the Zeitschrift für die gesammte lutherische Theologie, 1857, i. p. 12). To this should be added the far and wide custom since the Reformation itself (for example, in Zwinglius in his letter ad Zasium, in Melanchthon, etc.) of drawing parallels between Luther and such prophets of the first rank as Elijah, Isaiah, etc. Comp. also Ewald, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, iii.1, pp. 321, 341.
[21]This relation of the Shalmaneser of 2 Kings to the Sargon of Isaiah 20, Oppert and Schrader (Stud. und Krit. 1870. p. 527 ff.: 1871, p. 679 ff.) have now finally established, against the identity or only nominal diversity of these two governors asserted by many (M. v. Niebuhr Dunker, Sayce, Riehm, ect.). Comp. also Diestel, in Knobel’s Isaiah , 4 th edit. p. 169.
[22]
Comp. the juxtaposition of some of the biblical with the corresponding Assyrian dates, as they are presented by Schrader, p. 299.
Assyrian Monuments.Bible.Ahab,854(battle at Karkar)918–896(reign of Ahab)Jehu,842(payment of tribute)884–857( ” of Jehu)Uzziah,745–739(at war with Tiglath-pileser)809–759( ” of Uzziah)Menahem,738(payment of tribute)771–761( ” of Menahem)Pekah,734(conquered by Tiglath-pileser)758–738( ” of Jehu)Hosea,728(last year in which Aus’ih paid tributet Tiglath-pileser)758–738( ” of Hosea)Fall of Samaria,722 722(fall of Samaria)Hezekiah,701(expedition of Sennacherib)714(expedition of Sennacherib)Manasseh,681–673(payment of tribute)696–642(reign of Manasseh).After differing at first about forty or fifty years, then about twenty or thirty, the Assyrian Chronology merges into the biblical in Hosea; in the fall of Samaria the two reckonings coincide; and so mainly in the reign of Manasseh; but with regard to the expedition of Sennacherib, a deviation of full thirteen years again takes place.
[23]Comp. also Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament, p. 300 f.: “By this (granted that such an assumption [as the break of the list of eponyms for forty-seven years] were admissible) the difference between the Bible and the monuments would be expunged so far as the times of Ahab and Jehu are concerned; but john would have paid his tribute, which, according to Oppert’s calculation, must have been presented in the year 888, four years before his accession to the throne, 884. But in the time of Azariah and Menahem the omission of the forty-seven years would produce a still greater gap; at the most, twenty or thirty years would have to be cast off. etc.. . . And besides,. . . this whole notion of a break in the list of eponyms is untenable, and, irrespective of its internal improbability, is simply weecked on the parallel lists of reigns and the rotation of officers, extending over from the one reign to the other, which is thereby preserved to us.
[24]Comp., as the most recent attempt at a critical chronology of this period, the treatise of H. Brand: Die Königs reihen von Juda und Israel nach den bibl. Berichten und den Keilinschriften, Leipzig 1873.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain Ch. 2Ch_29:1-2 (= 2Ki_18:1-3). The Reign of Hezekiah
Ch. 2Ch_29:1-2 (= 2Ki_18:1-3). The Reign of Hezekiah
1. Hezekiah] Heb. “Yehizkiah” (so usually in the Heb. text of Chron.). The form “Hezekiah” (Heb. “Hizkiah”) has been introduced from Kings.
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Abijah] In 2 Kin. “Abi” which is probably only a shortened form of the name.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain HEZEKIAH (chaps, 29-32.; 2 Kings 18-20); Chap. 29.
XXIX.
HEZEKIAH (chaps, 29-32.; 2 Kings 18-20); Chap. 29.
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LENGTH AND SPIRIT OF THE REIGN. THE SOLEMN PURGATION AND HALLOWING OF THE TEMPLE.
(1) Hezekiah.—Heb., Yĕhizqîyâhu, as if “Strong is Iahu.” 2 Kings writes Hizkîyâh, “My strength is Iah;” Isaiah 27, sqq., Hizkîyâhu. The annals of Sennacherib present the form Hazakiyahu.
Abijan.—2 Kings has the shortened form Abi. (This verse closely corresponds with 2Ki_18:2.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The important reign of Hezekiah extends over this and…
The important reign of Hezekiah extends over this and the following three chapters, counting in all ninety-seven verses. The parallel, for the contents of the first three of these chapters, with their sixty-four verses, is limited to the small number of six verses, (2Ki_18:1-6) which in its turn is very much fuller (2Ki_18:7-20) in the subject of our ch. 32. The reason of this so various disposition of matter is by no means wrapt in mystery, our writer"s main object being clearly best subserved in exhibiting the moral and religious aspects of the inner history of Judah, as distinguished from its foreign politics so, for brevity"s sake, to denominate them. The chapter contains Hezekiah"s pious inauguration of reign and appeal to priests and Levites (vers. 1-11); the cleansing (vers. 12-19), reconsecration (vers. 20-30), and thank offerings (vers. 31-37) of the temple.
Hezekiah. The Ezekias (as by margin) 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.
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Vers. 1-36.
The reformation of Hezekiah thing done suddenly.
Hezekiah was the thirteenth of the twenty kings of the line of Judah; but when his reign of twenty-nine years had run to its end, as many as two hundred and eighty-two yearn had sped away of the three hundred and ninety-two of the duration of the line up to the date of the Captivity. It may also be remembered that, of the seven reigns following upon that of Hezekiah, two (those of Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin) lasted only three months each. Something, no doubt, is to be learned from the comparative lengths of the lives of individuals, of kings with their reigns, and of nations. Some solemn law, no doubt, obtains, which, however, especially as regards the first, is to a very great degree simply inscrutable. We can only think with wonder, awe, and the resignation of adoring submission, of the young, the beautiful, the useful, and the most promising and loved being so often taken away, while so many all the reverse remain. We never less dogmatize than when our thought dwells with this mysterious and veiled theme. We are especially helpless to pursue it, to any detail, or in its minutiae and its individual examples. We know that we are even then in the presence of the sovereign Arbiter of life and, what we call, death. One profoundest truth is rather afresh brought to our recollection, than by any means for the first time taught us hereby, viz. that all life and all things here are but a part ay, and that a small part of a vaster scene, vaster scheme, and one measureless for the ken of our present mental horizon. Another probably reliable impression made on us is, not only that time makes for goodness, even in the present shorter and sharper conflicts of good and evil, but that the slower growth of goodness, as compared with the frequently gigantic strides of evil, is providentially calculated for, where often it is simply impossible to us to trace it. The unredeemed evil of Ahaz and his sixteen years, while these lasted, is reduced in its proportions, when viewed as the work of sixteen out of forty-five years, the balance of which was made up of the twenty-nine of Hezekiah. The present chapter, however, of the reign and work of Hezekiah, is itself the account of
I SWIFT WORK. "The thing that was done suddenly," i.e. promptly, and with the promptness that indicated that the doer of it felt it to be such as could not permit nor brook delay. The "suddenness" was no doubt praiseworthy on the part of Hezekiah, and it was a testimony to this, and an encouragement to all imitators of it, that God sanctioned the suddenness, and let nothing fall to the ground because of it, in that he directly contributed to the work and soundness of the whole result by "preparing the people," i.e. disposing their hearts to every good word and work required. Swift and slight work for God is the very last to secure his approval and help; but swift and earnest work, because the "days are few and evil," will have his gracious pardon in respect of many a too probable defect, and with pardon his assisting and preventing help.
II THE PRACTICAL WORK OF CLEANSING. Priests and Levites cleanse themselves; and then the house of God, the altar and all its vessels, the table of shewbread and all its vessels. This was outer work, but not only such; for with an urgency and zeal which proved it but the expression of deep inner conviction, it was pressed on priests and Levites, and also executed by them. King Hezekiah, for the time preacher and prophet, takes the right means to influence those to whom he speaks, that their outward work may go on right motives, and spring from depth of conviction, and be the likelier to be continuous and sustained. He calls their attention plainly to the evil of the ways that had been the ways of the kingdom now these sixteen years, and calls that evil by its right name. It is evil, and it is trespass; and it is "forsaking" God; and it is "turning the face from his habitation, and turning the back" to it; it has involved the criminality and horror of "temple doors shut," of the "perpetual lamp" being made a lie to its own most sacred name, of "incense" refusing its fragrant ascending to heaven, and "altar of burnt offering" a pitiable blank! Hezekiah challenges them to deny that all the suffering of these years past is punishment plain punishment from the just "wrath of the Lord." And punishment it was, as e.g. the being "delivered over to trouble, and astonishment, and hissing;" and with the fresh memories of "fathers fallen by the sword, and of sons, daughters, and wives" being at this time "in captivity." Hezekiah leads the way in lifting the courage, which the terrible retrospect might well go to quench; he tells them of the covenant that he, for his part, purposes "in his heart" and proposes; and, with warm, loving exhortation, entreats their hearty and diligent assent and consent, their not negligent" cooperation, with solemn record of their election and, so to say, ordination vows. This, at all events, looks like an earnest endeavour to repair in the "sixteen days" the evils of the past "sixteen years." For Hezekiah remembers that
Delay is dangerous, sleep disease; And few that slumber, wake.
III THE DEVOUT REMEMBRANCE AND REHEARSING CELEBRATION OF ATONING BLOOD AND THE SPRINKLING THEREOF. Call attention to vers. 21-24; and (in ver. 24) especially to the doctrine couched in the words, "to make reconciliation;" and to the stress laid upon the "atonement" and the "sin offering," being.said to be for all Israel," as signifying, probably, that Hezekiah"s heart yearned again over the schismatic kingdom, and would fain comprehend it within the compass of the blessing of the sacrificial blood.
IV THE DEVOUT REMEMBRANCE AND EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION OF THE BURNT OFFERING, WITH ALL DUE ACCOMPANIMENTS OF PRAISE, SINGING, MUSIC, AND THE FULL PROFESSIONAL CHOIR. The sin offerings must, with all their significance of penitence and humiliation, and confession of punishment deserved, precede. And it appears that, in full number and with faithfulness, they were offered. But after them, with what surrender of themselves, with what abandon of true and "free heart," did the Israelite who was an Israelite indeed take his burnt offering to the altar and the priest! Now, in particular, when the holy worship of the olden and happier times recommenced to the sound of "the song of the Lord with the trumpets and the instruments of David," it was the inspiration of a blessed service indeed. "All the congregation worshipped the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves, and worshipped And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped." "The service of the house of the Lord was set in order," and "God was in the midst of his people.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-11.
The height of opportunity.
To Hezekiah as he ascended the throne of Judah there was presented a very noble opportunity. His father had brought the nation down very low, had left it "naked" to its various enemies, had caused it to incur the sore displeasure of the Lord, had suffered it to reach the very verge of destruction. But he himself was young and strong; he knew what was the secret and what the source of prosperity; he indulged the hope that everything might yet be restored if determination and energy were shown at the right hour. He resolved that, with the help of God, he would be equal to this great emergency, would rise to the height of this noble opportunity; and so he was, and so he did. He had what he needed for it
I ALL DUE PREPARATION IN GODLY TRAINING. For, although his father was an apostate from the true faith, and his example was everything that he should avoid, Hezekiah was not without home influences of another and a very different kind. It is a happy inconsistency we often find in bad men that they are willing for their children to receive the good counsel which themselves disregard and perhaps even despise. Whether due to a contemptuous indifference or to a covert fear, they are willing, sometimes even wishful, that their children should receive a godly education. It is highly probable that from his mother, Abijah, he learnt those truths and received those influences which led him to choose the service of God. Probably Isaiah had access to him; and if so, we may be sure he made use of his opportunity. Whoever did teach and train him must have felt amply rewarded in after-years, when Hezekiah rendered such splendid service to his country. There is sometimes done at the mother"s knee or in the schoolroom a work for God the full fruits of which are never revealed on earth.
II SENSIBILITY. As we read the address which Hezekiah delivered to the priests and the Levites (vers. 5-11), we are impressed with the fact that the speaker was a man of no ordinary sensibility. The things which had happened of late had cut him to the heart. His nation"s dishonour, the domestic sorrows of the people (ver. 9), the overshadowing of the high displeasure of the Almighty, all this moved him to pure and deep emotion. He was a man of strong and profound feeling (see also Isa 38).
III RESOLUTENESS. There is reason to think that the ecclesiastical officials were far from being keenly sympathetic with the king in his work of reformation. The priests were quite in the background, and the Levites needed to be exhorted "not to be negligent" (ver. 11). The king himself not only took the initiative, but he brought to the work a firm resoluteness which carried everything before it. "It is in my heart to make a covenant," he said (ver. 10); and it was clear that the young king, although his elders were before him, and although the reins of government were only just in his hand, intended to carry out his purpose. One strong will, especially when it holds a high place and has a right to speak authoritatively, will drive indecision and even halfheartedness before it.
IV SAGACITY. Hezekiah showed a sagacity which may be said to have been "beyond his years.
1. He recognized the right order of procedure. He felt that the first thing tobe done was to set the nation right with the God whom they had so seriously offended; and he perceived that the first thing to be done to attain this great end was to purify the profaned house of the Lord.
2. He took the leaders of religion into counsel and co-operation. He calledthe Levites and the priests together, and energetically addressed them; he appealed to them in the language of piety and of affection (ver. 11).
3. He understood that all reformation must begin with our own Hearts."sanctify yourselves," he said (ver. 5). It must be the clean hands of the pure heart that cleanse and purify the sanctuary of the Lord.
If we would rise to the height of our opportunity we must do these things.
1. Realize the greatness of the work before us; be impressed and affected by it; be seriously solemnized by it. It is not the cold or the chill heart that will carry a great work through all obstacles and over all toils to a successful issue.
2. Give the first place to the sacred side of the matter; feel that we must have God with us in our work; consider well what are its relations to him, and in what way his favour is to be secured.
3. Make a beginning with ourselves "sanctify ourselves" for the work in hand, by self-examination, by a sincere repentance and return unto God, by a solemn and deliberate rededication of ourselves to our Lord and to his service, by earnest and believing prayer, cleanse our own heart and thus be ready for the part we are to take.
4. Co-operate with our fellows to the utmost of our power; not proudly consider that we alone are sufficient, nor selfishly desire to reserve sacred duty and opportunity for our own hand, nor contentiously make it difficult for others to work with us; but gladly and graciously enter into fellowship with our friends and neighbours. C.
HOMILIES BY T. WHITELAW Vers. 1, 2.
The accession of Hezekiah.
I HIS PERSON.
1. His name. Hezekiah, "The might of Jehovah;" Hizkiyah (; (2Ki_18:1) Hiskiyahu (ver. 1; (Isa_36:1 Isa_37:1, Isa_37:3) with which lastcorresponds Hazakijau, or Hazakiau, of the Assyrian inscriptions.
2. His parentage. His father Ahaz, (2Ch_28:27) to whom while yet a lad he must have been born; (see homily on 2Ch_28:1-27) his mother Abijah, "Father of Jehovah in shortened form, Abi, (2Ki_18:2) the daughter of Zechariah, "a citizen of Jerusalem" (Josephus), perhaps the son of Jeberechiah, a contemporary of Ahaz," (Isa_8:2) not improbably the favourite prophet of Uzziah" (Stanley).
II HIS REIGN.
1. Its commencement.
(1) When he was twenty-five years old; therefore when, having fully attained to manhood, he was old enough to have learnt something of the ruinous results of his father"s career, and of the utter folly as well as wickedness of idolatry.
(2) "In the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, King of Israel", (2Ki_18:1) six years before the carrying away of Israel captive by Shalmaneser, the King of Assyria. (2Ki_18:10)
(3) When Judah as a kingdom had been reduced to a low ebb by the Syro-Ephraimitish war, with the invasions of the Edomites and Philistines, not to speak of the impoverishment of the royal exchequer by the tributes paid to Tiglath-Pileser. (2Ch_28:5, 2Ch_28:6, 2Ch_28:8, 2Ch_28:17, 2Ch_28:21) "Take out of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin one hundred and twenty thousand whom Pekah, the King of Israel, slew in one day; take out two hundred thousand that were carried away captive to Samaria" (these, however, returned); "take out those that were transported into the bondage of the Edomites, and those that were subdued in the south parts by the Philistines; alas! what a handful was left to the King of Judah, scarce worth the name of a dominion!" (Bishop Hall).
1. Its close. After twenty-nine years-upwards of a quarter of a century; a long time for a thoughtful sovereign to bear the responsibilities of a crown, even had the period been peaceful, much more when it was full of trouble and anxiety, both on account of the social and religious degeneracy of his own people, and the threatenings and dangers arising from foreign foes. It was hardly wonderful that Hezekiah"s health should have broken down under the intense strain to which it was subjected.
2. Its contents. These may be gathered from 2 Kings (18-20.), 2 Chronicles (29-32.), and Isaiah (36-39.). The principal events were:
1. The reformation of religion, commenced in the first (ecclesiastical) month of the first year of his reign, by opening and purifying the temple, (2Ch_29:3-36) and concluded in the second month by the celebration of a Passover, (2Ch_30:1) and the demolition of heathen altars in Jerusalem (2Ch_30:13) and throughout the. (2Ch_31:1) To this the king was most likely moved by the impressions made upon his mind by the fierce denunciations of Micah, who had already during the two previous reigns been testifying against the moral and spiritual corruption of the people (Micah 1-3.). "The outward reformation was doubtless the expression of an inward change also" (Stanley).
2. The breaking of the yoke of Assyria and the assertion of the nation"s independence, (2Ki_18:7) with the conducting of a successful campaign against the Philistines, (2Ki_18:8) some time before the fourth year of his reign, (2Ki_18:9) dearly before the capture of Samaria by the King of Assyria. (2Ki_18:10) As the monuments show that the king who commenced the siege of Samaria was Shalmaneser, and the king who finished it was his son Sargon (Schrader, "Keilinschriften," p. 271), it is more than likely that Hezekiah was moved to revolt by the death of Shalmaneser, B.C. 722.
3. The sickness of Hezekiah in his fourteenth year, with the gracious prolongation of his life for fifteen more years (2Ch_32:24-26; 2Ki_20:1-11; Isa_38:1-22)
(4) The imprudent reception of Merodach-Baladan"s ambassadors, who had been sent ostensibly to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery, but really to obtain his assistance against Sargon of Assyria (2 Chronicles (2Ki_20:12; Isa_39:1)
(5) The conquest of Judah and the capture of Jerusalem by Sargon, in Hezekiah"s fourteenth year, not mentioned by the Chronicler or the author of the Kings, but described by Isaiah (10, 11.), who represents an Assyrian monarch as first conquering Calno, Carehemish, Hamath, Arpbad, Damascus, and Samarla, and then advancing towards Jerusalem "by the usual high-road from the north-east, and halting at Nob, only an hour"s journey distant from Jerusalem, in which also (cf. ch. 22.) the prophet presents the picture of a siege which has already lasted some time, and which can only be explained by Sargon" (Sayce, " Fresh Light," etc., p. 139). This conquest of Judah, the monuments show, was carried out in connection with Sargon"s expedition against Ashdod, which he entrusted to his tartan, or commander, (Isa_20:1) while he himself "overran thewidespreading land of Judah, and captured its capital" (Sayce, "Fresh Light," etc., p. 137; cf. G. Smith"s "Assyrian Discoveries," pp. 288-293).
(6) The fortification of Jerusalem in anticipation of the above attack upon his capital, not by Sennacherib, (2Ch_32:1-8) but by Sargon.
(7) The invasion of Judah by Sennacherib, not in Hezekiah"s fourteenth, (2Ki_18:13-16) but in his twenty-fourth year, since, according to the monuments, Sargon was murdered in B.C. 705, while Sennacherib"s campaign against Syria and the West did not begin till B.C. 701.
(8) The submission of Hezekiah to Sennacherib at Lachish. (2Ki_18:14-16)
(9) The siege of Jerusalem by Scnnacherib"s captains, Tartan, Rabshakeh, and Rabsaris (2Ch_32:9-22; 2Ki_18:17-37; 2Ki_19:1-36; Isa_36:2-22; Isa_37:1-37)
(10) The reception of a blasphemous letter from Sennacherib, with the prayer to which it led (2Ch_32:20; 2Ki_19:8-34; Isa_37:8-35)
(11) The destruction of Sennacherib"s army (2Ch_32:21; 2Ki_19:35; Isa_37:36)
(12) The extension of Hezekiah"s fame in consequence of this deliverance. (2Ch_32:23)
III HIS CHARACTER.
1. Good. "He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done" (ver. 2). With this agrees the testimony of 2 Kings, (2Ki_18:5, 2Ki_18:6) that,his piety
(1) sprang from the right root faith: "he trusted in the Lord God of Israel;
(2) evinced the right quality constancy: "he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him;" and
(3) produced the right fruit obedience: "he kept the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses." The causes which led to Hezekiah"s conversion were doubtless manifold:
(1) Divine grace, without which no change of heart or life can be permanently good; (Joh_3:7) (1Co_15:10)
(2) prophetic instruction, given by Isaiah, (Isa_37:2) Micah, Jeremiah, (Jer_26:18, Jer_26:19) and Zechariah, his maternal grandfather no lasting transformation being effected on the mind or character except through the medium of the truth (Psa_19:7 Psa_119:9; Mic_2:7; Joh_15:3) and
(3) personal observation of the sinfulness and ruinous consequences of idolatry.
2. Energetic. Sufficiently apparent from the above-recited record of his life. Besides being a pious sovereign, he was a military commander of pronounced skill and undaunted courage, (2Ch_32:3-8) a wise and judicious civil administrator, (2Ch_32:27-30) a zealous and unwearied religious reformer (ch. 29-31.), a student and patron of letters, (Pro_25:1) an antiquarian and a poet (2Ch_32:27; 2Ki_23:12; Isa_38:9-20) In short, Hezekiah was "one of the most splendid princes that ever adorned the throne of David, and whose reign of nine and twenty years exhibits an almost unclouded picture of persistent struggles against the most embarrassed and difficult circumstances, crowned with elevating victories" (Ewald, "History of Israel," 4:172).
Learn:
1. That Divine grace is stronger than hereditary corruption.
2. That God can raise up great men when such are demanded by the times.
3. That the hidden root of all true nobility in man is faith in God, andsteadfast adherence to truth and right. W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Hezekiah began to reign.
2Ch_29:1-11
Hezekiah began to reign.
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Hezekiahs reformation
The surroundings of Hezekiah in his youth seem, at first view, to have been unfavourable in the extreme. He was the son of a depraved father. He grew up at a corrupt court. Good kings and bad follow one another in very illogical succession. It must be that there is a self-acting power at the centre of every personal life. Let us cling to the belief, too, that, however vast the moral inequalities of human lives may be, no life is allowed by the Creator to be altogether destitute of gracious influences. In Hezekiahs case, at least, we can have no doubt that such influences were present. It is not unnatural to believe that his mother, presumably the daughter of Zechariah, the faithful prophet of King Uzziahs day, was a woman of devout character. To the loving nurture of a mother was added the faithful counsel of godly men. Moral giants lived in those days. Micah was prophesying, Nahum was about to begin his work. During the entire lifetime of Hezekiah, Isaiah was fulfilling his office in Jerusalem. Tradition says that he was Hezekiahs tutor; there can be no doubt that he was his faithful counsellor. Repulsed by the father, he would naturally turn with greater earnestness to the son. But all this touches only the outer circle of the gracious influences by which Hezekiah was encompassed. It has been said, and there is a world of truth in the saying, that more than half of the environment of any man is--God. The God who is not far from every one of us was near to the young prince in the corrupt capital of Judah. We have good reason for believing that Hezekiah had not been unresponsive to his heavenly promptings. A work begun so quickly after his accession to the throne must have been premeditated. We must suppose that Hezekiah had lived a thoughtful life. The character of the work to which the king addressed himself is deserving of attention. It was a radical work. Great as was the peril to which the kingdom was exposed from external attack, great as was its moral unsoundness, Hezekiah saw that all its trouble was rooted in ungodliness. The kings initial sot in opening the doors of the house of the Lord was, it is likely, more philosophical than he himself realised. Reverence for God lies at the basis of all that is trustworthy in private character and of all that is enduring in public order. Hezekiahs reform was also positive in nature. It addressed itself not chiefly to the extermination of idolatry, but to the development of a genuine faith. Of their own accord the people went out to break in pieces the emblems of idolatry. When God wishes to regenerate the soul He does not at the outset uproot sinful affections, He implants love for Himself. Hezekiahs was a thoroughgoing work. The taunting charge of illiberality could not extort from him the smallest concession to the false religions of other lands. Not only image and grove--the sacred pillar or tree of Astarte--were to be hewn down, but the worship of the high places was to be destroyed. Of Asa and Jehoshaphat we are told both that they did and that they did not interfere with this form of worship. They probably destroyed such sanctuaries as had become openly idolatrous, and allowed the others to remain. But Hezekiah adopted extreme measures. The brazen serpent fashioned by Moses in the wilderness, and still preserved, the people regarded with superstitious veneration. Hezekiah declared that the image was like any other piece of brass, and broke it in pieces. Hezekiah would not consent that even the germs of idolatry should remain in the land. How difficult was the mission to which Hezekiah thus committed himself! In the mode of procedure adopted by Hezekiah in carrying through his reformation are certain things worthy of notice.
1. It is peculiarly gratifying to observe that he acted promptly. The die was cast. In the first month of his reign Hezekiah, like Abraham, who, when bidden to offer Isaac, rose up early in the morning and went to the place of which God had told him, was wise in allowing himself no time for hesitation. Delay never softens the hard aspects of duty or lessens its difficulties. For committing ones self to the service of Christ no other time is so favourable as the first year, the first month, the first day, of ones entrance upon a new sort or period of life.
2. It is instructive to notice that Hezekiah engaged personally in the work of reform. He did not commit it all to subalterns.
3. Deserving of special mention is the fact that in the prosecution of his policy Hezekiah relied chiefly upon moral influences. He might have compelled, but he chose rather to persuade. In this he showed the utmost wisdom. If the reform was to be real, the hearts of the people must be enlisted in it. We are, finally, prepared to inquire what results were effected by the kings determined effort. The immediate outcome was most gratifying and most wonderful. The officers of religion responded--the priests somewhat slowly, but the Levites with all their hearts. The people did the same. The nation felt to its utmost limits the electric thrill of a new life. The crusade against idolatry waxed strong throughout the kingdom, and a burst of spring-time, as Dean Stanley beautifully calls it, succeeded. The thing was done suddenly, the record says. But is not the same true of well-nigh every successful reform? Those advocating a righteous cause have at least two excellent reasons for viewing it with larger hope than external appearances warrant. Something in every moral being is in secret alliance with truth and justice. The second reason is stronger still; it is that by which the sacred historian explains the success of Hezekiah: The Lord had prepared the people. We may reckon with confidence upon Gods care over any work of His. To the reformatory work of King Hezekiah must be attributed a result still more imposing, though to be sure not more important. It delivered the southern kingdom from the fearful peril by which the northern kingdom had been overwhelmed. Is it not a painful thing to have to add that even so thorough a reform as this did not prove lasting? Some of the people doubtless remained steadfast, but the most fell away. (T. S. Barbour.)
Hezekiah, the good king
I. Hezekiahs good beginning.
1. Correct in life (verse 2).
2. Prompt in action (verse 8).
3. Holy in influence (verse 5).
II. Hezekiahs sad confession.
1. The Lord forsaken (verse 6).
2. The sanctuary abandoned (verse 7).
3. The penalty incurred (verse 8).
III. Hezekiahs wise appeal.
1. To make a covenant (verse 10).
2. To avert wrath (verse 10).
3. To perform duty (verse 11). (Sunday School Times.)
Hezekiahs reformation
The best way to settle a kingdom is to settle the religion of it, to begin reigning with reforming. Hezekiahs reformation went on in a true step and pace, for it began first with the temple and ministry. It is but Christian prudence to cleanse the spring if we would have the stream clear; to look to Gods house, and those that should dispense His Word and ordinances if we would have the people brought into conformity with Him. (T. Manton, D.D.)
Starting well
A friend, who is deeply interested in work for Christ among our sailors, told me that at the close of a prayer-meeting of which he had been the leader, a young seaman, who had only a few nights before been converted, came up to him, and laying a blank card before him, requested him to write a few words upon it, because, as he said, You will do it more plainly than I can. What must I write? said my friend. Write these words, sir; I love Jesus--do you? After he had written them, my friend said, Now you must tell me what you are going to do with the card. He replied, I am going to sea to-morrow, and I am afraid if I do not take a stand at once I may begin to be ashamed of my religion, and let myself be laughed out of it altogether. Now as soon as I go on board, I shall walk straight to my bunk and nail up this card upon it, that every one may know that I am a Christian.
Hezekiahs action, the result of previous brooding
The statement in verse 8 may be taken as a general resume of what follows in detail, but this vigorous speech to the priests was clearly among the new kings first sets. No doubt his purpose had slowly grown while his father was affronting Heaven with his mania for idols. Such decisive, swift action does not come without protracted, previous brooding. The hidden fires gather slowly in the silent crater, however rapidly they burst out at last. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
Taking the right stand at first
We can never begin good things too early, and when we come into new positions, it is always prudence as well as bravery to show our colours unmistakably from the first. Many a young man, launched among fresh associations, has been ruined because of beginning with temporising timidity. It is easier to take the right standing at first than to shift to it afterwards. Hezekiah might have been excused if he had thought that the wretched state of political affairs left by Ahaz needed his first attention. Edomites on the east, Philistines on the west and south, Syrians and Assyrians on the north, compassed him about like bees, and worldly prudence would have said, Look after these enemies to-day, and the temple to-morrow. He was wiser than that, knowing that these were effects of the religious corruption, and so he went at that first. It is useless trying to mend a nations fortunes unless you mend its morals and religion. And there are some things which are best done quickly, both in individual and national life. Leaving off bad habits by degrees is not hopeful. The only thing to be done is to break with them utterly and at once. One strong, swift blow, right through the heart, kills the wild beast. Slighter cuts may make him bleed to death, but he may kill you first. The existing state was undeniably sinful. There was no need for deliberation as to that. Therefore there was no reason for delay. Let us learn the lesson that, where conscience has no doubts, we should have no dawdling. I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandment. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
He brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together.
Co-operation needed
No one is so strong that he needs no help in carrying out his plans of reform. The head of a nation or of a state must have the co-operation of many, if he would correct abuses and promote a better state of things in the administration of his government. A pastor must seek the aid of the leaders of his people in trying to raise the standard of his church. A superintendent cannot carry his school to any higher point than that to which he can first bring his teachers. The head of a business establishment, who neglects to give wise counsel to those just below him, finds the lack of it in all the departments which they oversee. The true method of uplifting the masses is by uplifting the leaders of the masses. (H. Clay Trumbull.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain 2 Chronicles 29-32
HEZEKIAH: THE RELIGIOUS VALUE OF MUSIC
2 Chronicles 29-32
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THE bent of the chroniclers mind is well illustrated by the proportion of space assigned to ritual by him and by the book of Kings respectively. In the latter a few lines only are devoted to ritual, and the bulk of the space is given to the invasion of Sennacherib, the embassy from Babylon, etc., while in Chronicles ritual occupies about three times as many verses as personal and public affairs.
Hezekiah, though not blameless, was all but perfect in his loyalty to Jehovah. The chronicler reproduces the customary formula for a good king: "He did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done"; but his cautious judgment rejects the somewhat rhetorical statement in Kings that "after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him."
Hezekiahs policy was made clear immediately after his accession. His zeal for reformation could tolerate no delay; the first month of the first year of his reign saw him actively engaged in the good work. It was no light task that lay before him. Not only were there altars in every corner of Jerusalem and idolatrous high places in every city of Judah, but the Temple services had ceased, the lamps were put out, the sacred vessels cut in pieces, the Temple had been polluted and then closed, and the priests and Levites were scattered. Sixteen years of licensed idolatry must have fostered all that was vile in the country, have put wicked men in authority, and created numerous vested interests connected by close ties with idolatry, notably the priests of all the altars and high places. On the other hand, the reign of Ahaz had been an unbroken series of disasters; the people had repeatedly endured the horrors of invasion. His government as time went on must have become more and more unpopular, for when he died he was not buried in the sepulchers of the kings. As idolatry was a prominent feature of his policy, there would be a reaction in favor of the worship of Jehovah, and there would not be wanting true believers to tell the people that their sufferings were a consequence of idolatry. To a large party in Judah Hezekiahs reversal of his fathers religious policy would be as welcome as Elizabeths declaration against Rome was to most Englishmen.
Hezekiah began by opening and repairing the doors of the Temple. Its closed doors had been a symbol of the national repudiation of Jehovah; to reopen them was necessarily the first step in the reconciliation of Judah to its God, but only the first step. The doors were open as a sign that Jehovah was invited to return to His people and again to manifest His presence in the Holy of holies, so that through those open doors Israel might have access to Him by means of the priests. But the Temple was as yet no fit place for the presence of Jehovah. With its lamps extinguished, its sacred vessels destroyed, its floors and walls thick with dust and full of all filthiness, it was rather a symbol of the apostasy of Judah. Accordingly Hezekiah sought the help of the Levites. It is true that he is first said to have collected together priests and Levites, but from that point onward the priests are almost entirely ignored.
Hezekiah reminded the Levites of the misdoings of Ahaz and his adherents and the wrath which they had brought upon Judah and Jerusalem; he told them it was his purpose to conciliate Jehovah by making a covenant with Him; he appealed to them as the chosen ministers of Jehovah and His temple to co-operate heartily in this good work.
The Levites responded to his appeal apparently rather in acts than words. No spokesman replies to the kings speech, but with prompt obedience they set about their work forthwith; they arose, Kohathites, sons of Merari, Gershonites, sons of Elizaphan, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun-the chronicler has a Homeric fondness for catalogues of high-sounding names - the leaders of all these divisions are duly mentioned. Kohath, Gershon, and Merari are well known as the three great clans of the house of Levi; and here we find the three guilds of singers-Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun-placed on a level with the older clans. Elizaphan was apparently a division of the clan Kohath, which, like the guilds of singers, had obtained an independent status. The result is to recognize seven divisions of the tribe.
The chiefs of the Levites gathered their brethren together, and having performed the necessary rites of ceremonial cleansing for themselves, went in to cleanse the Temple; that is to say, the priests went into the holy place and the Holy of holies and brought out "all the uncleanness" into the court, and the Levites carried it away to the brook Kidron: but before the building itself could be reached eight days were spent in cleansing the courts, and then the priests went into the Temple itself and spent eight days in cleansing it, in the manner described above. Then they reported-to the king that the cleansing was finished, and especially that "all the vessels which King Ahaz cast away" had been recovered and reconsecrated with due ceremony. We were told in the previous chapter that Ahaz had cut to pieces the vessels of the Temple, but these may have been other vessels.
Then Hezekiah celebrated a great dedication feast; seven bullocks, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven he-goats were offered as a sin-offering for the dynasty, for the Temple, for Judah, and (by special command of the king) for all Israel, i.e., for the northern tribes as well as for Judah and Benjamin. Apparently this sin-offering was made in silence, but afterwards the king set the Levites and priests in their places with their musical instruments, and when the burnt-offering began the song of Jehovah began with the trumpets together with the instruments of David king of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded, and all this continued till the burnt-offering was finished.
When the people had been formally reconciled to Jehovah by this representative national sacrifice, and thus purified from the uncleanness of idolatry and consecrated afresh to their God, they were permitted and invited to make individual sacrifices, thank-offerings and burnt-offerings. Each man might enjoy for himself the renewed privilege of access to Jehovah, and obtain the assurance of pardon for his sins, and offer thanksgiving for his own special blessings. And they brought offerings in abundance: seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs for a burnt-offering; and six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep for thank-offerings. Thus were the Temple services restored and re-inaugurated; and Hezekiah and the people rejoiced because they felt that this unpremeditated outburst of enthusiasm was due to the gracious influence of the Spirit of Jehovah.
The chroniclers narrative is somewhat marred by a touch of professional jealousy. According to the ordinary ritual, {Lev_1:6} the offerer flayed the burnt-offerings; but for some special reason, perhaps because of the exceptional solemnity of the occasion, this duty now devolved upon the priests. But the burnt-offerings were abundant beyond all precedent; the priests were too few for the work, and the Levites were called in to help them, "for the Levites were more upright in heart to purify themselves than the priests." Apparently even in the second Temple brethren did not always dwell together in unity.
Hezekiah had now provided for the regular services of the Temple, and had given the inhabitants of Jerusalem a full opportunity of returning to Jehovah; but the people of the provinces were chiefly acquainted with the Temple through the great annual festivals. These, too, had long been in abeyance; and special steps had to be taken to secure their future observance. In order to do this, it was necessary to recall the provincials to their allegiance to Jehovah. Under ordinary circumstances the great festival of the Passover would have been observed in the first month, but at the time appointed for the paschal feast the Temple was still unclean, and the priests and Levites were occupied in its purification, But Hezekiah could not endure that the first year of his reign should be marked by the omission of this great feast. He took counsel with the princes and public assembly-nothing is said about the priests-and they decided to hold the Passover in the second month instead of the first. We gather from casual allusions in 2Ch_30:6-8 that the kingdom of Samaria had already come to an end; the people had been carried into captivity, and only a remnant were left. in the land. From this point the kings of Judah act as religious heads of the whole nation and territory of Israel. Hezekiah sent invitations to all Israel from Dan to Beersheba. He made special efforts to secure a favorable response from the northern tribes, sending letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, i.e., to the ten tribes under their leadership. He reminded them that their brethren had gone into captivity because the northern tribes had deserted the Temple; and held out to them the hope that, if they worshipped at the Temple and served Jehovah, they should themselves escape further calamity, and their brethren and children who had gone into captivity should return to their own land.
"So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun." Either Zebulun is used in a broad sense for all the Galilean tribes, or the phrase "from Beersheba to Dan" is merely rhetorical, for to the north, between Zebulun and Dan, lay the territories of Asher and Naphtali. It is to be noticed that the tribes beyond Jordan are nowhere referred to; they had already fallen out of the history of Israel, and were scarcely remembered in the time of the chronicler.
Hezekiahs appeal to the surviving communities of the Northern Kingdom failed; they laughed his messengers to scorn, and mocked them; but individuals responded to his invitation in such numbers that they are spoken of as "a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun." There were also men of Asher among the northern pilgrims. {Cf. 2Ch_30:11; 2Ch_30:18}
The pious enthusiasm of Judah stood out in vivid contrast to the stubborn impenitence of the majority of the ten tribes. By the grace of God, Judah was of one heart to observe the feast appointed by Jehovah through the king and princes, so that there was gathered in Jerusalem a very great assembly of worshippers, surpassing even the great gatherings which the chronicler had witnessed at the annual feasts.
But though the Temple had been cleansed, the Holy City was not yet free from the taint of idolatry. The character of the Passover demanded that not only the Temple, but the whole city, should be pure. The paschal lamb was eaten at home, and the doorposts of the house were sprinkled with its blood. But Ahaz had set up altars at every corner of the city; no devout Israelite could tolerate the symbols of idolatrous worship close to the house in which he celebrated the solemn rites Of the Passover. Accordingly before the Passover was killed these altars were removed.
Then the great feast began; but after long years of idolatry neither the people nor the priests and Levites were sufficiently familiar with the rites of the festival to be able to perform them without some difficulty and confusion. As a rule each head of a household killed his own lamb; but many of the worshippers, especially those from the north, were not ceremonially clean: and this task devolved upon the Levites. The immense concourse of worshippers and the additional work thrown upon the Temple ministry must have made extraordinary demands on their zeal and energy. {Cf. 2Ch_29:34; 2Ch_30:3} At first apparently they hesitated, and were inclined to abstain from discharging their usual duties. A passover in a month not appointed by Moses, but decided on by the civil authorities without consulting the priesthood, might seem a doubtful and dangerous innovation. Recollecting Azariahs successful assertion of hierarchical prerogative against Uzziah, they might be inclined to attempt a similar resistance to Hezekiah. But the pious enthusiasm of the people clearly showed that the Spirit of Jehovah inspired their somewhat irregular zeal; so that the ecclesiastical officials were shamed out of their unsympathetic attitude, and came forward to take their full share and even more than their full share in this glorious rededication of Israel to Jehovah.
But a further difficulty remained: uncleanness not only disqualified from killing the paschal lambs, but from taking any part in the Passover; and a multitude of the people were unclean. Yet it would have been ungracious and even dangerous to discourage their newborn zeal by excluding them from the festival; moreover, many of them were worshippers from among the ten tribes, who had come in response to a special invitation, which most of their fellow-country-men had rejected with scorn and contempt. If they had been sent back because they had failed to cleanse themselves according to a ritual of which they were ignorant, and of which Hezekiah might have known they would be ignorant, both the king and his guests would have incurred measureless ridicule from the impious northerners. Accordingly they were allowed to take part in the Passover despite their uncleanness. But this permission could only be granted with serious apprehensions as to its consequences. The Law threatened with death any one who attended the services of the sanctuary in a state of uncleanness. {Lev_15:31} Possibly there were already signs of an outbreak of pestilence; at any rate, the dread of Divine punishment for sacrilegious presumption would distress the whole assembly and mar their enjoyment of Divine fellowship. Again it is no priest or prophet, but the king, the Messiah, who comes forward as the mediator between God and man. Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "Jehovah, in His grace and mercy, pardon every one that setteth his heart to seek Elohim Jehovah, the God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the ritual of the Temple. And Jehovah hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people," i.e., either healed them from actual disease or relieved them from the fear of pestilence.
And so the feast went on happily and prosperously, and was prolonged by acclamation for an additional seven days. During fourteen days king and princes, priests and Levites, Jews and Israelites, rejoiced before Jehovah; thousands of bullocks and sheep smoked upon the altar; and now the priests were not backward: great numbers purified themselves to serve the popular devotion. The priests and Levites sang and made melody to Jehovah, so that the Levites earned the kings special commendation. The great festival ended with a solemn benediction: "The priests arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to His holy habitation, even unto heaven." The priests, and through them the people, received the assurance that their solemn and prolonged worship had met with gracious acceptance.
We have already more than once had occasion to consider the chroniclers main theme: the importance of the Temple, its ritual, and its ministers. Incidentally and perhaps unconsciously, he here suggests another lesson, which is specially significant as coming from an ardent ritualist, namely the necessary limitations of uniformity in ritual. Hezekiahs celebration of the Passover is full of irregularities: it is held in the wrong month; it is prolonged to twice the usual period; there are amongst the worshippers multitudes of unclean persons, whose presence at these services ought to have been visited with terrible punishment. All is condoned on the ground of emergency, and the ritual laws are set aside without consulting the ecclesiastical officials. Everything serves to emphasize the lesson we touched on in connection with Davids sacrifices at the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite: ritual is made for man, and not man for ritual. Complete uniformity may be insisted on in ordinary times, but can be dispensed with in any pressing emergency; necessity knows no law, not even the Torah of the Pentateuch. Moreover, in such emergencies it is not necessary to wait for the initiative or even the sanction of ecclesiastical officials; the supreme authority in the Church in all its great crises resides in the whole body of believers. No one is entitled to speak with greater authority on the limitations of ritual than a strong advocate of the sanctity of ritual like the chronicler; and we may well note, as one of the most conspicuous marks of his inspiration, the sanctified common sense shown by his frank and sympathetic record of the irregularities of Hezekiahs passover. Doubtless emergencies had arisen even in his own experience of the great feasts of the Temple that had taught him this lesson; and it says much for the healthy tone of the Temple community in his day that he does not attempt to reconcile the practice of Hezekiah with the law of Moses by any harmonistic quibbles.
The work of purification and restoration, however, was still incomplete: the Temple had been cleansed from the pollutions of idolatry, the heathen altars had been removed from Jerusalem, but the high places remained in all the cities of Judah. When the Passover was at last finished, the assembled multitude, "all Israel that were present," set out, like the English or Scotch Puritans, on a great iconoclastic expedition. Throughout the length and breadth of the Land of Promise, throughout Judah and Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh, they brake in pieces the sacred pillars, and hewed down the Asherim, and brake down the high places and altars; then they went home.
Meanwhile Hezekiah was engaged in reorganizing the priests and Levites and arranging for the payment and distribution of the sacred dues. The king set an example of liberality by making provision for the daily, weekly, monthly, and festival offerings. The people were not slow to imitate him; they brought first-fruits and tithes in such abundance that four months were spent in piling up heaps of offerings.
"Thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah; and he wrought that which was good, and right, and faithful before Jehovah his God; and in every work that he began in the service of the Temple, and in the Law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and brought it to a successful issue."
Then follow an account of the deliverance from Sennacherib and of Hezekiahs recovery from sickness, a reference to his undue pride in the matter of the embassy from Babylon, and a description of the prosperity of his reign, all for the most part abridged from the book of Kings. The prophet Isaiah, however, is almost ignored. A few of the more important modifications deserve some little attention. We are told that the Assyrian invasion was "after these things and this faithfulness," in order that we may not forget that the Divine deliverance was a recompense for Hezekiahs loyalty to Jehovah. While the book of Kings tells us that Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, the chronicler feels that even this measure of misfortune would not have been allowed to befall a king who had just reconciled Israel to Jehovah, and merely says that Sennacherib purposed to break these cities up.
The chronicler has preserved an account of the measures taken by Hezekiah for the defense of his capital: how he stopped up the fountains and water-courses outside the city, so that a besieging army might not find water, and repaired and strengthened the walls, and encouraged his people to trust in Jehovah.
Probably the stopping of the water supply outside the walls was connected with an operation mentioned at the close of the narrative of Hezekiahs reign: "Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David." {2Ch_32:30} Moreover, the chroniclers statements are based upon 2Ki_20:20, where it is said that "Hezekiah made the pool and the conduit and brought water to the city." The chronicler was of course intimately acquainted with the topography of Jerusalem in his own days, and uses his knowledge to interpret and expand the statement in the book of Kings. He was possibly guided in part by Isa_22:9; Isa_22:11, where the "gathering together the waters of the lower pool" and the "making a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool" are mentioned as precautions taken in view of a probable Assyrian siege. The recent investigations of the Palestine Exploration Fund have led to the discovery of aqueducts, and stoppages, and diversions of watercourses which are said to correspond to the operations mentioned by the chronicler. If this be the case, they show a very accurate knowledge on his part of the topography of Jerusalem in his own day, and also illustrate his care to utilize all existing evidence in order to obtain a clear and accurate interpretation of the statements of his authority.
The reign of Hezekiah appears a suitable opportunity to introduce a few remarks on the importance which the chronicler attaches to the music of the Temple services. Though the music is not more prominent with him than with some earlier kings, yet in the case of David, Solomon, and Jehoshaphat other subjects presented themselves for special treatment; and Hezekiahs reign being the last in which the music of the sanctuary is specially dwelt upon, we are able here to review the various references to this subject. For the most part the chronicler tells his story of the virtuous days of the good kings to a continual accompaniment of Temple music. We hear of the playing and singing when the Ark was brought to the house of Obed-edom; when it was taken into the city of David; at the dedication of the Temple; at the battle between Abijah and Jeroboam; at Asas reformation; in connection with the overthrow of the Ammonites, Moabites, and Meunim in the reign of Jehoshaphat; at the coronation of Joash; at Hezekiahs feasts; and again, though less emphatically, at Josiahs passover. No doubt the special prominence given to the subject indicates a professional interest on the part of the author. If, however, music occupies an undue proportion of his space, and he has abridged accounts of more important matters to make room for his favorite theme, yet there is no reason to suppose that his actual statements overrate the extent to which music was used in worship or the importance attached to it. The older narratives refer to the music in the case of David and Joash, and assign psalms and songs to David and Solomon. Moreover, Judaism is by no means alone in its fondness for music, but shares this characteristic with almost all religions.
We have spoken of the chronicler so far chiefly as a professional musician, but it should be clearly understood that the term must be taken in its best sense. He was by no means so absorbed in the technique of his art as to forget its sacred significance; he was not less a worshipper himself because he was the minister or agent of the common worship. His accounts of the festivals show a hearty appreciation of the entire ritual; and his references to the music do not give us the technical circumstances of its production, but rather emphasize its general effect. The chroniclers sense of the religious value of music is largely that of a devout worshipper, who is led to set forth for the benefit of others a truth which is the fruit of his own experience. This experience is not confined to trained musicians; indeed, a scientific knowledge of the art may sometimes interfere with its devotional influence. Criticism may take the place of worship; and the hearer, instead of yielding to the sacred suggestions of hymn or anthem, may be distracted by his esthetic judgment as to the merits of the composition and the skill shown by its rendering. In the same way critical appreciation of voice, elocution, literary style, and intellectual power does not always conduce to edification from a sermon. In the truest culture, however, sensitiveness to these secondary qualities has become habitual and automatic, and blends itself imperceptibly with the religious consciousness of spiritual influence. The latter is thus helped by excellence and only slightly hindered by minor defects in the natural means. But the very absence of any great scientific knowledge of music may leave the spirit open to the spell which sacred music is intended to exercise, so that all cheerful and guileless souls may be "moved with concord of sweet sounds," and sad and weary hearts find comfort in subdued strains that breathe sympathy of which words are incapable.
Music, as a mode of utterance moving within the restraints of a regular order, naturally attaches itself to ritual. As the earliest literature is poetry, the earliest liturgy is musical. Melody is the simplest and most obvious means by which the utterances of a body of worshippers can be combined into a seemly act of worship. The mere repetition of the same words by a congregation in ordinary speech is apt to he wanting in impressiveness or even in decorum; the use of tune enables a congregation to unite in worship even when many of its members are strangers to each other.
Again, music may be regarded as an expansion of language: not new dialect, but a collection of symbols that can express thought, and more especially emotion, for which mere speech has no vocabulary. This new form of language naturally becomes an auxiliary of religion. Words are clumsy instruments for the expression of the heart, and are least efficient when they undertake to set forth moral and spiritual ideas. Music can transcend mere speech in touching the soul to fine issues, suggesting visions of things ineffable and unseen.
Browning makes Abt Vogler say of the most enduring and supreme hopes that God has granted to men, "Tis we musicians know"; but the message of music comes home with power to many who have no skill in its art.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain CRITICAL NOTES.] Hezekiah’s reign commenced and carried through four…
CRITICAL NOTES.] Hezekiah’s reign commenced and carried through four chapters in marked contrast with corresponding portion (2 Kings 18-20). The writer of Kings fixes on civil affairs—the two invasions of Sennacherib and on the embassy of Merodach-baladan, related at length, passing lightly and hastily over Hezekiah’s reformation (ch. 2Ch_18:4-7), the author of Chron. gives a full account of this latter in three chapters (29–31), compressing into one
(31) the whole that he has to say of the civil history of the reign. Thus chs. 29 to 31 of 2 Chron. contain matter which is almost wholly new; while ch. 32. is little more than a brief summary of what the writer of Kings has related fully in the three chapters which he has devoted to this reign [Speak. Com.].
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2Ch_29:1-11,—H.’s good beginning and restoration of worship. Zech., possibly the person given Isa_8:2. Right, his father’s idolatry revolting to him; he began restoration at once. 2Ch_29:3. Opened doors closed by his father (ch. 2Ch_28:24); repaired, lit. made them strong, damaged by Ahaz (cf. 2Ki_18:16). 2Ch_29:4. East street, probably open space before eastern gate. Sanctify, Levitical purity (1Ch_15:12-13). Filth, stains of idolatry. 2Ch_29:6. Fathers, Ahaz and his contemporaries. Turned back, not looking towards rising sun, as Eze_8:16, with their faces from the Temple; but, figuratively, for neglecting and despising God. 2Ch_29:7. Acts of Ahaz. 2Ch_29:8. Punishment for these acts in expressions which are new and have no parallel in the rest of Chron., one which Hez. might naturally use, for it had occurred in a prophecy of Micah (2Ch_6:16), his contemporary and monitor (Jer_26:18), which was probably uttered towards the close of Ahaz’s reign. In Jeremiah phrase becomes common (Jer_18:16; Jer_19:8; Jer_25:9, &c.) [Speak. Com.]. 2Ch_29:9. Cf. ch. 2Ch_28:6-8. 2Ch_29:10. Purpose of H. 2Ch_29:11. Sons, affectionate, hearty appeal to priests and Levites. Negligent, remiss; burn, make any fire offering generally.
2Ch_29:12-19.—The Temple cleansed. Fourteen chiefs undertake to collect and prepare their brethren. 2Ch_29:15. At commandment of king, “in the business (matters) of the Lord,” prescribed by law (Exo_19:22; Lev_11:44). 2Ch_29:16. Priests only entered the house of the Lord. Whatever found there unclean they brought into the outer court, where Levites took it from them to carry beyond boundary of Temple. Kidron (ch. 2Ch_30:14; 2Ki_23:12). 2Ch_29:17. Work began first day with purification of courts and reached porch eighth day. Then eight days more to cleanse Temple; sixteen altogether. 2Ch_29:18. Altar, great brazen, before porch. 2Ch_29:19. Cast away (ch. 2Ch_28:24; 2Ki_16:14).
2Ch_29:20-26.—Hez.’s sin-offering. Early next day H. went with princes, without waiting to assemble representatives of the nation. 2Ch_29:21. Seven, number of covenant. Kingdom, i.e., for sins of kings and predecessors; sanctuary, for sins of priests; Judah, for sins of the nation. 2Ch_29:22. Blood expiates, and Levitical rites duly observed in shedding it. 2Ch_29:23. Sin-offering; hands (Lev_1:4; Lev_4:15; Lev_4:24). 2Ch_29:24. All Israel repeated twice, for sanctuary belonged to all Israel, and invitation given for northern tribes to take part in Passover (ch. 2Ch_30:1). “Northern kingdom in a state of anarchy. Four Assyrian invasions had swept over it within thirty-five years. Hoshea, contemporary of Hez., not an independent ruler. Hence Hez. invited revolted tribes to return, if not to their old temporal, to their old spiritual allegiance. To prepare the way for this return, he included ‘all Israel’ in expiatory sacrifice” [Speak. Com.]. 2Ch_29:25. Cf. 1Ch_16:4; 1Ch_23:5; 1Ch_29:29. Trumpets, cf. Num_10:8; 1Ch_15:24; 2Ch_5:12.
2Ch_29:27-31.—Hez.’s burnt-offering. Consumed on altar, only fat for sin-offering (Lev_4:19). A sound of instruments heard when old worship recommenced. Sang, some anthem for the occasion. All bowed (2Ch_29:29) in solemn worship. At invitation of king a great number of thank-offerings presented.
2Ch_29:31-36.—Order of service completed. Flaying of victims not a priestly function, but a work of the offerer (Lev_1:6) at first, afterwards on public occasions by Levites, as here. 2Ch_29:34. Upright, i.e., displayed more alacrity than priests; perhaps tainted by idolatry, and looked coldly on reforms of Hez. 2Ch_29:35. Another reason which prevented priests from flaying to completion, was the great demand upon their time by the work to be done. 2Ch_29:36. No small joy at opening of newly consecrated Temple. Prepared the people’s minds, or it could not have been done so heartily and immediately.
HOMILETICS
HEZEKIAH’S REFORMS IN THE TEMPLE.—2Ch_29:1-11
The reign of H. (726–697) culminating point of interest in history of kings of Judah. Whether or not contemporary prophecies foretelling the birth of a Divine Heir to the throne, contained any reference to the son of Ahaz, then a mere child, it is certain that no other Prince since the death of David could so well have answered to them (Hezekiah, Jehovah strengthens). In point of fact, he was the centre of the highest prophetic influence which had appeared since Elijah [Stanley].
I. The work itself was well chosen. Methods for extirpating idolatry and accomplishing thorough reformation given in detail.
1. God’s work chosen first. Temple, sacred work. Needful to strengthen and defend his empire, but no work for God can prosper without friendship with God. H. might have done many useful works, become a benefactor to his people, but saw re-opening of fellowship with God most required for nations and individuals. “Seek first the kingdom of God, &c.” (a) This in opposition to past example. He did not follow the example of a wicked father, nor listen to the voice of a corrupt court, &c., but did “that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God.” (b) This as a promise of future usefulness. Chose out a work of his own, opened doors, repaired and cleansed the Temple. He pursues work in perplexity, difficulty, and peril.
2. God’s work deliberately chosen. “It is in mine heart” (2Ch_29:10). He begins in right way, and at right end; shows in what consists true wisdom and wise government. A happy opening, an encouraging pledge of his whole course. A course which begins with God, will be one of usefulness and triumph.
II. The spirit in Which the work was performed was commendable. No compromise; no half-measures; no delay. “In the first year of his reign” he began and delayed not.
1. In personal consecration (2Ch_29:10). All reformation begins here. Outward work done from life within. Everything depends upon our relation to God, that is, there is a strong moral link between our estimate of God and success.
2. In tracing historical relationship. He looks back, reads providence, and finds his work. We cannot work efficiently without a survey of the field, and an insight into present requirements. We have incentives to work when we see need of its performance, and feel called to perform it. “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
3. In the strength of deep conviction. Convinced of sin and bitter fruits of idolatry, he determines to reverse policy of his father; announced his resolution at beginning of his reign, and waited not for consolidation of his rule. Courage and determination characterise all earnest reformers.
4. In seeking co-operation from others. Desired help from the ministry (2Ch_29:5). “Sanctify yourselves.” By legal rites, specially by penitence, faith and fresh obedience. We should be sensible of our own, and the sins of our fathers; earnestly cleanse ourselves, and co-operate for reformation of others. Let each man, therefore, do what he can, but remember that the secret of social development is combination—that the best social system is that in which organisation for the common good is made most complete and most efficient.
THE LEVITES ENLISTED TO HELP.—2Ch_29:11-19
The response to H.’s appeal given by Levites in united, hearty service. “Then the Levites arose.” Notice—
I. The method in which they rendered help.
1. They were united. “They gathered their brethren and worked altogether.”
2. They worked in orderly arrangement. Began with outer courts—those of priests and people; they proceeded to inner. But as Levites could not enter the Temple, sweepings were brought by priests to porch, and then carried to Kidron. No hurry; no disorder. “All things done decently and in order.”
II. The rule by which they were guided. As “commandment of the king,” but with a desire to obey God’s word. “Let the priests also, which come near to the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break forth upon them” (Exo_19:22; cf. 1Ch_25:5; 2Ch_30:12).
III. The report which they made. The house, the altar, and the vessels all cleansed and ready for use. Glad themselves, they came to gladden the king, not to seek reward, nor boast of care and trouble. Happy those who can report successful work. But never failure! To open and repair the door, to light the lamps and sweep the floor acceptable to God.-Let each resolve, “It is in mine heart” (2Ch_29:10).
“Do not, for one repulse, forego the purpose
That you resolved to effect” [Shakes.].
PRAISE AND WORSHIP.—2Ch_29:30
In sixteen days the burnt-offering began; songs were heard, the trumpet rent the place, and all hearts quivered with joy. Observe two points—
I. They were old words that the people sang. Moreover H. the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord, with the words of David and Asaph the seer. What do we want with new words, new hymns, new forms of praise? The time is coming—would it could hasten its longed-for advent—when there will be only one book in the Church. At present the number has been reduced in many instances to two, and one of them we do not want. The time will come when the Bible will be the only hymn book in the house of God. What hymns like the hymns of the Bible? What devotional language like the devotional language of the Psalms? What finer teachers could we have than David, Asaph, and Isaiah, and the mighty minstrels and prophets of Israel? The people had the words all ready. If we want to sing we need not wait for some man to make words for us; so long as the Psalms are before us we may begin our song at once.
II. Not only were the words old, the enthusiasm was new. “And they sang praises with gladness,” literally with exultation, with rapture. Religion is nothing if not enthusiastic. Praise without exultation is but a skeleton form. The whole place in which Christians are assembled for worship should vibrate, tingle again because of the mighty, gracious, holy song. Here we have the changeable and the permanent—the permanent in “the words of David and of Asaph the seer;” and the changeable or capable of increase and variation is the gladness, the enthusiasm, the transport, the holy rapture. Nor was it merely vocal in the sense of displaying musical gymnastic skill, for the people having sung with rapture as if they had not space enough to sing in, as if they would split the overarching heaven with their cry, “they bowed their heads and worshipped.” The look was upward, downward; wild with an infinite rationalistic joy, and subdued because of a sense of the majesty of heaven [Dr. Parker].
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
2Ch_29:1-2. Notice—I. A mother’s influence in the training of Hezekiah. “His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.” 2Ch_29:1. Probably the Zechariah whose influence for good was signally owned of God in the reign of Uzziah (ch. 2Ch_26:5). Perhaps Abijah was neglected by her husband, surrounded by greatest difficulties, for every corner of Judah full of idols; yet she attended to duty, felt the solemnity of her trust, and wonderfully succeeded. II. The sovereign grace of God in the conversion of Hezekiah. A wicked father, a corrupt court, and an idolatrous country, yet Hezekiah chosen and qualified in youth for the throne, and became one of the best three kings of the Jews. “All except David, Ezekias, and Josias were defective, for they forsook the law of the Most Highest; even the kings of Judah failed” (Sir_49:4). This encouragement to parents. God delights in miracles of grace; saves children of unchristian parents, and crowns with honour the faithfulness of godly parents. III. The great work which God performs in the youth of Hezekiah. Only 20 or 25 years old when he began to reign, no common character, no ordinary piety in one so young. The work begun and begun rightly, as soon as seated on the throne; accomplished splendidly by the providence of God. “The Lord was with him, and he prospered whithersoever he went forth.”
2Ch_29:6-10. I. A description of apostasy. Mark the order of departure. Trespassed, going beyond; forsaken him; then turning away their faces from the habitation; God forsaken, worship forsaken; finally “turned their backs” entirely and choosing idolatry, the source of all misery. II. The fearful evils which follow exposed to God’s wrath manifest—
1. In the invasion and devastation of land, “upon Judah and Jerusalem.”
2. In the fall and mourning of families, “our fathers have fallen by the sword.”
3. In the evils of foreign captivity, “our sons, daughters, and wives are in captivity.”
4. In the disgrace to which they were reduced. Former prosperity and glory fled, now a byeword and hissing, &c. III. The source to which these evils are traced. Hezekiah had discernment to ascribe national calamities to right cause. God caused them on account of their sins. Others, servants or ministers of a moral providence. Men, forces of nature no power at all except given from above. Hence (a) no ground for violence and petty reprisals. Keep down anger against mere agents; (b) The necessity of forming correct estimates of outward vicissitudes, and (c) of learning to discover and submit to God’s will the great rule of the universe. As Wordsworth—
“One adequate support,
For the calamities of mortal life,
Exists—one only, an assured belief
That the procession of our fate, however
Sad or disturbed, is ordered by a Being
Of infinite benevolence and power,
Whose everlasting purposes embrace
All accidents, converting them to good.”
2Ch_29:11. My sons. A fatherly king. With what gentle, paternal eloquence Hezekiah addressed the men on whose co-operation he relied. A pastoral king: a most shepherdly heart was the heart of king Hezekiah. There is a fatherliness that does not depend on age. Hezekiah not an old man, spoke not from under a crown of hoary hairs; but a father because of his capacity of love, unselfish solicitude, patriotic aspiration. There are young pastors, born shepherds; in earliest conscious life they seem to be made to care for others. The pastor is a man who can carry all men. You cannot make pastors, kings, or fathers. Men may bear the nominal functions, but here an entail sanctioned by heaven. Have not some men a right to accost us as sons? Is there not a touch which means solicitude, brotherhood, unity, mutual understanding? The words come to Hezekiah as he needs them; they are his servants, wait upon him. Thus he talks with healthy frankness, tender appreciation, and majestic familiarity which cannot be trifled with [Dr. Parker].
HOMILETICS
CONSECRATION AND SACRIFICES.—2Ch_29:20-31
I. Sacrifices expiatory. Sin-offerings to atone and make worshipper acceptable to God. Unusually comprehensive, embracing four kinds, and seven of each kind, for sins conscious and unconscious.
II. Sacrifices for all classes. “For the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah”—i.e., for king or royal house, ministers of the sanctuary, and the people of Judah generally. “Atonement for all Israel” as well as Judah (2Ch_29:24).
III. Sacrifices dedicatory. After sin-offering, the burnt-offering presented, an expression of self-dedication to God. This a natural order—acceptance, gratitude, and self-consecration. “Now that you have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices” (2Ch_29:31). Sacrifices abundant, generous, and appropriate.
IV. Sacrifices accompanied with symbolic rites.
1. Laying on of hands, confessing guilt.
2. Instruments of music expressing gladness.
3. Bowing of heads denoting reverence and adoration. The solemnities of the day memorable, typical, surprising, and a proof of God’s presence. “For the thing was done suddenly.”
MUSIC AND CHRISTIAN SERVICE.—2Ch_29:25-30
This scene beautiful and suggestive. Old life forsaken; new forms of worship resumed, fresh sacrifices presented, and monarch and people working together with gladness and rejoicing.
I. Christian service begins with fresh demands upon our life. “Now ye have consecrated yourselves, come near.” Once far off; now sin forsaken; and all dedicated to God. Near in faith and fellowship, in purpose and daily life. Fresh demands upon time, talents, and efforts. Sacrifices not to self and world, but to God and his cause. Self-surrender, represented by burnt-offerings, perpetually needful. Will and life given to another. “Present your bodies a living sacrifice.”
II. Christian service is a joyful service when these demands are satisfied. “The congregation brought in sacrifices and thank-offerings.” No joy in appropriating to self and withholding from God what is due. No happy life except in self-devotion to God and in doing good to others. To live in, and to be of no service to the world, a terrible thing. “The liberal soul (lit., the soul of blessing; i.e., that blesses others) shall be made fat” (satisfied and gladdened) (Pro_11:25). Always a re-active influence in temporal and spiritual matters; action and reciprocal influence the law of the universe. Withhold it, will tend to poverty of spirit; “give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, &c.”
“The truly generous is the truly wise,
And he who loves not others lives unblest.”
III. This joyful service is the strength of Christian life. Joy from duty not mere luxury or excitement, but help, strength to more perfect work. Whatever God is for us—life, light, love, and strength—it is that we may be the same for others. This is Nehemiah’s gospel. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Joy creates enthusiasm, elevates above despair and opposition, and develops all our resources. As bodies expand through heat, so the soul is enlarged, and effort prompted under the genial influence of joy.
GOD’S PREPARATION.—2Ch_29:36
God prepares in nature and in providence. Men gradually fitted and appointed for their work. Our duty to watch and enter upon work when discovered.
I. God seen in removing difficulties in the work. Idolatry prevalent, and nation corrupted. The people indisposed, and officials reluctant; the work itself great and perhaps thought impossible by many.
II. God seen in helping on the work to completion. “The service of the Lord was set in order.” Not only difficulties removed, but strength given to finish. If priests could not be found, Levites were ready (2Ch_29:34). No delay, no excuse given. Early in the king’s reign the work began, expeditiously was it finished, “for the thing was done suddenly.” The people seen gathered together. God gave them “a free heart” and they worked willingly. “This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
2Ch_29:12-19. The thoroughness of the work done, the readiness and number of those who engaged in it, the method in which they proceeded (2Ch_29:15), and the delights that spring from its completion.
2Ch_29:13. On triple division of musical Levites, see 1Ch_25:1-6; 2Ch_5:12. When God has a work to do, he raises up men to do it. But first in rank and position not always fit for service and most willing to enter it.
2Ch_29:11; 2Ch_29:30; 2Ch_29:32-34. Popular generosity and cold officialism. The “free heart” of the people a contrast to the negligence of officials. A reflection seems to be cast upon their dilatoriness and negligence in sanctifying themselves (ch. 2Ch_30:15), of which they were afterwards ashamed “Generosity may sometimes confuse officialism, so that people may sometimes get ahead of the Levites” [Dr. Parker]. Priests should be examples to others, never be satisfied with worldly emoluments, grossed in earthly affairs, and forget the demands of the, people and the duties of their calling. The higher the position, the greater should be the readiness to work.
“In persons grafted in a serious trust,
Negligence is a crime.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 29
2Ch_29:3-7. Door opening. To cleanse the sanctuary is to pray. When Hezekiah opened the doors, by that very act he worshipped; when Hezekiah repaired the doors of the house of the Lord, he wrought a wondrous work upon the heart that was sore by reason of its long-continued need and painful solitude. To repair the building is to worship the living God; to give a cup of cold water to a disciple for Christ’s sake is to oblige herein [Dr. Parker].
2Ch_29:10-11. Energy. Energy of character has always a power to evoke energy in others. It acts through sympathy, one of the most influential of human agencies. The zealous, energetic man unconsciously carries others along with him. His example is contagious and compels imitation. He exercises a sort of electric power through every fibre—flows into the nature of those about him and makes them give out sparks of fire [Smiles].
2Ch_29:14-17. Order. Order is the best manager of time; for unless work is properly arranged time is lost; and once lost it is gone for ever. Order illustrates many important subjects. Thus obedience to the moral and material law is order. Regard for the rights and obligations of all is order. Virtue is order. The world began with order, chaos prevailed before the establishment of order [Smiles].
2Ch_29:25-28. Instruments. Music has a most humanising effect. The cultivation of the art has a most favourable influence upon public morals. It furnishes a source of pleasure in every family. It gives home a new attraction. It makes social intercourse more cheerful. Father Mathew followed up his temperance movement by a singing movement. He promoted the establishment of musical clubs all over Ireland, for he felt that, as he had taken the people’s whisky from them, he must give them some wholesome stimulus in its stead. He gave them music. Singing classes were established, to refine the taste, soften the manners, and humanise the mass of the Irish people. But we fear that the example set by Father Mathew has already been forgotten [Smiles].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain 2Ch 29:1-2; 2Ch 31:20-21
2Ch 29:1-2; 2Ch 31:20-21
I. Studying the life and reign of Hezekiah, we discover, first, that he is an illustration of the sovereignty of God in conversion. He was the son of one of the most impious monarchs that ever sat on the throne of Israel. Parental and royal influence combined to make him a bad man and a worse king.
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II. The conversion of Hezekiah, therefore, should give encouragement to the children of unchristian parents. It is the way of God to save men when to human view their salvation is incredible. He delights in miracles of grace.
III. The upright character of Hezekiah illustrates also that the conversion of men is often assisted by their natural recoil from extreme wickedness. Sin is often used to defeat itself.
One of the reasons why it is permitted to run its course and come to a head is that men may see it in its hideous maturity.
IV. The narrative illustrates the fact that when God converts men from amidst surroundings of great depravity, He often has some great and signal service for them to do for Him. He summoned Hezekiah to the reformation of a kingdom.
V. The work of Hezekiah illustrates the moral power of one man in effecting a great work to which God has called him.
VI. The work of Hezekiah illustrates also the suddenness with which God often achieves by the hand of such men great changes in the progress of His kingdom.
A. Phelps, The Old Testament a Living Book, p. 111.
2Ch 29:27
The old sacrifices are past and done for ever. There are no more smoking altars or bleeding beasts; but that which they represented still remains, and will remain so long as man and God are child and Father to each other. The giving up of the life of man away from himself to serve his true and rightful Master, the surrender of his life to Another, self-sacrifice, which is what these burnt-offerings picturesquely represented, is universally and perpetually necessary. It is not beasts, but lives, that we offer. Can the life, too, be offered now as the beast was offered of old: with song and trumpet? Can self-sacrifice be a thing of triumph and exhilaration? Can it be the conscious glorification of a life to give that life away in self-denial?
I. The different forms of self-sacrifice stand around us with their demands. There is the need that a man should sacrifice himself to himself, his lower self to his higher self, his passions to his principles. There is the need of sacrificing one’s self for fellow-men. There is the highest need of all, the need of giving up our own will to God’s. All these needs a man will own and honour. He will try to meet them all his life. But when you come to talk of joy in meeting them, that is another matter. Self-sacrifice seems to him something apart from the whole notion of enjoyment.
II. The words of our text, however strangely they sound at first, are literally true, as the history of many a man’s life.
From the moment that it began to live for other people, the nature which had no song in it before became jubilant with music. The soul that trifles and toys with self-sacrifice never can get its true joy and power. Only the soul that, with an overwhelming impulse and a perfect trust, gives itself up for ever to the life of other men, finds the delight and peace which such complete self-surrender has to give.
III. There is another reason why it would seem to be absolutely necessary that man should have the power of finding pleasure in his self-sacrifices, in the actual fulfilment of his completed tasks, the actual doing of the necessary duties of his life, and that is found in the fact that joy or delight in what we are doing is not a mere luxury; it is a means, a help, for the more perfect doing of our work. Joy in one’s work is the consummate tool without which the work may be done indeed, but without which the work will always be done slowly, clumsily, and without its finest perfectness.
IV. The man who really lives in the world of Christ’s redemption claims his self-sacrifices. He goes up to his martyrdom with a song. To live in this world and do nothing for one’s own spiritual self, or for fellow-man, or for God is a terrible thing. There is no happy life except in self-consecration.
Phillips Brooks, Candle of the Lord, p. 22.
References: 2Ch 29:27—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xv., p. 105; A. B. Evans, Church Sermons, vol. i., p. 361. 2Ch 29:31.—J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 373.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
A GODLY REFORMATION
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2Ch 29:1 - 2Ch 29:11.
Hezekiah, the best of the later kings, had the worst for his father, and another almost as bad for his son. His own piety was probably deepened by the mad extravagance of his father’s boundless idolatry, which brought the kingdom to the verge of ruin. Action and reaction are equal and contrary. Saints grown amidst fashionable and deep corruption are generally strong, and reformers usually arise from the midst of the systems which they overthrow. Hezekiah came to a tottering throne and an all but beggared nation, ringed around by triumphant enemies. His brave young heart did not quail. He sought ‘first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,’ and of the two pressing needs for Judah, political peace and religious purity, he began with the last. The Book of Kings tells at most length the civil history; the Book of Chronicles, as usual, lays most stress on the ecclesiastical. The two complete each other. The present passage gives a beautiful picture of the vigorous, devout young king setting about the work of reformation.
We may note, first, his prompt action. Joash had to whip up the reluctant priests with his ‘See that ye hasten the matter!’ Hezekiah lets no grass grow under his feet, but begins his reforms with his reign. ‘The first month’ {2Ch 29:3} possibly, indeed, means the first month of the calendar, not of Hezekiah, who may have come to the throne in the later part of the Jewish year; but, in any case, no time was lost. The statement in 2Ch 29:3 may be taken as a general resume of what follows in detail, but this vigorous speech to the priests was clearly among the new king’s first acts. No doubt his purpose had slowly grown while his father was affronting Heaven with his mania for idols. Such decisive, swift action does not come without protracted, previous brooding. The hidden fires gather slowly in the silent crater, however rapidly they burst out at last.
We can never begin good things too early, and when we come into new positions, it is always prudence as well as bravery to show our colours unmistakably from the first. Many a young man, launched among fresh associations, has been ruined because of beginning with temporising timidity. It is easier to take the right standing at first than to shift to it afterwards. Hezekiah might have been excused if he had thought that the wretched state of political affairs left by Ahaz needed his first attention. Edomites on the east, Philistines on the west and south, Syrians and Assyrians on the north, ‘compassed him about like bees,’ and worldly prudence would have said, ‘Look after these enemies today, and the Temple tomorrow.’ He was wiser than that, knowing that these were effects of the religious corruption, and so he went at that first. It is useless trying to mend a nation’s fortunes unless you mend its morals and religion.
And there are some things which are best done quickly, both in individual and national life. Leaving off bad habits by degrees is not hopeful. The only thing to be done is to break with them utterly and at once. One strong, swift blow, right through the heart, kills the wild beast. Slighter cuts may make him bleed to death, but he may kill you first. The existing state was undeniably sinful. There was no need for deliberation as to that. Therefore there was no reason for delay. Let us learn the lesson that, where conscience has no doubts, we should have no dawdling. ‘I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandment.’
Note, too, in Hezekiah’s speech, the true order of religious reformation. The priests and Levites were not foremost in it, as indeed is only too often the case with ecclesiastics in all ages. Probably many of them had been content to serve Ahaz as priests of his multiform idolatry. At all events, they needed ‘sanctifying,’ though no doubt the word is here used in reference to merely ceremonial uncleanness. Still the requirement that they should cleanse themselves before they cleansed the Temple has more than ceremonial significance. Impure hands are not fit for the work of religious reformation, though they have often been employed in it. What was the weakness of the Reformation but that the passions of princes and nobles were so soon and generally enlisted for it, and marred it? He that enters into the holy place, especially if his errand be to cleanse it, must have ‘clean hands, and a pure heart.’ The hands that wielded the whip of small cords, and drove out the money-changers, were stainless, and therefore strong. Some of us are very fond of trying to set churches to rights. Let us begin with ourselves, lest, like careless servants, we leave dirty finger-marks where we have been ‘cleaning.’
The next point in the speech is the profound and painful sense of existing corruption. Note the long-drawn-out enumeration of evils in 2Ch 29:6 - 2Ch 29:7, starting with the general recognition of the father’s trespass, advancing to the more specific sin of forsaking Him and His house, and dwelling, finally, as with fascinated horror, on all the details of closed shrine and quenched lamps and cold altars. The historical truth of the picture is confirmed by the close of the previous chapter, and its vividness shows how deeply Hezekiah had felt the shame and sin of Ahaz. It is not easy to keep clear of the influence of prevailing corruptions of religion. Familiarity weakens abhorrence, and the stained embodiments of the ideal hide its purity from most eyes. But no man will be God’s instrument to make society, the church, or the home, better, unless he feels keenly the existing evils. We do not need to cherish a censorious spirit, but we do need to guard against an unthinking acquiescence in the present state of things, and a self-complacent reluctance to admit their departure from the divine purpose for the church. There is need to-day for a like profound consciousness of evil, and like efforts after new purity. If we individually lived nearer God, we should be less acclimatised to the Church’s imperfections. No doubt Hezekiah’s clear sight of the sinfulness of the idolatry so universal round him was largely owing to Isaiah’s influence. Eyes which have caught sight of the true King of Israel, and of the pure light of His kingdom, will be purged to discern the sore need for purifying the Lord’s house.
The clear insight into the national sin gives as clear understanding of the national suffering. Hezekiah speaks, in 2Ch 29:8 - 2Ch 29:9, as the Law and the Prophets had been speaking for centuries, and as God’s providence had been uttering in act all through the national history. But so slow are men to learn familiar truths that Ahaz had grasped at idol after idol to rescue him; ‘but they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.’ How difficult it is to hammer plain truths, even with the mallet of troubles, into men’s heads! How blind we all are to the causal connection between sin and sorrow! Hezekiah saw the iron link uniting them, and his whole policy was based upon that ‘wherefore.’ Of course, if we accept the Biblical statements as to the divine dealing with Israel and Judah, obedience and disobedience were there followed by reward and suffering more certainly and directly than is now the case in either national or individual life. But it still remains true that it is a ‘bitter’ as well as an ‘evil’ thing to depart from the living God. If we would find the cause of our own or of a nation’s sorrows, we had better begin our search among our or its sins.
That phrase ‘an astonishment, and an hissing’ {2Ch 29:8} is new. It appears for the first time in Micah {Micah vi. l6}, and he, we know, exercised influence on Hezekiah {Jer 26:18 - Jer 26:19}. Perhaps the king is here quoting the prophet.
The exposition of the sin and its fruit is followed by the king’s resolve for himself, and, so far as may be, for his people. The phrase ‘it is in my heart’ expresses fixed determination, not mere wish. It is used by David and of him, in reference to his resolve to build the Temple. ‘To make a covenant’ probably means to renew the covenant, made long ago at Sinai, but broken by sin. The king has made up his mind, and announces his determination. He does not consult priests or people, but expects their acquiescence. So, in the early days of Christianity, the ‘conversion’ of a king meant that of his people. Of course, the power of the kings of Israel and Judah to change the national religion at their pleasure shows how slightly any religion had penetrated, and how much, at the best, it was a matter of mere ceremonial worship with the masses. People who worshipped Ahaz’s rabble of gods and godlings to-day because he bade them, and Hezekiah’s God to-morrow, had little worship for either, and were much the same through all changes.
Hezekiah was in earnest, and his resolve was none the less right because it was moved by a desire to turn away the fierce anger of the Lord. Dread of sin’s consequences and a desire to escape these is no unworthy motive, however some superfine moralists nowadays may call it so. It is becoming unfashionable to preach ‘the terror of the Lord.’ The more is the pity, and the less is the likelihood of persuading men. But, however kindled, the firm determination {which does not wait for others to concur} that ‘As for me, I will serve the Lord,’ is the grand thing for us all to imitate. That strong young heart showed itself kingly in its resolve, as it had shown itself sensitive to evil and tender in contemplating the widespread sorrow. If we would brace our feeble wills, and screw them to the sticking-point of immovable determination to make a covenant with God, let us meditate on our departures from Him, the Lover and Benefactor of our souls, and on the dreadfulness of His anger and the misery of those who forsake Him.
Once more the king turns to the priests. He began and he finishes with them, as if he were not sure of their reliableness. His tone is kindly, ‘My sons,’ but yet monitory. They would not have been warned against ‘negligence’ unless they had obviously needed it, nor would they have been stimulated to their duties by reminding them of their prerogatives, unless they had been apt to slight these. Officials, whose business is concerned with the things of God, are often apt to drop into an easy-going pace. Negligent work may suit unimportant offices, but is hideously inconsistent with the tasks and aims of God’s servants. If there is any work which has to be done ‘with both hands, earnestly,’ it is theirs. Unless we put all our strength into it, we shall get no good for ourselves or others out of it. The utmost tension of all powers, the utmost husbanding of every moment, is absolutely demanded by the greatness of the task; and the voice of the great Master says to all His servants, ‘My sons, be not now negligent.’ Ungirt loins and unlit lamps are fatal.
We should meditate, too, on the prerogatives and lofty offices to which Christ calls those who love Him; not to minister to self-complacency, as if we were so much better than other men, but to deepen our sense of responsibility, and stir us to strenuous efforts to be what we are called to be. If Christian people thought more earnestly on what Jesus Christ means them to be to the world, they would not so often counterwork His purpose and shirk their own duties. Crowns are heavy to wear. Gifts are calls to service. If we are chosen to be His ministers, we have solemn responsibilities. If we are to burn incense before Him, our censers need to be bright and free from strange fire. If we are the lights of the world, our business is to shine.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain The Reign of Hezekiah
The Reign of Hezekiah
This chapter describes a cleansing of the Temple and a sacrifice for the sins of the people.
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This and the following 2 Chronicles 30-32, cover the same period as 2 Kings 18-20, but, for the most part, have in view a different side of Hezekiah's reign, Chronicles relating in great detail his religious reforms, whilst Kings is concerned mainly with the political events of the time.
3. Opened the doors] The Temple had been closed by Ahaz: 2Ch_28:24.
4. The east street] RV 'the broad place on the east,' perhaps one of the courts in front of the Temple: cp. Ezr_10:9 RV.
10. A covenant] The covenant between the nation and its God had been previously renewed in the time of Asa (2Ch_15:12).
15. By the words of the lord] The king was moved by a divine impulse, perhaps communicated through a prophet: cp. 2Ch_30:12.
16. The inner part of the house] i.e. from the courts into the interior of the building. The Holy Place is meant (not the Holy of Holies, which the Levites might not enter).
17. The sixteenth day] In the first period of 8 days the Temple itself was cleansed, in the second period the Temple court (where the altar of burnt offering was: 2Ch_29:18).
21. Seven bullocks, etc.] It is possible that the bullocks, rams, and lambs constituted the burnt offerings mentioned in 2Ch_29:27 (the victims for which are not otherwise named), and that the he-goats alone formed the sin offering (as 2Ch_29:23 suggests). For the kingdom] i.e. for the king as distinguished from the people (Judah).
25. By his prophets] i.e. David's arrangements, as described in 1Ch_23:5; 1Ch_25:1 were made under divine direction.
30. Of Asaph the seer] Twelve of the Psalms bear the name of Asaph.
31. Thank offerings] a form of peace offering (Lev_7:12), most of which was eaten by the worshipper. Burnt offerings] wholly consumed on the altar. Of a free heart] RV 'of a willing heart.'
34. Were more upright.. than the priests] Many of the priests had perhaps taken part in Ahaz's impieties as Urijah the high priest had done: 2Ki_16:16.
36. Prepared the people] The zeal of the people was so remarkable that it could only be attributed to divine influence: cp. 2Ch_30:12.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 6. Reformation under Hezekiah
6. Reformation under Hezekiah
CHAPTER 29 Hezekiah and the Beginning of the Revival
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1. The record of his reign (2Ch 29:1-2)
2. The purification of the temple (2Ch 29:3-19)
3. The restored worship (2Ch 29:20-30)
4. The great offerings (2Ch 29:31-36)
Compare chapters 29-32 with 2 Kings 18-20 and the annotations given there. The reformation which took place under the reign of the godly son of ungodly Ahaz was a thorough and remarkable one. He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all his father David had done. In the records of most of the former kings this phrase is missing. It shows that Hezekiah followed the ways of the man after God’s own heart. His father had shut up the doors of the house of the LORD (2Ch 28:24). The first thing Hezekiah did was to open the doors and to repair them. And this was in the first year of his reign, in the first month. There was no delay; he began at once. He fully realized that, in order to have the LORD’s presence and blessing, the work must begin at the sanctuary. It has been well said, that piety and the work of righteousness were manifested in Jehoshaphat; great energy and faith was displayed in Hezekiah; and we shall find in Josiah profound reverence for the Scriptures, for the book of the law. And such is the need of the professing Church in the days of decline and apostasy. A revival of profound reverence for the Scriptures, and a whole hearted turning to the law and the testimony, the Word of God, is specially needed. Hezekiah gathered the priests and the Levites. In his great address he acknowledged the sins of the nation. Confession, as it always must, stands in the foreground. “For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken Him, and have taken away their faces from the habitation Of the LORD, and turned their backs.” For this reason the wrath of the LORD rested upon them. He called upon them to sanctify themselves and to carry forth the filth out of the holy place. As for himself, it was in his heart to make a covenant with the LORD. No doubt this had been made in secret in the presence of the LORD. Every true revival begins in this way.
The address and appeal found willing hearts among the servants of God. The Levites arose. The three leading families of Gershon, Kohath and Merari, were represented. Then there were two from the family of Elizaphan; two of the descendants of Asaph; two of Heman and two of Jeduthun. They gathered their brethren and went into the inner part to cleanse it. They did not begin on the outside to work towards the inner part. All true work must begin in the inner part.
The true worship was restored and great offerings were brought. The praises they sung were the Psalms, “the words of David and Asaph the singer.” Consult 2 Kings 18 on the abolishment of the idols and the destruction of the brazen serpent. Chronicles emphasizes the great restoration work of the temple, in harmony with its priestly character.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Hezekiah Restores the Worship of Jehovah
Hezekiah Restores the Worship of Jehovah
v. 1. Hezekiah 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, very likely the prophet of that name, 2Ch 26:5. Cf 2 Kings 18.
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v. 2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David, his father, had done; he patterned his life of piety strictly after that of the founder of the dynasty.
v. 3. He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month, the month Nisan, the first of the church-year, just as soon as he could well arrange for it, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, which had been closed by his father, 2Ch 28:24, and repaired them, put them in order for constant use.
v. 4. And he brought in the priests and the Levites, who had, of course, been dismissed when the worship of Jehovah was suspended, and gathered them together into the east street, literally, "in the broad way toward the east," either in the Court of the Priests or in some open space outside of the Temple area,
v. 5. and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, this special consecration being required whenever the Levites were to enter upon their ministry, Exo 19:10, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, putting it into condition to be used in the service of Jehovah once more, and carry forth the filthiness, every evidence of idolatrous customs and worship, out of the Holy Place.
v. 6. For our fathers, particularly Ahaz and his generation, 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, as one does in utter contempt of a thing. Note the heaping of parallel, synonymous expressions to designate the greatness of the transgression described by Hezekiah.
v. 7. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, those leading to the Sanctuary proper, thereby discontinuing the regular sacrifices to Jehovah, and have put out the lamps, those illuminating the Holy Place, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the Holy Place unto the God of Israel. The lawful worship of Jehovah had been abandoned entirely.
v. 8. Wherefore the wrath of the Lord, as shown in His severe displeasure and punishment, was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He hath delivered them to trouble, to commotion and horror, Deu 28:25, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes; for the country had been laid waste and its resources drained by the successive raids and wars, as they knew only too well.
v. 9. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, 2Ch 28:6, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this, 2Ch 28:5 to 2Ch 17:18.
v. 10. Now it is in mine heart, he had firmly resolved upon this course, to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, by restoring the covenant which had repeatedly been made with Jehovah as the one true God, that His fierce wrath may turn away from us.
v. 11. My sons, so the king addresses the Levites in a familiar, persuasive address, be not now negligent, by drawing back from the king and delaying or hindering his proposed reformation; for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, and that ye should minister unto Him and burn incense, taking up all the work of their ministry according to the Lord’s precepts, and helping the king carry out his plans for the restoration of the ancient law and order.
v. 12. Then the Levites arose: Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel, the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites, this family being especially distinguished among the Levites; 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 Zimnah, and Eden, the son of Joah;
v. 13. and of the sons of Elizaphan: Shimri and Jeiel; and of the sons of Asaph: Zechariah and Mattaniah;
v. 14. and of the sons of Heman: Jehiel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun: Shemaiah, and Uzziel. These fourteen chiefs among the Levites undertook the task of preparing their brethren and cleansing the house of the Lord.
v. 15. And they gathered their brethren and sanctified themselves, by taking the usual measures to purify themselves from any defilements, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord; for the king’s command was founded on the precepts of the Law, to cleanse the house of the Lord.
v. 16. And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, within the Sanctuary and especially within the veil, where the Levites were not permitted to enter, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the Temple of the Lord, whatever idolatrous vessels and remains of idolatrous offerings they found, into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron, where the uncleanness could be burned and the ashes swept down with the winter rains into the Dead Sea.
v. 17. Now, 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 long it took them to remove the accumulated filth of the courts. So they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; that much longer it took them to remove the filth from the sanctuary proper; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.
v. 18. Then 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, those used in the sacrifices, and the showbread table, with all the vessels thereof, for all these things had no longer been in use during the last years of Ahaz.
v. 19. Moreover, all the vessels which King Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, including Solomon’s altar of burnt offering, the brazen sea, and the lavers on the stands, 2Ki 16:14-17, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord. Note: It is a special sign of God’s grace if a person is kept in the ways of the Lord and does not turn from them either to the right or to the left.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 twenty-five years old ... twenty-nine years
twenty-five years old ... twenty-nine years
"25 years old ... 29 years" (See: Numbers)
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Abijah
This is a woman's name. (See: How to Translate Names)
what was right in the eyes of Yahweh
The word "eyes" here represents seeing, and seeing represents judgment. Yahweh saw and approved of Hezekiah's actions. See how you translated a similar phrase in 2 Chronicles 14:1. AT: "what Yahweh judged to be right" or "what Yahweh considered to be right" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
Hezekiah
reign
Jerusalem
Zechariah (OT)
Yahweh
David
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 29:1 After a co-regency with his father, Ahaz, Hezekiah…
29:1 After a co-regency with his father, Ahaz, Hezekiah became king in his own right and reigned from 715 to 686 BC.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.