and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. They gathered their brothers, sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of the king by Yahweh’s words, to cleanse Yahweh’s house. The priests went into the inner part of Yahweh’s house to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in Yahweh’s temple into the court of Yahweh’s house. The Levites took it from there to carry it out to the brook Kidron. Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month they came to Yahweh’s porch. They sanctified Yahweh’s house in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace, and said, “We have cleansed all Yahweh’s house, including the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, and the table of show bread with all its vessels. Moreover have we prepared and sanctified all the vessels which king Ahaz threw away in his reign, when he was unfaithful. Behold, they are before Yahweh’s altar.”
Then Hezekiah the king arose early, gathered the princes of the city, and went up to Yahweh’s house. They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. He commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on Yahweh’s altar. So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar. They killed the rams, and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs, and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They brought near the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly; and they laid their hands on them. Then the priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
He set the Levites in Yahweh’s house with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was from Yahweh by his prophets. The Levites stood with David’s instruments, and the priests with the trumpets. Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, Yahweh’s song also began, along with the trumpets and David king of Israel’s instruments. All the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
When they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 30 Or, concerning the things of the Lord.
Or, concerning the things of the Lord.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–30 2Ch 29:15 And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified…
2Ch 29:15 And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
Ver. 15. By the words of the Lord,] i.e., In his name, and according to his express will. Or, In the business of the Lord.
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 Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 21, 23, 24 The inner part of the house of the Lord;…
The inner part of the house of the Lord; not the holy of holies, into which only the high priest might enter, and that but once in a year; but the holy place.
Into the court, to wit, the priests’ court, called here the court, by way of eminency.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v20 The temple being cleansed, we have here an account…
The temple being cleansed, we have here an account of the good use that was immediately made of it. A solemn assembly was called to meet the king at the temple, the very next day (Ch2 29:20); and very glad, no doubt, all the good people in Jerusalem were, when it was said, Let us go up to the house of the Lord, Psa 122:1. As soon as Hezekiah heard that the temple was ready for him he lost no time, but made it appear that he was ready for it. He rose early to go up to the house of the Lord, earlier on that day than on other days, to show that his heart was upon his work there. Now this day's work was to look two ways: -
I. Atonement must be made for the sins of the last reign. They thought it not enough to lament and forsake those sins, but they brought a sin-offering. Even our repentance and reformation will not obtain pardon but in and through Christ, who was made sin (that is, a sin-offering) for us. No peace but through his blood, no, not for penitents. Observe, 1. The sin-offering was for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah (Ch2 29:21), that is, to make atonement for the sins of princes, priests, and people, for they had all corrupted their way. The law of Moses appointed sacrifices to make atonement for the sins of the whole congregation (Lev 4:13, Lev 4:14; Num 15:24, Num 15:25), that the national judgments which their national sins deserved might be turned away. For this purpose we must now have an eye to Christ the great propitiation, as well as for the remission and salvation of particular persons. 2. The law appointed only one goat for a sin-offering, as on the day of atonement (Lev 16:15) and on such extraordinary occasions as this, Num 15:24. But they here offered seven (Ch2 29:21), because the sins of the congregation had been very great and long continued in. Seven is a number of perfection. Our great sin-offering is but one, yet that one perfects for ever those that are sanctified. 3. The king and the congregation (that is, the representatives of the congregation) laid their hands on the heads of the goats that were for the sin-offering (Ch2 29:23), thereby owning themselves guilty before God and expressing their desire that the guilt of the sinner might be transferred to the sacrifice. By faith we lay our hands on the Lord Jesus, and so receive the atonement, Rom 5:11. 4. Burnt-offerings were offered with the sin-offerings, seven bullocks, seven rams, and seven lambs. The intention of the burnt-offerings was to give glory to the God of Israel, whom they owned as the only true God, which it was proper to do at the same time that they were by the sin-offering making atonement for their offences. The blood of those, as well as of the sin-offering, was sprinkled upon the altar (Ch2 29:22), to make reconciliation for all Israel (Ch2 29:24), and not for Judah only. Christ is a propitiation, not for the sins of Israel only, but of the whole world, Jo1 2:1, Jo1 2:2. 5. While the offerings were burning upon the altar the Levites sang the song of the Lord (Ch2 29:27), the Psalms composed by David and Asaph (Ch2 29:30), accompanied by the musical instruments which God by his prophets had commanded the use of (Ch2 29:25), and which had been long neglected. Even sorrow for sin must not put us out of tune for praising God. By faith we must rejoice in Christ Jesus as our righteousness; and our prayers and praises must ascend with his offering, to be accepted only in virtue of it. 6. The king and all the congregation testified their consent to and concurrence in all that was done, by bowing their heads and worshipping, expressing an awful veneration of the divine Majesty, by postures of adoration. This is taken notice of, Ch2 29:28-30. It is not enough for us to be where God is worshipped, if we do not ourselves worship him, and that not with bodily exercise only, which profits little, but with the heart.
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II. The solemnities of this day did likewise look forward. The temple service was to be set up again, that it might be continually kept up; and this Hezekiah calls them to, Ch2 29:31. "Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord - have both made an atonement and made a covenant by sacrifice, are solemnly reconciled and engaged to him - now come near, and bring sacrifices." Note, Our covenant with God must be pursued and improved in communion with him. Having consecrated ourselves, in the first place, to the Lord, we must bring the sacrifices of prayer, and praise, and alms, to his house. Now, in this work, it was found.
1. That the people were free. Being called to it by the king, they brought in their offerings, though not in such abundance as in the glorious days of Solomon (for Judah was now diminished, impoverished, and brought low), but according to what they had, and as much as one could expect considering their poverty and the great decay of piety among them. (1.) Some were so generous as to bring burnt-offerings, which were wholly consumed to the honour of God, and of which the offerer had no part. Of this sort there were seventy bullocks, 100 rams, and 200 lambs, Ch2 29:32. (2.) Others brought peace-offerings and thank-offerings, the fat of which was burnt upon the altar, and the flesh divided between the priests and the offerers, Ch2 29:35. Of this sort there were 600 oxen and 3000 sheep, Ch2 29:33. Perhaps the remembrance of their sin in sacrificing on the high places made them more willing to bring their sacrifices now to God's altar.
2. That the priests were few, too few for the service, Ch2 29:34. Many of them, it is likely, were suspended and laid aside as polluted and uncanonical, for having sacrificed to idols in the last reign, and the rest had not the zeal that one might have expected upon such an occasion. They thought that the king needed not to be so forward, that there was no necessity for such haste in opening the doors of the temple, and therefore they took no care to sanctify themselves, and being unsanctified, and so unqualified, they made that their excuse for being absent from the service; as if their offence would be their defence. It is recorded here, to the perpetual shame of the priests, that, though they were so well provided for out of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, yet they did not mind their business. Here was work to do, and there wanted proper hands to do it.
3. That the Levites were forward. They had been more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests (Ch2 29:34), were better affected to the work and better prepared and qualified for it. This was their praise, and, in recompence for it, they had the honour to be employed in that which was the priests' work: they helped them to flay the offerings. This was not according to the law (Lev 1:5, Lev 1:6), but the irregularity was dispensed with in cases of necessity, and thus encouragement was given to the faithful zealous Levites and a just disgrace put upon the careless priests. What the Levites wanted in the ceremonial advantages of their birth and consecration was abundantly made up in their eminent qualifications of skill and will to do the work.
4. That all were pleased. The king and all the people rejoiced in this blessed turn of affairs and the new face of religion which the kingdom had put on, Ch2 29:36. Two things in this matter pleased them: - (1.) That it was soon brought about: The thing was done suddenly, in a little time, with a great deal of ease, and without any opposition. Those that go about the work of God in faith and with resolution will find that there is not that difficulty in it which they sometimes imagine, but it will be a pleasing surprise to them to see how soon it is done. (2.) That the hand of God was plainly in it: God had prepared the people by the secret influences of his grace, so that many of those who had in the last reign doted on the idolatrous altars were now as much in love with God's altar. This change, which God wrought on their minds, did very much expedite and facilitate the work. Let magistrates and ministers do their part towards the reforming of a land, and ascribe to him the glory of what is done, especially when it is done suddenly and is a pleasing surprise. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous.
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 On vv15–30 Now they began on the first day of the…
Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify,.... Either of the reign of King Hezekiah, or rather of the year; the month Ab or Nisan, as the Targum expresses it:
and on the eighth of the month came they to the porch of the Lord; they seem to have begun cleansing the inner part of the temple first, and so came forward until they came to the porch which led into it:
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so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; the holy place, and it may be the most holy place, and the court of the priests:
and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end; it took them eight days more to cleanse the outward porch, and the buildings and chambers belonging to the temple; according to Jarchi, it required so much time, because Ahaz had framed pictures of idols upon the walls of the temple, which could not be defaced sooner.
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 On vv15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 27 To cleanse - From the dirt it had contracted,…
To cleanse - From the dirt it had contracted, while it was so long shut up; from dust, cobwebs, and the rust of the vessels. Much more from the idols, and idolatrous altars which had been set up therein.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25 Verse 16. And the priests went] The priests and…
Verse 16. And the priests went] The priests and Levites cleansed first the courts both of the priests and of the people. On this labour they spent eight days. Then they cleansed the interior of the temple; but as the Levites had no right to enter the temple, the priests carried all the dirt and rubbish to the porch, whence they were collected by the Levites, carried away, and cast into the brook Kidron; in this work eight days more were occupied, and thus the temple was purified in sixteen days.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28 2Ch 29:15-16. To cleanse the house of the Lord…
2Ch 29:15-16. To cleanse the house of the Lord — From the dirt it had contracted while it was so long shut up; from dust, cobwebs, and the rust of the vessels. Much more from the idols, and idolatrous altars, which had been set up therein. The priests went into the inner part of the house — Not the holy of holies, into which only the high-priest might go, and he only once in a year, but into the holy place. And brought out all the uncleanness into the court — To wit, the priests’ court, called here the court, by way of eminence.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 27 By the words of the Lord - Rather, as…
By the words of the Lord - Rather, as suggested in the margin, “According to the commandment of the king in the business (or matters) of the Lord.”
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 On vv16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 30 Cedron, as Josias did with the idolatrous altars, 4…
Cedron, as Josias did with the idolatrous altars, 4 K. xxiii. 12. The priests brought what was unclean from the inner temple into the porch. H. --- This labour lasted eight days, as the cleansing of the porches had done. C. D.
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v20 Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the…
Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city--His anxiety to enter upon the expiatory service with all possible despatch, now that the temple had been properly prepared for it, prevented his summoning all the representatives of Israel. The requisite number of victims having been provided, and the officers of the temple having sanctified themselves according to the directions of the law, the priests were appointed to offer sacrifices of atonement successively, for "the kingdom," that is, for the sins of the king and his predecessors; for "the sanctuary," that is, for the sins of the priests themselves and for the desecration of the temple; "and for Judah," that is, for the people who, by their voluntary consent, were involved in the guilt of the national apostasy. Animals of the kinds used in sacrifice were offered by sevens, that number indicating completeness. The Levites were ordered to praise God with musical instruments, which, although not originally used in the tabernacle, had been enlisted in the service of divine worship by David on the advice of the prophets Gad and Nathan, as well calculated to animate the devotions of the people. At the close of the special services of the occasion, namely, the offering of atonement sacrifices, the king and all civic rulers who were present joined in the worship. A grand anthem was sung (Ch2 29:30) by the choir, consisting of some of the psalms of David and Asaph, and a great number of thank offerings, praise offerings, and freewill burnt offerings were presented at the invitation of the king.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 17, 19 15. By the words of the Lord — The…
15. By the words of the Lord — The exact sense of this phrase is here doubtful. It may mean, either that the king’s commandment was given by inspiration of God or was based upon the words of his law; or דברי, rendered words, may here mean things, and the meaning be as expressed in the margin, in the business of the Lord: that is, the king’s commandment in respect to the Lord’s matters, namely, the cleansing of the temple. This last is on the whole the more preferable exposition. Comp. chap. 2Ch_30:12.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–30 15. and came] R.V. and went in.
15. and came] R.V. and went in.
by the words of the Lord] The phrase suggests that Hezekiah had been moved to issue his command by the utterances of a prophet, but this is nowhere actually stated.
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 On vv13–30 (13) The sons of Elizaphan.—Or, Elzaphan, ben Uzziel ben…
(13) The sons of Elizaphan.—Or, Elzaphan, ben Uzziel ben Kohath (Exo_6:18), who was prince of the bnê Kohath in the time of Moses (Num_3:30). Two of this leading house and two of the Gershonite Asaphites were also present.
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 On vv13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30 Elizaphan. (Exo_6:22) He was chief of the Kohathites in…
Elizaphan. (Exo_6:22) He was chief of the Kohathites in the time of Moses (Num_3:30; comp. 1Ch_15:8) This family, though we do not read why, seems always to have retained a separate existence.
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 On vv17, 27 Now they began on the first day of the…
2Ch_29:17
Now they began on the first day of the first month
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A new year in Jerusalem
Let us consider--
I.
The work done (2Ch_29:18-19). What a grand work of an analogous character is thereby suggested--as a work, that may possibly be accomplished in the beginning of this year (1Co_3:16).
II. How it came to pass that it was done, and done suddenly.
1. God has prepared the people (2Ch_29:29).
2. In so doing He had rendered the priests and Levites greatly useful (2Ch_29:12-16).
3. King Hezekiah greatly influenced the spirit of the priests, the Levites, and the people, as evident from the character of his address (2Ch_29:5-11). But there is another king, one Jesus, who builds the temple of the Lord, and cleanses it, to whom we are all invited to look, and who shall bear the glory.
III. Some immediate results.
1. A great impulse given to the spirit of worship (2Ch_29:28-30).
2. Extension of a spirit of liberality in connection with the worship and service of the Lord (verse35).
3. Great joy. And that how valuable!
(1) In itself.
(2) In relation to moral improvement--for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
(3) In relation to trials (Heb_3:17-18).
(4) In relation to usefulness (Psa_51:12-13).
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v18 2 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
SACRIFICE RENEWED
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2Ch 29:18 - 2Ch 29:31.
Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father, had wallowed in idolatry, worshipping any and every god but Jehovah. He had shut up the Temple, defiled the sacred vessels, and ‘made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem.’ And the result was that he brought the kingdom very near ruin, was not allowed to be buried in the tombs of the kings, and left his son a heavy task to patch up the mischief he had wrought. Hezekiah began at the right end of his task. ‘In the first year of his reign, in the first month,’ he set about restoring the worship of Jehovah. The relations with Syria and Damascus would come right if the relations with Judah’s God were right. ‘First things first’ was his motto, and perhaps he discerned the true sequence more accurately than some great political pundits do nowadays. So neglected had the Temple been that a strong force of priests and Levites took a fortnight to ‘carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place to the brook Kidron,’ and to cleanse and ceremonially sanctify the sacred vessels. Then followed at once the re-establishment of the Temple worship, which is narrated in the passage.
The first thing to be noted is that the whole movement back to Jehovah was a one-man movement. It was Hezekiah’s doing and his only. No priest is named as prominent in it, and the slowness of the whole order is especially branded in 2Ch 29:34. No prophet is named; was there any one prompting the king? Perhaps Isaiah did, though his Isa 1:1 with its scathing repudiation of ‘the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts,’ suggests that he did not think the restoration of sacrifice so important as that the nation should ‘cease to do evil and learn to do well.’ The people acquiesced in the king’s worship of Jehovah, as they had acquiesced in other kings’ worship of Baal or Moloch or Hadad. When kings take to being religious reformers, they make swift converts, but their work is as slight as it is speedy, and as short-lived as it is rapid. Manasseh was Hezekiah’s successor, and swept away all his work after twenty-nine years, and apparently the mass of his people followed him just as they had followed Hezekiah. Religion must be a matter of personal conviction and individual choice. Imposed from without, or adopted because other people adopt it, it is worthless.
Another point to notice is that Hezekiah’s reformation was mainly directed to ritual, and does not seem to have included either theology or ethics. Was be quite right in his estimate of what was the first thing? Isaiah, in the passage already referred to, does not seem to think so. To him, as to all the prophets, foul hands could not bring acceptable sacrifices, and worship was an abomination unless preceded by obedience to the command: ‘Put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes.’ The filth in the hearts of the men of Judah was more ‘rank, and smelt to heaven’ more offensively, than that in the Temple, which took sixteen days to shovel into Kidron. No doubt ceremonial bulked more largely in the days of the Old Covenant than it does in those of the New, and both the then stage of revelation and the then spiritual stature of the recipients of revelation required that it should do so. But the true religious reformers, the prophets, were never weary of insisting that, even in those days, moral and spiritual reformation should come first, and that unless it did, ritual worship, though it were nominally offered to Jehovah, was as abhorrent to Him as if it had been avowedly offered to Baal. Not a little so-called Christian worship today, judged by the same test, is as truly heathen superstition as if it had been paid to Mumbo-Jumbo.
But when all deductions have been made, the scene depicted in the passage is not only an affecting, but an instructive one. Strangely unlike our notions of worship, and to us almost repulsive, must have been the slaying of three hundred and seventy animals and the offering of them as burnt offerings. Try to picture the rivers of blood, the contortions of the dumb brutes, the priests bedaubed with gore, the smell of the burnt flesh, the blare of the trumpets, the shouts of the worshippers, the clashing cymbals, and realise what a world parts it from ‘They went up into the upper chamber where they were abiding . . . these all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren’! Sacrifice has been the essential feature in all religions before Christ. It has dropped out of worship wherever Christ has been accepted. Why? Because it spoke of a deep, permanent, universal need, and because Christ was recognised as having met the need. People who deny the need, and people who deny that Jesus on the Cross has satisfied it, may be invited to explain these two facts, written large on the history of humanity.
That brings us to the most important aspect of Hezekiah’s great sacrifice. It sets forth the stages by which men can approach to God. It is symbolic of spiritual facts, and prophetic of Christ’s work and of our way of coming to God through Him. The first requisite for Judah’s return to Jehovah, whom they had forsaken, was the presentation of a ‘sin offering.’ The king and the congregation laid their hands on the heads of the goats, thereby, as it were, transferring their own sinful personality to them. Thus laden with the nation’s sins, they were slain, and in their death the nation, as it were, bore the penalty of its sin. Representation and substitution were dramatised in the sacrifice. The blood sprinkled on the altar {which had previously been ‘sanctified’ by sprinkling of blood, and so made capable of presenting what touched it to Jehovah}, made ‘atonement for all Israel.’ We note in passing the emphasis of ‘Israel’ here, extending the benefit of the sacrifice to the separated tribes of the Northern Kingdom, in a gush of yearning love and desire that they, too, might be reconciled to Jehovah. And is not this the first step towards any man’s reconciliation with God? Is not
‘My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of Thine,’
the true expression of the first requisite for us all? Jesus is the sin-offering for the world. In His death He bears the world’s sin. His blood is presented to God, and if we have associated ourselves with Him by faith, that blood sprinkled on the altar covers all our sins.
Then followed in this parabolic ceremonial the burnt offering. And that is the second stage of our return to God, for it expresses the consecration of our forgiven selves, as being consumed by the holy and blessed fire of a self-devotion, kindled by the ‘unspeakable gift,’ which fire, burning away all foulness, will make us tenfold ourselves. That fire will burn up only our bonds, and we shall walk at liberty in it. And that burnt-offering will always be accompanied with ‘the song of Jehovah,’ and the joyful sound of the trumpets and ‘the instruments of David.’ The treasures of Christian poetry have always been inspired by the Cross, and the consequent rapture of self-surrender. Calvary is the true fountain of song.
The last stage in Hezekiah’s great sacrifice was ‘thank-offerings,’ brought by ‘as many as were of a willing heart.’ And will not the self-devotion, kindled by the fire of love, speak in daily life by practical service, and the whole activities of the redeemed man be a long thank-offering for the Lamb who ‘bears away the sins of the world’? And if we do not thus offer our whole lives to God, how shall we profess to have taken the priceless benefit of Christ’s death? Hezekiah followed the order laid down in the Law, and it is the only order that leads to the goal. First, the atoning sacrifice of the slain Lamb; next, our identification with Him and it by faith; then the burnt-offering of a surrendered self, with the song of praise sounding ever through it; and last, the life of service, offering all our works to God, and so reaching the perfection of life on earth and antedating the felicities of heaven.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 24 first month
first month
i.e. April.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v20 The Service of the Temple Set in Order
The Service of the Temple Set in Order
v. 20. Then Hezekiah the king rose early, full of anxious zeal to complete the cleansing of the Temple, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. Since all the people of his kingdom could not be reached, he wanted at least the princes of Jerusalem to be the representatives of the people.
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v. 21. And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats, the number seven being the sacred number, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sins of the king and his predecessors, and for the Sanctuary, for the priests themselves and for the desecration of the Sanctuary, and for Judah, for all the members of the nation who had consented to the introduction of idolatry. And he commanded the priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord, to make an atonement for all the trespasses and sins as indicated.
v. 22. So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar, as the ritual of sacrifices required, Lev 8:14-24; likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar. They killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.
v. 23. And they brought forth the he-goats for the sin-offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them, thus signifying that the act of atonement, while made directly by the princes, was done for the entire nation.
v. 24. And the priests killed them; and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, for the purpose of obtaining a purification for sin, Lev 14:20, to make an atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin-offering should be made for all Israel. The sacrifices agreed, in general, with the precepts of Leviticus 4.
v. 25. And he set the Levites, those designated for that work, 1Ch 16:4; 1Ch 25:6, in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, the former being a guitarlike zither or lute, and the latter a small harp, according to the commandment of David and of Gad, the king’s seer, and Nathan, the prophet, for the latter two had advised and assisted David in arranging the Temple service; for so was the commandment of the Lord by His prophets, the Lord Himself having acted through the agency of His prophets.
v. 26. And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, those invented and introduced by David, and the priests with the trumpets, for the blowing of these was their special privilege, Numbers 10.
v. 27. And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar, when everything was in readiness for the service. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David, king of Israel, the instruments of David governed and led the entire orchestra as it played with full force in the intervals of the psalm or psalms.
v. 28. And all the congregation worshiped, and the singers sang, the psalm was intoned, and the trumpeters sounded; and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished, the musical performance of praise being continued during the whole time of the offering.
v. 29. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped, in grateful adoration.
v. 30. Moreover, Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded, they had done so before the beginning of the service, the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, some of the psalms composed by the royal singer, and of Asaph, the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, literally, "unto gladness," until their hearts were lifted up in ecstasy; and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
v. 31. Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, by having filled their hands with the sacrifices of atonement; come near and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the Lord. The sin and trespass-offerings having been made in order to remove the guilt of the king and the people, peace-offerings were now in order to establish the relation of the covenant between Jehovah and His people once more. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, with which sacrificial meals were connected; and as many as were of a free heart, in making vows to Jehovah, burnt offerings.
v. 32. And the number of the burnt offerings which the congregation brought was threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord, presented by the rulers of the people for the nation or congregation.
v. 33. And the consecrated things, the animals presented as thank-offerings, were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.
v. 34. But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings, a task which they were supposed to perform themselves; wherefore their brethren, the Levites, did help them, it being a case of unavoidable necessity, of an emergency, till the work was ended, and until the other priests, those who came in from the outlying cities, had sanctified themselves; for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests, they displayed greater alacrity than the priests, probably because the latter had become more deeply involved in idolatry under Ahaz.
v. 35. And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, that was the second reason why the Levites were drafted into service, with the fat of the peace-offerings and the drink-offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order, the newly consecrated Temple reopened for the service of Jehovah.
v. 36. And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people, had made their hearts willing with such promptness; for the thing was done suddenly, with unexpected readiness on the part of the majority of the nation. One of the surest proofs of true piety is the rejection of idolatry in every form and the eager participation in the worship of the true God.
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 On vv15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27, 29 following the words of Yahweh
following the words of Yahweh
This phrase shows that the king gave his command in obedience to the word of Yahweh. AT: "in obedience to the word of Yahweh" or "because of what Yahweh had said"
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to cleanse the house of Yahweh
A place that is fit to be used for God's purposes is spoken of as if it were physically clean. (See: Metaphor)
the house of Yahweh ... the courtyard of the house
Here the word "house" represents the temple. AT: "the temple of Yahweh ... the courtyard of the temple" (See: Metonymy)
they brought out all the filth that they found in the temple of Yahweh
The word "filth" refers to things that the people had used to worship other gods. The narrator speaks of these things making the temple unacceptable to Yahweh as if they were physically dirty. AT: "they brought out all the defiled things that they found in the temple of Yahweh" or "they brought out all the things that they found in the temple of Yahweh that made it unacceptable to Yahweh" (See: Metaphor)
brook Kidron
A small body of water that flows on the east side of Jerusalem. At times it was used as a trash dump. (See: How to Translate Names)
the first day of the first month
This is the first month of the Hebrew calendar. The first day marks the day when Yahweh brought the people out of Egypt. This is near the middle of March on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers)
the eighth day of the month
This is near the end of March on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers)
they reached the porch of Yahweh
The phrase "the porch of Yahweh" refers to the porch of the temple. "They reached" means that they began to cleanse this section. AT: "they had begun to cleanse the porch of Yahweh's temple" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)
sixteenth day of the first month
This is near the beginning of April on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers)
translationWords
brother
consecrate
command
word of God
clean
house of God
temple
court
day
consecrate
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 On v21 29:21 The bulls, . . . rams, and lambs…
29:21 The bulls, . . . rams, and lambs were for the burnt offering, and the male goats were for the sin offering (see Lev 1; 4:1–5:13).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.