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.”
Show the surrounding paragraph
2 Chronicles 29:15-19 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Then the Levites arose, Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; 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.”
Parallel Translations
-
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.”
-
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.
And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.
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 they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.
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, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof.
Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.
Show all 3 translations
-
And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of the king by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
And the priests went in unto the inner part of the house of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad 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 came they to the porch of the LORD; and they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days; and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.
Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace, and said: 'We have cleansed all the house of the LORD, even the altar of burnt-offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the table of showbread, with all the vessels thereof.
Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away when he acted treacherously, have we prepared and sanctified; and, behold, they are before the altar of the LORD.'
Cross-references (26)
- 1 Chronicles 23:28 (v15) For their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of Yahweh’s house, in the courts, and in the rooms, and in the purifying…
- 2 Chronicles 28:24 (v19) Ahaz gathered together the vessels of God’s house, and cut the vessels of God’s house in pieces, and shut up the doors of Yahweh’s house;…
- 2 Chronicles 30:12 (v15) Also the hand of God came on Judah to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by Yahweh’s word.
- 2 Chronicles 15:16 (v16) Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; so Asa cut…
- 2 Chronicles 29:5 (v15) and said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify Yahweh, the God of your fathers’ house, and carry the…
Show all 26 cross-references
- Exodus 12:2-8 (v17) “This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of…
- Exodus 26:33-34 (v16) You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the covenant in there within the veil. The veil shall separate the…
- 2 Samuel 15:23 (v16) All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the…
- 1 Kings 6:3 (v17) The porch in front of the temple of the house had a length of twenty cubits, which was along the width of the house. Ten cubits was its…
- 1 Kings 6:19-20 (v16) He prepared an inner sanctuary in the middle of the house within, to set the ark of Yahweh’s covenant there. Within the inner sanctuary was…
- 2 Kings 23:4-6 (v16) The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring out of Yahweh’s…
- 1 Chronicles 28:11 (v17) Then David gave to Solomon his son the plans for the porch of the temple, for its houses, for its treasuries, for its upper rooms, for its…
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 (v17) The porch that was in front, its length, according to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height one hundred twenty; and he…
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 (v16) He made the most holy place. Its length, according to the width of the house, was twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits; and he…
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 (v18) Then he made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high.
- 2 Chronicles 4:7-8 (v18) He made the ten lamp stands of gold according to the ordinance concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and…
- 2 Chronicles 5:7 (v16) The priests brought in the ark of Yahweh’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, even under…
- 2 Chronicles 13:11 (v18) and they burn to Yahweh every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the show bread in order on the…
- 2 Chronicles 29:3 (v17) In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of Yahweh’s house, and repaired them.
- 2 Chronicles 29:7 (v17) Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy…
- Ezekiel 36:29 (v16) I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.
- Matthew 21:12-13 (v16) Jesus entered into the temple of God, and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’…
- Matthew 23:27 (v16) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of…
- John 18:1 (v16) When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, into which he and his…
- Hebrews 9:2-8 (v16) For a tabernacle was prepared. In the first part were the lamp stand, the table, and the show bread; which is called the Holy Place. After…
- Hebrews 9:23-24 (v16) It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15–18 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 vv15–19 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 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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–19 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:
Read full note →
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 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 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 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 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 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).
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 vv15–19 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 vv15–19 (15) They gathered their brethren.—As chiefs, or heads of…
(15) They gathered their brethren.—As chiefs, or heads of houses, they had the requisite authority. The families mostly concerned would naturally be those residing in Jerusalem.
According to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord—i.e., through the words of Jehovah; a mandate based on the words of Jehovah, as recorded in the written Law. Comp. 1Ch_25:5, and 2Ch_30:12. Also 2Ch_29:25, below: “For by the hand of Jehovah was the commandment” (Note).
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 vv15–18 By the words of the Lord. The Hebrew here…
By the words of the Lord. The Hebrew here (hwhy yrebdiB) may possibly mean, "in the business of Jehovah," upon which King Hezekiah was now intent. But it is not by any means needful so to understand it. The words or commands of the Lord are such as are written Exo_19:22; Lev_11:44.
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 v17 Now they began on the first day of the…
2Ch_29:17
Now they began on the first day of the first month
Read full note →
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
Read full note →
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 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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 18 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"
Read full note →
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.