2 Chronicles 29:31 Ulasan

We are here entering upon a pleasant scene, the good and glorious reign of Hezekiah, in which we shall find more of God and religion than perhaps in any of the good reigns we have yet met with; for he was a very zealous, devout, good man, none like him. In this chapter we have an account of the work of reformation which he set about with vigour immediately after his accession to the crown. Here is, I. His exhortation to the priests and Levites, when he put them in possession of the house of God again (Ch2 29:1-11). II. The care and pains which the Levites took to cleanse the temple, and put things in order there (Ch2 29:12-19). III. A solemn revival of God's ordinances that had been neglected, in which atonement was made for the sins of the last reign, and the wheels were set a-going again, to the great satisfaction of king and people (v. 20-36).

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 29 This chapter begins with the good reign of Hezekiah, who upon his accession to the throne opened the doors of the temple, Ch2 29:1, summoned the priests and Levites, and exhorted them to purge the temple, and restore the worship of it, Ch2 29:4, who accordingly set about the work immediately, and cleansed the temple, and, when they had done, reported it to the king, Ch2 29:12 upon which he, with the princes, went into the temple and offered sacrifices, Ch2 29:20 and ordered singers to sing at the offering of burnt offerings, Ch2 29:25 when he and his people offered burnt offerings and peace offerings in great abundance, Ch2 29:31.

But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings,.... Take off the skins of them, which used to be done by the priests, Lev 1:6, wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them till the work was ended; assisted in the flaying of the sacrifices, until they had gone through the service of this time, and the skins of all the sacrifices were flayed off: and until the other priests had sanctified themselves; who had been negligent of it, or had defiled themselves by idolatry: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests; were more ready to do it, and did it with greater cheerfulness and good will; were not backward to do it, but did it at once.

Hezekiah's good reign, Ch2 29:1, Ch2 29:2. He opens and repairs the doors of the temple, Ch2 29:3. He assembles and exhorts the priests and Levites, and proposes to renew the covenant with the Lord, Ch2 29:4-11. They all sanctify themselves and cleanse the temple, Ch2 29:12-17. They inform the king of their progress, Ch2 29:18, Ch2 29:19. He collects the rulers of the people: and they offer abundance of sin-offerings, and burnt-offerings, and worship the Lord, Ch2 29:20-30. Every part of the Divine service is arranged, and Hezekiah and all the people rejoice, Ch2 29:31-36.

HEZEKIAH'S GOOD REIGN. (Ch2 29:1-2) Hezekiah began to reign, &c.--(see on Kg2 18:1). His mother's name, which, in Kg2 18:2, appears in an abridged form, is here given in full.

Hezekiah . . . said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, come near--This address was made to the priests as being now, by the sacrifice of the expiation offerings, anew consecrated to the service of God and qualified to resume the functions of their sacred office (Exo 28:41; Exo 29:32). the congregation brought in--that is, the body of civic rulers present.

The celebration of the passover. - Ch2 30:1-12. The preparations for this celebration. - Ch2 30:1. Hezekiah invited all Israel and Judah to it; "and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh," the two chief tribes of the northern kingdom, which here, as is manifest from Ch2 30:5, Ch2 30:10, are named instar omnium. But the whole sentence serves only to elucidate כּל־שׂראל על ישׁלה. To all Israel (of the ten tribes) he sent the invitation, and this he did by letters. The verse contains a general statement as to the matter, which is further described in what follows.

The sacrifice of thank-offerings and praise-offerings and voluntary burnt-offering. - Hezekiah introduces this, the concluding act of this religious festival, with the words, "Now have ye filled your hand to the Lord," i.e., you have again consecrated yourselves to the service of the Lord (cf. Exo 32:29 and the commentary on Lev 7:37.); "come near, and bring sacrifices and thank-offerings into the house of the Lord." The words "Now have ye filled" are regarded by the commentators (Clericus, Ramb., Bertheau, etc.) as addressed to the priests; while the following וגו גּשׁוּ are supposed to be directed to the congregation, and Clericus and Ramb. consequently supply before גּשׁוּ, vos vero, Israelitae. The summons והביאוּ גּשׁוּ can certainly only be addressed to the congregation, as is shown by the words הקּהל ויּביאוּ, and the congregation brought, which correspond to the summons. But the supplying of vos vero before גּשׁוּ is quite arbitrary. If in גּשׁוּ other persons are addressed than those to whom the king formerly said, "Now have ye filled your hands," the change in the persons addressed would have been intimated by mention of the person, or at least by ואתּם, "but ye." As the two clauses at present stand, they must be spoken to the same persons, viz., the whole assembled congregation, including the priests and Levites. We must therefore suppose that the phrase לי יד מלּא, which in its narrower sense denotes only the consecration of the priests for service at the altar (see on Lev 7:37), is here used in a wider sense, and transferred to the whole congregation. They, by their participation in the consecratory offerings, by laying on of hands and worship during the sacrificial act, had consecrated themselves anew to the service of the Lord as their God, and had anew made a covenant with the Lord (Ch2 29:10); so that only the sacrificial meal was wanting to the completion of this celebration of the covenant, and for this the offering of sacrifices was requisite. The collocation ותודות זבהים is strange. זבהים are שׁלמים זבהים, sacrifices of peace-offering, also called briefly שׁלמים. Of these, in the law, three species - praise-offerings (תּודות), vowed offerings, and voluntary offerings - are distinguished (Lev 7:11, Lev 7:16). תּודות therefore denotes a species of the sacrifices or peace-offerings, the praise or thank-offerings in the stricter sense; and ותודות must be taken as explicative: sacrifices, and that (or namely) praise-offerings. לב וכל־נדיב, and every one who was heartily willing, (brought) burnt-offerings; i.e., all who felt inwardly impelled to do so, brought of their own accord burnt-offerings. Ch2 29:32 The number of the burnt-offerings brought spontaneously by the congregation was very large: 70 bullocks, 100 rams, and 200 lambs. Ch2 29:33-34 והקּדשׁים, and the consecrated, i.e., the beasts brought as thank-offering (cf. Ch2 35:13; Neh 10:34), were 600 bullocks and 3000 small cattle (sheep and goats). - In Ch2 29:34-36 the account closes with some remarks upon these sacrifices and the festal solemnity. Ch2 29:34. But there were too few priests, and they were not able (so that they were not able) to flay all the burnt-offerings; and their brethren the Levites helped them till the work was ended (i.e., the flaying), and until the priests had sanctified themselves. In the case of private burnt-offerings the flaying of the beast was the business of the sacrificer (Lev 1:6); while in the case of those offered on solemn occasions in the name of the congregation it was the priest's duty, and in it, as the work was not of a specifically priestly character, the Levites might assist. The burnt-offerings which are spoken of in Ch2 29:34 are not merely those voluntarily offered (Ch2 29:34), but also the consecratory burnt-offerings (Ch2 29:22, Ch2 29:27). Only Ch2 29:35 refers to the voluntary offerings alone. "For the Levites had been more upright to sanctify themselves than the priests." לב ישׁרי, rectiores animo, had endeavoured more honestly. Perhaps the priests had taken more part in the idolatrous worship of Ahaz than the Levites, which would be quite accounted for, as Kueper, das Priesterth. des A. Bundes (1870), S. 216, remarks, by their relation to the court of the king, and their dependence upon it. They consequently showed themselves more slack even in the purification than the Levites, who forte etiam idololatricis sacris minus contaminati et impediti erant (Ramb.). Ch2 29:35 Ch2 29:35 gives yet another reason why the Levites had to help the priests: "And also the burnt-offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace-offerings, and the drink-offerings for every burnt-offering." The priests could not accomplish the flaying for this reason also, that they had, besides, to see to the proper altar service (sprinkling of the blood, and burning of the sacrifices upon the altar), which taxed their strength, since, besides the consecratory burnt-offerings, there were the voluntary burnt-offerings (Ch2 29:31), which were offered along with the thank-offerings and the drink-offerings, which belonged to the burnt-offerings of Num 15:1-15. Thus the service of the house of Jahve was arranged. עבודה is not the purification and dedication of the temple (Berth.), but only the sacrificial service, or rather all that concerned the regular temple worship, which had decayed under Ahaz, and had at length wholly ceased. Ch2 29:36 Hezekiah and the whole people rejoiced because of it. ההכין על, over that which God had prepared for the people (by the purification of the temple and the restoration of the Jahve worship), not "because God had made the people ready" (Ramb., Berth.). The article with הכין represents the relative pronoun אשׁר; see on Ch1 26:28. The joy was heightened by the fact that the thing was done suddenly.