2 Chronicles 31 - Introduction
XXXI. PROGRESS OF THE RELIGIOUS REFORMATION.... [ Continue Reading ]
XXXI. PROGRESS OF THE RELIGIOUS REFORMATION.... [ Continue Reading ]
Destruction of the images and high places in both kingdoms. (Comp. 2 Kings 18:4.) NOW WHEN ALL THIS WAS FINISHED. — _And when they had finished all this_ — that is, the business of the Passover. ALL ISRAEL THAT WERE PRESENT WENT OUT. — Their iconoclastic zeal had been thoroughly roused by the fest... [ Continue Reading ]
THE COURSES... THEIR COURSES. — Hezekiah restored the system of service in rotation, ascribed to David. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 8:14, “according to the order of David.”) EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS SERVICE. — See the same phrase in Numbers 7:5; Numbers 7:7. Literally, _after the mouth_ (i.e., rule, pres... [ Continue Reading ]
HE APPOINTED ALSO... SET FEASTS. — Rather, _And the king’s portion_ (_i.e.,_ the part he contributed) _from his property was for the burnt offerings — _viz., _for the burnt offerings of the morning and the evening, and the burnt offerings on the Sabbath, and the new moons, the set feasts._ The king... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER. — Literally, _And he said to the people,_ to wit, _to the dwellers in Jerusalem._ (Comp. 2 Chronicles 24:8; 1 Chronicles 21:17.) THE PORTION OF THE PRIESTS AND THE LEVITES. — The firstfruits and tithes, ordained in Exodus 23:19; Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:12; Numbers 18:20; Deufc. 26 THA... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ... CAME ABROAD. — Literally, _And when the word broke forth_ — _i.e.,_ spread abroad. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. — Here the people of Jerusalem, who in the chronicler’s day had a preeminent right to the name. (See on next verse.) The firstfruits were for the priests (Numbers 18:12, _seq.,_ where... [ Continue Reading ]
CONCERNING. — Omit. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH, THAT DWELT IN THE CITIES OF JUDAH. — Contrasted with “the children of Israel” who dwelt in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 31:5). “The children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah_”_ are evidently those who had left the northern kingdom to settl... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE THIRD MONTH. — And so at the end of wheat-harvest, the third month (Sivan) answering to our May — June. Pentecost, the Feast of Harvest, or Firstfruits, fell in this month. TO LAY THE FOUNDATION. — _To found,_ or _lay._ Heb., _lîsôd,_ a curious form only met with here. (Comp. _lîsôd,_ Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN HEZEKIAH QUESTIONED WITH THE PRIESTS AND THE LEVITES. — _And Hezekiah asked the priests,_ &c. The construction is _dârash ‘al._ (Comp. 2 Samuel 11:3; 1 Samuel 28:7.) The king wished to know how it was the heaps of offerings were so large.... [ Continue Reading ]
AZARIAH. — Possibly the Azariah of 2 Chronicles 26:17. If not, he is otherwise unknown. SINCE THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO BRING THE OFFERINGS. — _Since they began to bring the Tĕrûmâh_: a word which the Authorised Version usually renders “heave offering.” (See Note on 2 Chronicles 31:6.) TO BRING. — In th... [ Continue Reading ]
THE OFFERINGS. — _The Terûmah_ (heave offering; see Note on 2 Chronicles 31:6) _and the tithe, and the holy things_ (2 Chronicles 31:6). _Terûmah_ seems to mean the firstfruits hero (2 Chronicles 31:5). FAITHFULLY. — _With faithfulness,_ or _honesty_ (2 Chronicles 19:9). OVER WHICH. — _And over th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JEHIEL... WERE OVERSEERS. — Nothing is known of these ten Levitical officers; though some of the names occur elsewhere — _e.g.,_ Jehiel and Mahath in 2 Chronicles 29:12; 2 Chronicles 29:14. UNDER THE HAND OF CONONIAH. — Or, _at the side of_... (_miyyad_...) The phrase means “under Cononiah’s or... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PORTER TOWARD THE EAST. — Compare 1 Chronicles 9:18. Korê had charge of “the freewill offerings of God,” or voluntary gifts (Deuteronomy 12:17); and it was his duty “to distribute the oblations of the Lord and the most holy things" to the priests. TO DISTRIBUTE THE OBLATIONS. — To _give the Ter... [ Continue Reading ]
NEXT HIM. — _By his hand_ (‘al _yâdô_). (Comp. 1 Chronicles 25:2.) The meaning is, “subordinate to him.” The six Levites here named as under the direction of Korê had the duty of distributing a proper share of the firstfruits, tithes, and dedicated things to their brethren residing in the sacerdota... [ Continue Reading ]
BESIDE THEIR GENEALOGY. — The verse is a parenthesis stating an exception, and should rather be rendered, “apart from their register of males from three years old and upward (to wit, the register) of all that came into the house of Jehovah for the daily portion (literally, _for a day’s matter in its... [ Continue Reading ]
BOTH TO THE GENEALOGY. — The verse is a parenthesis relating to the registration of the priests and Levites, suggested by the occurrence of the word “register” in 2 Chronicles 31:16. Translate, “And as to the register of the priests, it was according to their clans (Heb., _father-houses_); and the L... [ Continue Reading ]
AND TO THE GENEALOGY. — After the parenthetic statements of 2 Chronicles 31:16 the thread of the narrative, broken off at 2 Chronicles 31:15, is taken up again at that point. The six Levites there named were in the priests’ cities “to give (their portions) to their brethren,” and further (2 Chronicl... [ Continue Reading ]
ALSO OF THE SONS OF AARON THE PRIESTS. — Officers were likewise appointed to distribute portions. to the priests and Levites who dwelt on their farms. outside of the sacerdotal cities. Render, “and for the sons of Aaron the priests, in the farms of the pasturage of their cities, in each several city... [ Continue Reading ]
TRUTH (_ha’ĕmeth_). — _Faithfulness,_ or _sincerity. _... [ Continue Reading ]
Conclusion of the account of Hezekiah’s reformation.... [ Continue Reading ]
COMMANDMENTS. — Heb., _commandment._ TO SEEK HIS GOD. — _In order to seek,_ or _by way of seeking._ HE DID IT WITH ALL HIS HEART. — Comp. the frequent phrase, “with a perfect heart” (1 Chronicles 28:9, and elsewhere); also “and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart,” &c. (Deuterono... [ Continue Reading ]