1, 2 (= 2 Kings xviii. 1–3).
The Reign of Hezekiah.
The reign of Hezekiah is related in chapters xxix.–xxxii. Of this section chapters xxix., xxx., and xxxi. furnish new material with the exception of only three verses, xxix. 1, 2; xxx. 1. This new material describes first, the reopening and cleansing of the Temple and the restoration of worship therein (xxix.); secondly, a solemn and magnificent celebration of the Passover (xxx.); and thirdly, a crusade against idolatrous shrines and images, followed by a reorganisation of the arrangements for the support of the priests and Levites—all ecclesiastical topics dear to the heart of the Chronicler. These chapters throughout are in the spirit of the Chronicler, the incidents are generally conceived after the fashion of the ideas of his period, the language bears frequent marks of his characteristic style; and altogether there is no adequate reason to suppose that these incidents are historically true, or even are derived by the Chronicler from old tradition. They are probably his own free composition. Minor considerations point to the same conclusion (see note on xxix. 3 below); and the favourable verdict which in Kings is passed upon Hezekiah may be reckoned a satisfactory motive and a sufficient source for the Chronicler’s narrative. According to Kings (2 Kings xviii. 3–6) Hezekiah “removed the high places ... and cut down the Asherah, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made.... He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him”; a eulogy sufficiently glowing to warrant the assumption that Hezekiah must also have done all those other things which seemed to the Chronicler natural for so pious a monarch to do, and which accordingly are here related.
¹Hezekiah 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. ²And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
1. Hezekiah] Hebrew “Yehizkiah” (so usually in the Hebrew text of Chronicles). “Hezekiah” (Hebrew “Hizkiah”), the form of the name in Kings, is conveniently used in the English versions of Chronicles in place of the less familiar “Yehizkiah.”
Abijah] In 2 Kings “Abi” which is probably only a shortened form of the name.
3–11 (not in 2 Kings).
Hezekiah commands to Cleanse the
Temple.
³He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.
3. in the first month] i.e. in Nisan; compare xxx. 2, 3.
opened the doors] The reopening was a necessary sequel to the Chronicler’s assertion (xxviii. 24) that Ahaz closed the Temple. If therefore the supposed closing was unhistorical (see note, xxviii. 24) the reopening must be equally so. The notion, however, served the Chronicler admirably, enabling him to enhance the piety of Hezekiah by a full description of the restoration of the Temple services.
⁴And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the broad place on the east,
4. into the broad place on the east] The place meant was part of the Temple area, the space before the water-gate; compare Ezra x. 9, “the broad place before the house of God” (Revised Version).
⁵and said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites; now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.
5. now sanctify yourselves] Compare Exodus xix. 10–15.
⁶For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the sight 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.
6. from the habitation of the Lord] Compare xxiv. 18 “they forsook the house of the Lord” (see note).
habitation] Hebrew “tabernacle,” as in Exodus xxv. 9, al.
⁷Also 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 place unto the God of Israel.
7. Contrast 2 Kings xvi. 10–16, where Ahaz appears as an innovator in ritual but also as a zealous advocate of worship in the Temple.
the lamps] compare xiii. 11; Exodus xxv. 31 ff.
⁸Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to be tossed to and fro¹, to be an astonishment, and an hissing, as ye see with your eyes.
8. to be tossed to and fro] Better, as margin, to be a terror (or “cause of trembling”). The judgement on Israel fills the surrounding nations with trembling for themselves. The rendering of the text “tossed to and fro” is inferior because the Hebrew word describes “trembling” and not “motion from place to place.”
⁹For, 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 mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us.
10. a covenant] Compare xv. 12.
¹¹My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to minister unto him, and that ye should be his ministers, and burn incense.
11. to stand before him] Deuteronomy x. 8.
12–19 (not in 2 Kings).
The Cleansing of the Temple.
With this passage compare 1 Maccabees iv. 36–51 (the cleansing of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus).
¹²Then 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: ¹³and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel: and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah: ¹⁴and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei: and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel.
12. the Levites] The fourteen persons mentioned in these three verses comprise (a) two representatives each of the three great branches of Levi, namely, Kohath, Merari, and Gershon, (b) two representatives of the great Kohathite family of Elizaphan (compare Numbers iii. 30 and 1 Chronicles xv. 8), (c) two representatives each of the three divisions of the singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun (1 Chronicles xxv. 1).
¹⁵And 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.
15. by the words of the Lord] i.e. the king’s command was recognised to be in accordance with the Divine will. Read by the word; the plural words is probably only a textual error.
¹⁶And 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.
16. the priests] The work was so divided between priests and Levites that only the priests went into the house.
unto the inner part of the house] Render, within the house. The reference is not to the Holy of Holies specially, but to the whole interior of the house.
uncleanness] compare verse 5; Isaiah xxx. 22.
to the brook Kidron] The brook Kidron is the deep valley on the east of Jerusalem separating it from the Mount of Olives; 2 Samuel xv. 23; John xviii. 1. It was treated as an unclean spot, compare xv. 16.
¹⁷Now 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.
17. to sanctify ... and they sanctified] Two periods of eight days each were spent in “sanctifying,” the courts apparently requiring eight days and the house itself eight days.
¹⁸Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the table of shewbread, with all the vessels thereof.
18. the table of shewbread] Compare iv. 8 (note), 19; 1 Chronicles xxviii. 16—“the tables of shewbread.”
¹⁹Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away when he trespassed, have we prepared and sanctified; and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.
19. cast away] According to xxviii. 24, “cut in pieces”; compare 2 Kings xvi. 17. The reference is probably to the “bases” and the “sea.”
have we prepared] Render, have we set up. Ahaz had taken away the supports both of the laver and of the sea (2 Kings xvi. 17).
20–24 (not in 2 Kings).
The Sevenfold Sacrifice for the
Reconciliation of the People.
The ritual of the sin offering is fully given in Leviticus iv. Ahaz had broken the covenant, and Hezekiah’s sin offering was intended to atone for the breach.
²⁰Then Hezekiah the king arose early, and gathered the princes 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 commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord.
21. they brought] As the sacrifice was not for an individual but for a whole people the offering on this occasion consisted of seven of each of four different sacrificial animals, the bullocks, rams, and lambs being used for the burnt offering (verses 22 and 24), and the he-goats for the special sin offering (verse 23).
for the kingdom] i.e. for the kingly house.
for the sanctuary] i.e. for the Temple (compare Leviticus xvi. 16), but probably inclusive of the personnel of the Temple, i.e. the priests and Levites, since otherwise they would have been passed over in the great sin offering.
on the altar of the Lord] Not on the altar of Ahaz (2 Kings xvi. 11).
²²So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: and they killed the rams, and sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and sprinkled the blood upon the altar.
22. received the blood] In basons with which they dashed (not as the text “sprinkled”) the blood against the altar. This dashing was different from the sprinkling with the finger.
²³And they brought near the he-goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: ²⁴and the priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood upon 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.
23. brought near] i.e. to the king and the people.
and they laid their hands] “they” = the representatives of the people, for whom the sacrifice was to be offered, compare Leviticus iv. 15.
25–30.
The Levitical Service of Music.
²⁵And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet: for the commandment was of the Lord by his prophets.
25. and of Gad ... and Nathan] Neither of these prophets is elsewhere said to have had a part in inciting David to the organisation of the Temple music with which the Chronicler credits him. Their names are introduced in order to emphasise the value of the musicians of the Temple, whose service is thus declared to have arisen through the inspiration of prophets; compare 1 Chronicles xxviii. 19.
²⁶And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
26. with the instruments] LXX. ἐν ὀργάνοις. Compare 1 Chronicles xxiii. 5.
²⁷And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also, and the trumpets, together with the instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
27. and the trumpets] Compare 1 Chronicles xv. 24 (note).
together with the instruments of David] Render perhaps, even according to the guidance of the instrument of David, i.e. led (or “accompanied”) by them.
²⁹And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped.
29. bowed themselves and worshipped] i.e. first bowed down (on their knees) and then completely prostrated themselves.
³⁰Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.
30. to sing praises] Since (1) the Hebrew word for “Psalms” means “Praises,” and (2) the words of David and Asaph are specially mentioned in this verse, it is clear that the Chronicler by this phrase means “to sing Psalms.”
31–36 (not in Kings).
A Great Sacrifice of Burnt Offerings and
Thank Offerings.
³¹Then Hezekiah answered and said, Now ye have consecrated yourselves¹ unto the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord. And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. ³²And 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.
31. answered and said] i.e. answered the thoughts or expectation of the people as expressed by the Sacrifices and the Songs; compare Job iii. 2 (Revised Version).
ye have consecrated yourselves] Hebrew “filled your hand”; compare xiii. 9; Exodus xxviii. 41.
sacrifices and thank offerings] The phrase means simply the special type of sacrifices which were termed “thank offerings.” The fat of such offerings was burnt on the altar, the breast and right thigh were reserved for the priests, but the remainder belonged to the offerer and was used for a joyous meal (Leviticus vii. 12 ff.). The burnt offering was entirely consumed on the altar, no portion being kept by priests or offerer (Leviticus i. 1–13): hence such sacrifices represented a greater cost and are accordingly said to be given by those who were “of willing heart,” i.e. conspicuously pious and generous.
³³And the consecrated things were six hundred oxen and three thousand sheep.
33. the consecrated things] The term was applied (1) to gold and other valuables offered in the Temple; compare xv. 18; 1 Chronicles xviii. 8–11; (2) to those parts of the various sacrifices which were assigned to be eaten by the priests; Leviticus xxi. 22 (“the holy [bread]”), xxii. 2, 3, 15 (“the holy things”). Here the reference is more general, i.e. to the thank offerings (verse 35) themselves.
³⁴But the priests were too few, so that they could not flay all the burnt offerings: wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests.
34. the priests] According to Leviticus i. 5 f. the task of flaying the sacrifice was to be performed by the offerer. Either this passage marks a later stage in the customary ritual, or perhaps this occasion was regarded by the Chronicler as exceptional because the offerings were brought on behalf of the “congregation” in general. The verse presents other difficult features. Who were the priests who had not yet sanctified themselves? What is the significance of the evident contrast between the attitude of the priests and that of the Levites, to the disadvantage of the former? It would seem that there were priests who had deliberately or slackly failed to comply with Hezekiah’s injunction (verses 4, 5) and were therefore still ritually unclean from the pollution of the previous reign. In general we infer that the Levites had either been less deeply involved in the idolatries of Ahaz or at least were more zealous than the priests for the restoration of the worship of Jehovah alone. Possibly this tradition may truly represent the historical facts; or it may be an inference derived from 2 Kings xvi. 16 where the subservience of the high-priest Urijah to king Ahaz is mentioned (so Kittel). Less probable is the view of Benzinger that this verse has been added by the Chronicler to the midrashic source upon which he is here depending, and that it represents merely the Chronicler’s personal predilection for the Levites as distinct from the priests.
³⁵And also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings, and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order.
35. with the fat] Compare vii. 7; Leviticus iii. 3, 17.
the peace offerings] i.e. the thank offerings (verse 31).
drink offerings] compare Numbers xv. 5, 7, 10. The offering was to be of wine, and the quantity used was to correspond with the size of the animal sacrificed.
was set in order] i.e. was re-established.
³⁶And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, because of that which God had prepared for the people: for the thing was done suddenly.
36. that which God had prepared for the people] It was God, not Hezekiah, who had done it all.
suddenly] In the very first year of Hezekiah’s reign (verse 3).
1–12 (not in 2 Kings).
Hezekiah Invites all Israel to keep the
Passover.
From verse 2 it appears that this Passover took place in the first year of Hezekiah while the Northern Kingdom was still standing. The invitation to share in it at Jerusalem which Hezekiah is here (verse 1) said to have sent to north Israel is opposed to all historic probability. The Chronicler, however, was little likely to be troubled by that difficulty, even if he had observed it (see note, verse 5). Furthermore it is a plausible suggestion that the references to Ephraim, Manasseh, etc. in verses 1, 10, 11, 18 really reflect conditions of the Chronicler’s own circumstances, regarding which see the note on xv. 9. It is therefore a mistake to suggest that the date may be wrong and that the Passover really took place in the sixth year of Hezekiah after the fall of Samaria on the ground that the invitation would then be more credible.
¹And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord, the God of Israel. ²For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month.
2. in the second month] The Law allowed such a postponement; compare Numbers ix. 10, 11.
³For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. ⁴And the thing was right in the eyes of the king and of all the congregation.
3. at that time] In the first month.
⁵So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem: for they had not kept it in great numbers¹ in such sort as it is written.
5. to make proclamation] A phrase characteristic of the Chronicler.
from Beer-sheba even to Dan] i.e. the extreme points of the undivided kingdom of David and Solomon. “The existence of the North Kingdom is either ignored or more probably the writer assumed that it had already fallen” (Curtis). On the origin of the phrase and the order in Chronicles (Beer-sheba to Dan not Dan to Beer-sheba, as in 2 Samuel xxiv. 2, etc.) see Hogg in the Expositor, 1898, pp. 411–421.
they had not kept it in great numbers in such sort as it is written] The statement applies to Israel, not to Judah; for the first time an attempt is made to draw Israel en masse to a regular Passover at Jerusalem.
⁶So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant that are escaped of you out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.
6. the posts] Literally “the runners.”
the remnant that are escaped of you out of the hand of the kings of Assyria] The phrase applies most naturally to the final downfall of Samaria through Shalmaneser and Sargon (722–721 B.C.), but it is possible of course to interpret it of the repeated disasters at the hands of the Assyrians in the time of Tiglath-pileser some ten years earlier.
⁷And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up to desolation¹, as ye see.
7. to desolation] Render, as margin, to be an astonishment; compare xxix. 8 (same Hebrew word).
⁸Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were; but yield yourselves¹ unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.
8. yield yourselves] Literally “give the hand”; compare 1 Chronicles xxix. 24 “submitted themselves”).
sanctified for ever] Compare vii. 16.
⁹For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that led them captive, and shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him. ¹⁰So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them.
9. shall find compassion] Compare Psalms cvi. 46 (a similar phrase in Hebrew).
¹¹Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.
11. of Asher] Asher is somewhat strange. The parallel with verse 10 alone suggests that we should read of Ephraim; and this is the more probable if the real significance of the reference is for the Chronicler’s period (see the head-note, and xv. 9). It is not likely that Judaism at that time could claim many adherents in the old territory of Asher (see Hölscher, Palästina, p. 32).
humbled themselves] So xxxiii. 12.
¹²Also in Judah was the hand of God to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of the Lord.
12. Also in Judah was the hand of God] i.e. the mighty working of God, which brought some penitents from far parts of Israel, manifested itself in Judah also.
the commandment of the king ... by the word of the Lord] The king’s command was according to God’s command in the Law.
13–27 (not in 2 Kings).
Hezekiah’s Great Passover.
It seems clear that the story of Hezekiah’s Passover has been composed by the Chronicler on the analogy of Josiah’s grand celebration of that feast (see xxxv. 1–19), which the present festival even surpasses in some respects—viz. in its scope (for all Israel and strangers, whereas Josiah’s was for Judeans only) and in its duration (for two weeks, Josiah’s for one). Josiah’s Passover was famous because of the account of it in Kings. Doubtless the Chronicler felt that a celebration of that feast was incumbent upon a great reforming monarch, and he has therefore credited Hezekiah with observing it.
¹³And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.
13. the feast of unleavened bread] In the “Passover” were united two separate “feasts,” (1) the eating of the lamb on the fourteenth of Nisan, (2) the eating of unleavened bread from the fourteenth to the twenty-first of Nisan. The combined Feast was sometimes called “the Passover” and sometimes (as here) “the feast of unleavened bread”; compare Exodus xii. 1–14 and 17–20, and note that the intervening verses, 15, 16, bind the two feasts into one celebration.
¹⁴And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense¹ took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.
14. the altars] Compare xxviii. 24.
¹⁵Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day 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 order, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites.
15. the second month] Compare verses 2, 3.
were ashamed] Of their former backwardness; compare verse 3, xxix. 34.
¹⁷For there were many in the congregation that had not sanctified themselves: therefore the Levites had the charge of killing the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord.
17. of killing the passovers] “Passovers” (plural rare) = “Paschal victims”; compare verse 15, xxxv. 8 (“passover offerings”).
¹⁸For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one¹
18. of Ephraim, etc.] The list of tribes given here does not agree with the list in verse 11, but in both cases it may be that the Chronicler merely wished by his list to designate men of the Northern Kingdom as opposed to those of the Southern. He could not make the distinction by using the term “Israel” here, for in Chronicles “Israel” as a rule is not used in opposition to “Judah”; compare xi. 3 (note). (For a somewhat different view, see the head-note on verses 1–12 and xv. 9.)
otherwise than it is written] i.e. they were allowed to partake of the Passover meal, although not purified according to the regulations of the Law.
¹⁹that setteth his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.
18, 19. The good Lord pardon every one that, etc.] In Hebrew verse 18 ends abruptly with the word “pardon.” Probably the Revised Version is correct in disregarding the Hebrew division. The phrase “the good Lord” is not found elsewhere, and another suggestion is to transpose the adjective and read (verse 18) ... “The Lord pardon the good: (verse 19) even every one that,” etc. The LXX., however, supports the order of the Hebrew text.
²⁰And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
20. healed the people] By prevention; no plague was allowed to break out among them, although uncleanness in the sanctuary had been threatened with death; Leviticus xv. 31.
²¹And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord.
21. with loud instruments] Literally “with instruments of strength.” It is better to read “with all their might” (as 1 Chronicles xiii. 8). The change in Hebrew amounts only to the dropping of the smallest letter (yōd).
²²And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that were well skilled in the service of the Lord. So they did eat throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings, and making confession¹ to the Lord, the God of their fathers.
22. spake comfortably] i.e. with kindly and appreciative words. For the phrase compare Isaiah xl. 2.
making confession] Or, as margin, “giving thanks.”
²³And the whole congregation took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept other seven days with gladness.
23. other seven days] Compare vii. 9 (Solomon’s Dedication Feast).
²⁴For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation for offerings a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the congregation a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.
24. sanctified themselves] Compare xxix. 34.
²⁵And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the congregation that came out of Israel, and the strangers that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced.
25. the strangers] i.e. men of alien descent dwelling in Israel with certain conceded, not inherited, rights, and with most of the obligations of the native Israelite. LXX. οἱ προσήλυτοι Compare ii. 17; 1 Chronicles xxii. 2 for the unfavourable side of a “stranger’s” position.
²⁶So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.
26. since the time of Solomon] For Solomon’s great festival, see v. 2 ff.
there was not the like] Compare what is said of Josiah’s Passover; xxxv. 18 (note).
²⁷Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even unto heaven.
27. the priests the Levites] So in xxiii. 18, but only in these two places in Chronicles The phrase is Deuteronomic, and implies that at the stage of ritual development represented in Deuteronomy all Levites were potentially priests. Such was not in any case the view of the Chronicler, and perhaps we ought to read “the priests and the Levites” both here and in xxiii. 18.