=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.
¹ Or, _of a long time_.
=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.
¹ Or, _to be an astonishment_.
=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.
¹ Hebrew _give the hand_.
=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.
¹ Or, _vessels_.
=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
¹ Or, _him that setteth his whole heart_.
=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.
¹ Or, _giving thanks_.
=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.