Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel ,.... To renew one, as Asa and Jehoiada had done, promising to serve the Lord, and worship him according to his will: that his fierce wrath might be turned from us ; under the tokens of which they still continued, and might expect it to break forth in other instances, unless a reformation was made. read more
My sons ,.... So, as the father of his people, he speaks of them in the most tender and affectionate manner: be not now negligent ; backward to this good work, slothful, sluggish, and remiss in it; according to Jarchi and Kimchi, the word has the signification of error, and the sense may be, do not continue in the error in which you have been, in neglecting the service of God: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and... read more
Then the Levites arose ,.... Whose names are mentioned; of the Kohathites two, Mahath the son of Amashai, and Joel the son of Azariah; of the Merarites two, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel; of the Gershonites two, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; and of the family of Elizaphan, a Kohathite, two, Shimri and Jehiel; and of the family of Asaph, one of the chief singers in the times of David, two, Zechariah and Mattaniah; and of the family of Heman,... read more
And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves ,.... As they were bid, see 2 Chronicles 29:5 , and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the word of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord ; for this, which the king commanded, was by the Lord, and they came to do this work, in obedience to both. read more
And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it ,.... Into the holy place, where the candlesticks and shewbread tables stood, into which none but priests might enter, but not into the most holy place, the innermost of all; for none but the high priest might go into that, and only on the day of atonement; though in case of necessity, as for repairs, others might go into it, and so perhaps now to cleanse it, if any pollution was there: and brought out all... read more
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: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days ; the holy place, and it may be the most holy... read more
Then they went in to Hezekiah the king ,.... In his palace: and said, we have cleansed all the house of the Lord ; the several parts of it, and apartments belonging to it: and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof ; which they cleansed and scoured, and put in their proper place, and which Ahaz had removed: and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof ; which had lain neglected and profaned, but were now put in order. read more
Moreover, all the vessels which King Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression ,.... Not that he threw them away, being valuable, as made of gold and silver; but, as Kimchi interprets it, he removed them, and converted them to idolatrous uses; or, as the Targum, he defiled or profaned them, and made them abominable by strange idols: have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord ; they had cleaned them, and fitted them for service, and had... read more
Then Hezekiah the king rose early ,.... Took the first opportunity to attend the worship of God, and set an example to his people: and gathered the rulers of the city ; the elders of the people, the chief magistrates in Jerusalem: and went up to the house of the Lord ; the temple, to worship there. read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Chronicles 29:9
For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword ,.... Of the kings of Syria and Israel, even great numbers of them, 2 Chronicles 28:5 . and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this ; for this idolatry; or they were, though afterwards dismissed, 2 Chronicles 28:8 and some of them were still in captivity, perhaps such as were carried captive by the Edomites, 2 Chronicles 28:17 . read more