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
And 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 ,.... To make atonement in a typical way, having respect to the sacrifice of the Messiah, for the sins of the king, his family and court, among whom idolatry had prevailed in the times of his father; and for the cleansing of the temple, which had been polluted by the idolatries of Ahaz; and for the expiation of the whole land; seven of... read more
So they killed the bullocks ,.... The seven bullocks, that is, the priests killed them: and the priests received the blood ; into basins provided for that purpose: and sprinkled it on the altar ; according to the law of Moses, Leviticus 1:5 and so they did with the rams and lambs. read more
And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation ,.... Which were to make atonement for the sins of both: and they laid their hands on them ; signifying thereby that they were vicarious sacrifices to be offered up in their own room and stead, and that they deserved to die, as these creatures would: transferring as it were hereby their sins unto them, for which they were to be sacrificed, and to make atonement, as an emblem of the imputation of... read more
And the priests killed them ,.... The seven he goats; for of the killing of the bullocks, rams, and lambs, mention is made before, 2 Chronicles 29:2 . and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make atonement for all Israel ; typical of the reconciliation and atonement made for the whole spiritual Israel of God by the sacrifice of Christ: for the king commanded that the burnt offering, and the sin offering , should be made for all Israel ; not only for the... read more
And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps ,.... To play upon, which were the three principal instruments of music used in religious worship, and what had been disused in the times of Ahaz: according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet ; this sort of music was not commanded by the law of Moses, but was directed to by David under a divine influence, and was approved of by the prophets of the... read more
And the Levites stood with the instruments of David ,.... Which were invented, directed, and ordered to be used by him, and are the same as in the preceding verse: and the priests with the trumpets ; which were made by the direction of Moses, according to the order of God, Numbers 10:2 . read more
And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar ,.... Which was wholly devoted to the Lord, and was an acknowledgment of his sovereignty over them, and of his goodness to them: and when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel ; and this was done at the time of the pouring out of the drink offering, which always attended the burnt offering; for this is a rule with the Jews, that... read more
And all the congregation worshipped ,.... Bowed their heads as a token of divine adoration: and the singers sang ; both with vocal and instrumental music, who were the Levites: and the trumpeters sounded ; their silver trumpets; these were the priests: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished ; with all appertaining to it, the meat and drink offerings. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Chronicles 29:20-36
The temple being cleansed, we have here an account of the good use that was immediately made of it. A solemn assembly was called to meet the king at the temple, the very next day (2 Chron. 29:20); and very glad, no doubt, all the good people in Jerusalem were, when it was said, Let us go up to the house of the Lord, Ps. 122:1. As soon as Hezekiah heard that the temple was ready for him he lost no time, but made it appear that he was ready for it. He rose early to go up to the house of the... read more