d

6 So 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 God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.

8 Now be ye not stiff-necked, as A. M. 3278 your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.

h Deut. x. 16.- -Heb. give the hand, 1 Chron. xxix. 24; Ezra x. 19.- Chap. xxix. 10.—k Psa. cvi. 46.- Exod. xxxiv. 6. m Isa. lv. 7. Chap. xxxvi. 16.

bration of his passover; yet for the doing of this we to the remnant of you-You are but a remnant, narmay well presume that he had encouragement from rowly escaped out of the hand of the kings of AssyHoshea himself; who, as to the matter of religion,|| ria, (namely, Pul and Tiglath-pileser,) who have has a better character in Scripture than any of his carried your brethren away captive. And therefore predecessors, from the time of the division of the it concerns you to put yourselves under the protectwo kingdoms. But the truth was, that both the tion of the God of your fathers, that you may not be golden calves, which had caused this political sepa- quite swallowed up: and if you turn to him in the ration, were now taken away; that of Dan by Tig-way of duty, he will turn to you in a way of mercy. lath-pileser, and that of Beth-el by his son Shalmaneser; and therefore some of the apostate Israelites, being thus deprived of their idols, began to return to the Lord, and to go up to Jerusalem to worship, some time before Hezekiah made them this invitation to his passover. See Prideaux and Dodd. They had not done it of a long time, &c., as it was written-In such a manner as God had commanded them to keep it. Indeed, the ten tribes had never kept it since the division of the kingdom by Jeroboam; at least, not in the way in which Moses had prescribed, being hindered by his threatening interdicts from going to Jerusalem; where only it could be kept according to the law. And as for Judah, it appears, from verse 26, that they had never kept this feast with such solemnity since the time of Solomon. Verse 6. So the posts-Hebrew, ', haratsim, the runners; went with the letters-Expresses were sent throughout all the tribes of Israel, with memorials, earnestly pressing the people to take this opportunity of returning to God, from whom they had revolted. Saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord, &c.-In these letters Hezekiah discovers great concern both for the honour of God and for the welfare of the neighbouring kingdom, the prosperity of which he seems earnestly to have desired, though he not only received no toll, tribute, or custom from it, but it had often, and not long since, been vexatious to his kingdom. This was indeed rendering good for evil. And he will return

Verse 8. Be not stiff-necked, as your fathers were -A metaphorical expression, taken from refractory oxen, which will not go forward, but endeavour to withdraw their necks and shoulders from the yoke, and go backward. But yield yourselves unto the Lord-Hebrew, Give the hand to him, that is, submit yourselves to him, by obeying his command, and renew your covenant with him: both which things were wont to be done among men, by the ceremony of giving the hand; and enter into his sanctuary-Come to worship in his temple at Jerusalem; which he hath sanctified for ever-Hath hallowed, not for a transient and temporary use, long as the state and church of Israel shall have a being, whatsoever alterations may happen therein.

but as

Verse 9. Your brethren and your children shall find compassion, &c.-You may hope that he will turn again the captivity of your brethren that are carried away, and restore them to their own land; bringing them first to true repentance, according to the prayer of Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 47; and 2 Chron. vii. 14; and then causing them to be pitied of those that have carried them away captive, according to the declaration of David, Psa. cvi. 46.

Verse 10. They laughed them to scorn, and mocked them-Having been long accustomed to serve other gods, the hearts of the generality of the ten tribes were so hardened, that they scoffed at this most gracious invitation to repentance. And what wonder that Hezekiah's messengers were thus despitefully

The joyful celebration

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11 Nevertheless, divers of Asher and || sanctified themselves, and brought in A. M. 3278. Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled the burnt-offerings into the house of themselves, and came to Jerusalem. the LORD.

12 Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the king and of the princes, by the word of the LORD.

13 And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great congregation.

14 And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron.

15 Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and

25.

-P Phil. ii. 13.- -4 Chap. xxix.
Chap. xxix. 34.

Chap. xi. 16; Verses 18, 21. Chap. xxviii. 24.used by this apostate race, when even God's messengers, his servants the prophets, who produced undeniable credentials from him, had been and still were worse treated. These Israelites, however, in a little time, paid dear for thus rejecting the counsel of God against themselves. In about two years and a half after their refusing this grace, Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, invaded the country, and laid siege to Samaria, their capital city, and, at the end of three years more, took it, and carried the whole nation away captive into Assyria and Media, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded, and would not hear nor do it, 2 Kings xviii. 9-12.

Verses 11, 12. Nevertheless, divers of Asher, &c. -Here is not so much as one of Ephraim mentioned; yet some of that tribe are spoken of afterward as partaking of the passover, verse 18. It is likely that these, although at first they mocked at the message, yet afterward, upon consideration, followed the example of their brethren. In Judah the hand of the Lord was to give them one heart-God, by the power of his grace, inclined their hearts to a unanimous compliance with his and the king's will. And this is mentioned as the reason of this wonderful change wrought in these men, who had lately been given up to idolatry.

Verse 14. They arose and took away the altars, &c.-As soon as they came to Jerusalem, they began to show their zeal against idolatry, by throwing down the altars that Ahaz had erected in high places, either for sacrifice or burning incense, which were very many, (chap. xxviii. 24,) stamping them to powder, and then casting them into the brook Kidron. Thus, before they kept the feast, they purged out the old leaven.

Verse 15. The priests and Levites were ashamed

16 And they stood in their place after their manner, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the LORD.

18 For 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 was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, say ing, The good LORD pardon every one

5 Heb. their standing.- t Chapter xxix. 34.-" Verse 11.

x Exod. xii. 43, &c.

-Their negligence and remissness being upbraided by the general forwardness of the people. The zeal which we observe in others, should make us ashamed of our own coldness, and quicken us not only to do our duty, but to do it with our might.

Verses 16, 17. The priests sprinkled the blood— Of the sacrifices upon the altar; which they received of the hand of the Levites-Who killed and flayed the sacrifices, which the priests, if they had been sanctified, should have done, as was observed on chap. xxix. 34. For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified-Abundance of people that came to keep this passover were not clean according to the law, and therefore many more sacrifices were to be offered for their cleansing than would otherwise have been necessary: which was one reason why the Levites were employed in the work, for the priests were not of a number sufficient to perform this duty. The reader must observe, that besides the paschal-lamb, the offering of all the sacrifices, which were appointed to accompany it, are included in keeping the passover.

Verse 18. A multitude of the people had not cleansed themselves-Either they did not know, after such a long night of ignorance and superstition, what ceremonies were required, in order to their purification, or they had not time to use them. Yet having an eager and pious desire to commemorate their wonderful deliverance out of the Egyptian bondage, they were permitted, in their uncleanness, to eat the passover, lest they should be discouraged if they were denied it, in this their return to the true religion. But Hezekiah prayed for them-It was his zeal that had called them together in such haste, and he would not that they should fare the worse for being straitened for time in their preparation. He therefore thought himself concerned to be an intercessor for those that ate the passover otherwise

CHAPTER XXX.

AM. 3278. 19 That prepareth his heart to|| 23 And the whole assembly took A. M. 3278, seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, counsel to keep other seven days: though he be not cleansed according to the pu- and they kept other seven days with gladness. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah 9 did give

20 And the LORD hearkened to Hezekiah, to the congregation a thousand bullocks and and healed the people.

Hezekiah regulates

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the divine worship.

A. M. 3278. & blessed the people: and their voice | to 10 his holy dwelling-place, even unto A. M. 3278. was heard, and their prayer came up

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Num. vi. 23.

heaven.

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10 Heb. the habitation of his holiness, Psa, lxviii. 5. their prayer came up to his holy dwelling-placeThe voice of the priests, when they thus blessed the people, as God had commanded, was heard in heaven. God said amen to their prayer, and perhaps gave some sensible token of the ratification of the blessing which they had pronounced. The prayer that comes up to heaven in a cloud of incense, will come down again to this earth in showers of bless

blessed the people-That is, those of the Levites who
were priests also, for to them only this work belonged,
1 Chron. xxiii. 13. In performing this office, they
were both the people's mouth to God, by way of
prayer, and God's mouth to the people, by way of
promise; for the blessing included both. And in it
they testified both their desire of the people's wel-
fare, and their dependance upon God and the word
of his grace, to which they commended them. Andings.

CHAPTER XXXI.

The remains of idolatry are destroyed, 1. Hezekiah provides work and maintenance for the priests and Levites, 2-4. The people bring in their dues abundantly, 5–10. rity, 20, 21.

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Officers are appointed to dispose of them, 11-19. Hezekiah's since

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offerings, to minister, and to give A. M. 3278.
thanks, and to praise in the gates of
the tents of the LORD.

3 He appointed also the king's portion of his substance for the burnt-offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt-offerings, and the

A. M. 3278. NOW when all this was finished, all Israel that were 'present went out to the cities of Judah, and a brake the 2 images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, 3 until they had utterly destroy-burnt-offerings for the sabbaths, and for the ed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

3

NOTES ON CHAPTER XXXI. Verse 1. In Ephraim and Manasseh also-Though these tribes were a part of Hoshea's kingdom, yet Hezekiah might direct this abolition of idolatry in them, either in virtue of the law of God, to which both Israel and Judah owed subjection, and which commanded the extirpation of these things, out of the whole land of Canaan; or by the special impulse and direction of God's Spirit, which puts men upon heroic and extraordinary actions, though not to be drawn into imitation; or out of a firm persuasion that his neighbour Hoshea, who had permitted his subjects to repair to the passover, would consent to, and approve of, what he did in this respect.

new-moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.

4 Moreover, he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the LORD.

5 And as soon as the commandment came 1 Chron. xxiii. 30, 31.- -d Num. xxviii. ; xxix.——— Num. xviii. 8, &c.; Neh. xiii. 10. Mal. ii. 7.—— Hebrew, brake forth.

and orders there by course: and perhaps also to intimate that it was shortly to be removed.

Verse 3. The king's portion of his substance, &c. Which had hitherto been taken out of the treasures of the temple; but that he might ease the people in their present poverty, which his predecessor had brought upon them, and engage them to a more cheerful attendance upon God's service, he took the || burden upon himself.

Verse 4. That they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord-Freed from worldly cares and distractions, and enabled to give up themselves entirely to the serious study of God's law, and to the instruction, and direction, and quickening of the

Verse 2. In the gates of the tents of the Lord-people. That is, within the gates of the house of the Lord: which is here called tents, either because all houses are often so called, (see Judg. xix. 9, and xx. 8; Psa. lxxix. 25,) or because the host of the Lord, the priests and Levites, encamped there, and kept their stations

Verse 5. As soon as the commandment came abroad --Either, 1st, As soon as the report of this command of the king was known abroad in other parts; or, 2d, As soon as the king had enlarged and extended that command to all the parts of his kingdom, which

A. M. 3278. abroad, the children of Israel brought || blessed his people; and that which A. M. 3278. in abundance the first-fruits of corn, is left is this great store. wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.

13 And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler of the house of God.

14 And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite,

9 Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests the porter toward the east, was over the freeand the Levites concerning the heaps.