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2 Chronicles 31:2
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The Reforms of Hezekiah

1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and abroke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the wooden images, and threw down the1 high places and the altars—from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh—until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned to their own cities, every man to his possession.  
2 And Hezekiah appointed athe divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their divisions, each man according to his service, the priests and Levites bfor burnt offerings and peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the1 camp of the Lord.  
3 The king also appointed a1 portion of his apossessions for the burnt offerings: for the morning and evening burnt offerings, the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths and the New Moons and the set feasts, as it is written in the bLaw of the Lord.  
4 Moreover he commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute asupport for the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to bthe Law of the Lord.  
5 As soon as the commandment was circulated, the children of Israel brought in abundance athe firstfruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the btithe of everything.  
6 And the children of Israel and Judah, who dwelt in the cities of Judah, brought the tithe of oxen and sheep; also the atithe of holy things which were consecrated to the Lord their God they laid in heaps.  
7 In the third month they began laying them in heaps, and they finished in the seventh month.
8 And when Hezekiah and the leaders came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and His people Israel.
9 Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.
10 And Azariah the chief priest, from the ahouse of Zadok, answered him and said, b“Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and have plenty left, for the Lord has blessed His people; and what is left is this great cabundance.”  
11 Now Hezekiah commanded them to aprepare rooms in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them.  
12 Then they faithfully brought in the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things; aCononiah the Levite had charge of them, and Shimei his brother was the next.  
13 Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers under the hand of Cononiah and Shimei his brother, at the commandment of Hezekiah the king and Azariah the aruler of the house of God.  
14 Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the keeper of the East Gate, was over the afreewill offerings to God, to distribute the offerings of the Lord and the most holy things.  
15 And under him were aEden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, his faithful assistants in bthe cities of the priests, to distribute callotments to their brethren by divisions, to the great as well as the small.  
16 Besides those males from three years old and up who were written in the genealogy, they distributed to everyone who entered the house of the Lord his daily portion for the work of his service, by his division,
17 and to the priests who were written in the genealogy according to their father’s house, and to the Levites afrom twenty years old and up according to their work, by their divisions,  
18 and to all who were written in the genealogy—their little ones and their wives, their sons and daughters, the whole company of them—for in their faithfulness they1 sanctified themselves in holiness.  
19 Also for the sons of Aaron the priests, who were in athe fields of the common-lands of their cities, in every single city, there were men who were bdesignated by name to distribute portions to all the males among the priests and to all who were listed by genealogies among the Levites.  
20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he adid what was good and right and true before the Lord his God.  
21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he aprospered. 
Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
<< 2 Chronicles 31:1   2 Chronicles 31:3 >>


2 Chronicles 31:2-5

Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests, etc.—The king now turned his attention to provide for the orderly performance of the temple-worship—arranging the priests and Levites in their courses, assigning to every one his proper place and functions—and issuing edicts for the regular payment of those dues from which the revenues of the sanctuary were derived. To set a proper example to his subjects, his own proportion was announced in the first instance, for to the king it belonged, out of his privy purse, to defray the expenses of the altar, both stated and occasional (Numbers 28:3-4, Numbers 28:9, Numbers 28:11, Numbers 28:19); and in making this contribution from his own means, Hezekiah followed the course which David and Solomon had taken before him (see II Chronicles 8:14; I Kings 9:25). Afterwards he reappointed the people's dues to the temple; and from its being necessary to issue a royal mandate in reference to this matter, it appears that the sacred tribute had been either totally neglected, or (as the idolatrous princes were known to appropriate it to their own purposes) the people had in many cases refused or evaded the duty. But with the improved state of public feeling, Hezekiah's commandment was readily obeyed, and contributions of first-fruits and tithes were poured in with great liberality from all parts of Judah, as well as from Israel. The first-fruits, even of some articles of produce that were unfit for sacrifice (Leviticus 2:11), such as honey (Margin, "dates"), were appropriated to the priests (Numbers 18:12-13; Deuteronomy 18:4). The tithes (Leviticus 27:31) were intended for the support of the whole Levitical tribe (Numbers 18:8, Numbers 18:20, Numbers 18:24).




Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing 2 Chronicles 31:2:

2 Chronicles 31:1

 

<< 2 Chronicles 31:1   2 Chronicles 31:3 >>

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