Chapter XXXI
Ver. 1-10. The People Forward in Destroying Idolatry. 1. all Israel . , , present went out into the cities of Judah—The solemnities of this paschal season left a deep aiui salutary impression on the minds of the assembled worshippers ; attachment to the ancient institutions of their country was extensively revived; ardour in the service of God animated every bosom ; and under the impulse of the devout feelings inspired by the occasion, they took measures at the close of the passover for extirpating idolatrous statues and altars out of every city, as at the beginning of the festival they had done in Jerusalem. Judah and Renjamin—denote the southern kingdom. Ephraim and Manasseh—refer to the northern kingdom. This unsparing <lemolltion of the monuments of idolatry would receive all encouragement from the king and pub-
lic authorities of the former; and the force of the popular movement was sullicient to efiect the same results among the tribes of Israel, whatever opposition the power of Hoshea or the Invectives of some profane brethren might have made. Thus the reign of Idolatry being completely overthrown, .anil the inire worship of God re-established throughout the land, the people returned every one to his own liome, in the confident expectation that, through the Divine blessing, tlu-y would enjoy a happy future of national peace and prosperity. 5J. Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests, Ao.—The king now turned his attention to provide for the orderly performance of the temple-worslilp — arranging the priests and IjCvUes In their eonrses, 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 wei"e di'rlved. To set a proper example to hla sulijects, his own jjroportion was announced in the first instance, for to the king It belonged, out of his privy imrse, to d<>fray the expenses of the altar, both stated and occasional (Numbers
13-27. Thk A.ssKMnt.Y Destroy the Ai,taiis of Tnor.ATRY. 1*. they arose, and took away the altars ftiat M-ere In .lernsalem—As a necessary prepainlion for the right obKcrvanee of the approaching solemnity, the removal of the altars was resolved upon, which Aliaz had erected in the city (eh. 28. 24); for, as being the people of God, the Hebrews were bound to extirpate all traces of Idolatry; and it was a happy sign and pledge of the inlluence of (he Hplrlt pervading the minds of the peojilo When they voluntarily undi^rtook this important preliminary work. 15. the priests and lA'vites were asliamed —Though the Levltes are associated In Ihls statein<'nl,lho priests were principally referred to; those of them who had been dilatory or negligent In sanctifying themselves (ch. 29. were put to the blush and stimulated to their 2S2
2.%:\ 1,9, 11, 1!)); and In making this eontribullon from his own means, Hezekiah followed the course which David and Solomon had taken liefore him (see on ch. 8. 1-); 1 Kings 9. 25). .\fterwards he reappointi'd tlm people's dues to the temple; anil from Its being necessary to Kssue a royal mandate in reference to this mutter. It appears that the sacred tribute had been either totally ni'glected, or as the Idolatrous princes were known to appropriate
It to their own purposes, the people had In numy eases
Disposal oj the Tithes. 2 CIIIUA'ICLES XXXII. Sennacherib Invades Judah.
whole land was ravaged; the strong forti-esses of Ashdod (Isaiah 20. l)and Lachish had fallen; the siege of Libnan had commenced, when the king of Judah, doubting his
refused or evaded the duty. But on the Improved state
of public feeling, Hezekiah's coinmandnieiit was readily
obeyed, and contributions of first-fruits and tithes were poured in witli great liberality fronm all vfo'ts of Judah,
al)ility to resist, sent to acknowledge his fault, and ofl'er terms of submission by paying the triljute. The commencement of this Assyrian war was disastrous to Hezekiah (2 Kings 18. 13). But the misfortunes of the early period of the war are here passed over, as the historian hastens to relate the remarkable deliverance wliich God wrought for his kingdom of Judah. 3-8. when Hezekiah saw tliat Senna clierib . , , wus pui-posed to fight against Jeiaisalem—An accouiit of tlie means taken to
as well as from Israel. The first-fruits, even of some ar-
ticles of produce that were unfit for sacrifice (Leviticus 2.
11), such as honey (Marg. dates), were appropriated to the
priests (Jfumliers IS. 12, 13; Deuteronomy 18. 4) ; the tithes
(],eviticus 27. 81) were intended for tlie support of the whole LevUical tril)e. (Numbers 18. 8, 20, 24.) G. and laid
tJtein by heaps—The contributions began to be sent in shortly after the celebration of the passover, which had taken place in the middle of the second month. Some time would elapse before the king's order reached all parts of the kingdom. The wheat harvest occurred In the third month, so that the sheaves of that grain, being presented before any other, formed "the foundation," an ntider-layer in the corn stores of the temple, and the
fortify Jerusalem against the threatened siege is given only in this passage. The polluting or filling up of wells, and the altering of the coui'se of rivers, is an old practice that still obtains in the wars of the East. Hezekiah'.s plan was to cover the fountain-heads, so that they might not be discovered by the enemy, an<l to carry the water by subterranean channels or pipes into the citj-—a plan which, while it would secure a constant supply to the inhabitants, would distress the besiegers, as the country all round Jerusalem was very destitute of water. 4. So tlierc was gathered mucli people . . , wlio stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the Iniid—"Where these various fountains were, we have now no positive means of ascertaining; though En-
first-fruits of their land produce being successively sent
in all the summer till the close of the fruit and vintage Season, I. e., the seventh month, continued to raise heap upon heap. 9. HezeUlali questioned wltli tlic priests and tlic Levites concerning tlie heaps—The object of his Inquiries was to ascertain whether the supplies aflTorded
tlie prospect of a sutTlcient maintenance for the members of the sacred order. 10. Azazlali . . . answered . . . we have had enough—This is probably the person mentioned (ch. 20. 17), and his reply was to , the following purport: There has been an abundant harvest, and a corresponding plenty in the incoming of first-fruits and tithes ; the people have testified their gratitude to Him who has crowned the year with His goodness by their liberality towards His servants.
rogel, and the spring now called the Virgin's Fount, may well be numbered amongst them. Josephus nientions the existence of various fountains witliQut the city, but does not mention any of them in this connection but Siloani. ' The brook,' however, Is located with sulficient precision to enable us to trace it very definitely. We are told that ' it ran through the midst of the land.' Now a stream running through either the Kedron or Hinnora Valley, could, in no proper sense, be said to run 'tlirough the midst of the land;' but one flowing through the true Gihon valley, and separating Akra and Zion from Bezetha, Moriah, and Ophel, as a stream once, doubtless, did, could, with peculiar propriety, be said to run through
11-19. Hezekiah Appoints Officers to Dispose op THE Tithes. 11. Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the honse of the Lord—storehouses, grana-
ries, or cellars; either the old ones, which had been allowed through neglect to fall into decay, were to be repaired, or additional ones built. Private individuals brought their own first-fruits to the temple; but the tithes were levied by the Levites, who kept a faithful account of them in their several places of abode, and tran.smitted the allotted proportion to the priests. Officers were appointed to distribute equal rations to all In the
the midst of the land on which the (Holy) City was built. And that this is the correct meaning of the phrase is not only apparent from the force of circumstances, but is positively so declared in the Septuagint, where, moreover, it is called a ' river,' which, at least, implies a much larger stream than the Kedron, and comports well with the marginal reading, where it Is said to ' overflow through the midst of the land.' Previous to the interference of man, there was, no doubt, a very copious stream that gushed forth in the upper portion of that shallow, basinlike concavity north of Damascus Gate, which is unquestionably theupper extremity of the Gihon valley, and pursuing its meandering course through this valley, entered the Tyropoeon at its great southern curve, down wliich it flowed into the valley of the Kedron." [Barci^ay's City OF THE Great King.] 5, 6. he strengthened himself— he made a careful inspection of the city defences for the purpose of repairing breaches in the wall here, renewing the masonry there, raising projecting machines to the towers, and especially fortifying the lower portion of Zion, i. e., Millo, "(in) the original city of David." "In"
cities of the priests who, from age or other reasons, could not repair to the temple. With the exception of children under three years of age—an exception made probably from their being considered unfit to receive solid food
lists were kept of the number and age of every male; of priests according to their fathers' house, and Levites from twenty years (see Numbers 4.3; 28.24; 1 Chronicles
Zi.'24). But, besides, provision was also made for their wives, daughters, :ind servants. 18. for in tlieir set office they sanctified tliemsel-ves—This is the reason assigned for providing for the wives and children out of the revenues of the sanctuary, that priests, withflrawing from those secular phrsuits by which they might have maintained their households, devoted themselves entirely to the functions of the ministry.
20, 21. His Sincerity of Heart. 30. Hezekiah wrought that which was good and right—He displayed the qualities of a constitutional king, in restoring
is a supplement of our translators, and the text reads better without it, for it was not the whole city that was repaired, but only the lower portion of Zion, or the original "city of David." he . . . gathered them together ... in the street i. e., the large open space at the gate of Eastern cities, and having equipped his soldiers with a full suit of military accoutrements, he addressed them la an animating strain, dwelling on the motives they had to inspire courage and confidence of success, especially on their consciousness of the favour and helping power of God. 9-30. (See on 2 Kings 18. 17-35; also 19. 8-34.) 18. they cried with a loud voice , , , to the people of .Terusalem . , . on the wall—It appears that the wall ou the west side of the city reached as far to the side of the uppermost pool of Gihon at that time as it does now, if not farther, and the wall was so close to that pool that those sent to negotiate with the Assyrian general auswered him in their own tongue (see ou 2 Kings 18. 27).
and upholding the ancient institutions of the kingdom, while his 7,ealous and persevering elTorts to promote the cause of true religion and the best interests of his subjects
entitled him to be ranked with the most illustrious of his
predecessors (2 Kings 18. 15).