2 Chronicles 31

When all this was over, all the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah. They smashed the sacred stone pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars all through Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh too, until they had destroyed every one of them. Then all the Israelites went home, each man to his own property in his own town.

1Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the 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, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

Note"All this" is the great Passover festival described in the previous chapter, which Hezekiah had held in Jerusalem for people from both Judah in the south and the old northern kingdom of Israel. Ephraim and Manasseh were northern territories outside Hezekiah's kingdom, so the wrecking crews were crossing a political border. The sacred stone pillars were upright standing stones set up at shrines to mark the presence of a god. Asherah poles were wooden objects, either carved images or living trees, representing the goddess Asherah, a Canaanite mother-goddess. "High places" were local open-air shrines, usually on hilltops or raised platforms, where people sacrificed near their own towns rather than traveling to the temple in Jerusalem.

2Hezekiah set up again the work groups of the priests and the Levites, each man assigned to his own job, whether as a priest or as a Levite. They were to handle the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to sing praise at the gates of the place where the LORD lived among them.

2And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD.

NotePriests and Levites were not the same. Priests were the descendants of Aaron, and only they could handle the altar and the sacrifices. The Levites were the rest of the tribe of Levi, who did the supporting work: guarding gates, music, maintenance, and the storerooms. Neither group owned farmland like the other tribes; both lived on the offerings brought in by everyone else. The "work groups" (the King James "courses") were rotas. Priestly and Levite families were divided into fixed divisions, each of which came up to Jerusalem to serve for a set period and then went home. A burnt offering was an animal burned whole on the altar, with no part eaten. A peace offering was shared: part burned, part given to the priests, and the rest eaten as a meal by the worshiper and his family. "The place where the LORD lived among them" translates a Hebrew word meaning "camps", an old term recalling the portable tent-shrine of the wilderness years, here used for the temple precincts.

3The king also gave a share from his own property for the burnt offerings. This covered the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moon festivals, and the appointed feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.

3He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.

NoteThe morning and evening burnt offerings were the fixed daily sacrifices, offered at dawn and dusk every day of the year regardless of what else was happening. New moon festivals marked the start of each month in a lunar calendar; the appointed feasts were the annual pilgrim festivals such as Passover, Weeks, and Booths. Kings were customarily expected to fund these public, state sacrifices out of the royal estates.

4He also ordered the people living in Jerusalem to give the share that belonged to the priests and the Levites, so that those men could give themselves fully to the law of the LORD.

4Moreover 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.

NoteBecause the priests and Levites held no farmland of their own, this contribution was not charity but their legal income. Without it they had to work land or trades to eat, which is why the point of the order is that they could "give themselves fully" to their duties.

5As soon as the order went out, the Israelites brought large amounts of the first and best of their grain, new wine, oil, and honey, and of everything the fields produced. They brought in a full tenth of everything, and there was plenty of it.

5And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.

NoteThe "first and best" (firstfruits) were the opening portion of each harvest, handed over before the household used any of the crop itself. The King James "corn" means grain in general, wheat and barley, not maize, which was unknown in the ancient Near East. "New wine" is freshly pressed grape juice at the start of fermentation. The honey may be bee honey or the thick syrup boiled down from dates or grapes, which went by the same word. The "tenth" (tithe) was a fixed tenth of annual produce owed to the sanctuary.

6The Israelites and the people of Judah who lived in the towns of Judah also brought a tenth of their cattle and sheep, and a tenth of the holy things that had been set apart for the LORD their God. They stacked it all up in big piles.

6And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps.

NoteThe "holy things set apart for the LORD" were goods already vowed or dedicated to the sanctuary. Since these people lived in the towns of Judah, they were bringing their tithes up to Jerusalem rather than storing them locally, which is why the piles grew so large.

7In the third month they began stacking the piles, and they finished in the seventh month.

7In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.

NoteThe third month falls roughly in May–June, when the grain harvest ends; the seventh month is roughly September–October, after the grape and olive harvests. The piles grew over the whole four-month harvest season.

8When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw the piles, they praised the LORD and blessed his people Israel.

8And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD, and his people Israel.

NoteTo "bless" the LORD means to praise or thank him; to bless the people means to invoke good on them. The same Hebrew word covers both directions, which is why the King James uses it twice in one sentence.

9Then Hezekiah asked the priests and the Levites about the piles.

9Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.

10Azariah, the chief priest from the family of Zadok, answered him: "Ever since the people started bringing their gifts to the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, with plenty left over. The LORD has blessed his people, and this great pile is what is left."

10And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.

NoteZadok was the priest who backed Solomon at David's accession, and his descendants held the chief priesthood in Jerusalem from then on. Naming the family is a way of saying this was the senior, legitimate priestly line.

11Then Hezekiah gave orders to get storerooms ready in the house of the LORD, and they got them ready.

11Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD; and they prepared them,

NoteStorerooms in the temple were side chambers built into the complex, used to keep grain, oil, wine, and dedicated goods secure and dry. Until they existed, the contributions were literally sitting outside in heaps.

12They faithfully brought in the gifts, the tenths, and the things set apart for God. Cononiah the Levite was the officer in charge of them, and his brother Shimei was second in command.

12And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next.

13Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were supervisors under Cononiah and his brother Shimei. They were appointed by King Hezekiah and by Azariah, the chief official of the house of God.

13And 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.

14Kore son of Imnah the Levite, the gatekeeper at the east gate, was in charge of the gifts people gave to God by their own choice. He handed out the offerings brought to the LORD and the things that were most holy.

14And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter toward the east, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of the LORD, and the most holy things.

NoteFreewill offerings were gifts given voluntarily, over and above what the law required. Gatekeepers were Levites who controlled access to the temple courts and, as here, also handled what came in through their gate. "The things that were most holy" is a technical category: portions of certain offerings that only priests could eat, and only within the sanctuary precincts.

15Working under him were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah. In the towns where the priests lived, they held their assigned posts and gave out shares to their fellow priests by work group, to old and young alike.

15And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small:

NoteThe priests and Levites were assigned particular towns scattered through the tribal territories, so most of them lived away from Jerusalem except when their rota came up. These six men ran the distribution of supplies out to those towns.

16They also gave shares to the males on the family record who were three years old and older, that is, to everyone who came into the house of the LORD. Each got a daily portion for the work he did in the duties of his group.

16Beside their genealogy of males, from three years old and upward, even unto every one that entereth into the house of the LORD, his daily portion for their service in their charges according to their courses;

NoteThe registers were genealogical lists, the basis for who had a right to a share. Three years is roughly the age at which a child was weaned, so the list began where a child stopped being fed by its mother and needed a ration of its own. The Hebrew here is compressed and its exact sense is disputed: it may describe the priests' male children generally, or specifically those old enough to be present at the temple.

17Shares went to the priests listed on the family record by their father's household, and to the Levites who were twenty years old and older, according to their duties and their work groups.

17Both to the genealogy of the priests by the house of their fathers, and the Levites from twenty years old and upward, in their charges by their courses;

Note"By their father's household" means grouped by family line, the unit that determined a priest's standing and duties. Twenty was one of the traditional starting ages for full Levite service; other passages give different ages, and the ancient sources do not agree.

18The family record included all their small children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, the whole assembly. They were included because these men had faithfully kept themselves set apart as holy in their assigned posts.

18And to the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through all the congregation: for in their set office they sanctified themselves in holiness:

NoteThe point is that the whole household was supported, not just the man on duty. "Kept themselves set apart as holy" refers to ritual consecration, the washings, abstentions, and avoidance of anything that made a person ceremonially unclean, required of anyone handling holy things.

19As for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who lived on the farmland around their towns, or in any of their towns, certain men were named to give shares to every male among the priests, and to everyone among the Levites who was listed on the family records.

19Also of the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city, the men that were expressed by name, to give portions to all the males among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogies among the Levites.

NoteThe King James "suburbs" does not mean housing estates; it means the open pastureland and fields belonging to each priestly town, where the priests grazed animals and grew food. Priests living out on that land, away from the town center, still had to be reached by the men appointed to hand out shares.

20This is what Hezekiah did all through Judah. He did what was good and right and true before the LORD his God.

20And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.

21In everything he began, whether in the service of the house of God or in the law and the commands, he worked at it with all his heart in order to seek his God. And he did well.

21And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.