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2 Chronicles 23:18 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

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18 And Jehoiada put the work and the care of the house of the Lord into the hands of the priests and the Levites, who had been grouped in divisions by David to make burned offerings to the Lord, as it is recorded in the law of Moses, with joy and song as David had said.

Cross Reference

Numbers 28:1-31 BBE

KJV ASV YLT DARBY WEB STRONG

And the Lord said to Moses, Give orders to the children of Israel and say to them, Let it be your care to give me my offerings at their regular times, the food of the offerings made by fire to me for a sweet smell. Say to them, This is the offering made by fire which you are to give to the Lord; he-lambs of the first year without any mark, two every day as a regular burned offering. Let one be offered in the morning, and the other at evening; And the tenth part of an ephah of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with the fourth part of a hin of clear oil. It is a regular burned offering, as it was ordered in Mount Sinai, for a sweet smell, an offering made by fire to the Lord. And for its drink offering take the fourth part of a hin for one lamb: in the holy place let the wine be drained out for a drink offering for the Lord. Let the other lamb be offered at evening; like the meal offering of the morning and its drink offering, let it be offered as an offering made by fire for a sweet smell to the Lord. And on the Sabbath day, two he-lambs of the first year, without any mark, and two tenth parts of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with oil, and its drink offering: This is the burned offering for every Sabbath day, in addition to the regular burned offering, and its drink offering. And on the first day of every month you are to give a burned offering to the Lord; two oxen, one male sheep, and seven he-lambs of the first year, without any mark; And three tenth parts of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with oil, for every ox; and two tenth parts of the best meal for a meal offering mixed with oil, for the one sheep; And a separate tenth part of the best meal mixed with oil for a meal offering for every lamb; for a burned offering of a sweet smell, an offering made by fire to the Lord. And their drink offerings are to be half a hin of wine for an ox, and the third part of a hin for a male sheep, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb: this is the burned offering for every month through all the months of the year. And one he-goat for a sin-offering to the Lord; it is to be offered in addition to the regular burned offering and its drink offering. And in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is the Lord's Passover. On the fifteenth day of this month there is to be a feast; for seven days let your food be unleavened cakes. On the first day there is to be a holy meeting: you may do no sort of field-work: And you are to give an offering made by fire, a burned offering to the Lord; two oxen, one male sheep, and seven he-lambs of the first year, without any mark: And their meal offering, the best meal mixed with oil: let three tenth parts of an ephah be offered for an ox and two tenth parts for a male sheep; And a separate tenth part for every one of the seven lambs; And one he-goat for a sin-offering to take away your sin. These are to be offered in addition to the morning burned offering, which is a regular burned offering at all times. In this way, every day for seven days, give the food of the offering made by fire, a sweet smell to the Lord: it is to be offered in addition to the regular burned offering, and its drink offering. Then on the seventh day there will be a holy meeting; you may do no field-work. And at the time of the first-fruits, when you give an offering of new meal to the Lord at your feast of weeks, there is to be a holy meeting: you may do no field-work: And give a burned offering for a sweet smell to the Lord; two oxen, one male sheep, and seven he-lambs of the first year; And their meal offering, the best meal mixed with oil, three tenth parts for an ox, two tenth parts for a male sheep, And a separate tenth part for every one of the seven lambs; And one he-goat to take away your sin. These are in addition to the regular burned offering and its meal offering; take care that they are without any mark, and let them be offered with their drink offerings.

1 Chronicles 23:1-24 BBE

KJV ASV YLT DARBY WEB STRONG

Now David was old and full of days; and he made his son Solomon king over Israel. And he got together all the chiefs of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. And the Levites, all those of thirty years old and over, were numbered; and the number of them, by heads, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand. Of these, twenty-four thousand were to be overseers of the work of the house of the Lord, and six thousand were judges and men of authority; Four thousand were door-keepers; and four thousand gave praise to the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, for giving praise. And David put them into divisions under the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei. The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham and Joel, three. The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth and Haziel and Haran, three; these were the heads of the families of Ladan. And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zizah and Jeush and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei. Jahath was the chief and Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah had only a small number of sons, so they were grouped together as one family. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was made separate and holy, he and his sons for ever, for the care of the most holy things and the burning of offerings before the Lord, to do his work and give blessings in his name for ever. And the sons of Moses, the man of God, were put into the list of the tribe of Levi. The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the first. And the sons of Eliezer: Rehabiah the first; and Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had a great number. The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the first. The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. The sons of Uzziel: Micah the first, and Isshiah the second. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. And at his death Eleazar had no sons, but only daughters, and their relations, the sons of Kish, took them as wives. The sons of Mushi: Mahli and Eder and Jeremoth, three. These were the sons of Levi, grouped by families, the heads of the families of those who were numbered by name, by heads, all those of twenty years old and over who did the work of the house of the Lord.

1 Chronicles 23:28-31 BBE

KJV ASV YLT DARBY WEB STRONG

Their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron in all the work of the house of the Lord, in the open spaces and in the rooms, in the making clean of all the holy things, in doing all the work of the house of the Lord, The holy bread was in their care, and the crushed grain for the meal offering, of unleavened cakes or meal cooked over the fire or in water; they had control of all sorts of weights and measures; They had to take their places every morning to give praise and make melody to the Lord, and in the same way at evening; At every offering of burned offerings to the Lord, on Sabbaths, and at the new moons, and on the regular feasts, in the number ordered by the law, at all times before the Lord;

1 Chronicles 25:1-31 BBE

KJV ASV YLT DARBY WEB STRONG

Further, David and the chiefs of the servants of the holy place made selection of certain of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun for the work of prophets, to make melody with corded instruments and brass; and the number of the men for the work they had to do was: Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur and Joseph and Nethaniah and Asharelah, sons of Asaph; under the direction of Asaph, acting as a prophet under the orders of the king; Of Jeduthun: the six sons of Jeduthun, Gedaliah and Zeri and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah and Mattithiah; under the direction of their father Jeduthun who, acting as a prophet, with corded instruments gave praise and glory to the Lord. Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth; All these were sons of Heman, the king's seer in the words of God. And to make great his power God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. All these, under the direction of their father, made music in the house of the Lord, with brass and corded instruments, for the worship of the house of God; Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman being under the orders of the king. And the number of them, with their brothers who were trained and expert in making melody to the Lord, was two hundred and eighty-eight. And selection was made of them for their special work, all having equal chances, small as well as great, the teacher as the learner. Now of the group of Asaph, the first name to come out was Joseph; the second Gedaliah; he and his brothers and sons were twelve? The third Zaccur, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The fourth Izri, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The fifth Nethaniah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The sixth Bukkiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The seventh Jesharelah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The eighth Jeshaiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The ninth Mattaniah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The tenth Shimei, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The eleventh Azarel, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The twelfth Hashabiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The thirteenth Shubael, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The fourteenth Mattithiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The fifteenth Jeremoth, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The sixteenth Hananiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The seventeenth Joshbekashah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The eighteenth Hanani, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The nineteenth Mallothi, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The twentieth Eliathah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The twenty-first Hothir, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The twenty-second Giddalti, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The twenty-third Mahazioth, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; The twenty-fourth Romamti-ezer, with his sons and his brothers, twelve.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 23

Commentary on 2 Chronicles 23 Matthew Henry Commentary

John Gill   Keil & Delitzsch   Robert Jamieson: Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible  

Chapter 23

Six years bloody Athaliah had tyrannised; in this chapter we have her deposed and slain, and Joash, the rightful heir, enthroned. We had the story before nearly as it is here related, 2 Ki. 11:4, etc.

  • I. Jehoiada prepared the people for the king, acquainted them with his design, armed them, and appointed them their posts (v. 1-10).
  • II. He produced the king to the people, crowned him, and anointed him (v. 11).
  • III. He slew the usurper (v. 12-15).
  • IV. He reformed the kingdom, re-established religion, and restored the civil government (v. 16-21).

2Ch 23:1-11

We may well imagine the bad posture of affairs in Jerusalem during Athaliah's six years' usurpation, and may wonder that God permitted it and his people bore it so long; but after such a dark and tedious night the returning day in this revolution was the brighter and the more welcome. The continuance of David's seed and throne was what God had sworn by his holiness (Ps. 89:35), and an interruption was no defeasance; the stream of government here runs again in the right channel. The instrument and chief manager of the restoration is Jehoiada, who appears to have been,

  • 1. A man of great prudence, who reserved the young prince for so many years till he was fit to appear in public, and till the nation had grown weary of the usurper, who prepared his work beforehand, and then effected it with admirable secresy and expedition. When God has work to do he will qualify and animate men for it.
  • 2. A man of great interest. The captains joined with him, v. 1. The Levites and the chief of the fathers of Israel came at his call to Jerusalem (v. 2) and were there ready to receive his orders. See what a command wisdom and virtue will give men. The Levites and all Judah did as Jehoiada commanded (v. 8), and, which is strange, all that were entrusted with the secret kept their own counsel till it was executed. Thus the words of the wise are heard in quiet, Eccl. 9:17.
  • 3. A man of great faith. It was not only common equity (much less his wife's relation to the royal family) that put him upon this undertaking, but a regard to the word of God, and the divine entail of the crown (v. 3): The king's son shall reign, must reign, as the Lord hath said. His eye to the promise, and dependence upon that, added a great deal of glory to this undertaking.
  • 4. A man of great religion. This matter was to be done in the temple, which might occasion some breach of rule, and the necessity of the case might be thought to excuse it; but he gave special order that none of the people should come into the house of the Lord, but the priests and Levites only, who were holy, upon pain of death, v. 6, 7. Never let sacred things be profaned, no, not for the support of civil rights.
  • 5. A man of great resolution. When he had undertaken this business he went through with it, brought out the king, crowned him, and gave him the testimony, v. 11. He ventured his head, but it was in a good cause, and therefore he went on boldly. It is here said that his sons joined with him in anointing the young king. One of them, it is likely, was that Zechariah whom Joash afterwards put to death for reproving him (ch. 24:20), which was so much the more ungrateful because he bore a willing part in anointing him.

2Ch 23:12-21

Here we have,

  • I. The people pleased, v. 12, 13. When the king stood at his pillar, whose right it was to stand there, all the people of the land rejoiced to see a rod sprung out of the stem of Jesse, Isa. 11:1. When it seemed a withered root in a dry ground, to see what they despaired of ever seeing-a king of the house of David, what a pleasing surprise was it to them! They ran in transports of joy to see this sight, praised the king, and praised God, for they had with them such as taught to sing praise.
  • II. Athaliah slain. She ran upon the point of the sword of justice; for, imagining her interest much better than it was, she ventured into the house of the Lord at that time, and cried, Treason, treason! But nobody seconded her, or sided with her. The pride of her heart deceived her. She thought all her own, whereas none were cordially so. Jehoiada, as protector in the king's minority, ordered her to be slain (v. 14), which was done immediately (v. 15), only care was taken that she should not be slain in the house of the Lord, that sacred place must not be so far disgraced, nor that wicked woman so far honoured.
  • III. The original contract agreed to, v. 16. In the Kings it is said that Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the people, and the king, 2 Ki. 11:17. Here it is said to be between himself, the people, and the king; for he, as God's priest, was his representative in this transaction, or a sort of mediator, as Moses was. The indenture was tripartite, but the true intent and meaning of the whole was that they should be the Lord's people. God covenanted by Jehoiada to take them for his people; the king and people covenanted with him to be his; and then the king covenanted with the people to govern them as the people of God, and the people with the king to be subject to him as the Lord's people, in his fear and for his sake. Let us look upon ourselves and one another as the Lord's people, and this will have a powerful influence upon us in the discharge of all our duty both to God and man.
  • IV. Baal destroyed, v. 17. They would not have done half their work if they had only destroyed the usurper of the king's right, and not the usurper of God's right-if they had asserted the honour of the throne, and not that of the altar. The greatest grievance of Athaliah's reign was the bringing in of the worship of Baal, and supporting of that; therefore that must be abolished in the first place. Down with Baal's house, his altars, his images; down with them all, and let the blood of his priests be mingled with his sacrifices; for God had commanded that seducers to idolatry should be put to death, Deu. 13:5, 6.
  • V. The temple service revived, v. 18, 19. This had been neglected in the last reigns, the priest and people wanting either power or zeal to keep it up when they had princes that were disaffected to it. But Jehoiada restored the offices of the house of the Lord, which in the late times had been disturbed and invaded, to the proper course and proper hands.
    • 1. He appointed the priests to their courses, for the due offering of sacrifices, according to the law of Moses.
    • 2. The singers to theirs, according to the appointment of David. The sacrifices (it should seem) were offered with rejoicing and singing, and with good reason. We joy in God when we receive the atonement, Rom. 5:11.
    • 3. The porters were put in their respective posts as David ordered (v. 19), and their office was to take care that none who were upon any account ceremonially unclean should be admitted into the courts of the temple.
  • VI. The civil government re-established, v. 20. They brought the king in state to his own palace, and set him upon the throne of the kingdom, to give law, and give judgment, either in his own person or by Jehoiada his tutor. Thus was this happy revolution perfected. The generality of the people rejoiced in it, and the rest were quiet and made no opposition, v. 21. When the Son of David is enthroned in the soul all is quiet and springs of joy are opened.