5 And as soon as the commandment was published, the children of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of corn, new wine and oil and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of all [things].
And all Judah brought the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil into the storehouses.
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they give to Jehovah, have I given thee.
And at that time men were appointed over the chambers of the treasures for the heave-offerings, for the first-fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them, out of the fields of the cities, the portions assigned by the law for the priests and the Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests, and over the Levites that waited.
These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins: these are they who follow the Lamb wheresoever it goes. These have been bought from men [as] first-fruits to God and to the Lamb:
According to his own will begat he us by the word of truth, that we should be a certain first-fruits of *his* creatures.
that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty has abounded to the riches of their [free-hearted] liberality. For according to [their] power, I bear witness, and beyond [their] power, [they were] willing of their own accord, begging of us with much entreaty [to give effect to] the grace and fellowship of the service which [was to be rendered] to the saints. And not according as we hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord, and to us by God's will.
(But now Christ is raised from among [the] dead, first-fruits of those fallen asleep.
Honour Jehovah with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase;
-- Thou shalt not delay the fulness of thy [threshing-floor] and the outflow of thy [winepress]. The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
and to bring the first-fruits of our land, and the first-fruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year to the house of Jehovah, and the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the law; and to bring the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests that minister in the house of our God; and that we should bring the first-fruits of our coarse meal and our heave-offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, new wine and oil, to the priests, into the chambers of the house of our God, and the tithes of our ground to the Levites, that they, the Levites, should take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes; and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, into the chambers of the treasure-house. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the heave-offering of the corn, of the new wine and the oil, into the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the doorkeepers and the singers. And we will not forsake the house of our God.
And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in and cast into the chest, until they had finished. And it came to pass at the time the chest was brought for the king's control by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's scribe and high priest's officer came, and they emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to its place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.
and spoke to Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work that Jehovah commanded to be done. Then Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed through the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the heave-offering of the sanctuary! So the people were restrained from bringing;
And all the assembly of the children of Israel departed from before Moses. And they came, every one whose heart moved him, and every one whose spirit prompted him; they brought Jehovah's heave-offering for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women; every one who was of willing heart brought nose-rings, and earrings, and rings, and bracelets, all kinds of utensils of gold: every man that waved a wave-offering of gold to Jehovah. And every man with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and byssus, and goats' [hair], and rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, brought [them]. All they that offered a heave-offering of silver and copper brought Jehovah's heave-offering. And every one with whom was found acacia-wood for all manner of work of the service, brought [it]. And every woman that was wise-hearted spun with her hands, and brought what she had spun: the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the byssus. And all the women whose heart moved them in wisdom spun goats' [hair]. And the principal men brought the onyx stones, and the stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; and the spice, and the oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the incense of fragrant drugs. The children of Israel brought a voluntary offering to Jehovah, every man and woman whose heart prompted them to bring for all manner of work, which Jehovah, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.
-- The first of the first-fruits of thy land shalt thou bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
-- And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the first-fruits of wheat-harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 31
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 31 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Destruction of the idols and the altars of the high places. Provisions for the ordering and maintenance of the temple worship, and the attendants upon it . - 2 Chronicles 31:1. At the conclusion of the festival, all the Israelites who had been present at the feast ( הנּמצאים כּל־שׂראל to be understood as in 2 Chronicles 30:21) went into the cities of Judah, and destroyed all the idols, high places, and altars not only in Judah and Benjamin (the southern kingdom), but also in Ephraim and Manasseh (the domain of the ten tribes), utterly ( עד־לככּה , cf. 2 Chronicles 24:10), and only then returned each to his home; cf. 2 Kings 18:4.
Restoration of order in the public worship, and of the temple revenues and those of the priests . - 2 Chronicles 31:2. Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and Levites according to their courses, each according to the measure of his service (cf. Numbers 7:5, Numbers 7:7), viz., the priests and Levites ( ולל לכה are subordinated to אישׁ in apposition by ל ), for burnt-offerings and thank-offerings, to serve (to wait upon the worship), and to praise and thank (by song and instrumental music) in the gates of the camp of Jahve, i.e., in the temple and court of the priests; see on 1 Chronicles 9:18.
2 Chronicles 31:3
And the portion of the king from his possession was for the burnt-offerings, etc.; that is, the material for the burnt-offerings which are commanded in Num 28 and 29 the king gave from his possessions, which are enumerated in 2 Chronicles 32:27-29.
2 Chronicles 31:4-8
The priests and Levites received their maintenance from the first-fruits (Exodus 23:19; Numbers 18:12; Deuteronomy 26:2) and the tithes, which the people had to pay from the produce of their cattle-breeding and their agriculture (Leviticus 27:30-33, cf. with Numbers 18:21-24). Hezekiah commanded the people, viz., the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give this portion to the Levites and priests, that they might hold themselves firmly to the law of Jahve, i.e., might devote themselves to the duties laid upon them by the law, the attendance upon the worship, without being compelled to labour for their subsistence; cf. Nehemiah 13:10.
2 Chronicles 31:5-6
When the word (the royal command) went forth (spread abroad), the Israelites brought in abundance the first-fruits which had been assigned to the priests (2 Chronicles 18:12.), and the tithes, which were paid to the whole tribe of Levi (Numbers 18:21-24). ישׂראל בּני , 2 Chronicles 31:6, are not the inhabitants of the northern kingdom, but the Israelites who had emigrated from that kingdom into Judah (as 2 Chronicles 30:25; 2 Chronicles 11:16; 2 Chronicles 10:17). קדשׁים מעשׂר , the tenth from the holy gifts which were consecrated to Jahve, is surprising, since in the law, Numbers 18:8., it is not the tenth of the consecrated gifts which is spoken of, but only הקּדשׁים תרוּמות (Numbers 18:19). Proceeding upon the assumption that all קדשׁים which were consecrated to Jahve were given over to the tribe of Levi, Bertheau finds no correspondence between the law and the statement of our verse, that the tenth of the holy things was given, and points out that the lxx seem to have read והקּשׁים ועז instead of קדשׁים m`sr, without, however, himself deciding in favour of that reading. But the lxx have rendered the words hmqdsym קדשׁים קדשׁים by ἐπιδέκατα αἰγῶν, καὶ ἡγίασαν, and consequently cannot have read ועז for מעשׂר , since in their translation epide'kata corresponds to m`sr. But the deviation of the statement in our verse from the law, Num 18, arises partly from an incorrect or inexact interpretation of the provisions of the law, Numbers 18:8. In the law, קדשׁים as such were not assigned to the tribe of Levi, or more correctly to the priests (Aaron and his sons), but only the לכל־קדשׁים תּרוּמות , the heave-offerings of all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, i.e., the pieces or parts of the sacrificial gifts of the Israelites which were not burnt upon the altar, consequently the greater part of the meal, and oil, and flesh of the oblations, the sin-offerings, the trespass-offerings, and of the peace-offerings, the wave-breast and wave-thigh, and whatever else was waved in wave-offerings; see on Numbers 18:8. These Therumoth of the consecrated gifts are in our verse designated קדשׁים מעשׂר , because they were only a fragment of that which was consecrated to the Lord, just as the tenth was a fragment of the whole herd, and of the field produce. The statement of our verse, therefore, differs only in expression from the prescription of the law, but in substance it completely agrees with it. ער ערמות ויּתּנוּ , and they made many heaps, i.e., they brought the first-fruits and tithes in heaps.
2 Chronicles 31:7
In the third month, consequently immediately at the end of the grain harvest, they commenced to found the heaps (to lay the foundation of the heaps); and in the seventh month, i.e., at the end of the fruit and wine harvest, they completed them (the heaps). In the third month fell pentecost, or the harvest feast; in the seventh, the feast of tabernacles, after the gathering in of all the fruits. ליסּוד has Daghesh in ס , because this verb in the imperf. assimilates its י like נ to the second radical, and the infinitive is formed after the imperf.; cf. Ew. §245, a .
2 Chronicles 31:8-10
When Hezekiah and the priests saw these heaps, they praised the Lord and His people Israel.
The employment and storing of these gifts, 2 Chronicles 31:9-19. - 2 Chronicles 31:9. Hezekiah questioned ( ידרשׁ ) the priests and Levites concerning the heaps, i.e., not as to whether they were sufficient for the support of the priests and Levites, but as to how it happened that such masses had been heaped up. Thereupon Azariah the high priest (hardly the Azariah mentioned 2 Chronicles 26:17, who forty years before tried to prevent Uzziah from pressing into the holy place), of the house of Zadok, answered him: Since they began to bring ( לביא for להביא ) the heave-offerings into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and satisfied ourselves, and have left in plenty. The infin. absol. והותר ושׂבוע אכול stand in animated speech instead of the first pers. plur. perf. From the same animation arises the construction of את־ההמון with הנּותר ; for “that which is left” signifies, and we have left this quantity here.
2 Chronicles 31:11-12
Then the king commanded to prepare cells in the house of God for the storing of the provisions. Whether new cells were built, or cells already existing were prepared for this purpose, cannot be decided, since הכין may signify either. Into these cells they brought the תּרוּמה , which here denotes the first-fruits (cf. 2 Chronicles 31:5), the tithes, and the dedicated things, בּאמוּנה , with fidelity, cf. 2 Chronicles 19:9. עליהם , over them (the first-fruits, etc.) the Levite Cononiah was set as ruler (inspector), and his brother Shimei as second ruler ( משׁנה ).
2 Chronicles 31:13-14
To them at their hand, i.e., as subordinate overseers, were given ten Levites, who are enumerated by name. Of the names, Jehiel and Mahath occur in 2 Chronicles 29:12 and 2 Chronicles 29:14. בּמפקד is translated by the Vulg. ex imperio , better ex mandato Hizkiae . Azariah, the prince of the house of God, is the high priest mentioned in 2 Chronicles 31:10. - To the fourteen Levites named in 2 Chronicles 31:13 and 2 Chronicles 31:14 was committed the oversight and storing of the first-fruits, tithes, and consecrated gifts. Besides these, there were special officers appointed for the distribution of them. - In 2 Chronicles 31:14-19 these are treated of; 2 Chronicles 31:14 dealing with the distribution of the voluntary gifts of God, i.e., all which was offered to God of spontaneous impulse (Leviticus 23:38; Deuteronomy 12:17), to which the first-fruits and tithes did not belong, they being assessments prescribed by the law. Over the freewill offerings the Levite Kore, the doorkeeper towards the east (see on 1 Chronicles 9:18), was set. His duty was to give (distribute) “the heave-offerings of Jahve,” i.e., that portion of the thank-offerings which properly belonged to Jahve, and which was transferred by Him to the priests (Leviticus 7:14; Numbers 5:9), and the “most holy,” i.e., that part of the sin and trespass offerings (Leviticus 6:10, Leviticus 6:22; Leviticus 7:6) and of the oblations (Leviticus 2:3, Leviticus 2:10) which was to be eaten by the priests in the holy place.
2 Chronicles 31:15-16
At his hand ( ידו על = מיּד , 2 Chronicles 31:13), i.e., under his superintendence, there were six Levites, enumerated by name, in the priests' cities, with fidelity, “to give to their brethren in their courses, as well to the great as to the small” (i.e., to the older and to the younger), sc. the portion of the gifts received which fell to each. By the brethren in their courses we are to understand not merely the Levites dwelling in the priests' cities, who on account of their youth or old age could not come into the temple, but also those who at the time were not on duty, since the Levites' courses performed it by turns, only some courses being on duty in the temple, while the others were at home in the priests' cities. The object to לתת , 2 Chronicles 31:15, is not to be taken straightway from the objects mentioned with לתת in 2 Chronicles 31:14. For the most holy gifts could not be sent to the priests' cities, but were consumed in the holy place, i.e., in the temple. Nor can we confine לתת to the האלהים נדבות ; for since the gifts of the people, laid up in the cells, consisted in first-fruits, tithes, and consecrated gifts (2 Chronicles 31:11), and special officers were appointed for the storing and distribution of them, the business of distribution could not consist merely in the giving out of freewill offerings, but must have extended to all the offerings of the people. When, therefore, it is said of the Levite Kore, in 2 Chronicles 31:14, that he was appointed over the freewill offerings, to distribute the heave-offerings and the most holy, only his chief function is there mentioned, and the functions of the officials associated with and subordinated to him in the priests' cities are not to be confined to that. The object to לתת , 2 Chronicles 31:15, is consequently to be determined by the whole context, and the arrangements which are assumed as known from the law; i.e., we must embrace under that word the distribution of the first-fruits, tithes, and consecrated gifts, of which the Levites in the priests' cities were to receive their portion according to the law. - In 2 Chronicles 31:16, the b| מחלקות אחיהם of 2 Chronicles 31:15 is more closely defined by an exception: “Besides their catalogue of the men (i.e., exclusive of those of the male sex catalogued by them) from three years old and upward, namely, of all those who came into the house of Jahve to the daily portion, for their service in their offices according to their courses.” בּיומו דּבר־יום signifies, in this connection, the portion of the holy gifts coming to them for every day; cf. Nehemiah 11:23. The meaning of the verse is: From those dwelling in the priests' cities were excluded those who had come to perform service in the temple; and, indeed, not merely those performing the service, but also their male children, who were catalogued along with them if they were three years old and upward. Thence it is clear that those entering upon their service took their sons with them when they were three years old. These children ate in the place of the sanctuary of the portion coming to their parents.
2 Chronicles 31:17
2 Chronicles 31:17 contains a parenthetic remark as to the catalogues. ואת , as nota accus . , serves here to emphasize the statement which is added as an elucidation (cf. Ew. §277, d ): “But concerning the catalogue of the priests, it was (taken, prepared) according to the fathers'-houses; and the Levites, they were from twenty years old and upwards in their offices in their courses.” All the duties were discharged by several courses. On the age fixed on, see 1 Chronicles 23:27.
2 Chronicles 31:18
The connection and interpretation of this verse is doubtful. If we take וּלחתיחשׂ as a continuation of ואת־התיהשׁ , 2 Chronicles 31:17, it gives us no suitable sense. The addition, “and also to every priest and Levite was a larger or smaller portion given according to the catalogue” (Ramb., etc.), is arbitrary, and does not fully express the בּ before כּל־טפּם . Berth., on the other hand, correctly remarks, “After the parentheses in 2 Chronicles 31:16 and 2 Chronicles 31:17, וּלחתיחשׂ may be taken as a continuation of לתת in 2 Chronicles 31:16;” but the word itself he translates wrongly thus: The men were in the priests' cities, also to register their children, etc., disregarding the construction of התיחשׂ with בּ . - From 2 Chronicles 31:19, where the same construction recurs, we learn how to interpret בּכל־ט התיחשׁ : the catalogue = those registered in (of) all their children. According to this view, ולהתיחשׂ corresponds to the לאחיהם , 2 Chronicles 31:15 : to give to their brethren, ... and to the registered of all their children, their wives, and their sons and daughters, viz., to the whole multitude (sc., of the wives, sons, and daughters), i.e., as many of them as there were. This interpretation of the לכל־קהל seems simpler than with Schmidt and Ramb. to understand קהל to denote the coroporation of priests. There was therefore no one forgotten or overlooked; “for according to their fidelity (2 Chronicles 31:15) did they show themselves holy in regard to the holy,” i.e., they acted in a holy manner with the holy gifts, distributed them disinterestedly and impartially to all who had any claim to them.
2 Chronicles 31:19
And for the sons of Aaron, the priests, in the field of the districts of their cities (cf. Leviticus 25:34; Numbers 35:5), in each city were men (appointed) famous ( בשׁמות נקּבוּ אשׁר , as in 2 Chronicles 28:15; see on 1 Chronicles 12:31), to give portions to each male among the priests, and to all that were registered among the Levites. As for the inhabitants of the priests' cities (2 Chronicles 31:15), so also for the priests and Levites dwelling in the pasture grounds of the priests' cities, were special officers appointed to distribute the priestly revenues.
2 Chronicles 31:20-21
The conclusion of this account. Thus did Hezekiah in all Judah, and wrought in general that which was good and right and האמת before the Lord his God; and in every work that he commenced for the service of the house of God, and for the law and the commandment (i.e., for the restoration of the law and its commands), to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.