11 And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place (for all the priests that were present were hallowed without observing the courses;
And Jehovah said to Moses, Go to the people, and hallow them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes;
And Moses came down from the mountain to the people, and hallowed the people; and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, Be ready for the third day; do not come near [your] wives.
And the divisions of the sons of Aaron: the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children; and Eleazar and Ithamar exercised the priesthood. And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their office in their service. And there were more head-men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar, and [thus] were they divided: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen heads of fathers' houses, and eight of the sons of Ithamar according to their fathers' houses. And they were divided by lot, one with another; for the princes of the sanctuary and the princes of God were of the sons of Eleazar and of the sons of Ithamar. And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, [one] of the Levites, inscribed them before the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the chief fathers of the priests and Levites: one father's house was drawn for Eleazar, and one drawn for Ithamar. And the first lot came forth for Jehoiarib, the second for Jedaiah, the third for Harim, the fourth for Seorim, the fifth for Malchijah, the sixth for Mijamin, the seventh for Hakkoz, the eighth for Abijah, the ninth for Jeshuah, the tenth for Shecaniah, the eleventh for Eliashib, the twelfth for Jakim, the thirteenth for Huppah, the fourteenth for Jeshebeab, the fifteenth for Bilgah, the sixteenth for Immer, the seventeenth for Hezir, the eighteenth for Happizez, the nineteenth for Pethahiah, the twentieth for Ezekiel, the twenty-first for Jachin, the twenty-second for Gamul, the twenty-third for Delaiah, the twenty-fourth for Maaziah. This is their ordering in their service to come into the house of Jehovah, according to their ordinance, through Aaron their father, as Jehovah the God of Israel had commanded him. And as for the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah. Of Rehabiah, of the sons of Rehabiah, the head was Jishijah. Of the Jizharites, Shelomoth; of the sons of Shelomoth, Jahath. -- And the sons [of Hebron]: Jerijah [the head], Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. The sons of Uzziel, Micah; of the sons of Micah, Shamir; the brother of Micah was Jishijah; of the sons of Jishijah, Zechariah. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; the sons of Jaaziah, his son. The sons of Merari by Jaaziah his son: Shoham, and Zaccur, and Ibri. Of Mahli: Eleazar, who had no sons. Of Kish, the sons of Kish: Jerahmeel. And the sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth. These were the sons of the Levites according to their fathers' houses. These likewise cast lots just as their brethren the sons of Aaron before David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the chief fathers of the priests and Levites, -- the chief fathers just as the youngest of their brethren.
and he said to them, Hear me, ye Levites: hallow yourselves now, and hallow the house of Jehovah the God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the sanctuary.
And they gathered their brethren, and hallowed themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king by the words of Jehovah, to cleanse the house of Jehovah.
Only the priests were too few, and they could not flay all the burnt-offerings; therefore their brethren the Levites helped them, until the work was ended, and until the priests had hallowed themselves; for the Levites were more upright in heart to hallow themselves than the priests.
And they slaughtered the passover on the fourteenth of the second month; and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and hallowed themselves; and they brought the burnt-offerings into the house of Jehovah.
For there were many in the congregation that were not hallowed; therefore the Levites had the charge of the slaughtering of the passover-lambs for every one not clean, to hallow them unto Jehovah. For a multitude of the people, many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, and they ate the passover otherwise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them saying, Jehovah, who is good, forgive every one that has directed his heart to seek God, Jehovah the God of his fathers, although not according to the purification of the sanctuary. And Jehovah hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people.
And it was so, when the days of the feasting were gone about, that Job sent and hallowed them; and he rose up early in the morning, and offered up burnt-offerings [according to] the number of them all; for Job said, It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
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Commentary on 2 Chronicles 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
2Ch 5:1. The Dedicated Treasures.
1. Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated—the immense sums and the store of valuable articles which his father and other generals had reserved and appropriated for the temple (1Ch 22:14; 26:26).
2Ch 5:2-13. Bringing Up of the Ark of the Covenant.
2, 3. Then Solomon assembled … in the feast which was in the seventh month—The feast of the dedication of the temple was on the eighth day of that month. This is related, word for word, the same as in 1Ki 8:1-10.
9. there it is unto this day—that is, at the time when this history was composed; for after the Babylonish captivity there is no trace of either ark or staves.
11. all the priests that were present … did not then wait by course—The rotation system of weekly service introduced by David was intended for the ordinary duties of the priesthood; on extraordinary occasions, or when more than wonted solemnity attached to them, the priests attended in a body.
12. the Levites which were the singers—On great and solemn occasions, such as this, a full choir was required, and their station was taken with scrupulous regard to their official parts: the family of Heman occupied the central place, the family of Asaph stood on his right, and that of Jeduthun on his left; the place allotted to the vocal department was a space between the court of Israel and the altar in the east end of the priests' court.
with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets—The trumpet was always used by the priests, and in the divine service it was specially employed in calling the people together during the holy solemnities, and in drawing attention to new and successive parts of the ritual. The number of trumpets used in the divine service could not be less than two (Nu 10:2), and their greatest number never exceeded the precedent set at the dedication of the temple. The station where the priests were sounding with trumpets was apart from that of the other musicians; for while the Levite singers occupied an orchestra east of the altar, the priests stood at the marble table on the southwest of the altar. There both of them stood with their faces to the altar. The manner of blowing the trumpets was, first, by a long plain blast, then by one with breakings and quaverings, and then by a long plain blast again [Brown, Jewish Antiquities].
13. the house was filled with a cloud—(See on 1Ki 8:10).