16 At that time did king Ahaz ſend unto the kings f' of Aſſyria to heip him.
f i. e The King ; the Plural Number for the ſingular : Either, T+ Becauſe he was a Great King, and a King of Kings; as he Elephaar, or, as orhers think, the Crocoaiie, is called Behemoth,
i kings of Judah and Iſrael.
and laſt, behold, t ey are written in the book of the
i 28 And Ahaz ſlept with his fathers, and they buried him ip the city, ever in Jeruſalem: but thev brought” | him nor into che fupaichres o: the kings of Iirael; and Hezekiah his ſon reigned in his ſtead. CHA P. XXIX. Heze kiah his ;00d reign, he reſtorech Religion ; exhorteth the Lemites; I 11. They jan#ifie themſelves, and cleanſe the houſe of God
12- -- 19, He offereth lolemn Sacrifi-es, with ſongs of Praiſe, and the Congregation add their offerings, 20 » = » 36,
| H Ezekiah * began to reign, when he was five and + 2 Kingy ewenty years old, and he reignednine and twen- 18. 1. ty years in Jeruſalem : and his mothers name was Abi-. jah the daughter of Zechariah. | |
2 And hedid that which was right in the ſight of the LORD,according to ail that David his father had done.
3 He, in che firft year of his reign, in the firſt month; opened the doors of the houſe of the LORD a, and repaired them. |
s Which Ahaz his Farher had ſhut up, cb. 28. 24.
4 And he brought in the prieſts, and the Levites, and gathered them together inrco the eaſt-ſtreets,
b Which was before the Eaſtern Gate ot the Temple.
5 And laid unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, ſan&i- fie now your ſeives, and ſandctifie the houſe of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the fil- thineſs cour of the hojy place 4:
c That filthy Altar, which Avaz nad put in the place of God's
which ſignifies Beaſts, Job qo» becaule of his vaſt buik aid Em Altar, 2 Kings, 10. 1i, &c. and the I:iols, or other abomirable or nency above other Beaſts. Or, 2. B-cauſe he wrore to diveite of polluting things. which were there. 4 Tre Tewplic; or the Prieſts the Kings or great Princes, who may be called Kings in amore ge: Court, which allo is calied an holy Place, Levite 6 16. & 10. 13* nera] ſignification of the Word, and indeed are fo called. 1a, 10, ' Numb. 28. 7.
$8. Are mot my Princes #lrogether Kings, 6 For our fathers have tranſgreiſed, and done that
Eg 'X 1X 4 which
KXIX. II CHRO
which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forſaken him, and have turned away their f Heb: #- faces from the F habitation of the LORD, and T tur-
Chap.
bernacle: yed their backs #. . So Gr e Either 1 M=taphorically; they have wilfully, and obſtinately, T Heb and con'umeliouſly forſaken God,ard his Houſe and Worſhip; that given the fture being a fignificatioa of Contempt. - Or 2: Literally and week; properly. For 4baz having removed the Altar of God into a by- place, 2 Kings, 14. and direfting his Worſhip towards the Eaſt, afe ter the manner of the Heathens, whom he deſigned to follow; and nor to the Weſt, as the /-aelites did by God's Command, in which Quarter the Ark was, he muſt nzeds conſequ:ntly turn his Back upon the Altar, and Houſe, and Ark of God. *Ch, 28. 7 Alſo * they have ſhut up the doors of the porch, | 24 and put out the lamps, and have not burnt incenſe, nor offered burnt-offerings in the holy place, unto the God of \fſrael. | 8 Wherefore the wrath of the LORD was upon Ju- THebom gh and Jeruſalem, and he hath delivered them to 4
99Mtion: ;
Deut: 28: trouble, to aſtoniſhment, and to * hifling f, as ye ſee
25: with your eyes. | * 1 Kings Ff 7. e. To ſuch Calamities as all that ſee'and hear of, ſhall be aſto+ $; 8. nifhed at, and hiſs at thoſe, who by their own Sin and Folly have , - brought ſuch Miſeries upon themſelves. See on 1 Kinzrg. 8.
9 For lo, our fathers have fallen by the ſword, and our ſons, and our daughters,and our wives areg 1n Cap- tivity for this. =
£ Or, were, though they were preſently releaſed, <<. 28; 5. 14. 15.
10 Now 3t 5s in mine heart to make a covenant with
the LORD God of Iſrael, that his fierce wrath may
__ _- turn away from us. ; | N'Or , - 11 My ſons, || be not now negligent #, for the feed LORD hath * choſen you to ſtand before him, toſerve
| * Nom.s him, and that ye {bould miniſter unto him, and [|burn
| 14+ & 184 incenſe.
| 2, 6. þ So ke calls them indiff-rently, though many of them were e!. [| Or, *fer der than himſelf, becauſe he was by his tender Love and AffeRion, Sacrifiies ag he was by his Office obliged to be, a Nurſing Father to them. See Iſa. 4% 23. i In ſanktifying your ſelves and rhe Temple, wv. 5. and in quickning and preparing your ſelves and the People to Gods
Service. : 12 Then the Levites aroſe, Mahath the ſon of Ama-
- Tai, and Joel the ſon of Azariah, of the ſons of the Ko- hathites: and of the ſons of Merari; Kiſh theſon of Ab- di, and Azariah the ſon of Jehalelel ; and of the Gerſho- nites; Joah the ſon of Zimmah, and Eden the ſon of
oah. |
: 13 And ofthe ſons of Elizaphan ; Shimri, andJe-
heil : and of the ſons of Aſaph ; Zechariah, and Mat-
taniah :
14 And of the ſons of Heman ; Jekiel and Shimei : |
and of the ſons of Jeduthun ; Shemajah, and Uzziel. Is And they gathered their brethren and ſanctified themſelves, and came, according to the commandment I Or, ##2he Of the king, || by the words of the LORD, to cleanſe buſineſs of the houſe of the LORD. he LORD. 16 And the Prieſts went into the inner part of the houſe of the LORD Kk&, to cleanſe ir, and brought out all the uncleanneſs that they found in the temple of the LORD, -into the court / of the houſe of the LORD. And the Levits took it to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron. k Not the Holy of Holies, into which onely the Higheprieſt might enter, and that bur once in a year, but tae Holy Place Ito wit, the Prieſts Court, called here tae Cours by way of Eminency.
I7 Now they began on the' firſt day ot the firſt month to ſarRite, and on the eighth day of the month
fied the houſe of the LORD in eight days, and-in the
ſixteenth day of the firſt month they made an end »-: | - In 16 Days purging the Houſe, and Porch, and Courts, and all the Chambers bel»nging to rhe Temple. This is neted to imply partly the Univerſal Abuſe and Defilement of all the parts of it by Ahazyz which required ſo much rime to remove ; and partly the diligence of the Prieſts in this Work. 18 Then they went in to HeZekiah the king, and