ence lies in the f11ct just slo.terl, thnt Hoze- Ver. 14.-Took awa.y the a.ltara . . . tho kinb, ignoring o.11 the worse precedents of brook Kidron (see eh. xxviii. 24; xxix. JG). now many genorntions, nnd ignoring the Ver.15.-Were ashamed; Hehrew, ,i:~~l. iniquity of I.he du111ity of the kingdom, mo.n- This word, occurring in one conjugation· ·or fully caused his writ to run from south to e.nothe! thirty-eight times, expresses in north unchoclcerl I As it wo.s written; i.e. every mstance a genuine shame. It now in the book of the Lo.w of Moses. Bo rune wo.s the forerunner of e. practical repenting. the full o.nd frequent o.nd honoured phrase: And brought in . . . into; better rendered n!;'c-n:,ir-i ,~I?.? :::11n~~ (2 Kings xiv. 6; 1 and carried wp to the house of the Lord. ' Kings ii. 8; Josh. iii. 84; eh. xxxv. 26, etc.). Ver. 16.-They stood in their pla.ce after Ver. 6.-So the posts (see note on vor. 1). their mauner (see Lev. i. 11-13, and many The remnant of you , . . escaped . . , of other references in Leviticus). Assyria., Hezekiah ho.d, no doubt, o.lreo.dy Ver. 17.-Therefore the Levites had the me.de hie account with the fo.ct tbo.t the charge (see Lev. i., etc., which repeatedly injured o.nd crushed state of the northern affirms that the original directions of Moses kingdom might be of soluto.ry omen for the were that the person who brought the victim attempt on his part to bring them to a sense to offer it was to slay it, a.ad to bring the of their po.et sine, specio.lly perhaps of omis- blood). sion. Of the calamities of Israel, and their Ver. 18.-So also the original Law ot captivity in large part, and in the rest sub- Moses prescribed tho.t the nncleansed must jection by tribute to Assyria, there is clear not eat the Passover (Numb. ix. 6). testimony in 2 Kings xv. 29; xvii. 1-6. Ver. 20.-Xealed the people. The He- Ver. 7.-A strange and significant snatch brew word here is the strict word for physical of corrobor11ting history is to be found in healing, and is a slight but significant indi- 1 Chron. v. 28-26. cation of the reality of the spiritual view Ver. 8.-Be ye not stilf-neoked (see Dent. contemplated in Moses' Law in this matter. 16, 17). Yield yourselves; literally, give Ver. 21.-See Exod. xii. 18, and many the hand (see 1 Chron. xxix. 24 ; Ezra x. 19, repetitions of the same matter, respecting etc.). Which he ha.th sanctified for ever the duration of the Passover and eating of (see Pa. cxxxii. 13, 14). unleavened bread. With loud instruments. Ver.10.-Through . . . Ephraim and Ma- Some render this, "instruments ascribing nasseh. The way in which the names of might to Jehovah." There seems no neces- these two tribes are here used may explain sity for tllis; and the plain Hebrew text is in part the use of them in brief for simple " instruments of might," i.e. strong or loud reasons of the convenience of brevity in instruments. ver. 1. They laughed them to scom, o.nd Ver. 22.-Spake comfortably; literally, to mocked them. These two words speak sig- the heart of, etc. That taught the good nificant description of the exact more.I state knowledge. This rendering is in some in whicll Israel's tribes were now to be error, and is awkward in not indicating tile found. Even unto Zebulun. What of the direction of the knowledge. A better ren- country lay north of Zobulun had been so dering (see Revised Version) will be, who wasted by Assyria that practically Zebulun were well skilled in rendering such service is spoken of as what was most northerly, to Jehovah. And perhaps the simplest Ver. 11.-Adding the tribes of Ephraim rendering, '' who served with good service and Jssacharmentioned in ver. 18, o.nd bear- to Jehovah," will be the most correct to the ing in mind the contents of our ver. 7 (witll real meaning of the Hebrew text (Ps. cxi. note), we have really only to account for 10; Prov, xiii. 15). Making confession; i.e. Do.n, which was no longer olasseJ with the confession or uttering forth of praise (so Israel, and N e.phtali and Simeon. The pro- Ps. Ix.xv. 2; xcii. 1; 1 Chron. xvi. 4, 7, 35, bable significance of tile passage is not to 41 ; xxiii. 30; x..xv. 3; eh. v. 13; vii. 3, 6 ; lo.y stress upon the tribes represented, but xxxi. 2). on the scattered, though spo.rse, attend11I1ts Ver. 23.-This and the following verse at the Po.ssover who came. should reo.il as one. Hezekiah no doubt Ver. 12.-Also in Juda.h the hand of God wislled, by prolonging the feast and tile joy, was. Considering the difference of prepo- to make the more lasting impression on the sition, tllis expre~sion can perhaps scarcely people o.nd the wore hopeful conversion of cite o.s its parallel Ezro. vii. 9. "The hand them. of God" here means rather his effectual Ver. 24.-Did give. This is an inade- working, which effectual working produced quate rendering. Revisc1i Version reads, a hearty unanimity, tho.t oontro.s~ed well did give/or offerings; others read, "gave as with the bee.ring of the northern tribes, o.n heave offering." In the light of our Ver. 13.-This verse purports to say tha.t eh. xxxv. 7-9, the Revised Version render- the total, at any ro.te, of the attendance ou ing seems sufficient. the Pnssover was very large. Ver. 25.-The strangers. Some ~onsiuer 362 THE SECOND BOOK OF TB:E CHRONICLES. [err. xu:. 1-27.
thi~ desrribes "proselytes from lsritel, who reference is to Solomon's II Fe11st of Tober- were non-Israelites." But this seems II most nacles" (oh. vii. 9). gratuitous supposition. The Hebrew c•"\J Ver. 27.-The prieat1 the Levitea; i.e. doeR. in faot, purport only" sojourners," and the priest-Levites, and not other Lovites i~ frequently so trllnslated, e.nd our next (Deut. xvii. 18; Josh. iii. 3). The Septuo- clause eorrnh:-,rnte,s this 'l'iew. The interest- gint, therefore, is wrong in inserting "11nd." ing aspect of it is, that probably the persons A p11ro.llel expression in the New Testament described h11d emigrated from their own is "l\Ien brethren" (Acts i. 16; ii. 29, tribes, as they longed for Jerusalem, "their etc.). The priests were those authorized to chief joy." bless (Numb. vi. 23-26; 1 Ohron. xxiii. Ver. 26. -Sinoe the time of Solomon. The 13).