Chapter XXXI

=1= (compare 2 Kings xviii. 4).
DESTRUCTION OF IDOLATROUS SYMBOLS.

¹Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present
went out to the cities of Judah, and brake in pieces the
pillars¹, and hewed down the Asherim, and brake down the high
places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim
also and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all
the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession,
into their own cities.

¹ Or, _obelisks_.

=1.= _the pillars ... the Asherim_] Compare xiv. 3 (note).

_in Ephraim also_] It is obviously assumed that the Northern Kingdom had come to an end; compare xxx. 6, 9.

=2‒21= (not in 2 Kings).
ORGANISATION OF THE PRIESTS. TITHE.

If the Temple had been desecrated and closed by Ahaz, it would follow that the organisation of its Priests and Levites had fallen into confusion. The Chronicler therefore makes Hezekiah the restorer of the system inaugurated by David, and treats this edifying topic at some length.

²And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the
Levites after their courses, every man according to his service,
both the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and for
peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise
in the gates of the camp of the LORD.

=2.= _the courses_] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv. 1 ff.

_to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates_] Better, as LXX., altering the order, _to give thanks and to praise and to minister in the gates_. “To minister in the gates,” i.e. to be doorkeepers, compare 1 Chronicles xxvi. 1.

_the camp of the LORD_] i.e. (in the language of Deuteronomy) “the place which the Lord chose,” _Jerusalem_ or, more exactly, the _Temple area_. Compare 1 Chronicles ix. 18, note.

³_He appointed_ also the king’s portion of his substance for
the burnt offerings, _to wit_, for the morning and evening burnt
offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the
new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law
of the LORD. ⁴Moreover he commanded the people that dwelt in
Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites,
that they might give themselves¹ to the law of the LORD.

¹ Hebrew _be strong in_.

=3.= _the burnt offerings_] Compare viii. 12, 13.

⁵And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of
Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil,
and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe
of all things brought they in abundantly.

=5.= _and honey_] _Honey_ (Hebrew _dĕbhash_) is not elsewhere mentioned as subject to tithe; perhaps _grape syrup_ (modern Arabic _dibs_) is meant here, as in Genesis xliii. 11 and Ezekiel xxvii. 17 (according to some commentators). Honey (like leaven) was forbidden for sacrificial use (Leviticus ii. 11).

⁶And the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities
of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and
the tithe of dedicated things which were consecrated unto the
LORD their God, and laid them by heaps.

=6.= _And the children of Israel_] Compare xi. 16.

_the tithe of dedicated things_] a strange phrase without parallel. Read probably =the dedicated things=.

⁷In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the
heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. ⁸And when
Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed
the LORD, and his people Israel. ⁹Then Hezekiah questioned with
the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.

=7.= _the third month_] The Feast of Harvest took place at the beginning of this month and seven weeks later the Feast of Ingathering followed.

¹⁰And Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered
him and said, Since _the people_ began to bring the oblations
into the house of the LORD, we have eaten and had enough, and
have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his people; and that
which is left is this great store.

=10.= _Azariah the chief priest_] Not mentioned in connection with Hezekiah’s previous arrangements.

_of the house of Zadok_] Compare 1 Chronicles xxiv. 1‒4. Tradition spoke of _two_ main families of priests, (1) the descendants of Eleazar the third son of Aaron, whose chief representative in David’s day was Zadok (hence they are here called “the house of Zadok”), (2) the descendants of Ithamar the fourth son of Aaron, represented in David’s time by Ahimelech (Saul’s victim) or by Abiathar (David’s _protégé_). The Chronicler prefers to name the descendants of Ithamar after Ahimelech (1 Chronicles xxiv. 3, where see note).

_the oblations_] “The Hebrew word, _tĕrūmāh_, denotes properly what is ‘taken off’ from a larger mass and so separated from it for sacred purposes.” The word is sometimes rendered _heave offering_, but this is due to a mistaken impression that a rite of elevation was involved (see the full note in Driver, _Exodus_, p. 263).

_hath blessed his people_] Compare Malachi iii. 10.

_and that which is left is this great store_] The Hebrew requires some correction. Read as the LXX., καὶ κατελίπομεν ἐπὶ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦτο, “we leave (‘have left’) this great store and more.”

=11‒13.= The offerings mentioned in verses 5‒10 were placed in charge of Conaniah, Shimei and their subordinates for storage in the Temple treasuries.

¹¹Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of
the LORD; and they prepared them.

=11.= _chambers_] compare 1 Chronicles ix. 26, note.

¹²And they brought in the oblations and the tithes and the
dedicated things faithfully: and over them Conaniah the Levite
was ruler, and Shimei his brother was second.

=12.= _the dedicated things_] Compare xxix. 33 (note on _the consecrated things_).

¹³And Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth,
and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah,
were overseers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei his brother,
by the appointment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the ruler
of the house of God.

=13.= _the ruler of the house of God_] Compare 1 Chronicles ix. 11, note.

=14‒19.= Distribution of the stores referred to in verses 11‒13 was the duty of Kore and his subordinates. The exact meaning and sequence of these verses is hard to follow, and probably the obscurity is due to faults in the Hebrew text. The simplest view is as follows: verse 15 states that the distribution was to be made to priestly and levitical persons resident in the priestly cities but (verse 16) _not_ to those who were for the time being on duty at the Temple, since these no doubt would receive their share at the Temple itself. Then verses 17‒19 seem to refer to the manner of the registration of priests and Levites respectively for the purpose of the distribution; but it must be confessed that the precise sense and connection are uncertain, particularly as regards verse 19.

¹⁴And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter at the east
_gate_, was over the freewill offerings of God, to distribute
the oblations of the LORD, and the most holy things.

=14.= _the most holy things_] To this class belonged the _shewbread_ (Leviticus xxiv. 9), the _meal offering_ (Leviticus ii. 2, 3, vi. 14‒18 [7‒11, Hebrew]), the _sin offering_ (Leviticus vi. 25‒30), and the _trespass offering_ (Leviticus vii. 1‒7). These could be eaten by the priests only and in the holy place only.

¹⁵And under him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and
Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests,
in their set office¹, to give to their brethren by courses, as
well to the great as to the small:

¹ Or, _trust_.

=15.= _in the cities_] The priestly cities are given 1 Chronicles vi. 54‒60.

_to the great as to the small_] i.e. to old and to young alike.

¹⁶beside them that were reckoned by genealogy of males, from
three years old and upward, even every one that entered into the
house of the LORD, as the duty of every day required¹, for their
service in their charges according to their courses;

¹ Or, _for his daily portion_.

=16.= _beside_] i.e. with the exception of.

_as the duty of every day required_] Or, as margin, =for his daily portion=.

¹⁷and them that were reckoned by genealogy of the priests by
their fathers’ houses, and the Levites from twenty years old and
upward, in their charges by their courses;

=17.= _and them that_] Render probably =and as for the registration of the priests= _it was made_ =by their families=....

¹⁸and them¹ that were reckoned by genealogy of all their little
ones, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, through
all the congregation: for in their set office² they sanctified
themselves in holiness:

¹ Or, _even_ to give _to them_ &c.

² Or, _trust_.

=18.= _and them that_] Render, =and the registration included all their little ones=, etc. The connection of the last part of the verse is very obscure.

_their set office_] Or, as margin, =their trust= (so also above verse 15).

_they sanctified themselves in holiness_] Or, _they busied themselves with_ the distribution of _the sanctified things_. No reliance can be placed on the soundness of the text.

¹⁹also for the sons of Aaron the priests, which were in the
fields of the suburbs of their cities, in every several city,
there were men that were expressed by name, to give portions
to all the males among the priests, and to all that were
reckoned by genealogy among the Levites. ²⁰And thus did Hezekiah
throughout all Judah; and he wrought that which was good and
right and faithful¹ before the LORD his God. ²¹And in every work
that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law,
and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his
heart, and prospered.

¹ Hebrew _faithfulness_.

=19.= Again a most obscure verse, apparently meaning that the priests had certain special officers, other than Kore and his subordinates, who were charged with superintending the distribution in the outlying districts. Text and interpretation are alike uncertain. Kittel regards verses 17‒19 as a late addition.

_the suburbs_] compare 1 Chronicles v. 16 (margin “pasture lands”), vi. 55, 57 [40, 42, Hebrew].