48443 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers,.... Who was heartily desirous of worshipping God, and observing his ordinances, which had been enjoined their fathers, and they had kept; though Aben Ezra, as Kimchi observes, refers this to Hezekiah, whose whole heart he directed, or prepared to seek the Lord, c. by prayer and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah,.... Heard his prayer, and accepted of it, and granted what he desired: and healed his people; that is, forgave their sins, as Kimchi interprets it; forgiveness being expressed by healing, for which he refers to Psalms 41:4 to which may be added Psalms 103:3 and which was known either by a prophet sent to declare...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness,.... Which, according to the law of Moses, were always to follow the passover, Exodus 12:18 and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord; or instruments of strength...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Hezekiah spake comfortably to all the Levites,.... Or "to the heart" (u) of them, such things as were very encouraging to them to go on in the work and worship of God, commending their singing, exhorting them to diligence in instructing the people, promising them his favour and protection: even those that taught the good knowledge of the Lord;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days,.... They consulted among themselves, and with the king and his nobles about it, who all agreed to it: and they kept other seven days with gladness; not altogether in the same manner they had kept the preceding seven days; they did not slay and eat passover lambs, nor did they eat...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the congregation one thousand bullocks, and seven thousand sheep,.... He separated them, as Kimchi interprets it, from his own herds and flocks; or out of his own substance, at his own expense purchased them; or lifted them up, as the word signifies, as heave offerings to the Lord; and gave them to the people...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and Levites,.... The people that were gathered together out of the several cities of Judah, which no doubt was the largest congregation, with whom the priests and Levites are joined, as being of that kingdom, and dwellers in Jerusalem, where their office lay: and all the congregation that came...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So there was great joy in Jerusalem,.... Not merely carnal, expressed in eating and drinking, and making merry with one another, but spiritual, on account of the restoration of temple service, and the feasts of the Lord: for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there was not the like in Jerusalem; not the like joy, so...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the priests the Levites arose,.... The priests who were of the tribe of Levi; for there were some in Israel that were not, but were made of any of the people, as in the times of Jeroboam; though some supply the copulative "and"; so the Targum: "and blessed the people"; which was the proper work and business of the priests to do; though, while...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 31 This chapter begins with the destruction of idolatrous worship, the appointment of the courses of the priests and Levites, and the royal bounty for sacrifices, 2 Chronicles 31:1, next follows the order Hezekiah gave, that the people at Jerusalem, and throughout the land, should make the proper provision for the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now when all this was finished,.... The temple cleansed, the priests and Levites sanctified, the passover and feast of unleavened bread observed, and other seven days of rejoicing kept: all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
We have here a further account of that blessed reformation of which Hezekiah was a glorious instrument, and of the happy advances he made in it. I. All the remnants of idolatry were destroyed and abolished, ver. 1. II. The priests and Levites were set to work again, every man in his place, ver. 2. III. Care was taken for their maintenance. 1. The...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests, and the Levites after their courses,.... As they were fixed by David, and were in the times of Jehoshaphat, and had been since interrupted, and which Hezekiah now restored, and placed them in their regular order: every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He appointed also the king's portion of his substance,.... Out of his own treasury, of his royal bounty, over and above what was usual for kings to give for their own sacrifices, the treasury of the temple being exhausted, and the people being brought into low circumstances in the last reign: for the burnt offerings, [to wit], for the morning and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Moreover, he commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites,.... What was assigned unto them by the law of God by tithes, firstfruits, c. that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord in the study of it; that they might gain greater knowledge of it themselves, and be better able to instruct...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And as soon as the commandment came abroad,.... Not only was published in the city of Jerusalem, but the report of it, or rather that itself, was spread throughout the cities of Judah: the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey; the three first of these are expressed in the law, Deuteronomy 18:4...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah,.... As for the supplement "concerning", I see no need of it; the sense is, that when the king's edict was known by the inhabitants of the cities in the country, as well as at Jerusalem: they also brought in the tithes of oxen, and sheep; according to the law in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps..... The month Sivan, as the Targum, in which month was the feast of Pentecost, called the feast of the harvest, Exodus 23:16, for then barley harvest was ended, and wheat harvest began, and the firstfruits were brought: and finished them in the seventh month; the month Tisri, as the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps,.... Of the tithes and firstfruits: they blessed the Lord; for the great increase of the fruits of the earth, and for making the people so willing to bring in the dues to the priests and Levites: and his people Israel; wished all happiness and prosperity to them, being found in the way of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. How they came to be so large, or why they let them lie where they did.