Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 30:23
And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept [other] seven days with gladness.
23. assembly ] R.V. congregation, as in 2Ch 30:13; 2Ch 30:17. LXX. .
other seven days ] Cp. 2Ch 7:9 (Solomon’s Dedication Feast).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To keep other seven days – This was a voluntary addition to the requirements of the Law – the fruit and sign of the abounding zeal which characterized the time. Hezekiah and the princes probably proposed it to the people, and presented them with sacrificial animals.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Not in the same manner as they had done the former, with offering new paschal lambs, and eating only unleavened bread, (of which there is not the least intimation in the text,) but only in the solemn worship of God, by sacrifices, and prayers, and praises, and public instruction of that great congregation in the good knowledge of the Lord; which was so dear to Hezekiah, 2Ch 30:22, and at this time most seasonable and necessary for the people, after so long and dismal a night of ignorance, superstition, and idolatry, as both Israel and Judah had been involved in.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
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 unleavened bread, but offered peace offerings, and feasted upon them; and sung the praises of God, and attended to the instructions of the priests and Levites, being in a very agreeable frame of mind for religious exercises.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Prolongation of the festival for seven days more, and the conclusion of it. – 2Ch 30:23. Since the king and the princes had given a very large number of beasts for sacrifice as thank-offerings, it was resolved to keep joy for other seven days, i.e., to keep them festally, with sacrificial meals. The expression , to hold or celebrate days, is similar to , to hold the passover. is an adverbial accusative: in joy. For this resolution two reasons are given in 2Ch 30:24: 1. Hezekiah had given to the assembly 1000 bullocks and 7000 head of small cattle, and the princes had given 1000 bullocks and 10,000 head of small cattle besides; so that there was more than they could use during the seven days of the Mazzoth feast. Bertheau incorrectly supposes that these were “rich gifts for further sacrificial feasts.” The gifts were bestowed for the Mazzoth festival, but were so plentiful that they sufficed for another festival of seven days. , like , denotes to bestow, i.e., to present beasts, etc., with the design that they should be used as sacrifices; cf. 2Ch 35:7. 2. The second reason: “priests also had sanctified themselves in multitude,” so as to be able to carry on the service at the altar, even with such numerous sacrifices, refers back to 2Ch 30:15 and 2Ch 30:3.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(23) Took counsel.Determined, the result of taking counsel (2Ch. 30:2).
To keep.Literally, to do or make.
Other seven days.As a prolongation of the festivities. (Comp. 2Ch. 7:9.)
With gladness.Simhh, an adverbial accusative. But some Hebrew MSS. express the with, as in 2Ch. 7:10. The chronicler is fond of dwelling upon the joy of the ancient festivals, as though he would suggest greater whole-heartedness and magnificence to the people and princes of his own day.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 30:23 And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days: and they kept [other] seven days with gladness.
Ver. 23. And they kept other seven days. ] Gaudet solennitas haec produci, as Augustine saith of the feast of pentecost. This they did, partly to make amends for their former neglect of this holy service, and partly to keep their hearts in so good a frame, to retain the gladness they had in the first seven: as the silkworm stretcheth forth herself before she spinneth her finest thread.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
other seven days. As at Solomon’s Dedication.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2Ch 30:23-27
2Ch 30:23-27
THEY DECIDE TO CELEBRATE ANOTHER SEVEN DAYS
“And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days; and they kept other seven days with gladness. For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the assembly for offerings a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the assembly a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep; and a great number of priests sanctified themselves. And all the assembly of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced. So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem. Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even unto heaven.”
This additional week of feasting and celebration was made possible by the generous contributions of the king and the princes.
“Their voice was heard … even unto heaven” (2Ch 30:27). Hezekiah’s respect for the temple had not blinded him to the sublime fact that “God dwelleth not in temples made with hands,” and that his throne is in the heaven of heavens.
One may wonder why this observance of the passover was not reported in Kings, but the reason is not far to seek. Kings carries an abbreviated report of both the Northern and Southern Israels, whereas the Chronicles focuses attention upon the Southern Kingdom only; and this passover celebration pertained particularly to Judah and Jerusalem. Furthermore, all of the information that has come down to us from that remote period is fragmentary. No important arguments can be logically founded upon what this or that source does not contain.
E.M. Zerr:
2Ch 30:23. Took counsel signifies that a consultation was held. Such transactions are generally called for when some subject of importance has become present. After this consultation the group repeated the performance of the 7 days just past; that is, they had another feast of 7 days in direct connection with the first 7 days. It was not like the changing of the date as in the instance of the passover date. It was more in the nature of a continuation of the feast already in progress. It could not strictly have been said to be a repetition of the ordinance as a separate observation of it, and considered as done the second time, for the feast had not been closed entirely yet. The occasion for the extension will be shown in the following verses.
2Ch 30:24. There were certain specific requirements in the law concerning the set feasts. Exo 12:15-17 and Lev 23:6-8 gives the law of the 7 days of unleavened bread. This was not to be changed nor substituted by anything else. But the children of Israel were given wide privileges in the performance of their animal sacrifices and religious feasts. There was no restriction as to the frequency or number of such exercises. In the present instance the king and his leading men had given large numbers of animals to the people, which they might offer to God in sacrifices. A fact that doubtless accounts for this gift was that the movement seemed to have gained headway and caused several of the priests to Join the work of purification. The early part of the chapter showed a condition of neglect in the matter of cleansing. Many men who should have been engaged in the religious exercises were prevented on account of uncleanness, and they had not been sufficiently interested to change their condition. But the zeal of others evidently stirred them to action, and a great many more of the priests qualified themselves by putting away their uncleanness. That called for more animals and more time for their sacrificing, hence the statements of this verse.
2Ch 30:25. The kingdom of Judah was composed mostly of that tribe, but the priesthood was in the tribe of Levi, and that part of the tribe that descended from Aaron. Strangers is from a word that means persons from the outside. Certain Israelites scattered through the territory of the 10 tribes had come to Jerusalem to the feast. Since they were from the “outside” of Judah, they were called “strangers.” All of these are said to have taken part, not only in the sacrifices and feast, but in the rejoicing. 2Ch 30:26. The set feasts of the law had doubtless been observed, but the extent of the exercises was exceptional, and that was what caused the great rejoicing.
2Ch 30:27. The priests and the Levites blessed the people. Primarily that word means to kneel, but here it says they arose to bless the people. The meaning is that they pronounced a benediction on them as they were dismissed.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
took counsel: 2Ch 30:2
to keep: They did not observe other seven days of unleavened bread, but offered sacrifices with praise and thanksgiving, and feasting, other seven days; and, as the people in general, and especially those who came out of the kingdom of Israel, would be unprepared for this additional expense, both Hezekiah and his princes liberally supplied them with cattle for sacrifices. 2Ch 7:9, 1Ki 8:65
Reciprocal: Deu 27:7 – rejoice Ezr 6:16 – with joy Neh 8:13 – the second Psa 42:4 – with the voice Ecc 9:7 – eat
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ch 30:23. They kept other seven days with gladness Not in the same manner as they had done the former, but in the solemn worship of God, by sacrifices, and prayers, and praises, and public instructions of that great congregation, in the good knowledge of the Lord; which was very necessary for the people, after so long and dismal a night of ignorance, superstition, and idolatry.