Chapter Thirty

The celebration of Passover in the first year of King Hezekiah

1–12. The decision of the king and the nobles to postpone the celebration of Passover to the second month and the invitation to the festival of all the inhabitants of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. 13–22. The gathering of the people in Jerusalem, the destruction of idol altars, the seven-day celebration of Passover and Hezekiah’s prayer for those who had not purified themselves. 23–27. The abundance of sacrifices at the subsequent extension of the festival.

2 Chronicles 30:1. And Hezekiah sent throughout all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord, to Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 Chronicles 30:2. For the king and his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month, 2 Chronicles 30:3. for they could not keep it at its appointed time because the priests had not yet consecrated themselves in sufficient number and the people had not been gathered together in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 30:4. And this pleased the king and all the assembly. 2 Chronicles 30:5. So they made a decree to send throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it in great numbers as prescribed. 2 Chronicles 30:6. So the couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah, according to the command of the king and the officials, and spoke according to the command of the king: “Children of Israel! Return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you who have been left from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 2 Chronicles 30:7. And be not like your fathers and your brothers, who acted unfaithfully before the Lord God of your fathers; and he gave them up to desolation, as you see. 2 Chronicles 30:8. Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. 2 Chronicles 30:9. For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will receive mercy from those who have carried them captive, and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him. 2 Chronicles 30:10. And the couriers passed from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and even to Zebulun, but they mocked and derided them. 2 Chronicles 30:11. Nevertheless, some of the men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 30:12. And the hand of God came upon Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the officials commanded, according to the word of the Lord. The restoration of true worship by Hezekiah (2 Chr 29:21-36) necessarily had to find expression also in the solemn celebration of the festivals, as one of the most important elements of worship. We know that Solomon, when he dedicated the temple he had built, celebrated the Feast of Booths in it with great solemnity ((1 Kgs 8:65-66), (2 Chr 7:8-10); cf. “Explanatory Bible” vol. II, pages 407–408); similarly this festival was celebrated under Ezra after the dedication of the altar, rebuilt by those returning from exile (Ezra 3:4) and under Nehemiah – after the construction of the walls of Jerusalem (Neh 8:14). In this case, under Hezekiah, the restoration of worship took place in the first month (Nisan, the ancient Abib) of the year (2 Chr 29:17), on the 14th day of which, according to the law, the festival of Passover – unleavened bread – was celebrated (Exod 12:18; Lev 23:5-6; Num 28:16-17) (cf. “Explanatory Bible”, vol. I, pages 309–311 and 482–483). But since the cleansing and consecration of the temple was completed only on the 16th day of the first month (2 Chr 29:17), the Passover could not be celebrated in this year at the proper time, and with the common consent of the king, the elders, and the people, it was decided to postpone the celebration of Passover to the second month of the year (2 Chr 30:2-4), on the 14th day of this month, in exact accordance with the provision of the law about the celebration of Passover a month later by those ritually unclean, those on a journey, and for other valid reasons unable to celebrate on the 14th of Nisan ((Num 9:10-11), “Explanatory Bible”, vol. I, page 526). This is the so-called Second or Lesser Passover (Mishnah, tractate Pesachim IX, 1 and following; Rosh-Hashana I, 3). Quite arbitrarily some Talmudists saw in the postponement of Passover to the second month by Hezekiah the insertion of an extra, additional month, the so-called second Adar (Heb. adar scheni or veadar), a measure for regulating the Hebrew calendar, which was actually practiced in the so-called Metonic cycle; but in this case not only is there no indication in favor of this opinion, but on the contrary, the motive stated in verse 3, referring to (Num 9:10-11), directly excludes the thought of any calendar reform (Hebrew-Karaite Jews rightly reject the idea of Hezekiah inserting the second Adar). It is even more arbitrary the opinion of modern biblicists, adherents of the evolutionary theory as applied to biblical history, that the Passover of Hezekiah (chapter 2 Chr 30) – is not a historical fact, but an invention of the chronicler, created after the model of the Passover of King Josiah (2 Chr 35:1-19). Above we said that, on the contrary, there is nothing more natural than that the renewal of worship under Hezekiah was accompanied by especially solemn celebration of the Passover. Here we add that both reforms – of Hezekiah and Josiah, caused by the same causes and aims, inevitably reminded one of the other, and therefore the deliberate celebration of Passover in both cases does not represent anything incredible; this should be said, in particular, of the remark in verse 26 (cf. a similar remark about the Passover of Josiah (2 Kgs 23:22; 2 Chr 35:18)). As for Hezekiah’s letter and embassy to the inhabitants of the ten-tribe kingdom, first to the tribes nearest to the northern border of Judah – Ephraim and Manasseh (verse 1), and then to more distant ones (verses 5, 10) with exhortations to turn to the Lord and to come to Jerusalem for the festival (verses 5–9), such an intrusion by Hezekiah, which at first sight seems inexplicable, into the territory of another state, can be explained in part by the fact that such an intrusion had spiritual, religious motives, not political ones. Furthermore, the weakness of the kingdom of Israel under Hezekiah’s contemporary Hosea was evident, and its fall occurred only five years after the Passover described in chapter (2 Chr 30) (2 Kgs 18:10). Finally, if we trust Jewish tradition, Hosea, who was generally better than other Israelite kings (2 Kgs 17:2), removed restrictions on his subjects’ visits to Jerusalem (cf., however, what is said in “Explanatory Bible”, vol. II, pages 535–536). From the fact that Hezekiah addresses the Israelites with written letters (Heb.: iggeroth, ἐπιστολαί, verses 1, 6), the prevalence of literacy and the art of writing among the Hebrews in Hezekiah’s time (i.e., in the VIII century B.C.) is clear, although the Hebrew word iggeret itself is of later and probably Assyrian origin (in Assyrian – egirtu): it occurs only in the books of the Hebrew Bible of post-exile origin and is used almost exclusively in royal, governmental letters or edicts (Neh 2:7-9) and others).

2 Chronicles 30:8. Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. In the Slavonic text: “do not harden your hearts” – an exact rendering of the accepted Greek LXX text: μὴ σκληρόνητε τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν. But the Hebrew (orpechem), Vulgate (cervices), and Russian texts (“stiff-necked”) have not hearts, but necks, the latter confirmed by the use of the same phrase in other parallel biblical passages (2 Kgs 17:14; 2 Chr 36:13) and others). Many Greek codices (19, 52, 60, 64, 74, 93, 106, 108, 119, 120, 121, 134, 236, 243 in Holmes, Bible Complutensian, Aldine, cf. “Hexapla” of Origen) also have: τούς τραχὴλους ύμιῶν. The embassy to the kingdom of Israel, despite the unfavorable reception in some places (verse 10), on the whole achieved its goal (verses 11–12).

2 Chronicles 30:13. And a very large assembly of people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of unleavened bread in the second month. 2 Chronicles 30:14. And they rose up and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they threw down and cast into the brook Kidron; 2 Chronicles 30:15. and they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were put to shame and consecrated themselves and brought the burnt offerings to the house of the Lord, 2 Chronicles 30:16. and they took their accustomed places according to the law of Moses, the man of God. The priests sprinkled the blood that they received from the hands of the Levites. 2 Chronicles 30:17. For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, so the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all who were not clean, to consecrate it to the Lord. 2 Chronicles 30:18. Many of the people, the majority from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves; yet they ate the Passover otherwise than prescribed. 2 Chronicles 30:19. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “May the good Lord grant pardon to everyone who sets his heart to seek the Lord, the God of his fathers, even if not according to the sanctification of the sanctuary. 2 Chronicles 30:20. And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. 2 Chronicles 30:21. And the people of Israel who were in Jerusalem kept the festival of unleavened bread for seven days with great gladness, and every day the Levites and the priests praised the Lord, singing with instruments for the praise of the Lord. 2 Chronicles 30:22. And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. And for the seven days they ate the festival food, offering sacrifice and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers. The Judeans and Israelites who gathered in Jerusalem in very great numbers before the beginning of the celebration of Passover completed (verse 14) an act of cleansing of the holy city, destroying the idol altars created at various places in it by Ahaz in former times (2 Chr 28:24). This example of sacred zeal prompted the priests and Levites, who previously had not shown particular energy in the matter of thoroughly cleansing worship (verse 3), (see (2 Chr 29:34) and note to the latter passage), to hasten and carefully “consecrate themselves” (Heb.: itkaddeshú, Vulgate: sanctificati). But the LXX in the accepted text has: ἥγνισαν, in the majority of other codices, as: XI, 44, 52, 60, 64, 74, 106, 119, 120, 121, 134, 158, 236, 243 in Holmes, and others: ἡγνίσθησαν, and only in a few codices (19, 93, 108, Complutensian): ἡγιάσθησαν. From verse 17 it can be seen that the slaying of the Passover lamb, according to both the original law regarding the Passover (Exod 12:6), as well as the slaying of any sacrifice in general, even at the sanctuary ((Lev 1:5); “Explanatory Bible” vol. I, page 411), was the deed of the owners-offerers themselves, except in cases of their ritual uncleanness, when the slaying was performed by the Levites. The eating of any holy thing, and consequently the eating of the Passover meal, in ritual uncleanness was directly forbidden by the law (Lev 15:31; Num 9:6). The Israelites who had not purified themselves (verse 18), having long since severed their connection with the legitimate worship of the Jerusalem temple, in eating Passover in such a state, showed themselves to be transgressors of the law. But Hezekiah, recognizing that their reunification with the temple was more important than the details of ritual, prayed to the Lord for forgiveness of their half-conscious sin; in this case the pious king resembled the great Moses in his intercession for the people of Israel who sinned at Sinai (Exod 32:30). In both cases the outstanding people of the Old Testament rose far above the average level of religious and moral consciousness, rose almost to the height of evangelical concepts. Correspondingly, in both cases there followed divine forgiveness of the people’s sins (“healed” – verse 20; Heb. “healed” – irpá; Gk. ἰάσατο, i.e., sin as a spiritual sickness; cf. (Ps 40:5)), as well as the turning away of punishment by death and the like.

2 Chronicles 30:23. And the whole assembly agreed to celebrate the festival for another seven days, and they celebrated the seven days with gladness, 2 Chronicles 30:24. for King Hezekiah of Judah had contributed a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the officials had contributed a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and many priests sanctified themselves. 2 Chronicles 30:25. And all the assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came from Israel, and the sojourners from the land of Israel and those dwelling in Judah, rejoiced. 2 Chronicles 30:26. And there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 30:27. And the priests and the Levites rose up and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, to heaven. The extension of the Passover festival for the next seven days (verse 23) could have had as its motive a similar example of Solomon at the dedication of the temple ((2 Chr 7:8-9), (1 Kgs 8:65), see “Explanatory Bible”, vol. II, page 407). Such meaning is also present in the mention of Solomon in the account (verse 26) of the unusual solemnity of Hezekiah’s Passover: moreover, the mention of Solomon in the present narrative of chapter (2 Chr 30) about the participation in the Jerusalem festival of members of individual tribes of the kingdom of Israel has the significance also of a chronological date: after the death of Solomon, the ten tribes of Israel separated from the house of David and the Jerusalem temple, and only now have part of them been religiously reunited with the Judean people and the temple; it was natural on the occasion of this reunification to recall the time of the undivided existence of Judah and Israel, which ended with the death of Solomon. In verse 25, in the enumeration of the participants in the celebration, the accepted LXX text, instead of standing in the Hebrew, Vulgate, Russian text “those who came from Israel” (or according to Hebrew codex 259 in Kennicott “from the land of Israel”) has: “from Jerusalem”: ἐξ Ἰερουσαλήμ (Slav.: “those who were found from Jerusalem”). But many codices, as XI, 19, 55, 93, 119, 153, Complutensian have ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ (or ἐκ γῆς Ἰσραὴλ – codex 108 in Holmes). Both external, textual, and internal data urge us to prefer the reading of the Hebrew text: the mention of “those coming from Jerusalem” at a Jerusalem festival is itself little natural, whereas the account of pilgrims from the kingdom of Israel arriving at Jerusalem is intelligible in connection with what precedes. In addition to Judeans and Israelites, here also (verse 25) are mentioned sojourners (Heb. gerim, LXX: προσή λυτοι) – without doubt, those naturalized and admitted into the theocratic community through circumcision, for an uncircumcised foreigner was absolutely forbidden to eat the Passover ((Exod 12:43); “Explanatory Bible”, vol. I, page 315). The right and duty to bless the people (at the close of daily worship belonged exclusively to the priests (under the direction of the high priest), and by no means to the Levites: in this case (verse 27) the latter merely added solemnity to the atmosphere of the blessing through playing musical instruments and exclamations (cf. verse 22).