---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  2 Chronicles 29"
description: "CHAPTER 29  2 Chronicles 29:1;
2 Chronicles 29:2. HEZEKIAH"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/29"
---

CHAPTER 29

[2 Chronicles 29:1](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/29/1);
[2 Chronicles 29:2](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/29/2). HEZEKIAH'S
GOOD REIGN.

**1. Hezekiah began to reign,**
&c.—(see on ). His
mother's name, which, in [2 Kings 18:2](../../../kjv/2-kings/18/2),
appears in an abridged form, is here given in full.
[2 Kings 18:2](../../../kjv/2-kings/18/2). HE RESTORES
RELIGION.

**3. in the first year of his reign,
in the first month**—not the first month after his accession to
the throne, but in Nisan, the first month of the sacred year, the
season appointed for the celebration of the passover.
**he opened the doors of the
house of the Lord**—which had been closed up by his father ().
**and repaired them**—or
embellished them (compare ).

**4, 5. the east street**—the
court of the priests, which fronted the eastern gate of the temple.
Assembling the priests and Levites there, he enjoined them to set
about the immediate purification of the temple. It does not appear
that the order referred to the removal of idols, for objects of
idolatrous homage could scarcely have been put there, seeing the
doors had been shut up [[2 Chronicles 29:3](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/29/3)];
but in its forsaken and desolate state the temple and its courts had
been polluted by every kind of impurity.

**6, 7. our fathers have
trespassed**—Ahaz and the generation contemporary with him were
specially meant, for they "turned away their faces from the
habitation of the Lord," and whether or not they turned east to
the rising sun, they abandoned the worship of God. They "shut up
the doors of the porch," so that the sacred ritual was entirely
discontinued.

**8, 9. Wherefore the wrath of the
Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem**—This pious king had the
discernment to ascribe all the national calamities that had befallen
the kingdom to the true cause, namely, apostasy from God. The country
had been laid waste by successive wars of invasion, and its resources
drained. Many families mourned members of their household still
suffering the miseries of foreign captivity; all their former
prosperity and glory had fled; and to what was this painful and
humiliating state of affairs to be traced, but to the manifest
judgment of God upon the kingdom for its sins?

**10, 11. Now it is in mine heart to
make a covenant with the Lord God**—Convinced of the sin and
bitter fruits of idolatry, Hezekiah intended to reverse the policy of
his father, and to restore, in all its ancient purity and glory, the
worship of the true God. His commencement of this resolution at the
beginning of his reign attests his sincere piety. It also proves the
strength of his conviction that righteousness exalteth a nation; for,
instead of waiting till his throne was consolidated, he devised
measures of national reformation at the beginning of his reign and
vigorously faced all the difficulties which, in such a course, he had
to encounter, after the people's habits had so long been moulded to
idolatry. His intentions were first disclosed to this meeting of the
priests and Levites—for the agency of these officials was to be
employed in carrying them into effect.
. THE HOUSE
OF GOD CLEANSED.

**12-19. Then the Levites
arose**—Fourteen chiefs undertook the duty of collecting and
preparing their brethren for the important work of cleansing the
Lord's house. Beginning with the outer courts—that of the priests
and that of the people—the cleansing of these occupied eight days,
after which they set themselves to purify the interior; but as the
Levites were not allowed to enter within the walls of the temple, the
priest brought all the sweepings out to the porch, where they were
received by the Levites and thrown into the brook Kedron. This took
eight days more. At the end of this period they repaired to the
palace and announced that not only had the whole of the sacred
edifice, within and without, undergone a thorough purification, but
all the vessels which the late king had taken away and applied to a
common use in his palace, had been restored, "and sanctified."

**20-30. Then Hezekiah the king rose
early, and gathered the rulers of the city**—His anxiety to enter
upon the expiatory service with all possible despatch, now that the
temple had been properly prepared for it, prevented his summoning all
the representatives of Israel. The requisite number of victims having
been provided, and the officers of the temple having sanctified
themselves according to the directions of the law, the priests were
appointed to offer sacrifices of atonement successively, for "the
kingdom," that is, for the sins of the king and his
predecessors; for "the sanctuary," that is, for the sins of
the priests themselves and for the desecration of the temple; "and
for Judah," that is, for the people who, by their voluntary
consent, were involved in the guilt of the national apostasy. Animals
of the kinds used in sacrifice were offered by sevens, that number
indicating completeness. The Levites were ordered to praise God with
musical instruments, which, although not originally used in the
tabernacle, had been enlisted in the service of divine worship by
David on the advice of the prophets Gad and Nathan, as well
calculated to animate the devotions of the people. At the close of
the special services of the occasion, namely, the offering of
atonement sacrifices, the king and all civic rulers who were present
joined in the worship. A grand anthem was sung () by the choir, consisting of some of the psalms of David
and Asaph, and a great number of thank offerings, praise offerings,
and freewill burnt offerings were presented at the invitation of the
king.

**31. Hezekiah . . . said, Now ye have
consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, come near**—This address
was made to the priests as being now, by the sacrifice of the
expiation offerings, anew consecrated to the service of God and
qualified to resume the functions of their sacred office ([Exodus 28:41](../../../kjv/exodus/28/41);
[Exodus 29:32](../../../kjv/exodus/29/32)).
**the congregation brought
in**—that is, the body of civic rulers present.

**34-36. the priests were too few, . .
. wherefore their brethren the Levites did help them**—The skins
of beasts intended as peace offerings might be taken off by the
officers, because, in such cases, the carcass was not wholly laid
upon the altar; but animals meant for burnt offerings which were
wholly consumed by fire could be flayed by the priests alone, not
even the Levites being allowed to touch them, except in cases of
unavoidable necessity ([2 Chronicles 35:11](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/35/11)).
The duty being assigned by the law to the priests ([2 Chronicles 35:11](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/35/11)), was construed by consuetudinary practice as an exclusion of
all others not connected with the Aaronic family.
**for the Levites were more
upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests**—that
is, displayed greater alacrity than the priests. This service was
hastened by the irrepressible solicitude of the king. Whether it was
that many of the priests, being absent in the country, had not
arrived in time—whether from the long interruption of the public
duties, some of them had relaxed in their wonted attentions to
personal cleanliness, and had many preparations to make—or whether
from some having participated in the idolatrous services introduced
by Ahaz, they were backward in repairing to the temple—a reflection
does seem to be cast upon their order as dilatory and not universally
ready for duty (compare [2 Chronicles 35:11](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/35/11)). Thus was the newly consecrated temple reopened to the no
small joy of the pious king and all the people.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/29#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  2 Chronicles 29"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/29#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/29","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  2 Chronicles 29","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/29#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"CHAPTER 29  2 Chronicles 29:1;\n2 Chronicles 29:2. HEZEKIAH'S\nGOOD REIGN. 1. Hezekiah began to reign,\n&c.—(see on  :-). His\nmother's name, which, in 2","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/29#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/29"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/29#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles","name":"2 Chronicles"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/29","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/2-chronicles/29","name":"29"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```