MPV Commentary

The House of God Cleansed.

12-19. The Levites took charge of preparing their brethren for cleansing the Lord's house. They began with the outer courts, working eight days to purify these areas. Then they moved on to the interior, but since the Levites were not allowed inside the temple walls, the priests brought out all the sweepings to the porch, where the Levites received them and threw them into the brook Kedron. This process took another eight days. After completing this task, they went to the palace and announced that the entire sacred edifice had been thoroughly purified, both inside and out.

20-30. Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the city's rulers. His desire to begin the expiatory service as quickly as possible led him to summon only a select group of representatives from Israel. Once they had provided the necessary victims and the temple officers had sanctified themselves according to the law, the priests were appointed to offer sacrifices of atonement for "the kingdom" (the king's sins and those of his predecessors), "the sanctuary" (the priests' own sins and the desecration of the temple), and "Judah" (the people who had participated in the national apostasy). The Levites played musical instruments to praise God, a practice that had been introduced by David with the approval of prophets Gad and Nathan. At the end of the special services, the king and all the civic rulers present joined in worship, singing a grand anthem consisting of some of David's psalms and Asaph's compositions, and presenting numerous thank offerings, praise offerings, and freewill burnt offerings.

31. Hezekiah said to the priests, "Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near." This invitation was made because the sacrifice of expiation offerings had newly consecrated them for their sacred office (Exodus 28:41; 29:32).

The congregation brought in the Levites.

34-36. The priests were too few, so their brethren the Levites helped them with the sacrifices. However, only the priests could flay animals meant for burnt offerings, as this task was reserved for them by law (Leviticus 1:6). The Levites displayed greater alacrity in sanctifying themselves than the priests did. This service was hastened by Hezekiah's irrepressible solicitude. Some of the priests may have been absent or delayed due to various reasons, including their participation in idolatrous services introduced by Ahaz. Thus, the newly consecrated temple was reopened to the joy of the pious king and all the people.