2 Chronicles 29:17

17 And they began to sanctify themselves on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Yahweh. And they sanctified the house of Yahweh for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

2 Chronicles 29:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 29:17

Now they began on the first day of the first month to
sanctify
Either of the reign of King Hezekiah, or rather of the year; the month Ab or Nisan, as the Targum expresses it: and on the eighth of the month came they to the porch of the Lord;
they seem to have begun cleansing the inner part of the temple first, and so came forward until they came to the porch which led into it: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days;
the holy place, and it may be the most holy place, and the court of the priests: and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end;
it took them eight days more to cleanse the outward porch, and the buildings and chambers belonging to the temple; according to Jarchi, it required so much time, because Ahaz had framed pictures of idols upon the walls of the temple, which could not be defaced sooner.

2 Chronicles 29:17 In-Context

15 and they gathered their brothers and sanctified themselves, and they went in according to the command of the king because of the words of Yahweh, to purify the house of Yahweh.

16 And the priests went into the inner [part] of the house of Yahweh to purify [it]. And they brought out all the impurity that they found in the temple of Yahweh [out] to the courtyard of the house of Yahweh. And the Levites took [them] to bring [them] outside to the Wadi Kidron.

17 And they began to sanctify themselves on the first day of the first month. And on the eighth day of the month they came to the portico of Yahweh. And they sanctified the house of Yahweh for eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.

18 And they went into the inner [part] to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed all the house of Yahweh: the altar of burnt offering, all its objects, the table of the rows [of bread] and all its objects,

19 and all the objects that King Ahaz discarded in his reign when he sinned, we have prepared and sanctified. Look, they [are] before the altar of Yahweh."