2 Chronicles 30:17

17 Since many people in the crowd had not made themselves holy, the Levites killed the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean. The Levites made each lamb holy for the Lord.

2 Chronicles 30:17 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 30:17

For there were many in the congregation that were not
sanctified
Or purified from uncleanness, contracted either by idolatry, or through such things which, according to the ceremonial law, made them unclean, and from which they had not now time to cleanse themselves according to the law:

therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers
for everyone that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord;
this they did for the masters of families, who were ceremonially unclean, who otherwise might have killed their passover lambs themselves, see ( Exodus 12:6 ) , but now the Levites did it for them, that their passovers might be sanctified and consecrated to the Lord; for, as Philo the Jew says ^F18, one day in a year the whole sacrificed, everyone acted as a priest, and brought and slew his own sacrifice, meaning at the passover.

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 De Vita Mosis, l. 3. p. 686. & de Decalogo, p. 766.

2 Chronicles 30:17 In-Context

15 They killed the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, so they made themselves holy and brought burnt offerings into the Temple of the Lord.

16 They took their regular places in the Temple as the Teachings of Moses, the man of God, commanded. The Levites gave the blood of the sacrifices to the priests, who sprinkled it on the altar.

17 Since many people in the crowd had not made themselves holy, the Levites killed the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean. The Levites made each lamb holy for the Lord.

18

19 Although many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not purified themselves for the feast, they ate the Passover even though it was against the law. So Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "Lord, you are good. You are the Lord, the God of our ancestors. Please forgive all those who try to obey you even if they did not make themselves clean as the rules of the Temple command."