2 Chronicles 31:6-16

6 But also the sons of Israel and of Judah, that dwelled in the cities of Judah, offered tithes of oxen, and of sheep, and the tithes of holy things, which they avowed to their Lord God, and they brought all things, and made full many heaps. (And the Israelites and the people of Judah, who lived in the cities of Judah, offered their tithes of oxen, and of sheep, and of the holy things which they vowed to the Lord their God, and they brought all these things to the Temple, and made a large number of heaps.)
7 In the third month they began to lay the foundaments of the heaps, and in the seventh month they filled, or ended (or completed), those heaps.
8 And when Hezekiah and his princes had entered (And when Hezekiah and his officials came), they saw the heaps, and they blessed the Lord, and the people of Israel.
9 And Hezekiah asked the priests and deacons why the heaps lay so.
10 And Azariah, the first, or chief, priest of the generation of Zadok (And the High Priest Azariah, a descendant of Zadok), answered to him and said, Since the first fruits began to be offered in the house of the Lord, we have eaten of those fruits, and been fulfilled, and full many things be left; for the Lord hath blessed his people; and this plenty, which thou seest, is of the remnants.
11 Therefore Hezekiah commanded, that they should make ready barns in the house of the Lord; and when they had done this thing, (And so Hezekiah commanded, that they should prepare storerooms in the House of the Lord; and when they had done this thing,)
12 they brought in faithfully both the first fruits, and (the) tithes, and whatever things they had avowed. And Conaniah, the deacon, was [the] sovereign of those things (And Conaniah, the Levite, was the ruler, or the overseer, of those things); and Shimei, his brother was the second, next (to) him;
13 after whom Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, were sovereigns under the hands, or powers, of Conaniah and Shimei, his brother, by the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and of Azariah, the bishop of the house of the Lord (by the command of King Hezekiah, and of Azariah, the High Priest of the House of the Lord), to whom all things pertained.
14 But Kore, the son of Imnah, deacon, and porter of the east gate, was sovereign of those things that were offered by free will to the Lord, and of the first fruits, and of [the] things hallowed into the holy things of the number of holy things; (And Kore, the son of Imnah, the Levite, and the guard, or the doorkeeper, at the East Gate, was in charge of the things that were offered by free will to the Lord, and of the first fruits, and of the things dedicated for the holiest of holy things;)
15 and under his care, (or his charge,) were Eden, and Miniamin, Jeshua, and Shemaiah, and Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of (the) priests, that they should part faithfully to their brethren the parts, to the less and to the greater (who should faithfully distribute the portions to their kinsmen, to the greater and the lesser alike),
16 besides males from three years and above, these things to all that entered into the temple of the Lord, and whatever thing by each day was hired in the service and observances, by their partings. (yea, to males three years of age and older, these things were distributed to all who entered into the Temple of the Lord each day, for their part in the service and observances, by their divisions.)

2 Chronicles 31:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 31

This chapter begins with the destruction of idolatrous worship, the appointment of the courses of the priests and Levites, and the royal bounty for sacrifices, 2Ch 31:1-3, next follows the order Hezekiah gave, that the people at Jerusalem, and throughout the land, should make the proper provision for the priests and Levites, as the law directed; and which was cheerfully complied with, and the firstfruits and tithes were brought in, in great abundance, insomuch that there was enough, and plenty left, 2Ch 31:4-10, wherefore chambers were prepared in the temple to lay it up in, and persons appointed to be the overseers of it, and to distribute it faithfully to their brethren and their families, to small and great, 2Ch 31:11-19, and the chapter is closed in praise of the works of Hezekiah, and the success that attended him, 2Ch 31:20,21.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.