Commentaria in II Paralipomenon
Chapter 31. Synopsis of the chapter
Juda in the whole of Judea and in the remaining five tribes of Israel overthrow idols, altars, and groves; Ezechias restores the offices and orders of the temple.
1. And when these things were duly celebrated, all Israel that were found in the cities of Juda went out, and broke the images, and cut down the groves, demolished the high places and destroyed the altars, not only out of all Juda and Benjamin, but out of Ephraim also and Manasses, till they utterly destroyed them: and all the children of Israel returned to their possessions and cities. 2. And Ezechias appointed the companies of the priests and of the Levites by their divisions, every man in his own office, both of the priests and of the Levites, for the holocausts and peace offerings, to minister, and to give praise, and to sing in the gates of the camp of the Lord. 3. And the king’s part was, that of his own substance the holocaust should be offered, always morning and evening. Also on the sabbaths, and the calends, and the other solemnities, as it is written in the law of Moses. 4. He commanded also the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give portions to the priests and Levites, that they might attend to the law of the Lord. 5. And when this was noised abroad in the ears of the multitude, the children of Israel offered in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey also, and of all that the ground bringeth forth they offered tithes. 6. And the children of Israel and Juda that dwelt in the cities of Juda, offered also tithes of oxen and sheep, and the tithes of holy things, which they had vowed to the Lord their God: and bringing in all they made many heaps. 7. In the third month they began to lay the foundations of the heaps, and in the seventh month they finished them. 8. And when Ezechias and his princes went in, they saw the heaps, and blessed the Lord and the people of Israel. 9. And Ezechias asked the priests and the Levites, why the heaps lay so. 10. And Azarias the chief priest of the race of Sadoc, answered him, saying: Since the firstfruits began to be offered in the house of the Lord, we have eaten and are filled, and there are plenty left, because the Lord hath blessed his people: and this great store is what is left. 11. Then Ezechias commanded that they should prepare storehouses in the house of the Lord. And when they had done so, 12. they brought in faithfully both the firstfruits and the tithes, and all that they had vowed. And the overseer of them was Chonenias the Levite, and Semei his brother the second, 13. after whom Jahiel, and Azarias, and Nahath, and Asael, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad also, and Eliel, and Jesmachias, and Mahath, and Banaias, were appointed overseers under the hands of Chonenias, and Semei his brother, by the commandment of king Ezechias and of Azarias the high priest of the house of God, to whom all things belonged. 14. And Core the son of Jemna the Levite, and porter of the east gate, was over those things that were freely offered to the Lord, and the firstfruits, and the things consecrated in the Holy of Holies. 15. And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jesue, and Semeias, Amarias also and Sechenias, in the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully to their brethren their portions, to the lesser and the greater: 16. besides the males from three years old and upward, to all that entered into the temple of the Lord, and whatsoever was needful every day in the ministry, and the observances according to their divisions, 17. to the priests by their families, and to the Levites from twenty years old and upward, by their orders and companies, 18. and to the whole multitude, as well their wives as their children of both sexes, food was faithfully given of those things which had been sanctified. 19. And of the sons of Aaron also, through the fields and suburbs of every city, there were men appointed to distribute portions to all the male sex of the priests and Levites. 20. So Ezechias did all the things that we have said in all Juda: and he wrought what was good and right and true before the Lord his God, 21. in all the service of the ministry of the house of the Lord, according to the law and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with all his heart: and he did it and prospered.
Verse 2. In the gates of the camp of the Lord,—that is, in the gates of the temple; for in the temple the companies of priests and Levites were distributed into their orders like battle lines of soldiers, so that there the camps, lines, and armies of God might seem to be, as is clear from Numbers IV and following, where the Levites are said to go out and in to the service of the temple. Whence the Church is called “the line of the camps.”
Verse 3. And the king’s part was,—as if to say: King Ezechias took upon himself these parts and duties around the ministry of the temple, that he himself should supply the cost for the continual sacrifice and the other victims, but the people should feed the priests and Levites (for their revenues had been scattered and dissipated by Achaz and other impious kings), “that they might attend to the law of the Lord,” that is, that, relieved of the care of providing food, they might give themselves wholly to their office and the ministry of the temple.
Verse 6. The tithes of the holy things, which they had vowed to the Lord,— the Hebrew has, the tithes of holy things (that is, of sacred things) which were sanctified to God; as if to say: They offered tithes of all their goods, which by law are commanded to be “sanctified to God,” that is, consecrated and offered, Numbers chapter XVIII, verse 8 and following, and moreover other tithes not prescribed by law, but which they themselves of their own accord had as it were sanctified to God, that is, “vowed,” dedicated and destined, as our version has it; as if to say: Besides the tithes prescribed by law, they added moreover from devotion and liberality others, which they had dedicated and vowed to God, Numbers chapter XVII.
Verse 7. They began to lay the foundations of the heaps,—that is, they began to collect the first heaps; for what is first is as it were the foundation of what follows. So Vatablus.
pastophoria, that is, chambers or rooms, in which, as in granaries, the firstfruits, tithes, and other things offered to the temple were kept.
Verse 14. And the things consecrated in the Holy of Holies—that is, that they may be most holy, because you have dedicated them to the temple and to the most holy God; for the firstfruits were not offered in the Holy of Holies, but before the court of the priests. In a similar phrase, in verse 6, he called “the tithes of holy things,” that is, tithes sanctified to God, that is, consecrated and offered.
Verse 16. Except the males from three years old and upward,—that is, besides boys of three years, to whom also, as to all the others, up to the twentieth year, food was supplied; as if to say: Not only to the elders who served the temple, but also to boys of three years, nay to one-year-olds even lying in cradles; nay, even to women and little girls the necessaries of life were liberally supplied by the Prefects; that the priests and Levites might not be distracted by the care of feeding them, but give themselves wholly to God and the temple: so great was the abundance of things offered, so great the liberality of the offering people, so great the providence, piety, and devotion of king Ezechias.
Verse 19. Through the fields—as if to say: As Ezechias provided for the Levites dwelling in Jerusalem, so he provided corn also for those who were scattered outside Jerusalem through the fields and other cities.