2 Chronicles 30

2 Chronicles 29–32 recounts the reforms of King Hezekiah. Following the cleansing of the temple and the restoration of worship in 2 Chronicles 29, this chapter narrates the keeping of the Passover.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 Too few priests had sanctified themselves, and the people had not gathered. Hezekiah therefore consulted with his princes and decided to keep the Passover in the second month, proclaiming it from Beersheba to Dan.
• Verses 6–9 Couriers ("posts" in the KJV) carry the king's letters throughout the land, urging the remnant who had escaped the hand of the kings of Assyria to return to the LORD.
• Verses 10–12 The people of the country of Ephraim and Manasseh mocked the couriers. Yet some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came, and the people of Judah obeyed the command with one heart.
• Verses 13–20 A great congregation assembles, casts the altars and incense altars of Jerusalem into the brook Kidron, and slaughters the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. When Hezekiah prays for those who had eaten without being cleansed, the LORD heals the people.
• Verses 21–27 The Feast of Unleavened Bread is kept for seven days, and the assembly resolves to keep another seven days. The king gives the congregation a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep, and the princes give a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep. There was great joy in Jerusalem such as had not been since the time of Solomon.

Key Verses

• 2 Chronicles 30:9 "For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful" — These words recall the confession of God's character in Exodus 34:6 and serve as the basis for the call to return.
• 2 Chronicles 30:18–19 "The good LORD pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God" — A prayer that places a heart seeking God above the regulations of ritual purity.
• 2 Chronicles 30:26 — By comparing this festival with the days of Solomon, the verse shows how great an event it was.

People and Places

• Hezekiah: King of Judah, who leads the festival.
• Solomon: The king whose era serves as the point of comparison for the joy of this festival.
• The priests and the Levites: At first ashamed, they sanctify themselves and take charge of the offerings.
• Ephraim, Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Issachar: Northern tribes.
• Jerusalem: The place where the Passover was kept.
• Beersheba and Dan: The southern and northern extremities of the land of Israel; together the phrase denotes the entire land.
• The brook Kidron: A stream flowing through the valley east of Jerusalem.
• Assyria: The nation that carried the northern people into captivity.

Points for Reflection

• The Passover kept in the second month is read alongside the provision in Numbers 9 allowing those who were unclean or on a distant journey to keep it one month later.
• This Passover does not appear in Kings, including 2 Kings 18, but is recorded only in Chronicles. The invitation extended to the northern tribes is interpreted as reflecting the Chronicler's concern to emphasize "all Israel." Scholars differ on whether the event took place before or after the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel, and on how it relates to 2 Chronicles 35, which records the Passover of Josiah.
• Some read verses 18–20 as a passage that values the heart over outward form, comparing it with Matthew 9:13, which quotes Hosea 6:6. In the New Testament, the Passover is connected with the death of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:7).