Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
Restoration of order in the public worship, and of the temple revenues and those of the priests. - Ch2 31:2. Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and Levites according to their courses, each according to the measure of his service (cf. Num 7:5, Num 7:7), viz., the priests and Levites (ולל לכה are subordinated to אישׁ in apposition by ל), for burnt-offerings and thank-offerings, to serve (to wait upon the worship), and to praise and thank (by song and instrumental music) in the gates of the camp of Jahve, i.e., in the temple and court of the priests; see on Ch1 9:18.
Ch2 31:3
And the portion of the king from his possession was for the burnt-offerings, etc.; that is, the material for the burnt-offerings which are commanded in Num 28 and 29 the king gave from his possessions, which are enumerated in Ch2 32:27-29.
Ch2 31:4-8
The priests and Levites received their maintenance from the first-fruits (Exo 23:19; Num 18:12; Deu 26:2) and the tithes, which the people had to pay from the produce of their cattle-breeding and their agriculture (Lev 27:30-33, cf. with Num 18:21-24). Hezekiah commanded the people, viz., the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give this portion to the Levites and priests, that they might hold themselves firmly to the law of Jahve, i.e., might devote themselves to the duties laid upon them by the law, the attendance upon the worship, without being compelled to labour for their subsistence; cf. Neh 13:10.
Ch2 31:5-6
When the word (the royal command) went forth (spread abroad), the Israelites brought in abundance the first-fruits which had been assigned to the priests (Ch2 18:12.), and the tithes, which were paid to the whole tribe of Levi (Num 18:21-24). ישׂראל בּני, Ch2 31:6, are not the inhabitants of the northern kingdom, but the Israelites who had emigrated from that kingdom into Judah (as Ch2 30:25; Ch2 11:16; Ch2 10:17). קדשׁים מעשׂר, the tenth from the holy gifts which were consecrated to Jahve, is surprising, since in the law, Num 18:8., it is not the tenth of the consecrated gifts which is spoken of, but only הקּדשׁים תרוּמות (Num 18:19). Proceeding upon the assumption that all קדשׁים which were consecrated to Jahve were given over to the tribe of Levi, Bertheau finds no correspondence between the law and the statement of our verse, that the tenth of the holy things was given, and points out that the lxx seem to have read והקּשׁים ועז instead of קדשׁים m`sr, without, however, himself deciding in favour of that reading. But the lxx have rendered the words hmqdsym קדשׁים קדשׁים by ἐπιδέκατα αἰγῶν, καὶ ἡγίασαν, and consequently cannot have read ועז for מעשׂר, since in their translation epide'kata corresponds to m`sr. But the deviation of the statement in our verse from the law, Num 18, arises partly from an incorrect or inexact interpretation of the provisions of the law, Num 18:8. In the law, קדשׁים as such were not assigned to the tribe of Levi, or more correctly to the priests (Aaron and his sons), but only the לכל־קדשׁים תּרוּמות, the heave-offerings of all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, i.e., the pieces or parts of the sacrificial gifts of the Israelites which were not burnt upon the altar, consequently the greater part of the meal, and oil, and flesh of the oblations, the sin-offerings, the trespass-offerings, and of the peace-offerings, the wave-breast and wave-thigh, and whatever else was waved in wave-offerings; see on Num 18:8. These Therumoth of the consecrated gifts are in our verse designated קדשׁים מעשׂר, because they were only a fragment of that which was consecrated to the Lord, just as the tenth was a fragment of the whole herd, and of the field produce. The statement of our verse, therefore, differs only in expression from the prescription of the law, but in substance it completely agrees with it. ער ערמות ויּתּנוּ, and they made many heaps, i.e., they brought the first-fruits and tithes in heaps.
Ch2 31:7
In the third month, consequently immediately at the end of the grain harvest, they commenced to found the heaps (to lay the foundation of the heaps); and in the seventh month, i.e., at the end of the fruit and wine harvest, they completed them (the heaps). In the third month fell pentecost, or the harvest feast; in the seventh, the feast of tabernacles, after the gathering in of all the fruits. ליסּוד has Daghesh in ס, because this verb in the imperf. assimilates its י like נ to the second radical, and the infinitive is formed after the imperf.; cf. Ew. 245, a.
Ch2 31:8-10
When Hezekiah and the priests saw these heaps, they praised the Lord and His people Israel.
The employment and storing of these gifts, Ch2 31:9-19. - Ch2 31:9. Hezekiah questioned (ידרשׁ) the priests and Levites concerning the heaps, i.e., not as to whether they were sufficient for the support of the priests and Levites, but as to how it happened that such masses had been heaped up. Thereupon Azariah the high priest (hardly the Azariah mentioned Ch2 26:17, who forty years before tried to prevent Uzziah from pressing into the holy place), of the house of Zadok, answered him: Since they began to bring (לביא for להביא) the heave-offerings into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and satisfied ourselves, and have left in plenty. The infin. absol. והותר ושׂבוע אכול stand in animated speech instead of the first pers. plur. perf. From the same animation arises the construction of את־ההמון with הנּותר; for "that which is left" signifies, and we have left this quantity here.
Ch2 31:11-12
Then the king commanded to prepare cells in the house of God for the storing of the provisions. Whether new cells were built, or cells already existing were prepared for this purpose, cannot be decided, since הכין may signify either. Into these cells they brought the תּרוּמה, which here denotes the first-fruits (cf. Ch2 31:5), the tithes, and the dedicated things, בּאמוּנה, with fidelity, cf. Ch2 19:9. עליהם, over them (the first-fruits, etc.) the Levite Cononiah was set as ruler (inspector), and his brother Shimei as second ruler (משׁנה).
Ch2 31:13-14
To them at their hand, i.e., as subordinate overseers, were given ten Levites, who are enumerated by name. Of the names, Jehiel and Mahath occur in Ch2 29:12 and Ch2 29:14. בּמפקד is translated by the Vulg. ex imperio, better ex mandato Hizkiae. Azariah, the prince of the house of God, is the high priest mentioned in Ch2 31:10. - To the fourteen Levites named in Ch2 31:13 and Ch2 31:14 was committed the oversight and storing of the first-fruits, tithes, and consecrated gifts. Besides these, there were special officers appointed for the distribution of them. - In Ch2 31:14-19 these are treated of; Ch2 31:14 dealing with the distribution of the voluntary gifts of God, i.e., all which was offered to God of spontaneous impulse (Lev 23:38; Deu 12:17), to which the first-fruits and tithes did not belong, they being assessments prescribed by the law. Over the freewill offerings the Levite Kore, the doorkeeper towards the east (see on Ch1 9:18), was set. His duty was to give (distribute) "the heave-offerings of Jahve," i.e., that portion of the thank-offerings which properly belonged to Jahve, and which was transferred by Him to the priests (Lev 7:14; Num 5:9), and the "most holy," i.e., that part of the sin and trespass offerings (Lev 6:10, Lev 6:22; Lev 7:6) and of the oblations (Lev 2:3, Lev 2:10) which was to be eaten by the priests in the holy place.
Ch2 31:15-16
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests, &c.--The king now turned his attention to provide for the orderly performance of the temple-worship--arranging the priests and Levites in their courses, assigning to every one his proper place and functions--and issuing edicts for the regular payment of those dues from which the revenues of the sanctuary were derived. To set a proper example to his subjects, his own proportion was announced in the first instance, for to the king it belonged, out of his privy purse, to defray the expenses of the altar, both stated and occasional (Num 28:3-4, Num 28:9, Num 28:11, Num 28:19); and in making this contribution from his own means, Hezekiah followed the course which David and Solomon had taken before him (see Ch2 8:14; Kg1 9:25). Afterwards he reappointed the people's dues to the temple; and from its being necessary to issue a royal mandate in reference to this matter, it appears that the sacred tribute had been either totally neglected, or (as the idolatrous princes were known to appropriate it to their own purposes) the people had in many cases refused or evaded the duty. But with the improved state of public feeling, Hezekiah's commandment was readily obeyed, and contributions of first-fruits and tithes were poured in with great liberality from all parts of Judah, as well as from Israel. The first-fruits, even of some articles of produce that were unfit for sacrifice (Lev 2:11), such as honey (Margin, "dates"), were appropriated to the priests (Num 18:12-13; Deu 18:4). The tithes (Lev 27:31) were intended for the support of the whole Levitical tribe (Num 18:8, Num 18:20, Num 18:24).
