II Chronicles 29:1

The celebration of the passover. - Ch2 30:1-12. The preparations for this celebration. - Ch2 30:1. Hezekiah invited all Israel and Judah to it; "and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh," the two chief tribes of the northern kingdom, which here, as is manifest from Ch2 30:5, Ch2 30:10, are named instar omnium. But the whole sentence serves only to elucidate כּל־שׂראל על ישׁלה. To all Israel (of the ten tribes) he sent the invitation, and this he did by letters. The verse contains a general statement as to the matter, which is further described in what follows.

Here is, I. Hezekiah's age when he came to the crown. He was twenty-five years old. Joash, who came to the crown after two bad reigns, was but seven years old; Josiah, who came after two bad reigns, was but eight, which occasioned the delay of the reformation; but Hezekiah had come to years, and so applied himself immediately to it. We may well think with what a sorrowful heart he beheld his father's idolatry and profaneness, how it troubled him to see the doors of the temple shut, though, while his father lived, he durst not open them. His soul no doubt wept in secret for it, and he vowed that when he should receive the congregation he would redress these grievances, which made him do it with more readiness and resolution. II. His general character. He did that which was right like David, Ch2 29:2. Of several of his predecessors it had been said that they did that which was right, but not like David, not with David's integrity and zeal. But here was one that had as hearty an affection for the ark and law of God as ever David had. III. His speedy application to the great work of restoring religion. The first thing he did was to open the doors of the house of the Lord, Ch2 29:3. We are willing to hope his father had not quite suppressed the temple service; for then the holy fire on the altar must have gone out, and we do not read of the re-kindling of it; but he had hindered the people from attending it, and the priests, except such of them as were of his own party, Kg2 16:15. But Hezekiah immediately threw the church doors open, and brought in the priests and Levites. He found Judah low and naked, yet did not make it his first business to revive the civil interests of his kingdom, but to restore religion to its good posture again. Those that begin with God begin at the…

29:1 After a co-regency with his father, Ahaz, Hezekiah became king in his own right and reigned from 715 to 686 BC.