2 Chronicles 30:17
in 2 Chronicles 30Since there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves, the Levites were in charge of slaughtering the Passover lambs for every unclean person to consecrate the lambs to the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For there were many in the assembly that had not sanctified themselves: therefore the Levites had the charge of killing the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto Jehovah.
KJV
For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified: therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 30
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThey also assisted more than the law ordinarily allowed in offering the other sacrifices, particularly those that were for the purifying of the unclean, many of which there was now occasion for. Some think that it was the offerers' work, not the priests', that the Levites had here the charge of.
This site's exposition
the priests and the Levites were ashamed
on 2 Chronicles 30:15-17
The lamb is killed on the fourteenth of the second month, the day Num 9:11 names for exactly this case, and the priests and Levites, shamed into readiness by a laity more eager than they were, sanctify themselves and take their place after the manner the law of Moses prescribes, the blood passed hand to hand from Levite to priest to altar. Verse 17 records an irregularity the law does not anticipate: many in the congregation were not sanctified, so the Levites themselves killed the passover lambs for everyone who was not clean, standing in for a purity the offerer lacked rather than turning him away.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"What shall we do," says Hezekiah, "about the passover? It is a very comfortable ordinance, and has been long neglected. The time has elapsed for this year; we cannot go about it immediately; the congregation is thin, the people have not notice, the priests are not prepared,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
For there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the priests sprinkled the blood, which they received of the hand of the Levites--This was a deviation from the established rules and practices in presenting the offerings of the temple. The reason was, that many present on the occasion having not sanctified themselves, the Levites slaughtered the paschal victims (see on 2Ch 35:5) for everyone that was unclean.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
BRETHREN, it should be much to our joy that we do not serve under the ceremonial Law, nor live within the legal dispensation. The legal economy exhibited to the people a multitude of types and figures and consequently it laid down many rules and rituals—and these were enacted with such solemn and terrible penalties that the people were in constant fear of offending and found obedience irksome by reason of the weakness of their flesh and the unspirituality of their minds. As for our Lord Jesus, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
BRETHREN, it should be much to our joy that we do not serve under the ceremonial Law, nor live within the legal dispensation. The legal economy exhibited to the people a multitude of types and figures and consequently it laid down many rules and rituals—and these were enacted with such solemn and terrible penalties that the people were in constant fear of offending and found obedience irksome by reason of the weakness of their flesh and the unspirituality of their minds. As for our Lord Jesus, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. But concerning the Law, even Peter speaks of it as "a yoke which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear." We are now brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God, a liberty which those who had been in the bondage could best appreciate. Those who are still under legal restrictions feel the pressure of them when they see the liberty of others. Sitting at dinner with a Samaritan who considered himself under the Law of the Pentateuch, I noticed that the worthy man refused first one dish and then another, and at length he exclaimed, "Moses very hard," evidently feeling that the limit upon his diet involved a good deal of self-denial. Some of us could cheerfully bear such small matters as abstinence from certain meats and drinks, but if we were surrounded with regulations and prescriptions entering into minute details, our life would be full of cares and we should feel ill at ease. We have attained the liberty of the Gospel and we are not called upon to observe days, and months and years—nor to border our garments with a certain color, nor to trim our hair by rule. Neither are we called to practice different washing and purifying, or to observe laws and regulations amounting to a continual round of rites.
How the passage was read
On 2 Chronicles 30:1-27On 2 Chronicles 30:1-27
The Passover held a month late
Hezekiah's great Passover is kept in the SECOND month, and that is not an irregularity he invented: the Law itself provides a one-month make-up date for those unclean or far off (Numbers 9:10–11, the “Second Passover”). Hezekiah applies the provision nationally because the priests and the people could not be ready in time. Notice the chapter's heart: many northerners ate the Passover ritually unclean, and the king prays for them, “may the good LORD pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God,” and the LORD heals the people. The feast's paperwork bends; the seeking heart is heard.
What the Jewish commentators add
for everyone who was unclean a Levite took his place to sanctify it for the Lord.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
for they ate the Passover sacrifice not as it is written not in accordance with halachah, for they ate it in a state of uncleanness, for Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, etc.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Numbers 9:10–11 (the Second-Passover provision) · Mishnah Pesachim 9:1 (the provision in the oral law)
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רַבַּ֥ת | rabat | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| בַּקָּהָ֖ל | bakahal | among the assembly | H6951 → | 123 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הִתְקַדָּ֑שׁוּ | hitkadashu | they had consecrated themselves | H6942 → | 171 times |
| וְהַלְוִיִּ֞ם | vehalviyim | and the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [were] over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שְׁחִיטַ֣ת | shechitat | [the] slaughter of | H7821 → | |
| הַפְּסָחִ֗ים | hapesachim | the passovers | H6453 → | 49 times |
| לְכֹל֙ | lekhol | for every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| טָה֔וֹר | tahor | clean | H2889 → | 94 times |
| לְהַקְדִּ֖ישׁ | lehakdish | to consecrate [them] | H6942 → | 171 times |
| לַיהוָֽה׃ | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
רַבַּ֥תmany
rabatH7227 →454 times
בַּקָּהָ֖לamong the assembly
bakahalH6951 →123 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הִתְקַדָּ֑שׁוּthey had consecrated themselves
hitkadashuH6942 →171 times
וְהַלְוִיִּ֞םand the Levites
vehalviyimH3881 →291 times
עַל־[were] over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שְׁחִיטַ֣ת[the] slaughter of
shechitatH7821 →
הַפְּסָחִ֗יםthe passovers
hapesachimH6453 →49 times
לְכֹל֙for every
lekholH3605 →5413 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
טָה֔וֹרclean
tahorH2889 →94 times
לְהַקְדִּ֖ישׁto consecrate [them]
lehakdishH6942 →171 times
לַיהוָֽה׃to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 12:6You must keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
it leads to
- Leviticus 23:5
The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.
- 2 Chronicles 30:15–18
And on the fourteenth day of the second month they slaughtered the Passover lamb. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the house of the LORD.
- Numbers 28:16
The fourteenth day of the first month is the LORD’s Passover.
- Numbers 9:1–3
In the first month of the second year after Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai:
- Numbers 9:11
Such people are to observe it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs;
- Leviticus 23:5
Through
2 Chronicles 29:34However, since there were not enough priests to skin all the burnt offerings, their Levite brothers helped them until the work was finished and until the priests had been consecrated. For the Levites had…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 35:11
And they slaughtered the Passover lambs, while the priests sprinkled the blood handed to them and the Levites skinned the animals.
- 2 Chronicles 30:3
since they had been unable to observe it at the regular time, because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not been gathered in Jerusalem.
- Numbers 18:6–7
Behold, I Myself have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to perform the service for the Tent of Meeting.
- 2 Chronicles 35:11
About 2 Chronicles

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2131: “To Those Who Feel Unfit for Communion” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
