2 Chronicles 29:12 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Chronicles 29:12
Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites: and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel: and of the Gershonites; Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah:
a Levite or descendant of Levi · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
arose
וַיָּקֻ֣מוּvai.ya.Ku.mu
H6965
to rise (in various applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Mahath
מַ֣חַתMa.chat
H4287
Machath · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Amasai
עֲמָשַׂ֞י'a.ma.Sai
H6022
Amasai · proper noun, a man's name
Joel
וְיוֹאֵ֣לve.yo.'El
H3100
Joel · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
son
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Exodus 6:16-25 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Le…
Numbers 3:17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
Numbers 3:19-20 And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
Numbers 4:2-20 Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, after their families, by the house of their fathers,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 29:12-19
We have here busy work, good work, and needful work, the cleansing of the house of the Lord.
I. The persons employed in this work were the priests and Levites, who should have kept the temple clean, but, not having done that, were concerned to make it clean. Several of the Levites are here named, two of each of the three principal houses, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari (Ch2 29:12), and two of each of the three families of singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, Ch2 29:13, Ch2 29:14. We cannot think these are named merely because they were chief in place (for then surely the high priest, or some of the heads of the courses of the priests, would have been mentioned), but because they were more zealo…
THE HOUSE OF GOD CLEANSED. (2Ch. 29:12-36)
Then the Levites arose--Fourteen chiefs undertook the duty of collecting and preparing their brethren for the important work of cleansing the Lord's house. Beginning with the outer courts--that of the priests and that of the people--the cleansing of these occupied eight days, after which they set themselves to purify the interior; but as the Levites were not allowed to enter within the walls of the temple, the priest brought all the sweepings out to the porch, where they were received by the Levites and thrown into the brook Kedron. This took eight days more. At the end of this period they repaired to the palace and announced that not only had the…
To make a covenant - To renew the covenant under which the whole people were constantly considered, and of which circumcision was the sign; and the spirit of which was, I will be your God: Ye shall be my people.
John Gill on 2 Chronicles 29:12
Then the Levites arose,.... Whose names are mentioned; of the Kohathites two, Mahath the son of Amashai, and Joel the son of Azariah; of the Merarites two, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehalelel; of the Gershonites two, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; and of the family of Elizaphan, a Kohathite, two, Shimri and Jehiel; and of the family of Asaph, one of the chief singers in the times of David, two, Zechariah and Mattaniah; and of the family of Heman, another principal singer in the same times, two, Jehiel and Shimei; and of the family of Jeduthun, the third principal singer, the same with Ethan, two, Shemaiah and Uzziel, in all fourteen.
Dictionary and topics
Abdi — My servant. (1.) 1 Chr. 6:44. (2.) 2 Chr. 29:12. (3.) Ezra 10:26.
Amasai — Burdensome. (1.) A Levite, son of Elkanah, of the ancestry of Samuel (1 Chr. 6:25, 35). (2.) The leader of a body of men who joined David in the “stronghold,” probably of Adullam (1 Chr. 12:18). (3.)…
Amasai, Or Amasai — (burdensome)
Azariah — Whom Jehovah helps. (1.) Son of Ethan, of the tribe of Judah (1 Chr. 2:8). (2.) Son of Ahimaaz, who succeeded his grandfather Zadok as high priest (1 Chr. 6:9; 1 Kings 4:2) in the days of Solomon. He…
Burnt offering — Hebrew olah; i.e., “ascending,” the whole being consumed by fire, and regarded as ascending to God while being consumed. Part of every offering was burnt in the sacred fire, but this was wholly…
Covenant — A contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a…
Dedication, Feast of the — (John 10:22, 42), i.e., the feast of the renewing. It was instituted B.C. 164 to commemorate the purging of the temple after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes (B.C. 167), and the rebuilding of the…
Eden — Delight. (1.) The garden in which our first parents dewlt (Gen. 2:8-17). No geographical question has been so much discussed as that bearing on its site. It has been placed in Armenia, in the region…
Hezekiah — Whom Jehovah has strengthened. (1.) Son of Ahaz (2 Kings 18:1; 2 Chr. 29:1), whom he succeeded on the throne of the kingdom of Judah. He reigned twenty-nine years (B.C. 726-697). The history of this…
Jehaleleel — Praiser of God. (1.) A descendant of Judah (1 Chr. 4:16). (2.) A Levite of the family of Merari (2 Chr. 29:12).
Jehalelel — (who praises God), a Merarite Levite, father of Azariah. (2 Chronicles 29:12)
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Azariah
עֲזַרְיָהוּ֮'a.zar.ya.Hu
H5838
Azarjah · proper noun, a man's name
sons
בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Kohathites
הַקְּהָתִי֒ha.ke.ha.Ti
H6956
a Kohathite (collectively) or descendants of Kehath · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
sons
בְּנֵ֣יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Merari
מְרָרִ֔יme.ra.Ri
H4847
Merari · proper noun, a man's name
Kish
קִ֚ישׁkish
H7027
Kish · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Abdi
עַבְדִּ֔י'av.Di
H5660
Abdi · proper noun, a man's name
Azariah
וַעֲזַרְיָ֖הוּva.'a.zar.Ya.hu
H5838
Azarjah · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Jehalelel
יְהַלֶּלְאֵ֑לye.ha.lel.'El
H3094
Jehallelel · proper noun, a man's name
Gershonites
הַגֵּ֣רְשֻׁנִּ֔יha.Ge.re.shu.Ni
H1649
a Gereshonite or descendant of Gereshon · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
Joah
יוֹאָח֙yo.'Ach
H3098
Joach · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Zimmah
זִמָּ֔הzi.Mah
H2155
Zimmah · proper noun, a man's name
Eden
וְעֵ֖דֶןve.'E.den
H5731
Eden · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Joah
יוֹאָֽחyo.'Ach
H3098
Joach · proper noun, a man's name
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Chronicles 29:12-36
To begin the process of sanctifying the Temple, these Levites began with their own sanctification. First, they all purified themselves, probably by bringing offerings (cp. 30:15); then they began to cleanse the Temple. Two separate acts were required to restore the Temple: purification (the removal of pollution, 29:15-17) and sanctification (the rededication of the Temple for holy worship, 29:20-36).
29:12 Kohath . . . Merari . . . Gershon were the three sons of Levi; their descendants had become the three main clans of the tribe of Levites (see Exod 6:16).
Rashi on 2 Chronicles 29:11
do not forget - Heb. תִּשָּׁלוּ, an expression denoting lack of intention.
Joah — Jehovah his brother; i.e., helper. (1.) One of the sons of Obed-edom (1 Chr. 26:4), a Korhite porter. (2.) A Levite of the family of Gershom (1 Chr. 6:21), probably the same as Ethan (42). (3.) The…
Joel — Jehovah is his God. (1.) The oldest of Samuel’s two sons appointed by him as judges in Beersheba (1 Sam. 8:2). (See VASHNI.) (2.) A descendant of Reuben (1 Chr. 5:4, 8). (3.) One of David’s famous…
Kish — A bow. (1.) A Levite of the family of Merari (1 Chr. 23:21; 24:29). (2.) A Benjamite of Jerusalem (1 Chr. 8:30; 9:36). (3.) A Levite in the time of Hezekiah (2 Chr. 29:12). (4.) The great-grandfather…
Mahath — Grasping. (1.) A Kohathite Levite, father of Elkanah (1 Chr. 6:35). (2.) Another Kohathite Levite, of the time of Hezekiah (2 Chr. 29:12).
Merari, Merarites — (bitter, unhappy), third son of Levi and head of the third great division of the Levites, the Merarites. (Genesis 46:8,11) At the time of the exodus and the numbering in the wilderness, the Merarites…
Merarites — The descendants of Merari (Num. 26:57). They with the Gershonites and the Kohathites had charge of the tabernacle, which they had to carry from place to place (Num. 3:20, 33-37; 4:29-33). In the…
Zimmah — Mischief. (1.) A Gershonite Levite (1 Chr. 6:20). (2.) Another Gershonite Levite (1 Chr. 6:42). (3.) The father of Joah (2 Chr. 29:12).
Abdi · Father of Kish — Father of Kish
Amasai · 4. A Levite of the Kohathites — 4. A Levite of the Kohathites
Eden · 3. A Gershonite — 3. A Gershonite
Jehalelel · A — A
Joah · 2. A — 2. A
Joel · 10. A Kohathite who assisted in the cleansing of the temple — 10. A Kohathite who assisted in the cleansing of the temple
Kish · 4. A Levite — 4. A Levite
Mahath · Name of two — Name of two
Temple, The First · Historical notices of: Purified and divine worship restored under Hezekiah — Historical notices of: Purified and divine worship restored under Hezekiah
Zimmah · 2. Two Gershonites — 2. Two Gershonites
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
