2 Chronicles 30:22-27

30:22 Hezekiah expressed his appreciation to all the Levites, ¹  who demonstrated great skill in serving the Lord. ²  They feasted for the seven days of the festival, ³  and were making peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their ancestors.

30:23 The entire assembly then decided to celebrate for seven more days; so they joyfully celebrated for seven more days. 30:24 King Hezekiah of Judah supplied 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep ⁴  for the assembly, while the officials supplied them ⁵  with 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. Many priests consecrated themselves. 30:25 The celebration included ⁶  the entire assembly of Judah, the priests, the Levites, the entire assembly of those who came from Israel, the resident foreigners who came from the land of Israel, and the residents of Judah. 30:26 There was a great celebration in Jerusalem, unlike anything that had occurred in Jerusalem since the time of King Solomon son of David of Israel. ⁷  30:27 The priests and Levites got up and pronounced blessings on the people. The Lord responded favorably to them ⁸  as their prayers reached his holy dwelling place in heaven.

¹ tn Heb “and Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites.” On the meaning of the idiom “speak to the heart of” here, see HALOT 210 s.v. II דבר 8.d.

² tn Heb “who demonstrated skill [with] good skill for the Lord.”

³ tn Heb “and they ate [during] the appointed time [for] seven days.” מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, “appointed time”) is probably an adverbial accusative of time referring to the festival. However, some understand it as metonymically referring to the food eaten during the festival. See BDB 417 s.v.

⁴ tn The Hebrew term צֹאן (ts’on, translated “sheep” twice in this verse) denotes smaller livestock in general; depending on context it can refer to sheep only or goats only, but their is nothing in the immediate context here to specify one or the other.

⁵ tn Heb “the assembly.” The pronoun “them” has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy.

⁶ tn Heb “they rejoiced.”

⁷ tn Heb “and there was great joy in Jerusalem, for from the days of Solomon son of David, king of Israel, there was nothing like this in Jerusalem.”

⁸ tn Heb “and it was heard with their voice.” BDB 1034 s.v. שָׁמַע Niph.4 interprets this to mean “hearing was granted to their voice.” It is possible that the name יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) has been accidentally omitted.