Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/378

314 And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly. And the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of dedicated things which were consecrated unto the their God, and laid them by heaps. In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the, and his people Israel. Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. And Azariah the chief priest, of the house of Zadok, answered him and said, Since the people began to bring the oblations into the house of the, we have eaten and had enough, and have left plenty: for the hath blessed his people; and

5. and honey] Honey (Heb. dĕbhash) is not elsewhere mentioned as subject to tithe; perhaps grape syrup (modern Arabic dibs) is meant here, as in Gen. xliii. 11 and Ezek. xxvii. 17 (according to some commentators). Honey (like leaven) was forbidden for sacrificial use (Lev. ii. 11).

6. And the children of Israel] Cp. xi. 16.

the tithe of dedicated things] a strange phrase without parallel. Read probably the dedicated things.

7. the third month] The Feast of Harvest took place at the beginning of this month and seven weeks later the Feast of Ingathering followed.

10. Azariah the chief priest] Not mentioned in connection with Hezekiah's previous arrangements.

of the house of Zadok] Cp. 1 Chr. xxiv. 1—4. Tradition spoke of two main families of priests, (1) the descendants of Eleazar the third son of Aaron, whose chief representative in David's day was Zadok (hence they are here called "the house of Zadok"), (2) the descendants of Ithamar the fourth son of Aaron, represented in David's time by Ahimelech (Saul's victim) or by Abiathar (David's protégé). The Chronicler prefers to name the descendants of Ithamar after Ahimelech (1 Chr. xxiv. 3, where see note).

the oblations] "The Heb. word, tĕrūmāh, denotes properly what is 'taken off' from a larger mass and so separated from it for sacred purposes." The word is sometimes rendered heave offering, but this is due to a mistaken impression that a rite of elevation was involved (see the full note in Driver, Exodus, p. 263).

hath blessed his people] Cp. Mal. iii. 10.