2 Chronicles 23:2

And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) And they went about in Judah.—2Chronicles 17:9; 1Samuel 7:16.

The chief of the fathers.—The heads of the clans, or chiefs of houses.

This and the next verse are added by the chronicler. In Kings the narrative passes at once to the charge of 2Chronicles 23:4 : “This is the thing that ye shall do,” which is there addressed to the “captains of the hundreds,” or centurions of the royal guard. In fact, the parallel text is nearly if not altogether silent as to the part played by the Levites in the Restoration; and the chronicler appears to have supplemented that account with materials derived from other authorities, and perhaps from Levitical traditions. That he should have done so, is only consistent with his general practice and the special purpose of his history. At the same time, allowing for certain characteristic additions, interpretations, and substitutions of phrase for phrase, which will be specified in these Notes, the narrative of the chronicler absolutely coincides with that of Kings, treating of the same events, and rigidly observing the same limits, as well as maintaining a general identity of language. We conclude, therefore, that in this case, as elsewhere, the chronicler has used as the groundwork of his relation a historical text which contained sections substantially identical with the present narratives of Kings, but accompanied by numerous details not found in those books.

Benson Commentary

2 Chronicles 23:2. And gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah — Because he knew them to be well affected to the cause of God and the king, to which they were bound by the two strongest ties, conscience and interest: and because he could collect them without any suspicion, it being their duty to attend at Jerusalem at the solemn feasts, the time of one which was probably chosen for this purpose. And the chief of the fathers Israel — Judah is here called Israel, as in several other places. They came to Jerusalem — To settle their resolutions with Jehoiada.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

23:12-20 A warning from God was sent to Jehoram. The Spirit of prophecy might direct Elijah to prepare this writing in the foresight of Jehoram's crimes. He is plainly told that his sin should certainly ruin him. But no marvel that sinners are not frightened from sin, and to repentance, by the threatenings of misery in another world, when the certainty of misery in this world, the sinking of their estates, and the ruin of their health, will not restrain them from vicious courses. See Jehoram here stripped of all his comforts. Thus God plainly showed that the controversy was with him, and his house. He had slain all his brethren to strengthen himself; now, all his sons are slain but one. David's house must not be wholly destroyed, like those of Israel's kings, because a blessing was in it; that of the Messiah. Good men may be afflicted with diseases; but to them they are fatherly chastisements, and by the support of Divine consolations the soul may dwell at ease, even when the body lies in pain. To be sick and poor, sick and solitary, but especially to be sick and in sin, sick and under the curse of God, sick and without grace to bear it, is a most deplorable case. Wickedness and profaneness make men despicable, even in the eyes of those who have but little religion.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Jehoiada was unwilling to trust the success of the revolution wholly and entirely to the royal body-guard. Accordingly, the captains collected from the cities of Judah a strong body of Levites and the chief of the fathers of Israel (i. e. "Judah," see 2 Chronicles 20:34 note) who were brought up to Jerusalem.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. chief of all the fathers of Israel—This name is frequently used in Chronicles for Judah and Benjamin, now all that remained of Israel. Having cautiously entrusted the secret of the young prince's preservation to all the leading men in the kingdom, he enlisted their interest in the royal cause and got their pledge to support it by a secret oath of fidelity.

they came to Jerusalem—The time chosen for the grand discovery was, probably, one of the annual festivals, when there was a general concourse of the nation at the capital.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah; partly because they could do this without any suspicion, upon pretence of some solemn feast; which time, it is probable, was chosen for this purpose; and partly because he knew them to be well affected to the cause of God and the king, to which they were obliged by the two firmest ties, conscience and interest.

The chief of the fathers of Israel, i.e. both of the two tribes, and of the ten tribes, all which are called Israel; and he useth the name of Israel rather than that of Judah, because there were now great numbers of the other tribes incorporated with Judah; and these he esteemed more faithful than many of Judah, having given better proofs of the truth of their religion than they; and therefore he picked out of the chief men of the other tribes as well as of Judah and Benjamin.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The contents of this chapter are the same with 2 Kings 11:4 and need no other explanation than what may be found in the notes there, to which the reader is referred.See Gill on 2 Kings 11:4. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:5. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:6. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:7. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:8. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:9. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:10. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:11. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:12. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:13. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:14. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:15. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:16. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:17. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:18. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:19. See Gill on 2 Kings 11:20.

Geneva Study Bible

And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the {b} chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

(b) Meaning of Judah and Benjamin. To see why they are called Israel, see Geneva (l) 2Ch 15:17

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. gathered the Levites] This statement is not found in Kings, nor is it there stated as here (2 Chronicles 23:6) that only Levites were allowed inside the Temple to guard the king.

the chief of the fathers] R.V. the heads of fathers’ houses.

Israel] See 2 Chronicles 11:3 (note).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - No mention is made in the parallel of the Levites, whom our writer is sure to signalize. The fathers of Israel. The sacredness of the phrase made it dear, above the narrowness of the distinctive appellation Judah, though the worthies all were gathered, as just;implied, out of "Judah." 2 Chronicles 23:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Joash raised to the throne, and Athaliah slain. - In 2 Kings 11:4-20 we have another account of these events, in which the matter is in several points more briefly narrated, and apparently differently represented. According to both narratives, the thing was undertaken and carried out by the high priest Jehoiada; but according to 2 Kings 11, the high priest would appear to have mainly availed himself of the co-operation of the royal body-guard in the execution of his plan, while according to the Chronicle it is the Levites and the heads of the fathers'-houses who are made use of. Thereupon De Wette, Movers, Thenius, and Bertheau consequently maintain that the author of the Chronicle, proceeding on the view that the high priest, the chief of so many priests and Levites, would not have recourse to the assistance of the royal body-guard, has altered the statements in the second book of Kings accordingly, and wishes to represent the matter in a different way. But this assertion can be made with an appearance of truth only on the presupposition, already repeatedly shown to be erroneous, that the author of the Chronicle has made the account in 2 Kings 11 the basis of his narrative, and designedly altered it, and can scarcely be upheld even by the incorrect interpretation of various words. That 2 Kings 11 is not the source from which our account has been derived, nor the basis on which it is founded, is manifest from the very first verses of the chronicler's narrative, where the names of the five princes over hundreds, with whose co-operation Jehoiada elaborated his plan and carried it into execution, are individually enumerated; while in 2 Kings 11, where the preparations for the accomplishment of the work are very briefly treated of, they will be sought for in vain. But if, on the contrary, the two accounts be recognised to be extracts confining themselves to the main points, excerpted from a more detailed narrative of the event from different points of view, the discrepancies may be at once reconciled. Instead of the short statement, 2 Kings 11:4, that the high priest Jehoiada ordered the centurions of the royal body-guard to come to him in the temple (ויּבא...יקּח), made a covenant with them, caused them to swear, and showed them the king's son, we read in the Chronicle (2 Chronicles 23:1-3), that the high priest Jehoiada took five centurions, whose names are stated with historical exactitude, into covenant with him, i.e., sent for them and made a covenant with them, and that these men then went throughout Judah, and summoned the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of the fathers'-houses of Israel, to Jerusalem; whereupon Jehoiada with the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God, and Jehoiada said to the people, "The king's son shall be king, as Jahve hath said of the sons of David." That this more expanded narrative can without difficulty be reconciled with the summary statement in 2 Kings 11:4, is perfectly manifest. By various devices, however, Berth. tries to bring out some discrepancies. In the first place, in the words, "Jehoiada sent and brought the princes of hundreds" (2 Kings 11:4), he presses the שׁלח, which is not found in the Chronicle, translates it by "he sent out," and interprets it with 2 Chronicles 23:2 of the Chronicle; in the second, he takes כּל־הקּהל in 2 Chronicles 23:3 of the Chronicle to mean "the whole congregation," whereas it denotes only the assembly of the men named in 2 Chronicles 23:1 and 2 Chronicles 23:2; and, thirdly, he opposes the expression, "they made a covenant with the king" (2 Chronicles 23:3, Chron.), to the statement (2 Kings 11:2) that Jehoiada made a covenant to the princes, by making this latter statement mean that Jehoiada made a covenant with the princes, but not with the king, as if this covenant concerning the coronation of Joash as king might not be called, by a shorter mode of expression, a covenant with the king, especially when the declaration, "the son of the king shall reign," follows immediately.