2 Chronicles 30:5

2Ch 30:5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done [it] of a long [time in such sort] as it was written.

Ver. 5. For they had not done it of a long time.] So easily falleth religion to the ground under bad princes and priests: such as were Ahaz and Uriah.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 30:5. So they established a decree — They fixed a resolution; to make proclamation throughout all Israel — Hezekiah, it is certain, had no right to invite Hoshea’s subjects to repair to Jerusalem, to the celebration of his passover; yet for the doing of this we may well presume that he had encouragement from Hoshea himself; who, as to the matter of religion, has a better character in Scripture than any of his predecessors, from the time of the division of the two kingdoms. But the truth was, that both the golden calves, which had caused this political separation, were now taken away; that of Dan by Tiglath-pileser, and that of Beth-el by his son Shalmaneser; and therefore some of the apostate Israelites, being thus deprived of their idols, began to return to the Lord, and to go up to Jerusalem to worship, some time before Hezekiah made them this invitation to his passover. See Prideaux and Dodd. They had not done it of a long time, &c., as it was written — In such a manner as God had commanded them to keep it. Indeed, the ten tribes had never kept it since the division of the kingdom by Jeroboam; at least, not in the way in which Moses had prescribed, being hindered by his threatening interdicts from going to Jerusalem; where only it could be kept according to the law. And as for Judah, it appears, from 2Ch 30:26, that they had never kept this feast with such solemnity since the time of Solomon.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

30:5 Hezekiah dispatched couriers from Beersheba . . . to Dan, the traditional designation for the entire nation, including even the now-desolate territories of Israel’s northern tribes.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In such sort and perfection as God had appointed.

From one end of the land to the other, North and South.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(5) So they established a decree.—And they decreed a proposal (he‘ĕmîd dâbâr). (Comp. 2Ch_30:8; Psa_105:10, “and hath decreed it unto Jacob for a law.”)

To make proclamation.—Literally, to make a voice pass. (Comp. 2Ch_24:9; 2Ch_36:22.)

From Beer-sheba even to Dan.—Reversing the ancient form of the phrase, to suit the present case. (Comp. Jdg_20:1; 2Ch_19:4.)

For they had not . . . written.—Rather, For not in multitude (larôb) had they kept it, according to the Scripture. The people had not been in the habit of “coming in their numbers” to the feast. (Comp. the like use of larôb in 2Ch_30:13; 2Ch_30:24.) See the Law respecting the Passover, Exo_12:1-20; Deu_16:1-8; from which it appears that the obligation to observe it was universal, and according to the latter passage, which is probably referred to in the phrase “according to what is written.” Jerusalem was the only legitimate place for the festival. It is implied that ever since the division of the kingdom, and perhaps earlier, the Passover had been inadequately celebrated. (Comp. 2Ki_23:22.) LXX. well, ὅτι πλῆθος οὐκ ἐποίησεν κατὰ τὴν γραφήν; Vulg., “multi enim non fecerant, sicut lege praescriptum est; Syriac and Arabic, “because their wealth had grown greatly”(!)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. to make proclamation] A phrase characteristic of the Chronicler.

they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written] R.V. they had not kept it in great numbers in such sort as it is written. The statement applies to Israel, not to Judah; for the first time an attempt is made to draw Israel en masse to a regular Passover at Jerusalem. R.V. mg. however agrees with A.V. in reading “of a long time” for “in great numbers.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah,.... Both through the kingdoms of the ten tribes of Israel, and the kingdom of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin:

and according to the commandment of the king, saying; so they were ordered by the king to say, when they delivered the letters which by the king's commandment they carried; or this was the purport of them, as follows, especially of those that were sent to the ten tribes:

ye children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; from whom they had revolted, and from whose worship they had departed, by setting up and serving the calves at Dan and Bethel:

and he will return to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hand of the king of Assyria; Pul and Tiglathpileser, who had both invaded their land, and the latter had taken many of their cities, and carried the inhabitants captive, Kg2 15:19.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They had not done it ... - Some prefer, “they had not kept it in full numbers, as it was written” - i. e. “they (the Israelites of the northern kingdom) had not (for some while) kept the Passover in full numbers, as the Law required.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Many. None had kept the Phase this year. H. --- But those of Israel had not done it for a long time. Grotius --- Heb. "for they had not long before done according to the Scripture." Sept. "the multitude had not done," &c. C. --- Yet, even in the worst times, Tobias, (i. 6.) and other zealous souls, contrived to comply with their duty. H.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

They established a decree; they fixed this resolution. In such sort as it was written, i. e. so as God had commanded them to do it, to wit, that all the males in Israel should do it; which express command of God they ought to have obeyed, rather than the wicked commands or edicts of men to the contrary; which was both the judgment and practice of the priests and Levites, and other godly Israelites, as is manifest from 2Ch 15:8, &c.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. They had not done it of a long time — לרב, here rendered of a long time, means rather, in a multitude, or in great numbers. The sense of the passage is, that the Israelites of the whole land had not observed the passover in a great multitude, as directed in the law. The law required the excision of every one who neglected the passover. Num_9:13.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Of a long time. Though the idea expressed in this rendering must, under any circumstances, attach to this passage, yet it can scarcely be understood to be given in the one Hebrew word we have here (brol) out of nearly a hundred and fifty occurrences of the word, and often with its present preposition, this is the solitary occasion of its being turned into a mark of time. The translation should read, for they had not kept it in multitude, i.e. in proper multitudes, and in the multitude of an undivided and holy kingdom. The force of the reference lies in the fact just stated, that Hezekiah, ignoring all the worse precedents of now many generations, and ignoring the iniquity of the duality of the kingdom, manfully caused his writ to run from south to north unchecked! As it was written; i.e. in the book of the Law of Moses. So runs the full and frequent and honoured phrase: hvmAtrwOT rpseb bWtKK (2Ki_14:6; 1Ki_2:3; Jos_3:3-4; 2Ch_35:26, etc.)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

from Beersheba to Dan This is the boundary of the Ten Tribes.

because for many years The meaning is that many years had passed in which they had not performed it according to its law.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.