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Studies on the Meanings of “the Assembly, Israel, and the Sojourners” in 2 Chronicles 30: 25

Lee Hee Hak 1

1목원대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to identify the characters of "the Assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners" in 2 Chronicles 30:25. They were the participants of the Passover festival that Hezekiah, king of Judea, held. This indicates that all the classes of people in the North and the South Kingdom attended the nationwide festival. The reference to the various groups of people reveals that the Passover festival, that king Hezekiah held, was the highest and largest one among all other ones in the nation. Hezekiah was a special king to the writer of Chronicles. He was the king who purified the temple of Jerusalem, Yahweh worshipper who reformed the Yahweh rituals, and an idealistic ruler who resembled David and Solomon. The writer of Chronicles emphasized that Hezekiah was the first one who reunited the South and North Kingdoms - because the two kingdoms had been vanished from the historical scenes - after the reign of David-Solomon. This means that Hezekiah was a great king who reunited Israel, so, during his rule, Israel again had only one king and one temple, and had a vast territory, extended from Beersheba to Dan. The word, "assembly"( ), several times appearing at 2 Chronicles Chapter 30, was commonly related to the Passover festival of Hezekiah, and the continuing and repeated uses of Hebrew adverb, "all"( ), may indicate totality and unification of the festival participations. "The whole assembly of Judah" and "the whole assembly that came out of Israel" in the verse 25 mean that the two different groups legitimately participated in the Passover festival, and formed a whole festival community with other three additional groups, which were socially special. Since 2 Chronicles 30:25a was referring to Judea, "Israel"( ) of 2 Chronicles 30:25a definitely signified the territory of the old Northern Kingdom. The purpose of the writer of Chronicles, using "Israel and Judea" complementarily, was to emphasize the wholeness of Israel. For that purpose, king Hezekiah also wrote letters to "Israel and Judea" to discuss the celebration of the Passover festival(30:1) and sent messengers to "Israel and Judea" to encourage the participation of people at the festival(30:6). "The sojourners"( ) might have been "the converted Gentiles" who were at those days living in the northern territory or in the southern area, after having moved down from the north. The authority to participate in the Passover festival was also given to those who were the foreign immigrants to Israel and, giving up their identities as non-Israelites, converted to the Yahweh religion. This indicates that not only Jews but also all the Gentiles attended the Passover festival of king Hezekiah. The writer of Chronicles describes king Hezekiah as a great ruler who reconsolidated whole Israel. To him, Hezekiah was the third greatest king only after David and Solomon.

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