[¹] Or, gave for offerings and so in verses 8, 9. See chapter xxx. 24.
7. gave] margin gave for offerings; compare xxx. 24, where it is said that Hezekiah did the same at his great Passover.
⁸And his princes gave for[¹] a freewill offering unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, the rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.
[¹] Or, willingly.
8. for a freewill offering] Better, as Authorized Version and margin, willingly.
Jehiel] 1 Esdras (Ἠσύηλος) suggests a different name, probably Haziel.
rulers of the house of God] Compare 1 Chronicles ix. 11, note.
⁹Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethanel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, the chiefs of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for the passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.
9. Conaniah ... and Shemaiah] Compare the “Conaniah and Shimei his brother” of xxxi. 12, and for Jozabad compare the “Jozabad” of xxxi. 13. Different persons, however, must surely be meant, or perhaps the names represent families rather than individuals; nearly sixty years separate the reigns of Hezekiah and Josiah.
¹⁰So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites by their courses, according to the king’s commandment.