2 Chronicles 30:3 (KJV)

What does 2 Chronicles 30:3 mean?

2 Chronicles 30:3 explains why Hezekiah and the leaders arranged to observe Passover later than its usual time. The priests were not ready in sufficient numbers, and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem for the feast.

The narrator gives these reasons after mentioning the decision to hold Passover in the second month. Passover was a feast remembering Israel’s departure from Egypt. The verse presents the delay as a response to conditions affecting both the priests and the people.

The Hebrew behind 2 Chronicles 30:3

• “sanctified” — קָדַשׁ (qadash): This word carries the sense of setting someone or something apart as holy. Here it refers to priests making themselves ready for their duties at the feast.
• “sufficiently” — מַדַּי (madday): This word carries the sense of enough. In this sentence, the concern is that too few priests had made themselves ready.

Why 2 Chronicles 30:3 matters

• The change of date was a practical decision made by Hezekiah and the leaders, not simply a preference for another day. Verse 2 describes their agreement to keep Passover in the second month.
• Gathering in Jerusalem was part of the preparation. The phrase “neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem” shows that the feast depended on more than the priests’ readiness.
• The later date had a connection to an earlier instruction. Numbers 9:10–11 allowed a second-month Passover for people who could not observe it at the usual time because they were ceremonially unclean or away on a journey.