(7) In the third month.--And so at the end of wheat-harvest, the third month (Sivan) answering to our May--June. Pentecost, the Feast of Harvest, or Firstfruits, fell in this month.

To lay the foundation.--To found, or lay. Heb., lisod, a curious form only met with here. (Comp. lisod, Isaiah 51:16.)

In the seventh month.--Tisri (September to October), in which was held the great Feast of Tabernacles, after all the fruits had been gathered in, and the vintage was over.

Verse 7. - The third month... the heaps... the seventh month. The grain harvest closed with the Feast of Weeks, about the sixth day of the third month so that tithe in kind would be paid. The seventh month brought the Feast of Ingathering, when the vintage was over. For illustration of the despatch with which Hezekiah proceeded in his reforming works, comp. our 2 Chronicles 29:3; 2 Chronicles 30:2, 13.

31:1-21 Hezekiah destroys idolatry. - After the passover, the people of Israel applied with vigour to destroy the monuments of idolatry. Public ordinances should stir us up to cleanse our hearts, our houses, and shops, from the filth of sin, and the idolatry of covetousness, and to excite others to do the same. The after-improvement of solemn ordinances, is of the greatest importance to personal, family, and public religion. When they had tasted the sweetness of God's ordinance in the late passover, they were free in maintaining the temple service. Those who enjoy the benefit of a settled ministry, will not grudge the expense of it. In all that Hezekiah attempted in God's service, he was earnest and single in his aim and dependence, and was prospered accordingly. Whether we have few or many talents intrusted to us, may we thus seek to improve them, and encourage others to do the same. What is undertaken with a sincere regard to the glory of God, will succeed to our own honour and comfort at last.In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps..... The month Sivan, as the Targum, in which month was the feast of Pentecost, called the feast of the harvest, Exodus 23:16, for then barley harvest was ended, and wheat harvest began, and the firstfruits were brought:

and finished them in the seventh month; the month Tisri, as the Targum, in which was the feast of tabernacles, sometimes called the feast of ingathering, of the fruits of the earth, the wine, oil, &c. and so a proper time for bringing the tithes of all.