The date of Hezekiah's passover is uncertain, for, while the immediate
connection of this narrative with the preceding account of his
cleansing the Temple and restoring the sacrificial worship suggests
that the passover followed directly on those events, which took place
at the beginning of the reign, the language employed in the message to
the northern tribes (vers. 6,7, 9) seems to imply the previous fall of
the kingdom of Israel, If so, this passover did not occur till after
721 B.C., the date of the capture of Samaria, six years after
Hezekiah's accession.

The sending of messengers from Jerusalem on such an errand would
scarcely have been possible if the northern kingdom had still been
independent. Perhaps its fall was thought by Hezekiah to open the door
to drawing 'the remnant that were escaped' back to the ancient unity
of worship, at all events, if not of polity. No doubt a large number
had been left in the northern territory, and Hezekiah may have hoped
that calamity had softened their enmity to his kingdom, and perhaps
touched them with longings for the old worship. At all events, like a
good man, he will stretch out a hand to the alienated brethren, now
that evil days have fallen on them. The hour of an enemy's calamity
should be our opportunity for seeking to help and proffering
reconciliation. We may find that trouble inclines wanderers to come
back to God.

The alteration of the time of keeping the passover from the thirteenth
day of the first month to the same day of the second was in accordance
with the liberty granted in Numbers ix. 10, 11, to persons unclean by
contact with a dead body or 'in a journey afar off.' The decision to