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2 Chronicles 35

KJV · Chapter 35/36

1Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

2And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord,

3And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel,

4And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.

5And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.

6So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

7And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king’s substance.

8And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, 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.

9Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.

10So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king’s commandment.

11And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.

12And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.

13And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.

14And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.

15And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.

16So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah.

17And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.

18And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

19In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.

20After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.

21But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.

22Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

23And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.

24His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

25And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

26Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the Lord,

27And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Josiah organizes the greatest Passover celebration held since the days of the prophet Samuel, with massive participation from the whole people. Later, he decides to intervene in a war between Egypt and Babylon, against the divine warning delivered through the Egyptian king himself, and dies wounded in battle.

Explanation

The Passover celebration organized by Josiah is described in striking superlatives, stating that no comparable Passover had been celebrated since the days of the prophet Samuel, centuries earlier — a testimony to the depth and breadth of his religious reforms. It is ironic and tragic, however, that this same faithful and careful king ends his life making a fatal error of judgment: for reasons not fully explained, he decides to intervene militarily in a war between foreign powers, ignoring even a warning that, according to the text itself, came from God through the mouth of the Egyptian king Necho, a pagan foreigner. His untimely death in battle, deeply mourned by the whole people and by the prophet Jeremiah himself, marks the end of an era of reform and the beginning of the final, irreversible decline that would lead to the Babylonian exile just a few decades later.

Fun facts

  • The laments composed by the prophet Jeremiah specifically for Josiah's death became, according to the text, a tradition sung 'to this day' among singers, though these specific compositions are not preserved in the biblical book of Lamentations we know today.
  • Josiah's death at Megiddo, while trying to block the Egyptian advance, took place at the same geographic site often associated, in later apocalyptic language, with the term 'Armageddon' (meaning 'mount of Megiddo'), mentioned in the book of Revelation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Chronicles 35:1Josiah celebrates the Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem, sacrificing the lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month — this time on the correct date, unlike Hezekiah’s delayed Passover.
  2. 2 Chronicles 35:2Josiah organizes the priests into their divisions of service and encourages them in the work of the temple.
  3. 2 Chronicles 35:3He instructs the Levites, who were responsible for teaching all Israel, to place the ark permanently in Solomon’s temple, freeing them from the old task of carrying it on their shoulders so they can devote themselves to serving the people.
  4. 2 Chronicles 35:4Josiah asks them to organize themselves by families and divisions, following the pattern David and Solomon had already established before.
  5. 2 Chronicles 35:5Each group of Levites was to take its position in the sanctuary according to the division of the families of the people, making sure every family had its representation.
  6. 2 Chronicles 35:6Josiah instructs them to sacrifice the Passover lamb, consecrate themselves, and prepare everything for their brothers, following exactly the word given through Moses.
  7. 2 Chronicles 35:7Josiah donates thirty thousand lambs and young goats, plus three thousand bulls, taken from his own royal property, for the Passover sacrifices of all the people present.
  8. 2 Chronicles 35:8The officials also contribute freewill offerings: Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel donate thousands of animals to the priests for the Passover sacrifices.
  9. 2 Chronicles 35:9Other Levite leaders donate even more animals — five thousand head of small livestock and five hundred bulls — specifically for the Levites themselves to carry out the sacrifices.
  10. 2 Chronicles 35:10With everything organized, the priests and Levites take their places by divisions and groups, exactly as the king had ordered.
  11. 2 Chronicles 35:11The Passover lambs are slaughtered; the priests sprinkle the blood handed to them by the Levites, while the Levites take care of skinning the animals.
  12. 2 Chronicles 35:12The burnt offerings are set aside and distributed to the people by family, so that each group could offer them to the Lord as written in the law of Moses — and the same is done with the bulls.
  13. 2 Chronicles 35:13The Passover lamb is roasted over the fire according to the traditional ritual, and the other sacred offerings are boiled in pots and kettles, and quickly distributed among all the people.
  14. 2 Chronicles 35:14Only after serving the people do the Levites prepare their own portion and that of the priests, who stayed busy until night with the burnt offerings and the fat of the sacrifices.
  15. 2 Chronicles 35:15The singers of Asaph’s family stay at their posts according to the tradition David had established, and the gatekeepers also don’t need to leave their places, because the other Levites take care of everything for them.
  16. 2 Chronicles 35:16So the whole service of the Lord is arranged that day, carrying out the Passover and the burnt offerings exactly as King Josiah had ordered.
  17. 2 Chronicles 35:17The Israelites present celebrate both the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven full days.
  18. 2 Chronicles 35:18The text states that a Passover of that scale and organization had not happened since the days of the prophet Samuel — a way of marking this moment as the high point of Josiah’s religious reforms, even greater than the Passover Hezekiah had celebrated before.
  19. 2 Chronicles 35:19This historic Passover happens in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign — the very same year the book of the law had been found in the temple.
  20. 2 Chronicles 35:20After all this religious reform, Necho, king of Egypt, goes up to fight at Carchemish, near the Euphrates, and Josiah decides to go out to meet him in battle.
  21. 2 Chronicles 35:21Necho sends messengers to say that he has not come to fight against Judah, but against another kingdom, and that the order to hurry actually came from God — asking Josiah not to oppose this mission.
  22. 2 Chronicles 35:22Josiah dies in a battle against Egypt that wasn’t even his fight: the Egyptian king Necho warns that he has not come against Judah and that the message comes from God, but Josiah pays no attention and goes into battle anyway. The irony is harsh — a king remembered for decades of faithfulness dies ignoring a warning, even one coming from the mouth of a foreign, pagan king.
  23. 2 Chronicles 35:23In the battle, archers strike Josiah, who asks his own servants to carry him away because he is badly wounded.
  24. 2 Chronicles 35:24The servants carry Josiah out of the battle chariot, take him back to Jerusalem, where he dies; he is buried with his ancestors, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourn his death.
  25. 2 Chronicles 35:25Jeremiah composes a lament for Josiah that, according to the text, was still being sung long afterward — but it is not the biblical book of Lamentations, which deals with the destruction of Jerusalem, but a different, now-lost composition, specific to this king.
  26. 2 Chronicles 35:26The rest of Josiah’s deeds, including his acts of kindness according to the law of the Lord, are also recorded.
  27. 2 Chronicles 35:27Both the first and the last events of Josiah’s reign are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

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