2 Chronicles 35

MOreover, Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

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

And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy Or, and which were holy. unto the LORD, Put the holy ark in the house In the Temple: Or, in the Holy of Holies. Whence, it may seem, it had been removed, either 1. by some of the Wicked and Idolatrous Kings of Judah, possibly by Josiahs Father Amon; which peradventure may be implied by that expression, ch. 33. 23. Amon trespassed more and more, i. e. more than he or his Father Manasseh had done, which seems to point at some very enormous Crime committed by him. Or, 2. By Josiahs Order, that the Temple might be thoroughly repaired both in the Holy place, and in the Most Holy place, which some of the Idolatrous Kings of Judah, it may be, had defaced or defiled; and therefore it was to be searched in order to its Reparation; and to that end it might seem fit to remove the Ark: And upon this Occasion Hilkiah might find the Original Book of the Law which was written by the Hands of Moses, and by Gods Command was laid beside the Ark, and upon the removal of the Ark was easily discovered. which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build: it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders Or, that it might not be a burden, &c. So these words are to be joyned with the former, as the reason why Solomon built this House, that the Ark might have a constant and fixed Habitation, and not need to be carried from place to place upon their Shoulders, as it had been done whilest it was in the Tabernacle. And withal this is mentioned as an Argument to quicken them to the more diligent Service of God in their present work, because they were freed from that troublesome part of their Office which lay upon their Forefathers.: serve now the LORD your God, and his people Israel.

And prepare your selves 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.

And stand Or, minister, as that word is frequently used. in the holy place i. e. In the Court of the Priests, which is so called elsewhere, as has been noted before. 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 i. e. According to the several Families both of the People, whom he calls their Brethren, lest they should despise them or grudge to serve them, and of the Levites. For the Passover was to be eaten by the several Families according to their numbers, Exod. 12. 3. And therefore he commands these persons, that when the Paschal Lambs were brought to them to be killed, as they were, v. 7, 8, 9. they might so order the matter, that they might be distributed to the several Families, whether of the Levitical or other Tribes..

So kill the passover, and sanctifie your selves, and prepare your brethren By purifying them and quickning them to fit themselves for so great and solemn a Work., that they may do according to the word of the LORD, by the hand of Moses.

And Josiah gave to the people of the stock, lambs and kids For either of these might be used for the Paschal-offering, Exod. 12. 5., all for the passover-offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks Which were to be offered after the Lambs upon the several days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.: these were of the kings substance.

And his princes Not the Political, but Ecclesiastical Princes, or the Chief of the Priests and Levites, whose Names here follow. gave willingly unto the people, to the priests and to the Levites For the use of any of the Families of any of them as need should be. For they supposed the 30000 which the King had given were not sufficient for all the Families, Or, the King gave his Cattel to the People only or principally, for they only are mentioned for that Gift, v. 7. And therefore these persons here named give their Cattel not only to the People, but also to the Priests and to the Levites, as it is here expressed. And the Levites being not yet sufficiently provided for, some of their Brethren named v. 9. gave 5000 more peculiarly unto the Levites, as is there said.: Hilkiah, and Zechariah, and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God For so they were; Hilkiah being the High-priest, and the other the two Chief Priests of the two Lines of Eleazar and Ithamar, who many times were to officiate in the High-priests stead, and were in Power and Dignity next to him; and were in some sort joynt-commissioners with him in ruling the Affairs of the Temple., gave unto the priests for the passoverofferings, two thousand and six hundred small cattel, and five hundred oxen.

Conaniah also, and Shemajah, and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah, and Jehiel, and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover-offerings, five thousand small cattel, and five hundred oxen.

So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the kings commandment.

And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hand, and the Levites flayed them Which they did, though properly it belonged to the Priests, because the Priests, who were sanctified, were not sufficient for that Work, there being so many thousands of the Cattel; and they were fully employed in the killing of the Sacrifices and the sprinkling of the Blood, which was more properly the Priests work than the other..

And they removed the burnt-offerings i. e. Those Cattel which were to be offered for Burnt-offerings, to wit, some of the lesser Cattel: for these also might be offered as burnt-offerings. Levit. 1. 10. And hence it may seem that all these small Cattel were not given to the People to be eaten by them for their Paschal-lambs, but that some of them were to be offered as burnt-offerings for the People. And these they put apart by themselves, partly lest they should be confounded with them which were for another use; and partly, that they might not be hindred from that which was their present and more immediate work, as it follows, that they might give, To wit, the Paschal-lambs or Kids., that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the LORD These words may belong either 1. to the more remote words, the burnt-offerings, the other words being to be put within a Parenthesis, or there being a trajection in the words, which is frequent in Scripture, and which is here observed by some learned Interpreters. Or, 2. to the last words, and to the Paschal-lambs, which they were first to be offered to the Lord, by Killing them and sprinkling the Blood, as was noted before, and then to be given to the People; though the giving be here mentioned before the offering; such transpositions being usual in Scripture and other Authors., as it is written in the book of Moses, and so did they with the oxen To wit, as they did with the lesser Cattel, of which see the first Note on this Verse. They removed those Oxen which were to be offered as Burnt-offerings, from those which were to be offered as Peace offerings..

And they rosted the passover with fire, according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings Those from which the Burnt-offerings were removed, v. 12. to wit, the Peace-offerings, part of which fell to the share of the Offerer, who was Josiah, and by his Gift to the People. sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.

And afterward they made ready To wit, the Paschal-lambs, and their part of the Peace-offerings. 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.

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

So 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.

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

And 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.

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

After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple When he and his People hoped that God was reconciled and the Foundation of a solid and lasting Happiness was laid, their Hopes were quickly blasted. So much are men oft mistaken in their Judgments about the Designs of Gods Counsel and Providence., Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish Which the Assyrian had lately taken from the King of Egypt; of which he boasts, Isa. 10. 9. by Euphrates, and Josiah went out against him.

But he sent Embassadors 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 Heb. against the house or family of my war; i. e. Against the House of the King of Assyria, between whom and me there is War.: for God Either his False God by their lying Priests: Or the True God either 1. by some Prophet: For Gods Prophets used sometimes to deliver or send Commands from God to Heathen Kings. Though it is not probable either that Pharaoh would regard the Command of the True God: Or that a Prophet of the Lord would not acquaint Josiah with this Message: Or that Josiah would oppose Pharaoh in a War undertaken by Gods Command. Or rather 2 by a Dream, as God spoke to another Heathen King, Abimelech, Gen. 20. 3. Though it is not impossible that he pretended this for his own Advantage, that Josiah might not assist his Enemies. commanded me to make hast: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.

Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him Being peradventure incouraged to do so by a Misinterpretation of that Promise made to him, ch. 34. 28. Thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace. Thus God over-rules the Errours and Miscarriages of Men to the Accomplishment of his own Counsels., but disguised himself Changed his Habit, that he might not give his Enemies the Advantage of aiming at his Person, which he wisely thought they would do, that being a likely Course to end their Trouble, as indeed it proved., that he might sight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho, from the mouth of God Either 1. which Pharaoh sent to him in the Name of God or as coming from Gods Mouth. Or rather 2. which Pharaoh received from the Mouth of God, who was pleased some way or other to impart his Mind to him; and which Pharaoh acquainted him with by the Command of God. And therefore Josiah is here blamed for not hearkening to this Message. Although if he sinned herein, it was only a Sin of Ignorance, for he did not know that God had spoken this to Pharaoh, and was not bound to believe his Testimony, which he had good reason to suspect in this matter. Yet, methinks, he ought so far to have regarded it, as to have enquired the Mind of God about it; which he neglected to do, and therefore he cannot be wholly excused, and is here taxed for it., and came to sight in the valley of Megiddo.

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

His 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.

And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all the singing men, and the singing women spake to Josiah in their lamentations to this day In all their succeeding Lamentations for their publick Calamities, and for the ruine of their City, and Temple, and State, and Church, they remembred Josiahs death as their first and most fatal Blow, and as that which opened the Flood-gates to all their following Miseries, and it was ordained that they should do, as the next words intimate., and made an ordinance in Israel, and behold, they are written in the lamentations Either in that Canonical Book of Jeremies Lamentations or in some other Volume of mournful Ditties made by divers Persons upon occasion of their following Calamities, which is since lost..

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness Either 1. his Piety towards God and his House. Or 2 his Penignity, Clemency, and Kindness towards all his Subjects, being of 2 most tender Disposition and Carriage both towards God, ch. 34. 27. and towards Men. But the former seems principally intended because it best agrees both with the History of Josiah, which is wholly taken up with the former, and speaks little or nothing of the latter, and with the following words; and it does not disagree with the Hebrew word hesed, which though it does most frequently express kindness to Men, yet sometimes it notes a Mans Piety to God and his House, as is manifest from, Nehem. 13. 14., according to that which was written in the law of the LORD,

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