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The Histories · Old Testament

2 Chronicles 35

2 Chronicles 35: Josiah's passover and his death at Megiddo

General context

Josiah keeps a passover in Jerusalem, killed on the fourteenth day of the first month. He sets the priests in their charges and tells the Levites who teach all Israel to put the holy ark in the house Solomon built, and to prepare by their courses according to the writings of David and Solomon, kill the passover and sanctify themselves. Josiah gives thirty thousand lambs and kids and three thousand bullocks; his princes and the Levite chiefs give as well. The passover is killed, the priests sprinkle the blood, the Levites flay, and the burnt offerings are distributed by families as written in the book of Moses; the passover is roasted according to the ordinance and the other offerings boiled and divided quickly. The Levites then prepare for themselves and for the priests, who are busy until night. All the service is prepared the same day, and Israel present keeps the passover and seven days of unleavened bread; the narrator says no passover like it was kept since Samuel, and dates it to the eighteenth year. Afterwards Necho king of Egypt marches on Carchemish, and Josiah goes out against him. Necho sends word that his war is with another house, that God has told him to hurry, and that Josiah should stop meddling with God, who is with him. Josiah disguises himself and fights in the valley of Megiddo; archers wound him, he asks to be taken away, and his servants carry him in his second chariot to Jerusalem, where he dies and is buried among his fathers. All Judah mourns, Jeremiah laments for him, and the singers' laments become an ordinance in Israel.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 35:1, 2 Chronicles 35:2, 2 Chronicles 35:3, 2 Chronicles 35:4, 2 Chronicles 35:6, 2 Chronicles 35:7, 2 Chronicles 35:8, 2 Chronicles 35:9, 2 Chronicles 35:11, 2 Chronicles 35:12, 2 Chronicles 35:13, 2 Chronicles 35:14, 2 Chronicles 35:15, 2 Chronicles 35:16, 2 Chronicles 35:17, 2 Chronicles 35:18, 2 Chronicles 35:19, 2 Chronicles 35:20, 2 Chronicles 35:21, 2 Chronicles 35:22, 2 Chronicles 35:23, 2 Chronicles 35:24, 2 Chronicles 35:25

2 Chronicles 35 (KJV)

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.

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Historical context

This passover is held on the fourteenth day of the first month, where Hezekiah's was held in the second month, and the narrator dates it to Josiah's eighteenth year, the year of the book's discovery in the previous chapter. The instruction to put the ark in Solomon's house does not say where the ark had been or why it was being carried. The comparison reaches back to Samuel the prophet and includes all the kings of Israel. Necho is king of Egypt, and his message is reported as delivered by ambassadors; the narrator himself says Josiah did not listen to Necho's words from the mouth of God, so the text treats the foreign king's warning as divine. The house with which Necho has war is not named. Josiah's reason for going out and for disguising himself is not given. Huldah had said he would be gathered to his grave in peace; the chapter records his death from arrow wounds after being carried to Jerusalem, and the text makes no comment on the two. Jeremiah's lament is said to be written in the lamentations and to have become an ordinance, without the text identifying that writing further. The narrator's phrase to this day marks his own time. The rest of the acts are referred to the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 35:1, 2 Chronicles 30:15, 2 Chronicles 35:19, 2 Chronicles 34:8, 2 Chronicles 35:3, 2 Chronicles 35:18, 2 Chronicles 35:21, 2 Chronicles 35:22, 2 Chronicles 34:28, 2 Chronicles 35:24, 2 Chronicles 35:25, 2 Chronicles 35:27

Literary context

The chapter has a long ordered first half and a short disordered second. The passover is told through commands, gifts counted by giver, and roles held in place, with the word prepare repeated until the summary that all the service was prepared the same day. Then the narrative uses the same verb once more, when Josiah had prepared the temple, to open the campaign that kills him. Necho's message names God twice, and the narrator confirms it rather than the king, a reversal of the previous foreign king's speech in this book, Sennacherib's railing against the God of Jerusalem. Josiah's disguise recalls Ahab's disguise before the arrow that killed him earlier in this book, and the archers here do the same work. The king's only words in the chapter are his request to be taken away, a plain sentence after all the ceremony. The chapter ends without a succession notice, which the next chapter supplies, and instead with mourning, a named prophet's lament, and singers whose laments become an ordinance, so the reign closes in song of a different kind from the passover's.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 35:6, 2 Chronicles 35:16, 2 Chronicles 35:20, 2 Chronicles 35:21, 2 Chronicles 35:22, 2 Chronicles 18:29, 2 Chronicles 18:33, 2 Chronicles 35:23, 2 Chronicles 35:24, 2 Chronicles 35:25, 2 Chronicles 35:15

Key moments

  1. The ark placed in the house (2 Chronicles 35:3). Josiah tells the Levites to set the ark in Solomon's temple and prepare by their courses.
  2. The king's own gift (2 Chronicles 35:7). Josiah gives thirty thousand lambs and kids and three thousand bullocks from his substance.
  3. No passover like it since Samuel (2 Chronicles 35:18). The narrator ranks this passover above any since Samuel's days.
  4. Necho's warning (2 Chronicles 35:21). The king of Egypt tells Josiah his war is elsewhere and God is with him.
  5. Disguised at Megiddo (2 Chronicles 35:22). Josiah ignores the warning, disguises himself and fights in the valley of Megiddo.
  6. Wounded and mourned (2 Chronicles 35:24). Carried to Jerusalem, Josiah dies and all Judah mourns.
  7. Jeremiah's lament (2 Chronicles 35:25). Jeremiah and the singers lament Josiah, and the laments become an ordinance.

For reflection

The narrator says Josiah did not listen to words from the mouth of God, though they came through the king of Egypt. What in the chapter would have let Josiah recognize that voice, and why might the text withhold his reasons for going out at all?

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