2 Chronicles 35

This chapter concludes the account of Josiah in the latter part of 2 Chronicles. After the temple repairs, the discovery of the Book of the Law, and the renewal of the covenant in 2 Chronicles 34, this chapter turns to the keeping of the Passover and the death of Josiah.

Outline

• Verses 1–6 Josiah has the Passover lamb killed on the fourteenth day of the first month and appoints the priests to their duties. He commands the Levites to put the holy ark in the house that Solomon built and no longer carry it on their shoulders, and to prepare themselves by their courses according to the writing of David and of Solomon.
• Verses 7–9 The king contributes 30,000 lambs and kids and 3,000 bullocks. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel give the priests 2,600 small cattle and 300 oxen, and Conaniah and the other chiefs of the Levites give 5,000 small cattle and 500 oxen.
• Verses 10–15 The priests receive and sprinkle the blood, and the Levites flay the animals. The meat is roasted and boiled and distributed to the people. The singers, the sons of Asaph, and the gatekeepers remain at their posts, while the Levites prepare their portions for them as well.
• Verses 16–19 The Feast of Unleavened Bread is kept for seven days. The text states that no Passover like this one had been kept since the days of Samuel, and dates it to the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign.
• Verses 20–24 When Necho, king of Egypt, comes up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates, Josiah goes out to oppose him. Necho warns him not to resist, since God has sent him, but Josiah disguises himself, fights in the valley of Megiddo, and is wounded by archers. He is carried to Jerusalem, where he dies.
• Verses 25–27 Jeremiah composes a lament, and the songs mourning Josiah become an ordinance in Israel.

Key Verses

• 2 Chronicles 35:18: "And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet" marks the climax of Josiah's reform.
• 2 Chronicles 35:22: "And hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God" reveals how the Chronicler assesses the death of a godly king.

People and Places

• Josiah: King of Judah who led the reform.
• Hilkiah: The high priest, one of the rulers of the house of God.
• Necho: King of Egypt.
• Carchemish: A city by the Euphrates.
• Samuel, David, Solomon, Moses, Aaron, Egypt, and Jerusalem are also mentioned.

Points for Reflection

• 2 Kings 23 also records this Passover and Josiah's death, but only briefly. This chapter differs in describing the Passover procedures in detail and in treating the words of a foreign king as the word of God.
• Necho's campaign was intended to aid Assyria and is generally dated to around 609 BC.
• Interpreters differ on whether the "lamentations" of verse 25 are the present book of Lamentations. Because Lamentations mourns the fall of Jerusalem, a widely held view regards them as a separate collection of laments.
• Some interpreters connect "the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon" in Zechariah 12 with the mourning for Josiah.
• Josiah's name appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.