A great celebration of Passover 1
Josiah killed by Egyptian forces 20
|
|
|
| 1 ¶ Moreover Josiah kept
a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on
the fourteenth day of the first month.
2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD, 3 And 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, 4 And 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. 5 And 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. 6 So 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. |
1 -
Killed ... [14th day 1st month] This is specified in le2305.
Parallel passage is at 2ki2321ff.
This was the beginning of the sanctuary year, not the civil one.
3 - Taught A responsibility of the Levites le1011, de3308, nh0807, 2ch1707. 3 - Holy They had been set apart for sacred responsibilities and, we may assume, to be living examples of right living. 3 - Put the ark We are not told why it was outside the temple. Perhaps it was removed while the building was repaired. 4 - Courses Work responsibilities were assigned on a rotating system 1ch23, 1ch24. 6 - Kill the passover The original instructions were for the families to kill their lambs ex1206. Compare 2ch3017. |
| 7 And 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.
8 And 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. 9 Conaniah 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. |
7 - Three thousand bullocks (A "bullock" is a young bull). This seems like a large number but the people joined in eating the meat. |
| 10 So the service was prepared,
and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses,
according to the king's commandment.
.11 And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them. |
11 - Sprinkled the blood. See 2ch3016. |
| 12 And 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.
13 And 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. |
12
- Removed Or "prepared" according to the Septuagint translation.
The burnt offering was cut in pieces and burned le0112,
while the Passover lamb was roasted whole ex1208,
de1607.
Parts of the peace offerings were removed to be eaten by the priests le07.
13 - Sod That is, "cooked or "boiled." Peace offerings were slain during the Feast of Unleavened Bread de1601. This was just after and often considered a part of the Passover. |
| 14 And 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.
15 And 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. 16 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. 17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. 18 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. .19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept. |
14
- Afterward ... for themselves "The Levites rendered this aid to
the priests solely because they were so engrossed the entire day that they
had no leisure to provide any refreshments for themselves." (JFB)
15 - Singers ... Asaph. The name means Assembler. He was "a celebrated musician in David's time, and one of the leaders of the temple music. 1Ch 16:5; 25:1,2. This service appears to have been hereditary in his family, Ne 7:44; 11:22. He is also called a seer, 2Ch 29:30; and his name is prefixed to twelve Psalms, (Ps 50:1-23; 73:1-83:18) but whether they were written by him, or for him or his family to sing, is unknown." Also, for the name, see 2ki1818, is3603, ne0208. 17 - Present kept the passover le2305, nu2816. 18 - Days of Samuel 2ki2322. |
| .20
¶ After 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.
21 But 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. 22 Nevertheless 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. |
20
- After all this That is, thirteen years later. Nothing seems to
have been written about this time although several of the prophets were
active.
20 - Necho ... against Carchemish Josiah died in the battle as we will see. The story here has more details than the account in 2ki2329 although we can see the situation there. 21 - Meddling with God The supposedly heathen king recognized the true God. This may have been providential advice but Josiah didn't accept it. |
| 23 And the archers shot at
king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am
sore wounded.
24 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. .25 And 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. 26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the LORD, 27 And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. |
25 - Jeremiah lamented "The elegy of the prophet has not reached us; but it seems to have been long preserved among his countrymen and chanted on certain public occasions by the professional singers, who probably got the dirges they sang from a collection of funeral odes composed on the death of good and great men of the nation. The spot in the valley of Megiddo where the battle was fought was near the town of Hadad-rimmon; hence the lamentation for the death of Josiah was called 'the lamentation of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo,' which was so great and so long continued, that the lamentation of Hadad passed afterwards into a proverbial phrase to express any great and extraordinary sorrow (Zec 12:11)." (JFB Commentary). |
|
|
|
|
|
|