2 Chronicles 35:14
Ver. 14. And afterwards they made ready for themselves, and for the priests,.... The passover lambs, and such parts of the peace offerings that belonged to them:
because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering burnt offerings; such as are before said to be removed or separated for that purpose:
and the fat; of the peace offerings that was to be burnt: and this employed them
until night; so that they could not prepare the passover for themselves:
and therefore the Levites prepared, not only for themselves, [but] and [also] for the priests the sons of Aaron; who were otherwise engaged in the service of the day. 2 Chronicles 35:15Ver. 15. And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place,.... In the court of the priests, singing and playing on their instruments while the sacrifices were offering:according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; the same with Ethan; and everyone were seers, as Jarchi interprets it, that is, the three last:and the porters waited at every gate; such of the Levites as were in, that post and office:they might not depart from their service; to let people in and out, that came for their passover lamb, and share in their other offerings:for their brethren the Levites prepared for them; because they were not at leisure to prepare for themselves. 2 Chronicles 35:16Ver. 16. So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day,.... With every sacrifice, and for all sorts of persons:to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord; which were required to be done on that day:according to the commandment of King Josiah; which was, that every thing be provided, prepared, and done, as the law required. 2 Chronicles 35:17Ver. 17. And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time,.... In its proper time, on the fourteenth day of Nisan:and the feast of unleavened bread seven days; the seven days following the passover, as the Lord by Moses appointed. 2 Chronicles 35:18Ver. 18-19. And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel,.... So exactly according to the law, so universally by Israel and Judah, and with such liberality shown by the king, and the chief of the priests and Levites; of this, and the following verse, See Gill on "2Ki 23:22",See Gill on "2Ki 23:23" 2 Chronicles 35:19Ver. 19. See Gill on "2Ch 35:18" 2 Chronicles 35:20Ver. 20. After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple,.... Purified it, and cleansed it from the filth in it, and from all idolatry, and had repaired it, and put the service of it in good order, and on a good footing, after which great prosperity in church and state might have been expected:Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates; now called Querquisia, supposed by some to be the same with the Cadytis of Herodotus, which that historian calls a great city of Syria, whither he says Necho went after the battle with the Syrians {x}; of whichSee Gill on "Isa 10:9" and of this king of Egypt,See Gill on "2Ki 23:29" See Gill on "Jer 46:2"and Josiah went out against him; or to meet him, and stop him from going through his land, which lay between Egypt and Syria; Egypt being on the south of Israel, and Euphrates on the north of it, as Jarchi observes.{x} Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 159. & Galei not. in ib. 2 Chronicles 35:21Ver. 21. But he sent ambassadors to him,.... That is, Necho sent to Josiah:saying, what have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? signifying he had no quarrel with him, he did not come to fight with him, and he had no business to intermeddle between him and another prince:I come not against thee this day; in an hostile manner:but against the house wherewith I have war; the king of Assyria:for God commanded me to make haste; and oppose his enemy: according to the Targum, it was his idol; and which is the sense of other Jewish writers {y}; but the true God might have appeared to him in a dream, or sent a prophet to him; or at least he might pretend this, that it might have the greater effect on Josiah; and indeed it seems to be real from the following verse:forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not; he concluded God was with him, and would succeed him, because he had put him upon this enterprise, and hastened him to it; therefore Josiah, in opposing him, might expect to be resisted by him, and fall.{y} T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 22. 2. 2 Chronicles 35:22Ver. 22. Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him,.... Or withdraw his forces, and go back:but disguised himself that he might fight with him; without being personally known, and aimed at, see 1Ki 22:30and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God: not believing that what he said came from the Lord, though it might; and his infirmity was, that he did not inquire of the Lord about it:and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo; which was in the tribe of Manasseh, thought to be the Magdolum of Herodotus, where he says Necho fought the battle {z}; See Gill on "2Ki 23:29".{z} Gale in Herodot. ut supra. (Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 159. & Galei not. in ib.) 2 Chronicles 35:23Ver. 23. And the archers shot at King Josiah,.... For, though disguised, he appeared to be a general officer, and indeed chief commander, and therefore aimed at him, and pressed him hard:and the king said to his servants, have me away, for I am wounded; as Ahab said, when in the like case, 1Ki 22:34. 2 Chronicles 35:24Ver. 24. And his servants therefore took him out of that chariot,.... Dead, and had him to Jerusalem, and buried him;See Gill on "2Ki 23:30",and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah; he having been so good a king, so tender of them, and such an happy instrument in restoring the true religion, and the service of God; this was the sense of the generality of them, who were sincere in their mourning; but it is not improbable that those who were inclined to idolatry were secretly glad, though they dissembled mourning with the rest. 2 Chronicles 35:25Ver. 25. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah,.... Composed a lamentation for him, which is now lost; for what is said in La 4:20 respects Zedekiah, and not Josiah:and all the singing men, and all the singing women, spake of Josiah in their lamentations unto this day; who were made use of on mournful occasions, as the "preficae" among the Romans, see Jer 9:17 these in their mournful ditties used to make mention of his name, and the disaster that befell him:and made them an ordinance in Israel; an annual constitution, as the Targum calls it, appointing a solemn mourning for him once a year, which Jarchi says was on the ninth of Ab or July:and, behold, they are written in the lamentations; not of Jeremiah; though the Targum is,"lo, they are written in the book which Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah, concerning the lamentations,''but respect a collection of lamentations on various subjects then in being, but since lost. 2 Chronicles 35:26Ver. 26,27 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness,.... His piety towards God, and liberality to the people; of these two verses,See Gill on "2Ki 23:28". 2 Chronicles 35:27Ver. 27. See Gill on "2Ch 35:26"
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