The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 425

Josiah's own restorRtions, orpoBSi.bly having probably better, litere.lly, to the children of never been yet replaced from the date of the people, i.e. "to the people" (Lev. ii[. 110me earlier remo,•al of nn iniquitous cha- 3-16). re.cter and on the part of an iniquitous Ver. 13.-Roaated. (For the emphntio king-. Sceondly, as to the burden, some and repeated oomma.nd to roe.et, see Exod. won 1d ex pl11i n the langue.ge e.s e. reminiscenoe xii. 8, 9; Deut. xvi. 7.) Sod. The sodden of the general and ever-applica.blo principle or boiled offerings, pee.ce offerings, were found in I Chron. x:riii. 26. This, nt e.ny ordinarily eaten on the de.ye of unleavened re.tc. would sec>m rather more se.tiere.ctory brea.d, and then pe.rticule.rly on the first than the suggestion conveyed by the italic and seventh (Lev. xxiii. 4:-8, eto.). Divided type of our Authorized Version. Perhe.ps them speedily e.mong e.ll the people. The the explanation may re.ther be that the e.rk marginal rendering of the original, e.nd the had latterly e.g,tin e.nd again been shifted, Revised Version rendering, carried them e.nd J osie.h wishes to protest the.t neither quickly, me.y be noted; nevertheless e.tten- for one ree.son nor another shall it be again tion is invited, probably not so muoh to the moved. speed or quickness in q11estion, but to the Ver. 4.-Aooording to the writing of fa.et that "all the people" were carefully David .. . a.nd . .. of Solomon (comp. our eh. attended to. viii. 14 e.nd 1 Chron. ix. 10-34, nnd the other Ver. 15.-To the me.rgine.l references ef mitrgine.l references, 1 Chron. xxiii.-xxvi.). I Chron. x.xv. ; ix.; xxvi.; add eh. vi. 33- It is more than possible that the fullest 47. tabule.tion of arre.ngemen1s of this kind he.a Ver. 16.-The ea.me day; literally, that not come down to us. day, as next verse, '' at that time." No Ver. 5.-In brief, this vcree purports to stress belongs to the de.y e.s the same de.y say that, for this special occe.sion of the evidently. Puseover, the Levites she.11 take specie.I Ver. 18.- Upon this verse Professor ea.re the.t, as stationed in the holy precincts, Murphy says, " The Passover in Hezekie.h's there shall be a family of themselves ready time was great (eh. xxx. 26), but this we.a to minister to a family . . . of the people, greater. For it woe kept on the proper day each to ea.eh. in the first month, ond was not e. mere V c;r. 6.-Prepare your brethren; i.e. as supplementary Pe.ssover; it we.a observed betokened by the wording of the foregoing with due regularity, and not by worshippers verse, their brethren, the peopk. 'l'he some of whom were unclean ; and if we Levites were to purify themselves, perform allow thirteen persons for ea.eh le.mb or kid, their other duties of killing the victims, e.nd there were upwards of half e. million com- withal to use their opportunities of in- municants ; while, so fe.r e.s we know, there structing the people to the better order e.nd were only seventeen thousand sheep pre• performance of the whole solemn service. sented by Hezekiah and hie princes (oh. Ver. 7.-La.m.bs . . . kids . . . bullocks. xxx. 24), which would not supply more The variety of eacrificial offeringa is speci• than ha.If the number of partakers." 1ically noticed in our ver. 13. While kids Ver.:19.-The date is stamped as ever- (" Ye shall take it out from the sheep or from memorii.b!e, ever-honourable landmark in the goats," Exod. xii 5) as well as lambs Josia.h'e reign. o.nswertd for the Paschal feast, the bullocks Ver. 20.-After all this. A period of served for " burnt " and " peace offerings" about thirteen years of he.ppy retrospect is (Numb. xxviii. 16--25). now the portion of the good king. Thie Ver. 8.-The princes; i.e. the three im- period brings itself to an unhappy ond even mediuiely mentioned by name. lehiel (see fe.tal termination in the year B.o. 608; when, Ezra viii. 2). as it would appear by the result, King Ver. 9.-Conaniah . . . Shemaiah .. , Josiah did wrong, and went out of his we.y, lozebad (see eh. :xXIi. 12, 15). in opposing the march of Phe.raoh-Necho V,;r. 10.-According to the king'• com- (who reigned B.O. 611-595), successor of mandment (see eh. xxx. 16, where the Psammetichus King of Egypt, age.inst sanction is referred further back, "according Cyaxo.res (the monarch who, with Nabo- to the Law of Moses, the man of God"). polassar, had taken Nineveh, n.o. 625) King Ver. 11.-Comp. eh. xxix. 34; XXL 16; of Assyria (2 Kings xxiii. 29), or King of Lev. i., iii., iv., p(UBim. Bobylon at Circesiwm on the River Phrat, Ver. 12.-Removed; i.e. cut off; the verse the head-quarters now of the united As- purporting that those who officiated cut. off syrian and Babylonian power. Where the tbose portions of the animalB slain which fault or sin of Josiah lay-whether he ran were of ihe nature of burnt offering, that before he was sent, or whether, occording to they might be taken by the offering wor- our following two verses, he set out againat si,i J.Jpers to the prit:ats at the altars, there the Divine word by Necho-ie certainly a. 1.u Le cutirely coUBumed. Of the people; questioll left in obscurity. Nothing i11 said on. x:u:v. l-2i.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 429