Antiguo Testamento

2 Chronicles — Capítulo 35

JOSIAH KEEPS A SOLEMN PASSOVER. (2Ch. 35:1-19) Moreover Josiah kept a passover--(See on Kg2 23:21). The first nine verses give an account of the preparations made for the celebration of the solemn feast [Ch2 35:1-9]. …

Versión

Texto — Reina-Valera 1960

1Josías celebró la pascua a Jehová en Jerusalén, y sacrificaron la pascua a los catorce días del mes primero.

2Puso también a los sacerdotes en sus oficios, y los confirmó en el ministerio de la casa de Jehová.

3Y dijo a los levitas que enseñaban a todo Israel, y que estaban dedicados a Jehová: Poned el arca santa en la casa que edificó Salomón hijo de David, rey de Israel, para que no la carguéis más sobre los hombros. Ahora servid a Jehová vuestro Dios, y a su pueblo Israel.

4Preparaos según las familias de vuestros padres, por vuestros turnos, como lo ordenaron David rey de Israel y Salomón su hijo.

5Estad en el santuario según la distribución de las familias de vuestros hermanos los hijos del pueblo, y según la distribución de la familia de los levitas.

6Sacrificad luego la pascua; y después de santificaros, preparad a vuestros hermanos para que hagan conforme a la palabra de Jehová dada por medio de Moisés.

7Y dio el rey Josías a los del pueblo ovejas, corderos y cabritos de los rebaños, en número de treinta mil, y tres mil bueyes, todo para la pascua, para todos los que se hallaron presentes; esto de la hacienda del rey.

8También sus príncipes dieron con liberalidad al pueblo y a los sacerdotes y levitas. Hilcías, Zacarías y Jehiel, oficiales de la casa de Dios, dieron a los sacerdotes, para celebrar la pascua, dos mil seiscientas ovejas y trescientos bueyes.

9Asimismo Conanías, y Semaías y Natanael sus hermanos, y Hasabías, Jeiel y Josabad, jefes de los levitas, dieron a los levitas, para los sacrificios de la pascua, cinco mil ovejas y quinientos bueyes.

10Preparado así el servicio, los sacerdotes se colocaron en sus puestos, y asimismo los levitas en sus turnos, conforme al mandamiento del rey.

11Y sacrificaron la pascua; y esparcían los sacerdotes la sangre recibida de mano de los levitas, y los levitas desollaban las víctimas.

12Tomaron luego del holocausto, para dar conforme a los repartimientos de las familias del pueblo, a fin de que ofreciesen a Jehová según está escrito en el libro de Moisés; y asimismo tomaron de los bueyes.

13Y asaron la pascua al fuego conforme a la ordenanza; mas lo que había sido santificado lo cocieron en ollas, en calderos y sartenes, y lo repartieron rápidamente a todo el pueblo.

14Después prepararon para ellos mismos y para los sacerdotes; porque los sacerdotes, hijos de Aarón, estuvieron ocupados hasta la noche en el sacrificio de los holocaustos y de las grosuras; por tanto, los levitas prepararon para ellos mismos y para los sacerdotes hijos de Aarón.

15Asimismo los cantores hijos de Asaf estaban en su puesto, conforme al mandamiento de David, de Asaf y de Hemán, y de Jedutún vidente del rey; también los porteros estaban a cada puerta; y no era necesario que se apartasen de su ministerio, porque sus hermanos los levitas preparaban para ellos.

16Así fue preparado todo el servicio de Jehová en aquel día, para celebrar la pascua y para sacrificar los holocaustos sobre el altar de Jehová, conforme al mandamiento del rey Josías.

17Y los hijos de Israel que estaban allí celebraron la pascua en aquel tiempo, y la fiesta solemne de los panes sin levadura por siete días.

18Nunca fue celebrada una pascua como esta en Israel desde los días de Samuel el profeta; ni ningún rey de Israel celebró pascua tal como la que celebró el rey Josías, con los sacerdotes y levitas, y todo Judá e Israel, los que se hallaron allí, juntamente con los moradores de Jerusalén.

19Esta pascua fue celebrada en el año dieciocho del rey Josías.

20Después de todas estas cosas, luego de haber reparado Josías la casa de Jehová, Necao rey de Egipto subió para hacer guerra en Carquemis junto al Éufrates; y salió Josías contra él.

21Y Necao le envió mensajeros, diciendo: ¿Qué tengo yo contigo, rey de Judá? Yo no vengo contra ti hoy, sino contra la casa que me hace guerra; y Dios me ha dicho que me apresure. Deja de oponerte a Dios, quien está conmigo, no sea que él te destruya.

22Mas Josías no se retiró, sino que se disfrazó para darle batalla, y no atendió a las palabras de Necao, que eran de boca de Dios; y vino a darle batalla en el campo de Meguido.

23Y los flecheros tiraron contra el rey Josías. Entonces dijo el rey a sus siervos: Quitadme de aquí, porque estoy gravemente herido.

24Entonces sus siervos lo sacaron de aquel carro, y lo pusieron en un segundo carro que tenía, y lo llevaron a Jerusalén, donde murió; y lo sepultaron en los sepulcros de sus padres. Y todo Judá y Jerusalén hicieron duelo por Josías.

25Y Jeremías endechó en memoria de Josías. Todos los cantores y cantoras recitan esas lamentaciones sobre Josías hasta hoy; y las tomaron por norma para endechar en Israel, las cuales están escritas en el libro de Lamentos.

26Los demás hechos de Josías, y sus obras piadosas conforme a lo que está escrito en la ley de Jehová,

27y sus hechos, primeros y postreros, he aquí están escritos en el libro de los reyes de Israel y de Judá.

JAMIESON-FAUSSET-BROWN BIBLE COMMENTARY

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I. prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses--Each course or division was…

prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses--Each course or division was to be composed of those who belonged to the same fathers' house. according to the writing of David and . . . Solomon--Their injunctions are recorded (Ch2 8:14; 1Ch. 23:1-26:32).

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II. stand in the holy place--in the court of the priests, the place where the victims were killed. Th…

stand in the holy place--in the court of the priests, the place where the victims were killed. The people were admitted according to their families in groups or companies of several households at a time. When the first company entered the court (which consisted commonly of as many as it could well hold), the gates were shut and the offering was made. The Levites stood in rows from the slaughtering places to the altar, and handed the blood and fat from one to another of the officiating priests (Ch2 30:16-18).

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III. So kill the passover, &c.--The design of the minute directions given here was to facilitate the d…

So kill the passover, &c.--The design of the minute directions given here was to facilitate the distribution of the paschal lambs. These were to be eaten by the respective families according to their numbers (Exo 12:3). But multitudes of the people, especially those from Israel, having been reduced to poverty through the Assyrian devastations, were to be provided with the means of commemorating the passover. Therefore, the king enjoined the Levites that when the paschal lambs were brought to them to be killed (Ch2 35:7-9) they should take care to have everything put in so orderly a train, that the lambs, after due presentation, might be easily delivered to the various families to be roasted and eaten by themselves apart.

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IV. Josiah gave to the people . . . lambs and kids--These were in all probability destined for the po…

Josiah gave to the people . . . lambs and kids--These were in all probability destined for the poor; a lamb or a kid might be used at convenience (Exo 12:5). and . . . bullocks--which were offered after the lambs on each of the successive days of the feast.

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V. his princes--These gave to the priests and Levites; as those of Hezekiah's princes (Ch2 30:24). T…

his princes--These gave to the priests and Levites; as those of Hezekiah's princes (Ch2 30:24). They were ecclesiastical princes; namely, Hilkiah the high priest (Ch2 34:9). Zechariah, probably the second priest of the Eleazar (Kg2 16:18), and Jehiel, of the Ithamar line. And as the Levitical tribes were not yet sufficiently provided (Ch2 35:9), some of their eminent brethren who had been distinguished in Hezekiah's time (Ch2 31:12-15), gave a large additional contribution for the use of the Levites exclusively.

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VI. So the service was prepared, &c.--All the necessary preparations having been completed, and the a…

So the service was prepared, &c.--All the necessary preparations having been completed, and the appointed time having arrived for the passover, the solemnity was celebrated. One remarkable feature in the account is the prominent part that was taken by the Levites in the preparation of the sacrifices; namely, the killing and stripping of the skins, which were properly the peculiar duties of the priests; but as those functionaries were not able to overtake the extraordinary amount of work and the Levites had been duly sanctified for the service, they were enlisted for the time in this priestly employment. At the passover in Hezekiah's time, the Levites officiated in the same departments of duty, the reason assigned for that deviation from the established rule being the unprepared state of many of the people (Ch2 30:17). But on this occasion the whole people had been duly sanctified, and therefore the exceptional enlistment of the Levites' services must have been rendered unavoidably necessary from the multitudes engaged in celebrating the passover.

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VII. they removed the burnt offerings--Some of the small cattle being designed for burnt offerings wer…

they removed the burnt offerings--Some of the small cattle being designed for burnt offerings were put apart by themselves, that they might not be intermingled with the paschal lambs, which were carefully selected according to certain rules, and intended to be sacramentally eaten; and the manner in which those burnt offerings were presented seems to have been the following: "All the subdivisions of the different fathers' houses came one after another to the altar in solemn procession to bring to the priests the portions which had been cut off, and the priests laid these pieces upon the fire of the altar of burnt offering."

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VIII. they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance--(See Exo 12:7-9). This mode of pr…

they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance--(See Exo 12:7-9). This mode of preparation was prescribed by the law exclusively for the paschal lamb; the other offerings and thank offerings were cooked in pots, kettles, and pans (Sa1 2:14). divided them speedily among the people--The haste was either owing to the multiplicity of the priests' business, or because the heat and flavor of the viands would have been otherwise diminished. Hence it appears that the meal consisted not of the paschal lambs alone, but of the meat of the thank offerings--for part of the flesh fell to the portion of the offerer, who, being in this instance, the king and the princes, were by them made over to the people, who were recommended to eat them the day they were offered, though not absolutely forbidden to do so on the next (Lev 7:15-18).

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IX. afterwards they made ready for themselves, and for the priests--The Levites rendered this aid to …

afterwards they made ready for themselves, and for the priests--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.

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X. And the singers . . ., were in their place--While the priests and people were so much engaged, th…

And the singers . . ., were in their place--While the priests and people were so much engaged, the choir was not idle. They had to sing certain Psalms, namely, the hundred thirteenth to the hundred eighteenth inclusive, once, twice, and even a third time, during the continuance of each company of offerers. As they could not leave their posts, for the singing was resumed as every fresh company entered, the Levites prepared for them also; for the various bands relieved each other in turn, and while the general choir was doing duty, a portion of the tuneful brethren, relieved for a time, partook of the viands that were brought them.

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XI. there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel--One feature by which t…

there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel--One feature by which this passover was distinguished was the liberality of Josiah. But what distinguished it above all preceding solemnities was, not the imposing grandeur of the ceremonies, nor the immensity of the assembled concourse of worshippers; for these, with the exception of a few from the kingdom of Israel, were confined to two tribes; but it was the ardent devotion of the king and people, the disregard of purely traditional customs, and the unusually strict adherence, even in the smallest minutiÃ&brvbr, to the forms of observance prescribed in the book of the law, the discovery of an original copy of which had produced so great a sensation. Instead of "from the days of Samuel," the author of the Book of Kings says, "from the days of the judges who judged Israel" [Kg2 23:22]. The meaning is the same in both passages, for Samuel concluded the era of the judges. all Judah and Israel that were present--The great majority of the people of the northern kingdom were in exile, but some of the remaining inhabitants performed the journey to Jerusalem on this occasion. 37,600 paschal lambs and kids were used, which [Ch2 35:7], at ten to a company, would make 376,000 persons attending the feast.

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XII. In the eighteenth year of the reign Josiah was this passover kept--"It is said (Kg2 22:3) that Jo…

In the eighteenth year of the reign Josiah was this passover kept--"It is said (Kg2 22:3) that Josiah sent Shaphan to Hilkiah in the eighth month of that year." If this statement rests upon an historical basis, all the events narrated here (at 2Ch. 34:8-35:19) must have happened in about the space of five months and a half. We should then have a proof that the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign was reckoned from the autumn (compare Ch2 29:3). "The eighth month" of the sacred year in the eighteenth year of his reign would be the second month of his eighteenth year, and the first month of the new year would be the seventh month [BERTHEAU].

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XIII. HIS DEATH. (Ch2 35:20-27)

HIS DEATH. (Ch2 35:20-27) After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple--He most probably calculated that the restoration of the divine worship, with the revival of vital religion in the land, would lead, according to God's promise and the uniform experience of the Hebrew people, to a period of settled peace and increased prosperity. His hopes were disappointed. The bright interval of tranquillity that followed his re-establishment of the true religion was brief. But it must be observed that this interruption did not proceed from any unfaithfulness in the divine promise, but from the state into which the kingdom of Judah had brought itself by the national apostasy, which was drawing down upon it the long threatened but long deferred judgments of God. Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by Euphrates--Necho, son of Psammetichus, succeeded to the throne of Egypt in the twentieth year of Josiah. He was a bold and enterprising king, who entered with all his heart into the struggle which the two great powers of Egypt and Assyria had long carried on for the political ascendency. Each, jealous of the aggressive movements of its rival, was desirous to maintain Palestine as a frontier barrier. After the overthrow of Israel, the kingdom of Judah became in that respect doubly important. Although the king and people had a strong bias for alliance with Egypt, yet from the time of Manasseh it had become a vassal of Assyria. Josiah, true to his political no less than his religious engagements, thought himself bound to support the interests of his Assyrian liege lord. Hence, when "Necho king of Egypt came up to fight Carchemish, Josiah went out against him." Carchemish, on the eastern side of the Euphrates, was the key of Assyria on the west, and in going thither the king of Egypt would transport his troops by sea along the coast of Palestine, northwards. Josiah, as a faithful vassal, resolved to oppose Necho's march across the northern parts of that country. They met in the "valley of Megiddo," that is, the valley or plain of Esdraelon. The Egyptian king had come either by water or through the plains of Philistia, keeping constantly along the coast, round the northwest corner of Carmel, and so to the great plain of Megiddo. This was not only his direct way to the Euphrates, but the only route fit for his chariots, while thereby also he left Judah and Jerusalem quite to his right. In this valley, however, the Egyptian army had necessarily to strike across the country, and it was on that occasion that Josiah could most conveniently intercept his passage. To avoid the difficulty of passing the river Kishon, Necho kept to the south of it, and must, therefore, have come past Megiddo. Josiah, in following with his chariots and horsemen from Jerusalem, had to march northwards along the highway through Samaria by Kefr-Kud (the ancient Caper-Cotia) to Megiddo [VAN DE VELDE].

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XIV. But he sent ambassadors . . . What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah?--Not wishing to sp…

But he sent ambassadors . . . What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah?--Not wishing to spend time, or strength in vain, Necho informed the king of Judah that he had no intention of molesting the Jews; that his expedition was directed solely against his old Assyrian enemy; and that he had undertaken it by an express commission from God. Commentators are not agreed whether it was really a divine commission given him through Jeremiah, or whether he merely used the name of God as an authority that Josiah would not refuse to obey. As he could not know the truth of Necho's declaration, Josiah did not sin in opposing him; or, if he sinned at all, it was a sin of ignorance. The engagement took place. Josiah was mortally wounded [Ch2 35:23].

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XV. took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot--the carriage he had for ordinary…

took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot--the carriage he had for ordinary use, and which would be more comfortable for the royal sufferer than the war chariot. The death of this good king was the subject of universal and lasting regret.

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16. Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, &c.--The elegy of the prophet has not reached us; but it seems to h…

Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, &c.--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 (Zac 12:11). Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 36

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