2 Kings 23:21-23
The Passover celebration during Josiah’s reign appears to be kept without the complication that accompanied Hezekiah’s Passover. The celebration occurs as part of Josiah’s reforms after he discovered the law scrolls in the temple (2 Chr 34).
148After instructing the priests to prepare themselves (v. 4) and consecrate themselves (v. 6), Josiah and his officials provided animals for sacrificing (vv. 7-9).
149When the time came to slaughter the Passover lambs, rather than the people of Israel, the Levites sacrificed the lambs (v. 6, 11; cf. Deut 16:5-6) and the priests threw the blood (cf. 30:16).
150Despite the disparity over who slayed the lamb, Josiah’s clear command is to act “according to the word of the Lord by Moses” (v. 6).
151The Levites set aside more burnt offerings (v. 12) and “roasted the Passover lamb with fire, according to the rule” (v. 13).
152Interestingly, their celebration includes boiled offerings of animals besides the Passover lamb (v. 13), singers (v. 15; cf. 1 Chr 25),
153and gatekeepers in their places (2 Chr 35:15; cf. 9:17- 29)—none of which are prescribed in Exodus. The Chronicler summarizes the whole
purification laws are fulfilled in the righteous life of Christ and credited to the believer in justification, circumcision’s initiatory function into the covenant community is replaced by baptism. Second Chr 30 would have to deal with uncircumcised persons participating in Passover for Bunyan’s argument to hold weight. See chapters 5 and 6 below for a fuller discussion of this matter.
148 It is significant that Josiah also removed the idolatrous rivals to the Lord as Hezekiah had (cf. 30:14-15). For a description of Josiah’s reforms see Ross, Hope of Glory, 322–23.
149 Possibly, the extra sacrificial animals were for use in the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Thompson, 1, 2 Chronicles, 383.
150 The flurry of activity that characterized the priests and Levites suggests a significant logistical achievement. The priests and Levites slaughtered lambs all day, offered burnt offerings “until night” (v. 14), and hustled to offer sacrifices for themselves only after serving the people (“carried them quickly to all the lay people,” v. 13). Thompson concludes that the total number of animals offered was nearly double to that offered under Hezekiah (30:24), but less than Solomon’s temple dedication (7:5).
Thompson, 1, 2 Chronicles, 383.
151 Thompson thinks this phrase “evidently refers to the principle of sacrificing a Passover lamb rather than to the one who should perform the task.” Thompson, 1, 2 Chronicles.
152 The text repeatedly mentions the slaughter of the Passover lamb (vv. 1, 6, 11) and the nation’s adherence to “the Word of the Lord by Moses” (v. 6; par. vv. 12, 13).
153 The Chronicler references the commands made by David regarding the singers and the divisions of the priests in 35:4, 15. David's commands are found in 1 Chr 24:4, 19-20 30-31; 28:19-21; and 2 Chr 8:14. Thompson, 1, 2 Chronicles, 382.
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event by mentioning “all the service of the Lord” prepared to keep the Passover (35:16),
“all the people of Israel who were present” (v. 17), and the claim, “No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet” (v. 18).
154The Chronicler seems to be emphasizing the unique kind of Passover celebration that occurred under Josiah. Josiah’s Passover is presented as a feature of national covenant renewal (cf. 2 Kgs 23:1-3).
155In the context of 2 Chronicles, Josiah is another David figure who
foreshadows the future Messiah without fulfilling the role.
156The concluding verse of the paragraph (2 Chr 35:19) notes that Josiah celebrated this Passover in the eighteenth year of his reign, the same year he discovered the law in the temple (34:8) and covenanted to walk according to it (34:31). While Josiah wholeheartedly turns to the Lord, the language of 34:32 emphasizes “that Josiah imposes the pledge of obedience on the assembly, suggesting that the people do not fully share the king’s faith or convictions about the covenant relationship with Yahweh.”
157Josiah follows the covenant renewal with Israel’s ongoing, but neglected, covenant meal—the Passover. In chapter 35, the Chronicler presents the Passover as a unified national celebration of God’s deliverance, by noting the
154 The Chronicler’s historical note bears explanation. Second Kgs 23:22 provides a concurring summary of the time lapse, referring to the period of the Judges instead of mentioning Samuel specifically.
The Chronicler is not denying Hezekiah’s Passover celebration, nearly ninety years previous. Hill provides a helpful table of the kings of Judah with the estimated dates of their reigns. Hezekiah’s reign was
approximately 716-687 BC, while Josiah’s were 641-609 BC. Andrew E. Hill, 1 & 2 Chronicles: From Biblical Text-to Contemporary Life, NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 665.
155 With some similarity, Hezekiah’s Passover is presented as part of his worship reforms (2 Chr 29-30). While Hezekiah’s Passover explicitly includes persons from the northern tribes of Israel (2 Chr 30:18), Josiah’s Passover includes Israel and Judah (35:18). August H. Konkel, 1 & 2 Kings: From Biblical Text to Contemporary Life, NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), 638.
156 For a comparison of David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and Josiah, see Konkel,1 & 2 Kings, 642–
44. Similar to the other kings in Chronicles, Josiah is compared to his father, David. He seeks David’s God from his youth (34:3; cf. 34:21, 26). James M. Hamilton, God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 347.
157 Hill, 1 & 2 Chronicles, 623.
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presence of priests, Levites, the king, Judah, and Israel as “all Israel” (v. 18).
158Yet, for all Josiah’s godly leadership, he dies soon after an untimely death after failing to heed God’s warning (35:21-24). The Chronicler represents the national decline after Josiah by providing four vignettes for each of the kings who ruled Judah until Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by Babylon. The four kings and the nation landed in exile, awaiting a second exodus through a greater David.
While 2 Chronicles 35 does not mention circumcision, it portrays the significance of Passover for Israel and demonstrates the development of the Passover by the eve of exile. Passover functions as a covenant meal, given that it follows naturally from the national covenant renewal of chapter 34 and that representative Israelites from the divided kingdom participated together.
159Nevertheless, two factors emphasize the mixed community tension inherent to the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants wherein circumcised and ritually clean persons could rightly participate in the Passover: (1) the obligatory (rather than wholehearted) way the people renewed the covenant (34:31-32) and (2) the decline of the nation into unfaithfulness after Josiah’s death (cf. 34:33; 36).
Besides the significance of the Passover, the celebration occurs in the developed fashion prescribed in brief in Deuteronomy 16:1-7. While family heads continue to play a role, the centralized location of Jerusalem entails a greater dependence on the priests and Levites.
158Hill, 1 & 2 Chronicles, 628.
159 Konkel explains, “the last reported covenant renewal was in the days of Joshua” (8:30-35;
24:1-26). Konkel, 1 & 2 Kings, 638. Konkel adds that “the covenant of Josiah is the first occasion since that time when the Passover was celebrated as a national festival with official leaders.” However, Konkel dismisses Hezekiah’s Passover at this point. Hezekiah’s Passover was national and involved official leadership. Konkel continues, “The Passover began as a family festival celebrated in each home (Exod 12:1-20),” such that “a central celebration is a monarchic innovation.” While he is certainly correct about the institution of Passover, even by Deut 16:1-7, Moses gives instructions for celebrating the Passover in the place the Lord determines for his name to dwell—Jerusalem. Therefore, claiming that the centralized observance of Passover is an innovation denies explicit biblical teaching. The OT does not contain precise legislation for how Passover is to be celebrated in the centralized way. Herein lies mystery, not innovation.