2 Chronicles 35:18 contains the remark that the Israelites had not held such a passover since the days of the prophet Samuel and all the kings; cf. 2 Kings 23:22, where, instead of the days of Samuel, the days of the judges are mentioned. On the points which distinguished this passover above others, see the remarks on 2 Kings 23:22. In the concluding clause we have a rhetorical enumeration of those who participated in the festival, beginning with the king and ending with the inhabitants of Jerusalem. הנּמצא ישׂראל are the remnant of the kingdom of the ten tribes who had come to the festival; cf. 2 Chronicles 34:33. - In 2 Chronicles 35:19 the year of this passover is mentioned in conclusion. The statement, "in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah," refers back to the same date at the beginning of the account of the cultus reform (2 Chronicles 34:8 and 2 Kings 22:3), and indicates that Josiah's cultus reform culminated in this passover. Now since the passover fell in the middle of the first month of the year, and, according to 2 Chronicles 34 and 2 Kings 22, the book of the law was also found in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, many commentators have imagined that the eighteenth year of the king is dated from the autumn; so that all that is narrated in 2 Chronicles, from 34:8-35:19, happened within a period of six months and a half. This might possibly be the case; since the purification and repair of the temple may have been near their completion when the book of the law was found, so that they might hold the passover six months afterwards. But our passage does not require that the years of the king's reign should be dated from the autumn, and there are not sufficient grounds for believing that such was the case. Neither in our narrative, nor in 2 Kings 22 and 23, is it said that the passover was resolved upon or arrange din consequence of the finding of the book of the law. Josiah may therefore have thought of closing and ratifying the restoration of the Jahve-worship by a solemn passover festival, even before the finding of the book; and the two events need not be widely separated from each other. But from the way in which the account in 2 Kings 22 and 23 is arranged, it is not improbable that the finding of the book of the law may have occurred before the beginning of the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, and that date may have been placed at the beginning and end of the narrative, because the cultus reform was completed with the celebration of the passover in his eighteenth year.

(Note: The addition of the lxx to 2 Kings 22:3, "in the eighth month," to which Thenius and Berth. attach some weight, as a proof that the years of Josiah's reign are dated from autumn, is utterly useless for that purpose. For even were that addition more than a worthless gloss, it would only prove the contrary, since the eighth month of the civil year, which is reckoned from autumn, corresponds to the second month of the ecclesiastical year, and would consequently carry us beyond the time of the passover.)

2 Chronicles 35:25 Parallel Commentaries

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 22:10 Weep you not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goes away: for he shall return no more...

Lamentations 4:20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said...

all the singers

Job 3:8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

Ecclesiastes 12:5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish...

Jeremiah 9:17-21 Thus said the LORD of hosts, Consider you, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women...

Matthew 9:23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,

and made them

Jeremiah 22:20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all your lovers are destroyed.