2 CrónicasCapítulo 35

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Josiah kept the Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem, and they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month.

He appointed the priests to their duties and encouraged them in the service of the house of the LORD.

He said to the Levites who taught all Israel and were holy to the LORD: "Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon son of David, king of Israel, built. You need no longer carry it on your shoulders. Now serve the LORD your God and his people Israel.

Prepare yourselves by your ancestral houses, according to your divisions, as prescribed in the writing of David king of Israel and in the document of his son Solomon.

Stand in the holy place, arranged to serve the ancestral houses of your kinsmen, the lay people, with one Levite family group assigned to each.

Slaughter the Passover lamb, consecrate yourselves, and make preparations for your kinsmen, so that everything may be done according to the word of the LORD given through Moses."

Josiah contributed to the lay people, to all who were present, flocks of lambs and young goats for the Passover offerings, thirty thousand in number, along with three thousand cattle. These came from the king's own possessions.

His officials also made a freewill contribution to the people, to the priests, and to the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the house of God, gave the priests twenty-six hundred Passover offerings and three hundred cattle.

Conaniah, along with Shemaiah and Nethanel his brothers, and Hashabiah, Jeiel, and Jozabad, the officers of the Levites, contributed to the Levites five thousand Passover offerings and five hundred cattle.

So the service was arranged: the priests stood at their posts and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king's command.

They slaughtered the Passover lambs, and the priests sprinkled the blood handed to them, while the Levites skinned the animals.

They set aside the burnt offerings to distribute them to the groupings of the ancestral houses of the lay people, to present them to the LORD as it is written in the book of Moses; and they did the same with the cattle.

They roasted the Passover lamb over the fire, as prescribed, and boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles, and pans, and served them quickly to all the people.

Afterward they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the sons of Aaron, were occupied until nightfall offering the burnt offerings and the fat portions. So the Levites made preparations for themselves and for the priests, the sons of Aaron.

The singers, the sons of Asaph, were at their stations according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to leave their service, for their kinsmen the Levites made preparations for them.

So the whole service of the LORD was arranged that day, to keep the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD, according to the command of King Josiah.

The Israelites who were present kept the Passover at that time, along with the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.

No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as Josiah kept, with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

This Passover was kept in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign.

After all this, when Josiah had put the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt marched up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him.

But Neco sent messengers to him, saying: "What quarrel is there between you and me, king of Judah? I am not coming against you today, but against the house with which I am at war, and God has told me to hurry. Stop opposing God, who is with me, or he will destroy you."

Josiah, however, would not turn away from him; instead he disguised himself to fight him. He would not listen to the words of Neco, which came from the mouth of God, and he went to fight in the valley of Megiddo.

The archers shot King Josiah, and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am badly wounded."

So his servants took him out of his chariot, put him in his second chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died. He was buried in the tombs of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

Jeremiah composed a lament for Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers sing of Josiah in their laments. They made these a custom in Israel, and they are written in the Laments.

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his deeds of faithful love, done in accordance with what is written in the law of the LORD —

his acts from first to last, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Consulta

Resumen2

Capítulo 35

Main Theme: King Josiah's great Passover celebration and his tragic death in battle against the pharaoh of Egypt.

Content: In his eighteenth year as king, Josiah organized a comprehensive Passover celebration in Jerusalem, where priests and Levites served in their divisions according to the regulations established by David and Solomon. The king and the leaders provided abundant sacrificial animals, and the Passover was celebrated in a manner unmatched since the days of the prophet Samuel. After this, Pharaoh Neco of Egypt marched toward Carchemish. Although Neco warned Josiah with words from God not to interfere, Josiah disguised himself and went into battle at Megiddo, where he was mortally wounded.

Key Words/Images:

The Passover Celebration: The greatest Passover since the time of Samuel, a high point in Josiah's religious reforms.
Priests and Levites: Organized service according to the regulations of David and Solomon demonstrates the restored temple order.
Megiddo: The place where Josiah was mortally wounded, a turning point in Judah's history.
Jeremiah's Lamentations: The prophet Jeremiah sang laments over Josiah, which became a lasting tradition in Israel.

Contexto histórico

Historical and Cultural Context for 2 Chronicles 35

People

Josiah led the greatest Passover celebration since the days of the prophet Samuel, as described in this chapter. The celebration took place in his 18th regnal year (622 B.C.), after the Book of the Law had been found and reforms carried out (chapter 34). Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel are mentioned as leaders over God’s house who gave generous contributions to the celebration (2,600 Passover lambs and 300 cattle). Conaniah (Kananja), Shemaiah, and Nethanel, along with others, were Levitical leaders who organized the Passover lambs and provided 5,000 small livestock and 500 cattle.

Pharaoh Neco II was an Egyptian ruler who marched north to support the declining Assyrian empire against Babylon. He warned Josiah not to interfere, claiming he had a message from God. The prophet Jeremiah is mentioned as the one who composed laments over Josiah (v. 25) – this is the only direct reference to Jeremiah in the books of Chronicles.

Places

Carchemish was a strategically important city on the Euphrates (in today’s Syria/Turkey border region), which controlled a major crossing point over the river. This was Neco’s stated objective when he marched north.

The plain of Megiddo (Hebrew: בִּקְעַת מְגִדּוֹ) was a large plain in the Jezreel Valley where the main road between Egypt and Mesopotamia (Via Maris) passed. Here Josiah met Neco in battle and was mortally wounded (vv. 22–24).

Events and Customs

The Passover celebration followed carefully the instructions from Exodus 12 and Deuteronomy 16, with slaughter on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Levites skinned the Passover lambs while the priests sprinkled the blood (v. 11). The preparation "by fire according to the regulation" (v. 13) followed the command that the Passover lamb be roasted, while other holy offerings were boiled in pots, kettles, and pans.

The placement of the ark (v. 3) is remarkable: Josiah instructed the Levites to put the ark back into the temple, suggesting it had been moved, possibly during the reigns of the preceding kings Manasseh and Amon.

Key Terms

The expression "the Levites who taught all Israel" (הַמְּבִינִים לְכָל־יִשְׂרָאֵל, v. 3) refers to the Levites’ role as teachers of God’s law. The word מְבִינִים can mean both "those who understand" and "those who cause others to understand."

"Since the days of the prophet Samuel" (v. 18) is a special dating that differs from the parallel in 2 Kings 23:22, which says "since the days of the judges." The Chronicler highlights Samuel as the one who restored proper worship.

Chapter-Specific Findings

Babylonian Chronicles confirm the geopolitical background for Josiah’s death. Tablets document that the Egyptians marched north in 609 B.C. to help the Assyrians at Harran, which matches Neco’s campaign described here.

The Greek historian Herodotus (II.159) mentions Neco’s victory over "the Syrians" at Magdolos (likely Megiddo), providing independent confirmation of the event.

Personas19

David3 Ethan1 God1 Solomon2 Hilkiah (Father of Eliakim, steward under King Hezekiah)1 Neco3 Netanel (Son of Suar, leader from the tribe of Issachar)1 Samuel1 Hashabiah1 Josiah7 Heman1 Asaph1 Jeremiah1 Jehiel2 Shemaiah1 Jacob1 Zechariah (prophet)1 Conaniah1 Josabad1

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Palabras clave9

Josiah — A king of Judah known for his piety and reforms in the land.
Passover — A Jewish festival celebrating Israel's deliverance from slavery in Egypt, commanded by God in 2 Mosebok.
The Lord's house — Also known as the temple in Jerusalem, a holy place where the Israelites worshipped God.
Sacrifice — An act in which people offered animals or other gifts to God as a form of worship and gratitude.
Priests — Religious leaders who performed ceremonies and sacrifices in the Lord's house on behalf of the people.
Levites — Members of the tribe of Levi, who had special duties and responsibilities related to worship and service in the temple.
Burnt offering — A sacrifice in which an animal was burned on an altar as a symbolic act to honor and worship God.
Sin offering — An offering given to seek atonement and forgiveness for sins committed by individuals or the whole community.
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