1 Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
2 And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord,
3 And said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders: serve now the Lord your God, and his people Israel,
4 And prepare yourselves by the houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
5 And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren the people, and after the division of the families of the Levites.
6 So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
7 And Josiah gave to the people, of the flock, lambs and kids, all for the passover offerings, for all that were present, to the number of thirty thousand, and three thousand bullocks: these were of the king's substance.
8 And his princes gave willingly unto the people, to the priests, and to the Levites: Hilkiah and Zechariah and Jehiel, rulers of the house of God, gave unto the priests for the passover offerings two thousand and six hundred small cattle and three hundred oxen.
9 Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.
10 So the service was prepared, and the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their courses, according to the king's commandment.
11 And they killed the passover, and the priests sprinkled the blood from their hands, and the Levites flayed them.
12 And they removed the burnt offerings, that they might give according to the divisions of the families of the people, to offer unto the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses. And so did they with the oxen.
13 And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance: but the other holy offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people.
14 And afterward they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: because the priests the sons of Aaron were busied in offering of burnt offerings and the fat until night; therefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron.
15 And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.
16 So all the service of the Lord was prepared the same day, to keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josiah.
17 And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.
18 And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19 In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.
20 After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Charchemish by Euphrates: and Josiah went out against him.
21 But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war: for God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.
22 Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him, and hearkened not unto the words of Necho from the mouth of God, and came to fight in the valley of Megiddo.
23 And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded.
24 His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
25 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.
26 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and his goodness, according to that which was written in the law of the Lord,
27 And his deeds, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.
<html><b>And Josiah made the Passover sacrifice in Jerusalem</b> since none of the wicked kings of Judah had made the Passover sacrifice according to its law.</html>
<html><b>Place the Holy Ark</b> According to its simple meaning, [they were to return it to its place] because Manasseh and Amon had removed the Holy Ark and placed their graven images in its place, as is proven above (33:7) concerning Manasseh: “And he placed the graven image of the idol, etc.” Therefore, Josiah commanded to return it and to place the Ark in the place that Solomon had built for it, but our Rabbis said (<i>Yoma</i> 42b) that he commanded the Levites to hide it there. <b>you have no burden on the shoulders</b> This is another argument and the beginning of a statement. He said to them. You have no more toil of carrying a burden on your shoulders, i.e., all the vessels of the House of the Lord. You can no longer say, “Because of the toil of the burdens on our shoulders, we cannot serve the Lord and His people.” Therefore, from now on, serve the Lord your God with song and His people Israel by slaughtering and flaying their Passover sacrifices, as is proven below (verse 6): “And slaughter the Passover sacrifice and prepare yourselves, etc.”</html>
<html><b>according to the divisions</b> in divisions to make the Passover sacrifice according to its law, according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.</html>
<html><b>And Josiah separated for the members of the people</b> - Heb. ויָּרֶם. An example is (Num. 18: 28): “So shall you too separate (תָּרִימוּ),” an expression of separation. <b>for all that were present</b> He separated small cattle for the Passover sacrifices for all the Israelites present. <b>for the number of thirty thousand</b> of small cattle, of lambs, and goats. <b>and large cattle—three thousand</b> for Festival peace offerings.</html>
<html><b>And they cooked the Passover sacrifice with fire according to the law</b> Exod. 12:8): “Roasted with fire.” <b>and carried them quickly to all the members of the people</b> [i.e.] the Levites [did this]; and after they had prepared for all Israel, the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, who did not have time to prepare.</html>
<html><b>the king’s seer</b> Each one was a seer.</html>
<html><b>And such a Passover sacrifice had not been made</b> In II Kings (23:22) it is written: “For such a Passover sacrifice had not been performed since the time of the judges,” since the day that Israel was divided into two kingdoms, when the ten tribes separated from the kings of Judah and crowned a king over themselves. For all the time that they were two nations, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin made a Passover sacrifice for the sake of the Lord in Jerusalem, and these [made one] for the sake of pagan deities in Beth-El and in Dan. And this did not occur all the days of the judges, until Israel was divided into two families, and every generation had only one judge, and that judge would compel them to walk in the way of the Lord, as is explained in Judges (2:18): “and the Lord was with the judge and saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge.” And all the ten tribes would go to Shiloh and make a Passover sacrifice for the sake of the Lord. But such a Passover sacrifice had not been made all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah, that they should make a Passover sacrifice together. But in the days of Josiah, when the kingdom of the ten tribes had already ceased to exist, for since Jeremiah had returned the ten tribes, they did not crown another king, but Josiah reigned over them, and they all made a Passover sacrifice together in Jerusalem. This is the meaning of: “such a Passover sacrifice had not been performed…to the Lord in Jerusalem.” This interpretation, however, misleads me very much, and does not appear correct to me, for although Jeremiah had returned the ten tribes and Josiah reigned over them in Jerusalem, how is it possible that they did not make such a Passover sacrifice all the days of the judges and in the days of Samuel the Seer and in the days of David and Solomon, when Israel was dwelling in its land in peace and tranquility, and they had only one king, and their hearts were directed toward Heaven? Rather, this is the explanation, and this is the way Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Meshullam interpreted it to me: “And such a Passover sacrifice had not been made” ever, [it had never happened] that the king and the officers should supply enough animals for the Passover sacrifices and cattle for the festive peace offerings, and that he commanded the Levites to prepare for them and send each person according to how much he could eat.</html>
<html><b>After all this, that Josiah had prepared the Temple, Neco, the king of Egypt, went up</b> Scripture decries and laments Josiah, for a miracle was not performed for him as it had been for Hezekiah, about whom it is written (32:1): “After these deeds of integrity, Sennacherib the king of Assyria came” upon Hezekiah, and a miracle was performed for him. <b>went up to wage war in Carchemish on the Euphrates</b> against the king of Assyria. So it is written in (II) Kings (23:29), and he wished to pass to him through the land of Israel, and Pharaoh Neco could not go to him by the way of the Euphrates River unless he were to pass through Israel, for Egypt is south of the land of Israel, and the Euphrates River is north of the land of Israel. <b>went forth toward him</b> for he interpreted (Lev. 26:6): “and a sword will not pass through your land” to mean that even peaceful armies passing through the land [to attack other countries] should not pass through your land, but he was unaware of “the sin of the scorners of the generation, who arose to set up [idolatrous symbols] behind the door,” [i.e., he did not know that his generation found but little favor in God’s eyes], as is explained in Tractate <i>Taanith</i> (22b)</html>
<html><b>and he did not hearken to the words of Neco from the mouth of God</b> who said to him from the mouth of God, for so said Isaiah, (19:2): “And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians.” This is what the Kallir composed: “He withheld his troops from marching to Aram Naharaim, in order that no single sword should pass through Ephraim; and he did not hearken to the prophet to turn back, for it was decreed that Egyptian be set against Egyptian.”</html>
<html><b>into his second chariot</b> for it was customary for the king to ride on two chariots; he rode mainly on the first, but if necessary, he would ride on the second. The first one went before them, and when he was stricken, they put him into the second chariot.</html>
<html><b>And all the male…singers</b> - הַשָּׁרִים, an expression of song, choristers, for both song and lamentation are recited with the same voice. Concerning him, Amos prophesied (8:9): “and I will cause the sun to set at midday, and I will darken the land on a sunny day.” This is the day of Josiah, who died at the age of thirty-nine, in the middle of his days, for it is written (Ps. 90:10): “The days of our years because of them are seventy years,” and it is written (Amos 8:10): “And I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation, etc. and I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.” This is what [the Chronicler] says: “And all the male and female singers said in their lamentations,” “and all of Judah and Jerusalem were mourning” for him. <b>and they made them a statute</b> When any grief or weeping befalls them, for which they lament and weep, they mention this grief with it. An example is the Ninth of Av, in which we recite lamentations for those slain in the persecutions that occurred in our times. They will similarly bewail the day of Josiah’s death. An example is (Jud. 11:39f.): “and it became a statute in Israel, etc. to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year.” <b>and behold, they are written in the lamentations</b> in the Book of Lamentations.</html>
<html><b>and his kind deeds</b> And in II Kings (23:25) it is written: “Now, before him there was no king like him.” This is what is stated here: “Behold they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.”</html>