2 Chronicles 35 explained: Josiah's Great Passover and Sudden Death

Josiah organizes the festival (vv. 1-6)

Josiah sets up the Passover, the yearly meal remembering Israel's escape from slavery in Egypt, by following the old written instructions of Moses, David and Solomon. He tells the Levites (temple helpers from the tribe of Levi) to return the ark, the sacred chest of the covenant, to the temple, though why it had been moved is unclear.

Animals given for everyone (vv. 7-9)

Josiah and the temple leaders donate tens of thousands of lambs, goats and cattle from their own herds. This let ordinary people, many probably too poor to bring their own animal, share in the meal and the week of feasting.

How the service ran (vv. 10-15)

Priests splashed the blood on the altar as a sign the animals were given to God, while Levites skinned and cooked; the lambs were roasted as the law required and other meat was boiled and shared out fast. The Levites also cooked for the priests, singers and gatekeepers, who could not leave their posts.

A Passover like no other (vv. 16-19)

The writer says nothing like it had happened since the prophet Samuel, centuries earlier, likely because it followed the written law so closely. It took place in Josiah's eighteenth year, the same year a lost book of the law was found in the temple (chapter 34).

Josiah killed at Megiddo (vv. 20-24)

Around 609 BC Pharaoh Necho marched north toward the Euphrates, probably to support Assyria against rising Babylon, and Josiah went out to stop him. The writer says Necho's warning truly came from God, and Josiah, ignoring it, was shot by archers and died, a jarring end for a king otherwise praised as faithful.

A nation mourns (vv. 25-27)

The prophet Jeremiah wrote laments for Josiah, and singers kept them alive for generations. That collection is lost and is probably not the biblical book of Lamentations.

Key verse: 2 Chronicles 35:18

Something to think about

When someone who has done a great deal of good meets a sudden, bad end, how do you make sense of it?