2 Chronicles 35


2 Chronicles 35 is the thirty-fifth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or of the second part of the Books of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible. The book was compiled from older sources by an unknown person or group, designated by modern scholars as "the Chronicler", and had the final shape established in late fifth or fourth century BCE. This chapter belongs to the section focusing on the kingdom of Judah until its destruction by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar and the beginning of restoration under Cyrus the Great of Persia . It contains a regnal account of Josiah the king of Judah.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and is divided into 27 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, and Codex Alexandrinus. This chapter is also largely reproduced in chapter 1 of the Septuagint's 1 Esdras.

Old Testament references

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    Analysis

This chapter can be divided into three sections:
  1. the Passover feast, which was celebrated after Josiah's reforms
  2. Josiah's death
  3. the concluding remark on his reign.

    Josiah restores the Passover (35:1–19)

Unlike the hasty celebration in Hezekiah's time, the liturgy of the Passover feast in Josiah's 18th year of reign is performed meticulously on the appointed day in Jerusalem, referring to and, including the involvement of the Levites and musicians in the procedures.

Verse 1

  • "The fourteenth day of the first month": in accordance to ). In the time of Hezekiah, under special circumstances, it was celebrated on the 14th day of the second month. reported that the event was in "the eighteenth year of king Josiah."

    Verse 3

  • "Put the holy ark in the house": this could indicate that the ark may have been removed from the temple during Manasseh's reign.

    Verse 13

The instructions for the original Passover meal in the Book of Exodus forbade boiling any animal parts, but Deuteronomy has text which some versions translate as "boil". The writer of 2 Chronicles uses a phrase "boiled in the fire", or "in pots, in caldrons, and in pans", to accommodate these apparently contradictory directives.

Josiah's death (35:20–27)

The report in this section has been regarded by some commentaries as historically more reliable and with clearer explanation about the event than that in the Books of Kings. The description of Josiah's armor, his wounding, and his order to be taken to Jerusalem is quite similar to that of Ahab. Although the passage and the Talmud attribute the lamentations to Jeremiah, Mathys suggests that Zechariah 12:9–14 may be the one referred in verses 24b–25, as it seems to refer to Josiah's death.

Verse 20

The reference to Carchemish on the Euphrates uses similar wording as in Jeremiah 46:2. The Battle of Carchemish was eventually fought in 605 BCE where the Babylonian and Median army led by Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed the combined Egyptian and Assyrian forces, ending the existence of the Assyrian empire and eliminating Egypt's significant role in the Ancient Near East since that time.