2 Chronicles 35:1-19

2. Josiah’s Passover 35:1-19

As Hezekiah had done, Josiah led his people in observing the Passover, that greatest feast of Israel that commemorated her redemption from Egyptian slavery. Josiah’s Passover was even greater than Hezekiah’s, which Hezekiah had put together quickly (2 Chronicles 35:18; cf. 2 Chronicles 29:36). Josiah offered almost twice as many sacrifices as Hezekiah did (2 Chronicles 30:24), but far fewer than Solomon did at the temple dedication (2 Chronicles 7:5). The writer’s attention to detail reflects his intense interest in Josiah’s concern that the people worship Yahweh properly. [Note: See Lyle Eslinger, "Josiah and the Torah Book: Comparison of 2 Kings 22:1-23:28 and 2 Chronicles 34:1-35:19," Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986):37-62.] All that the writer recorded between 2 Chronicles 34:8 and 2 Chronicles 35:19 happened when Josiah was 26 years old. The phrase "in the eighteenth year of his reign" forms an inclusio for the section.