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 P 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.

V

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 pre

sent 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 pro

1 Heb. offered.-m Heb. offered.-n Ezra 6. 18.-o Ch. 29, 22-p See Ch. 29, 34. q Lev. 3 3- Exod. 12 8, 9. Dent. 16. 7.-8 1 Sam. 2. 13, 14, 15-1 Heb. made them run-u Heb. station 1 Chron. 25. 1, &c.-w 1 Chron. 9. 17, 18. & 26. 14, &c.-x Heb. found. -y Exod. 12. 15. & 13. 6. Chap. 30. 21.-z 2 Kings 23. 2, 23.

For an ample account of this passover, and the reformation that was then made, see on 2 Kings xxiii. 1, &c. and the places marked in the margin.

Verse 11. They killed the passover] The people themselves might slay their own paschal lambs, and then present the blood to the priests, that they might sprinkle it before the altar: and the Levites flayed them, and made them ready for dressing.

Verse 18. There was no passover like to that] That which distinguished this passover from all the former was, says Calmet, the great liberality of Josiah, who distributed to his people a greater number of victims than either David or Solomon had done.

Verse 20. Necho king of Egypt] Pharoah the lame, says the Targum.

Verse 21. God commanded me to make haste] The Targum gives a curious turn to this and the following verse; "My idol commanded me to make haste: refrain, therefore, from me and my idol which is with me, that he betray thee not. When he heard him mention his idol, he would not go back; and he hearkened not unto the words of Necho, which he spake concerning his idol." Here is the rabbinical excuse for the conduct of Josiah.

Verse 24. The second chariot] Perhaps this means no more than they took Josiah out of his own chariot, and put him into another, either for secrecy, or because his own had been disabled. The chariot into which he was put might have been that of the officer, or aid-de-camp, |

phet; 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.

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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.

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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 a 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. and

25 And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, mand 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.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Jehoahaz made king on the death of his father Josiah, and reigns only three months, 1, 2 He is dethroned by the king of Egypt, and Jehoiakim his brother made king in his stead, who reigns wickelly eleven years, and is dethroned, and led captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, 3-8. Jehoiachin is made king in his stead, and reigns wickedly three months and ten days, and is also led captive to Babylon, 9, 10. Zedekiah begins to reign, and reigns wickedly eleven years, 11, 12. He rebels against Nebuchadnezzar, and he and his people cast all the fear of God behind their backs: the wrath of God comes upon them to the uttermost; and their temple is destroyed, the whole nation is subjugated, and led into captivity, 13-21. Cyrus, king of Persia, makes a proclamation to rebuild the temple of the Lord. 22, 23, THE HEN the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king in his father's stead in Conlita 141 Jerusalem.

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a 2 Kings 23. 29. Jer. 46. 2. 1 Esd. 1. 25-b Heb. house -e Heb. the house of my ward So 1 Kings 22 34-e 1 Esl 1. 26-f Heb. made sick. 1 Kings 22 34 -g 2 Kings 23. 31.-h Or, among the sepulchres.-i Zech. 12. 11 -k Lam. 4. 20-1 See Matt. 9. 23.-m Jer. 2. 20-n Heb. kindnesses.-o 2 Kings 23.30, &c. 1 Ead. 1. 34, &c.

who attended his master to the war. See the note on 2 Kings, ch. xxii. 20.

Verse 25. Behold, they are written in the Lamentations.] The Hebrews had poetical compositions for all great and important events, military songs, songs of triumph, epithalamia or marriage odes, funeral elegies, &c. Several of these are preserved in different parts of the historical books of Scripture; and these were generally made by prophets or inspired men. That composed on the tragical end of this good king, by Jeremiah, is now lost. The Targum says, "Jeremiah bewailed Josiah with a great lamentation; and all the chiefs and matrons sing these lamentations concerning Josiah to the present day; and it was a statute in Israel annually to bewail Josiah. Behold, these are written in the Book of Lamentations, which Baruch wrote down from the mouth of Jeremiah."

Verse 27. And his deeds, first and last] "The former things which he did in his childhood, and the latter things which he did in his youth; and all the judgments, which he pronounced from his eighth year, when he came to the kingdom, to his eighteenth, when he was grown up, and began to repair the sanctuary of the Lord; and all that he brought of his substance to the hand of judgment, and purged both the house of Israel and Judah from all uncleanness; behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of the house of Israel, and of the house of Judah." Targum. These general histories are lost; but in the Books of Kings and Chronicles we have the leading facts.

9 Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in JeruCondita 155 salem; and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

10 And when the year was expired, King Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and made d Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.

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12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.

13 And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened

p Heb. removed him-q 1 Esdras 1. 36.-r Heb. mulcted.-s 2 Kings 23. 36, 37. t 2 Kings 24. L-u Or, chaine; foretold, Hab. 1. 6.- Se 2 Kings 21. 6. Jer. 22. 18, 19. & 36. 30.-w 2 Kings 21. 13. Dan. 1. 1, 2 & 5. 2-x Or, Jecuniah, 1 Chron. 3. 16. Or, Coniah, Jer. 22 24-y 2 Kings 24. 8-11eb. at the return of the year. a 2 Kings 24. 10-17-b Dan. 1. 1, 2 & 5.2-c Hleb vessels of desire. Or, Mattaniah his father's brother, 2 Kings . 17-e Jer. 37. 1.-f 2 Kings 24. 18. Jer. 52. 1, &c.-g fer. 52. 3. Ezek. 17. 15, 18.-h 2 Kings 17. 14.-i Jer. 25. 3, 4. & 35. 15. & 44. 4.-k Heb. by the hand of his messengers.

NOTES ON CHAPTER XXXVI.

14 Moreover, all the chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD, which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

15 And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place:

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16 But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and • misused his prophets, until the P wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 17 Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

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18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.

19 And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia.

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21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. 22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

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I That is, continually and carefully.in Jer. 5. 12, 13-n Prov. 1. 25, 30 - Jer. 32. 3. & 36. 6. Matt. 23. 34-p Psa. 74. 1. & 79. 5.—q Heb. healing –r Deut. S. 19. 2 Kings 25. 1, &c. Ezra 9. 7.- Pea. 71. 20. & 79. 2, 3-1 2 "Kingi 25. 13. &e u 2 Kings 25. 9. Psa. 71. 6, 7. & 79, 1, 7.- Heb. the remainder from the word w 2 Kings 25. 11.--x Jer. 27. 7.--y Jer. 25. 9, 11, 12 & 26. 6, 7. & 29. 10. — Lev. 26. 34, 35, 43 Dan 9 2-a Lev. 25. 4, 5.-b Ezra 1. 1-c Jer. S. 12, 13. & S. 10. & 33. 10, 11, 14.-d Isai. 44. 28.

Verse 3. The king of Egypt put him down] He now considered Judah to be conquered and tributary to him; and, because the people had set up Jehoahaz without his consent, he dethroned him: and put his brother in his place; perhaps for no other reason, but to show his supremacy. For other particulars, see the notes on 2 Kings xxiii. 31-35.

Verse 6. Came up Nebuchadnezzar] See the notes on 2 Kings xxiv. 1. Archbishop Ussher believes that Jehoiakim remained three years after this tributary to the Chaldeans, and that it is from this period that the seventy years captivity, predicted by Jeremiah, are to be reckoned."

Verse 9. Jehoiachin was eight] See on 2 Kings xxiv. 8. Verse 10. Made Zedekiah-king] His name was at first Mattaniah, but the king of Babylon changed it to Zedekiah. See 2 Kings xxiv. 17. and the note there.

Verse 12. Did that which was evil] Was there ever such a set of weak, infatuated men as the Jewish kings in general! They had the fullest evidence that they were only deputies to God Almighty, and that they could not expect to retain the throne any longer than they were faithful to their Lord; and yet, with all this conviction, they lived wickedly, and endeavoured to establish idolatry

Brake down the wall of Jerusalem] So it ceased to be fortified city.

Burnt all the palaces] So it was no longer a dwellingplace for kings or great men.

Destroyed all the goodly vessels] Beat up all the silver and gold into masses, keeping only a few of the finest in their own shape. See ver. 18.

Verse 21. To fulfil the word of the LORD] See Jerem. xxv. 9, 12. xxvi. 6, 7. xxix. 12. For the miserable death of Zedekiah, see 2 Kings xxv. 4, &c.

Verse 22. Now in the first year of Cyrus] This and the following verse are supposed to have been written by mistake from the Book of Ezra, which begins in the same way. The Book of the Chronicles, properly speaking, does close with the twenty-first verse, as then the Babylonish captivity commences: and these two verses speak of the transactions of a period seventy years after. This was in the first year of the reign of Cyrus over the empire of the East, which is reckoned to be A. M. 3463. But he was king of Persia from the year 3444 or 5. See Calmet and Ussher.

23 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to

e Ezra

Verse 23. The LORD his God be with him] "Let the WORD of the Lord be his helper, and let him go up." Turgum. See the notes on the beginning of Ezra.

THUS ends the history of a people the most fickle, the most ungrateful, and, perhaps, on the whole, the most sinful that ever existed on the face of the earth. But what a display does all this give of the power, justice, mercy, and long-suffering of the Lord! There was no people like this people, and no God like their God.

Masoretic Notes.

The sum of the verses in both books of Chronicles is 1656. Middle verse, 1 Chron. xxvii. 25. Its Masoretic sections twenty-five.

Having made particular remarks on every thing which I judged of importance in these and the preceding historical books, and in the course of this work having often found the want of a chronological list of the kings of

build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up

1.2, 3.

Israel and Judah, in the consecutive order of their reigns; for the reader's information I have brought all the facts into a synopsis or general view, so that he may see at once the contemporary reigns in those two kingdoms, as well as the leading facts by which their reigns were distinguished. In this table will be seen, at one view, the year of the world; the year before Christ; the year before and after the First Olympiad; the year before and from the building of Rome; and under them the Jewish history, from its first kings till the time in which its regal state was entirely abolished, and both kingdoms led into captivity, never more to arise to any political consequence till they acknowledge the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and take Jesus the Christ, the son and only legitimate heir of David, for their Saviour and their Lord. I hope that the table which is here subjoined, will be found in every point of view both interesting and instructive. A. CLARKE. Millbrook, December 7, 1819. 965