* Footnote * 4_Kings 23 : 21
And he commanded all the people, saying: Keep the Phase to the Lord your God, according as it is written in the book of this covenant.*H And he spoke to the Levites, by whose instruction all Israel was sanctified to the Lord, saying: Put the ark in the sanctuary of the temple, which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built: for you shall carry it no more: but minister now to the Lord your God, and to his people Israel.
Ver. 3. By whose. Sept. "the powerful in Israel, that they might be sanctified to the Lord; and they put," &c. Heb. "who instructed all Israel, the holy people of the Lord: Put," &c. H. — No more. Heb. adds, "upon your shoulders;" (H.) whence it is inferred, that it had been carried about the cities of Juda, under the impious kings, who would not suffer it in the temple. C. — Some believe that it was kept in the house of Sellum, the uncle of Jeremias, and husband of Olda. S. Jer. Trad. T.
*H And serve ye in the sanctuary by the families and companies of Levi.
Ver. 5. Families. Heb. adds, "according to the divisions of the families of the fathers of your brethren, the people, (H. or laics. C.) and the division of the families of the Levites." All were placed, with great order, in the temple.
*H And being sanctified kill the phase, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses.
Ver. 6. Which. Heb. "of the Lord, by the hand of Moses," which ordinances he has written down. M.
*H And Josias gave to all the people that were found there in the solemnity of the phase, of lambs and of kids of the flocks, and of other small cattle thirty thousand, and of oxen three thousand, all these were of the king's substance.
Ver. 7. In. Heb. "for the Passover-offerings, from the flock, lambs and kids, in number 30,000." Et reliqui pecoris, is not expressed. H. — The small cattle might be intended for other sacrifices. M.
*H And his princes willingly offered what they had vowed, both to the people and to the priests and the Levites. Moreover Helcias, and Zacharias, and Jahiel rulers of the house of the Lord, gave to the priests to keep the phase two thousand six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.
Ver. 8. Offered. Heb. "gave to the people." H. — Rulers: the first alone was high priest. C. — Small cattle: lit. "cattle of different sorts;" commixtim. Prot. supply, "small cattle," which is not now in Heb. H. — Syr. and Arab. have, "sheep;" but we had best follow (C.) the Sept. "sheep, both lambs and kids." Either would suffice. Ex. xii. 5.
*H And Chonenias, and Semeias and Nathanael, his brethren, and Hasabias, and Jehiel, and Jozabad princes of the Levites, gave to the rest of the Levites to celebrate the phase five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.
Ver. 9. Cattle. Prot. again supply these words. Sept. have, "sheep." H.
*H And the phase was immolated: and the priests sprinkled the blood with their hand, and the Levites flayed the holocausts:
Ver. 11. Blood is expressed in the Sept. and understood in Heb. H. — With. Heb. and Sept. "from their hands;" (H.) receiving it from the officers, who might slay their own victims, (C.) unless they were unclean, (C.) xxx. 17. H. — Holocausts. Heb. and Sept. speak of the paschal lambs. H. — Holocausts were regularly to be flayed by priests. Lev. i. 6. The hurry of the solemnity, (C.) and necessity, here excused the Levites, (M.) if we understand proper holocausts. H.
*H And they separated them, to give them by the houses and families of every one, and to be offered to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses, and with the oxen they did in like manner.
Ver. 12. Separated. Sept. "prepared the holocaust to give; having taken notice to whom the victims belonged, before they took off the skin, (M.) or rather, separating these from the other peace-offerings. Tournemine.
*H And they roasted the phase with fire, according to that which is written in the law: but the victims of peace offerings they boiled in caldrons, and kettles, and pots, and they distributed them speedily among all the people.
Ver. 13. Victims. Heb. and Sept. "but the holy offerings they boiled." See Ex. xii. 9. H.
*H And the singers the sons of Asaph stood in their order, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Idithun, the prophets of the king: and the porters kept guard at every gate, so as not to depart one moment from their service, and therefore their brethren the Levites prepared meats for them.
Ver. 15. Prophets. Heb. "seer." But Sept. &c. read in the plural. These were "prophets of the king," (H.) or masters of music. C. — Vulg. might insinuate that these three gave orders, as well as David. But they were in office under him, as people of the same name were, probably, under Josias. H.
*H There was no phase like to this in Israel, from the days of Samuel the prophet: neither did any of all the kings of Israel keep such a phase as Josias kept, with the priests, and the Levites, and all Juda, and Israel that were found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Ver. 18. As Josias kept. He displayed greater liberality (E. See 4 K. xxiii. 20.) and devotion; and the festival had also been neglected for some time. W.
*H After that Josias had repaired the temple, Nechao king of Egypt came up to fight in Charcamis by the Euphrates: and Josias went out to meet him.
Ver. 20. Charcamis belonged to the Assyrian monarch, (Isai. x. 9.) who subdued the empire of Babylon. C. xxxiii. 11.
* Footnote * 4_Kings 23 : 29
In his days Pharao Nechao, king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josias went to meet him: and was slain at Mageddo, when he had seen him.*H But he sent messengers to him, saying: What have I to do with thee, O king of Juda? I come not against thee this day, but I fight against another house, to which God hath commanded me to go in haste: forbear to do against God, who is with me, lest he kill thee.
Ver. 21. With me. Grotius thinks that Jeremias had given the order; and the author of Heb. Traditions, supposes that he forbade Josias to oppose Pharao, who, it seems, was assured of victory. C. — But this is uncertain; and Josias might justly suspect that the king of Egypt spoke without authority. H. — The augurs of the latter might declare the truth, (M.) though they could not dive into futurity. H. — Herodotus (i.) informs us, that Nechos fought against the Syrians, (or Israelites) in Magdelum, and took Cadythis, a city as large as Sardis, of Lydia; probably Jerusalem, (D.) or Cades. C.
*H Josias would not return, but prepared to fight against him, and hearkened not to the words of Nechao from the mouth of God, but went to fight in the field of Mageddo.
Ver. 22. Prepared. Heb. "disguised himself," like Achab; (C.) or set his army in array. Sept. "he was bent on fighting him." H. — He supposed that Pharao intended to invade his dominions, and God would withdraw him from the world. W.
* Footnote * Zacharias 12 : 11
In that day there shall be a great lamentation in Jerusalem like the lamentation of Adadremmon in the plain of Mageddon.*H And they removed him from the chariot into another, that followed him after the manner of kings, and they carried him away to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in the monument of his fathers, and all Juda and Jerusalem mourned for him,
Ver. 24. After the manner of kings, is not in Heb. &c. H. — Curtius (iv.) informs us, that the Persian monarch had always a horse behind his chariot, to be ready in case of any accident.
*H Particularly Jeremias: whose lamentations for Josias all the singing men and singing women repeat unto this day, and it became like a law in Israel: Behold it is found written in the Lamentations.
Ver. 25. Lamentations. Some think that we have them in the Bible. Josephus, &c. — Others believe that they are lost. Salien, A. 3425. — Law, on the anniversary; (M.) or when any calamity occurs, the lamentations of Jeremias are used. T. — There were collections of such poems, as well as of canticles, for victory and marriages. C.
*H And his works first and last, are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
Ver. 27. Israel is placed first in Heb. and Sept. H. — The kings of Juda assumed the title, as the kingdom had been subverted above a century; and the wretched remains of Israel had retreated into the territories, (C.) or acknowledged their dominion. H.