Synopsis of the Chapter
Josiah celebrates the solemn Passover; meeting Pharaoh in battle, he is killed to the greatest mourning of all, but especially of Jeremiah.
Verse 3: Place the Ark in the Sanctuary ¶
3. PLACE THE ARK IN THE SANCTUARY OF THE TEMPLE. — The Hebrews, according to St. Jerome, report that the ark had been taken from the Holy of Holies during the time of Manasseh or Amon, lest it stand together with their idols in the temple. Therefore it had been transferred to the house of Shallum, who was the uncle of Jeremiah and the husband of Huldah the prophetess, chapter 34, verse 22. But now, with the idols removed by Josiah, the ark was restored to the temple and its proper place. Having done this, Josiah said to the Levites: "You shall carry it no more," that is, you shall no longer take the ark out of the temple; therefore henceforth, in the presence of the ark, "minister to the Lord," and at the same time, "to His people Israel," so that you may instruct and direct the people in the law and worship of God.
Verse 8: For the Celebration of the Passover ¶
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE PASSOVER, etc., THREE HUNDRED OXEN. — From this it is clear that "Passover" signifies not only the Paschal Lamb, but also oxen and the other victims that were sacrificed to God at the Passover.
Verse 11: The Priests Sprinkled the Blood ¶
11. AND THE PRIESTS SPRINKLED THE BLOOD WITH THEIR HANDS — on the altar of holocausts, as was prescribed by law. For all blood was owed to God, and therefore was poured out on the altar or beside the altar. For the altar represented God.
AND THE LEVITES STRIPPED THE SKINS FROM THE HOLOCAUSTS — so that afterward the priests might place the flesh, cut into pieces, on the altar and burn it to God with fire set beneath.
Verse 12: And They Separated Them ¶
12. AND THEY SEPARATED THEM — namely, the holocausts (as the Hebrews have it) just mentioned, so that they might be entirely "offered to the Lord" and wholly burned. "They separated," I say, the holocausts from the other victims, in order to "give" (that is, distribute) them "by households and families of each one" — so that each person might offer them to God as peace offerings, and then prepare a sacred feast from them and celebrate banquets. This is clear from what was said in verses 7 and following.
Verse 15: Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun ¶
15. ASAPH AND HEMAN AND JEDUTHUN, THE KING'S PROPHETS — that is, the singers of David. For the singers who sang praises and Psalms to God were called "prophets." So the Hebrews according to St. Jerome. Some of them were, however, true prophets, such as Asaph, who composed and dictated several Psalms by the inspiration of God.
Verse 21: I Am Fighting Against Another House ¶
21. I AM FIGHTING AGAINST ANOTHER HOUSE — namely, against the king of the Assyrians (1). As is clear from 4 Kings 23:29. Abulensis, in 4 Kings chapter 23, questions 41 and 42, thinks that the "other house," or other family and other king, against whom Pharaoh says he was going, was Hadad-rimmon king of Syria, an ally of Josiah; and therefore Josiah forbade Pharaoh passage through Judea, to protect his own kingdom and that of his friend. Abulensis drew this from Herodotus, Book 2, near the end, who says that the king of Egypt named Necus, the son of Psammetichus, fought against the Syrians and won a victory at Magdalo. Here the names seem to be corrupted, so that Necus is put for Neco, Syrians for Assyrians, and Magdalo for Megiddo. But this opinion is improbable: both because no one remembers this Hadad-rimmon king of Syria, and because Pharaoh was heading against the Assyrians dwelling near the Euphrates, not against the Syrians dwelling near Lebanon.
Others think Pharaoh was going properly against the king of Assyria; but this cannot be said either. For Esarhaddon the son of Sennacherib, after the blow his father received from the Angel in Judea, reigned only ten years, and with him and in him as the last king, the kingdom of the Assyrians ended around the twenty-fifth year of King Hezekiah of Judah, which preceded the thirty-first and last year of Josiah by ninety years. Therefore, with Esarhaddon and the kingdom of the Assyrians failing (whence after Esarhaddon, no kings of the Assyrians are named in Scripture, but only of the Babylonians), the kingdom of the Chaldeans arose through Merodach, whom Ben-Merodach succeeded, and him Nabopolassar, who by another name was called Nebuchadnezzar the Elder, who ruled over the Assyrians equally as the Babylonians — hence he is now called king of the Assyrians, now of the Babylonians. And this is the one against whom Pharaoh Neco fought when he killed Josiah, and he seems to have defeated him. Whereupon his son Nebuchadnezzar the Younger, surnamed the Great, wishing to avenge this defeat of his father, who subjugated Judea, Asia, and many other lands, and made himself Monarch, invaded Egypt, fought with Neco, and killed him, and occupied Egypt, as Jeremiah had foretold in chapter 46 and Ezekiel in chapter 29. See the commentary there. So Salianus and others. I have said more on this matter in 4 Kings 24:1.
TO WHICH GOD HAS COMMANDED ME TO GO IN HASTE — through an oracle of Jeremiah, not written but delivered orally, which Jeremiah himself communicated to Pharaoh through a messenger, as the Hebrews report according to St. Jerome. Hence also St. Justin, Question 90 to the Orthodox, teaches that Josiah was killed because he had not at all obeyed the admonitions of Jeremiah not to oppose Pharaoh.
Verse 24: And He Died ¶
24. AND HE DIED — not in Jerusalem, as Josephus claims, but he was killed at Megiddo; from there they carried him dead to Jerusalem, to bury him in the royal tomb.
Verse 25: It Became a Law in Israel ¶
25. AND IT BECAME AS IT WERE A LAW IN ISRAEL — that is to say, a custom prevailed among the Israelites so fixed and established that it seemed to be like a law: namely, that whenever singers and songstresses wished to sing a funeral or mournful song or dirge on account of some sad event, they would adopt and sing the lamentation of Jeremiah over the death of Josiah. And if you wish to know it: "Behold, it is reported to be written in the Lamentations" of Jeremiah. For Jeremiah in the Lamentations, near the end, seems to mourn the death of Josiah, as the Chaldean, Josephus, the Hebrews according to St. Jerome, Lyranus, Abulensis, and Hugo think. However, as I said there, it is more likely that the Lamentations of Jeremiah over the death of Josiah were different from the Lamentations that survive in Sacred Scripture; therefore the Lamentations over the death of Josiah perished with the passage of time.