2 Chronicles35chapter 35

The instructions to the Levites include a quiet landmark: put the holy ark in the house Solomon built; it shall not be a burden on your shoulders. The carrying duty that defined the tribe since Sinai is formally retired, and they are reassigned to serve the people and the offerings.

The provisions are itemized: thirty thousand lambs and kids and three thousand bulls from the king's own possessions, with large gifts from the officials and from the chiefs of the Levites. The Passover lamb had to be provided for every household, and the crown covered the poor.

The preparation shows the priests and Levites working an assembly line — Levites killing the animals, priests sprinkling the blood, the lambs roasted with fire as the ordinance says, and the other holy offerings boiled in pots, cauldrons, and pans and carried quickly to the people. The two cooking methods sit side by side because the law specifies roasting for the Passover lamb and permits boiling for the other offerings, and the writer records the practice that honored both.

The staffing detail is the sort only an insider keeps: the singers were in their place and did not have to leave it, and the gatekeepers stayed at every gate, because their fellow Levites prepared their portions for them.

Then, thirteen years later, Neco of Egypt marched north to the Euphrates. Babylonian records for these years show Egypt moving north to prop up the last remnant of Assyria against Babylon at Carchemish, which is exactly the campaign described. Neco sent word that his quarrel was not with Judah and that God had sent him; Josiah disguised himself and fought anyway, was hit by archers, was moved to a second chariot, and died. Jeremiah lamented for him, and the singing men and women kept those laments in use for generations.