2 Kings 23:22
in 2 Kings 23No such Passover had been observed from the days of the judges who had governed Israel through all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Surely there was not kept such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
KJV
Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
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This verse in 2 Kings 23
Commentary
7 notes on this verseLove faith. For by his devotion and faith Josiah won great love for himself from his enemies. For he celebrated the Lord's Passover when he was eighteen years old, as no one had done it before him. As then in zeal he was superior to those who went before him, so do you, my children, show zeal for God. Let zeal for God search you through and devour you, so that each one of you may say, "The zeal of your house has eaten me up." An apostle of Christ was called the zealot.
This site's exposition
Keep the passover unto the Lord your God
on 2 Kings 23:21-23
Josiah commands the passover kept as the newly found book directs, and the record calls it a passover with no equal since the days of the judges, greater in this than any held under the monarchy that followed them. Barnes reads the command as correcting practice that had drifted from the law's letter over generations rather than reviving a feast Judah had wholly dropped. The date is fixed precisely, the eighteenth year of Josiah, the same year already given for the temple repairs and the book's discovery (2 Ki 22:3).
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Upon the reading of these verses we must say, Lord, though thy righteousness be as the great mountains --evident, conspicuous, and past dispute, yet thy judgments are a great deep, unfathomable and past finding out, Ps. xxxvi. What shall we say to this? It is here owned that Josiah was one of the best kings that ever sat upon the throne of David,
Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Surely there was not holden such a passover - Not one on purer principles, more heartily joined in by the people present, more literally consecrated, or more religiously observed. The words do not apply to the number present, but to the manner and spirit. See the particulars and mode of celebrating this passover in 2 Chronicles 35:1-18 (note).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Many of the Israelites who were at Jerusalem might have heard of, if they did not hear, the law read by Josiah. It is probable that they might even have procured a copy of the law, stimulated as they were to the better observance of Jehovah's worship by the unusual and solemn transactions at Jerusalem.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The details of the Passover are given by the author of Chronicles (the marginal reference). Its superiority to other Passovers seems to have consisted: (1) in the multitudes that attended it; and (2) in the completeness with which all the directions of the Law were observed in the celebration. Compare Neh 8:17.
How the passage was read
On 2 Kings 23:21-23On 2 Kings 23:21-23
A Passover like none since the judges
Josiah's reform climaxes not in a battle but in a feast: the king commands the Passover “as it is written in this Book of the Covenant,” and the historian says no Passover like it had been kept since the days of the judges. The verse is a quiet measure of how far the feast had lapsed under the kings, and how central it was to covenant renewal: to come back to God was, concretely, to keep His calendar again.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: 2 Chronicles 35:1–19 (the parallel account, in detail) · Deuteronomy 16:1–8 (the written command Josiah followed)
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נַֽעֲשָׂה֙ | naasah | it had been observed | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כַּפֶּ֣סַח | kapesach | like the passover | H6453 → | 49 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| מִימֵי֙ | mimei | since [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַשֹּׁ֣פְטִ֔ים | hashofetim | the judges | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שָׁפְט֖וּ | shafetu | they judged | H8199 → | 202 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְכֹ֗ל | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יְמֵ֛י | yemei | [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| מַלְכֵ֥י | malkhei | [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וּמַלְכֵ֥י | umalkhei | and [the] kings of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יְהוּדָֽה׃ | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נַֽעֲשָׂה֙it had been observed
naasahH6213 →2628 times
כַּפֶּ֣סַחlike the passover
kapesachH6453 →49 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
מִימֵי֙since [the] days of
mimeiH3117 →2304 times
הַשֹּׁ֣פְטִ֔יםthe judges
hashofetimH8199 →202 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
שָׁפְט֖וּthey judged
shafetuH8199 →202 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְכֹ֗לand all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
יְמֵ֛י[the] days of
yemeiH3117 →2304 times
מַלְכֵ֥י[the] kings of
malkheiH4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וּמַלְכֵ֥יand [the] kings of
umalkheiH4428 →2525 times
יְהוּדָֽה׃Judah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 2.30.154; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.