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keep the passover, and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar of Jehovah, according to the commandment of king Josiah. And the children of Israel that were present kept the passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread, seven days. And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel, the prophet; 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.†

Notwithstanding, Jehovah turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him with withal. And Jehovah said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city, Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.‡

And, therefore, after all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho,§ king of Egypt, came up to fight against

* 2 Chron. xxxv. 1—17.

"There is not the word +2 Chron. xxxv. 18. 2 Kings, xxiii. 22. such in the Septuagint, but the passage runs thus: "For this passover was not kept from the days of the judges that judged Israel, and all the days of the kings of Israel and kings of Judah; but in the 18th year of king Josiah, there was kept a passover to the Lord in Jerusalem." Dr. Wall,-who seems disposed to infer that the institution of the passover had been wholly neglected since the time of Joshua, except that kept by Hezekiah. See p. 185. But could this solemn institution have been neglected during the reigns of David and Solomon; and yet no censure have been passed on them for such omission? It is remarkable, however, that no mention of its celebration appears throughout a period of 700 years.

2 Kings, xxiii. 26, 27.

"Supposed to be the son of Psammiticus, king of Egypt, who was then proceeding to attack Nabopolassar, king of Assyria.** A. Clarke, quoting Herodotus. It is supposed that the tomb of

Carchemish, by Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him. 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. Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him, but 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. And the archers shot at king Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away; for I am sore wounded. His servants, therefore, took him out of that chariot, and put him into another chariot ;+ and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.§

this monarch, Pharaoh Necho, was discovered by the indefatigable Belzoni, who has given a most interesting account of it, and which may be seen also in Burder. Belzoni's Researches in Egypt, p. 246. Burder, O. L. No. 610. "It was this same monarch also, whose mariners (according to Herodotus) set out through the Red Sea, and encompassed the whole coast of Africa, and returned through the straits of Gibraltar to Egypt." BP. WILSON.

"My idol commanded me to make haste; refrain, therefore, from me, and my idol which is with me, that he betray thee not." Targ. apud A. Clarke, This is far more likely to have been the meaning of the Egyptian monarch, than that he had received or spoke the mind of Jehovah. Scott in loco. And Prideaux, i. 82. who discusses the subject at large. "From the time of the restoration of Manasseh, the kings of Judah were homagers to the kings of Babylon. It was on this account that Josiah went to oppose the king of Egypt, who was going against Babylon and Assyria; viz.: in pursuance of his oath of fidelity to the king of Babylon. And as the destruction of Jerusalem was approaching, God in mercy took him away, that he might not see it." BP. WILSON.

That is, as Josiah believed, Pharaoh's own idol god, not
JEHOVAH. BP. WILSON. Sed contra, A. Clarke and S. Clarke.
Or reserved chariot, as is usual with all military commanders or
monarchs going to battle. Burder, O. L. No. 638.

*

In the reign of this monarch flourished the prophet Zephaniah, who, foreseeing the judgments that were coming on his country, thus forewarned his countrymen; "I will utterly consume all things from off the land saith Jehovah. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith Jehovah. I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims, with the priests, and them that worship the host of heaven upon the house tops; and them that worship and that swear by Jehovah, and that swear by Malcham;† and them that are turned back from Jehovah; and those that have not sought Jehovah, nor enquired for him. Hold thy peace at the presence of Jehovah, God: for the day of Jehovah is at hand; for Jehovah hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. And it shall come to pass in the day of Jehovah's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. In the same day, also, will I punish all those that

"That is, blacks. For the priests of Jeroboam were clothed with black robes, in opposition to the priests at Jerusalem." Bp. WILSON. "The black robed priests of different idols. Hence the Jews, in derision, call Christian ministers Chemarim, because of their black clothes and garments. Why we should imitate in our sacerdotal dress, those priests of Baal, is strange to think, and hard to tell." A. Clarke. Burder, O. L. No. 1097.

The same as Moloch. Gray's Key. "That is, those who mingle the worship of the true God and idols together. 1 Kings, xviii. 21. Neh. xiii. 24. Rev. iii. 16." S. Clarke. In other words, who carry religion in one hand, and the world in the other.

"That is, the Chaldeans, who were to slay this sacrifice, and feed upon and devour their wealth and substance. Ezek. xxxix. 17. Rev. xix. 17. S. Clarke.

leap on the threshold, who fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish-gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off. And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees, that say in their heart, Jehovah will not do good, neither will he do evil. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. The great day of Jehovah is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of Jehovah; the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against Jehovah, and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy; for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before

Zeph. i. 9. Harmer supposes this alludes to the practice of the wild Arabs riding on horseback into the houses of the inhabitants, to prevent which, the doorways are made small and the thresholds high; and that it does not allude to the worship of Dagon, as the Chaldee Paraphrast suggests. HARMER, vol. 1. 219, 324,

the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of the anger of Jehovah come upon you. Seek ye Jehovah, all ye meek of the earth, who have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be that ye shall be hid in the day of the anger of Jehovah."*

The prophet Jeremiah, too, lived during nineteen years under the reign of Josiah; and, therefore, the early part of his prophecy is referable to that period. †

Josiah was buried in his own sepulchre, and was succeeded by his son, Jehoahaz.‡ And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah; and the prophet Jeremiah lamented for him, and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations, and made them an ordinance in Israel:§ and, behold, they are written in the Lamentations.||

A. C.

JEHOAHA Z.

His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his fathers had done.

610.

* Zeph. i. 2-18. ii. 1-3.

Jer. i. 2. And Scott in Jer. xxv. 3.

2 Kings, xxiii. 30. § Zech. xii. 11. 2 Chron. xxxv. 24. 2 Chron. xxxv. 25. It is a point of dispute amongst the most able critics, whether the Lamentations here referred to, are or are not the same, as those we now have at the conclusion of Jeremiah's prophecy. Anselm Bayley, Patrick, Gray's Key, 384. 390, and A. Clarke. Dr. Wall thinks Josiah is referred to in Lam. iv. 20. Note on 2 Chron. xxxv. 25.

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