2 Chronicles 35:25

25 The prophet Jeremiah composed a lament for King Josiah. It has become a custom in Israel for the singers, both men and women, to use this song when they mourn for him. The song is found in the collection of laments.

2 Chronicles 35:25 Meaning and Commentary

2 Chronicles 35:25

And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah
Composed a lamentation for him, which is now lost; for what is said in ( Lamentations 4:20 ) respects Zedekiah, and not Josiah:

and all the singing men, and all the singing women, spake of Josiah in
their lamentations unto this day;
who were made use of on mournful occasions, as the "preficae" among the Romans, see ( Jeremiah 9:17 ) these in their mournful ditties used to make mention of his name, and the disaster that befell him:

and made them an ordinance in Israel;
an annual constitution, as the Targum calls it, appointing a solemn mourning for him once a year, which Jarchi says was on the ninth of Ab or July:

and, behold, they are written in the lamentations;
not of Jeremiah; though the Targum is,

``lo, they are written in the book which Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah, concerning the lamentations,''

but respect a collection of lamentations on various subjects then in being, but since lost.

2 Chronicles 35:25 In-Context

23 During the battle King Josiah was struck by Egyptian arrows. He ordered his servants, "Take me away; I'm badly hurt!"

24 They lifted him out of his chariot, placed him in a second chariot which he had there, and took him to Jerusalem. There he died and was buried in the royal tombs. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem mourned his death.

25 The prophet Jeremiah composed a lament for King Josiah. It has become a custom in Israel for the singers, both men and women, to use this song when they mourn for him. The song is found in the collection of laments.

26 Everything that Josiah did - his devotion to the Lord, his obedience to the Law,

27 and his history from beginning to end - is all recorded in [The History of the Kings of Israel and Judah.]