2 Kings 23:22

22 Certainly such a pask was not made, from the days of judges that deemed Israel, and of all the days of the kings of Israel, and of Judah, (Certainly such a Passover was not kept, from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, or of Judah,)

2 Kings 23:22 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 23:22

Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of
the judges that judged Israel
As the king commanded; the people obeyed and kept the passover, according to the law of the Lord; the manner of its being kept is not here recorded, but is at large in ( 2 Chronicles 35:1-19 ) where it is observed there had not been such an one from the days of Samuel, the last of the judges; so that the days of the judges here mean the last days of them:

nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
since the division of the kingdoms; for as for the kings of Israel, they kept it not; and though it was observed in the times of Hezekiah king of Judah, yet not universally, and by some in their uncleanness; for it is a mistake of Clemens of Alexandria F23, that it was not kept in the times between Samuel and Josiah; in the days of David and Solomon it might be kept by greater numbers, but not with such purity, and with such cheerfulness and joy of heart, or with so many other sacrifices attending it, or so exactly agreeable to the law of God, and with such munificence and liberality; the king, and the chief of the priests and Levites, providing out of their own substance for the people and their brethren.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 Stromat. l. 1. p. 328.

2 Kings 23:22 In-Context

20 And he killed all the priests of [the] high things, that were there upon the altars, and he burnt men's bones on those altars; and he turned again to Jerusalem; (And he killed all the priests of the hill shrines, who were there at the altars, and he burned the bones of people upon those altars; and then he returned to Jerusalem;)
21 and he commanded to all the people, and said, Make ye pask to the Lord your God, after that, that is written in the book of this bond of peace. (and he commanded to all the people, and said, Keep ye the Passover to the Lord your God, after what is written in this Book of the Covenant.
22 Certainly such a pask was not made, from the days of judges that deemed Israel, and of all the days of the kings of Israel, and of Judah, (Certainly such a Passover was not kept, from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, or of Judah,)
23 as this pask (that) was made to the Lord in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of king Josiah.
24 But also Josiah did away men having fiends speaking in their wombs, and false diviners in altars, and he did away the figures of idols, and all [the] uncleannesses, and [the] abominations, that were in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he should do the words of the law, that were written in the book, that Hilkiah, the priest, found in the temple of the Lord. (And Josiah also did away men having fiends speaking in their wombs, and false diviners at altars, and the figures of idols, and all the uncleannesses, and the abominations, that were in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he would do all the words of the Law, that were written in the book that the High Priest Hilkiah had found in the Temple of the Lord.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.