II Chronicles 35:4
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
Prepare yourselves by families in your divisions, according to the instructions written by David king of Israel and Solomon his son.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
We are here to attend Josiah, I. To the temple, where we see his religious care for the due observance of the ordinance of the passover, according to the law (v. 1-19). II. To the field of battle, where we see his rashness in engaging with the king of Egypt, and how dearly it cost him (Ch2 35:20-23). III. To the grave, where we see him bitterly lamented (Ch2 35:24-27). And so we must take our leave of Josiah.
Open source ↗35:4-6 The assignments of the priests and Levites mirrored the directions of David and Solomon (8:14-15; 1 Chr 24–26). The Passover animal was typically slaughtered by the offerer (Deut 16:5-6). However, because the offerers did not have time to purify themselves, Josiah continued the practice Hezekiah had begun of having the Levites slaughter the Passover animals (see 2 Chr 30:13-20). In Josiah’s time, the large number of participants also might have caused logistical problems.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
In keeping with the ordinances of his father David, Solomon appointed the divisions of the priests over their service, and the Levites for their duties to offer praise and to minister before the priests according to the daily requirement. He also appointed gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate, for this had been the command of David, the man of God.
These were the divisions of the descendants of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.