(18) And there was no Passover like to that.--2 Kings 23:22.
From the days of Samuel the prophet--Kings, "from the days of the judges that judged Israel," of whom Samuel was the last and greatest (1 Samuel 7:15).
Neither did all the kings of Israel.--Kings, "and (from) all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah." (Comp. 2chron xxx 26).
And the priests . . . Jerusalem.--Not in Kings. A characteristic addition.
Israel that were present.--Rather, Israel that was present, i.e., the remnant who had come from the ruined kingdom of the ten tribes. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 34:33).
Verse 18. - Upon this verse Professor Murphy says, "The Passover in Hezekiah's time was great (2 Chronicles 30:26), but this was greater. For it was kept on the proper day in the first month, and was not a mere supplementary Passover; it was observed with due regularity, and not by worshippers some of whom were unclean; and if we allow thirteen persons for each lamb or kid, there were upwards of half a million communicants; while, so far as we know, there were only seventeen thousand sheep presented by Hezekiah and his princes (2 Chronicles 30:24), which would not supply more than half the number of partakers.
35:1-19 The destruction Josiah made of idolatry, was more largely related in the book of Kings. His solemnizing the passover is related here. The Lord's supper resembles the passover more than any other of the Jewish festivals; and the due observance of that ordinance, is a proof of growing piety and devotion. God alone can truly make our hearts holy, and prepare them for his holy services; but there are duties belonging to us, in doing which we obtain this blessing from the Lord.
And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel,.... So exactly according to the law, so universally by Israel and Judah, and with such liberality shown by the king, and the chief of the priests and Levites; of this, and the following verse; see Gill on 2 Kings 23:22; see Gill on 2 Kings 23:23
From the days of Samuel the prophet--Kings, "from the days of the judges that judged Israel," of whom Samuel was the last and greatest (1 Samuel 7:15).
Neither did all the kings of Israel.--Kings, "and (from) all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah." (Comp. 2chron xxx 26).
And the priests . . . Jerusalem.--Not in Kings. A characteristic addition.
Israel that were present.--Rather, Israel that was present, i.e., the remnant who had come from the ruined kingdom of the ten tribes. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 34:33).