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2 Chronicles 30 · a question people ask

This chapter says there was nothing like it since Solomon. Doesn't the book say the same of Josiah's Passover?

In the text

Here are the verses side by side. Of Hezekiah's feast: "So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was nothing like this in Jerusalem" (30:26). Of Josiah's: "There was no Passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet, nor did any of the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept" (35:18). And 2 Kings, of Josiah's: "Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah" (2 Kings 23:22). Each verse says in its own words what it measures: 30:26 follows "there was great joy in Jerusalem" and reaches back to Solomon; 35:18 speaks of "such a Passover" and reaches back to Samuel. 2 Kings tells no Passover of Hezekiah's; the only Passover in 2 Kings is Josiah's (2 Kings 23:21-23). These notes don't reconcile the verses or say why they differ.

The verses

“So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was nothing like this in Jerusalem.”
2 Chronicles 30:26 · World English Bible
“There was no Passover like that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet, nor did any of the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept—with the priests, the Levites, and all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”
2 Chronicles 35:18 · World English Bible
“The king commanded all the people, saying, “Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.” Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; but in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was kept to the LORD in Jerusalem.”
2 Kings 23:21-23 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Chronicles 30

2 Chronicles 30: If you return to him

Hezekiah's letters use one Hebrew verb, shuv, six times in 30:6-9: turn again, and the LORD will return (30:6-9). And the promise at their heart uses another: he "will not turn away his face from you if you return to him" (30:9), where turn away is sur, to remove.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions