Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/403

Rh And Josiah kept a passover unto the in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the. And he said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David king of Israel did build; there shall no more be a burden upon your shoulders: now serve the your God, and his people Israel. And prepare yourselves after your fathers' houses by your courses, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son. And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the fathers'

To the Chronicler "the book of the law" signified the whole Pentateuch in its final form; to the compilers or editors of Kings (the Chronicler's source), who probably wrote at the "Deuteronomic" stage of the history, it no doubt meant Deuteronomy; and lastly, according to modern judgement the book actually discovered was either the earliest or essential portions of Deuteronomy or possibly a pre-Deuteronomic prophetic writing demanding the purification of worship in Jerusalem and urging the abolition of the sacrifices and feasts at the local shrines.

XXXV. 1—19 (= 1 Esdras i. 1—22; cp. 2 Kin. xxiii. 21—23).&emsp;

Regarding the reference to 1 Esdras i. in the heading above, see the Introd. § 10, s.v. Greek Versions, where the important fact is noted that in 1 Esdras· we have an old LXX. text, earlier than the so-called LXX. of Chron., and representing a Hebrew text older than the present Masoretic form. For introduction and notes on the text of 1 Esdras see the edition by S. A. Cook in Charles' Apocrypha, vol. I.

1. the first month] The legal month was Nisan, or as it was called in pre-exilic times Abib; cp. Ex. xii. Cp. also xxx. 2 (with note).

2. in their charges] i.e. at their duties.

encouraged them] As Hezekiah had done; cp. xxix. 5—11, xxx. 22.

3. that taught all Israel] Cp. Neh. viii. 7, 9.

Put the holy ark in the house] This rather curious remark seems to imply that the ark had been removed from the Temple either by Manasseh or by Josiah during the repairing of the house. The Levites are bidden to set it in its place without delay, and to devote themselves to the tasks related in vv. 4 ff.

4. the writing of David] Cp. 1 Chr. xxiii. 27, xxviii. 19—21.