Need Help Reconciling Two Passages
his is a serious question being posed in this post, and is not meant to imply any attempt to stir anything up. I’m asking sincerely because I honestly have no clue what the answer is. I hope somebody can shed light on this.
First some background. As I’ve mentioned many times in the past, we have been reading through the Bible as a family. We’re not on any particular schedule or “reading plan”, but just reading a few chapters at a time. We’re just going in printed order (i.e., Genesis to Revelation, cover-to-cover).
Tonight, we finished 2 Chronicles. And as I read the last few chapters aloud, something jumped out at me that has me very baffled.
In 2 Chronicles 30, Hezekiah invites all Israel to the Passover. 2 Chronicles 30:21-26 tell us that the celebration of the Passover was so exciting that after the seven days of the feast, they decided to celebrate seven more days. Verse 26 sums up the amazing feast by saying that there was great joy because nothing like this had been done in Jerusalem since the time of Solomon.
Moving on, after Hezekiah’s death, his son Manasseh becomes king. And then Manasseh’s son Amon becomes king 55 years later. After just a two-year reign, Amon is assassinated, and his son Josiah is made king.
Josiah is Hezekiah’s great-grandson, according to the text. Just 57 years after the death of Hezekiah.
Now here’s where it gets confusing for me.
2 Chronicles 35 details a celebration of the Passover under Josiah’s reign. And 2 Chronicles 35:18 has this to say about it:
There had not been celebrated a Passover like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I have added some bold to show what confuses me. If just three generations earlier (and a mere five chapters in our text) we see a grand celebration of the Passover with Hezekiah, why are we now told that none of the kings of Israel ever celebrated the Passover like this? Hezekiah’s is said to be the grandest since the time of Solomon, but the mention of Josiah’s Passover takes it back even before Saul!
Am I missing something very obvious here? Can anyone shed any light on this for me? If you can, please comment below. I’m honestly very puzzled about this oddity.
Until next time,
steve 
November 2nd, 2007 22:25
I’m no scholar or anything. But from what I can see in the text, it looks as though the first celebration was conducted at an unorthodox time. That is not the prescribed date. This would explain why Hezekiah had to send out special notices throughout the land about the celebration. Passover is always celebrated on the 14th day of the first month Nisan. But it’s recorded in 2Chron 30:2-4 that they weren’t able to celebrate Passover at the regular time because enough priests had not been able to consecrate themselves. So the king came up with a new plan to move the celebration to the second month. In any case, I wonder if that is the difference that causes the discrepancy? It is an interesting twist …
November 2nd, 2007 23:25
Steve,
When I read through those passages, the difference (besides the dates, which Sonja mentioned) seems to be simply an order of magnitude. In 2 Chron 30, the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread included 17,000 sheep and 2,000 bulls. In 2 Chron 35, the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread included 37,600 sheep/goats and 3,800 bulls.
Thus, at the time, the celebration in 2 Chron 30 was the greatest celebration of Passover since Solomon. But, as you pointed out, three generations later an even larger celebration was held, which then became the greatest celebration since Solomon.
-Alan
November 3rd, 2007 11:25
I don’t know that I have an answer, but Let me add these thoughts.
Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. (2 Kings 18:5)
Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses. (2 Kings 23:25)
The other kings of Judah either did not follow the Lord or they didn’t follow completely. For example, look at what 2 Kings says about Amaziah.
He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father David had done. In everything he followed the example of his father Joash. The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. (2 Kings 14:3-4)
And also about Amaziah,
He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly. (2 Chronicles 25:3)
Maybe the passages you cited, and the ones in 2 Kings, were more of an accolade for Hezekiah and Josiah because they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.
November 3rd, 2007 12:26
Speaking as a Bible Teacher I think the answer may be in the tendency of the human writers to use hyperbole’s to describe the greatness of what was happening for their time. Are these statements intended to be literal in the sense that no such event had been as great, or were they intended to simply state the internal attitudes of those involved in the celebrations. We often make similar type of statements and although we do not intend for them to be taken literally, we do intend to be understood, and we are not lying, for the statement is true in the moment.
Just some thoughts. Hopefully a scholar of the language will read and help.
Glad you are posting again. I enjoy and read most of the time.
Blessings.
November 3rd, 2007 17:18
Steve,
I would agree with Alan’s thoughts, and add a little of Sonja’s regarding hyperole. In Down-Under we would label it as a bit of “one-up-manship”.
November 5th, 2007 11:26
Steve,
I didn’t have time to look this up earlier, so I’m adding it now.
I think the passages in 1 Chron 30 and 35 are comparing those two Passover sacrifices to the sacrifices that Solomon made when he dedicated the temple, which is reported in 2 Chron 7:5 - “King Solomon offered as a sacrifice 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.” The later sacrifices are not even close to Solomon’s sacrifice. This is why the sacrifices in 1 Chron 30 and 35 would be compared to Solomon’s earlier sacrifice but not compared to one another. Solomon set the standard.
-Alan
November 10th, 2007 23:56
I appreciate the comments in response here. Some of the answers were, in my opinion, rather predictable ones. I’m not sure what I think of it all, but am thankful for the opinions represented here.