And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
There was no Passover like to that kept in Israel, from the days of Samuel. One feature by which this Passover was distinguished was the liberality of Josiah. But what distinguished it above all preceding solemnities was not the imposing grandeur of the ceremonies, nor the immensity of the assembled concourse of worshippers-for these, with the exception of a few from the kingdom of Israel, were confined to two tribes; but it was the ardent devotion of the king and people, the disregard of purely traditional customs, and the unusually strict adherence, even in the smallest minutiae, to the forms of observance prescribed in the book of the law, the discovery of an original copy of which had produced so great a sensation. Instead of "from the days of Samuel," the author of the Book of Kings says, "from the days of the judges that judged Israel." The meaning is the same in both passages, because Samuel concluded the era of the judges.
All ... Israel that were present. The great majority of the people of the northern kingdom was in exile; but some of the remaining inhabitants performed the journey to Jerusalem on this occasion 37,600 paschal lambs and kids were used, which, at 10 to a company, would make 376,000 persons attending the feast.