In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept.
In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah was this Passover kept. 'It is said (2 Kings 22:3) that Josiah sent Shaphan to Hilkiah in the eighth month of that year.' If this statement rests upon a historical basis, all the events narrated here (from 2 Chronicles 34:8 to 2 Chronicles 35:19) must have happened in about the space of five months and a half. We should then have a proof that the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign was reckoned from the autumn (cf. 2 Chronicles 29:3). 'The eighth month' of the sacred year, in the eighteenth year of his reign, would be the second month of his eighteenth year; and the first month of the new year would be the seventh month (Bertheau).