2 Chronicles 35:25

My Notes

What Does 2 Chronicles 35:25 Mean?

Jeremiah lamented for Josiah — and the lamentation became a national tradition: "all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day." The grief for the best king produced a permanent liturgical tradition. The mourning was institutionalized — formally incorporated into Israel's worship as an ongoing practice.

The inclusion of "singing women" alongside "singing men" in the formal lamentation tradition is notable. Women's voices were part of the official, ongoing, institutionalized mourning for Josiah. The grief was communal, comprehensive, and gender-inclusive. The tradition that preserved Josiah's memory included every voice.

The phrase "to this day" means the lamentation was still being performed when Chronicles was written — well into the post-exilic period. The grief for Josiah outlasted the kingdom itself. Even after the exile, the return, and the rebuilding, the community still sang the songs of mourning for the king whose death marked the beginning of the end.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What does the formalization of grief (making it a permanent tradition) teach about processing communal loss?
• 2.How does including 'singing women' alongside 'singing men' model comprehensive mourning?
• 3.Why did the lamentation outlast the kingdom — and what does its survival across centuries teach about communal memory?
• 4.What loss in your community deserves a formalized, ongoing memorial rather than a one-time acknowledgment?

Devotional

They wrote songs about Josiah's death. And they're still singing them. The grief for the best king Judah ever had became a permanent part of the community's worship. The lament didn't fade. It was formalized.

Jeremiah wrote the original lamentation — the prophet who warned Josiah not to fight Pharaoh Necho (35:22 — though Josiah didn't listen) now mourns the death his warning was designed to prevent. The grief has a bitter edge: the prophet who spoke the word watches the king who ignored the word die from the ignoring.

The singing men and singing women — both included by name in the tradition — mean the mourning was comprehensive. Every voice participated. The institutional memory of Josiah's death was preserved through the most durable medium available: song. The lamentation was set to music and performed regularly. The grief didn't depend on individual memory. It was embedded in corporate worship.

The 'to this day' stretches the grief across centuries. The lamentation was still being sung in the post-exilic period — after the temple was rebuilt, after Ezra and Nehemiah, after the community had established itself in the land again. The songs of mourning for Josiah outlasted the kingdom Josiah ruled, the temple Josiah reformed, and the exile Josiah's death precipitated.

Some grief is too important to let fade. The community formalized its mourning because the loss was too significant for private memory to hold. Josiah's death wasn't just a king dying. It was the end of the last hope for preventing the exile. The reform that should have saved the nation died with the reformer. And the songs that mourned him kept the community's awareness of what was lost alive across generations.

What loss in your community is too important to let fade — and how are you preserving its memory?

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture