Problem

Where was Josiah Buried?

2 Kings 23:30 - And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead.
2 Chronicles 35:24 - His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.

In 2 Kings 23:30 Josiah was buried in his own sepulchre.

In 2Chron. 35:24 Josiah was buried in a sepulchre belonging to his fathers.


Solution

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This can be solved by looking at “where his burial was ” and “where he was buried”

2 Kings 23:30 says that Josiah’s burial was generally in “Jerusalem” and he was specifically buried “in his own sepulchre”.

2 Chron. 35:24 says that his burial was specifically in “Jerusalem,…in…the sepulchres of his fathers” and he was generally buried “in one of the sepulchres of his fathers”

The italicized words were an attempt to clarify where Josiah was buried.

The Kings of Judah would always be buried in the sepulchres of their fathers, unless the people hated the king. For example, King Jehoram…
2 Chron. 21:20. Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired. Howbeit they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.

King Joash…
2 Chron. 24:25. And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.

2 Chron. 28:27. And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Of course, there was a good king, Uzziah, who was not buried in the sepulchres of his fathers, but was buried in a field belonging to his fathers b/c he was a leper.

2 Chron. 26:23. So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

There was also, another king of Judah, Asa, who was at first godly, but later relied on others and not on God. He built for himself and apparently for others some sepulchres which were separate from the sepulchres of the house of David.

2 Chron. 16:13. And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.
14. And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him.

It is possible that Jehoram, Joash, Uzziah, and Ahaz were buried in the sepulchres that their father, Asa, built.

Another interesting thing is King Hezekiah.
2 Chron. 32:33. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.

King Hezekiah was probably buried with David and Solomon.

So there are two groups of sepulchres for the kings of Judah. One is the sepulchres of King Asa and the other is the sepulchres of the House of David. Since Josiah was a good king he was buried in the sepulchres of the House of David in his own sepulchre b/c the people of Judah and the prophet Jeremiah loved him and mourned for him at his death (2 Chron. 35:24-25).

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