2 Chronicles 35:9
Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen. Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel, his brethren, and Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for passover offerings five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.
Conaniah also, and Shemaiah and Nethaneel his brethren, together with Hashabiah and Jeiel and Jozabad, chief of the Levites, gave unto the Levites for Passover offerings five thousand small cattle and five hundred oxen. The cattle and oxen were not the Passover lamb itself but a festive offering associated with the fifteenth of Nisan, eaten after the Passover had been observed the previous night.
The verse belongs to the account of Josiah's religious revival and Passover observance, in which the leaders supported the keeping of the Passover. That Passover was a powerful revival of hope that came shortly before Judah turned deeply back to idolatry and sin. The leaders' support for the Passover shows Josiah was a king who obeyed the Lord's commandments and kept His statutes. His reign ended in 607 B.C., after which the people no longer kept the release years or Jubilees, which could not be observed while the people and land were under foreign rule.
The abundant provision of five thousand small cattle and five hundred oxen illustrates the provision made for the Passover at a time when God blessed His people. Josiah's revival is an example of a great revival leading to missionary endeavor.