Josiah Finds the Book of the Law
Josiah came to the throne at eight and by his eighteenth year was funding repairs to the temple. During the work the high priest Hilkiah finds a book of the law; it is read to the king, and he tears his clothes.
He sends to the prophetess Huldah to ask what it means — she is consulted in preference to Jeremiah and Zephaniah, both active at the time — and she confirms the judgment on Judah while promising Josiah will not live to see it.
The reform that follows is the most thorough in the history of the kingdom: shrines dismantled, the Asherah pole burned, the altars at Bethel and across Samaria destroyed, and a Passover kept such as had not been observed since the days of the judges. Many scholars connect the scroll with the core of Deuteronomy. Josiah is killed at Megiddo facing Pharaoh Neco, and the reform does not outlive him.
Where in scripture
[1] Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. [2] He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, and walked in all the way of David his father, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left. [3] In the eighteenth year of king Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to Yahweh’s house, saying, [4] “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which is brought into Yahweh’s house, which the keepers of the threshold have gathered of the people. …
2 Kings 22:1–20 — opening verses
[1] The king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. [2] The king went up to Yahweh’s house, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, with the priests, the prophets, and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in Yahweh’s house. [3] The king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before Yahweh, to walk after Yahweh, and to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people agreed to the covenant. …
2 Kings 23:1–30 — opening verses
[1] Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. [2] He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, and walked in the ways of David his father, and didn’t turn away to the right hand or to the left. [3] For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the Asherah poles, the engraved images, and the molten images. …
2 Chronicles 34:1–33 — opening verses
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
