JOSIAH WAS EIGHT years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
3In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the LORD. He said: 4“Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the LORD—6the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are acting faithfully.”
8Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” 10Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
11When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13“Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD’s anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
14Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophetess Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.
15She said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16‘This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. 17Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and provoked me to anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ 18Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 19Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD. 20Therefore I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”
So they took her answer back to the king.
23:1Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. 3The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD—to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
4The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the LORD and where women did weaving for Asherah.
8Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the shrines at the gates—at the entrance to the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which is on the left of the city gate. 9Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
10He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech. 11He removed from the entrance to the temple of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melech. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.
12He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the LORD. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.
15Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the LORD proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.
17The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”
The men of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”
18“Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones.” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
19Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed and defiled all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria that had provoked the LORD to anger. 20Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.
21The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22Not since the days of the judges who led Israel, nor throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, had any such Passover been observed. 23But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the LORD in Jerusalem.
24Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the LORD. 25Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
26Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger. 27So the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘There shall my Name be.’”
28As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
29While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo. 30Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.
Original Meaning
JUDGMENT AGAINST JERUSALEM is delayed but cannot be averted, not even by one of the noblest kings to reign on the throne of Judah. Josiah is the long-awaited king promised by the prophet of Judah to reverse the cursed idolatry introduced by Jeroboam (1 Kings 13:2). He is described as following in the ways of David (2 Kings 22:2), but he is also described in the same terms as the ideal king of Deuteronomy (Deut. 17:20). Josiah does not turn from the teaching of the covenant to the right or to the left (2 Kings 22:2). There is no king like him; he exceeds even Hezekiah in his devotion to the teaching of Moses, from which he does not deviate (23:25). Josiah is a second Moses to complement King Hezekiah, who had been the ideal second David.
One might expect that the expansive reforms of Josiah, instituting the centrality of the temple in worship, and his renewal of the covenant as directed by the Law of Moses (Deut. 31:9–13) would bring about at least a temporary change in the fortunes of Judah. Instead, Josiah dies at the hands of a foreign king (2 Kings 23:29), and the reforms he instituted perish immediately with the succession of his son Jehoahaz. Manasseh is responsible for the death of Josiah; his sin dooms the reform to futility. Josiah’s reign is the first stage on the way to exile.
Discovery of the Book of the Covenant (22:1–20)
THE THIRTY-ONE YEAR reign of Josiah ends in 609 B.C., when he dies fighting the Egyptians in their campaign to the Euphrates against Haran (23:29–30). The Babylonian Chronicle provides a fixed date for the Egyptian campaign.1 Josiah’s reign begins in 640, and he reigns during the declining years of the Assyrian empire, which begins with the death of Ashurbanipal (ca. 631 B.C.). Assyria loses control of Babylon when Nabopolassar comes to power (626 B.C.); Nineveh itself is captured in 612 B.C. The final attempt to retain independence with the help of Egypt fails at the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C. The reign of Josiah takes place during massive transitions of power in international affairs.
The conspirators of Amon are themselves killed by certain civic leaders referred to as “the people of the land” (21:24), who then place Josiah on the throne at age eight. Regents from this group must have been responsible for the king during the years of his minority. His mother is from the Shephelah, the hilly region between the southern coastal plain and the Judean mountains; Bozkath is part of the same administrative district as Lachish, Eglon, and Makkedah (Josh. 15:39). The account of Josiah’s reign is introduced (2 Kings 22:2) and concluded (23:25) with the standard formulas for keeping the covenant: He does not turn to the right or to the left (Deut. 5:32; 17:20), but loves God with all his heart, soul, and strength (6:4).
The disastrous state of the temple must have taken place during the apostate reign of Manasseh. In that time the book of the covenant seems to have been entirely forgotten. The Chronicler provides a variant description of the reform; according to him, Josiah begins to seek the God of David in the eighth year of his reign and to remove the idolatrous high places from Judah and Jerusalem in the twelfth (2 Chron. 34:3). The temple purification begins in his eighteenth year, at which time the book of the covenant is discovered (34:8, 14). Reforms thus begin before the discovery of that book when Josiah turns twenty, the age of majority (34:3).2
The Deuteronomistic History has a particular focus on the book of the covenant; thus, the events are associated with it during the reign of Josiah. It is not difficult to understand why the book may have been moved from its proper place beside the ark of the covenant (Deut. 31:26); Manasseh would not have wanted it there, nor would the priests have wanted to provoke him by leaving it there.
Throughout Judah’s history, repairs to the temple were a continuous necessity. Joash had initiated a policy for financing temple maintenance (2 Kings 12:9–15), and the procedures initiated by Josiah follow that same procedure. Hilkiah, the priest responsible to refurbish the temple, was not likely present during the reigns of either Manasseh or Amon. The families of both Hilkiah and his colleague Shaphan are recoverable through a combination of biblical and epigraphic data.3 Hilkiah is the son of Shallum (Meshullam), who served as high priest during the reign of Manasseh (1 Chron. 9:11; Ezra 7:1–2). Shaphan is son of Azaliahu (2 Kings 22:3), who is also a son of Shallum/Meshullam, quite possibly the same person as Hilkiah’s father; if so, Shaphan is Hilkiah’s nephew. Hilkiah probably receives his position early in the reign of Josiah and initiates a change in the state-sponsored religion present in the temple.
The book found in the temple is readily identified as “the Book of the Law” (22:8; probably Deuteronomy; cf. Deut. 4:44–45; 31:9–13). It was in the custody of the priests along with the ark and was to be read to all Israel at the Feast of Booths every seventh year. Josiah becomes profoundly repentant when he learns about the neglect of the covenant and takes immediate action. In order to learn God’s will (cf. Deut. 18:1–8), he dispatches a delegation to the court prophetess, who lives in the newly expanded area of the city.4 Huldah is the only woman prophet during the kingdom period; she belongs to priestly circles, and her husband is likely the uncle of Jeremiah, instrumental in the reforms of Josiah (Jer. 32:7).5 The message of the prophetess is an unequivocal application of the book’s message to the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. The curse of the covenant rests on them (e.g., Deut. 28:58–68).
The only mitigation to be found in the words of Huldah is a personal application to the king. His penitence will prevent the disaster of the Exile from taking place during his lifetime. The “desolation and curse” on the inhabitants of the kingdom cannot be averted (2 Kings 22:19, NASB; cf. Deut. 28:37), but Josiah will die in peace. In all other circumstances this would signify a natural death, not a death in war as befalls Josiah (2 Kings 23:29–30). Only in such a circumstance of disaster can Josiah’s burial in Jerusalem be described as peaceful.6 Peace for Josiah means he will be buried in his own grave with other distinguished kings of Judah.
Renewal of the Covenant (23:1–20)
THE INEVITABILITY OF judgment on Jerusalem announced by Huldah is a call for Josiah to take immediate action to renew the vow of the covenant collectively, as prescribed in the book that was found (e.g., Deut. 31:9–13). The inclusion of both civil and religious leaders as representatives makes the covenant effective in both civil and religious jurisdictions. This is a high point in the history of the nation; the people not only enter into a covenant with God, but the covenant becomes the legal foundation of the political order.7 Renewal of the covenant is enacted with the purification of worship at the orders of King Josiah.
Purification begins in Jerusalem and focuses on the temple (23:4–14). The cult practices are those of Canaanite religion, which apparently flourished under Assyrian domination during the days of Manasseh. Cult objects of Baal and Asherah, male and female fertility deities, and the “host of heaven” (cf. Deut. 4:19) are burned in the terraces of the Kidron Valley.8 These slopes descend directly from the temple and are a convenient dumping place. Bethel is the northern border of Judah, next to the Assyrian province of Samaria. The dispersion of ashes there symbolizes the defilement of foreign altars to the borders of Judah.
Purification extends to idolatrous objects and to those who led in such practices. A wooden cult statue of Asherah is removed from the temple and burned, the image installed there by Manasseh (cf. 21:7). The “quarters of the male shrine prostitutes” are probably rooms connected to the cult of Asherah. These “sacred persons” have been interpreted in terms of the prohibition of Deuteronomy against sacred prostitution (Deut. 23:18–19), though there is no evidence for ritual prostitution of a fertility cult. “Sacred prostitution” may be a term for any licentious behavior of such consecrated persons.9 As was customary, cult statues were clothed and fed; a group of women were responsible to weave garments for the Asherah idol.
Nothing is known of cultic installations at the city gates. “The gates” (haśśeʿārîm, 23:8) has been read as “goat demon” (haśśeʿīrîm), a cult mentioned elsewhere (cf. Lev. 17:7; 2 Chron. 11:15).10 A gate named Joshua Gate in Jerusalem is not known.11 The purification “from Geba to Beersheba” defines the extent of the kingdom from north to south.12 The rural priests who come into Jerusalem do not have the same status in Jerusalem, but they do have provision of food (2 Kings 23:9). Their restrictions are similar to physically blemished priests (Lev. 21:22–23); their limited rank is likely dictated by the nature of the reform in the allocation of priests.
Manasseh and Amon, the “kings of Judah” (2 Kings 23:11), were responsible for altars and images of other cults in different parts of the outer temple courts and the upper levels and the roof over the stairway or ascending ramp of Ahaz. Ahaz renovated an exterior entranceway (16:18), and some feature of the structure served as a sundial (20:11), erected by Ahaz for the worship of astral deities. Manasseh also built fire pits (tōpet) for various rituals in the burial of children (23:10).13 It is likely there were legitimate uses for such fire pits, but they came to be identified with other gods (mōlek). Idolatrous gods functioned as a king (melek), and children are burned to various gods such as Adrammelek and Anammelek (17:31).
Horses were used in the worship of the sun god (Shamash); in Mesopotamia the emblem of the sun god rode a horse-drawn chariot on festal days. The small decorated cult stand from Taʿanach (in the southern corner of the Jezreel Valley) features a flying sun as one of the depictions of deity. Beneath the sun is an animal identified as a horse.14 One of the registers is an empty space between two sphinxes, which may indicate that this stand depicts the invisible Yahweh. Josiah’s purifications involve the removal of shrines that go back to the time of Solomon (1 Kings 11:5–7). The “Hill of Corruption” (2 Kings 23:13) is a wordplay on the Mount of Olives; instead of the “mount of anointing” (har hammišḥâ) it is the “mount of destruction” (har hammašḥît). Filling the idolatrous places with human bones renders them untouchable (cf. Num. 19:16).
Josiah has a special interest in Bethel as a territory that once belonged to Judah (2 Chron. 11:12). Jeroboam set up a border shrine there in establishing his kingdom. Josiah’s desecration of the altar by burning the bones of the graves on it fulfills the words of the prophet from Judah in the time of Jeroboam (1 Kings 13:1–2). The bones of the prophet are spared, along with those of the old prophet from Bethel, described here as from the territory of Samaria. The purging of the shrines in the cities of Samaria also fulfills prophecy (13:32). Josiah shows no tolerance for the priests of those high places, but punishes them according to the instructions found for the treatment of idolatrous cities (Deut. 13:13–18).
Celebration of the Passover (23:21–25)
CELEBRATION OF THE Passover is an essential aspect of covenant renewal. Its introduction resumes the account of the renewal ceremony (23:1–3), which is interrupted by the lengthy description of Josiah’s reforms, and concludes the account of Josiah’s bringing Judah into conformity with the covenant requirements. With the removal of all the rural shrines, Jerusalem is established as the central place for the Passover celebration, according to the requirement of the covenant (Deut. 16:5–6). The last reported covenant renewal was in the days of Joshua (Josh. 8:30–35, repeated in 24:1–26); the covenant of Josiah is the first occasion since that time when the Passover was celebrated as a national festival with official leaders. The Passover began as a family festival celebrated in each home (Ex. 12:1–20). A central celebration is a monarchic innovation.
The renewal also involves purging all false prophecy in Israel, as also required by the covenant (Deut. 18:9–14). Consultation with the dead was a usual method for receiving a divine oracle. “Mediums and spiritists” refer to some type of necromancy; the ʾôb (2 Kings 23:24; NIV “mediums”) is a ritual pit through which communication can be established with the deities of the underworld. It is an ancient term attested in most Near Eastern languages. The use of “household gods” (terāpîm) also goes back to ancient practice (Gen. 31:19; Judg. 17:5; 1 Sam. 19:13). These images are of various sizes, always associated with communication with a deity.
Death of Josiah (23:26–30)
THE END OF the reign of Josiah confirms the words of Huldah the prophetess. Nothing can reverse the curse that has come on Judah, which begins with the death of the dedicated king. Egypt becomes an ally of Assyria in the crucial days of its collapsing power. When Ashuruballit II, the last Assyrian king, forms a rump state around Haran after the fall of Nineveh (612 B.C.), Egypt supports him with troops. The march of Neco’s army toward the Euphrates three years later is directly related to this support of Assur.
Megiddo is the capital of an Assyrian province and the seat of a governor. It occupies a strategic position and is likely the base of an Egyptian camp. The inner motives of Josiah in going to Megiddo are not obvious. Perhaps with his reforms extending into the territory of Samaria he is attempting to obtain political influence as well. With the collapse of the Assyrian empire, there may be an opportunity to integrate a key defensive city into his empire. The Egyptians resist such ambitions; their goal is to regain sovereignty over Canaan that they lost at the end of the New Kingdom period (1070 B.C.).
Neco’s ambition is to assume control in the former Assyrian provinces. Egyptian forces previously supported weak Assyrian armies in their battles against the Babylonians. Josiah’s encounter with the Egyptians at Megiddo meets with disaster. His tragic death is a calamity. According to the Chronicler, Jeremiah composes a long lament song for his funeral, which remains to his time (2 Chron. 35:25). As at other times, certain civic officials assume leadership and appoint one of Josiah’s younger sons to the throne.
Bridging Contexts
JOSIAH’S LEGACY. It is God’s nature to extend mercy for the most abominable unfaithfulness (cf. Ex. 33:19; 34:6), but there is a limit to his longsuffering nature. Moses received assurance of the divine presence at the abomination of the golden calf (33:12–14), but such mercy is no longer available for Judah. In thematic terms, Josiah’s reign is climactic in the books of Kings. It is the high point of the Deuteronomistic History, which began with the renewal of the covenant at the time of the entrance to the Promised Land. The discovery of the book of covenant renewal inspires the effort of reform and centralization of worship at the temple (2 Kings 23:4–20).
Josiah is the only king to turn to God “in accordance with all the Law of Moses” (23:25). Josiah is the converse of Manasseh, who followed the abominations of the nations (21:2); Josiah does not deviate in any matter (22:2). Manasseh extended worship at the high places (21:3–5, 7); Josiah terminates the foreign priests and purges their places of worship (23:5).
Josiah rectifies three alienations that developed in the history of the kingdom. The first is that created by Manasseh; the second is the division caused by Solomon that left only Judah as the kingdom where the descendants of David ruled; in the last, Josiah destroys all the foreign worship introduced by Solomon and, for good measure, ensures their disuse (23:13–14). Removal of barriers with the north is further achieved by the incineration of the high place at Bethel (v. 15). As much as possible, Josiah rectifies the causes of the Assyrian exile of Israel.
The oracle of Huldah is the impetus for Josiah to undertake these great reforms. The warnings of the Book of the Law require immediate action (22:15–17). The second part of her oracle addresses the future of the king (vv. 19–21). Like Hezekiah, his humility and repentance assure him of peace in his time, including a peaceful death. Both aspects of the oracle are the word of God in ways the hearers of the prophetess cannot fully comprehend.
At the time of her oracle, the full extent of the judgment for the nation is not yet apparent. Contrary to the implication of the message, rending of garments and taking an oath will not change the enormity of the calamity in store for the people. The promise of a peaceful death for the king gives no indication that he will die violently at the hands of a foreign king. Josiah has done all the right things in response to God’s Word. His repentance and reform cannot rescue the nation. The words of Huldah confirm the irrevocable judgment of God. The reign and death of Josiah begin the execution of the sentence that rests on the land.
The problem of Josiah’s death. The violent death of Josiah is a critical question for the prophetic word. The prophetic authors of Kings suggest their own answer concerning the peaceful death of Josiah. In their version of the encounter at Megiddo, Pharaoh Neco goes up to battle against the king of Assyria (23:29).15 This suggests that Josiah dies at the hands of an ally.16 Such a death is to die “in peace.” Peace (šālôm) is the quintessence of covenant; this word expresses communal relations between friends, parties, and nations.17
David instructed Solomon to kill Joab because he had put to death two men who were in alliance with him: Abner (2 Sam. 3:21) and Amasa (19:14). David required the life of Joab because he had spilled war-blood in peace (bešālôm); Joab therefore could not be allowed to die in peace (1 Kings 2:5). If this is the intent of the description in Kings of the death of Josiah, it is a fulfillment of the prophetic word in a way that is not anticipated. It drives home more forcefully the point that the Exile cannot be avoided; King Josiah’s dying in peace does not indicate deliverance from judgment but is another indication of its inevitability.
The Chronicler portrays Josiah on friendly terms with the Egyptians (2 Chron. 35:20–23); Neco is on his way to Carchemish, and Josiah goes to meet him. Neco does not want to fight Josiah but intends to engage his “house of war.” The converse to be inferred is that Josiah represents for him a “house of peace”; that is, Neco regards Josiah as an ally. He counsels Josiah not to oppose God, lest he die; Neco, from a Judean point of view, is considered to be on a mission for God on his way to Carchemish.18 Josiah refuses to heed this word of God through Neco; he is mortally wounded in a confrontation with the Egyptians and dies in Jerusalem.
According to the Babylonian Chronicle, Pharaoh Neco is not going to Carchemish to battle the Assyrians, but to ally with them in their war with Nebuchadnezzar. The motives of Josiah in his attempted intervention at Megiddo do not appear evident in the historical sources, or they are not relevant to the historians in their prophetic declaration of God’s word. Given Josiah’s commitment to cultural and religious reform, the implication is that in an irrational move he somehow intends to further his reforms and increase his influence in the region.19
The author of Kings does not indicate that Josiah goes to Megiddo to engage the Egyptians in war. Ahaz had been summoned by the Assyrian king to confirm his responsibilities as a vassal to the imperial power (2 Kings 16:7–10); a similar intent may be inferred for Josiah’s going to Megiddo. Yet the book of Kings gives no reason for Josiah’s death, though it is not described as the result of battle (23:29).
There is no doubt about Josiah’s intent in Chronicles; Josiah intends to intervene against the Egyptians and ignores their warnings against his rash action (2 Chron. 35:21). This is evident in the Chronicler’s sources; Assyria is not mentioned in Chronicles, since the mission of Neco was regarded as divinely inspired.20 The Chronicler makes Josiah culpable for his actions; Josiah has deliberately disguised himself going into battle in the hopes that he will escape the word of God that has come through his servant Neco.21 This disobedience serves to explain Josiah’s death at the hands of the Egyptians. Kings does not explain Josiah’s death other than to use it as an indication that God has begun to act in his removal of Judah from the land.
The story of Josiah highlights the different historical explanations for the Exile. In Chronicles there is no foreordination of the Exile; it is a result of the collective sin of the people (2 Chron. 36:14–16). Since it is the people who are punished in the Exile, it is the people who are responsible for such a judgment. They have profaned the temple and rejected repeated prophetic warnings, making a mockery of them. The judgment announced by Huldah is postponed because the people repent during the extensive reforms of Josiah (2 Chron. 34:24–28). Chronicles presents the Exile as an interruption in nationhood rather than a final rupture of the covenant (36:22–23).22 While Kings holds Manasseh accountable for the Exile (2 Kings 21:10–14), it also recognizes that this is the final verdict in a long history of offending Yahweh, beginning from the Exodus (v. 15). It is this second explanation that is developed in Chronicles.
The announcement of the Exile because of the sins of Manasseh conditions the understanding of the oracle of Huldah. Her words anticipate a total exile, and they serve to explain the peaceful death of Josiah. The medievals “addressed this conundrum with aplomb.”23 Rashi comments on the announcement that Josiah will die in peace: “And what is this ‘peace’? ‘Your eyes will not see’ the destruction of the temple.” Qimhi explicitly poses the question of peace in relation to Josiah’s death in battle: “That the temple was not destroyed in his days, and thus (the Chronicler) explains and goes on: ‘Your eyes will not see all the evil that I am bringing to this place.’”
The usual understanding of Huldah’s words indicate a peaceful and natural death: Josiah will be “gathered to his fathers.” The Chronicler reports that Josiah is brought back to Jerusalem, where he dies and is buried (2 Chron. 35:24). There he reports the usual lamentations, making special mention of the lamentation of Jeremiah, which becomes an ordinance continuously practiced in Israel (v. 25).
Josiah, Solomon, and Hezekiah. Josiah is described as an incomparable king (2 Kings 23:25); in this respect he joins Solomon (1 Kings 3:12) and Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:5) in being like no other king before him. Each of these three kings excels in different ways. Solomon is praised for his wisdom and wealth, Hezekiah for his unparalleled trust, and Josiah for his reforms.24 If the wicked deeds of Manasseh are responsible for the demise of the nation, then one must also set the regression of most kings over against the positive standards set by a few.
The greatness of Solomon’s reign was legitimated by his dream at the Gibeon sanctuary. There, Solomon as an inexperienced king requested “a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong” (1 Kings 3:8–9). God also granted that which he did not ask, “riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have not equal among kings” (v. 13). The wisdom of Solomon was encyclopedic; it not only included the ability to discern right in difficult situations, as in the case with the two prostitutes (3:28), but it enabled great building projects and a “breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore” (4:29).
Solomon’s administration was renowned as none other, enabling each person to dwell under his own vine and fig tree (1 Kings 4:25). Foreigners were astonished at his wealth; the Queen of Sheba realized she had not heard the half (10:4–6), and Hiram pronounced a benediction on him (5:7). The summary of Solomon’s reign confirms his incomparability (10:23–24); he was greater than all the other kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. Solomon secured two of the Davidic promises: the nation of Israel and the building of the temple.
The reign of Hezekiah is introduced with the theme of trust (2 Kings 18:5). The speech of the field commander repeatedly challenged the trust of Hezekiah (vv. 19–24). He warned against trusting in God, since the God of Israel could not be more successful than any other gods of the lands (vv. 29–30). All of this had the effect of confirming to the hearers this noble quality of Hezekiah, providing assurance that the Assyrians would not be able to defeat Jerusalem. In the end the field commander himself had to concede that Hezekiah had not been dissuaded (19:10).
Hezekiah shows the importance of prayer at critical moments, like the prayer of David (2 Sam. 7:18–29) and Solomon (1 Kings 8:22–53).25 David prayed for the promise of the kingdom, and Solomon prayed for restoration in time of failure. Hezekiah affirmed the supremacy of Yahweh (2 Kings 19:15), like David (2 Sam. 7:22) and Solomon (1 Kings 8:23). Hezekiah offered his prayer in the temple, in accordance with the prayer of Solomon, who enjoined that prayers be made from the house of Yahweh (8:27–30, 33, 35, 38–40, 42, 44, 48). Like Solomon, Hezekiah requested that God’s eyes would be open to his temple (2 Kings 19:16) in order that he might hear the blasphemy spoken against him. Though the trust of Hezekiah would not prevent the exile of his sons, he is the noble example of how trust is effectual against the military forces of imperial powers.
Josiah is the king who comes closest to fulfilling the requirements of the Book of the Law. He is the king who turns to God with all his heart, soul, and strength (2 Kings 23:25; cf. Deut. 6:4–5). Love for God is demonstrated in loyalty to the covenant requirements; in this regard Josiah excels as no other king. The covenant requires repentance and obedience (Deut. 30:1–2); Josiah’s reaction to finding the Book of the Law inspires an immediate rending of garments and a resolve to discover his full obligations through consultation with a prophet (2 Kings 22:11–13). His repentance is the merit on which his eyes will be spared the ultimate judgment that must come upon the city (vv. 19–20). Josiah leads the people in an unprecedented renewal of the covenant (23:1–3) and celebration of the Passover (vv. 22–23). Like no other king, Josiah reverses the failures of the nation. His Passover celebration marks a return to a time before the united kingdom.
Understanding the mystery of evil. Though the guilt of Manasseh and the collective guilt of the Exile explain the death of Josiah, his story leaves a legacy for understanding the mystery of evil. As has been observed, Kings and Chronicles each deal with this problem differently. Chronicles increases the culpability of Josiah for his own demise because of his failure to heed the words of Neco. The question continues to be raised in succeeding literature.26 The two explanations of the encounter at Megiddo are repeatedly contemplated in understanding the lessons of Josiah’s death.
The Greek version of Chronicles has additional verses, which add the guilt of Manasseh as a reason for the death of Josiah. The work in the Apocrypha known as 1 Esdras has a paraphrase of Kings and Chronicles, which explains how the sins of the previous generations provoke the anger of Yahweh, without specific reference to Manasseh. Josiah dies in the battle at Megiddo, but the question of agency is left ambiguous; the implication seems to be that Josiah dies at the hand of God. In Sirach Josiah is remembered in completely positive terms (Sir. 49:1–7). David, Hezekiah, and Josiah are singled out as the only kings who do not commit grave sin.
Jeremiah is singled out as the mistreated prophet, the one who spoke of both the demise and the restoration of the nation. Josephus modifies Huldah’s prophecy to say only that calamity will be delayed until after the death of Josiah (Ant. 10.60–61). Josephus follows the account of Chronicles in detailing the death of Josiah (10.74–78) but makes Neco the bearer of a message from God. Depending on the text followed, it is fate alone, or a fated boastfulness, that is responsible for Josiah’s death. As summarized by Begg, the main lesson of Josephus is that those who conform to the excellent laws of God receive the felicity of God.27
Josephus somewhat evades the dilemma, providing some sort of higher explanation. In the Apocalypse of Baruch, an alternate interpretation of the Exile is provided (2 Bar. 1.1–4). The people force their kings to commit evil, but the result of their exile is a blessing to the nations. This seems to be an interpretation of Kings (2 Kings 23:16–17), along with hope like that promised to Abraham (Gen. 12:3). Baruch elevates the righteousness of Josiah, making him the only one in his generation who acts with faithfulness. The Talmud, in the context of the blowing of the shofar (b. Taan. 22b) has divergent explanations: Josiah presumes to prevail over Neco, because Neco trusts in idols; Josiah is punished because he should have consulted Jeremiah but did not; on his deathbed Josiah acknowledges that his actions were in rebellion against God.
In the traditions of Josiah, various attempts are made to deal with his death. The explanation of Kings, that Josiah’s death is the beginning of the fate of the Exile, and of Chronicles, that Josiah fails to heed the Word of God, are variously developed. In a mixture of ways, later authors shift or diminish guilt, elevate character, or introduce new historiographic understandings. All are obliged to wrestle with the question of culpability and victimization in the death of Josiah. If he is culpable, is it through willful defiance, ignorance, or something else? His death demands reflection on the divine administration of justice in the world. No explanation becomes dominant, nor is there an effort to harmonize them. The work of God in the lives of his people can never be reduced to one formula.
Contemporary Significance
JOSIAH’S SUCCESS. IN the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts hangs a painting by Thomas Hart Benton, a twentieth-century Missouri artist.28 The late afternoon sun casts harsh shadows across a twisted landscape. A man stands at the side of an empty road with a suitcase tied together with pieces of rope. He stares across the road to an abandoned farmhouse, wooden walls weathered gray, roof falling in. In one corner of the painting is a bleached skeleton of a steer. As the man looks across the rutted road, he scratches his greying beard as if pondering something. The painting seems poised to tell a story; the tile on the wall reads: “The Prodigal Son.”
As Benton tells that parable, the prodigal has waited too long. The home that would have welcomed him has become a ramshackle ruin; the fatted calf that once would have fed a homecoming feast is now only bones drying under a tortured, unforgiving sky. The viewer may protest; this is not the way to tell the story. That is the story of Josiah measured by the fate of the nation.
Josiah reads like a story of too little too late. This would not have been his own assessment of his life’s work. The oracle of Huldah leaves some ambiguity as to the extent of the exile that threatens, but the Book of the Law that was found is clear enough about its possibility. The king knows that it is possible in his lifetime. Even if he knew exile would happen in his lifetime, he would likely have done exactly as he did; the Book of the Law instructed him as to his course of action. His reforms are right, irrespective of the eventual outcome for Judah. His action is to the glory of God—which is always the ultimate goal, and a goal that is achievable. If Josiah had as his only goal the preservation of Judah, it is too little too late.
Success in leadership must be measured by the impact it has on people. It has been said that leadership is getting people to go where they want to go by getting them to do what they do not want to do. The success of such a task is a matter of perspective. Within his time, Josiah is immensely successful, more so than any other king who preceded him in the matter of reform. He leads the nation in an unprecedented revival, going back to times before the monarchy even began (23:22). Though the fate of the nation is sealed, Josiah is instrumental in preserving the covenant. This is especially evident in the life of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah and the new covenant. Jeremiah’s call comes in the thirteenth year of King Josiah (Jer. 1:1–2), just five years before the discovery of the Book of the Law in the temple (2 Kings 22:3; 23:23). Jeremiah was an impressionable young man during the reforms of Josiah. The memory of the renewal of the covenant oath (23:1–3) with its concomitant celebration of the Passover (vv. 21–23) and purification of the religion of Judah (vv. 4–22) must have been indelibly etched in the memory of the young prophet.
Jeremiah’s call comes through a blossoming almond. The Hebrew name of the almond is “the watcher” (šāqēd); it teaches Jeremiah that God is ever alert to the fulfillment of his Word, and that God is about to act (Jer. 1:11–12). No word is more solemn than a vow witnessed by God. A vow has the potential of blessing and curse, as is manifest when Huldah read from the Book of the Law. The renewal of the covenant as the people were about to enter the Promised Land held out to them the option of blessing and curse, life or death (Deut. 30:19–20). It demanded loyalty to God: to love the Lord God and to “cling” to him. The heavens and the earth gave witness to this vow, indicating that its endurance was eternal. The great Passover celebration was at the same time a solemn commitment to faithfulness.
Jeremiah is called to watch over the nation (Jer. 1:10); his work is to uproot and tear down, to destroy and to overturn, to build and to plant. These terms are a series of alliterated poetic pairs, ready to roll off the tongue:
lintôš |
welintôṣ |
ûlehaʾ abîd |
welaharôs |
libnôt |
welintôaʿ |
It may be that the first two pairs of his calling are not so clear until the death of Josiah, but there is no question of the loyalty of the prophet to his mission. He suffers much in his vocation. Five years after Josiah’s death, the scroll he writes is systematically burned while it is being read to King Jehoiakim (Jer. 36:9–26). In the last days of the kingdom, Jeremiah is accused of deserting to the Babylonians and is imprisoned (37:13–15), though Zedekiah continues to consult him seeking a word from Yahweh (vv. 16–17). Later he is thrown into a miry pit where he is in danger of starvation (38:1–13). The prophet refuses to compromise the oath he took in the days of Josiah.
Jeremiah is not only the prophet of doom, but also the prophet of the new covenant. The covenant he took in the days of Josiah will not die, even though he and the nation are to go into exile. His task is also watching to plant and to build (1:10; 31:28). The new covenant will be that of a transformed mind in which the relationship with God will remain secure (31:33–34). Jeremiah lives by his words. Two years before the final invasion of the city, he goes out to claim a property in Anathoth that is his to inherit (32:1–15); his action signifies a time of restoration to the land. The commitment of the prophet is more than words; Jeremiah stakes his life’s work on the promise that the Exile is not the end of the covenant.
The equivalent oath is no less decisive under the new covenant than it was in the days of Josiah. The vow of the new covenant is observed in baptism and in communion. Baptism is the declaration of belonging to Christ, of being immersed with him in his death and raised to a new life (Rom. 6:3–11). It is what Jeremiah means when he says that God’s instruction will be in the minds of those of the new covenant, that God will be their God and they will be his people (Jer. 31:33–34). The Eucharist is the transformation of the Passover to become a memorial to the death of Christ (1 Cor. 11:23–26). These two sacraments must be as significant in the life of the Christian as the renewal of the covenant and the Passover that initiated the revival of Josiah.
Expressing Christian values. In a society increasingly hostile to any public expression of the values of the Christian faith, Christians must stand by their own covenant confessions as resolutely as Jeremiah. This must be done judiciously, being sure that it is the gospel that is the offense; it must be done articulately, being sure that the values are properly understood. Christians must recognize that they do not have jurisdiction over state policy in a democracy; at best they can have influence in its formulation. However, in whatever role in life they may find themselves, they must be true to their faith.
This can be costly. A federal politician in Canada, prominent as minister of health, was elected on a platform that was firmly opposed to abortion. His party initiated a law that left virtually no restrictions on abortion.29 The result was the immediate demise of a political career that had spanned a large part of this man’s life. Supporting Christian values in a society bent on individual rights has its price, no less than that suffered by Jeremiah in the last days of Judah.
The critical role of written revelation. The story of Josiah illustrates the critical role of written revelation to establish practice of faith. Josiah began the work of purification in Jerusalem some ten years before the discovery of the Book of the Law in the temple (2 Chron. 34:3). It was the written Word that was the impetus to renewing the vow and centralizing worship at the temple. Though tradition and symbol are critical to faith, the written Word provides a foundation to endurance and faithfulness.
The power of the written Word of God in the English language is well illustrated in the life of William Tyndale. An Oxford scholar and lecturer at Cambridge, he became convinced that the Bible alone should determine the practices and doctrines of the church, and that every believer should be able to read the Bible in his or her own language. Church authorities were well aware of the power of the written Word in the hands of the faithful. Barred from continuing his work in England, Tyndale went to Germany, where he received support from wealthy London merchants. His New Testament was printed at Cologne in 1525.
Tyndale began work on the Old Testament, but was captured in Antwerp and executed at Vilvoorde in 1536. Tyndale’s version is the first vernacular English text to be published and became the basis for most English translations, including the King James Version of 1611. The influence of Tyndale to the present demonstrates the power of the written Word.
Interpreting Scripture in a faith community. While the written Word is of critical importance, it functions in a larger context that is no less essential. When the scroll was found in the temple, Josiah immediately consulted a prophet to determine its significance and a proper response to it. The written Word of itself is not adequate for understanding and practice of the Christian faith. The scroll discovered in the temple was in the language of the people and essentially of their culture. Even in that context, its significance was not self-evident.
A contemporary translation, done so that it is accessible to every believer, can and must accomplish many more tasks than the book found by Josiah. The modern world is far removed from the world of the Scriptures. There are enormous differences of culture and custom and economic and social systems; symbols and metaphors of the ancient world are enigmatic to a modern individual. The profound language and thought of many parts of Scripture cannot be captured at the average reading level of a translation. The hermeneutical methods by which Christ is interpreted as a fulfillment of the Old Testament are sometimes elusive to the most diligent and well-informed student of the Scriptures.
Certain critical questions are answered in the creeds. The church in the first centuries determined the ontological definitions concerning the person of Christ in the formulation of the Nicean creed. Modern technology and changing cultural practice continue to bring difficult ethical questions to a Christian worldview. The practice of faith is a collective exercise, as in the days of Josiah. Christians must be part of a congregation, and congregations a part of the larger faith community. Within the Christian community, the Word of God is the foundation of faith, and every believer must be familiar with it.
The problem of evil. The life of Josiah remains an example of the problem of evil. Trouble and suffering may be the result of natural calamity or human activity. War is one of the worst of evils and is entirely the product of human aggression. The Scriptures testify that God is sovereign over all human activity; the prophetic task is to interpret relations between nations. The explanation for the Babylonian attack was to be found in the book found in the temple.
It is problematic that the beginning of judgment begins with the best of all kings, particularly when he has received the assurance that he will die in peace. The answer to this conundrum comes in various voices, and to some measure they are in tension with each other in the assignment of personal responsibility. One lesson from the Josiah story concerning the problem of evil is that answers must not be readily given, but at the same time the implications of events such as the violent death of a good king are to be seriously considered.
In wrestling with the problem of evil, John Stackhouse asks the question: “Can God be trusted?” He begins with a reminder of our theological limitations:
Some things that we think we want to know will always remain unknown to us, whether in the nature of the case it is impossible for us to comprehend them, or because in God’s kind wisdom they are kept from us. We can seek knowledge where it may be found. And then we can consider whether we have adequate ground for holding on to our belief in God.30
The German philosopher Leibniz held that “all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.” Explanations for the world as mortals know it do not prove satisfying, since full explanations are not available. Part of the problem is in the very definition of evil. Beyond this are the moral questions: How is innocence determined? Why is the experience of evil so inconsistent?
Questions of innocence and evil are paramount in the Josiah story. What culpability did the great king share in his own death? In what way did he die in peace? Similar questions have plagued Christians. In 1755 at 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning an earthquake struck Lisbon. Much of the Catholic city was at mass. In six minutes thirty churches and twelve thousand homes were destroyed. As thousands raced from the rubble, a series of tsunamis carried many more to their deaths. A series of fires raged throughout the city. Fifteen thousand died in the earthquake; the final death toll was as high as sixty thousand.
This terrible tragedy was the inspiration for Voltaire to write Candide, a satire on faith in God. Dr. Pangloss, the object of his parody of faith, is generally thought to be modeled on Leibniz. What made Voltaire so angry was that certain believers at the time thought that the earthquake was God’s anger at Lisbon’s “sinful” ways. That theory must maneuver around some troubling questions. Why should judgment come on the faithful at worship? Why pious Lisbon rather than licentious Paris?
The prophets of the Deuteronomistic History do not attempt to answer the question of justice in the death of Josiah. This tragic event is explained in terms of the larger circumstance of the nation. They understand God’s Word to be fulfilled in history, as the curse of the covenant comes on them. The Chronicler, as is customary in his writing, finds explanation for Josiah’s death in terms of his own personal culpability: He willfully refuses the message of Yahweh that came through the unorthodox channel of a foreign king. Such explanations are possible only under the privilege of divine inspiration. For the Deuteronomists and the Chronicler, the answer to the question of trust is the same: History informs them that God alone is trustworthy.
The trustworthiness of God is their assurance that the covenant relationship will continue for those who trust God. The promised fulfillment of the new covenant is his response to the problem of evil. As a servant of the new covenant, Jesus Christ is humiliated by the taunts of soldiers in an agonizing crucifixion. His identification with the worst of human suffering is heard in his words from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). Those words are so poignant that the Gospel writers remember them and repeat them in Aramaic, just as they heard them. Jesus uses this quotation from the most painful of the lament psalms (Ps. 22:1) to identify with the deepest of human suffering. He voluntarily chooses the way of human suffering in order to gain victory over it. The crucifixion of Jesus is not just another man dying on a cross; his voluntary choice of suffering qualifies him to be the Messiah, the One who fulfills the hope of the new covenant. Christians believe that on the cross things change.31 That cross does not just show us things; it does something once for all.
Christianity provides hope. The voluntary suffering of Christ demonstrates that commitment to the covenant in the fateful days of Josiah was justified. No other faith offers hope the same way. If God cannot or will not do something about suffering, there is no hope. Then mortals suffer evil alone. God’s loyalty to his covenant in the days of Josiah, Jeremiah, and Jesus reminds us that God both can respond and has responded to evil. The story of Josiah is to help believers grasp faith and hope. God our Redeemer will be sufficient in the time of suffering.