← Contents 2 Chronicles 34:1–33 ←→

2 Chronicles 34:1–33

34 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 34:2And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 3 34:3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images. 4 34:4And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 34:5He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 34:6And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins 1 all around, 7 34:7he broke down the altars and beat the Asherim and the images into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

8 34:8Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. 9 34:9They came to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim and from all the remnant of Israel and from all Judah and Benjamin and from the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 34:10And they gave it to the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord. And the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord gave it for repairing and restoring the house. 11 34:11They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone, and timber for binders and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let go to ruin. 12 34:12And the men did the work faithfully. Over them were set Jahath and Obadiah the Levites, of the sons of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to have oversight. The Levites, all who were skillful with instruments of music, 13 34:13were over the burden-bearers and directed all who did work in every kind of service, and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.

14 34:14While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord given through 2 Moses. 15 34:15Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. 16 34:16Shaphan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, “All that was committed to your servants they are doing. 17 34:17They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the Lord and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen.” 18 34:18Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it before the king.

19 34:19And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. 20 34:20And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 21 34:21“Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.”

22 34:22So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent 3 went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. 23 34:23And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 24 34:24Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. 25 34:25Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched. 26 34:26But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 27 34:27because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 28 34:28Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’” And they brought back word to the king.

29 34:29Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 34:30And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. 31 34:31And the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. 32 34:32Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 34:33And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

1 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

2 Hebrew by the hand of

3 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks had sent

Section Overview

Whereas the Kings account relates everything to events in the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign (2 Kings 22:3), Chronicles describes his consistent faithfulness toward God, mentioning his eighth and twelfth years (2 Chron. 34:3) before recounting extensive details centered in his eighteenth year (v. 8; 35:19). The narrative follows Josiah’s initiatives and personal actions:

  1. (1) In the “purging” from the twelfth year (34:3–7), he is the subject of almost all verbs.
  2. (2) In the eighteenth year, he “sent Shaphan . . . to repair the house” (v. 8), which led to the finding of the book and its being brought to him.
  3. (3) “When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes” and “commanded” the inquiry “of the Lord” (vv. 19–21), resulting in the word from the Lord through Huldah (vv. 22–28).
  4. (4) Upon receiving back the word, “the king sent and gathered together” and “went up to the house of the Lord” (vv. 29–30a); there “he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant” and “stood in his place and made a covenant” (vv. 30b–31); then “he made all . . . join in it” (v. 32).
  5. (5) Finally “Josiah took away all the abominations . . . and made all . . . serve the Lord their God” (v. 33).

As with Hezekiah’s reforms, with their combination of “cleansing” and “consecrating” (cf. comments on 29:5–19), Josiah’s initiatives exemplify both the negative action of removing all objects related to pagan worship and the positive commitment to “follow the Lord, the God of their fathers” (34:33). “Humbling oneself” led to a covenantal commitment when the “Book of the Law” and the Lord’s word through the prophetess were heard (contrast 36:16).

Section Outline
  1. IV.C. Josiah Leads Reforms and Passover Celebration (34:1–35:27)
    1. 1. Josiah’s Reforms (34:1–33)
Response

Josiah becomes an example of youthful spirituality that grows in depth, with faithful submission to God and his Word, even when the message is not pleasant. The book of Job opens with the penetrating question, “Will Job serve God if he gets nothing out of it?” (Job 1:9 AT). Do people serve God only to avoid judgment or to gain a blessing? Both of these may result, but the only appropriate response to a covenant-keeping God is humble, obedient trust “with all [one’s] heart and all [one’s] soul” (2 Chron. 34:31). Six centuries later, a descendant of Josiah was to live a life of perfect, obedient trust; irrespective of what lay ahead, he prayed, “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39). Trust that issues in obedience is both the response to and the goal of God’s grace (Rom. 1:5; Eph. 2:8–10).

The people’s response after Josiah’s death, however, is a reminder that “the Book of the Covenant” or reform that is imposed does not by itself bring lasting corporate change.3 The history of the Christian church and its expansion provides many examples of the use of force (whether political, military, ecclesiastical, or familial) to impose religious conformity, even “conversions,” with largely negative results. The prophets looked forward to spiritual transformation through the inner working of the Spirit, bringing a “new heart” (Ezek. 36:25–27; cf. Hag. 2:5; Zech. 4:6; 12:10), now joyously proclaimed as coming to fulfillment not only for the nation of Israel but for all peoples (Acts 2:38–39; Romans 8; Gal. 5:16–26).

1 Dillard, 2 Chronicles, 280.

2 While the Pentateuch has come to be known as Torah (“Law, Instruction”), within the Pentateuch itself the phrase “book of the law” is used of Deuteronomy or parts thereof (cf. Deut. 17:18–20; 28:58–61; 29:21; 30:10; 31:9–13, 24–29). What is more, the central emphases of Josiah’s reform seem to be drawn from the central concepts of Deuteronomy.

3 Thompson, 1, 2 Chronicles, 379.