2 Kings 21:1–23:37

21:10–15 Once again, the word of the Lord comes “by his servants the prophets” to call “time” on the rebellion of his people. The prophets involved are unspecified, but the result of the reign of Manasseh is spelled out in verses 11–12. First, “Manasseh king of Judah” is indicted. The prophets declare that he “has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols.” The comparison with both Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:10) and Ahab (1 Kings 21:21) is clear, particularly the fact that he has caused God’s people to sin.

Therefore the judgment is announced: “Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle” (cf. 1 Sam. 3:11; Jer. 19:3). Essentially the same fate is about to befall Judah as befell Israel in 722 BC, as God says, “I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down” (drawing on imagery from Isa. 28:17; also Isa. 34:11; Lam. 2:8; Amos 7:7–9). Judah will be wiped away like dirt on a dish when exposed to the cleansing power of detergent. The same standard applied to Israel is applied to the southern kingdom by the God who is utterly just. They will be totally removed. As a result of their sin, God says:

I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day. (2 Kings 21:14)

This is not a knee-jerk reaction. This judgment is the result of generations of idolatry, stretching back far beyond the existence of the two kingdoms to the beginning of the people of God at the exodus. The problems of Judah run deep, and as a result the very house of David and its attached promises are under threat. Yahweh says that judgment is coming, and it will be terrifying, devastating, all-encompassing, and utterly irresistible.

To underline the point, we are told how Manasseh also fills Jerusalem with innocent blood and makes people “sin sins” (cf. v. 16). No wonder he gets the dark accolade of being the only king of Judah or Israel to see this sinfulness acknowledged in his obituary: “Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?” (v. 17).

21:16–18 Manasseh’s unique contribution to this dark canvas is to “shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another” (cf. 2 Kings 9:7),³ as well as, of course, ensuring that idolatry flourished. The long reign of this most evil of kings comes to an end quietly, and he is “buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza,”⁴ but his peaceful demise cannot mask the fact that his reign has attracted the most terrible of judgments, even as “Amon his son reigned in his place.” In 2 Chronicles 33:10–20, it is recorded that Manasseh repented toward the end of his life. No reference is made to this in Kings, presumably because the significance of Manasseh is that his reign is the tipping point for the nation as a whole. Our writer is interested less in Manasseh the man and more in Manasseh the king, who led the people of God across the line of judgment, to a place from which there was no way back.

21:19–26 The short reign of Amon (“he reigned two years in Jerusalem”) is notable only for the fact that he bears more resemblance to the kings of Israel than to a ruler from the line of David. It is clear from verse 19 that whatever was Manasseh’s personal piety by the end of his life, his legacy is one of ongoing idolatry. His son Amon is both an idolater (vv. 20–21 tersely sum up what we need to know: “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them”) and a man of the people (v. 23). Like his father, who reigned for a staggering fifty-five years (more than any other king of Judah), Amon is immensely popular. Humanly speaking, they are great kings—but they cross a line and walk into judgment. Judah continues to careen down the road to disaster. It is obvious that there is now no turning back.

The writer adds that Amon “abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.” There is no ambiguity: this king has no interest at all in serving or following the God of his fathers. As Judah becomes more and more like Israel, the political machinations that had dominated Israel’s succession for generations become more prevalent. In this case, the “servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house” (v. 23). However, Amon appears to have been a popular king, and “the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.” Like his father, Amon is laid to rest in the peaceful surroundings of his own garden, but the reign of Amon offered God’s people no peace at all.

22:3–7 In the “eighteenth year of King Josiah,” the king decides it is time to instigate a review of practices in the temple (exactly as Jehoash did in 2 Kings 12:9–16) and, in particular, to audit the “money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people.” Whatever has happened up to this point, now King Josiah insists that the money be “given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” The implication seems to be that the priests or Levites given the job of supervising renovations at the temple have not been doing their job. So, from now on, the “workmen” themselves will handle the money, directly paying all subcontractors working on the structure (“that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons”). When Josiah adds that “no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly,” there is surely an implied criticism of those in the temple hierarchy who have been involved in the project up to this point.

22:8–10 During the renovation project, incredibly, “Hilkiah the high priest” rediscovers what he calls the “Book of the Law.” What is so startling is that the priests had lost it in the first place! However, given the fact that Manasseh had ruled for over fifty years, doing everything in his power to eradicate biblical orthodoxy, perhaps it is not quite so surprising after all. No explanation is offered as to the nature of this book, but given what follows, it seems to be closest in content to the book of Deuteronomy.⁵ On discovering the book, “Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan [the secretary], and he read it,” and in turn Shaphan mentions it in his regular report to Josiah.⁶ After updating the king on the progress of the financial reform of the temple restoration project, Shaphan announces quietly that “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book” and reads it “before the king.” There is a certain irony in the king’s officials doing what the king was supposed to do for himself every day (according to Deut. 17:14–20).

22:11–13 This reading has an instant impact on Josiah, who “tore his clothes” as an expression of grief (cf. Judg. 11:35; 2 Sam. 13:31; 1 Kings 21:27). The king’s response in 2 Kings 22:12–13 reveals something of the spiritual darkness of this period, as he commissions his servants (including a priest, a secretary, and his personal servant) to

go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us. (v. 13)

The uncertainty surrounding the necessary response to the realization that God’s people have been flouting his will is telling. After years of infidelity, even the godly king is ignorant of how to respond.

22:14–20 The delegation seeks out “Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe.” This woman is otherwise unknown and is the first female prophet encountered in the book of Kings. It is not entirely clear why so much emphasis is placed on her pedigree, nor why her location is given. Perhaps the writer intends to make the point that even though the Book of the Law (and much of the heart of Judean religion) had been lost, God still has his people in unexpected places (even in the middle of Jerusalem), and his word still controls the destiny of all. The word of the prophetess in this case is less than encouraging. The conviction that falls on the king as the book is read aloud is a sign of the judgment about to fall on the nation. She begins, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me.’” The reference to the “man who sent you” seems to refer to Josiah as a typical Judahite, representing all of his people. The message to him is chilling:

Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. (vv. 16–17)

There is no way back for the people—the same judgment that befell Ahab (1 Kings 21:21) and Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:10) will now be visited on Judah.

However, the oracle does not stop there. Huldah adds another message for Josiah himself:

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. (2 Kings 22:18–19)

Yahweh is the God who responds to cries for mercy from sinful people. What is striking is that at this stage of history, the “best” Yahweh can offer is for this king to be spared the sight of his own people being taken into judgment: “‘Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers [cf. Judg. 2:10], 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 they brought back word to the king.” God’s strange mercy is extended to Josiah in the shape of an early death. There has been much discussion of how this prophecy fits with Josiah’s eventual death. On balance, it seems best to read Huldah’s words as containing two predictions: one of Josiah’s death, and another of his peaceful burial, which would not preclude death in battle.

23:3 Standing at the “pillar” (presumably Boaz or Jachin [1 Kings 7:21] as Jehoash had done in earlier reforming times [2 Kings 11:12–14]), Josiah does what no other king has done and makes a “covenant before the Lord.” The terms of this covenant are strongly reminiscent of Deuteronomy: “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 this covenant that were written in this book” (cf. Deuteronomy 6). This is the closest thing we have seen to a Deuteronomy 17 king in the entire history of the people of God. The most heartening aspect of the event is that “all the people joined in the covenant.” This is national repentance of a kind we have not seen up to this point.

23:4–15 Josiah’s positive commitments are matched by his determination to work out the implications of this covenant. These verses detail the systematic destruction of the apparatus of pagan worship in Judah. First to go are “the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven.” Josiah orders that these be removed from the temple, and he then “[burns] them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and [carries] their ashes to Bethel.” He will have use for these ashes in due course. Josiah then moves on to take action against the “priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem.” The word for priests here is not the normal one for the temple staff; this is probably because these are pagan priests and this is the first time that the staff at the high places have been dealt with, rather than simply the high places themselves. Josiah also deals summarily with “those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens.”

In verse 6, Josiah’s attention returns to cultic objects, as he “brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.” This language is strongly reminiscent of the golden calf incident in Exodus 32:20 and Deuteronomy 9:21. The action is designed to insult and discredit the god the pole represents. Similarly, “he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah.”

At this juncture, more priests are introduced—this time perhaps priests of Yahweh (albeit ones heterodox in their theology!). These temple priests are forced to come with Josiah as he “[defiles] the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba.” The fact that “high places of the gates” are “at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city,” is another measure of the depth of apostasy among God’s people. The fact that Josiah destroys them is a mark of his piety.

The process of purifying Judah is not always straightforward, as the next verse makes clear. The problem is that, according to 2 Kings 23:9, “the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers.” It may be that rather than being redeployed, these tainted priests are simply sent home to resume a normal life now that their cultic activities are discontinued.

The relentlessness of Josiah’s campaign is evident as he moves on to deal with “Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech,” as well as dealing with “the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts.” The range of previously unmentioned idolatrous practices right at the heart of the life of the nation is staggering. Josiah also burns the “chariots of the sun with fire” (v. 11) and the “altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz” and deals with the “altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord” (v. 12).

Gradually, Josiah works out from Jerusalem, decommissioning the “high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption” (probably a pun on the Hebrew for “Mount of Olives”), which had been established long ago under Solomon for the worship of “Ashtoreth [the name of the goddess Astarte combined with the vowels of the Hebrew word for shame] the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.” His determination to ensure that these places do not reemerge as worship centers is reflected in the fact that he “[fills] their places with the bones of men” (v. 14). Jeroboam’s “altar at Bethel” receives similar treatment.⁷

23:16–20 As the account of Josiah’s purification of Judah draws to a close, the fact that his actions are driven by the word of the Lord is highlighted. On seeing the “tombs there on the mount” (presumably of former priests of the idolatrous shrine at Bethel), Josiah exhumes the bones and “[burns] them on the altar and [defiles] it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things” (for the idea that death contaminates, see Numbers 19). This is a reference to 1 Kings 13:1–3, where a “man of God” had predicted these events and had been memorialized with a monument Josiah asks about in 2 Kings 23:17. The fact that Josiah pronounces, “Let him be; let no man move his bones,” underlines his commitment to bring the nation back into line with the word of God. “So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria.”

Such is the king’s reforming zeal that he extends his campaign even to “all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger.” Josiah even “sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.” No king (or prophet or priest) has ever mounted such a sustained and thoroughgoing campaign to bring the worship of God’s people into line with his word, nor has any king since Solomon claimed authority over the whole of the land.

23:21–23 The pinnacle of Josiah’s achievements is recorded here, as the Passover is reestablished at the heart of the nation. Having read of the feast in “this Book of the Covenant” (presumably Deut. 16:1–8), Josiah commands that it happen. The writer’s commendation of this national event is striking: “No such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.” The last recorded national Passover was mentioned in Joshua 5:10–12. Now this Passover, unlike any in the kingdom (whether united or divided), takes place in an environment in which the nation’s worship is not sullied by idolatry in the background. This ideal event does occur, however, at one of the darkest moments in the history of the nation. It is a deeply bittersweet scene.

23:24–25 Josiah’s success in dealing with idolatry is highlighted once more, this time including the “mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah.” Under God he brings about real moral change and reformation in the practice of every home, so that “he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.” No wonder the affirmation he receives outstrips even that of Hezekiah: “Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.” Josiah is the only king who manages to consistently embody the qualities of Deuteronomy 17:14–20 throughout his reign. His life is shaped by Deuteronomy 6: he listens to Yahweh, he loves and serves Yahweh, and he hates idolatry. He is the kind of king envisaged in Deuteronomy 17, one who reads and obeys the Bible and serves his brothers selflessly. Second Kings 23:24–25 is as good a commendation as there is in Kings—which only makes the statements that follow even harder to read.

23:26–27 Even the godly courage and integrity of Josiah is too little, too late. “Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah.” There can be no going back. Hundreds of years of disobedience, culminating in “all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him,” mean the die is already cast. “And the Lord said, ‘I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.’” Even the godly Josiah can do nothing to reverse what is about to happen.

23:28–30 There is nothing else that Josiah can do, and so the account of his reign is brought swiftly to a close (v. 28). All that remains is to detail his tragic death. “In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him.” It is hard to be certain from the minimal detail here (although see 2 Chron. 35:20–27 for a longer account), but it seems that Josiah makes the foolish decision to get involved in the climactic clash between the superpowers of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon in 609 BC, and he pays the ultimate price. No explanation is given of the political intrigue behind this event. Rather, the focus is on the affection in which Josiah is held, as reflected in the quiet dignity of 2 Kings 23:30, as “his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb” (cf. Ahaziah in 9:28, who dies in similarly tragic circumstances and is carried home in a chariot). As he promised,⁸ God has ensured that his faithful servant would not have to watch his people be destroyed, as Josiah dies to be replaced by Jehoahaz his son.

23:31–35 Despite only reigning for “three months in Jerusalem,” Jehoahaz manages to do a significant amount of damage. Rather than building on his own father’s legacy, he “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.” He quickly ends up in captivity: “Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.” Incidentally, this may explain why, even though Josiah is clearly the godliest king Judah ever has, in the eyes of the book of Kings he is surpassed by Hezekiah—the rapid decline of the kingdom in a matter of days after his demise suggests a marvelous spiritual legacy but a terrible political one.

Such is the sway that Egypt now holds over Judah, which seems to become a political football in the changing world order, that “Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there.” No reason is given for Pharaoh’s deposing Jehoahaz, elevating Eliakim, or renaming him “Jehoiakim.” However, it is clear that the unthinkable has happened and that Judah is now under the full control of Egypt: “And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh” rather than according to the command of Yahweh. Just in case we have not grasped the awful import of this deed, our writer underlines it: “He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco.” It is as if the exodus never happened, as a pharaoh once more dominates the affairs of God’s people.

23:36–37 The eleven-year reign of the puppet-king Jehoiakim is summarized in just two verses, culminating in the all-too-familiar dismissal, “he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.” The effect of Josiah’s godly reforms has been negligible. With his death, it seems that any hope of Judah’s escaping her fate is finally gone.