Josiah
When he became king, Josiah was eight years old, and he reigned for 37 years. Josiah was the last king before the exile. He destroyed all pagan idols and altars and insisted his people worship the one God.
Josiah was the 16th king of Judah. According to the Hebrew Bible, he instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh.
Born: 648 BC, Jerusalem
Died: 609 BC, Jerusalem
Reign: 640–609 BCE
Children: Jehoiakim, Zedekiah, Jehoahaz of Judah
Grandfathers: Manasseh of Judah, Adaiah
Parents: Amon of Judah, Jedidah
Grandchild: Jeconi
Josiah was the king of Judah from approximately 640 to 609 B.C. His reign in Jerusalem is discussed in 2 Kings 22–23 and 2 Chronicles 34–35. Josiah was the son of King Amon and the grandson of King Manasseh—both of them were wicked kings of Judah. However, known as one of the world's youngest kings; he began his reign at age eight after his father was assassinated. A highlight of Josiah's reign was his rediscovery of the Law of the Lord.
Second Kings 22:2 introduces Josiah by saying, "And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in of David, his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or the left." In the eighteenth year of his reign, he raised money to repair the Temple, and during the repairs, the high priest Hilkiah found the Book of the Law. When Hilkiah read it to Josiah, the king tore his clothes, a sign of mourning and repentance (verse 11).
King Josiah called for a time of national repentance. The Law was read to the people of the land. A covenant was made between the people and the Lord: "The king stood by the pillar 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 this covenant that were written in this book. Moreover, all the people joined in the covenant" (2 Kings 23:3).
Many reforms followed. The Temple was cleansed from all objects of pagan worship, and the idolatrous high places in the land were demolished. Josiah restored the observance of the Passover (2 Kings 23:2–23) and removed mediums and witches from the land. Second Kings 23:25 records, "Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and soul and with all his might, according to Moses's Law, nor did any like him arise after him." God's wrath would later come upon Judah due to the evil King Manasseh had done (2 Kings 23:25), but the judgment was delayed because of Josiah's godly life and leadership (2 Kings 22:20).
Josiah died in battle against the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo. King Josiah was buried in Jerusalem in his tomb, and his son Jehoahaz took the role of king.
Much can be learned from Josiah's life that is positive. First, Josiah shows the influence a person can have from a very young age. Even children have enormous potential to live for God and to have a significant impact. Second, Josiah lived a fully committed and obedient life to God and was blessed. Third, Josiah appropriately responded to God's Word. By the time he became king, the Scriptures had long been neglected, and Josiah's heart was smitten by the failure of his people to honor God's Word. Josiah had Scripture read to the people and committed to living by it. "'Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken . . . I also have heard you,' declares the Lord" (2 Kings 22:19).
King Josiah of Judah (ruled 640–609 b.c.e.) is a figure of extraordinary importance in the history of ancient Israel and Judah. According to the biblical narrative, a Torah scroll was discovered during the renovation of the Jerusalem Temple in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign. This scroll, commonly identified as a form of Deuteronomy, became the basis of an ambitious program of religious reform and national restoration in which Josiah closed down all pagan worship sites throughout the land of Israel, centralized worship at the Jerusalem Temple, and attempted to reunite Israel and Judah as an independent monarchy under the rule of the royal house of David. The narratives concerning Josiah's reign have proved to be pivotal in discussion among biblical scholars insofar as they have provided the basis for reconstructing the history of the Israelite/Judean religion and the compositional history of much of the Hebrew Bible. This study reexamines the relevant biblical literature and the archeology evidence concerning the reign of King Josiah of Judah and its impact on ancient Judean thought. It argues that early forms of the book of Deuteronomy, the so-called Deuteronomistic History (Joshua; Judges; 1–2 Samuel; and 1–2 Kings), and much of the prophetic literature (Isaiah; Hosea; Amos; Micah; Jeremiah; Zephaniah; Nahum; cf. Habakkuk) were written or edited to support King Josiah's reform and to present him as the righteous Davidic monarch, who would realize the divine promise of security for the land and people of Israel. Following the tragic death of Josiah at the hands of the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo in 609 b.c.e., Josiah's program of religious reform and national restoration came to an end as Judah was subjugated first to Egypt and then to Babylon prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 587 b.c.e. The image of Josiah as a righteous Davidic monarch and his program nevertheless continued to influence Israelite/Judean expectations of restoration in the aftermath of the Babylonian exile.
Josiah (????????????, Yošiyyáhuv, "supported of the Lord") was an important king of Judah whom the Bible praises as the greatest king since David. He was the son of King Amon and the grandson of King Manasseh.
Josiah instituted a major religious reform that centralized the worship of the Hebrew God Yahweh in Jerusalem and strongly repressed pagan religions. He also attempted to extend his control beyond Judah in a drive to reunify the former northern kingdom of Israel with his own. Josiah died due to a wound suffered in the battle against Egyptian forces at Megiddo at the age of 39. The dates of Josiah's reign are roughly 640-609 B.C.E. Three of his sons and one of his grandsons reigned after him. His son Zedekiah, having reigned after Josiah's grandson Jehoiachin, was the last king of the royal line of David.
Contents
• 1 Josiah in the Bible
o 1.1 The Boy-King Josiah
o 1.2 Major Religious Reform
o 1.3 Attempt at Reunification
o 1.4 Legacy
The chief sources of Josiah's life are 2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chronicles 34-35. Archaeologists have recovered some "scroll-style" stamps dating to his reign. Some historians credit Josiah with having played a key role in establishing the tradition of Jewish Scripture.
Josiah in the Bible
The biblical authors view Josiah as the greatest of all kings in his devotion to God.
Before or after Josiah, there was never a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and soul and strength, by all the Law of Moses. (2 Kings 23:25)
The biblical account does not begin with his birth but with a prophecy three centuries earlier by an unnamed "man of God" in the time of Jeroboam I. This prophet reportedly predicted the act that would win Josiah his reputation as a king fully approved by the biblical writers, namely the destruction of a rival Israelite sanctuary a few miles north of Jerusalem in Bethel and the execution of priests who offered unauthorized sacrifices at the "high places":
O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: "A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you." (1 Kings 13:1-3)
The Boy-King Josiah
The story is taken up again in 2 Kings 22 when Josiah became ruler of Judah at the age of eight. His reign resulted from the assassination of his father, Amon, by court officials and the "people of the land." Both international affairs and Judah's internal situation at the time were in flux. To the east, the Assyrian Empire was in the beginning stages of its eventual disintegration; the Babylonian Empire had not yet risen to replace it; the southwest was still recovering from Assyrian dominance. This favored the resurgence of Jerusalem as a serious power in the region. The nation of Judah was finally recovering from a devastating Assyrian invasion in the previous century that resulted in the capture of every Judean town except the capital. Josiah's grandfather Manasseh reversed the Yahweh-only religious policy of his father, Hezekiah, and Josiah's father Amon continued in Manasseh's footsteps.
The boy-king Josiah was strongly influenced by the priests of Yahweh, who raised and protected him. By the age of 16, he had already become a strong devotee of Yahweh. At 20, he had instituted a program to "purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images" (2 Chron. 34:3).
Major Religious Reform
At the age of 26, Josiah began a program to upgrade the Temple in Jerusalem, authorizing the high priest Hilkiah to take the tax monies collected over the years and use them to repair the neglect that the Temple had suffered during the reigns of Amon and Manasseh.
Hilkiah claimed that while he was clearing the treasure room of the Temple (2 Chron. 34:14), he found a scroll described as "the book of the Law" (2 Kings 22:8) or as "the book of the Law (Torah) of Yahweh by the hand of Moses" (2 Chron. 34:14). Many scholars believe this was either a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy or a text that became Deuteronomy as we have it (see "Critical Views" below). Hilkiah had this scroll brought to Josiah's attention. The king checked its authenticity with the prophetess Huldah, who declared it legitimate and predicted (falsely, as it turned out) that Josiah would soon die in peace (2 Kings 22:14-20).
Huldah's endorsement of the Book of Law, not to mention her prediction of his imminent death, prompted Josiah to redouble his efforts to purify the religion of Judah. He instituted a national celebration of Passover, ordered the slaughter of pagan priests throughout the land, and banned sacrifices to Yahweh outside of the Temple of Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:4). He also attempted to curtail even private religious activity that did not conform to the standards outlined in the newly discovered Book of the Law:
Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, household gods, idols, and 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. (2 Kings 23:24)
During this period, archaeologists such as William Dever and others confirmed the probable destruction of pagan and Yahwistic official altars outside of Jerusalem. They reported widespread pagan practices at household and village levels (Dever, 2006).
Attempt at Reunification
Egyptian archers mortally wounded Josiah at the Battle of Megiddo
Josiah also reasserted Judean control in the former territories of the Kingdom of Israel. This is recorded in 2 Kings as systematically destroying the cultic objects in various cities and executing the priests of the pagan gods. This campaign included the destruction of the main Israelite altar at Bethel.
This attempt at reunifying Israel and Judah was made possible primarily due to the weakening Assyrian power in the region. At the same time, the new Babylonian Empire asserted itself to the east. Pharaoh Necho II had left Egypt around 609 B.C.E. in support of his Assyrian allies. Josiah made a fateful decision to attack the Egyptians at Megiddo, where he was reportedly struck by Egyptian archers and soon died in Jerusalem (the account in Kings 23, however, differs from that of Chronicles 35 in terms of the manner and timing of Josiah's demise, perhaps reflecting the Chronicler's desire to harmonize his account with Huldah's prophecy that Josiah would die in peace, even if wounded mortally in battle).
The death of King Josiah was a severe blow to the Yahweh-only faction in Judea. In 2 Chronicles 35:25, the prophet Jeremiah wrote a lament for Josiah's passing. A Jewish tradition claims that this lament is preserved in Lamentations 4:
"Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky.
They chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert.
Our very life-breath was caught in their traps.
We thought that we would live among the nations (4:19-20).
Legacy
Jehoahaz, the second son of Josiah, reigned for three months, after which he was dethroned by Necho and exiled to Egypt. Josiah's eldest son, Eliakim, replaced him, ruling at Necho's pleasure as Jehoiakim. When Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon defeated Egypt at Carchemish in 604, Jehoiakim and his kingdom became subjects of Babylon. From a geopolitical viewpoint, Josiah's death signaled an end to the pro-Babylonian foreign policy he favored.
The prophet Jeremiah counseled submission to Babylon, but in 598 B.C.E., Jehoiakim rebelled. He died soon after that, with Jerusalem under siege. His son Jehoiachin held out for three months and then surrendered. He and his entire court were deported to Babylon. Jeremiah, still in Jerusalem, again urged cooperation with the Babylonian power, which he saw as God's chastising agent for Judah's sins; but other prophets urged boldness against the foreign enemy (Jer. 28-29). Destroying Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E., the Babylonians blinded Zedekiah and brought him captive into exile with many of his subjects. Thus ended Josiah's royal line, the "house of David," and the Kingdom of Judah.
Critical Views
Josiah plays a pivotal role in the modern critical interpretation of biblical history. The critical incident in this appraisal is the "finding" of the "Book of the Law" in the Temple, which precipitated Josiah's brutal repression of non-Yahwist religion.
Skepticism over the antiquity of the Book of the Law dates back to the English deists of the sixteenth century. Biblical scholars today generally believe that the book was a pious forgery created either by Hilkiah or other priests rather than being written by Moses. It strengthened the pro-Yahweh group under Josiah, and Nebuchadrezzar was now placed on the throne of Josiah's third son, Zedekiah.
Destroy all the places entirely on the high mountains and hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire... Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you, please. Offer them only where the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, and observe everything I command you there. (Deut. 12:2-14)
Other biblical books portray authentic priests and prophets of Yahweh—including such notable figures as Samuel and Elijah—as offering such sacrifices at various altars and "high places."
Proponents of this theory also point to linguistic evidence and to the many anachronisms contained in the Book of Deuteronomy, which suggest that the scroll was likely to have been written during the reign of Josiah. Some scholars propose that the basic narrative from Exodus through Kings constitutes a "Deuteronomic History" created primarily during Josiah's reign. This narrative used earlier sources such as "J," "E," and the records of court historians. However, its compilers edited them to present the view that God rewarded those kings who supported the Yahweh-only policy in religious affairs while punishing both Israel and Judah when they failed to repress pagan worship. King Josiah was thus the ideal ruler as the Deuteronomists defined it. Moreover, even the stories of Joshua and Moses—though already in existence—were developed in such a way as to promote Josiah as a new leader of the Chosen People. He would drive out Canaanite practices as a new Joshua, unify the land that had been divided because of idolatry, and boldly prevail against the Egyptian pharaoh as Moses did.
However, scholars such as Rudolf Kittel disagree, pointing out that priestly forgery of the Deuteronomic text was unlikely. For one thing, the text placed restrictions on the privileges of the priestly class, who were a thorn in its side of Josiah. Moreover, in the ancient Near East, it was commonplace for religious scrolls to be deposited in temple walls when they were constructed (Hertz 1960). A similar find is recounted in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
JOSIAH ( ="Yhwh supports"):
Table of Contents
• Reform of Worship.
• Foreign Relations.
King of Judah from 639 to 608 B.C.; son and successor of Amon and grandson of Manasseh. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath (II Kings xxii. 1 et seq.). His father, Amon, fell victim to a conspiracy and was murdered by his servants. According to II Kings xxi. 24, the "people of the land"—that is to say, the citizens of Jerusalem and Judah as distinct, probably, from the court party to which the conspirators belonged—slew the murderers of King Amon and made his son Josiah king. Josiah, then eight years old, reigned thirty-one years.
Reform of Worship.
Of the first eighteen years of his reign, the Book of Kings tells nothing. In 626 B.C. Jeremiah began his notable work. The influence of this great prophet, and possibly of Nahum and Zephaniah, made itself felt. Josiah inaugurated that great reformation in his eighteenth year, which marks an epoch in the religious history of Israel. He first undertook the repair of the Temple with the cooperation of his high priest Hilkiah. During the progress of this work, "the book of the law" was found in the house of the Lord. The king was greatly alarmed lest the calamities threatened in the book for non-observance of its commands should come upon him and his people. He sent to consult the prophetess Huldah, who assured him that the evil foretold would indeed come, but not in his day, "because," she said, "thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before the Lord." An assembly of Judah and Jerusalem elders and all the people was called, and the ancient covenant with Yhwh was renewed.
First, the Temple in Jerusalem was purged by removing the instruments and emblems of the worship of Baal and "the host of heaven," introduced by Manasseh. Then the corrupt local sanctuaries, or High Places, were destroyed, from Beer-sheba in the south to Beth-el and the cities of Samaria in the north. The priests of the high places he brought to Jerusalem, providing for their sustenance out of the priestly revenues (II Kings xxiii. 8-9). The slaughter of some of these priests and the desecration of their altars with their bones give a glimpse of the darker side of this crusade of reform (ib. 19-20). Finally, a grand Passover celebration occurred in Jerusalem, such as had not been known since the days of the Judges.
The evidence is solid that "the book of the law" referred to was Deuteronomy, and the measures taken by Josiah are quite in harmony with this view. In one respect, however, it seems to have been impossible or impracticable to carry out the Deuteronomic Law. The priests of the high places were not put on an equality with those of the Temple, probably because of the opposition of the Temple hierarchy (comp. II Kings xxiii. 9 and Deut. xviii. 6-8; see also Ezek. xliv. 10-16). The most important results that followed this reformation were the centralization of religious worship at the Temple in Jerusalem and accepting a sacred book of spiritual and ethical teaching as canonical and authoritative.
Foreign Relations.
Of the remainder of Josiah's reign, very little is known. It would appear that he exercised some authority over at least a portion of the former kingdom of Israel, which had been an Assyrian province (II Kings xxiii. 15-20). When in 608 B.C. The Medes and Babylonians attacked Nineveh. The young and ambitious ruler of Egypt, Necho II., marched northward toward the Euphrates to take possession of Syria. Whether through chivalrous loyalty to his Assyrian suzerain or fear of Egyptian domination, Josiah gave battle to Necho at Megiddo, in the valley of Esdraelon, but was defeated and slain. Zech. xii. 11 is probably a reference to the great mourning in Jerusalem which followed this disaster (comp. II Chron. xxxv. 24, 25; see Hadad). The story of Josiah's reign in II Chronicles xxxiv.-xxxv. It is substantially in accord with that in II Kings xxii.-xxiii. It makes. However, Josiah's work of reform begins in his twelfth instead of in his eighteenth year and attributes his defeat and death to wilful disregard of the divine warning received through Necho himself, who claimed to have the command of God to go with haste upon this expedition, and who assured Josiah that he did not quarrel with him.
The character of Josiah is highly praised by the editor of Kings and by Jeremiah (II Kings xxii. 2, xxiii. 25; Jer. xxii. 15-17). The one extols his zeal for the purifying of religion and the other his impartial administration of justice.
