The book of the law A. M 3380. of the B. C. 624. LORD. book rum, 17. read it. to book that is A. M. 3380. B. C. 624. O. XXXIX. Regis Romano An. Anci Martii, rum, 17. law in the house of the the words of this 9 And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD. 10 And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and in Achbor the son of " Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning 1 Heb. melted. Abdon, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 20. Deut. xxix. 27.—P Tikvath, 2 Chron. xxxiv. Hasrah. Or, Micah. 22.9 Or, 14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of ▸ Tikvah, the son of a Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college ;) and they communed with her. 15 And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me, 16 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: 17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they r Hebrew, garments.- Or, in the second part. - Deut. xxix. 27; Daniel ix. 11, 12, 13, 14.—" Deut. xxix. 25, 26, 27. is a most singular circumstance: At this time Jeremiah was certainly a prophet in Israel, but it is likely he now dwelt at Anathoth, and could not be readily consulted; Zephaniah also prophesied under this reign, but probably he had not yet begun; Hilkiah was high priest, and the priest's lips should retain knowledge. in sacred affairs to have been at all fit for his office; and yet Huldah, a prophetess, of whom we know nothing but by this circumstance, is consulted on the meaning of the book of the law; for the secret of the Lord was neither with Hilkiah the high priest, Shaphan the scribe, nor any other of the servants of the king, or ministers of the temple! We find from this, and we have many facts in all ages to corroborate it, that a pontiff, a pope, a bishop, or a priest, may, in some cases, not possess the true knowledge of God; and that a simple woman, possessing the life of God in her soul, may have more knowledge of the Divine testimonies than many of those whose office it is to explain and enforce them. to destroy the whole. Besides, Manasseh endeavoured after his conversion to restore every part of the Divine worship, and in this he could have done nothing with out the Pentateuch; and the succeeding reign of Amon was too short to give him opportunity to undo every thing that his penitent father had reformed, Add to all these considerations, that in the time of Jehosha-Shaphan was scribe, and must have been conversant phat teaching from the law was universal in the land, for he set on foot an itinerant ministry, in order to instruct the people fully for "he sent to his princes to teach in the cities of Judah; and with them he sent Levites and priests; and they went about through all the cities of Judah, and taught the people, having the book of the Lord with them;" see 2 Chron. xvii. 7-9. And if there be any thing wanting to show the improbability of the thing, it must be this, that the transactions mentioned here took place, in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, who had, from the time he came to the throne, employed himself in the restoration of the pure worship of God; and it is not likely that during these eighteen years he was without a copy of the Pentateuch... The simple fact seems to be this, that this was the original of the covenant renewed by Moses with the people in the plains of Moab, and which he ordered to be laid up beside the ark; (Deut. xxxi. 26;) and now being unexpectedly found, its antiquity, the occasion of its being made, the present circumstances of the people, the imperfect state in which the reformation was as yet, after all that had Verse 17. My wrath shall be kindled] The decree been done, would all concur to produce the effect here is gone forth; Jerusalem shall be delivered into the mentioned on the mind of the pious Josiah. hands of its enemies; the people will revolt more and Verse 14. Went unto Huldah the prophetess] This more, towards them longsuffering is useless; the On this subject Dr. Priestley in his note makes the following very judicious remark :-" It pleased God to distinguish several women with the spirit of prophecy, as well as other great attainments, to show that in his sight, and especially in things of a spiritual nature, there is no essential pre-eminence in the male sex, though in some things the female be subject to the male." Verse 19. Because thine heart was tender] Because thou hast feared the Lord, and trembled at his word, and hast wept before me, I have heard thee, so far that these evils shall not come upon the land in thy lifetime. when thou heardest what I spake y Lev. xxvi. 31, 32. a 2 Jer. xxvi. 6; xliv. 22.—a Psa. xxxvii. 37; Isa. Ivii. 1, 2. wrath of God is kindled, and shall not be quenched. not have meddled in the quarrel between the Egyptian This was a dreadful message. and the Assyrian kings, for God had given a commission to the former against the latter; but he did it in error, and suffered for it. But this unfortunate end of this pious man does not at all impeach the credit of Huldah; he died-in peace in his own kingdom. He died in peace with God, and there was neither war nor desolation in his land: nor did the king of Egypt proceed any farther against the Jews during his life; for he said, "What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee, but the house wherewith I have war; for God commanded me to make haste: forbear then from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not. Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face. from him, and hearkened not to the words of Nechoh, from the mouth of God. And, the archers shot at King Josiah: and the king said, Bear me away, for I am sore wounded. And his servants took him out of that chariot, and put him in the second chariot, and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers;" 2 Chron. xxxv. 21-24... Verse 20. Thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace] During thy life none of these calamities shall fall upon the people, and no adversary shall be per-mitted to disturb the peace of Judea, and thou shalt die in peace with God. But was Josiah gathered to the grave in peace? Is it not said, chap. xxiii. 29, that Pharaoh-nechok slew him at Megiddo? On this we may remark, that the Assyrians and the Jews were at peace; that Josiah might feel it his duty to oppose the Egyptian king going against his friend and ally, and endeavour to prevent him from passing through his territories; and that in his endeavours to oppose him he was mortally wounded at Megiddo: but certainly was not killed there; for his servants put him in his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died in peace. See 2 Chron. xxxv. 24. So that, however we take the place here, we shall find that the words of Huldah were true he did die in peace, and was gathered to his fathers in peace. It seems as if the Egyptian king had brought his troops by sea to Cæsarea, and wished to cross the Jordan about the southern point of the sea of Tiberias, that he might get as speedily as possible into the Assyrian dependencies; and that he took this road, for God, as he said, had commanded him to make haste. CHAPTER XXIII Ful Josiah reads in the temple to the elders of Judah, the priests, the prophets, and the people, the book of the covenant which had been found, 1, 2. He makes a covenant, and the people stand to it, 3. He destroys the vessels of Baal and Asherah, and puts down the idolatrous priests; breaks down the houses of the sodomites, and the high places; defiles Topheth; takes away the horses of the sun; destroys the altars of Ahaz; breaks in pieces the images; and breaks down and burns Jeroboam's altar at Beth-el, 4–15. fils the word of the prophet, who cried against the altar at Béth-el, 16-18. Destroys the high places in Samaria, slays the idolatrous priests, and celebrates a great passover, 19-23; and puts away all the dealers with familiar spirits, &c., 24. His eminent character; he is mortally wounded at Megiddo, and buried at Jerusalem, 25-30. Jehoahaz reigns in his stead, and does evil in the sight of the Lord, 31, 32. Is dethroned by Pharaoh-nechoh; and Eliakim, his brother, called also Jehoiakim, made king in his stead ; the land is laid under tribute by the king of Egypt, and Jehoiakim reigns wickedly, 33–37. ( 36 ) VOL. II. 561 b Josiah extirpates A. M. 3380. B. C. 624. Ol. XXXIX. 1. a A. M. 3380. OL. XXXIX. I. An. Anci Martii, Regis Romano AND the king' sent, and they of the temple of the LORD all the gathered unto him all the vessels that were made for Baal, Regis Romano- elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. and for the grove, and for all 2 And the king went up into the host of heaven: and he burnthe house of the LORD, and all the men of ed them without Jerusalem, in the fields of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto rum, 17. NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII. Verse 2. The king went up into the house of the Lord] Here is another very singular circumstance. The high priest, scribes, priest, and prophets, are ́gathered together, with all the elders of the people, and the king himself reads the book of the covenant which had been lately found! It is strange that either the high priest, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, or some other of the prophets, who were certainly there present, did not read the sacred book! It is likely that the king considered himself a mediator between God and them, and therefore read and made the covenant. Beth-el, rum, 17. 5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the `h planets, and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. tinued even to the time of our Lord. We find the course of Abia, which was the eighth, mentioned Luke i. 5; where see the note. All the vessels]. These had been used for idolatrous purposes; the king is now to destroy them; for although no longer used in this way, they might, if permitted to remain, be an incentive to idolatry at a future time. Verse 5, The idolatrous priests] ɔn hakkemarim. Who these were is not well known. The Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, call them the priests simply, which the kings of Judah had ordained. Probably they were an order made by the idolatrous kings of Judah, and called kemarim, from camar, which signifies to be scorched, shrivelled together, made dark, or black, because their business was constantly to attend sacrificial fires, and probably they wore black garments; hence the Jews in derision call Christian ministers ke Why we should imitate, in our sacerdotal dress, those priests of Baal, is strange to think and hard to tell. Made a covenant] This was expressed, 1. In ge-marim, because of their black clothes and garments. neral. To walk after Jehovah; to have no gods besides him. 2. To take his law for the regulation of their conduct. 3. In particular. To bend their whole heart and soul to the observance of it, so that they might not only have religion without, but piety within. To this all the people stood up, thus giving their consent, and binding themselves to obedience. Unto Baal, to the sun] Though Baal was certainly the sun, yet here they are distinguished; Baal being worshipped under different forms and attributes, Baalpeor, Baal-zephon, Baal-zebub, &c. The planets] i mazzaloth, The Vulgate transVerse 4. The priests of the second order] These lates this the twelve signs, i. e., the zodiac. This is were probably such as supplied the place of the high as likely as any of the other conjectures which have priest when he was prevented from fulfilling the func-been published relative to this word. See a similar tions of his office. So the Chaldee understood the word Job xxxvii. 9, and xxxviii. 32. place the sagan of the high priests. But the words Verse 6. He brought out the grove] He brought may refer to those of the second course or order esta-out the idol Asherah. See at the end of chap. xxi. blished by David: though it does not appear that those Upon the graves of the children of the people.] I beorders were now in use, yet the distinction was con-lieve this means the burial-place of the common people. ( 36* ) b 562 Josiah reforms many A. M. 3380. Ol. XXXIX, 1. An. Anci Martii, rum, 17. CHAP. XXIII. 7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that abuses in Israel A. M. 3380. O. XXXIX. 1. An Anci Martii, Regis Romano rum, 17. 11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given were by the house of the LORD, to the sun, at the entering in of where the women wove hang- the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ings for the grove. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from P Geba to Beer-sheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.' 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. 12 And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which a Solomon 10 And he defiledTopheth, which is in the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the valley of the children of Hinnom, " that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech... m 1 Kings xiv. 24; xv. 12.- Ezek. xvi. 16.- 0 Heb. houses. P1 Kings xv. 22. See Ezek. xliv. 10-14.-1 Sám. ii. 36. Isa. xxx. 33; Jer. vii. 31; xix. 6, 11, 12, 13.—Josh. xv. 8. Verse 7. The houses of the sodomites]. We have already often met with these Dp kedeshim or consecrated persons. The word implies all kinds of prostitutes, as well as abusers of themselves with mankind. Wove hangings for the grove.] For Asherah; curtains or tent coverings for the places where the rites of the impure goddess were performed. See at the end of chap. xxi. Verse 8. The gate of Joshua] The place where he, as governor of the city, heard and decided causes. Near this we find there were public altars, where sometimes the true God, at other times false gods, were honoured. Verse 9. The priests of the high places came not up] As these priests had offered sacrifices on the high places, though it was to the true God, yet they were not thought proper to be employed immediately about the temple; but as they were acknowledged to belong to the priesthood, they had a right to their support; therefore a portion of the tithes, offerings, and unleavened bread, shew-bread, &c., was appointed to them for their support. Thus they were treated as priests who had some infirmity which rendered it improper for them to minister at the altar. See Lev. xxi. 17, &c., and particularly verses 22 and 23. Verse 10. He defiled Topheth] St. Jerome says that Topheth was a fine and pleasant place, well watered with fountains, and adorned with gardens. The valley of the son of Hinnom, or Gehenna, was in one part; here it appears the sacred rites of Molech were performed, and to this all the filth of the city was carried, and perpetual fires were kept up in order to consume it. Hence it has been considered a type of hell; and in this sense it is used in the New Testament. It is here said that Josiah defiled this place that no the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the chil _v Or, Chap. " Lev. xviii. 21; Deut. xviii. 10; Ezek. xxiii. 37, 39.eunuch or officer.- w See Jer, xix. 13; Zeph. i. 5.xxi. 5. Or, ran from thence That is, the mount of Olives. a 1 Kings xi. 7. man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire. He destroyed the image of Molech, and so polluted the place where he stood, or his temple, that it was rendered in every way abominable. The rabbins say that Topheth had its name from 7 toph, a drum, because instruments of this kind were used to drown the cries of the children that were put into the burning arms of Molech, to be scorched to death. This may be as true as the following definition: "Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, was a place near Jerusalem, where the filth and offal of the city were thrown, and where a constant fire was kept up to consume the wretched remains of executed criminals. It was a human shambles, a public chopping-block, where the arms and legs of men and women were quartered off by thousands." Query, On what authority do such descriptions rest? Verse 11. The horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun.] Jarchi says that those who adored the sun had horses which they mounted every morning to go out to meet the sun at his rising. Through out the East the horse, because of his swiftness and utility, was dedicated to the sun; and the Greeks and Romans feigned that the chariot of the sun was drawn by four horses-Pyroeis, Eous, Ethon, and Phlegon. See the note on chap. ii. Whether these were living or sculptured horses, we cannot tell; the latter is the more reasonable supposition. Verse 12. On the top of the upper chamber] Altars built on the flat roof of the house. Such altars were erected to the sun, moon, stars, &c. Verse 13. Mount of corruption] This, says Jarchi, following the Chaldee, was the mount of Olives, for Josiah reforms many A. M. 3380. rum, 17. dren of Ammon, did the king that were in the cities of Sama defile. 14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. 15 Moreover the altar that was at Beth-el, and the high placed which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel, to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove. 16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. 17 Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is f the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Beth-el. 18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones & alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. A. M. 3380. An. Anci Martii, rum, 17. ria, which the kings of Israel Ol. XXXIX. 1. 20 And hem slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. 21 And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. 22 Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the 19 And all the houses also of the high places house of the LORD. 1 Kings xiii. 1,30 - Heb. b Exod. xxiii. 24; Deut. vii. 5, 25.-- Heb. statues. 1 Kings xii. 28, 33.- - 1 Kings xiii. 2.to escape. hI Kings xiii. 31.1 Kings xiii. 2. Or, sacrificed.xviii. 40; chap. xi. 18. this is the mount non hammishchah, of unction; but because of the idolatrous purposes for which it was used, the Scripture changed the appellation to the mount hammashchith, of corruption. Ashtoreth the abomination, &c.] See on I Kings xi. 7. Verse 14. Filled their places with the bones of men.] This was allowed to be the utmost defilement to which any thing could be exposed. n2 Chron. xxxiv. 5.2 Chron. xxxv. 1; 1 Esd. i. 1. PExod. xii. 3; Lev. xxiii. 5; Num. ix. 2; Deut. xvi. 2. 12 Chron. xxxv. 18, 19; His eighteenth year ending.- Chap. xxi. 6. Or, teraphim, Gen. xxxi. 19. Lev. xix. 31; xx. 27; Deut. xviii. 11. phet no doubt took care to have the place made sufficiently remarkable. Verse 18. The prophet that came out of Samaria.] See the note on 1 Kings xiii. 32. Verse 19. That were in the cities of Samaria] Israel had now no king; `and Josiah, of the blood royal of Judah, had certainly a direct right to the kingdom; he had, at this time, an especial commission from God, to reform every abuse through the whole land-all that ground that was given by the Lord as an inheritance to the twelve sons of Jacob, Therefore he had every right to carry his plans of reformation into the Sama Verse 16. And as Josiah turned himself] This verse is much more complete in the Septuagint, and in the Hexaplar Syriac version at Paris. I shall give the whole, making a distinction where, in those versions, any thing is added: "And as Josiah turned him-ritan states. self, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the Verse 20. Slew all the priests] The lives of these, mount, and sent and took the bones out of the sepul- as corrupters of the people, were forfeited to the law. chres, and burnt them upon the altar, and polluted it : according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed [when Jeroboam stood by the altar at the feast. And turning about, he cast his eyes on the sepulchre of the man of God] who proclaimed these words." See I Kings xiii. 2, where these things were predicted, and see the notes there. Verse 17. What title is that] There was either a stone, an image, or an inscription here: the old pro Verse 22. Surely there was not holden such a passover] Not one on purer principles, more heartily joined in by the people present, more literally consecrated, or more religiously observed. The words do not apply to the number present, but to the manner and spirit See the particulars and mode of celebrating this pass over in 2 Chron. xxxv. 1-18. Verse 24. The workers with familiar spirits] See on chap. xxi. 5. |